After the long and graphic string of curses finished their mass exodus from my mouth, I threw the needles down like a little kid and stomped off to the other room. Oh how I hate when I cannot do something.
I thought maybe I would just go work on the shawl for my mom, but that damn swatch drew me back in. Those needles weren't going to get the better of me.
I tried again, keeping the yarn looser than before. I finished one row, then another, then another...then thought, "Ok, I've got this. Gotta try to purl now." After the same episode was repeated twice I finally got that down too. Only problem was...I had two more stitches than what I had started with!
How the hell did that happen? I still don't know. If any of you knitters out there have any suggestions as to what happened and how to avoid it...I'm all ears.
Here is my sad excuse of a swatch:
I don't think it's that bad, but the added stitches are bothering me. I need to know what I'm doing wrong. But, now I know stockinette and garter stitch. Woot!
On another note, I was finally invited to Ravelry! I think that is what really spurred on this whole learning to knit thing. Plus, I want to make some clothes and usually knit looks better than crocheted. I cannot wait to use Ravelry to it's full potential! :)
I've met a lot of great knitting/crochet/fiber arts people on Plurk. They have been very helpful and supportive cheering me on. I love my Plurky friends!
To honor Plurk and all of its goodness, I decided to make some Plurk creatures. Here's the one I've finished:
He's cute! I found out that I really suck at sewing. So, one more thing to practice! He turned out ok, but he's missing something. I just don't know what yet.
That's all for now, but you can bet there will be more updates soon! And pictures of the beautiful broomstick lace shawl!
3 comments:
thats awesome!!!
Good morning! I found you through Plurk. I'm glad you stuck with your mini-swatch. It's hard to learn to knit without another human there to help you, so good for you!
I think your swatch "grew" because of one of the most common problems for new knitters. When you are about to begin a new row, your tail of working yarn should be in the front of your work if you're about to purl and in the back of your work if you're about to knit.
If you put that tail over the top to the "wrong" side, you'll double that first stitch and that's how your swatch grows. Hope that makes sense. It's a very easy fix and much easier to show than explain!
Aww, that's a nice first try. I was going to say the same thing as dputiger said about adding stitches. I think everyone does that when they first start. You'll get the hang of it.
Post a Comment