2007 recap: knitting

Note: This is the fourth in a series of posts looking back at 2007, in some key areas of my life that were important to me.

I knitted this year.

kristine knits pink socks

4 comments

Everything I finished my first year of knitting (2006) was very basic.  I'm ending out 2007 with a ton more knowledge and skill under my belt.  I well exceeded my goals, which I found were setting the bar pretty low in the grand scheme of things!

Knit Picks

http://www.knitpi...

Knit Picks is an online store with "Knitting Yarn, Books, Patterns, Needles & Accessories". They...

I learned what to look for when purchasing yarn and how to substitute.  There were 3 different online stores (KnitPicks on many occasions, TheLoopyEwe, and Little Knits) that I've ordered from, as well as the local craft stores, branching out from only really knowing about Lion Brand and Lily's Sugar 'N Cream at the beginning of the year.  I'm starting to learn about combining colors, with some success and some turning out less than what I expected (Leah's pinwheel sweater was a success, but my in-process heart socks aren't as perfectly color coordinated as I hoped).

In mid-January when Vox introduced Groups, I created the Knitting group.  Even though I'm not as active in adding content as I wish, the great thing about this is that you don't have to do much to make your content part of the group, and there are a lot of people who are members (around 375 right now), so it's really a fun way to browse people who are knitting on Vox.  (I still like to zoom through people who tag things as "knitting" and invite them to the group whenever I can!)

Starting in March, I began going to the library's knit-in every 2 weeks.  I tried to bring easy projects I was working on at the time and found myself enjoying the company even when the discussion was not usually about knitting.  I became known as someone who had a basic grasp on knitting and towards the end of the year when I joined the Friends of the Library (the group that puts this on), they made me a leader of the group as well.  I've helped people who didn't know how to knit yet, and contributed to knitting discussions as well.  It feels good to be part of this!  

doll sweater dress front

The roundup:  4 pairs of socks (and almost a 5th), 2 sweaters, a doll with a full wardrobe (among my very favorite thing I knit this year), a turtle, booties, 2 bibs, 2 hats, 3 scarfs, 2 shawl-like scarfs, 10-15 dishclothes, a potholder, 2 different pairs of slippers, armwarmers and legwarmers, mittens, part of two afghans, border and several squares of a patchwork afghan, and probably some other small things.

Ravelry - a knit and crochet community

http://www.ravelr...

Ravelry is a wonderful organizational site for knitters and crocheters that has social networking...

Ravelry: I did some tracking of my progress on my blog,  but many of my knitting projects were gifts, and needed more privacy.  Enter Raverly (my profile, if you have an account), a new site this year for tracking projects, stashes, and more.  For the first few months they were around, I helped on the forums quite a bit and helped with bug tracking.  I'm still watching a few groups, but mainly I'm using it to track my projects and my queue, as well as inspiration for new projects!  Super awesome site, if you aren't on the waiting list, get your name on there!

Pink socks

Media: I've read a lot of books about knitting, above my skill level to try and start absorbing what's out there.  I've purchased books about knitting for reference and patterns.  Watched Knitty Gritty on HGTV for as long as they had it, and this was so helpful to see visually how things were held.  Listened to knitting podcasts inspired me to think about knitting too.

Techniques: My colorwork experience has grown, attempting fair isle, multiple colored slip stitch patterns, stripes, and a little intarsia, as well as plenty of projects that used multiple colors and were seamed together.  I've also tried entrelac, and short rows, and plenty of different shaped pieces.  Some i-cords, but not as neat as I'd like them to look yet.  I've adjusted patterns, and come up with my own and even written them out in a readable fashion.  Different bind offs and castons, and plenty of increases and decreases.  I've used straight needles, circular needles (interchangable), and double pointed needles.  I'm still not an expert at all of these things, but I feel great for having tried so many things that I can work to improve!