Tag: teaching knitting

Posted in knitting

Unraveled – 4-01-26 Update on knitting

Posted on by Laura Kate

Hello friends, Kat’s post today reminds me that it’s been a while since I reported on my knitting project. The three color vest is at the stage where the body has been finished and the shoulder seams are sewn. I’m very disappointed to report that the darn thing is unacceptably short!

The shoulders fit, the armholes are generous and the width is ample. The vest bottom edge reaches me about my mid rib-line. And due to its construction, I am having trouble figuring out how it can be lengthened without creating a Frankenstein.

With this knit now in time-out, I was approached by a friend last Saturday about teaching her to knit. We had discussed this several months ago, but she wasn’t quite ready. Now she is fired up about making a Melt the Ice hat. (Must have been at the No Kings rally.) So I agreed to help her. I already had purchased the pattern a few months ago in a gesture of support for Minneapolis fiber friends.

Thinking that it would help her to see a finished hat, I cast it on Sunday.

Wanting to get started right away, I just grabbed a skein that was in my stash – not red, but a very pretty and soft wool and silk blend in a slow change color gradation. When my grand daughter saw this, she immediately wanted a hat AND a scarf in these colors. It’s good that I have a recipient for the sample.

On to reading: This week I finished A World Appears – A Journey into Consciousness, by Michael Pollan. Those of you who are already Pollan fans will enjoy this book. I would suggest that you read How to Change your Mind first. His experiences while under the influence of psychedelics form a framework for how he approaches the subject of understanding consciousness.

I found the read a bit challenging, but very absorbing. The chapters on evidence of consciousness in plants and artificially intelligent computers were particularly interesting.

Hope all of you are well. After a brief heat wave, it is again cold here in Iowa. So I am huddled down with my reading, knitting and quilting this week.

Posted in knitting

Repost: Cast-on Monday: I-Cord Fun

Posted on by Laura Kate

My class on knitting I-cord jewelry starts Saturday October 22nd, at my local art association. So today, I am reposting my blog on this topic from earlier this year.

——- Laura Kate———

Last week I was recruited to teach a class at my local art association. I said yes, but I was at a loss on what to present. The introductory knitting classes which I taught last year were very lightly attended. I had to do some recruiting just to get a minimum number of students.

Thinking about possible roadblocks to knitting, I came face to face with certain inalienable facts about the craft:

  1. The learning curve is steep.
  2. Projects take a long time to finish.

What if I narrowed the number of skills required to a minimum, and what if I used these few techniques to make quick-to-complete projects? ……………..

The answer is I-Cord! This little add-on is used for strings for tying knitted hats and other decorative frou-frou. All it takes is a few yards, a cast-on, and repeated knit stitches over a very short row.

So today I am researching and stitching up all kinds of I-cord accessories. These projects will include jewelry so I will need a selection of beads.

The two strings in the left of the photo were purchased today. All the others I had acquired in the past 3 or 4 four years.

I also perused my stash for left-over fingering weight yarn. (No shortage here.)

To kick things off I worked up this 18-necklace using tonally dyed merino wool and some porcelain beads.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-beaded-i-cord

My version is made with just one strand because I had only 24 beads. I love how each bead dangles below the cord. I am wearing it over a shirt, but this necklace would also be soft against bare skin.

A bracelet is next.

http://lovingtopurl.blogspot.com/2017/02/3-colors-knitted-i-cord-bracelet.html

I sewed one end of the three strands together, braided them and then sewed the other end. The crimping finial is designed for holding ribbons so that they don’t fray.

For my third item, I switched to worsted weight yarn and move up to a size 5 needle. I was so happy to use up the left-overs of this lovely variegated Malibrigo merino.

This necklace doesn’t use a pattern. It will be made to my own specifications.

And here are my three I cord samples as of dinner time.

This should be enough material to work up a class proposal. I will also try making a headband and a multi-strand necklace.

Posted in knitting

Cast-on Monday: I-Cord Fun

Posted on by Laura Kate

Last week I was recruited to teach a class at my local art association. I said yes, but I was at a loss on what to present. The introductory knitting classes which I taught last year were very lightly attended. I had to do some recruiting just to get a minimum number of students.

Thinking about possible roadblocks to knitting, I came face to face with certain inalienable facts about the craft:

  1. The learning curve is steep.
  2. Projects take a long time to finish.

What if I narrowed the number of skills required to a minimum, and what if I used these few techniques to make quick-to-complete projects? ……………..

The answer is I-Cord! This little add-on is used for strings for tying knitted hats and other decorative frou-frou. All it takes is a few yards, a cast-on, and repeated knit stitches over a very short row.

So today I am researching and stitching up all kinds of I-cord accessories. These projects will include jewelry so I will need a selection of beads.

The two strings in the left of the photo were purchased today. All the others I had acquired in the past 3 or 4 four years.

I also perused my stash for left-over fingering weight yarn. (No shortage here.)

To kick things off I worked up this 18-necklace using tonally dyed merino wool and some porcelain beads.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-beaded-i-cord

My version is made with just one strand because I had only 24 beads. I love how each bead dangles below the cord. I am wearing it over a shirt, but this necklace would also be soft against bare skin.

A bracelet is next.

http://lovingtopurl.blogspot.com/2017/02/3-colors-knitted-i-cord-bracelet.html

I sewed one end of the three strands together, braided them and then sewed the other end. The crimping finial is designed for holding ribbons so that they don’t fray.

For my third item, I switched to worsted weight yarn and move up to a size 5 needle. I was so happy to use up the left-overs of this lovely variegated Malibrigo merino.

This necklace doesn’t use a pattern. It will be made to my own specifications.

And here are my three I cord samples as of dinner time.

This should be enough material to work up a class proposal. I will also try making a headband and a multi-strand necklace.