Machine Knitting Class and more!

Thursday night I took the first in a 10-class series of Intro. to Machine Knitting. i really thought that my hand knitting experience would come in handy (heehee) but it turns out that machine knitting is NOTHING like hand knitting. Unfortunately. So, I sat down at the drafting table with the big piece of equipment strapped to it, and i was immediately intimidated. By the end of the 3-hour class I had made tons of mistakes and a few small swatches. What I love: how fast it goes when you are doing it right. The evenness of the stitches. What I don't love: casting on, trying to fix dropped stitches, binding off. I keep reminding myself how frustrating it is to learn to knit. I see it on the faces of my students each time I teach them something new. There are women in my class who are there for the 4th, 5th and 6th times. They are still trying to master it. Can I do it? The appeal is this: being able to come up with a sweater design then voila! it pours out of this machine with a few swipes of the carriage. I know there is more to it than that, decreasing and increasing, but I think I get it and with more practice I can really get into it.

All of that said, I want to buy a LK-150 Silver Reed knitting machine. I am looking to borrow one at first, make sure I like it. If any of you know of one floating around out there gathering dust, I would like to talk to you. I promise to be gentle with it and return it in great condition. At the end of the class I am hoping to buy my own machine, but I can't quite commit just yet. Big purchase, you know.


Hand knitting update: I just finished the Hansigurumi Deep Sea Angler Fish. This one was great to knit. I made a few modifications for myself, but the pattern, as always, was a pleasure to work with.

I am not sure what is next to cast on. There is a cute alien toy at ravelry that I might try. I have lots of bright colors in lamb's pride bulky that I can use up.

School is almost finished, 2 weeks to go, and that means my knitting students will be turning in their final sweater sets. I hope to have them all delivered to Stitches from the Heart by the end of next week.

Have a great week and don't forget next Saturday is Knit In Public Day. Go out and knit!