January 29, 2008

My #1 Fiber Arts Rule

It's true that I haven't had much to say over the past month. This is mostly because I have not done as much needlepoint (or knitting) as I was before the holidays. I can explain this by offering my One Simple Rule for fiber arts (or any hobby, really):

"Do not practice [Fiber Arts|Other Hobby] at any time unless the activity is appealing and exciting at that moment."

I developed this rule after my first bout of knitting. I taught myself to knit, loved it, and threw myself into several projects of various complexity. I forced myself to knit. Every day. No matter what. At first this was easy -- I was loving it, I was learning new things, I was making progress. But then my energy started to flag. I wasn't doing other things. I began to view knitting as a chore. Eventually I burned out and just stopped altogether. For years!

When I got the knitting bug again, after several years of Not-Knitting, I resolved that I would approach it differently. I like to knit (and do other crafts) because it is fun and rewarding. I gain a personal sense of accomplishment with each completed step, garment, and new skill. But I only gain these benefits if I choose to knit. If I force myself to knit, then any of those accomplishments are just completed chores.

So for the past few weeks I haven't done as much knitting or needlepoint. I did make some progress on a sleeve of a hooded aran sweater I have been working on for quite awhile, but not much else. When I get home in the evening, I look at the various projects I have, do an internal soul search and decide, "Nope, tonight is for [catching up on magazines|watching Amazing Race|lying face down on the carpet with a pint of ice cream next to my face]."

However, I have been gazing at Turnberry Ridge for a few days and my boyfriend is out of town, so.. who knows what tonight will bring?

Russian Coat Progress

After Christmas, I had a houseguest and I discovered that doing needlepoint and anything else (watching a movie, talking to another human being) is impossible because of the concentration I have to exert. I think this will change as I gain confidence and experience, but for right now I am squinty and speechless when working on canvas. So I set aside the Turnberry Ridge for awhile and focused on the Russian Coat, because I could knit through an earthquake, tornado, etc and still turn out an acceptable garment.

Working in the round rather than back and forth has helped the look of the piece immensely. My seaming is, to be frank, crappy, so avoiding seams wherever possible is quite beneficial. At this point, I have finished all the hexagons for the bodice and have joined both shoulders at the back. I am currently working on the trapezoids that make up the back. My only problem is when I picked up the stitches for the second trapezoid, I ended up short of the final edge. Oh no! I picked up some extra stitches and my plan is to decrease them back to the right number very quickly. This will probably look rather strange when it is finished but (a) may be masked by the collar which will pick up along that edge and partially straighten it out; and (b) I have very long hair so no one will see it.

Turnberry Ridge

Soon after my last post (okay, it was weeks ago, I am guilty), I received a kit for Turnberry Ridge in the mail from the Needle Nook of La Jolla. I say "kit" because, although what I ordered was the booklet and threads, they actually sent me an email about it and offered to send the canvas as well. Imagine my delight when I opened the box to find not only did they send the right-sized canvas, but they bound it AND attached a needle to it. The threads were all carefully collected into a ziploc bag with a xerox of the thread inventory included, and the booklet itself was in another ziploc. I was impressed and thrilled! When I go out for another kit (which may be quite awhile) I will definitely go back to them.

So, anyway, Turnberry Ridge is a booklet by Jean Hilton that was designed/written for a cyberclass and is geared toward the very beginner. A lot of background information on threads, canvas, and laying tools is provided in addition to the pattern. Each stitch has an excellent write-up on how to do it, alternative methods, what NOT to do, etc. It is an excellent learning tool.

The Bucilla kit was carefully packed away so I can pick it up again if I want to, but I'm really focused on Turnberry Ridge. I would say I am about 33% complete. I have only had to rip out one section -- but only because I chose the wrong color thread, not because I really made a mistake.