Category: Free Inquiry

March 25, 2021 EDCI 336, EdTech, Free Inquiry Post a Comment

Ready for a Project!

I have gathered materials, worked through my stitch patterns, figured out how to increase and decrease stitches, and have even deciphered the language of patterns, I think I am ready for a project! The possibilities are endless, and as long as it isn’t a scarf or a blanket! My daughter took a flip through my books and was taken with a pattern to make a sweater for a small dog. Both of our dogs are over 90 lbs, and the pattern didn’t offer any different sizes, so how am I supposed to pull this off? 

Enter Mazzy! Mazzy is the most recent addition to our furry family. She and her 4 kittens came home with me unexpectedly last summer after I did a big animal transport for the Victoria Humane Society from Mission, BC. No one was lined up to foster them, so I figured I could just sneak them into the house along with the 125lbs Great Pyrenees X dog we were going to foster. “Mama Cat” as she was known was found with her kittens at the Williams Lake dump. She was emaciated and sick, and after all her kittens found homes, and multiple nights searching for her in our neighbours’ yards when she snuck out a cracked window, I decided (while on my belly in the dirt under a neighbours front steps) that I have saved this cat too many times to ever let her go. I just needed to convince the rest of the house to feel the same way, which eventually worked!

Both of our cats are incredibly social, tolerant, and adventurous, but we decided that Mazzy would be the perfect feline model for this project! She measured a little bit smaller than the small dog in the pattern, but I figured it would all work out somehow in the end. I let one of my daughters pick the colours out of yarn that I already had, once the watermelon palette was chosen, it was time to get to work!  

As I have mentioned in previous posts, reading knitting patterns is quite the art form! When something didn’t make sense and I would ask my mom, she would say, “Well, what does the pattern say?”, to which my response was usually, “I have absolutely no idea!”. With YouTube always at the ready, I started to figure things out. One thing that I really appreciate about knitting is the visual cueing that something isn’t quite right. I am able to tell when things have gone sideways (and they most certainly did), go back and attempt to fix it. I am not going to lie, I ripped out this project at least 3 times and started all over again, but eventually I got into the groove and made it to the end!

Is it perfect? Absolutely not! There are places where things aren’t quite how they are supposed to be, and it is a bit more like a horse blanket than a sweater, but I am so proud of myself! As a prof in a previous course told us, it is ok to struggle, that is where the learning happens. There was a lot of struggle, but as a result there was a lot of learning, and I think secretly Mazzy really likes her new sweater! I am super excited to take on my next project. I think I might attempt a sweater for a human this time! 

 

 

           

 

March 1, 2021 EDCI 336, EdTech, Free Inquiry 1 Comment

Stitch it out!

Once I decided to try and improve my knitting game, the next question became where to start? All the books that I have gathered seem to follow the same layout. They introduce the basic things, like the materials you will need, different types of needles, how to cast on, and then they all move into stitch patterns, so it makes sense to me that is where I should go next.

I easily moved through the first few patterns such as stockinette, ribbing, and garter stitch, but then things started to go a bit sideways. As far as I was concerned, I was following the stitch pattern, but here is the thing I have learned about knitting, your knitting instantly tells you when things aren’t quite right! Learning how to read knitting patterns is like learning a whole new language. EVERYTHING is abbreviated, and if you don’t know what those abbreviations mean, you might as well not even pick up your needles.  Here is a little teaser from a chevron eyelet stitch, Row 3 *K2, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, SKP, k2; rep from * to end, what does that even mean?? I tried phoning my mom, but she didn’t answer, so off to YouTube I went. I honestly don’t know how people learned to knit (or do anything frankly) before YouTube was a thing.

It turns out that I was reading the very first line of the stitch pattern wrong which was sending me down the garden path of disaster. In the picture below, in the brackets you can see where it says “multiples of 7 sts plus 2”. I took that to mean for every 7 stitches I cast on, I add two more, essentially casting on 9 stitches each time. But what it actually means is that you cast on how any many multiples of 7 you need, and THEN you add 2 bonus stitches at the end after you have all of your multiples of 7 on your needle. I had set myself up for failure by having the wrong number of stitches, so the pattern would never turn out how it was supposed to. Once I figured that out, I was off to the races!

I was easily able to move through the rest of the patterns. I figured out how to increase and decrease, knit and purl through the back, and work new colours into a piece. I was so proud of myself for working through my frustration and figuring it all out. I now have a nice little collection of colourful swatches, and a little bit more confidence in my knitting skills. Now that I have made it through all the stitch patterns, I am cautiously optimistic that it is time to attempt my first project. Flipping through my books, the projects all look way above my newbie skill set, but I am sure there is something in there I can tackle….and it won’t be a scarf!

January 28, 2021 EDCI 336, EdTech, Free Inquiry 1 Comment

Sharpening my Needles

I think I am really ready to give this a whirl!

I grabbed some books from the library, picked up a “how to knit” book from my favourite local book store, and told my mom to get ready for a lot of questions! The funny part about that is that there is a 21 hour time difference between the two of us. Sometimes those burning questions have to wait a few hours, and sometimes I forget about the time difference and send her a trivial text about knitting at 4 am New Zealand time. I also sat down and took stock of what knitting supplies were in the house. I found a few pairs of really big needles my daughters used when they were little, and a really long pair of super skinny ones. First question for mom, “What size of knitting needle should I start with?”, followed by, “Why type of knitting needle do you like to use?”. She suggested I find a pair of 8s. What does that even mean?? Off to google I went.

Just to keep you on your toes, knitting needles can have a metric size, a US size, and a UK size, and of course they also come in different lengths, shapes, and can be made out of different materials. After practicing with the long skinny ones I already had (turns out they are 4mm), I went with my mom’s recommendation and picked up a pair of 8mm bamboo needles. I went with bamboo as I felt it was the most ethically sound choice, and I love the feel of them.

Next up, some yarn. While I did have some in the house, I knew it wasn’t the right type for learning basic stitch patterns. Some was too thick, some was bumpy, and the other one I had was way too slippery. I try to stay away from big box stores and support local small businesses as much as possible, and lucky for me, there are some lovely knit shops in town. Boutique de Laine is a small shop close to home and the lovely woman there was able to help me find everything I was looking for.

The plan for this week is to work through the basic stitches that are shown in the books I have collected, and see if I can make them look like the pictures! I am also going to set up a time to interview my friend Kate who loves to knit and also happens to be in my PDPP cohort. We might even plan a covid compliant knit night!

My mom keeps telling me it will get easier with time, so here’s to hoping she is right!

 

Photo by Nick Casale on Unsplash

Knitting Books by Leah Mathewson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 

January 20, 2021 EDCI 336, EdTech, Free Inquiry 2 Comments

Knit One, Purl One

My Nana taught me to knit when I was a little girl. I was always mesmerized by how fast she could make those needles fly, and loved exploring all the different colours and textures of wool she kept in her knitting basket. My mom is also an amazing knitter. I am so lucky to have some amazing pieces in my closet, all made with love by my mom.

While I had these amazing women as teachers right at my finger tips, I never seemed to progress past the “knit one, purl one” stage. Another scarf anyone?

While I never really spent a lot of time knitting, when I did I really enjoyed it, and found it incredibly calming. It also stirs up a feeling of happiness and comfort as I think of Nana, who passed away many years ago. Being in a condensed post-degree professional program during Covid-19 has been incredibly hard, borderline impossible at times. As I started to think about a topic for this inquiry project, I wanted to settle on something that was going to help my stress levels, not add to them. After tossing around a few ideas, I kept coming back to knitting. My family was full of amazing suggestions, but again, I found myself thinking about knitting, so I felt the decision had been made, knitting it was!

I knew I had some needles stashed somewhere in the house, so I went on a treasure hunt. I found the bag with a few sets of needles and a ball or two of yarn and had a giggle as I pulled out yet another half finished scarf. I ripped it all out, re-rolled the yarn, and sat down on the couch to see what I could remember. After a few minutes of starting at the needles and yarn in my lap, and some trial and error, it slowly came back to me. I was able to cast on, and within no time, I was off to the races, “knit one, purl one”.

My goal for this project is to move beyond “knit one, purl one”. I want to progress with my knitting and be able to attempt some projects that aren’t scarves! Who knows where this inquiry will take me, but I am excited to get started and see what I can create!

Photo by Margarida Afonso on Unsplash