Masters Monday - 2.17

This yarn has made me very angry, very angry indeed!

Another attempt at buying yarn for my Master Knitter Level II Vest...

~~~~~Kaploooeeee!~~~~~

I thought this yarn would work. The gauge was right. The colour was right. The price was right. But the feel......~~shudder~~.....how did I overlook the feel of the stuff? In the store I managed to convince myself that the feel was "rustic", perfect for the casual vest I have in mind. After getting the yarn home, washing it, (yup, I washed it....not returnable now!), and knitting up a swatch I realized that knitting with this stuff would be like spending hours and hours (many days actually) scraping my fingernails down a chalkboard. The feel of this "Briggs and Little, Regal" running through my fingers makes me cringe. While I wouldn't say it's actually scratchy, it feels dry and ...... raspy?

I could cringe and bear it and suffer through the knitting if I thought it would otherwise work up nicely for the vest, but look at those stitches! Horrid. They don't nestle into each other nicely or plump up. No "bounce". The knitting has uneven gaps and misshapen stitches. It looks about as lovely as knitted twine. Ugh. Must find something else.

This crud will be set aside for a weaving, most likely something that will be fulled or felted. At least with weaving you don't have to actually touch the stuff as much as you do with knitting!

Masters Monday 2.14

I'll chalk this week's effort up as research and practice.

Swatches 17 - 20 are all about buttonholes so I dug out all my reference books and found every mention of every type of buttonhole I could. The little strip on top was a bit of practice. In the end I decided that I will wait for the April issue of "Cast On", the TKGA magazine, which is supposed to be coming out with an entire article on buttonholes. Other technical articles I have found in the magazine have always been quite enlightening, often refining techniques in a way I have not found in my other references.

Maybe I'll start on the argyle sock or vest. I have the yarn for both.

Masters Monday - 2.13

One more swatch checked off the list. This is #16, another swatch where the knitter picks a cable that will fit into the required dimensions with a minimum of 2 multiples and three repeats and then figures out the gauge (by swatching), makes allowances for the differences in density between the cable portion and the seed stitch border, plans an effective way of dealing with the difference, writes a complete pattern and....

.....yes, still must knit the final swatch. This is cable 16.5 in the "Harmony Guide to Aran Knitting".

Masters Monday 2.12

Okay, so this Masters Monday is happening late on a Tuesday night, but it is still happening.

This is Swatch 15 - cable of choice.

The basic stitch pattern is #4.9 from "The Harmony Guide to Aran Knitting".

The actual knitting and pattern writing was all completed on schedule, as planned, I only fell behind in the photography and blogging department. I'm blaming the demands of the long, Easter weekend. I mean if you could spend time with this little muffin rather than sit at the computer blogging about knitting a swatch, wouldn't you?

That's what I thought.

Kaylen has a little slide show of her first Easter egg painting experience up on her blog if you are interested.

Masters Monday 2.11

Did you arrive early, find nothing but old posts, and think I was skipping Masters Monday again? Sorry about that. I was fiddling with a video/slide show of birthday pictures for my granddaughter Kaylen's blog instead of getting my own blogging done. If you're up for a round of "Happy Birthday" and watching a wee one discover birthday cake for the first time, pop on over to Kaylen's blog and wish her a happy 1st birthday.

And yes, I did work on my Masters Knitting this week. I worked and worked actually, but this one swatch (and its pattern) is all I have to show for it right now.

This is Level II, Swatch 14, Cable of Your Choice, but with a twist to the assignment that wasn't there for Level I. In this level the knitter has to choose three stitch patterns, do the math, and write out the patterns for each of the swatches themselves. This results in the absurd situation of swatching for the swatches. An initial swatch must be made to determine gauge so that you can not only make the final swatches within the size limits, but also correct for "cable flare" - where the edging bulges and gathers because the seed stitch and the cables are of different gauges.

I actually have more done than shows here as I did my initial "swatching for the swatches" with all three cables on the one practice swatch. I have also begun the rough drafts of the patterns for the other two swatches. I learned with the first one that it works best to write the pattern and then knit from it, rather than the source the stitch pattern was found in. I found and corrected several omissions and mistakes as I attempted to knit from my own pattern. Hopefully now I won't have my patterns thrust back at me with "errata" to be corrected.

Masters Monday - 2.10

As promised, for this week's Masters Monday I did the boring bit. I got caught up on the paperwork for the last three swatches I had done.

It doesn't make for very exciting blog pictures, but let me tell you, it's a huge relief! And hours of work. A full, working pattern had to be written up for each of these, complete with references, gauge, materials, abbreviations....not to mention the labeling of the swatches, answering of related questions, and cross referencing in the bibliography.

Now I can check off Swatches 11, 12 and 13 (of 22).

Masters Monday - 2.9

Ooops! Getting a little ahead of myself. Once again I've done the swatch knitting but not the labeling and pattern write ups. Maybe getting caught up on the paperwork should be my goal for the coming week?

Swatch 12 - (lace of choice) Spider Stitch

Swatch 13 - (lace of choice) Pierced Diamond

Both of these swatches are from stitch patterns I found in the Barbara Walker Treasuries. I knit them in a coned, superwash wool, fingering weight yarn usually used for machine knitting. I had thought about using another shockingly bright yarn, like last week, but the orange I was thinking of may have been too dark and possibly even a bit too fuzzy to meet the acceptable standards.

So next week's Master Monday report had better be that I have done the write ups for these last three swatches. I will be knitting this week though. I have two non-Masters knitting projects I'm actively working on.

And I'll be weaving. The loom is warped for the next project.

Masters Monday 2.8

My offering this week. Doesn't look like much, but believe me it was a lot of work! In Level II you don't just knit your swatches from a provided pattern. You have to do all the research yourself and come up with a swatch that fits the requirements.

Swatch 11 - (lace of choice) Floral Mesh

For this swatch, and two more lace ones, the requirement is to knit a lace swatch, bordered by seed stitch, and containing at least two multiples and three repeats. And the big challenge....it has to be no bigger than 7 inches! After much experimenting I found that for me that means no more than 8 stitches in each multiple, and no more than 12 rows in each repeat....otherwise it ends up being over sized and would be rejected.

After getting the knitting done then you have to write up a pattern for it including the seed stitch border. All information like needle size, gauge, materials, references/sources, abbreviations, must be included. I've gotten bogged down there a bit. I have a rough draft of the necessary information, but I have to fine tune it. So just the knitting of Swatch 11 this week. I can't say it's finished until all the paperwork is done.

Masters Monday - 2.7

I have completed three more swatches this week. The description and labeling for them is done, and I have answered all the questions that relate to them.

Swatch 8 - Twisted Decreases (Blended)

Swatches 8 and 9 feature twisted decreases which are meant to be a little more visible and decorative than the usual decreases. I honestly don't think I would use them anywhere. I prefer decreases to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Swatch 9 - Twisted Decreases (Full Fashioned)

Swatch 10 - Central Double Decrease

The central double decrease is most commonly used at the centre of a V-neckline, or in lace patterns.

Masters Monday - 2.6

I put more effort into the Master Knitter program this week and it feels good to report more progress than usual.

This is Swatch 6, a vertical to horizontal seam like you would do when inserting a sleeve.

And Swatch 7, a horizontal to horizontal seam where "stair step" shaping is involved, like sometimes requested for a shoulder seam. Personally I like short row shaping and a 3 needle bind off better.

And the biggest accomplishment for the week......the forever single mitten. This little mitten was way too much trouble to ever deserve a mate.

Masters Monday 2.4

Swatch 4 - K1P1 ribbing (with a seam)....again. This time I'm much happier with the result. Although it might look like it's half a stitch off in places, the seam is done bar-for-bar correctly with no fudging to make the ends match.



I found I got the best results by having a knit stitch at each selvedge to be seamed. I knit the strip on the right ending with a k2 to accomplish this and still keep the k1p1 pattern intact across the seam. I'm going to hand this one in, but before I use the seam in an actual garment I would like to do some further experimenting to see if it would work with a tubular cast on and bind off.

Who am I kidding? In actual "real life" knitting (unless there was a really good reason for a seam) I would most likely convert the pattern to knitting the garment in one piece to avoid the seam altogether!

Masters Monday 2.3

Did you think I'd miss Masters Monday just because it was Christmas Eve? Nope. Actually I had all the work for this done last Monday but "saved" it for today's report because I knew it would be a busy week.

So.....I've found another UNsuccessful way to seam ribbing. *sigh* I suppose that could still be considered progress though.

I did this one by setting it up so I could seam down the centre of the selvedge stitches. One thing about this method, it can be used for tubular cast on which always ends in an uneven number of stitches. BUT....unfortunately I can't get it to look right. The seamed row of "stitches" has a sunken look that is way too obvious.

Back to the needles. I'll get this one yet!

I'm not likely to have time to post tomorrow, so to everyone who celebrates this holiday.....Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Masters Monday 2.2

Only one completed swatch this week. Much of my spare time has been swallowed up by Christmas preparations.

Edited to add: It has been pointed out that the seam is about half a stitch off, with the tops not matching. Yup. Back to the needles.

This is Swatch 4 - Single Rib (K1P1), a seaming exercise. I'm not all that pleased with it. I seamed it in the manner described in the Seaming article in "Cast On" magazine, and it is not my usual method. The article suggests using an even number of stitches and starting each piece of ribbing with a knit stitch so that you end up seaming a knit stitch and a purl stitch together (leaving the ribbing pattern intact), supposedly hiding the seam "in the ditch" of the two stitches. Because the magazine article so strongly recommended this method I went with it, but I'm having second thoughts.

I normally seam ribbing by starting with an uneven number of stitches, starting and ending both pieces with a knit stitch and seaming up the centre of these edge stitches (leaving the ribbing pattern unbroken). I find it makes a finer seam (less seam bulk, especially at cuff edges) and it still turns out neat and tidy. The "Cast On" magazine article says that the seam turns out messier, but I'm not sure that it does. I think this might be worth a bit of additional experimentation.

For readers' further consideration (are you still with me?), Maggie Righetti suggests a third method in her book "Sweater Design in Plain English". She says to add an additional knit stitch so that your single rib ends in K2 at one end. This lets you seam with a full stitch, but gives you that knit/purl "ditch" seam.

Masters Monday - To Be Continued

Friday was a Very Good Day. It was so good in fact that all the good news could not be contained in one blog post. As you may recall, I reached my running goal on Friday. The update on my "running ticker" at the top of my post was the most immediately visible good news, so I chose to focus on that and leave the rest for today.

So today I continue with a "Masters Monday" post according to the tradition I established earlier of reporting my progress on the program in each Monday's post.

Today's progress report:

I PASSED!

My Level 1 submission was returned Friday. ALL of my swatches were accepted, and according to the letter "It is highly unusual for all swatches to be accepted on the first try!". There were a few, very minor comments which I will point out by editing my earlier Masters Monday posts. If you are interested in viewing the suggestions for improvement you should be able to bring up a list of all related posts by typing "Masters Monday" or "swatches" into the blogs search bar.

The written work that I stressed over so much was accepted as well and was deemed "very thorough" and " well researched". In the questions section I had to resubmit PART of ONE of my answers due to a very dumb mistake. I can't believe I overlooked something as simple as a change in stitch count due to some increases. Kicking myself I tell ya, KICKING myself! But for that one small error I would have passed on the first try. Bah.

Anyway, because my only required resubmit was minor and involved a small portion of one answer, I was allowed to send my resubmit via email. I had my correction accepted by the following day.

Woo, hoo! On to Level II.

I won't be ordering that just yet. I have a few projects around here that need attention and I have to buy new glasses. (Have you seen the price of progressive lenses lately!!)

Masters Monday - 7

The past week has been a very busy one for me. Every single day I had some commitment eating up my time. I wasn't able to give the Master Knitter Program as much time and thought as I would like. I did remain true to my promise to have SOMEthing accomplished this week though.

I went out and bought a binder that will fit in the standard UPS box that TKGA prefers to use. The one I had previously been using, a zippered type, was a bit too bulky. I then transferred all the samples and page dividers to the new binder.



I also finally finished the pattern writing for the Windblown Cable swatch. This was made a little more difficult than it might otherwise have been because the cable I picked was from a "chart only" format so I had to come up with abbreviations and written directions on my own.

I found and printed the Yarn Standards Guide as well. Having a current copy is required but I'm not sure if it must be included in the binder or not.

Anyone else working on the program?

Master Monday - 6

Almost there. All the knitting is complete. Now I have to slog through the report on blocking, write the pattern for Swatch 15, and answer a few remaining questions. Ugh.



On the left, the hat project. Not very attractive, but knit according to the directions.

On the right, Swatch 16 - Color Work. Yes, the blue line at the top is supposed to be one row on the right and two rows of blue on the left. It tests the knitters ability to change colors and hide the tails mid-row.

Edited April 30, 2007 to add: Evaluators noted on Swatch 16 that "right side of ribbing is uneven, possibly due to tail weaving". (I checked, it was indeed the tail weaving.)

Masters Monday - 5

Swatch 13 - Single Cross Cable, on the left.
Swatch 15 - Windblown Cable (knitter's choice), on the right.



Edited April 30, 2007 to add: Evaluators mentioned that the cast on in Swatch 13 may have been a little tight saying "note how the lower edge has rounded corners". And for Swatch 15 that there were "some tension irregularities in the reverse stockinette portion bordering the cable".

The rest of these, and many more attempts that were frogged, are not being handed in. They were just some of the background work that is involved with coming up with a finished swatch. I found Swatch 15 - "Your Choice of Cable" to be particularly labor intense as your choice has to fit within some rather strict guidelines. Finding a cable pattern that had a workable number of stitches, not too many rows, and could somehow be "balanced" on the swatch required a lot of research and experimentation.



At the top of this second picture (unblocked) is a tiny experiment with "Banded Cable" that I decided I didn't like. On the lower left is "Loose Five-Rib Band", which perhaps could have worked but I was having difficulty finding a point where it looked balanced top and bottom. In retrospect, it might have been okay. The swatch on the bottom right is of course, the "Windblown Cable" without the stockinette down the sides. I had it all completely done and blocked when I realized that when the instructions said "Place P2 on either side of the cable" that they might have wanted ONLY two purl stitches on either side, not ALL purl as I had done.

Masters Monday - 4

Swatches 10, 11 and 12

Testing the knitter's ability to form yarnovers correctly, make various decreases, and follow a simple eyelet pattern.



Edited April 30, 2007 to add: The evaluators considered these swatches to be nicely worked with good tension. Swatch 12 had a reminder to "keep decreases on needle tips" (to minimize stretch).



And now that those are knitted, blocked and labeled (and photographed for your entertainment) it's time for me to answer the 4 questions that refer to these swatches.

Masters Monday - 3

Can you see a difference? I can't see a difference.



On the top left we have Swatch 7 - SSK and K2tog Blended Decreases. Next to it, top right, is Swatch 8 SKP and KSP Decreases. I know the photo doesn't give you a close-up look at the details, but really, even with the swatches sitting right here in front of me I can't see much of a difference between the two. Perhaps the SKP decreases on the right of Swatch 8 look a little straighter than the SSK decreases on the right of Swatch 7, but if so, the difference is so slight I wouldn't choose the SKP. I find the SSK much easier to perform.

On the bottom we have Swatch 9 - K2tog and SSK Full-fashioned Decreases. The idea with full-fashioned decreases is that they are supposed to show in a decorative fashion. Meh. I don't particularly care for it. If I was wanting a more visible/decorative decrease line I would incorporate twisted stitches or a cable of some kind.

Edited April 30, 2007 to add: Evaluators noted on these swatches that the decreases were correctly made, but slightly stretched. They suggested working the decreases on the tips of the needles to minimize stretch.

Some of the decreases are shown in a video HERE. The KSP from the Masters program is the one listed as "KRPR".