Completing Knitting Projects

Today I spent a good chunk of time working on the socks that I've been  making. I turned the heel, which is always the most challenging part for me. It's a relief to have both heels completed.  Now it's smooth sailing. I can zip through straight stockinette on the foot. I keep hand written notes of the other socks that I have made on my sock pattern. On them I write down the type of yarn, the shoe size,  and the number of rows that I knit for the foot. I also record the size needles that I used. If I'm knitting on tiny circular needles, I use a half size larger dpn's for the toe. This pair of socks is for a woman who wears a size 7 shoe.  My mom used to wear the same size, and I knit her several pair of socks when she was still alive. We would always discuss how they fit. Since I'm a size 9, I try on the sock, and then start the toe decreases an inch before they would reach my big toe joint. It's nice to be able to custom make your knits. With store bought socks, I always used to just buy the one size, that fits 9-11. They look small compared to these, and fit tightly. Hand knit socks are so much nicer, I think. They are really special. After wearing the first pair that I had made myself, I knit a pair for every day of the week. I also give them as gifts to friends and family.

Yesterday I finally figured out where I was going wrong with the window pane stitch. I had written in my notes to knit on the purl side, and pearl on the knit side.  (for the final rows in the contrasting color.)  I had also listed it as two rows of garter. That's why I kept having trouble. It was actually one row of pearl on the pearl side, and then another row of pearl on the knit side, in the contrasting color. I'm not used to making something like this without a pattern. It sounded so easy. When the woman who taught it to me offered to write out the pattern, I told her not to worry about it. That was a mistake. I learned the hard way that there are several critical details. One was to start the pattern section on the purl side.  Now I understand it, and can duplicate the sample blanket that I was given. It felt so good to finally fix my mistakes. I was really agitated and upset about it. I just could not let it go, and kept going back and trying to fix and re-knit it. I finally succeeded.

This afternoon I set out my knitting projects on the coffee table, because I have been avoiding that blue vintage sweater. It's the one out of the lovely silky wool that I was given. My stitch count on the front ended up being incorrect, because I forgot that the front of the sweater has more stitches than the back. I will have to rip it out and fix what was wrong. I'm putting it in front of me so that I will be motivated to work on it. It's always worse in my mind when I need to correct an error on a sweater. Seeing the shape and design again  makes me realize that it's too pretty to neglect. It's been sitting for two weeks in my knitting bag, which  makes me feel guilty. I can always start with the sleeves. That will get me inspired. Sleeves are easy. These are short and ribbed.

I received a few unexpected and kind messages from old friends in the past few days. There may be some exciting opportunities in the works. You never know what the future holds, especially when you've worked in show business. I feel lucky to have met so many wonderful, talented people.       

Why Ballet Dancers Make Excellent Knitters

When I first started taking knitting lessons, I found that my classical ballet training helped me immensely. There were so many parallels. In ballet, you work on technique every day. You go back to the barre and do the same exercises, over and over, striving for perfection. Your technique builds over time. It becomes more refined and pure. Your muscles retain the memory of the work. Your body starts to mold and reshape. It's exciting and invigorating.

Knitting gave me the same kind of high. I was different that the other beginning knitters. I liked to practice stitches. When I first started, I just did miles of plain knit, (or garter stitch.) I did the same thing with pearling. I wanted to practice and develop the muscle memory. I knew it would take me hours and hours of knitting to get to the point where I felt like my stitches looked good enough to wear. Once I felt comfortable with knit and purl, I moved on to stockinette. I found that VERY exciting, because it looked like a sweater. Wow! I imagined that one day I, too, would be able to make a sweater. That was an absolutely thrilling concept to me. Ribbing was another milestone. It opened up a whole new world to me.

I learned some of the stitch combinations by knitting cotton dishcloths. They were simple, fun, and quick. I whipped out one for each day of the week. I loved seeing the different designs. Diamonds was my favorite. I liked it so well I decided to make a scarf and to extend the pattern. It came out even better than I had imagined. I think using cashmere yarn had a lot to do with it.

Dancers are incredibly disciplined. They are trained to take correction, to fix their mistakes, and to repeat choreography until it is perfect. This is very helpful in knitting. If you have to rip something out, because it's off, that's just par for the course. Dancers don't get upset about things like that, because we spend all day working on precision, accuracy, and line. Art can always be better.

Dancers also practice every day. They don't skip days, weeks, or months. This really helps in knitting. It keeps your work consistent. Your stitches are the same size, and you remember your place in the pattern. Dancers are very focused, and they work constantly on memorization. The rhythm, concentration, and repetitiveness of ballet transfers right into knitting. You're used to finishing your classes, which correlates with finishing your knitting projects. Dancers wash out their dance clothes every night, and they regularly sew ribbons and elastics on their pointe shoes. For a dancer, blocking their knits so that they look professional is second nature. Although many people today don't like to wash things by hand, we are used to it. We don't mind taking good care of our things so that they last.

Dancers are also talented, dedicated, and sensitive. They enjoy beauty, grace, and creativity. All of these qualities exist in knitting. Even better, ballet dancers look fabulous in designer clothes. They can wear anything. Bring on the cashmere!