I'm so very proud of my friend Valerie for being a determined, surprisingly skilled brand-new knitting gamer. She asked me to teach her last week, and I was won over by flattery (N.B. - Flattery works wonders, all of you who want someone to teach you to knit! And cookies. Lots of cookies.). I could tell she was going to be bitten by the bug pretty hard, and that she's going to turn into a knitter of formidable talent. We've talked about my knitting before, and it was fairly clear that she's a crafty girl at heart, and furthermore, previous attempts at crochet had been met with confusion. Normally, bi-craftitude is fine with me, but this crochet confusion reminded me of others I've known who instinctively find one of the two really easy and the other more difficult. Unlike other times I've taught someone, this time I'm really going to start a fire.
Lesson one last week had both of us blinking up at the clock on my wall, struggling to understand where the last two hours went. Yes, my friends, it was that good. We went to one of my favorite local yarn stores and petted skeins while I gave her a quick overview of fibers, their uses, and how knitters tend to feel about them. Then we tore ourselves away from the yarn because we had caught the store briefly closed before an evening class...so sad it was! Michael's was at least able to provide acceptable beginner gear, so we purchased some (totally underrated) Paton's Classic Wool and a pair of US7 straights. I discovered that a dice bag...a simple rectangle of stockinette with garter ends, seamed up the sides...makes an excellent first project for the noob knitting gamer. Longtail cast on and the knit stitch were promptly taught, and our subject assimilated the skill like a born knitter. Purl required a little thought at first, but within a row or two she was turning out stunningly even stockinette. Mama was so proud!
Lesson two involved Baby's First Knitting in Public when she joined me for my knitting group this week. She made only minimal errors in a commendable six inches of stockinette without me, so we covered how to tink and, eventually, to great triumph, how to bind off and do a mattress stitch seam. There is no greater "high" for a baby knitter than to (1) finish a project and (2) be able to flash your very first FO around in front of a group of six knitters who all understand just how amazing that is. Further reinforcement came from her SO, who has already requested a dice bag of his own. When she confessed to me that, upon entering Michaels for a different purpose, she found herself with yarn in hand, it was a good feeling. When she went on to say that the only reason she didn't buy the yarn was that she couldn't find the knitting needle aisle, it was music to my ears. Baby's first brush with the urge to stash AND her first bout of startitis at the same time...in the first week? The force is strong with this one :).
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Valley of the Shadow of No Wool
I've been in a little bit of a slump lately with my knitting, so I'm not churning out the goods with the enthusiasm of previous months. I know this happens, and I know it never lasts, but there are just too many other things that need to be accomplished and knitting just isn't quite soothing my ills the way it so often does. Patience is a virtue and one that Knitting herself is most generous in bestowing on us, but the patience I need to wait this one out is just not appearing.
My knitting's suffering is primarily due to the fact that I have a new research project I'm carrying at work. Between learning how to use the automated slide stainer, performing literature searches for background information, and moving forward my previous project, my time at work is at something of a premium. The in-between times while waiting for something at work used to be prime knitting time, but now it's just not there. What time I do have is being hijacked by the need to study for Step 3, to be taken in October, and continue work on my Match application. It's no fun when things suddenly heat up like this, but it happens.
Another issue that is just killing my drive to knit is the fact that I made an agreement with my husband not to buy any more yarn until Wisconsin Sheep and Wool in four weeks. My stash is big enough to last, but I'm just not inspired. The large percentage of cheapass acrylic doesn't help, of course. I have projects in mind that simply cannot be done from stash and the projects that can be all strike me as blah. The pair of ribbed socks I have on the needles right now and the fancier socks for my husband are just not doing it for me. Poor guy...everything I have planned to knit for him ends up in the "I'm bored with this" pile. The most exciting, inspiring thing I've done with fiber lately is learning to spin, but I have not a single scrap of roving on which to practice and I'm not allowed to buy any yet! Aaaaaagh! Why, why did I do this?
Oh yes, and did I mention that it's summer, for heaven's sake? Even handknit socks are too warm to wear, and early Christmas gift planning rings just a little hollow.
Runners, I'm told, keep themselves going by fixing their vision on a point far down the track. They keep their eyes on the next goal and the next until the finish line is crossed. To what shall I fix my eyes? Wisconsin Sheep and Wool, of course, for one thing. I'm so excited about meeting the sheeps and the sheepiedogs, finding nice roving and handspun, and just having a grand time. But that is not going to be happening for a while. Instead, I'm looking forward to helping bring a brand new knitting gamer into the world...my friend Valerie. She too is a gamer and has asked to join our cul...er, I mean, hobby...after hearing my enthusiastic testimonials. We are going to go to a fabulous local yarn store and pick her out something nice, after which I will teach her to knit. Her first project: a dice bag...only fitting for a knitting gamer, no?
My knitting's suffering is primarily due to the fact that I have a new research project I'm carrying at work. Between learning how to use the automated slide stainer, performing literature searches for background information, and moving forward my previous project, my time at work is at something of a premium. The in-between times while waiting for something at work used to be prime knitting time, but now it's just not there. What time I do have is being hijacked by the need to study for Step 3, to be taken in October, and continue work on my Match application. It's no fun when things suddenly heat up like this, but it happens.
Another issue that is just killing my drive to knit is the fact that I made an agreement with my husband not to buy any more yarn until Wisconsin Sheep and Wool in four weeks. My stash is big enough to last, but I'm just not inspired. The large percentage of cheapass acrylic doesn't help, of course. I have projects in mind that simply cannot be done from stash and the projects that can be all strike me as blah. The pair of ribbed socks I have on the needles right now and the fancier socks for my husband are just not doing it for me. Poor guy...everything I have planned to knit for him ends up in the "I'm bored with this" pile. The most exciting, inspiring thing I've done with fiber lately is learning to spin, but I have not a single scrap of roving on which to practice and I'm not allowed to buy any yet! Aaaaaagh! Why, why did I do this?
Oh yes, and did I mention that it's summer, for heaven's sake? Even handknit socks are too warm to wear, and early Christmas gift planning rings just a little hollow.
Runners, I'm told, keep themselves going by fixing their vision on a point far down the track. They keep their eyes on the next goal and the next until the finish line is crossed. To what shall I fix my eyes? Wisconsin Sheep and Wool, of course, for one thing. I'm so excited about meeting the sheeps and the sheepiedogs, finding nice roving and handspun, and just having a grand time. But that is not going to be happening for a while. Instead, I'm looking forward to helping bring a brand new knitting gamer into the world...my friend Valerie. She too is a gamer and has asked to join our cul...er, I mean, hobby...after hearing my enthusiastic testimonials. We are going to go to a fabulous local yarn store and pick her out something nice, after which I will teach her to knit. Her first project: a dice bag...only fitting for a knitting gamer, no?
Monday, August 8, 2011
Ask the Knitting Gamer 2: Learning to Spin at a Gaming Convention
Hi all zero of you! Many apologies for the unexpectedly long hiatus, and the exact reasons for it are still a little unclear, so I won't explain. My husband and I have returned from Gen Con with a few new stories to tell, a few new games, a few new friends, and a few new skills. In order to avoid a super-long post with all the details, which are going to come out over time anyway, I thought this might be an opportunity to do another round of Ask the Knitting Gamer!
Gooooood morning, and welcome to round two of Ask the Knitting Gamer - the Con Edition. Shall we get started?
Let's.
(1) As a knitter, why would you want to accompany your gamer to a huge national convention like Gen Con? What bribes were necessary?
Conventions like Gen Con can be incredibly fun for a knitter, so there was little need for bribes. Although a little handpainted sock yarn couldn't hurt.
Aside from the charms of the con itself, with the wide variety of costumed persons, wandering minstrels, games to demo, and the like, there are non-game events sponsored by the Spouses Association. And many of these...are fiber arts classes! Yay!!! As noted in the title, I learned at this year's convention, in an introductory-type manner, the fine art of drop spindle spinning from one of these. There is, of course, a "knitting 101" and "crochet 101", but there are so many more, and there are more every year.
(1) Give us the straight dope then...Are the classes really any good? Would a person who already possesses some skillz in knitting and/or crochet actually want to attend, or are we the ones who teach this stuff?
They are surprisingly fantastic, and there are more than purely introductory classes. My spinning class was taught by a totally gifted teacher who happens to live about 45 minutes south of me, so I'll be seeing her at the state Sheep and Wool Festival next month, no doubt. Her teaching skill led me to crave my next hit of cra...I mean, roving. Despite the pure suckitude of my attempts at learning, she eventually got me to loosen my sweaty death grip and figure out what drafting really means. In sheer gratitude, I may end up feeling good enough about my spinning to send her some handspun someday. The best part of learning this at Gen Con was that I then got to sit down at the table where my husband was playing a game and watch all the other players stare at me like I'm the Second Coming as I practiced spinning.
(3) So, what else can the gamer-loving knitter do at Gen Con?
Live in the open crafting room!
No, I kid. There is far too much else to do to live with donated Red Heart. One can go on a haunted walking tour of the downtown Indianapolis area with a representative of the local Paranormal Society...if one was insufficiently surrounded by weird already. The vendor hall is full of a wide range of items, including a jeweler booth where I purchased a set of bronze DPN's, replicas of a set found in a 13th century grave in Estonia. One can sit down to dinner with a couple of gamers and find out that one of them has a knitter wife, and that the other is a gamer lawyer who enjoys discussing exactly what you can or cannot do with a purchased pattern. Last but not least, you could actually play a game. DM's are often amused by a player who knits during a Dungeons and Dragons run and may incorporate this into the character.
(4) What did you knit during Gen Con?
I finished a pair of plain socks and most of a plain, soft hat. Oh yeah, and I knit a little swatch of my very first handspun. I'm proudest of that.
Gooooood morning, and welcome to round two of Ask the Knitting Gamer - the Con Edition. Shall we get started?
Let's.
(1) As a knitter, why would you want to accompany your gamer to a huge national convention like Gen Con? What bribes were necessary?
Conventions like Gen Con can be incredibly fun for a knitter, so there was little need for bribes. Although a little handpainted sock yarn couldn't hurt.
Aside from the charms of the con itself, with the wide variety of costumed persons, wandering minstrels, games to demo, and the like, there are non-game events sponsored by the Spouses Association. And many of these...are fiber arts classes! Yay!!! As noted in the title, I learned at this year's convention, in an introductory-type manner, the fine art of drop spindle spinning from one of these. There is, of course, a "knitting 101" and "crochet 101", but there are so many more, and there are more every year.
(1) Give us the straight dope then...Are the classes really any good? Would a person who already possesses some skillz in knitting and/or crochet actually want to attend, or are we the ones who teach this stuff?
They are surprisingly fantastic, and there are more than purely introductory classes. My spinning class was taught by a totally gifted teacher who happens to live about 45 minutes south of me, so I'll be seeing her at the state Sheep and Wool Festival next month, no doubt. Her teaching skill led me to crave my next hit of cra...I mean, roving. Despite the pure suckitude of my attempts at learning, she eventually got me to loosen my sweaty death grip and figure out what drafting really means. In sheer gratitude, I may end up feeling good enough about my spinning to send her some handspun someday. The best part of learning this at Gen Con was that I then got to sit down at the table where my husband was playing a game and watch all the other players stare at me like I'm the Second Coming as I practiced spinning.
(3) So, what else can the gamer-loving knitter do at Gen Con?
Live in the open crafting room!
No, I kid. There is far too much else to do to live with donated Red Heart. One can go on a haunted walking tour of the downtown Indianapolis area with a representative of the local Paranormal Society...if one was insufficiently surrounded by weird already. The vendor hall is full of a wide range of items, including a jeweler booth where I purchased a set of bronze DPN's, replicas of a set found in a 13th century grave in Estonia. One can sit down to dinner with a couple of gamers and find out that one of them has a knitter wife, and that the other is a gamer lawyer who enjoys discussing exactly what you can or cannot do with a purchased pattern. Last but not least, you could actually play a game. DM's are often amused by a player who knits during a Dungeons and Dragons run and may incorporate this into the character.
(4) What did you knit during Gen Con?
I finished a pair of plain socks and most of a plain, soft hat. Oh yeah, and I knit a little swatch of my very first handspun. I'm proudest of that.
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