Following Knit Patterns makes me Cranky

There is a truism in knitting that says American patterns include too much and European patterns don't include enough.  There are whole classes in how to read Japanese patterns.  I think there are all kinds of reasons for this that are cultural, reflect traditions and accessibility to mentors.  As an American knitter taught by a neighbor when I was 13 and then not coming back to it until many years later I have been slowly trying to knit my way to competency.  Which brings me to why patterns make me cranky.

First, they so often have huge errors.  Errata sheets abound.  Having designed a couple of things,  Errors happen.  I  have had to make corrections; even when I had test knitters.  Personally, I really like inexperienced test knitters, because they really, really read the pattern and ask all kinds of questions which allows one to find the confusing places.

Second, in the digital age I think it is possible to sell a pattern and include a FAQ about the pattern which the buyer does not have to print but they can reference.  I think this should be standard.  I spent a good bit of time yesterday trying to figure out if the designer really intended to have the "wrong" side of the 3 needle bind-off be on the "right side" of the little sweater.  Being somewhat dyslexic,  when things get all inside/outside I start getting twitchy.  I went to two different websites and a project page at Ravelry trying to figure out if I was the only one who found the following instructions

On a RS row make two button holes
Cast on over button holes on return row, knit one more row
Now put right sides together and bind off left shoulder
3 needle bind off right shoulder *

had the stitches incorrectly placed on the needle to actually accomplish this instruction.  I was getting twitchier by the moment.  Was I really that stupid?  How come I couldn't make this work?  If I had started on a wrong side row would it have come out correctly?  Is there an error in the pattern?  Is the error this part or that part?  ACK!!!!!!!  I would love to have gone to a FAQ page and seen a designer say:  "Why yes, the "wrong" side of the 3 needle bind off showing on the shoulder is suppose to be a design element".  I still don't know.  I just "made it up", and in the bigger picture it doesn't really matter, it's only knitting and a kid sweater to boot.  Except I would like to have enough expertise and confidence to actually know I can read/interpret what is being written and understand what the designer is trying to accomplish. 

There is also too much information.  There is a designer who wrote 24 pages for a pattern, the majority, in my opinion, waxing poetical about how clever she was.  Someone else condensed the pattern down to one page and if you cut out one paragraph from somewhere around page 23 you can knit this very simple shawl without ever looking at the other pages.  Yes the design is clever and beautiful and deceptively simple - but in this case just give me the straight instructions.  Give me a FAQ page and let me wax poetical about how brilliant you are.

My knitted knickers are in a twist today over pattern reading.


* short version of instructions

 

 

 

MKAL - Game of Thrones

I am participating in a MKAL through Jimmy Beans Wool on Ravelry.  For those who need a translation this means:  a Jimmy Beans Wool designer a has proposed "Mystery Knit A Long (MKAL).  The theme is from Game of Thrones, a very popular book and HBO series.  The mystery is we have no idea what the designer has in mind.  We get a new clue once a week for 5 or 6 weeks and happily or fearfully knit, trusting we will recognise the item at the end.  Whether it is something we will ever use is not the point.  It is the experience of mystery and stretching our skill set we are chasing (at least it is for me).   There are apparently some 500 individuals who are participating in this and the skill range runs the gamut from beginners to seasoned beta knit testers who have no fear of plowing there way through any thing because they have this incredibly broad skill set from which to draw when things get wonky.  This MKAL is on the website, Ravelry.  Ravelry is a knit and crochet social networking site and one of the best  social networking sites I've ever seen.  Absolutely brilliant and free.   Everything was just honky-dory until Clue #4.  Then all hell broke loose and the "we all play nice" gloves came off.

Clues 1-3 were pretty simple knit/purl in the round stuff.  Clue #3 added short rows for some shaping which caused some of the beginner knitters a crisis in confidence.  But everyone made it through.  The forum provides chat, feedback, pictures and encouragement.  There were some very seasoned knitters that provided advice, pictures and were the vanguard - they also managed to knit the entire damn first 3 clues in less than 15 minutes.  Personally, I think some of them have magic knitting wands - but that is a separate issue.  Clue #4 got a bit tricky - you have to separate the front from the back, start knitting flat and do this birds eye lace piece and oh yes....add some button holes on either side.  Just to add some spice - the instructions were wrong, some lines of instructions were missing and .....well......the designer was at a wedding.  Between last night and this morning there were some 200+ comments about this clue and some of the opinions were less than courteous.  It seems everyone has an opinion about Clue #4.  Typically, both sides have valid points. 

Crazysalad had this to say: 

Everyone is so patient and expects so little. Not me. I expected the instructions to have been written in advance, tested and proofread. Some of the knitters seem to feel that the designer is offering this Mystery KAL as an act of charity. Jimmy Bean’s is a multi-million dollar company that is taking advantage of a hugely popular TV show. At least 500 knitters joined, many of them purchasing (as I did) Jimmy Bean’s own custom-dyed yarn specified in the pattern. I assumed that all the blog postings were prepared and ready to go BEFORE the first clue was even published. I never dreamed that we’d have to wait for someone to recover from a family wedding to post the 4th clue two hours late.
As for the mistakes in the pattern…
When you offer a Mystery KAL, it is essential that the instructions are crystal clear because we are following BLINDLY. We have no pictures. We don’t even know what the finished object is. We are trusting that, at least, the instructions are correct. We follow on faith.


Lilb had this to say in response: 

I think everyone here has had patterns where there are errors. I’ve been a beta tester for knitting/needlework/beading patterns for years & it ALWAYS happens. The most common types are the one we had with the lace “I knew what to do so it just slipped my mind to put it in” I’ve seen that on almost every pattern I’ve checked & done it myself more times than I can count when trying to write out instructions or teach someone a new technique (I’m no designer, having the ‘honor’ of having FLUNKED kindergarten art & I’ve got the report card to prove it). To expect perfection all the time is unreasonable especially when the person posting the pattern in a KAL is in the middle of a big, happy family event.

I think these two individuals pretty well represent the two sides and are both correct.  Most of the other commentary is clarifications or comments on the comments.  Having designed a couple of things - it is amazing what gets overlooked, or isn't clear in the instructions when it is all so clear in one's own mind.  Test knitters catch all kinds of things.  Knitting patterns often end up with mistakes some knitter out there catches after dozens have knitted it up without comment.  Experienced knitters often just wing it, fiddle, or go their own way when they run into a confusing bit and mistakes don't get noticed until some new knitter tries to follow the instructions literally.  This MKAL has some 500 test knitters of different skills levels and I have to agree a greater attention to detail and clarity in the 4th clue would have been appropriate and helpful.  I also agree that to expect perfection is unrealistic.  But above all - I would expect courtesy which is so much a part of the Ravelry experience.

One of the things I have always appreciated is the courtesy, support and generous sharing of experience and skills on the Ravelry website.  While Clue #4 definately had some instruction difficulties, time and good intent on the part of the designer (and the other eperienced knitters) would and is making it all come out correctly.

In the meantime, some rules from the road of life:

Patience is a virtue
I don't think everything that can be said, should be said. 
Our moods shouldn't dictate our manners.
Criticize in private and praise in public.

Nana, the Other Fiber Source (a dog and fiber post)

I have a Briard and they are a lovely, if busy dog.  They also have this wonderful long fur and I have a thing for big fuzzy animals.  Unfortunately, it is possibly the all time worse choice for where I live.  Her fur is a velcro mat for every foxtail, cockaburr, corkscrew or miner's lice burr the grasses around here can produce.  Since she and I spend a great deal of time outside this is a problem.  One morning at the ranch equals 45 minutes of going through her feet and legs on top of the usual grooming requirements.  In addition, she really isn't a hot weather dog.  Consequently I took the desperate, radical step and had her sheared.

Before shearing

If you look closely you can see how she also collects twigs that have to be untangled from her furry feet.

After Shearing

She looks ridiculous - but she doesn't pant as much and after a morning at the barn she only required a quick foot check for foxtails and we both breathed easier. One of the side benefits of this shearing was a large zip lock bag of Nana hair and a book lent to me by the groomer.

 The guild heads to the 3rd annual Spindle Camp this June and I think it will be a perfect time to try spinning dog hair.  I wonder if I can get a nice scarf out of this and it is definitely time to get a pair of hand carders. 

As much as I love my furry dog and think she looks dumb naked, shearing may become an annual event unless I move to a much more friendly Briard environment.

The Master's Level 1 Swatch #4

I'm coming to the conclusion that I will never pass Level 1 in the Master's.  Oh, I'll keep going since I will learn a lot, but I have certainly given up any hope of passing.  I find that when I am trying to knit the swatches I get all focused and tense and all I can think of is all the places that I could make this horrible, very bad, never be able to fix it right mistake and then I will have to do the swatch all over again and it will be some weird Ground Hog Day nightmare over and over and over again.  About this time I'm binding off  Swatch #4 and have some kind of "out of body" experience because I suddenly have this weird extra bar thing on the back and I have no idea where that came from so there I am frogging the bind off and back knitting to where I some how dropped a damn stitch. You would think I might notice dropping a stitch, but noooooo.   Temporarily abducted by aliens can be the only explanation.

Over thinking gets me in trouble in the saddle as well.  My trainer has been giving me and ole nimble toes an exercise where we have to back up in a "U" shape.  Don't think about it, just do it.  Yea...right!   This sounds a whole lot easier than it is and being the slightly dyslexic and spatially challenged person I am this is tough.  It is also tough for ole nimble toes because backing requires the horse to back up using his feet diagonally.  You would think it is like walking, only backwards, but it isn't.  It is the same foot placement as the trot going forward.  So, you are sort of trotting backwards at a walk pace and doing a U in reverse. The horse has to figure out what to do with his feet, not ole nimble toes strongest suit.  Standing around hoping someone will give him a peppermint is more his style. 

So asking ole nimble toes to go backward when he can manage to fall over his own feet just trying to walk forward is a tough one.  We managed to get only two correct steps in all the attempts.  Lesley, the trainer, thinks this is good for me because I can't over think it, I just have to do it.  Gets me out of my head.

What does this have to do with knitting?  I just finished my second go at Swatch #4 and blocked it - Blech.  I start over thinking all this stuff and the next thing I know I am so focused on my knitting and my shoulders are up under my ears.  Sigh...oh for the happy ignorance of "just knitting". 

I even bought the signature needles and I am probably the only one on the planet that thinks they are ugly.  I don't like their loud, carnival colors, they compete with the yarn and I don't like it.  I like black, with occasional wild and crazy forays into beige.  My horse is black, my cat is black and my dog is actually sort of grey except for her four buff (think beige) legs.  I realize I am not the norm. So I don't like the colors of the signature needles, but agree they do knit nicely and others probably love the colors.  Lol...I just noticed the yarn I picked out is beige, yep I was just thinking it was light colored and I couldn't use black. 

I did this sweater several years ago, happily knitting on some size 8 ebony needles from Lantern Moon.  The whole thing was a 2x2 rib.

 I don't think it's all that terrible tension wise, but I what do I know, I wasn't over thinking the whole thing - as I have said before: ignorance is bliss.

Tools of the Trade

As anyone that has read the prior posts on the Master's Hand Knit I am striving to increase my technical ability.  This has caused me to really start looking at all the aspects of the knitting process.  I've been rather dismayed to look at my first three swatches and see rows with the kind of tension problems that look like a failed sobriety test.  Denial being a useful coping mechanism, I was sure I knitted better than that which sent me to my closet to start pulling out some of my hand knitted items and staring intently at the rows and tension.  They weren't perfect, but they weren't that bad and none of the items had been blocked.  I've never been big on blocking until I did it for the first time for the Hand Knit program.  Given how my swatches came out, I'm not sure I'm a convert to blocking - but that's a different issue. 

I then looked at a project sitting in my chair and thought the tension looked pretty good or least better than the first three swatches.  The above knitted piece hasn't been blocked but seems to have better tension then the SS swatch below. 

It occurred to me I had knitted the Cat in the Hat piece with a set of Addi Turbo lace points, while the MHK swatch had been knitted with an old pair of size 7 Boyle Balene knitting needles.  Metal vs. Casein.  The original Boyle Balene needles were Casein.  These needles are apparently made from a milk product, which explains why I can vaguely recall being told they didn't travel well, or handle sudden or extreme changes in climate becoming brittle and snapping.  They were suppose to mimic whalebone. This is a link to a website that sells these and has some information which I found interesting.  Casein Knitting Needles. 

I remembered  Montse Stanley's book The Knitter's Handbook  mentioned problems with tension sometimes being caused by tips that are to long. This sent me to the pile of knitting needles I have collected over 3 decades - wood, metal, bamboo, casein, all different. 

I compared three different sets I had and noticed some interesting differences.

 First the Casein needles are long in the tips and have a definite ridge before they drop off into the point.  These are the needles I have been using for the swatches. They have a clear ridge and if you look really carefully the tips are not uniform, there are subtle differences in their thickness.  Hmmm.....

Casein needles

The Susan Bates are metal and you would expect them to be consistent, but these are even more disparate in the tips.

Now I am assuming I bought the Bates needles as a pair rather than having picked them up at a garage sale or thrift store - but I really don't know.  The tips are clearly different - and I have to assume that this would have an impact on gauge and tension.  The last pair are an old pair of wooden needles and I don't have a clue where they came from.  They have very short tips, but at least look identical, however one shaft is longer than the other.  This makes me wonder if there is a subtle difference in the thickness of the shaft and to what degree this affects gauge and tension.

While I believe you can knit with just about anything, I think tools or the quality of the tool will have an impact on the finished product.  Will it magically make your knitting perfect, well no - but it will certainly contribute to the end result.

The Masters: Blocking and the first 3 Swatches

I have just completed the first three swatches which to me seem to all fit in a group.  They are about even tension in rib and flat knitted fabric, weaving in ends so that they are invisible and maintain the elasticity of the fabric and correct blocking - or so it seems to me. 

Along with correctly blocking the swatches, the Masters requires a report on blocking and in my mind this is the logical time to start to research and write this requirement.  It is also the logical time to put what I learn into practice.  My plan is to block the first 3 swatches and get them all prepared for the binder with labels, Swatch sheet, etc.  I will polish the report and put that in the binder as well. 
Of course any good report requires reference materials and with a gleam in my eye - that means BOOKS!!  So I quickly rationalized the need to buy three new books and a blocking kit.  Okay, I know that I could have probably done the whole thing without a blocking kit.  The report could have been written with a library card and the Internet - but this just gave me the excuse to buy what had been on my list of "I wants" for some time.  Besides, one can never have to many wonderful, glorious reference books about knitting   I chose to buy the following:

The Principles of Knitting
The Knitter's Handbook: A Comprehensive guild to the Principles and Techniques of Handknitting
The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques

I have my eye on the Vogue Knitting Book, but that will have to wait.  I hadn't counted on the US Post Office choosing not to deliver the books and declaring my address undeliverable.  Considering I have been here for 3 years and they just delivered an Amazon package last week this was bizarre.  Maybe they think I have too many knitting books and are staging an intervention.  In the meantime, I found this great video specifically targeted to the MHK program and blocking.  We don't know what we don't know and yes I bought the above picture of the blocking kit, when a couple of towels, some rust proof pins and a mat from Lowes or Home Depot would have been good enough.  I don't have a reputation as an equipment junkie in my guild for nothing. 

References:  Blocking Swatches for the MHK Program, LippizanKnitter  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id0ti5-c1ds&feature=endscreen&NR=1

The Masters Level 1 Swatch #2

Warning:  This swatch and the techniques used have not been approved by the TKGA Committee.

I have never knitted so carefully or so slowly in my entire life.  I have generally thought myself to have a good, even tension for your basic knitting, but knitting for the masters makes me feel like I am sitting in a theatre and someone has yelled FIRE at the top of there lungs.  All calm goes out the window.

I am also having to remind myself not to get ahead of myself.  I hate lace because I have no spatial ability and am slightly dyslexic.  I have a very difficult time keeping track of what I am doing, even with very, very simple lace patterns.  I saw a lace pattern somewhere in Level II and choked.  I would rather gnaw my foot off then do lace, but here I am getting ahead of myself.  I remind myself to do just one swatch at a time and it will all get done in it's own time.

I have not blocked or woven in the ends in either Swatch #1 or #2, so it was time to research the proper method of weaving in ends.  Well.....I checked out two websites, one that I just could not figure out. First it said that you weave in the ends on a Stockinette on the right side of the fabric.  Bloody hell.....I don't think so!  So off to website number 2.  She said the same damn thing!  Humpf......okay fine I think your both crazy but I will give it a try.  HOLY CRAP!!  They are both right and the end I wove into the front of the stockinette stitch swatch completely disappeared.  This technique is apparently a form of duplicate stitch according to TECHknitting.  I'm impressed and have listed both websites below.  I personally found the TECHknitting blog easier to follow (probably because I refused to believe the site I originally found).  The TECHknitting blog also has an index of everything she has written, a fabulous resource.

Swatch #2 unblocked

Things I have learned with this swatch:
     1.   Do a little each day as if it were a job (not onerous, but something one is committed to)
     2.   Set tiny goals, e.g. I will just do the 2 inches of ribbing and then go swamp a toilet
     3.   Listen to Pandora
     4.   When you look up a technique immediately write the reference down in your bibilography.
     5.   Look up everything.  I even looked up the garter stitch in a Sally Melville book (I love Sally's books and are my "go to" for most questions)

References used:
    

A guide to K1P1 Increases on YouTube   Ribbing Increases on YouTube 

How to weave the ends in   Weaving in ends in Stockinette and Ribbing  

How to weave in ends in Weaving in the ends in Stockinette and Ribbing

Master's Knitting Program

I love design and I deeply admire the technical abilities of the great knitters.  It has become increasingly obvious that my technical abilities do not equal the knit designs that are rattling around my brain. I also love stranded work and after designing my Unicorn Hat I realized I needed to learn more techniques than the usual "fly by the seat of my pants" version. I think knitters have many teachers that contribute to their knowledge. 

I think we all learn from each other and the fiber community is amazingly generous in its willingness to share a love of the craft.  But it is time to really explore knitting, hence I have committed to increasing my expertise and have decided to enroll in the Master's Knitting program from the Knitting Guild of America .  This is a three level program with a review committee that guides the learning process. You may not proceed to level two unless you have successfully completed level one.   I have a University level Master's degree and frankly this Master's certification program seems every bit as complex.  It is probably the first certification program that I actually respect, and I have lots of certifications that I have picked up in the mental health field.  I have several goals in taking this course:

1.  To increase my technical abilities and really learn this craft
2.   Learn to design more effectively
3.   I would really, really like to be able to work part time in a knitting shop and know that I had the skills to help those who were just starting out in the very satisfying and addictive world of fiber. 



Design gone Bad

Sometimes the ole family motto:  "Seemed like a good idea at the time" applies when what happens is sorta yuck.

I wanted to design something different than a hat.  But I like the quickness of accessories so I thought I would design a neck/cowl thingy.  I wanted it to be somewhat stranded but not exactly fair isle.  Because it was stranded I thought it should be reversible so the backside of the stranded work wouldn't catch on things.  I also wanted a southwest flavor and since it was going around the neck - not scratchy.  I started fiddling with the math of gauge, size, yarn and charting to make it all work with 3 repeats of the design.  I came up with this:

Ye ole Chart

The white background of the chart would actually be a black yarn and I was looking for gold, turquoise, red and black.  I chose KnitPicks Gloss DK yarn for it's softness; and I was thinking about submitting it to the Independent Design Program.  Well...I have said before I am not the most technical knitter and figured  I would just duplicate stitch the sun motif (which I didn't), and do a modified intarsia for the deer rather than carry the threads from one deer motif to the next.  This brilliant idea gave me a gazillion ends to weave in.  I am thinking a duplicate stitch for the deer motif and the sun would have been a better choice over all.

Now I generally don't mind weaving in ends, but this was just plain obnoxious.  It also created another problem - showing through the front.

You can see the woven ends showing through the black - yuck!

To use the yarn more efficiently I stripped the back side which made it look way to "Cat in the Hat" for me.  But then I am not a big fan of stripping.

I have just sat on this thing for weeks.  I am at the 3 needle purl bind off, once I finish weaving in the rest of the ends, and I am having the hardest time looking at it.  I can say that it won't be going to the IDP program for consideration. I am so disenchanted with this I don't want to spend the money to buy yarn for test knitters.  I might in a moment of madness buy more yarn for myself and do the whole thing over again doing a duplicate stitch for the deer and sun to see what happens. 

 I will probably post it to Ravelry for the usual $1.99 with a serious "You really don't want to do this because you will regret it sales job" description.  Charging for something kicks in the cognitive dissonance function and psychologically peeps are less likely to be irritated then if you give the pattern away for free - go figure.

The Problem of Fair Isle

I have just discovered a problem with designing Fair Isle....what the *bleep* do you do when they discontinue one of the colors you used for shading?  I thought I was so done with that pattern, I sure don't want to redesign it again.  Blech!   Call me naive, but it didn't occur to me how quickly it would become stale dated.  I, of course, posted my dilemma to Ravelry and got some wonderful advice - Rav is really one of the nicest places to hang out.  So I am trying to figure out what color will work as a replacement and then if I can weasel some friend to knit a swatch with the new color and compare the results to the old colorway.....    I have an email in to KnitPicks to see if they have a color recommendation, but haven't heard back yet.  Maybe I should try just sticking to one color or maybe create my very own line of hand dyed stuff......that would be a no.  I can hardly find the time to continue on the winter tam what with the tawny tornado around the house, much less start dyeing and selling yarn.

Much of my time lately has been caught up trying to entertain a year old animated dust mop who after a bit of a tough go with her tummy is now on an eating regime that works for her.  Of course the relative down side of this is she feels so much better and is one very, very busy girl.  Trying to keep her entertained is time consuming. I finally broke down and took her to the groomers to so they could do something with her bangs.  They are so long they generally need a scrunchy so she can see.  This is relatively ineffectual.

This before picture shows that the eyes are completely hidden - can't see a thing. 

After a facial trim, you can see eyes!!  Rather sad eyes actually and her ears are all wilted from the stress of the groomer.  Poor puppy, but she has recovered and is currently sleeping after a morning at the barn. 

Well, I am avoiding the Summer Dragonfly Tam problem hoping it will magically solve itself, but I had better get back to it and patch together some solution for those who don't already have the color "mustard" from the Palette fingerling line