Category: Learning Project

Over the course of this semester I tried to learn how to knit a semester. Spoiler alert, I did not knit a sweater. It is not that i was unsuccessful in learning how to knit, but that i just didn’t give myself the time to actually complete the sweater. This is not to say that I gave up on the project as I fully intend to finish it I have just learned that I am an incredibly slow knitter, which I should’ve seen coming as I am also quite a slow crocheter.

I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of resources there was online for knitting. The act of finding the resources to learn to knit was actually incredibly easy and I very quickly found easy videos to follow. I did find that because I already knew how to crochet there was skills from that that I could apply to knitting and the whole learning process became quite easy.

I am very proud of what I was able to do and learn just by using YouTube videos. So, although I did not complete my sweater I would say that I did successfully learn to knit and that I will continue to knit in the future, which is exactly what I wanted to get out of this project.

I found that this project allowed me to open my eyes on just how useful the internet is on education and how the internet can be a very useful tool in the learning process. We are definitely in an age where the internet is unavoidable, but at the same time it can be used in many aspects of our everyday life that make our lives easier.

Although I crochet before I began to knit I had a very narrow view of knitting and who was knitting. I had just put myself in a small circle of the fiber craft community and neglected everything else. It wasn’t until I started to develop an interest in knitting that I realized knitting had just as big, if not bigger, of a community as crochet. From my small knowledge of knitting and what I have seen online it just looked like a small community generally of older women, but as soon as I continued to search online I found a wide variety of knitting content and a lot of it by young people. Also what was being knit was not what I was expecting. I always knew knit to only be clothing, sweaters, socks, some shirts, and not much else, but once I started looking I found many amazing things being created. One of the biggest thing that fascinated me was the different styles of knitting and the use of different type of yarns. I never knew that you could even knit this type of stuff at all.

  

While looking at knitting on Pinterest I was able to find some incredible cool pieces of clothing that were all made be ways of knitting. Truthful, I had no idea that styles of clothing could even be made like this. Finding out that this is something that can be done by knitting was incredibly interesting. It allowed me to gain a higher appreciation for the craft and really want to start learning  how to do it even more.

Without this project I probably would have never gave knitting a serious try and I wouldn’t have been able to see knitting as more that just a tradition craft and something that can express so much individuality and creatively.

Knitting can be quite a tedious task, especially when you are not used to doing it. Over the past couple weeks I have drastically slowed down on my knitting and am finding it mighty chore to do. This is not the best thing as I am trying to complete a sweater before the end of this course, so now I have a lot of catching up to in order to finish. Yes it is possible to finish, but I have decided that it is okay if I don’t as long as I genuinely gave it a chance and tried. This is by no means me trying to give up or quit, but I want to give myself a little slack on this one thing so I can focus on more important things (like the blog posts). I’m still working my way through it and am really proud of my progress. As long as when I am done with this project I feel like I have learned and improved I feel like this will be a success, its not the completion of the sweater that matters, but the process of learning the skill that matters.

This is where I am currently, which I know isn’t a lot of a difference from before, but I see the progress and that is what is important. It has also been great to explore the knitting community on places like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. I have found awesome content creators and am even in a knitting and crochet group and Facebook. I’ve discovered that fiber arts is an amazing community of people.

So for this week I know we were supposed to find a new app or tool we’ve never used to document our learning project. For me this was a terrifying though as I felt most of these apps and tools were pushing towards videomaking (my worst nightmare) then I stumbled on an app called knitandnote and this is an app specially made for knitters. This app may not document my knitting in the way you’d want it to but it documents the process for me.

In this app you get to organize all the projects you want to do or are doing, find patterns and creators, and have you yarn and tool stash all in one place. It allows you to see what you are working on and your progress on it as well as keep track of what yarn and needles you have to make the projects you want. I have found it extremely helpful, in the little time I used it, in allowing me to look at where I am on my project just on my phone.

This is the projects  page of the app that shows a bunch of information. It has the title of the project and details including, needle size, gauge, start date, who it’s for, size, yarn type and how much you use or will use. As well, it has a feature for a row counter which allows you to input how many rows  you are in and for what parts of the project. For example, my row counter is currently for the body of the sweater and i am 29 rows into it. So after each knitting session or as I’m going along i can add how ever many rows I’ve knitted so i can easily keep track of my progress. This is also especially helpful for if you have to put a project down for awhile as all the information you need is right there so you can jump back in without confusion. There is also a feature where is you are using one of the hundreds of patters on the app you can attach it to our project so you know what pattern you are following for the project.

Speaking of patterns this is library page where all the patters you can use are located. there are so many and you can search through different categories and types of projects. you can also go to specific designers who make patterns for this app. this app also has blog posts so you can read articles about knitting or peoples stories about knitting

The final feature I’m going to talk about is the stash and tools page where you can log all the supplies you have. This is so neat as now you don’t need to dig through all the yarn you have to find what you need to start a project and it keeps it logged for you in on place. It also has feature that will help you take a pattern and make it work for you if the pattern doesn’t work for you as it is.

This type of app was completely new to me and I have fallen in love with it. I am very excited to keep working with it. Also, this type of online organizer and community could be beneficial in a class room setting where its teacher resources and for student work and assignments. Essentially it a one stop shop for organizing and finding projects that make it very easy to keep track of your work.

 

So i made a boo-boo. I was really getting into my sweater when I realized I was making a huge mistake. I was forgetting to add a  row of just knit Stitches between my increase rows, which would make it increase too fast and them it would get all floppy instead of a nice gradual increase that lays nice. Unfortunately I didn’t realize right away so I was getting quite far into it and at that point there was no fixing it. I ended up having to take all my work apart and start over. Yes this is no the best case scenario, but now going back I am really paying more attention and am becoming more consistent. So, yes bad start, but now my sweater will be better than it would’ve been. I really cannot be that upset as I know it is for the better, not only will me sweater look better but this gives me more practice to make my knitting better.

On a good note, the hand cramps are GONE! I have been knitting enough that my hands no longer hurt when I’m working and now I can work way faster. It is becoming extremely fun and i love doing it. There really isn’t anything better that slowly seeing my work come together. Since this is a top-down sweater that means that I am beginning the work at the neck and working my way down the body then going back and doing the arms.

This here is where my work is currently since having to start over. So I am currently working on the ribbing for the collar. All this consists of knitting one stitch then purling one stitch. This sweater honestly works really fast as it is just involves those two stiches for the entirety and for the body you switch to just knit stitches so its even faster than the collar.

Something I have come to love is watching people on Youtube knit or crochet while I work. Some of my favorite people to watch are it’s erin b., Jenna Phipps, and Anna Kallajian. These are some creators that I have found that I love. Also these creators have great informational videos about yarn crafts and even will have patterns on their page which makes it super easy to try new projects. They are honestly very comforting to watch and by watching them they make me want to be more productive on what I’m working on.

Now lets hope that I do not make anymore major errors and I can smoothly get this sweater done!

For my learning project I have decided to really get into knitting. I have been crocheting for years and a while ago i thought I’d take the next step and also become a knitter. Guess what, it’s very different than crochet and for me extremely difficult. I really struggled to get a hang of knitting so I quickly lost interest and quit. I still remember some of the basics such as, casting on, the knit stich, and the purl stich, which is a good starting point, but I would need much more to complete a project.

The first thing i did when I wanted to learn was to go to YouTube. There are plenty of videos for beginners and i was able to find one video on Knitting for beginners that I found to really work for me. Honestly I have found YouTube a great resource in general. there are so many knitting/yarn youtubers that it makes is so easy to learn stitches and find patterns that work for beginners.

Another website I have found and love is Yarnspiration. They have such a wide variety of yarn to buy or just to look at and they have so many free patterns for both knitting and crochet. having one place for all this makes it incredibly easy to get started on a project. The free patterns are really why i love the site, I mean who doesn’t love free!

Now to get to my actual project! I have decided that i will attempt to make a top down raglan knit sweater. I found a great patter by handmade by florence on YouTube. She also has a free written pattern to go along with the video which I though was great as sometimes it is easier to follow a video and sometimes it is easier with a written pattern. I already have a ton of yarn around my house so all I needed to get was some new knitting needles and I’m all set.

Hand cramps. Hand cramps are kind of hardcore. Since I’m not used to knitting I am having a quite difficult time keeping my hands relaxed and comfortable. Also, I have to use my left hand a lot more than I do when I’m crocheting so that’ll take some getting used to. Right now I can only knit for not even thirty minutes before my hands start cramping up very badly. I feel this is cause I have a hard time controlling my needles so i have to really tense up my hands while I’m knitting. I’ve only been knitting for a little bit now and I’m very hopeful that this is something that will get better with time.