Starting the Master Knitter's program
or... Slow down you're moving too fast
I love to knit. I love to take a ball of yarn and make it into a shirt, a toy, a blanket, a bag. Something functional. Something userful. Something tangible. Something to be proud of. Maybe that's a side effect of being a software engineer. I work all day on something you can never touch. On something most people will never use or need. Everyone needs a shirt, or a blanket. But I digress.
I love getting to that finished project. I love getting the chance to enjoy what I've made, to wear, it to play with it, to give it away. I hate getting frustrated and abandoning a project three quarters of the way through. I hate getting to a technique I don't quite understand, and then messing it up.
I taught myself how to knit from books and a few online videos. I feel that I can knit most any pattern that's presented to me. I'm good. But I know I could be a lot better. I need to take a step back and larn how to do things the right way. To understand which increase to use where. To know what type of cast on is best for each project. I want to actually know and understand this craft, not just do it.
Enter the Knitting Guild of America's Master Knitting Program. It's a three-level certification program that involves knitting, research, and writing. It's meant to help you learn the craft to understand it, and to become a better knitter. It's exactly what I'm looking for.
The Level one certification consists of:
- 16 swatches (demonstrating different techniques like ribbing, mirrored increases and decreases, cable and color work).
- 17 questions (discussing guage, increase and decrease uses, bind-off techniques, etc)
- a simple hat knit in the round (not the most attractive hat -- maybe I'll donate it
- 1 report (about blocking and the care of knit garments)
This is exactly what I need. Stop, take a giant step back and really learn about knitting. Research technique, understand what options I have when making a seam (I hate seaming), and what the right way is to weave in ends (ugh... all those ends). This is going to be good.
I've made one swatch so far. It didn't take long to make (it's about 5 x 6 inches), but depending on what I learn as I go forward, I may re-knit it. Although I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. Hopefully I don't screw it up when I block it and weave in the ends (ugh... all those ends...).