Skillset Satisfaction

Improving Your Skillset
How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.

3KCBWDAY6

I am comfortable with my skillset for the most part. The important thing to me is being able to knit and or crochet for charity. I don't have a need to make amigurumi or intarsia. I make basic items, that need to be sturdy and warm; not fancy made with intricate stitches or high end fibers. I'm always knitting or crocheting when people are talking at lunch at work, or when the TV's on, so sticking to things that don't require enormous amounts of focus or concentration works best.

I guess I am perhaps more goal oriented then task driven. The goal is to make items for those cold and in need without a roof over their heads vs spending time practicing learning new things. There are times I'll set aside me-quiet time to work on something for my Darling Daughter or myself, or perhaps a special gift. I do try to stretch myself some in those moments; but it doesn't drive me. I sometimes feel guilty though when I do that. I've knitted simple lace and would like to improve on that skill using finer yarns. But, that takes time away from my primary goal. Likewise, I'd like to try my hand at socks; but always find a charity project to work on instead.

I elude to this difficulty in balancing in tomorrow's Blog Challenge Topic.

As a general statement I would like to improve my skill enough to be more comfortable working with finer yarns/fibers; but beyond that...nothing really specific. I'm pretty comfortable knowing I can accomplish my goal with my current skills and being satisfied works for me. That however doesn't stop me from being delighted to see someone with skills superior to mine.

The most I've stretched myself with regard to doing different stitches was the making of the above afghan for my DD's best friends wedding gift. I had some moments of ripping out and of being frustrated; but wanted something special for her. She and her husband loved it.

I have some special yarn I purchased on vacation to make something different for myself and my daughter, but ...it sits in the basket. Perhaps, since the wedding was about this time last year, it's once again to devote some me quiet learning time.

Day 1 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY1
Day 2 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY2
Day 3 Challenge Post (wild card) 3KCBWDAY3 3KCBWWC
Day 4 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY4
Day 5 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY5

Metamorphosis and Air Miles

Voting Here for your Favorite Challenge Post
pst...see how easy I made it for you
Something A Bit Different (this is also a FOF post, see badges and links in left sidebar)

It's back, and this time it has the most amazing of prizes (look for the prize for 'most creative post'). This was a massive success last year, and for many it was the highlight of the Blog Week, so this year you are challenged, again, to find a new way of blogging.
This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.There are no rules of a topic to blog about but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:

• Wordless, photographic post

• Video blog post

• Podcast

• Cartoon/sketch of an idea

• Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).

• Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?)

• A poem or piece of rhyming verse

• Stop motion animation

The grand prize for Knitting and Crochet blog week, as donated by JenACKnitwear and Fyberspates will be given to the most creative blog post after a nomination and voting round, and due to the immensity of the prize it is really worth putting bit of time and effort into this. At the very least you will get an amazing blog post out of it.

3KCBWDAY5 (use this code in a google search to find others in day 5 challenge)

Allow me to introduce myself. As I travel, a metamorphosis takes place. You see when I started my life somewhere in a laboratory, I was but chemicals. I traveled to New York to the Lion Brand Yarn Shop and became a 6 oz skein, 185 yards of fiber. My label read 98% acrylic and 2% polyester.

My infancy stage was spent traveling through the US mail was from Joyce's house in New Mexico to Sandy's house in Ohio. That was a long necessary journey before my next stage could begin. Paired with size 10 knitting needles I traveled from Ohio to Florida on Southwest Airlines where more metamorphosis took place, stitch by stitch, and row by row. Growing with each mile more changes taking place. My return flight from Florida to Ohio was the final stage of my traveling metamorphosis. Being Dog tired, I can now rest, as I'll be wrapped around someone's neck to warm them at a homeless shelter.
The yarn was donated by Joyce, I made the scarf(just folded it to make it look like a dog above for fun), it will be donated through Bridge and Beyond.

Day 1 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY1
Day 2 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY2
Day 3 Challenge Post (wild card) 3KCBWDAY3 3KCBWWC
Day 4 Challenge Post 3KCBWDAY4