I usually answer questions that are asked in the comments section in the comment section, or if I am emailed a question I just reply to the individual. But the other day I thought to myself, there are probably other people that would like to hear the answers too. So I decided to answer some of them in my entries. This also benefits me, because it gives me something to blog about haha! For those of you that have a blog you can definitely relate to this. Sometimes it is really hard coming up with something to blog about five days a week(let's face it i'm not that exciting haha), and I feel bad when I skip days.
Anywayssss, another really good question was brought up in comments, and I thought other people may want to hear the answer. Nancy writes...
I'm just a beginner so point me in the right direction. Knit and Purl are it for now. Easy patterns. Just finished a poncho and feeling brave. How do I know which ones are easy from your list? Would love to try your new yarn.
Honestly Nancy I never let it cross my mind if a pattern were appropriate for a beginner or not. My very first project was a striped sweater and my second project was a pair of socks. You know how to knit and purl so believe it or not you are way more prepared than you think. Knitting is based on variations of knitting and purling together. Once you know how to do that the rest is a piece of cake! I say pick a pattern you would love to do, and then go for it. When you run into something you don't know how to do, you can go to the links I am providing below, and I bet you will get your answers.
I am a self taught knitter. Everything I know has come from information I have aquired via the internet and books. This is one of the reasons I was compelled to start the link lists on my blog. I know some people can become overwhelmed when looking for information, and it is nice to have it all compiled in one place. Any time I learn something from a website I will post a link. Any time I make a mistake and learn how to fix it, I will blog about it.
The most important advice I can give you is to remember is this is all for fun. I always tell my students,"Relax! You aren't knitting for world peace, and noone's life is depending on a picture perfect stitch. Just enjoy yourself!" And the beauty of it all, is that when you mess up (and you will trust me everyone does.) all you have to do is rip it and start again. Tadah! It's like magic. Nothing is lost, and you get more practice. Or you get a striped sweater with arms way too long and you just roll them up!
I make a point to learn new things as often as I can. This means that I will inevitably make mistakes along the way, have to rip and start over, run across something I don't know how to do, etc. I'll never let me skill level stop me from making something I love, because I know I have a world of information at my beck and call.
So I'll say again, Go for it! Have a blast. The worst thing that will happen is you'll have to knit more! Perish the thought!
Knitting At Knoon
Knittinghelp.com
Philosopher's Wool Video
Stitchguide.com
Socks 101
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Good Question
Yarn Info Request (This is how the inventory will look for my yarn)
Peruvian Collection Baby Silk
Spun in Peru exclusively for Elann.com
80% Baby Alpaca 20% Silk
Answering Questions
Happy Saint Patrick's Day Everybody!!! I figured for today's entry I would answer a couple of questions. A few of you wanted to know where I ordered the Jaeger Handknits JB35 book from and how much it costs. One place you can order it from is Patternworks, and it costs 16.50.
When I went to order from them, I discovered they were out of the book until May 20th. (They are back in stock now) My friend Janette told me she was placing an order with Ram Wools, and she asked if I would like her to order my book when she did. Thank you Janette! Hopefully it will get here soon because I am dying to knit with the Baby Silk! I told her to not be surprised if she gets a knock on her door right after she calls to say it is here. Yesterday I linked to the other site because it had better pictures of the patterns that were included in the book.
Inez asked for information on knitting machines. Unfortunately, I don't really know too much about them. I can tell you one thing though, around Christmas time I start wishing I owned one or a machine that slows down time. Since I don't know enough to really answer any questions, I did a google search to see what I could come up with. Hopefully these links will be helpful.
About.com Machine Knitting Patterns & Information
Bond Knitting Machine Patterns
Knit Addicted's Machine Knitting Links
KnittingAnyway.com
Machine-Knit.com
