Master's Monday 4

It is quiet out there on the knitting blogs--I guess everyone is reading. I had an agreement with Mr. Interrupted that he could read the book first, so I wonder if I am the only Harry Potter fan not reading book 7 right now?

So, today is Master's Monday. Here's the best of what I worked on this week.

I'm unhappy. That was done on a US 5. See the holes? *grumble* (Also, that is not as good a picture as I thought. Sorry!)

I really hesitate to go down to smaller needles for fear of being unable to get a 4x4 square--you must cast on 20 stitches, you see. Also, I'm not sure if going down a needle size would really solve my problems. Perhaps I just am not a good enough knitter (yet) for the Master's program?

Besides, I'm starting to feel the pressure of my many other knitting projects. You know, the ones with a holiday deadline? (I'm sure you have them too.) So, I've decided to focus on SoS and Holiday knitting and pick up the Master's program again in December or January. That way, I'd get in a few more months of solid knitting and approach the swatches fresh.

So long (for now) Master's Monday!

Master's Monday 3: The story so far

TKGA's Master Knitter program requires candidates to knit up a series of swatches to demonstrate the knitter's knowledge of basic techniques. Here are my three attempts at the seed stitch swatch:

The seed stitch swatch must have no holes in it when held up to the light. The middle swatch was my first. Not only is it full of holes, but it is also not a square. The bottom swatch was my second attempt. I pulled each stitch so tight that knitting it was not natural for me. Also, there were holes--not as many, but still. The top swatch was my third and best, but still, there were holes in it. I was feeling frustrated, but figured I'd send it the best one and perhaps the reviewing committee would have suggestions for me.

Then, this week Ravelry added a groups feature and, guess what, there is a group for people working on the KGA's Master Knitter program! I joined. Many of the posters had the starter package, but hadn't really done much of the knitting and the moderator suggested that knitters start out with the seed stitch swatch because

"if you start with the seed stitch you can keep going down in needles size ... until you reach a swatch you are happy with. Then you can use that needle size for the rest of the swatches that need to match. No re-knitting of the earlier swatches needed."

I had a major aha! moment. My problem was that I was knitting the seed stitch at a gauge that was just too big. Since the swatches must all be knitted with the same needles and in the same gauge, I decided to do something drastic. Here are all the swatches I'd knitted as of last night:

The offending seed stitch swatches are not pictured, and most of the swatches are beautiful. Here is what it looked like when I was done (frogging them all):

Oh my gosh, it looks just like Ramen noodles! Anyway, today I will soak the yarn in hot water to get the kinks out, then I will begin again. This time I'll start out with the seed stitch swatch, on a smaller needle. Maybe a US 6?

Master's Monday 2

In our defense, we would like to point out that we got our invitation to Ravelry this weekend.



Obviously, we would have done more of the third seed stitch swatch reknit, but Ravelry demanded I worship at the altar of its awesomeness consumed time which we would have otherwise been spent knitting. What were we supposed to do? More next week. We promise.

Master's Monday

I have mentioned before that, along with 3 of my knitting friends (not one of them has a blog!), I am working on The Knitting Guild Association's Master Knitter program. I decided to borrow (again) from Marlene over at Wovenflame, and set aside Mondays to post about my progress. Hopefully, being accountable to the Blogosphere will help keep me moving this project along.

Candidates in the Master Knitting program knit up a series of swatches, a few specific kinds of projects, and prepare a research notebook, all of which is sent to be evaluated by a review committee. A pin is awarded upon successful completion of all three levels of the program. It is actually very interesting work and I am looking forward to improving my knitting skillz and to learning some new techniques--especially the Arrrgyle sock (sorry, my inner pirate got the best of me there. Aarrgh).

So far, I have knitted and blocked nine of the required sixteen swatches and have three I plan to reknit. Also, I have knitted the two lace swatches, but have not blocked them. Here are some swatches about to be blocked:

See the lace one? I decided not to do that one. Here they are, all blocked and behaving nicely:


So, there are 9 swatches blocked, tagged, and bagged, plus two to be blocked. That leaves 5 more to go, plus the project--a stripped hat. Also, I will need to answer the research questions and write the paper. I'm still feeling a little ambivalent about that, but I think I'll manage.

Finally, did I tell you my cat was cool?

Going up to Eleven

I, along with a couple of my knitterly friends, have decided to take the knitting geekiness to the next level by joing the Knitting Guild Association and entering their Master's Program. Clearly, I don't know everything there is to know about knitting. I figured this would be a great way to challenge my existing skills while also gaining new ones. Is it geekier than the Knit Geek code block? You bet. In fact, it's one louder.