[Nfb-krafters-korner] casting on, AND beyond

Tue Jan 8 02:54:23 UTC 2013

Hi Deidre,

I am so impressed with your determination and effort.  You should be so
proud of your accomplishments.  Keep up the good work and give yourself a
pat on the back.

If you find that you are starting to make mistakes, put your work down and
come back to it later.  Don't be so concerned about having to start over if
you have made a mistake.  Just count the stitches that are on the needle and
see how many rows you can knit and keep that same number.  

At this point I just want you to get comfortable with manipulating the
needles and yarn.  Work slowly so that you can strengthen your "motor
memory".  I believe that somewhere along the way I was told that it takes 3
weeks to get a series of movements ingrained in your brain.  So be patient
with yourself.

You are probably correct about the old stitch remaining on the left needle
when you find the points of the 2 needles don't want to move apart.  Before
just slipping that old stitch off of the left needle, make sure your working
yarn is coming out of that old stitch.  There is a chance that you have not
grabbed the working yarn to pull it through the old stitch.  Rather you
might have snagged some other loop of yarn.  If you think this is the case,
you will need to slip what you think is the new stitch off of the right
needle and try again to make the new stitch.  If you have confirmed that the
working yarn is coming through the old stitch that is on the left needle,
then it is fine to slip it off of the tip of the left needle.  Your new
stitch should never be on the left needle.

When you are doing the knit stitch, your working yarn remains in back of the
needles.  This is the side of the needles that are away from you.  When we
say that the yarn is in front of the needles, it means that the yarn is on
the side of the needles closest to you.  When you are doing the knit stitch,
the working yarn is never on the front side of the needles.

If you are having trouble knitting the first stitch on a new row, you can
just slip it to the right needle and not knit it.  Yes, this stitch should
be slipped "knit wise" but for now, just slide it to the right needle.  Then
start knitting with the second stitch.  

Your attention to detail will get you far in knitting.  That is so good that
you are paying attention to how the stitches feel, the placement of the
working yarn, and how much tension your needles are feeling.  

Keep up the good work!

Annette
.  

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfb-krafters-korner [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Deidre Muccio
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 6:17 PM
To: 'List for blind crafters and artists'
Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] casting on, AND beyond

Becky,.
I just came back from the neighbor who has been monitoring my knitting. She
showed me the most gorgeous hat, to die for. She is knitting with two
colors, a wool and a mohair yarn. It was fuzzy and soft. 
	According to Alice, I did indeed succeed in casting on 20 perfect
stitches. I then proceeded to knit 20 stitches Continental style with the
long strand of yarn draped over the stuck out pointer finger and hanging
between several of the other fingers on the left hand. I did it with the
greatest of ease for an entire row. There were no mistakes in that first
row, or is that considered the second row? 
	I made one mistake in each of the next two rows.  The yarn started
to get unruly, or rather, I was getting a bit tired or uncoordinated. 
	I then picked up a set of circular needles again and resumed
knitting what the neighbor had fixed for me. It took some time to get in the
groove with thinner needles and much thinner yarn. I made a number of
mistakes after a while on that one too, but lucky for me, Alice was there. 
	Tonight, I might not try to knit anymore, but if I do, I will try a
third set of needles and cast on once  more and see if I can make a row or
two without any mistakes. 
	It's hard to be sure when I've made a mistake, but when I feel or
count the loops on that left needle, I like it when they feel all in order.
	Other than the problems I have had with there being to much tension
on the stitches to the point I could not separate the two needles, the
mistake I am making is in sometimes not succeeding in pulling the old stitch
off the left needle. Maybe that is the new stitch, not the old one?
	One problem is that the long strand of yarn that should be held away
with the pointer finger on the left hand comes behind the two needles and
then I am confused as to whether that is the stitch I am about to pull off
or just the loose yarn. I can get that out of the way if I notice it and
then if I am uncertain as to whether or not I've pulled that stitch off, I
can feel if the yarn is at a diagonal between the two needles, and if it is
not straight across, I know it still needs to be pulled off.
	I don't remember how Annette had the class starting anew row after
all the stitches are on the right needle and nothing is left on the left. I
think what I have been doing is trying to make sure I start to knit under
the first stitch and don't get in the way of some bigger loop that is
hanging there at the top off the left needle. That is where I sometimes get
into trouble too.
	Ok, I think I've done enough knitting and talking about it for one
day. Looks like there is hope for me after all, but then I sure hope there
are sure fire ways to help us fix mistakes, because there will surely be
mistakes. I can only be grateful no stitches or loops fell off either needle
today though that is always a distinct possibility. Maybe some of these
things are easy to remedy if you catch the problem immediately.

	Have fun all of you who will be on the call about the kiss loom
tonight. I'm too beat to even think about it right now. 

	Deidre

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