Welcome to the first episode/post for Platypus Knitting! Here you will meet me, Bobbie Olan, as I discuss:
Reasons for starting this vlog
An overview of my crafting and knitting life
The first pattern ever favourited on Ravelry
A recently finished gift knit sweater
Crafty gratitude #1
I am a knitting enthusiast based in Melbourne, Australia and there are a few reasons for starting up this vlog. The first is as a way to connect with community. Finding knitting or crafting groups is something that I struggle with as an introvert so the hope is that this channel helps build up my confidence in speaking about knitting and also in reaching out to other knitters .
The second reason is that I have always been interested in designing my own knitwear. However once again, lack of confidence is my enemy. In the past I have had ideas, created one failed swatch, and then just given up. The plan here is that as I get used to sharing my thoughts and experiences with knitting, I will gain the confidence to share and follow through on my design ideas.
As you can see, confidence building is the foundation on which this vlog exists!
My first attempt at knitting was in 2008 when I followed my partner to Sydney for work placement during our third year of uni. This was pretty much a failure. While I was able to knit a few very sloppy garter stitch scarves, I didn't enjoy the experience and didn't properly understand what I was doing. So I gave it up.
Luckily, a few years later around 2014/15 I decided to overlook this misery and give knitting another go. This time I was following my partner to San Francisco where he worked full-time and I ended up only finding a casual job. My sister had somewhat recently had her first baby so I decided to make him a sweater. And after that, I was hooked! It did help a lot that I finally learned to read my knitting, and also looked into different knitting methods to see if there was one that suited me better.
Since then I have steadily spent less time doing other crafts and more time knitting. But to give you an idea of my overall crafting life, I have:
been knitting for over 7 years;
dabbled in cross stitch for over 20 years (who knows when I started that?!);
worked as traditional book binder for around 4 years; and
finished over 38 knitted projects.
Eye Candy
The first knitting podcast I ever listened to was Yarniacs.
On their first episode, they discussed the Fuse pattern by Veronik Avery.
This became the first pattern that I ever favourited on Ravelry.
As you can see from the image on the right, this is no standard cardigan. Aside from the lovely and simple lace design, I absolutely LOVE how one side buttons up to give a shawl/wrap look.
I have had yarn in my stash for this for a really long time. But for some reason, I almost never knit for myself. Most of knitting is making gifts for others. But I am determined to change that this year!
Handy Dandy
This recently finished sweater is the Greenwich pattern by Martin Storey. As mentioned above, most of my knitting so far have been gifts and this is no exception - although I am tempted to make one for myself as well.
This is my first full garment done in fisherman's rib. I found it a bit tricky to master when I was swatching, but then I realised that I was completely misreading the pattern instructions. Interestingly, I had to go down something like 3 or 4 needle sizes to get gauge. Well, I got stitch gauge and just had to recalculate all of the shaping to account for my different row gauge.
I also have to mention that doing a whole garment in the one stitch pattern really helped me understand it better. There was one other garment I made that had a band in fisherman's rib and I had made mistakes in it but could not understand how to fix them. With this garment, I'm pretty pleased and proud to say that I was able to runner down and fix all the mistakes!
The one modification I took on from having looked through other projects on Ravelry was to shorten the sleeves. Pretty sure I only shortened them by 5cm so I hope that it's enough. It's the perfect length for me so I'm assuming it'll be just right for the gift recipient (and won't stretch excessively over time).
Heart full of Craft
Last but certainly not least is my segment on craft-related gratitude. And of course it has to be for my loving and supportive partner. Not only has following him around led me to this wonderful craft, but he is so supportive of all of my knitting pursuits and interests. He is always encouraging me to spend time on it and has never once questioned or made me feel bad about my purchases.
Thank you, darling!
Resources
Fuse by Veronik Avery - Brooklyn Tweed, Wool People 2
Greenwich by Martin Storey - Rowan, Easy DK Knits
Yorumlar