the good stitch

So this is the class project after five weeks. It’s got a flat bottom, cabled front and back, moss stitched sides, and two loose handles. Tonight’s the last day of class. We’re going to kitchener stitch the handles on, learn how to block and line the bag, and add a cord and button fastener.

I’m going to be very pleased when it’s done, but I’ll miss class terribly. I like having dedicated time every week to knit, and having to have certain stages of stitching done on deadline. It’s a great motivator.

It’ll be nice to move on to other things, though. I’ve got a huge list of projects I want to get done. I’m being good and using up some stash yarn before I buy anything new, and i’m not buying yarn for projects until I’m ready to start them. I think that’s going to be the only way to keep it manageable.

I’d show you my list of projects, but some of them are gifts. One of them is an incredibly dorky gift for a friend who’s turning 30 in July. I was going to try to make it somewhat normal, but he said I could crank up the dorkmeter, so I’m gonna!

Tomorrow: cat parts!

• Wednesday, May 31
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Last night was the third night of the Beyond the Basics class, and as always, it was just too much fun. It’s such a great class, and I really am enjoying taking it.

So this is the class project almost halfway finished. The bottom is the flat rectangle you’ve already seen. Last week we picked up stitches on all four sides of the rectangle (which was a chore) and we knit about eight rows up, just in garter stitch.

The interesting thing last week was the corner stitches. They’re pretty raised knit stitches, accomplished by knitting the stitch on one row, and slipping it on the next. That makes the stitch span two rows of knitting and pop out a little from the rest of the work, accentuating the corner of the bag.

This week we started on the main part of the bag’s walls. The short sides are seed stitch, which I’ve done before and is pretty easy. The long sides each have four cables. Each cable series spans four rows. You really only do something special on one of the rows, but when you twist the cable it seems to twist all four. It’s pretty fascinating.

So I’ve got two cable repeats finished. I’ve got two weeks to finish nine repeats, which shouldn’t be too difficult. Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually pretty easy.

• Thursday, May 11
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Last Wednesday was the first night of Beyond the Basics class I’m taking at Hill Country Weavers. Fran is teaching, and she’s really sweet and seems to be a great teacher. I like the other women in class, too, so i think it’s going to be a good experience.

This is my homework for the next class. It’s the bottom of the class project – a sampler purse. It’s just an eight-by-four piece of garter stitch in Lamb’s Pride Bulky. It’s not quite Beyond the Basics just yet, but I’ve read ahead in the instructions, and there are already some new things coming in Week Two.

• Sunday, April 30
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