"So, how do you knit?" - the Poverty Projects
Some time back, on one of my days off when I was really bored, I asked my mother (who has recently gotten back into knitting - which is now apparently a craze), "So, how do you knit?"
She evidently thought that was a hilarious question. But she got me a pair of needles and a big ball of "practice" yarn, and got me started on an 8x8 inch square.
It's not a totally useless project. Apparently there's a yarn store in our city which is collecting 8x8 inch squares for an ongoing project - they collect numerous squares, and then knit them into blankets. Then they donate said blankets to the local homeless shelters.
So I'm knitting a square, out of this large ball of Red Heart yarn. (The store has asked for crappy-yarn-squares, because if the blankets are too nice, the poor homeless people will get attacked for them.) The official color of this stuff is "multicolor" - it's sort of an Easter-egg rainbow.
So far, I have 5 inches of length - w00t!
Weirdly, it's 8½ inches wide. I have no idea why this is, or whether it will be smaller when I get it off the needles, or what. (It also fans out at the starting end, but Mom and I think this due to the fact that she did the cast on and first row, and her stitches are much looser than mine.) I think I will check out some sites and books for beginners, and then ask in novice_knitters if I can't find something to tell me. Otherwise, I guess maybe I'll make it 8½x8½ inches and call it a washcloth? (What happens to 100% acrylic when it gets wet?)
I also need to learn how to cast off, how to cast on (Mom did it for me this time), and possibly how to purl. Then, I have the following projects in mind (possibly to be edited for skill value, etc.):
List of Knitting Projects
-1 more square, for more practice
-2 adult-size scarves, for practice
-a "family" of scarves (two adult size, two somewhat smaller for children)
-2 adult-size hats, for practice
-a "family" of hats
-2 pairs of mittens
-a "family" of mittens
-...gloves, maybe?
-......my own blanket?
To be donated to shelters in time for the winter.
I'll be a bit busy with these, I think.
She evidently thought that was a hilarious question. But she got me a pair of needles and a big ball of "practice" yarn, and got me started on an 8x8 inch square.
It's not a totally useless project. Apparently there's a yarn store in our city which is collecting 8x8 inch squares for an ongoing project - they collect numerous squares, and then knit them into blankets. Then they donate said blankets to the local homeless shelters.
So I'm knitting a square, out of this large ball of Red Heart yarn. (The store has asked for crappy-yarn-squares, because if the blankets are too nice, the poor homeless people will get attacked for them.) The official color of this stuff is "multicolor" - it's sort of an Easter-egg rainbow.
So far, I have 5 inches of length - w00t!
Weirdly, it's 8½ inches wide. I have no idea why this is, or whether it will be smaller when I get it off the needles, or what. (It also fans out at the starting end, but Mom and I think this due to the fact that she did the cast on and first row, and her stitches are much looser than mine.) I think I will check out some sites and books for beginners, and then ask in novice_knitters if I can't find something to tell me. Otherwise, I guess maybe I'll make it 8½x8½ inches and call it a washcloth? (What happens to 100% acrylic when it gets wet?)
I also need to learn how to cast off, how to cast on (Mom did it for me this time), and possibly how to purl. Then, I have the following projects in mind (possibly to be edited for skill value, etc.):
List of Knitting Projects
-1 more square, for more practice
-2 adult-size scarves, for practice
-a "family" of scarves (two adult size, two somewhat smaller for children)
-2 adult-size hats, for practice
-a "family" of hats
-2 pairs of mittens
-a "family" of mittens
-...gloves, maybe?
-......my own blanket?
To be donated to shelters in time for the winter.
I'll be a bit busy with these, I think.