I have made good progress with my TKGA Master HandKnitter Program Level II. I am still thinking about the vest, but I have completed several of the swatches. I have completed the cable ones, the pocket one, and the scoop neckline one. I got bogged down with the seam ones. It seems that seaming seed stitch is not at all easy to get invisible - nor is rib for that matter. Maybe I am making it harder than it is. Anyway TKGA have just started a new special Master's Program page on their site, and they have someone to answer questions on the message board. There is also the yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/masterknit-usa/ where participants can exchange experiences and advice.
When I have blocked my swatches, I will post pictures. I am quite pleased with most of them, but not the seam ones.
I finally got round to ordering yarn for Gary's shadow sweater. I decided to go for sport weight rather than the fingering called for in the pattern, and I will adjust stitch counts accordingly. I ordered from http://www.patternworks.com. It's Nature Spun sport in Charcoal, grey and latte. I guess I will have to wait a week or so for that to arrive, but that should give me a chance to complete the TKGA swatches. i think the colours will work well. They are not very exciting I know, but the shadow pattern should add all the necessary interest. I tried out the technique yesterday as I said I might and it is quite fascinating. I won't post a picture of my swatch - a) it went wrong half way through, very embarrassing - how difficult is it to count 10 stitches k, 10 stitches p?, b) it was in hideous colours unless you are a soccer goalie - bright green and yellow. Gary thought for a moment that they were the colours I was going to use and I could see him struggling to think of something nice to say! He was very relieved to discover I was just practicing.
100 MORE THINGS ABOUT ME
1 I have found out loads about other people by reading their 100 things about me lists
2 although I have a sewing machine I am ashamed to say that I do not really know how it works and it amazes me that stitches are formed.
3 I was quite snobby about hand stitching my quilts but I am now beginning to think that I might do something on my machine
4 I read over 70 books last year
5 I am keeping a record of all the books I read this year
6 any books that I do not want I give to my step mum who runs the Oxfam book store in her local town
7 I have never had my hair dyed
8 or permed
9 I would really love to be nominated for “what not to wear” although I think I already know what to wear
10 I am always hoping that I will go out for the day and come home to find that “ground force” have made over my garden.
11 I bite my nails
12 my new fave movie is Anna and the king
13 my fave colour combination is purple and orange.
14 mary plain is my fave literary bear
15 oooooh apart from Pooh
16 paddington and teddy robinson are also popular with me
17 gobbolino the witch’s cat is probably my fave childhood book, plus the narnia books and quite a few others
18 I am amazed at what I have discovered about myself by doing these lists.
19 this year my friend and I did not make each other things instead we bought books for one another. There was a 10 pounds spending limit and the theme was ‘inspiration’
20 I think that there is no such thing as happiness as prescribed by the media etc, I do not believe that we can achieve a state of constant being happy. I think that if you think you can achieve this it can lead to depression as you fail to get there. What I do believe that life offers many moments of great joy and happiness from natural things like rainbows and snowflakes to laughing with friends or watching children playing or just being alone to do what you like. The trick is to notice when these moments happen and relish them and be thankful for them.
21 I still love to knit and have recently made three scarves. Hurrah!!
22 when I was little I used to talk in an American accent but when I lived in America I made sure I sounded English all the time.
23 I went to the dentist for the first time in five years last month and luckily I did not need any fillings.
24 I have recently started doing yoga.
25 I think people who think they eccentric are not the ones who are eccentric really do not know it.
26 I would secretly like to be discovered and become a movie star.
27 my fave Cadbury’s rose is the new orange crunch followed by the new orange cream.
28 I recently learned how to play poker but the person who taught me seemed to be making up the rules as we went along as strangely his hand always won.
29 I have hair straighteners but I have only used them once… not entirely sure what I am supposed to do with them.
30 my first pin ups were the Bay City rollers, I went off them the day my mum bought me a t-shirt with them on
31 I think that no child should live in poverty.
32 I think that every one should be encouraged to make a positive contribution to the society in which they live.
33 I love charbonnel et walkers hot chocolate. It is made solely from pieces of grated chocolate.
34 I love to take my inspiration from nature. I once knitted a hat based on a winter pavement….. dark grey tarmac showered with pink fuchsias bright light green leaves and autumn leaves. The hat was thin stripes of all these colours
35 I love hats but I am not sure if they suit me.
36 I think it would be a good idea to get friends to write lists of ten things that they think about each other.
37 I love to look at my fabric stash.
38 I love going fabric shopping
39 this year 2006 I want to go to the quilting exhibition in Birmingham.
40 this year I want to go to a different county each month and get to know my own country
41 I want to go to the open-air exhibition in Portland Dorset where there is disused granite mine where artists have made sculptures on rocks where they have fallen on the ground.
42 I love to watch the type of chat show where real people “discuss” their problems.
43 I hope I can be as a good a mum to my teenager as my sister is to hers.
44 I love buying clothes.
45 my fave shops are h and M, tesco, primark
46 if I could I would probably shop in monsoon and noa noa but they are very very expensive
47 I like to make things based on the seasons
48 I would like to put one of my quilts in an exhibition but I am not sure if they are good enough.
49 I believe that people are basically good.
50 the best quote I have heard in along time is “ good people do good things and bad people do bad things but religion makes good people do bad things”
51 I think that Derren Brown is amazing
52 I have had two accidents since I passed my driving test.
53 I did not pass my test until I was about 32
54 I love receiving parcels
55 I love to buy books from Amazon, that way I get loads of parcels and no need to write any thank you letters!!
56 I love decorating my Christmas tree but like to leave it until just before Christmas
57 I have a huge collection of Christmas decs
58 each year my children choose a new decoration each when they leave home they will have their own boxes of decs to start their own collections
59 I hate taking down the Christmas tree
60 at Easter I enjoy hiding al the eggs for the children to find
61 I hate the way I feel pressure to buy so much stuff at Christmas and Easter
62 I feel quite fond of the way Americans have developed their own language by adding letters to words like gotten, winterize, winningest…..it is just fab
63 ok forget everything I said about any favourite films I might have said I liked I have now seen King Kong and it is just the best thing EVER.
64 I really like the way I still get really involved in movies and cry and everything.
65 a really good tip for rugs that roll up at the corners is to put strips of duct tape, quite a few, on the back of the corners. This weighs down the corners and stops them rolling. A friend taught me this.
66 I think you should learn something new every day.
67 I admire my grandma very much because she never stopped being interested in things and wanting to find out more.
68 my grandma taught me more about being a woman than my own mother did.
69 fnnerrrrr again I cannot avoid the double entendre…… sorry.
70 I love sets of things.
71 when I was little I used to sort out playing cards into suits and play games where the suits were families.
72 when I was little I really wanted my sister’s china dinner service. It is the only time I have seen a whole dinner set not just a tea set. When she was out I used to sneak into her room and make a house in a little cubbyhole she had and play with the dinner set. The thrill was not just playing with the toy I loved but that she could come back at any moment.
73 I feel sad that my sister does not collect miniature tea sets any more.
74 I love dolls houses and I did have one once. It was made of card board and slotted together I had to colour it in with some felt tip pens that came with it. My dad and sister made furniture for it from balsa wood and my sister made carpets, books, records, a working shower and a whole extension complete with stairs. I really really loved it.
75 I love playing patience with real cards and on the computer.
76 another favourite band is the chemical brothers
77 I also love Elvis Costello especially his early stuff
78 ok I have just seen march of the penguins……new fave movie. Mia’s face was a picture when the eggs hatched and she hid when the big bird flew down and picked off the baby.
79 I would love to go on an arctic cruise
80 I check every week to see which episodes of simply quilts have been shown on hgtv and I have I file on my faves list where I keep the descriptions of the sq eps that I like
81 secretly I would still like to play with my Barbie dolls
82 going back to the religion quote I think that religion allows bad men to do bad things and get away with it
83 my new fave celeb show is soap star, super star
84 I would also like to play with the playmobil and lego
85 I could also never understand where the Americans get legos from …..it is so clearly just lego
86 my favourite day would be to go on a whale watch with a few well chosen people and then go out to dinner at a really nice restaurant.
87 my fave tea is fishfingers, tinned spaghetti and home made chips.
88 when I eat fish fingers I like to undress them eat the fish and then eat the crumb coating.
89 my fave biscuit is chocolate digestive followed by bourbon, I have never got to grips with the hob nob
90 I like to watch football on tv but only the big matches
91 I would like to have a kitten
92 I like to think that the glass is half full
93 I am very self conscious
94 sometimes I am so overwhelmed by all the things I have to do that I end up doing nothing
95 I perform better if I do things at the last moment
96 if I do things in advance then I forget I have done them or lose them which is very stressful
97 I am very interested in parenting theories and techniques
98 I am, possibly unhealthily, interested in mass murderers
99 my fave tv channel in America was court tv……………oh yes hgtv too
100 I hate housework in all its forms
Posted by: carolinne Willson | January 18, 2006 at 01:22 PM