Dear Ellen,
I’ve pulled together the materials I needed, got the instructions and have moved forward on certificationas a Level I Master Knitter. The first three swatches are complete and I may knock out another one or two today. My intent is to have swatches complete by fall, the questions all answered by Christmas and the project hat done by New Year’s. We’ll see if I stay on track for that. If I were to knuckle down and just work on this, I’m pretty sure I’d be done in a 
few weeks, but there are so many other fun knitting opportunities that I can’t do that. I am most definitely NOT monogamous. And I just made promised to several folks for hand-knit items — most for Christmas gifts, but they’ll still need to be underway soon as I just can’t crack out 3 pair of socks and 2 pair of fingerless gloves overnight. I’m not entirely sure about the yarn I’m using. It’s elann Highland Wool. The issue is the amount of spin. It’s not spun quite as tightly as 
I think I’d like for helping to even out tension in areas like ribbing. In the body of the swatches, I’m very happy with it, but the ribbing maintained unevenness, even after wet blocking. I realize that ribbing can be like that, but I’m wondering if I’ll end up repeating those swatches as a result. We’ll see. If I’m energetic later in the process I may redo them anyway — and take extra care to maintain even stitches for that little bit of ribbing there.
I also hand washed and then machine dried my german knee socks. They do fit fine now, but the ease at the top makes me wonder how long one would wear them before they started drooping. I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding the elastic thread. That’s okay, it won’t take long. The hardest part will be getting out to find the elastic.
Those kittens keep getting cuter and cuter! I hope I get to meet them sooner than later. There might be a small treat in your birthday box intended for them. I hope they’re “crunch lovers.”
Love, Jan
Jan and Ellen are identical twins who have always had an innate fashion sense. Crafting is an integral part of their lives and they stay stitched together sharing their love of knitting, family and community.
July 14th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
I am going to suggest you try a swatch at a smaller needle size. The upper edge of your ribbing swatches shows light through, suggesting too loose of a fabric. This may help resolve the uneveness in the ribbing, too.
July 15th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Good idea, I was thinking about that for the ribbing, but wasn’t sure about two different needle sizes for the swatch. The actual fabric is pretty dense, I pretty deliberately make bind offs loose as a matter of habit.
July 15th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Great progress! Do the swatch instructions call for a particular needle size, or for a stitches per inch requirement? If the latter, then it seems fair to go with the needle size that results in the fabric you want…
July 16th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Looks like a great start! It will be interesting to see the things you learn from the process of becoming a “master knitter.”
July 2nd, 2011 at 5:55 pm
So… a year down the road, what do you think about the whole Master Knitter thing? I keep thinking it may be a fun challenge, but then I have another kid. Different kind of challenge…