A little while ago, I won a book called "Knitting Pretty" from Protector of Vintage (great name for a blog, huh?). Learning how to knit has been on my to-do list for some time so I was really excited about winning the book. It was even better when I opened the box from Ann and discovered she had included three skeins of yarn and a heart shaped box of yummy chocolate-covered caramels. Armed with a 40% off coupon, my sister and I headed for Michael's so I could get some needles and get to stitching.
Well, it did not go as well as I had hoped. After pouring over the diagrams in the book and watching several online videos for hours and hours, I still had no idea how to knit or purl. I think I figured how to cast on but who knows if I was doing that right. I knew how to knit when I was a kid and thought it was would all come back to me when I picked up those needles but no such luck. I was really discouraged by the whole thing and thought I should stop obsessing over it for now and move on to something I kind of knew how to do: make a small animal out of felt.
I decided it was time to finally make a Scotty/Scottie dog from All Sorts. The pattern was one of the first online craft freebies I stumbled upon. It's just felt and a simple blanket (or whip) stitch so how difficult could it be? Well, hello, there's a head gasket (or is it gusset?), and two underbody pieces, and I wasn't sure which part to sew together first. He turned out cute, (how could he not be cute thanks to a great pattern), but there are quite a few mistakes. If you could see him from a different angle, you would see knots in the floss that I did not hide well enough, and the places where the pieces of felt came together that I had to stitch over more than once because I had left holes. I also cheated on his collar because I cannot tie a decent bow to save my life, so for now, the ends are attached by a straight pin.
I love that he stands up. That was worth dealing with the underbody pieces and head bustle(basket?).
I plan to make more Scotties in the future and I'm hoping to get better at it.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Meet My Scottie
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
OH He is soooo cute!
I love the use of the blanket stitch to put him together. It gives him that textured look.
Mary :-)
Isn't he as sweet as a button. Very nice. Linda
Hi there,
Firstly, I love the little Scottie and your blanket stitch looks great (still can't master that myself).
As for the knitting, I empathize as I still don't get it either. Did you happen to see the
Mrs. Moskowitz Knits Series on YouTube? I found them to be helpful!
Best,
Erin
Your scottie is gorgeous. As for the knitting, come to the UK for a holiday and I'll help you!
I have 'learnt' to knit so many times and still I don't really get it! There's a book called "Yeah, I made it myself!" that has the teeniest knitting section at the back but its so simple to follow. I can knit, purl and even rib because of that book... just really slowly while getting quite cross about dropping stitches!
Knitting is a real love/hate thing for me
xo
He is very cute, Patty. Good job. As to your knitting dilemma, I'm with ya girl. Oh, I finally figured out how to do it, but I haven't figured out how to do it WELL. Too much tension, not enough tension.... Anything I attempt looks like something the cats been playing with.LOL!
He's darling! On the knitting front, just a thought, try looking up how to do it "continental." That's how I knit and I find it much easier and faster than the way it is usually taught. You hold your needles like a crochet hook and don't drop anything to "wind" your yarn around. Much more natural for me. Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuRLFl36tDY The only thing I do differently is I weave the yarn through ALL my fingers for better tension and less stress on my holding hand. Good luck!
There's something extra cute about scotties and dachshunds.
Adorable Scotty!
Once upon a time, there were knitting stores in every town where you could not only buy yarn but they would show yoo how to knit, answer questions about patterns, etc....not that it ever helped me!
That Scottie is so cute!! Wish I had your talent. Sorry to hear the knitting isn't going very smoothly. I mastered knitting and purling; however, if I made a mistake, I had absolutely no clue as to how to make corrections. Good luck with it!! Don't give up.
Exceptional. I printed off the same pattern but the gusset (whatever) kinda scared me.
Really cute Scotty Dog! Love it. I can't see any imperfections!
As for knitting... I hear ya. I have several books and it's just not the same as someone SHOWING you and helping you along. I wish I had the "natural" talent to just figure it out. If you could see some of my previous work, you'd know that I, too, need a "personal trainer" :)
I think he looks great! When you make the next one it will be so much easier. The first of anything is always a bit of a test run.
I hope to have Finished for Friday back in swing next Friday, if I'm not too loopy on pain meds.
I think he's perfectly charming. :)
He needs a pet gnome though.
He's sweet. I tried it a couple of months ago, it was my first try using blanket stitch and wow, I know the difficulty you had. But it's worth it in the end.
Post a Comment