Teaching and Learning

Since posting last, much knitting has been accomplished, and the belly is even big enough to rest stuff on top while I knit or eat. Amazing how fast baby-belly has grown in just a month! As to the knitting, I taught an Intro to Knitting class at the Hudson Public Library in the beginning of June for the tween/teen age group, which went really well. I designed and wrote up a quick project (cell phone/mp3 cozy) and made up some handouts to show them the basics, then attempted to teach several kids around 5th grade level or so how to cast-on, knit, and generally how to hold yarn. It went pretty well, and hopefully a few of them will stick with it and try something new.

Otherwise, it turns out that 2 other women in my knitting group are also expecting, one in October, one in December, so I've been pretty busy knitting for their bellies as well as mine. And since one of the babies is for sure a girl, it's giving me a chance to try out some fun things to make for her that would not work for our little guy. I do love knitting baby stuff though, something so satisfying about making tiny garments and still trying out new techniques and patterns without a huge project undertaking. Right now I am working on the cutest little baby knit for our boy, the Little Bubbles kit from Knitpicks. Even though it's on size 2 1/2 needles, the Comfy sport is so soft to work with and it's going pretty fast. I have the yoke done, and I'm just getting ready to split for the sleeves. I'm trying to make a fair amount of baby clothes in the one year range, so that he'll get a little more wear out of it than just a few moments.


Mostly I've been all about getting things ready for baby and spinning and knitting when I can. My mom made me (and I helped!) some wonderful burp cloths out of some cute flannel we picked out at Joann's, and they turned out so well! I need to get around to sewing up the cloth wipes soon, now that I finally cut them out, but as I've been finding my zen in knitting lately, that's been the priority. And of course, I went up to the Estes Park Wool Market this year with some great girls from knitting (pic on Amy's blog), and even though I had no intention, I bought a lovely steel gray CVM fleece for play and learning on :). It's about 4.25 lbs unwashed with an approx. 2.5 to 3 inch staple with very nice crimp. Washed up a bit and kept lock formation, spun a few locks flick carded, and it is wonderful to spin. Think I'll try drum carding though to blend all the grays together into a heathered effect, and I can try spinning a few different ways. But I definitely have lots to play with and do, even before the baby comes!