Chronicle #16: Knitted Letter Washcloth

Lately I have been working on my stockinette stitch. For some reason I have been having difficulty purling. When I first learned to knit, I actually found the purl stitch easier to do than the knit stitch. But now, I am struggling with it. Perhaps I am holding my needles differently and maybe even wrong. Anyway, I wanted to make a small washcloth with the letter B on it to give to a friend, so I found a neat pattern and got busy. What an adventure and lesson learned! Let me tell you about it.

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Chronicle #15: Stockinette Border

The first question that I asked my avid knitter wife and knitting teacher after I had finished a pattern that used a stockinette stitch was whether the edges were supposed to curl up the way they did. I thought I had done something wrong. Though the stitching looked great, I wasn’t too happy with the curling on the sides of my work. Turns out, there are lots of ways to fix that curling; an easy way is to add a Stockinette Border.

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Chronicle #14: About Shamrocks

In observance of St. Patrick’s Day, I decided to knit and give my avid knitter wife an Irish Shamrock. She really liked the Valentine’s Day Hearts that I knitted for her, so I can only imagine and hope for a similar outcome. Over the course of this new adventure, knitting the Irish Shamrock, I learned a few new knitting skills and I also learned a few new things about shamrocks. Let me tell you all about it.

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Chronicle #13: From Yarn to Hat

I had been wanting to knit a hat for quite some time now, so I asked my teacher, my avid knitter wife, for an easy hat pattern for beginner knitters. Knowing my skill level, or lack thereof, she gave me a really good one. It was a pattern for a hat that would be knit on straight needles and then seamed. Easy enough, yet I had to learn a few new skills, so let me tell you about my new adventure in getting from yarn to hat!

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Chronicle #11: Valentine’s Day Hearts

I am pleased to report that I had a wonderful Valentine’s Day with my avid knitter wife. We enjoyed a wonderful picnic at a beautiful park; no computers, no phones. It was just the two of us and well, a lot of other people. You see, the park was one of Disney’s theme parks, Hollywood Studios. But what made this Valentine’s Day magical, truly magical, was not just the movie magic of the theme park, but a special surprise that I knitted for her, three Valentine’s Day Hearts.

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Chronicle #9: Armchair Covers

I am now ready for my most ambitious project and adventure to date. Mind you, I am just on the fourth page of my Knitting Made Easy book and I have so much more to learn, but I have all the skills I need for the project that I have in mind. What makes this project so exciting and compelling for me to do is that I aim to kill two birds with one stone. You see, I hope to beautify my old and ever so comfortable La-Z-Boy chair and at the same time end the conversation about replacing it – a subject which my avid knitter wife has been bringing up with increasing regularity. Wish me luck!

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Chronicle #8: Phone Mat

I really enjoyed learning the Stockinette Stitch. Though I initially struggled with inadvertently making Knit Stitches in my Purl row and sometimes forgetting to alternate between rows of Knit and Purl Stitches, I found a way to overcome those mistakes by saying to myself, “Knit down, Purl across” as I went about my work. After an evening of practice I got the hang of it and I got an idea for my second project, a solution to a problem that I have with my cell phone.

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Chronicle #7: Stockinette Stitch

Having learned how to make a Purl Stitch, I looked forward to my next adventure, the Stockinette Stitch. The instructions in my Knitting Made Easy book for making a Stockinette Stitch were surprisingly brief, alternate knit and purl rows. I thought to myself, I can make a Knit Stitch and a Purl Stitch so it stood to reason that I should be able to make a Stockinette Stitch. Suddenly, I found myself thinking of the quote by Thomas Aquinas, “Men live according to sense, not reason.” Hmm. Though reason was telling me I could do it; sense was telling me something else. Let’s see.

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Chronicle #6: Purl Stitches

Now on to Purl Stitches. My avid knitter wife suggested that due to my past difficulties in understanding the illustrations and instructions in my Knitting Made Easy book, I should let her show me and explain to me how to make a Purl Stitch. Wanting to learn how to make a Purl Stitch all on my own, I started to suggest that I would like to give it a go without her help. But no sooner than I opened my mouth did I get that spousal look, so I said, “Fine. Let’s do it your way.” How do you think things went from there?

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Chronicle #5: My First Project

I have a great idea for my first project. Granted, I have just learned how to make a slip knot, hold the needles, Cast On, and make a Knit Stitch and I have a lot more to learn. But as an avid golfer that plays golf just about every day, I have a particular unmet need for which I think my newly learned knitting skills can meet. I am up for a new adventure and I am ready to give it a go. Am I being too ambitious? Let’s see!

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