Knitting nirvana: Sally Melville class and SnB in one day
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy was this a good day to be a knitter. After church, I went to Knitting Arts this afternoon for a class on Buttonholes and Borders taught by one of my knititng heroes, Sally Melville. We used our two swatches to practice picking up stitches along horizontal, vertical and curved edges. We tried out 3 different button hole and 3 border styles - ribbed, garter and reverse stockinette. I learned a lot and re-inforced a lot as well. I'm totally bummed I can't go to her two additional classes tomorrow, but being a working stiff prevents me from taking more than 2 days off to knit this quarter.. and I've already planned two days off for Stitches West... where I'm taking 2 classes with Sally.
The best thing I learned was how to avoid a droopy edge to buttonholes involving casting on stitches. The big trick is this: if casting on with a cable caston, make sure you bring the yarn from back (where it is resting while you pick up stitches) to front (where you will want it very soon to continue the row) *between* your last and second to last cast on stitches. This tip alone was worth the price of admission, given the number of baby sweaters I knit with buttonholes.
I will be putting all my picking-up skills to work on Cindy. I finished the fronts tonight, using stairstep bindoffs just like we preacticed in class. I'm halfway thru the back and will be ready to do the even picking up when I get to the neckline edging. I'll have to wait until the Diamond Seed Baby Jacket to try out my new buttonhole skills
Ok, but after Sally's class, I drove straight to Campbell for Stitch-n-Bitch where I got to see Janice's DSBJ nearly complete - always good to let someone else try out a new pattern to see how it goes. It was a big group today with many familiar faces and 6 (mostly) new-to-me participants. Jeni's Klaralund looks even better in person than on her blog and her crocheted house slippers were perfect: firmly stitched, impervious to cold floors, easy to get on and off, lovely color.
I had to split from SnB to get to the movies to see Sky Blue (Korean anime film about a post-apocalyptic world with servants and overlords but no blue sky. I give it a 7 out of 10.. a little bit plot holey, but nicely drawn & voiced. And home to.. more knitting!
Yup. Pretty much a great day to be a knitter. Tomorrow, when I have to put away all the random yarns dislodged in my swatching frenzy for class as well as the many needles, yarns & books... might be a bit of a let down in comparison!
The best thing I learned was how to avoid a droopy edge to buttonholes involving casting on stitches. The big trick is this: if casting on with a cable caston, make sure you bring the yarn from back (where it is resting while you pick up stitches) to front (where you will want it very soon to continue the row) *between* your last and second to last cast on stitches. This tip alone was worth the price of admission, given the number of baby sweaters I knit with buttonholes.
I will be putting all my picking-up skills to work on Cindy. I finished the fronts tonight, using stairstep bindoffs just like we preacticed in class. I'm halfway thru the back and will be ready to do the even picking up when I get to the neckline edging. I'll have to wait until the Diamond Seed Baby Jacket to try out my new buttonhole skills
Ok, but after Sally's class, I drove straight to Campbell for Stitch-n-Bitch where I got to see Janice's DSBJ nearly complete - always good to let someone else try out a new pattern to see how it goes. It was a big group today with many familiar faces and 6 (mostly) new-to-me participants. Jeni's Klaralund looks even better in person than on her blog and her crocheted house slippers were perfect: firmly stitched, impervious to cold floors, easy to get on and off, lovely color.
I had to split from SnB to get to the movies to see Sky Blue (Korean anime film about a post-apocalyptic world with servants and overlords but no blue sky. I give it a 7 out of 10.. a little bit plot holey, but nicely drawn & voiced. And home to.. more knitting!
Yup. Pretty much a great day to be a knitter. Tomorrow, when I have to put away all the random yarns dislodged in my swatching frenzy for class as well as the many needles, yarns & books... might be a bit of a let down in comparison!
posted by spinnity at 1/24/2005 11:43:00 PM
2 Comments:
What a great day indeed. Glad you had a great class and a fun time with the S'nB group.
Ah, it's nice to read your blog again after too many days away. I am jealous of you doing fun knitting things while I've been sitting on my rear watching actors audition. I hope you'll teach me the nifty buttonhole technique!
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