Just a Small Error

Much to my delight, the blanket for my husband is progressing well. I've been trying to knit every day, even if it's only for fifteen minutes. Until a few days ago, that plan was going well.

Then, to my chagrin, I noticed a problem a few rows down in the knitting. Unfortunately, the error occured on a cable row, making it difficult to correct without pulling out rows. Rather than risk making the error worse in my correction attempts, I ripped out about four rows.

Progress Shots:

















The first photo, of course, is when I first cast-on. The second is a photo of when I finally felt like I was making some progress. The third photo, shows how the blanket looked before I had to rip out a few rows. I had left my tape measure at work. The dpn was used as a reference for length. (The blanket is currently about 9 inches in length.)

I'm almost finished fixing the problem. I made the mistake of putting the knitting into the bag without point protectors on it, while in a hurry. This caused a few dropped stitches that now need to be fixed and then the journey to gift knitting will once again be back on track.

In the mean time, I've been reading Knitting In Plain English by Maggie Righetti. I started reading it years ago but was a little put-off by some of her opinions or her writing style. I don't remember which one. I remembered that there was really good information in it and decided that I could use some real advice about making knitting really work for me.

When I first started knitting, I had imagined I'd learn the basics. Then, I thought I'd just learn a few stitch patterns, "do the math," and just knit whatever I wanted. I assumed that most patterns were written well, and in clear language, and also that knitting a few written patterns would help me learn more about knitting fabric, knitting techniques, and garment construction.

Fast-forward a few years and even though I know more than I did when I first started, I don't know half of what I thought I would. I am now committed to learning more. I'm starting with reading this book, then possibly Sweater Design in Plain English or Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. I plan to pull out my Elizabeth Zimmermann DVD's and videos since I enjoy them much more than her books. I'll be practicing the new things I read and watch so I'm looking forward to the days to come.

Hopefully, one of these days I'll be a much more confident knitter.

Until then, I'm using what I know to knit what I can, and I'm enjoying that!