Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Day Two: Skill + 1UP

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Well, considering that about a year ago, I had never even picked up knitting needles, I'm proud of the progress I've made.  And I owe all of that to two of my dear friends - Amanda and Diana.  They keep me motivated and are always helping me figure things out when I'm stuck on a pattern. 

I started learning to knit on circular needles and made several baby hats.  Amanda was really smart to start me off on this because you only have to master the knit stitch (purling came later for me) and you get practice on double pointed needles and icord.  But it all comes in stages so you can learn how to do one thing at a time.  And those are basic skills that I use on projects all the time now!  Plus, it isn't like starting a scarf or something else that can be considered easy, that takes a really long time so you don't lose motivation.

From there I moved to little toys from a couple of Debbie Bliss books I bought.  These were mostly worked in garter stitch so again, I didn't need to worry about that finicky purl stitch (which is how I felt about it at the time). 

I think my biggest accomplishment to date was a sweater that I knitted for my goddaughter, Emery.  It was truly a labor of love and took so long but I really felt that I could knit lots of other things after I completed that!  I never, EVER, thought I'd get that far. 

Another skill that I am proud of learning is changing colors of yarn within a single project.  It has allowed me to learn to make different "fruit" hats that I adore.

Here's an apple one:

One thing I really want to learn that I've been a little intimidated by is intarsia.  That's a little more complicated than changing a color just once.  But that's on the back burner for now while I work on all of my other half finished projects!