Not much Knitting Going On

We had inventory this week. Lots of hard work. Lots of little scratches on the hands. And one really good paper cut at the joint of my right index finger. I really don't want to pull little strands of acrylic, nylon or wool through them. I'm sure the pain would be sublime.

But here is a progress pic on my very second garment.


It's a very basic sweater vest. I don't know I'm ready for sleeves just yet. I'm making it with Caron's Simply Soft. I love the feel and hand of it. I just wish it had a better twist. When I have to frog it (not if) the yarns twist loosens a bit and it becomes a little hard to re-knit.

Book Review-- Domiknitrix

Domiknitrix by Jennifer Stafford

In my quest to learn to knit mostly on my own I've been looking for books to help me figure it out. This one has been the most helpful. Not only does she use clear photographs but the descriptions of the techniques are clear with out being infantile. She shows more than one casting on technique. She even talks about how to work with circular needles. There are tips through out the book that most beginner books don't get into and would have to learn the hard way. It's really more of a beginner to intermediate book. Which is about where I'm at. I'm pretty good at the basics but want to learn more.

And I just love the patterns. The female sweaters are feminine but not flowery/girly. There are very sleek lines. As I read the patterns it became clear that shape of the garments are as if we're making the fabric and putting it all together as a sewn piece. She also, talks about putting in zippers. I like that. Being a little busty the buttons on sweaters never look very good on me as they always want to pull a bit.

This one is a keeper. I know I'll always be able to go back when I have a question.

How I started

Two years ago at Christmas I told the hubby that I wanted some kind of starter knitting kit. He works at Michael's and is in the best position to get it. I'd started crocheting again as a way to be creative and still be able to put a project down at a moments notice depending how my new daughters needs went. I was looking at projects and the ones I wanted to do were knitting. I started with the knit stitch and that went pretty well. With the purl stitch... not so much. I'm essentially kniting left handed and the drawings in the book included continental knitting, I just didn't get it. And with my broken wrist that never really healed properly I was in some pain and frustrated. Then I remembered Youtube. I bet they'd have videos to help me learn.

Here's the one that really helped me figure it out

Basic Purl Stitch