To do:
One week left in the month of March. Meaning I need to stop working on this and these and buckle down to get this project finished and in the mail.
*sigh*
For me, the hardest part about level one of the TKGA master knitter certification has been staying focused and motivated enough to finish it. This week, I spent a lot, and I mean a lot, of time, thinking about weaving in the ends of my swatches, or thinking about sitting down to flip through the stitch dictionaries, or thinking about doing something on my TKGA project. But in the end, I didn’t actually do anything. Instead, I finished these:
And then I cast on this:
And these:
(sorry about the crap photo)
I still hope to have my binder completed and sent to the guild by the end of this month, but I will really have to buckle down if I’m going to meet that goal. *sigh*
A crazy week here at Chez Interrupted prevented me from getting much, if any, work done on my master knitter project, or any other project, for that matter. I did, however, manage to get these three swatches blocked and I must say that I’m very pleased with the results. In addition, I assembled my research/reference materials for the written work, retrieving The Principles of Knitting and The Knitter’s Book of Yarn from the library, along with a number of several of all of the books on cabling they had on the shelf that day. (Sorry to anyone who might be designing cabled knitwear in my town this week–I’ll get them back to the library soon, I promise!)
I hope complete the Knitter’s Choice cable swatch this week and weave in the ends of the remaining swatches. I’d also like to get a satisfying start on the written work.
In the meantime, Marlene over at Wovenflame is making quick progress on Level 2 of the TKGA MK Certification. Go check it out! Her swatches just amaze me.
There had been a shameful lack of progress on my master knitter swatches lately. In all honesty, I think I was avoiding it. That is until I got this message from my friend (and co-masterknitterconspirator) via private message on Ravelry:
and my competitive side took over.
WIP Wednesday? Too busy with the swatches to post. Also, it was the only thing I was working on. I finished 15 of the 16 required swatches in about three days and cast on the required hat.
Since I still need to do the knitter’s choice cable, I picked up a half dozen stitch pattern books at the library on Friday. Also, I requested this and this via inter library loan as research for the written work. So, finally some progress on the TKGA master knitter front. Yay! My goal is to have my package sent to the guild by the end of March. Which, barring any unforeseen circumstances, is reasonable and totally doable. :-)
Sadly, I have no new swatches to show you today. Enjoy this recipe instead.
Sausage Soup
1 package (of 5 links) Sweet Italian Chicken Sausages
2 boxes Kitchen Basics chicken stock (MSG free)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 lb new potatoes (I like the red, white, & blue mix from Trader Joe’s), cut into about 1 inch pieces.
1 cup (or 2) fresh spinach
1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil (or 2 or 3 cubes of the frozen stuff)
Squeeze the sausages from their casings, crumble and brown (discard the casings). Dump in the chicken stock, the diced tomatoes, the potatoes, the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are done (tender, but not crumbling). Top with the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted.
2/21/08 update–I forgot to mention to brown the sausages in about a tsp or so of olive oil.
Three swatches that need to be washed, tagged, and bagged. I’m going to shoot for three swatches a week and get these puppies done!
This week, I worked on my seed stitch swatch (again), using the combination knitting style suggested by Divine Bird and my Dear Friend Jen.
I’m unhappy. It’s still got holes. (Also, it is kind of sloppy where I was adjusting to the new-and-awkward-to-me technique.) *sigh* I am going to try knitting up yet another swatch, using my preferred knitting method (continental), and see if wet blocking (as Marlene suggested) doesn’t help it. Wish me luck!
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?
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.
Knitting Interrupted 