I started a new sweater Friday night. I did it partly because Saturday was the monthly "Crafty Ladies" meeting and I had volunteered to do a knitting tutorial, but wanted to bring a simple project for when the other people were working, or if no one showed up who wanted to learn. All of my current projects were either more complicated and required more attention, or were close to a point requiring more attention (the left front of the Ropes and Picots cardigan is within an inch of having to work the armholes).
So I looked over the possibilities and decided upon the Basketweave Pullover. This is a Melissa Leapman design - it was originally published in a back issue of Interweave and is also in their "Best Of" book (which is what I'm working from).
It was apparently designed to be a man's sweater, or at least, they show a man modeling it. But it's kind of a unisex design. And I do like a nice knit-purl stitch pattern:
This photo is a bit dark but it shows the stitch pattern better.
This one gives maybe a truer idea of the color:
Even that one doesn't really do it justice - it's a very bright clear blue, like a blue-sky blue. (I remembered it as being more turquoise, but it's not that green - this was yarn from deep in the stash).
The yarn is a Elann's Peruvian Highland - not the softest yarn out there, and it does pill a bit more than some yarns. But the color range was (is? I don't know if Elann still sells this yarn) great, and the price is good.
I'm doing the smallest size - the 44" (this is a sweater designed for men.) It will be a bit big on me but that's okay with the style, and also, since the yarn isn't that soft, I'll probably wind up wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt or turtleneck under it. (Well, also - if I wear it on campus, several of our classrooms have a tendency to be overheated in the fall and if I wear a sweater, I need to be able to take it off.)
The tutorial went okay, I guess. I had only tried once before to teach someone to knit and it didn't go that well - but then, she was an impatient person who wanted to learn to knit in the round IMMEDIATELY to be able to do socks, and while it's not that hard to learn to knit in the round...well, you have to walk before you can run.
There were four people at the tutorial: M. basically knew how to knit but needed to review, J. had knit some 15 years ago but had largely forgotten (or so she said), T. had never knit before, and B. (T.'s daughter) also had never knit.
Once I showed M. how to cast on again (she had originally learned the knitted cast-on, so I reviewed that for her), she was good. And once J. got past some challenges with casting on, once she started knitting in garter stitch, it seemed to come back to her. (At one point she said, "I can't believe I'm doing this! This is so cool!" which made me smile.) T. got cast on and I think one row knit, and B. got frustrated and kind of gave up, despite T. reminding her many times that she was still learning and it was okay to mess up. (That's okay. B. may not want to be a knitter, and that's fine. She has other talents in other areas.)
I only went over casting on and the knit stitch; I figured in two hours' time it was probably too much to throw much more at them. We are meeting again next month for me to do part 2 - purling and binding off and other bits and pieces. (Actually, M. already knows how to purl and probably bind off, but that's fine).
I also told all of them that if they were practicing at home and wanted any pointers or advice, they could bring their stuff on Wednesday nights once the Wednesday night program starts up. (They are all people who will be there anyway).
I don't know if any of them will keep knitting - I don't know that any of them will become hardcore, have-to-knit-or-else knitters like I am, but still - I think it's good to have that kind of a skill, even if you don't use it much.
6 comments:
Good for you! I really don't enjoy teaching people how to knit because I feel bad when they get frustrated when they drop stitches and get holes etcetera etcetera. I'm glad you got three going!
Good for you! I really don't like teaching people to knit because I feel bad when they get frustrated due to drop stitches etc. I'm glad you have a 75% success rate!
Good for you.
For what it's worth, here's how I do it.
(1) I always teach people to knit in the round FIRST before someone has a chance to tell them it's supposed to be "hard."
(2) I start them off making a 60-stitch bag -- just a simple drawstring bag, with stripes if they feel adventurous. They work it on a 16-inch circular needle, so it's small and no sticky double-pointed needles. (It's in my projects - "claning" on Ravelry.)
(3) I teach them the knitted-on cast-on because it's virtually identical to the knit stitch. So they only have to learn one thing.
Most of the people I've taught do seem to get it.
Oh, and I try to get them to RELAX because a lot of new knitters knit very tightly in an attempt to control the yarn.
Hope your new knitters are enthusiastic and successful!
In the beginning knitting classes I teach at Joanns, we learn the long tail cast-on. I tell them that's the hardest thing we'll learn that lesson. Once everyone has their stitches cast on, we move on to the knit stitch. When the class is for kids, we just knit garter stitch until it's time to bind off and then they learn that. In the adults class, we also learn the purl stitch in addition to binding off. That's how Joanns has structured the classes. Sometimes I have students who catch on quickly; others struggle and occasionally one gets so frustrated she gives up. Last week I had a man in one of the classes, a first for me.
They were lucky to have a skilled teacher!
I learned from my mother and remember the frustration, but also the pleasure of learning. Long-tail cast-on is the only way I ever learned, maybe I'll try the knitted cast on someday.
ooo ooo I'm drooling over that photo. gorgeous stitch pattern.
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