According to my learning plan, my task this week is: cast on project and try to work the first repeat, however slow or frustrating it might be.
Casting on
Honestly, I’ve been putting off casting this project on. I find casting on any project frustrating, and this one uses a technique that I’ve always avoided: the provisional cast on. It uses a crochet hook which I have intentionally avoided since I started knitting. They scare me. I don’t know why.
Luckily my partner is a provisional cast on pro and was able to help me out.
The cast on was actually more straightforward than I thought it would be! Next came…
The First Repeat (24 rows)
Wow, was this ever frustrating. The stitches were so much tighter than I was used to because mosaic knitting involves slipping every other stitch on both sides. This makes working the increases on either side of the shawl (which give it its ”V” shape) extremely challenging.
It took me almost two hours to get the first 6 rows knit! But eventually I completed the first repeat which was 24 rows.
Although I was able to get the first repeat done without having to rip back to fix mistakes, I had to have my eyes glued to the pattern the whole time which made for an extremely slow and not very enjoyable experience. I’m looking forward to starting to memorize some of the motions/instructions in the pattern because at this rate I’ll be done this program before I finish the shawl!
2 Responses to “Learning Mosaic Knitting—Week 3”
Erin, you’ve got me intrigued in your project and I haven’t knitted since I was 14! Your plan is detailed. You’ve shared very helpful background on your knowledge and why you’ve set your specific goal. All this helps with learning success – you’re modelling what you’ll want a learning experience to be for students you teach in the future.
I’d really like to see some sort of personal connection in your learning process. Is there someone who can talk to who has done something similar? Is there someone who could motivate you. Alternatively, is there someone you can teach a specific technique you’re learning – teaching something can be a demonstrable way we know we’re learning.
BTW – the images above I presume are you’re own. The top one, where you’ve added graphics is freakin’ brilliantly executed – we’ll be talking about graphics/text in class on October 7.
Awe, Erin! Your use of graphics and personal style is so wonderfully added to this blog post. I am blown away!! I have never heard of mosaic knitting, but I am now beyond intrigued. I have no doubts that you can do it!