April 28, 2004
Hooray!!
Congratulations to Beginner Babes Newest Member:
knitgrl
Be sure to check out her blog on the ring!
Latest news:
Karen of SKPP has offered to lend a hand in the design of different level buttons for the Beginner Babe site. Try one of these on for size:
1. Greenie- For those who have just started to learn to knit, can cast
on
slowly and can manage garter stitch and stockinette
2. Newbie- Have finished a few easy projects, often asks for help
3. Tweenie- Knitting with confidence most of the time but asks for
occasional help
4. Queenie- Hardly ever asks for help, knits more complex patterns
5. Goddess- Knits without looking, people ask me for help.
I'm loving it! How about you?
Now Karen needs the patience of the ring members to pull this off. So let's keep on knitting and send her some good, patient vibes!!
Posted by stacey at 06:11 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2004
Tip of the Month: Don't Let Tension Trouble You
This tip of the month was submitted by godsend
I have always worried about my tension. Once I knitted a very large blanket for someone dear. But the whole time I was just looking at the difference in sizes of one stitch to another. This week I happened to come across a book that discussed this topic. Have a look:
From pp. 15, 16 of A HISTORY OF HANDKNITTING by Richard Rutt
The shape of the stitch, by whatever method it is created, will always be the same. Given lack of obstructive friction on the surface of the yarn, equilibrium of forces will eventually relax a course of knitting to a state of even tension. This is why old pieces of knitting normally look so regular. Knitters of the past get praised for even working, but hand knitters know that any piece of knitting will improve with time, and only wildly irregular stitches will fail to fall into evenness. Lubrication of the yarn by wetting the fabric hastens the process. As Elizabeth Zimmerman puts it, 'Time is a great leveller'. At this stage, gauge is determined solely by the length of yarn used in each stitch.
Tension is the only crucial manual skill in hand knitting. Once the method of creating the fabric has been mastered, the acquisition of new stitch patterns is not difficult. Design of fabric and garment call for knowledge of simple arithmetic and geometry, and an inkling of topology. No furthur mathematics are required. Tension is theoretically measurable, but the hand knitter's knowledge of it must be intuitive and expressed chiefly through his fingers. this is the point of technique at which experience counts.
Surprisingly, writers of knitting recipes rarely mentioned gauge before the 1920s. Miss H.P. Ryder in Cycling and Shooting Knickerbocker Stockings (1896) was among the first to write carefully. She prescribed garter stitch of 8 stitches and 8 rows to the inch with Alloa yarn on size 12 (2 3/4 mm) needles, and noted that for associated Fair Isle work 3 ply fingering should be used on size 10 (3 1/4 mm) needles.
Rest assured, you can kiss your tension troubles goodbye!
Posted by stacey at 01:36 AM | Comments (0)
Hooray!!
Congrats to the newest member of Beginner Babe!
NadaJ of NadaJ Knits
Be sure to check out her site on the ring! :)
New Look Coming Soon
*I've decided I'm going to add a Tip of the Month feature. If you've got a tip you'd like to share with the ring, (be it a tidbit of info you've come across or an article all your own), email me.
*I'm hoping to get a new banner and blog button for this site to spice up blogs on the ring! Cross your needles (uh, I mean your fingers) and stay tuned!!
Posted by stacey at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
April 23, 2004
Welcome!
This ring is for beginner knitters who have blogs and would like to showcase their budding talents! It is not, however, restrictive to other knitting blogs. The site is for you if you have a regularly updated blog and come under any of the following categories:
*You are just learning to knit.
*You have beginner->intermediate->advanced-intermediate level knitting skill.
*You don't churn out hand knit sweaters at lightning fast speeds-at least not yet!
*Even after knitting for years, you still like to keep knitting simple (broad range of definitions here).
*If you are an advanced->master level knitter and would like to offer inspiration and advice to those on the web ring who could benefit from your years of expertise, sans intimidation.
If this is you, join Beginner Babe!
Please, be sure to update your blog regularly and paste the code correctly so that others who join can have a joyful ring experience as well. Thanks!
Posted by stacey at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)