Another Hobby Blog

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I've Been Memed!

...by IndieKnits

7 things:
1. It is my understanding that knitting and crochet are the *exact same* concept, but the difference in tools make some stitch combinations easier with a hook, others easier with the sticks. No, REALLY. When I am using "crochet" stitches along with my knitting, I use my knitting needles to form them. (Knitting with crochet hooks is a tad more complex because of the little flat spot in most crochet hooks' handles and because the hooks are generally so short, but I've done it as well.)
addendum: conceptually they differ in that the expectation of crochet (except Tunisian style) is that only one loop (or set of loops: e.g. star stitch) is live at any given time. The expectation of knitting is that an entire row of loops is live at once. ... Basically, you can think of crochet as a bunch of knitting stitches in which you bind off each stitch *as you make it* instead of at the end of the project. Cool, huh?
2. In 2002 I couldn't knit. Well, I guess I *could* knit-- if I read a book to remind myself of cast-ons and cast-offs.. but I really didn't enjoy it. ... although there is that one lace scarf I made for a gift... but that was a project I *REALLY* didn't enjoy! Especially the fifth time that I had to rip it all the way back and restart because I dropped stitches. Come to think of it, it never would have lived to completion if I hadn't managed somehow to get it back on the needles the sixth time I dropped stitches... It was a project that was altogether too far beyond my skillset to be plausible, but when I took it in to the yarn store to complain and swore that I couldn't knit, they said it was obvious that I *could* knit if I were making lace like that, and I must be lying. phoo. No help at all! ... that scarf was born in 1997, firmly settled in the "I Can't Knit" years. Somewhere in 2002 a school-friend was knitting socks, and I got fascinated. It's been a slippery downhill slide from there onward, and *NOW* I can knit. I can shape things, I can adjust sizing, I understand gauge, I recognize knitting shorthand and charted symbols, I can repair errors in lace work (not just my own, either!)... and of course, I can knit socks. :)
3. When I was about 13, I tried to teach myself to spin on a handmade drop spindle. I'd read about the concept in history books, and they'd said it was possible to spin "with a stick shoved through a potato." When I failed to get the results I wanted, I decided I couldn't spin after all. It was another one of those things that I Just Wasn't Meant To Do. .. Thirty years later, I'm totally hooked. And with the right equipment (and a better understanding of the function of twist) it's surprisingly simple! (note: "simple" does not necessarily mean "easy". "simple" paves the way to "easy".)
4. Art is a much more difficult discipline than science. Science has clear goals, defined steps, and right-and-wrong answers. I most definitely did not choose Art as "the easy route." There are days that I hate it. ..but it is rarely boring.
5. The childhood-dream career paths I most regret not taking: stuntperson, circus acrobat, whale tamer.
6. The childhood-dream career path I am most glad that I did *not* take: garbage collector.
7. My mother wanted me to be: a lawyer. She gave me that "You can be Anything" speech so common in middle-class suburbia... but apparently "unemployed artist" and "perpetual student" weren't what she meant.

3 Comments:

  • At Fri Aug 24, 04:33:00 AM PDT, Blogger Paula said…

    Oh that was a great meme!


    ~I still have trouble when I try the Tunisian style crochet.
    I just don't get it I guess.

     
  • At Fri Aug 24, 10:30:00 AM PDT, Blogger Mia said…

    A potato kabob spindle - what a great idea :)

     
  • At Fri Aug 24, 01:30:00 PM PDT, Blogger Peacock said…

    The potato-kabob was horrible! .. the potato kept spinning around the dowel instead of acting as one unit to transfer the twist into the yarn.

    If you decide to try for yourself, you will probably need to find a way to anchor the durn thing! A square dowel might help (the corners resisting the turn, y'know) .. or adding a cotter pin through the potato and dowel to hold the thing in place? ... or maybe even a string binding around potato and dowel might help!

    I haven't tried the potato-kabob again recently (should do though.. might be interesting), but I did recently try spinning on a rock! surprisingly successful, actually! .. but do be careful not to bash anyone in the head with it. :)

     

Post a Comment

<< Home