I’m Back – Knit Sweaters, Master Knitting Program and YouTube

I’m really awful at keeping up with this. I’m back and I am now a – drum roll please – YouTube creator. I did a few videos about a year and a half ago but they were simply not good and I dropped it.

How did we get here?

Some of you may already know, I’m the mother of three kids, two with special needs, and I work full time as an accountant. If you are on Tik Tok or You Tube, you know I don’t sleep that well. I’m up most mornings between 3 and 4 am. I was away at a respite retreat when I should have been sleeping, but instead I stumbled upon this master knitter’s program. I’ve been knitting for about 30 years, so why not? Then I looked at the program and read/watched reviews of what is required. I was floored. My knitting experience may be vast, but my technique is not.

Do I spend the money, jump full on into it and get frustrated? At that point, I had knit three sweaters in the space of less than two months and none of them fit as expected. The fourth sweater wound up being huge as well.

Let’s start at the beginning with GAUGE.

I decided to knit the Wasabi Sweater from Custom Knits 2 again, but this time for my daughter. I had to go down two needle sizes to get the right gauge.

I did the provisional cast on using a crochet hook instead of figuring it out while in the car on a two hour ride.

I blocked the sweater. For the FIRST TIME. Did I mention I’ve been doing this for THIRTY YEARS!

It came out – perfect. I added a cabled ribbing, and it is perfect.

Onto sweater number 6. Let’s tackle color work. I picked the Darkwater Sweater by Jennifer Steingass (Knit.Love.Wool). I made my swatch and went down one size with my needles and a size down since my swatch was wide. I can knit it longer. I will knit it longer!

So far so good.

Boxy By Joji Locatelli
It’s supposed to be wide but I made it REALLY WIDE!
Sprinkles on Top Sweater
Sprinkles on Top Sweater – too small
Wasabi Sweater – Too Big
Wasabi Sweater -Just Right
Darkwater Sweater – Jennifer Steingass (So far so good!)

http://youtube.com/@knitwerks/videos

Purling

I consider myself an experienced knitter. I have been doing it for over ten years now. I like cabling, know various stitch patterns and have done limited lace work. So I was surprised to find out that I’ve been purling incorrectly this whole time. I think this comes from teaching myself to knit in the pre-youtube age. I thought purling was just pulling the yarn through the back of the knit stitch. Apparently not. That is how you twist the stitches. Purling is a little more complicated than that. You actually have to wind the yarn around the needle and then pull it through the loop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAMD_XpybQY

But I know none of you out there have this problem. We all have the internet and we all know youtube is a knitter’s best friend.

Knit Therapy

There is a reason that I latched onto knitting so long ago.  Knitting and crocheting are great for stress relief and depression.  The repetitive motion is soothing.  It is like watching tv with white noise.  The mind blanks out.  The world, its stresses, the rambling unending thoughts dissipate.  It’s an escape- even if temporary.  It’s also great because you are creating something and can find fulfillment in that.  It is also cheaper than therapy, unless of course you love really expensive yarn.  Think productive meditation!

I also knit in the car to keep my eyes off the road while my hubby is driving.  I think it helps our marriage in many ways- especially to keep me from backseat driving.  Well, most of the time it does.  It’s a portable hobby and still becoming more trendy.  It is even easier to learn in the age of YouTube and the internet.  Anything you’ve ever wanted to know is at your fingertips.