I've moved...to a new website!

It's been a while since I posted anything on my blog, but that's because I've been busy...finishing up my Master Hand Knitter certification (I'm official!), and planning a new website where I can organize my videos, my patterns, tutorials, and more.

You can find me at RoxKnits.com.  I hope you'll join me there!

(This old blog will stay here indefinitely, for those of you with some attachment to the archives.)

Level III is in the mail

I set a goal when I ordered my Master Hand Knitting Level III materials to finish by my 50th birthday, which was about 10 days ago.  I missed the deadline by a couple of days, but I did manage to get it in the mail on March 31, one week after my birthday, and 6 months after I passed Level II.

I had some help.

Katy cat proofread my report on traditional knitting styles*

I'm sure I made some bonehead mistakes, I always do, but for the most part, I'm happy with my swatches and my projects.

I had to design, knit and write the patterns for a sweater and a hat. One had to be an Aran design (heavily cabled) and one a Fair Isle (stranded color).

I made the sweater for Michael.

He kept holding his right hand up against his body.

Studying the ground

I told him to stop doing that, it looked like he had polio.

Gotta love a man who laughs at your jokes

So he contemplated the universe, like any good male model.

And the hat was just an experiment, modeled by Nina.

I expect it will be June some time, at the earliest, before I hear back.  I did get an email from the TKGA office today telling me that the package had been received and sent off to the committee.

*Today was Katy cat's last day on Earth, one month short of his 20th birthday.  He was a good cat, and a great proofreader.  He will be sorely missed.

Short Row Shoulder Shaping Class

I rescheduled my Short Row Shoulder Shaping Class from this past weekend to next Sunday, March 18 at 1 pm at Needlework Unlimited.  If you missed out on signing up for this class, now's the time!

Some sweater patterns have you cast off all the stitches for the shoulder at one time.  Others have you cast off in a "stair step" fashion.  The advantage of the straight bind off is that whether you bind off and seam separately or use the 3-needle bind off (which binds off and seams at the same time), the seam is neat and flat on the inside of the garment.  The disadvantage is that human shoulders aren't straight across, so fabric can bunch under the arm, or the hem can hang lower at the sides.

The advantage of the stair step bind off is that it provides shaping (shorter at the outer shoulders, longer at the neck) that matches the slope of the human shoulder.  The disadvantage is having to seam that stair step edge, which leaves a lumpy inner seam.

Short row shoulder shaping allows you to provide the shaping you need, while maintaining all of the sts on the needle.  This then allows you to seam straight across all the sts or use the 3-needle bind off, giving a smooth finish on the inside of the seam.

This two-hour class will teach you how to do short row shaping, how to convert a pattern with straight across or stair step shaping to one with short row shaping, and will discuss when short rows might not work for your pattern.

The short row technique used in the class will be the German Short Row technique, although the standard wrap & turn method will also be discussed.  German Short Rows give the same result as Japanese Short Rows, but is far less fiddly.  No pins, no wraps, easy peasy!

I hope to see you Sunday!