Category: My Learning Project (Page 1 of 2)

Wow! It feels surreal to be writing my last learning project post for EDTC 300! It has definitely been quite the adventure learning how to knit from online sources only! The experience came with many moments of frustration but at the same time, many moments of pride for what I learned and what I accomplished. I enjoyed the opportunity to chose what I wanted to learn, the ability to guide my own learning journey and the opportunity to foster my creativity along the way! I want to send a huge THANK YOU to all of my fellow classmates who made this experience a great one! All your comments and words of encouragement as I went along was greatly appreciated! When I think back to the beginning of the semester, I never would of guessed that I’d be enjoying blogging so much (I was very hesitant at the beginning) or that I would have broken away from my comfort zone in so many ways – from expanding my skills beyond creating simple washcloths to becoming comfortable creating videos and everything in between.

Now lets take a look back and see how the various weekly learnings played out. Below is a breakdown of the learning project weeks and all I have accomplished.

Week One – The Knitting Chronicles

• Shared that I had no prior experience with knitting, I was starting from scratch
• Outlined my plans for the semester (I can proudly say I accomplished all of these goals throughout the weeks, especially goal of having fun)
  • Figure out what size of needles and type of needles I prefer to use
  • Experiment with different knitting stitches
  • Learn about different types of yarns and their benefits
  • Learn both continental and English style knitting technique
  • Have Fun!

Week Two – Welp, Here Goes Nothing

• Learned from Sheep & Stitch
• Found out that bulky yarn and larger size needles are recommended for beginners
• Learned how to read yarn labels
• Learned how to:
  • Cast On
  • Knit Stitch
  • Cast Off
• Created a logo for my knitting journey using Canva
  

  Photo by Canva

   

Week Three – TikTok Here I Come

• Focused on practicing the skills I learned the week prior (Cast On, Knit Stitch & Cast Off)
• Experienced a learning curve with creating a video on TikTok
• Continued my learning with uploading the video to YouTube in order to share the link on my blog post

Week Four – From Knits to Purls

• Found a video to give me tips on how to fix my tight stitches
• Used two sources to learn this week, Studio Knit & Love Crafts
• Explained the pros and cons of both sources
• Learned the Purl Stitch
• Stumbled upon information I didn’t realize I was missing in previous weeks about the Garter Stitch
• Created a video to show the difference between Knit and Purl Stitches.

Week Five – There is an App for That

• Explored the app Knitting Genius
• Critiqued the app
• Explained in detail the Row Counter function

Week Six – Continental vs. English Knitting. Say What?!?

• Learned from Handy Little Me
• Explored the differences and benefits of Continental vs. English Knitting

Week Seven – Mistake Rib Stitch : Who Said Mistakes Aren’t Possible?!?

• Switched my needles to smaller ones, 6 mm and went with a medium weight yarn
• Used two sources this week, The Yarnist & The Nervous Knitter. Both sources frustrated me and I went back to my ‘go to’ source, Sheep & Stitch
• Learned Mistake Rib Stitch
• Created video to show my explanation of Mistake Rib Stitch and where I went wrong the first time

Week Eight – Expanding my Repertoire with Nimble Needles

• Found a pattern for a knitted coaster that used a combination of knit and purl stitches
• My source for this week was Nimble Needles
• Tried to use medium weight cotton yarn, was unsuccessful and switched back to a medium weight acrylic yarn

Week Nine – My First Cup Cozy

• Learned how to knit in the round using curricular needles and a magic loop method
• Watched tutorial video by Mikaela Martens
• Knitted a cup cozy
  • Supposed to be all in Stockinette Stitch but I messed up and half ended up being Purl Stitch
• Researched tips to help me improve for my next attempt at cup cozy

Week Ten – One Bubble Stitch at  a Time

• Learned the Bubble Stitch
• Learned how to add in a second colour of yarn
• Source this week to learn from was Studio Knit (which I just realized as writing up this summary post that I used this source before. Oops!)

What I Learned from My Experience of Learning from Online Sources

• Learning online is kind of like putting together a puzzle.
  • Sometimes the people you are learning from will assume you have background knowledge and leave out parts that might be important to know. This means you have to do some digging and utilize different sources to help you create the full picture
  • Even if you really like one source, there is still great benefits in searching out a few others. You can learn from multiple sources at a time.
  • There is an overwhelming amount of information available online to teach you and you have to weed through to find the ones that fits your style. It often takes some searching in order to find someone who you find is easy to learn from and that your learning style clicks with
• And most importantly I discovered, learning how to effectively learn from online sources is a skill that takes time to develop.

Final Thought

I will miss our EDTC 300 community, but I am sure our paths will cross again in future classes or maybe even in my future school placements! Thanks for following along and contributing to my learning journey! Have a great summer!

Hello EDTC 300! We are at week 10 of my knitting journey! Wow time has flown! This week I decided to have some fun with learning the ‘Bubble Stitch’. I figured to add an extra layer of learning and to make my Bubble Stitch more interesting that I would also learn how to knit in a second colour of yarn. I really enjoyed learning this stitch and I am happy with the final product. I can see myself using the Bubble Stitch and both variations of the purple yarn I used in the future to create another cup cozy.

For this project I used 6 mm curricular needles, but I didn’t knit in the round, I just used them to knit back and forth, like you do with straight needles. I have found the curricular needles to be easier to maneuver since they aren’t as long as straight needles. I used two different colours of yarn this time, I used a light purple and a dark purple. They are both medium weight acrylic yarn.

The Bubble Stitch

The source I was learning from this week was Kristen with Studio Knit videos on YouTube. I learned the Bubble Stitch is created by using mostly knit and purl stitches, which I am very familiar with by this point but it also included another technique I hadn’t learned yet. The technique is called ‘Knit 4 Below’, this is what creates the bubble look in the stitches. In order to create this, you have to drop 1 stitch from the left needle, then pull apart your needles to allow for the yarn in between to stretch. You have to then drop 4 stitches down to create 4 ‘ladders’ (straight lines of yarn). The next step is to pickup the stitch below these ladders with your right needle, then put your needle in behind the 4 ‘ladders’. Wrap your working yarn around the top of this same needle (right needle) and pull the yarn through all the layers and knit into the stitch below. It sounds confusing and I was nervous the first few times as it seems unnatural to purposely pull the stitches apart, but once you do it a few times, it becomes more straightforward. For this process I found Kristen to be relatively easy to learn from. Below I will list some of the things I appreciate about learning from her video:

• She demonstrated in her video the bubble stitch technique more than once and her pace was good for following along
  

  Studio Knit Video displaying pattern and teaching the technique at the same time

• She had half the video screen showing her technique, walking you through the different rows while the other half displayed the written pattern
• In the comments below her video she included a link to her written pattern. This is nice to reflect back on if you are simply just looking for information about the rows/stitches and don’t need to learn the techniques involved
• Her video only included the basics and focused mostly on the technique for how to ‘Knit 4 Below’ but if you needed any additional teachings on other techniques mentioned, she included links to her other videos in the comments section.
  • For example: How to Purl Stitch, How to Knit Stitch, and How to Change Yarn Colours.

I ended up viewing her other video that was linked in her comment section for how to change yarn colours in knitting and I found it equally as easy to learn from. I will definitely be adding Studio Knit to my list of sources to learn from again in the future!

Thanks for following along for another week of Amber’s Knitting Chronicles!

Welcome back to another week of Amber’s Knitting Chronicles! This week I decided to learn how to knit in the round using circular needles in order to make a cup cozy. I chose to learn from this tutorial video by Mikaela Martens. I would say that this week I definitely experienced a learning curve and my final product wasn’t as good as I had hoped for.  However, mistakes are an important part of the learning process and I truly believe they deepen our understanding.

For this project I used 8 mm curricular knitting needles and a super bulky acrylic yarn. I found that as I was working in the round, I noticed I started to have a better understanding by the end and that my movements seemed to come more naturally too. Unfortunately, I was so focused on my project that I completely forgot to take any pictures of my process to document the concept of knitting in the round. But I am happy to share with you pictures of my flawed final product! You will notice that the cup cozy is half Stockinette Stitches and half Purl Stitches. That wasn’t supposed to happen, the outside is supposed to be all Stockinette and the inside all Purl Stitches. I believe that my stitches got twisted halfway through my work and resulted in me accidentally flipping my work. Therefore, when I continued my knitting I was then knitting on the wrong side. However, I will say that amidst the imperfections I am still very proud of my first cup cozy and I look forward to creating more in the future. I plan to work on improving my techniques while trying out different designs.

Learning from Mikaela

I found Mikaela’s video to be a great fit for me to learn from overall. It is hard to exactly pinpoint what made it a great video to learn from but I believe sometimes you just easily connect with a person’s explanation style. Although, I will say I noticed many similarities to the other sources I have enjoyed learning from. This was seen in the way Mikaela  walked you through the steps at a slow enough pace to follow along, she repeated the steps multiple times and she shared general knitting knowledge that as a beginner I greatly appreciate. Also, below the video, in the comments, Mikaela shared a link to the written pattern that you could follow along to. I enjoy when sources include these alternative/additional learning resources. A few noteworthy things I learned from Mikaela is:

• When knitting in the round, you automatically get a ‘Stockinette Stitch’ by using only a Knit stitch. Whereas, usually you have to knit one row, purl one row in order to achieve this. This happens because in the round, you are always knitting on the same side of the swatch compared to regular straight knitting needles, where you are alternating the sides of the swatch you are knitting on.
• Using circular needles to knit in the round is called using the ‘Magic Loop Method’. The magic loop refers to the plastic loop that is attaching the needles together. (See photo below for reference).
• An alternative way to ‘Longtail Cast On’ the first layer of stitches, which seems like it could be a potentially quicker way than the way I first learned from Sheep & Stitch.
• A good trick for how to measure out how much yarn you will need for your cast on. I originally learned a formula to figure it out: The width of project x 3. I found this method to be hard on some projects I was doing when I didn’t always know the width. I often just overestimated the yarn and ended up having to cut off the extra, which would result in a waste of yarn. But Mikaela showed a way that makes way more sense for smaller projects. You simply wrap the yarn around your needle and repeat this, until your loops equal the number of stitches you have to cast on. Then since we are knitting in the round, you include an extra stitch as this will be the joining stitch.

8 mm Curricular Needles

Tips for My Next Attempt

After I finished my cup cozy, I did some extra research for ideas on how to improve on my next attempt.  

• I found this video that suggested curricular needles with a longer cable make it easier to knit in the round.
• This video explained to me how to use a stitch marker when knitting. When knitting in the round, it is sometimes hard to know when you have completed one whole line. I used a stitch marker in my project, but after watching this video, I realized I didn’t use it properly. This explains why I found it hard to follow my stitch marker at times.
• This video by Studio Knit shares a brief overview of the five steps of knitting in the round. She mentions that it is important to make sure that all your stitches have the edge facing the middle of the circle, as it is common for the stitches to get twisted in the round. I believe this was my problem when I was knitting in the round and why half my project is ‘Stockinette Stitches’ and half is ‘Purl Stitches’. 

Thanks for following along for another week of my knitting journey!

I figured it was time I had taken my knitting skills and knowledge I have learned thus far and apply them to a project that pushes my comfort zone (only a little bit though) beyond the realm of knitted dishcloths. I came across a pattern that intrigued me for a knitted coaster. Also, since I am new to following patterns I appreciated the easy to follow language used in this particular pattern. In the article, Norman even explains that this coaster pattern is great for helping people practice their stitching technique and form.

Cotton Yarn

The pattern recommended using a cotton yarn since it is more “absorbent and durable” than other types of yarn which makes it ideal for coasters. So I went out and bought some cotton yarn to give it a try. I was interested in trying a different type of yarn since I have only used acrylic thus far. I decided to do a basic ‘Stocking Stitch’ with the cotton yarn to get myself used to it before attempting the pattern. Although, this didn’t go as well as I was hoping. In my previous weeks of learning I had read that the finer the yarn the harder it is to control . I found that to be very accurate! The cotton yarn was labeled as medium weight but was definitely thinner than the acrylic yarn. I also found that the cotton yarn, since it has less give to the material, it was harder to work with and easily showed the imperfections. I accepted there would be a learning curve and was up for the challenge but unfortunately the ultimate factor that swayed me to abandon the cotton yarn was the cramps it was causing my hands. I was only able to do a few rows at best before my hands would start aching. Taking this into consideration, I made the decision to switch back to my purple acrylic yarn that is medium weight and easier on my hands to work with. In the future I will definitely try working with cotton yarn again but will maybe try a bulky cotton yarn instead.

My Review

I found the pattern to be easy to follow and was mostly just a mixture of knit and purl stitches. I used knit stitches to create the border which is considered a ‘Garter Stitch’. I then used a combination of knit and purl stitches to create the ‘Stocking Stitch’ in the middle section. All my previous learning and practice from previous weeks came together and helped me tremendously while creating my coaster. Here are a few things I appreciated about learning from Nimble Needles:

• The blog post was broken up into small manageable sections of information which included quite a bit of bullet points
• Provided only the essential information you had to know and if he felt you might need more information on a certain topic he had links to other blog posts that were relevant to that piece. I felt this created a manageable amount of information presented and I didn’t get overwhelmed, which I have with other knitting blogs in previous weeks.
• A nice balance between pictures and text

The only thing this source was lacking was a video explanation, although considering the simplicity of the pattern and my previous experience with knit and purl stitch I didn’t find it detrimental to my learning at all.

Overall, this week’s learning was probably the smoothest I have experienced thus far in my knitting journey. My coaster definitely has some imperfections, as is expected from a beginner project, but I am really proud with how it turned out and I will only improve from here. I greatly enjoyed learning from Nimble Needles and will be using him as a source in the future again.

My Knitted Coaster

Hey EDTC 300! Welcome back to my knitting chronicles and oh man was it a journey this week!!! Just when I was starting to feel confident in the knitting skills I have developed thus far, I was given a reality check. Since I have been using the same needles and yarn for a few weeks now, I decided I wanted to switch it up a bit.  Until now I have been knitting with 8 mm needles and a super bulky acrylic yarn as both were recommended for beginners. This week I went out shopping and purchased some smaller needles, 6 mm, and a medium weight yarn. I figured is it really that much harder to knit with smaller needles after I have learned the basics? Spoiler alert, the answer is yes!! I felt like I was just learning to knit for the first time again, as I was beginning to cast on my initial stitches. I was feeling uncoordinated and clumsy with the needles and the stitches didn’t want to go on nicely for me as the yarn was slipping around. This sometimes resulted in stitches slipping off the needles and leaving holes in my knitting where the stitch was dropped. Also, I found my stitches to be too tight at times which is a similar problem I had when first learning to knit. As I had learned, this is something that improves with practice and naturally loosens as you become more relaxed with the movements. Overall, it is hard to pinpoint what exactly makes the smaller needles harder to work with, but I will say it does get better once you use them a bit. Luckily, working with the new yarn was a smoother transition for me. I didn’t find much of a difference working with the medium weight yarn compared to the super bulky yarn.

Mistake Rib Stitch

Example of Mistake Rib Stitch from Sheep & Stitch Video

Now comes the next part of my adventure this week. I decided I wanted to try learning the “Mistake Rib Stitch”.  This stitch was recommended by many sources as a beginner stitch since you only use the knit and purl stitch, and it is a one row repeat. This means the sequence for the first row just repeats itself row after row until you are done. I figured this stitch would be beneficial for a few reasons:

• Help reinforce the two stitches I have already learned (Knit and Purl)
• Be a good introduction into patterns, since this stitch involves following a one row repeat pattern
• Heard some suggestions of using Mistake Rib Stitch for knitting scarfs, which is a project I want to dive into at some point

The Learning Review

This week I tried to learn from “The Yarnist” on YouTube but I ended up getting frustrated and trying another YouTube video by “The Nervous Knitter”. However, both of these resources left me extremely frustrated and I will admit I went back to my usual go to for knitting help which is, Sheep and Stitch. When doing Mistake Rib Stitch, the stitches casted on have to be a multiple of four (4, 8,12,16, etc.) and then add 3 to your total number of stiches. The purpose of having a specific number of stitches is due to the pattern being a sequence of 2 Knit followed by 2 Purl and repeat until you get to the remaining 3 stitches, which you do 2 Knit and 1 Purl.  This seemed pretty basic but when you are switching between Knit and Purl Stitch, you have to move the yarn from the front to the back and vice versa whenever you switch. This is because Knit Stitch requires the yarn to wrap around the back of the right needle, whereas the Purl Stitch requires the yarn to wrap around the front of the right needle. What happens when you don’t switch the yarn is your line of stitching looks like random hoops and twisted yarn. There is no real stitch formed. I should have taken a photo of the product that these mistakes created but I was too frustrated at the moment. I have created a video in order to give you a visual representation of my explanation.

When comparing all three sources I realized they all did a good job at explaining the background information about the stitch. However, The Yarnist and The Nervous Knitter left out some information I consider to be important. This includes:

• They didn’t explain the need to switch the yarn from the front to the back. For a more experienced knitter this might not of been a problem but since I am lacking experience, I didn’t catch onto that on my own.
• They both knit pretty quickly and didn’t slow it down or explain the techniques. I believe they were both thinking their audience was already confident with the combination of stitches being used (knit and purl)

Whereas, when watching the Sheep and Stitch video it included the explanation about switching the yarn and it also slowed down the stitches as she was doing it which allowed you to follow along easier. Also, she included additional text in the video along with her verbal explanations which helped my comprehension. See image below as an example.

The ironic part of this story is in The Nervous Knitter video she said, “I really don’t know how you can make a mistake on this stitch, but it is called a mistake rib stitch”. Well, I guess she overestimated her viewers’ abilities!

I believe that The Yarnist and The Nervous Knitter have the potential to be good videos for other learners who maybe need less of an explanation and just an general overview, but for me and my learning journey it just wasn’t a great fit!

My Mistake Rib Stitch Knitting

Well as my knitting journey continues this week, I discovered there are two distinct techniques for knitting! Who knew?!?  When I was learning knitting from Sheep & Stitch I just assumed there was only one way to knit but I have now discovered that I learned what is called “English Knitting”. The other one is called “Continental Knitting”. While trying to learn more about the differences between the two techniques, I came across this article by Handy Little Me that was full of interesting information.

Continental vs. English Knitting

Continental

• Also called “German Knitting” or “European Knitting”. As you may have already guessed from those names, this is a common knitting technique in various parts of Europe
• Left hand holds the yarn and controls the tension
• Sometimes referred to as “pickers” due to the motion of the right needle picking the yarn and wrapping around the yarn that is being tensioned with the left hand
• Beneficial for people who struggle with arthritis, since smaller movements mean less strain on the hands, wrists and fingers
• Has the potential to be a faster knit, which is good if doing large projects and wanting to speed things up

English

• Also known as “American Knitting”
• Right hand holds the yarn and controls the tension
• Sometimes referred to as “throwers” since the right hand “throws” the yarn around the right needle
• This style is often taught to beginners since the movements are easier to grasp when first learning how to knit. I found this true in my own learning experience.

I will admit that in my attempts to learn Continental Knitting I wasn’t very successful. I found it to be a hard technique to learn, even after watching multiple videos from different sources. I gave it a fair shot and I am okay with not being able to do Continental Knitting in the end. I heard that once you have learned a particular style, it can be hard to switch to the other style. I feel that since I have learned English Knitting I prefer to just remain with that technique for now and focus on improving my skills from there. Also, there is no substantial benefit for Continental opposed to English Knitting, it is more a personal preference.  In saying that, I do plan to give it another shot further down the line once I am more confident overall in my knitting ability.

 My Learning Experience  

Overall, I really enjoyed learning from the source Handy Little Me. I imagine it is going to be another one of my ‘go to’ resources. I was exploring the website and found so many blogs I want to read that I think will be beneficial in my journey! This article I found, nicely lays out the basics that a beginner knitter should know, including a list of basic supplies. I even found a section that explains how if doing knit stitches only it technically makes a “Garter Stitch”. I had documented about this in one of my previous blogs since this is a piece of information that was left out of many sources I originally learned from and hadn’t known until I stumbled upon this realization myself later on. Another beneficial feature is Handy Little Me is connected to various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, X and TikTok which makes it easy to find valuable content of hers. Also, she has many different free knitting patterns to download, ranging from easy to hard, which I am excited to try in the future! The only problem I had with this source, is some of the blogs were extremely long and had an overwhelming amount of much information to digest. The other thing was there were quite a few ads that kept breaking up the information and this interrupted the nice flow of the webpage. However, those were both minor things and barely even noteworthy. I would highly recommend checking out Handy Little Me to anyone who is knitting, no matter where they are in their journey!

As I have been going along this knitting journey, the one thing I noticed is that it is easy to lose track of how many rows you have knit. I found this particularly hard when doing the stocking stitch last week, where I had to alternate one row purl, one row knit. At one point I got distracted at the end of the row and then couldn’t remember if I had done purl or knit for that row. I thought, I can’t be the only one having this problem, there has to be some kind of knitting tool available to help! Luckily, in my search I stumbled upon the app Knitting Genius. As I started to explore the app and seen so many functions that I was clueless too I realized there is so much about knitting I still don’t know. A lot of the functions were related to help with patterns which I don’t have much experience with yet. These included:

• Swatch Adapter
• Yarn Ball Converter – Helps you figure out how many balls of yarn you will need to use for a specific pattern by asking how many meters/yards/grams your ball of yarn is and how much the pattern calls for
• Distribute Increase & Decrease
• Length: Unit Converter (meters, cm, inches, yards)
• Needle Size: Unit Converter (Metric, UK, US) – depending on the pattern it might tell you the size of needles by UK standards and you will need this tool to convert to US sizes.
• Wool weights: Units Converter

Additional Functions:

• Tutorial videos for various stitches
• Glossary – Abbreviations used in the patterns available on the app
• Patterns available to use
• Row counter
• App is multifunctional since within the app there is the ability to specify and select whether you are knitting or crocheting
• Ability within the app to join an online knitting community to access forums and ask questions to other members

Critiques of App

• Frequent ads when trying to flip between functions and when exploring the app
• Despite all the functions, seems like a low budget app, which make sense considering it was free and you are able to access all the functions without any in app purchases
• The tutorial videos were not too helpful as there wasn’t any voice over explanations. The videos were primarily a person knitting a specific stitch and music playing in the background. Some videos had text boxes explaining along with the knitting, but still found it hard to follow.

Row Counter

Now that I have told you about the various functions and what I didn’t like about the app, I am excited to share that I was happy with the row counter function. Which, in reality, was the tool I set out to find anyway! Once I clicked on the row counter, I was able to name my project (in case you have multiple projects happening at once) and then chose whether I was knitting, crocheting, using a machine or using a loom. Once the basic counter was setup, I was able to modify and create two counters. One counter for my knit rows and one for my purl rows. I can switch between the two counters fairly easily by clicking on the button in the upper right corner that says “Part 1” or “Part 2” depending on which counter I am on. I was also able to label the counters “Knit” and “Purl” so that I don’t get confused. A few other handy functions I noticed was “Voice Control”. When activated, this allows you to say the word “Next” and the counter will automatically increase your count by one. This would be convenient if you don’t want to put your knitting down to press the buttons. Another function available was a timer that you can use to time how long it is taking you to do each row. That doesn’t sound very beneficial to me, as I like to be relaxed while knitting and not worried about the time it is taking me, but I am sure some people would use it.

Overall, despite the downfalls of the app I will say it was rather user friendly and easy to navigate. As time goes along and I learn more about the world of knitting patterns I might find myself using the app more but for now I can’t see myself using the app for much more than the basics, which includes the row counter!

Photo by Canva

Last week as I was knitting I discovered that the stitches were incredibly tight on the needle, I could barely get the yarn to move. I ended up coming across this video on how to fix tight knitting. Through this video I discovered that this is a common occurrence when you are first starting off learning how to knit, as you are nervous. Thus, results in holding tighter to the yarn as you are afraid it will slip off the needle. Eventually you will become more comfortable and less nervous which will allow the stich to naturally be looser. In the video she suggested:

• Use wood or bamboo needles as the yarn grips easier to these.
• Also suggested a larger needle size.

I am already using large wood needles so that was a nice affirmation that I am on the right track. I also learned this happens when you are using only the tip of the left needle and not maximizing the rest of the surface space. I followed this advice and it seemed to really help make the knitting looser and made the yarn easier to work with.

Purl Stitch

This week I decided to learn the purl stitch as when I was researching different knitting stiches, Sheep and Stitch mentioned that purl stitch and knit stitch are the two basic stitches you should learn. It sounds like all the other stitches are a combination of these stitches or build upon these stiches. So this seemed like the logical next step. I ended up using two different videos to teach me the purl stitch. Both of these videos were great resources but also had their downfalls. I found when learning online it is good to learn from multiple sources, as sometimes one source will leave things out you didn’t even know are important. Also, I found I struggled with keep good tension on the purl stitch which is something that came naturally and easier to me when doing the knit stitch. I know with practice this will get better as I become more comfortable with this new technique.

Also, I think it is important to note that while I was practicing the purl stitch I stumbled upon a piece of information I didn’t realize I was missing. I was practicing my purl stitch, row after row, and when I looked at what I was creating I realized it looked the exact same as my previous dishcloth I had made. This left me confused and wondering if I was doing the technique wrong. After some researching, I discovered that since knit and purl stitches are exact opposites of each other when you only do the one you end up with a combination called a garter stitch. This means that in my previous work, even though I was using the knit stitch technique I was actually creating a garter stitch. In order to see the true difference between the stitches, you have to do what is a called a stocking stitch (or stockinette stitch). A stocking stitch is one row knit and one row purl.

Studio Knit Video

Pros:

• This video was good to learn from in the sense that she repeated the purl stitch many times, so was a good example of repetition when trying to learn
• She also slowed down each step, so was great to visually see what was happening
• Video was short and direct to the point which is beneficial if you just need to see how to make the stitch without needing to know any background information or if just looking for a refresher

 Cons:

• Only showed the breakdown of the technique and didn’t give any additional information on the purl stitch

Love Crafts Video

Pros:

• Great visuals for each step along the process of purl stitching
• Provided general knitting information, including the difference between knit stitch and purl stitch and how to visually tell the difference. Explained that knit stitch are flat ‘V’s’ and purl stitch are bumps.
• Demonstrated the knit stitch first and then the purl stitch which helped to see the comparison of the two and understand that they are exact opposites of each other. This was very helpful to know when learning about knitting in general and when trying to figure out how the stitches go together.

Cons:

• Nothing noteworthy

Overview of What I Learned

• When doing a stocking stitch one side is knits and the flip side is purls
• Knit and purl stitch are opposites of each other.
• Knit stitch is right needle goes underneath the left needle and the yarn wraps around the back of the right needle
• Purl stich is right needle goes on top of the left needle and the yarn wraps around the front of the right needle

Thanks for following along with Amber’s Knitting Chronicles and I look forward to what next week will bring for my learning journey!

Photo by Canva

Wow! What an adventure I have had this week with my learning! I didn’t do much learning in the aspect of my knitting as I wanted to have the opportunity to practice the basics of knitting (cast on, knit stitch and cast off). I wanted to get a good grasp on those skills before carrying on as I believe if take the time to create a strong foundation with those basic skills, it makes things a lot easier as you go along! Also, this week I knew I had a learning curve coming with the technology side of creating a video and man was it right. Things don’t always go as smoothly as we would like but within it all is a learning opportunity. Lets dive into mine!

Options to change the speed of playback on video

Well to start, I jumped on the bandwagon and joined the TikTok community! I don’t have much experience with TikTok at all. I had downloaded the app a few months ago just to see what it was all about, but I ended up scrolling for a few minutes and then decided that was good enough. That was the extent of my association with TikTok up until now! I knew I wanted to create a video to document my learning project this week and I was always a bit curious about how to create a TikTok video as I know students at my school often talk about them creating these videos. I figured it can’t be that complicated! Wrong! I found it to be an overwhelming space to navigate especially since I don’t have any prior experience with video creation apps or programs. I found the most overwhelming part was all the options that were available when editing the video. At one point I even found myself Googling “How to change the speed of a TikTok video after recording” and this resulted in me watching a TikTok about how to edit in TikTok!! Another frustrating part was I had the video segments all edited and timed out and was just needing to add music when it all got erased!! I accidentally clicked on a button that I thought would help me with sound but when I tried to cancel it somehow reverted all my work back to the original videos I had started with. Ahhhhh!

Caption Creation Options

Anyway, after I got those few hiccups figured out and I started to gain more confidence in exploring the editing tools I started to find the fun in the process! I was amazed at all the options available and the creativity that can be used to create these videos. I would recommend taking the time to just have fun exploring and trying the different features without pressure of needing a completed product.

The learning definitely didn’t stop here though! I had to publish the video on TikTok before I was able to save it to my phone. Luckily when you publish you have the option to keep it private, meaning only you can see it. Once this was completed, I then started on the journey to uploading the video to YouTube. Which once again, I had never upload videos to YouTube before but I needed to do this extra step in order to share it on my blog. I found YouTube to have a very user-friendly platform and the process seemed seamless. Too seamless? Yes! A problem arose once the video was published with copyright infringement due to a song I used for the first part. I discovered that although it has been okay on TikTok, on YouTube when a video is less than 3 minutes long it automatically converts it into a “short”. The problem was the song I had chosen wasn’t allowed to be played on a “short” that was longer than 60 seconds. Although, the song I chose for the second part of the video was allowed to remain. This left me with two options:

1. Go back to TikTok and create the video all over again and chose a different song
2. Have YouTube erase the song off my video

Due to time restraints and frustration building I went with option #2. The result is a less than perfect video with music starting hallway through the video but what I think this shows is the reality of learning. Learning isn’t perfect, it is a journey that often takes twists and turns and sometimes gets messy. In the words of The Beatles, sometimes you have to start stop fighting the reality and just “Let it Be”.

TikTok in the Classroom

In my connection of TikTok video editing to classroom use I believe this tool is important to experience as a future educator. I believe it will help me to connect to my students as it allows me to understand something that is a part of their everyday life! Also, tools such as this can be used to make assignments more relevant and engaging to students. I may not be able to get them to create TikTok depending on the social polices, but I can have them create a video in a similar style using another approved platform. I feel that incorporating this into an assignment would allow my students to use their creativity and utilize their knowledge to show me their own learning in a relevant way for them.

How come even when it is something we are interested in we sometimes procrastinate getting started? Is it fear of failure? Fear of the unknown? Uncertainty? Overwhelm? Who knows but I will say this was me starting this learning project! BUT after finally getting started I had so much fun learning the basics of knitting. I found this really great website called Sheep & Stitch. They have many resources for anyone who is knitting, right from the beginning basics to the more experienced patterns. They also have a Youtube channel full of videos to help!

The Basics I Learned

• A bulky yarn and larger size needles are recommended for beginners as it is easier to handle
• I used a 8mm needle and a super bulky acrylic yarn
• Bamboo or wood needles are recommended for beginners as the yarn is less likely to slip on these needles versus other types
• The labels on yarn bundles will always tell you the type of yarn & the needle size recommendation
• When starting a project consider the width of the project you want to make and times that number by 3. Then measure out that much yarn and start your slipknot on the needle at that point.
  • You want to make a scarf that is 6 inches wide (6 x 3 = 18 in). Measure out 18 inches and then start your slipknot from there.
• The first row you make on the needle is called a “cast on”
• After learning how to cast on the needle, I learned the basic “Knit Stitch”

Thoughts on Sheep & Stitch

• I enjoyed the layout of the webpage as it was in manageable chunks and provided the necessary basics without giving too much information at once, which would otherwise overwhelm a beginner.
• The videos were easy to follow. The demonstrations were slow enough to follow along and they also repeated every step along the way. So you could easily see it twice in a row in case you got lost the first time.
• Also, in case you learn better via pictures versus video or just want to look back for a quick reminder, on the webpage below the video, there are step by step pictures of the process
• It also provided little “Pep talks” along the way. It took a few watches and many attempts before I got the hand of the knit stich. Then just when I thought I got it, it became confusing again and didn’t work. So I went to continue reading on the article for additional support and what I came across instead was a “Pep talk” telling me that it is normal to not get it on the first or second time and to just keep trying. It definitely look me A LOT more attempts than 2, more like 12? I think I stopped counting after 10 but this was the motivation I needed to hear! I had gotten confident when I quickly learned the cast on and assumed the knit stitch would be just as easy!

Stay tuned for more updates on my knitting adventures next week! I feel I have gained some momentum after finally taking the diving into learning and I am excited to build on my foundational skills of knitting! There is no stopping me now! After I finished my first knitting experience, I was motivated to make a logo for my blog on Canva. I used their logo template and just changed the text style & words.

Photo by Canva