Keeping On. . .

Apparently I cannot stick to a schedule or keep a commitment! I awoke this morning to realize that I had not posted last night, and was frustrated that I wasn't even able to maintain a promise to myself for even three days!

Progress on the afghan is slow. I'm pleased that one is finished and am hopeful that the other will be completed this week prior to the end of my vacation. The VERY old orlon/acrylic yarn is very tough on my hands and I find myself moisturizing far more than I typically do to combat the scratchy, sore spots I'm finding as I work. In an effort to continue making progress, I'm taking small breaks to walk Toshi or to work on my Master Knitter class. I was able to make significant progress answering questions today, and have nearly half of the swatches knit from some time ago. It is unclear if I'll be able to have it ready to mail by the end of the Olympics, but I'll surely be close. Either way, progress is being made and I feel positive about that.

No pictures today, but here is one of the book reviews I've written as part of the Master Knitter curriculum. . .hope you enjoy!


The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, by Nancie Wiseman

Often knitters are stumped when a pattern leaves them only with the directions to “increase evenly”. At times, knitters may become caught in a rut and only use one cast on for all of their projects, or may become stymied by why a designer chose a particular technique that is out of their repertoire. These are the times that The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman comes in handy. Each chapter addresses a specific skill needed to have a well finished garment, and begins with the cast on and works through the bind off and finishes of a project. Clear directions for often unused cast-ons like the picot cast on or tubular cast on are included with small, but clear, pictures and drawings the accompany the text describing how to complete each technique. Everything from increases and decreases to how to treat selvedges, seaming and adding zippers is included in this small, handy reference book. The chapter I turn to most often is the chapter on button holes. Eight different button holes are described and a handy worksheet to determine buttonhole placement is included making this so much clearer than most designers instructions to “place buttonholes evenly”. The hard cover, with internal spiral binding makes the book sit flat as you read and knit through each of the techniques. If all of these features are not enough to convince you to add this book to your knitting library, the list of benefits and drawbacks for each technique may be just enough to tip the scales. As each technique is described, Wiseman teaches knitters to consider carefully why they would use a technique in their project. Gaining an understanding of not only how to complete a certain technique, but why it would be used, or when it would be useful makes this an invaluable addition to a knitter’s own reference library.