Awwwwww

Soooooo little!

Darling Daughter's start on an infant-sized "Trellis" (Knitty, Spring '05).

This is her most challenging knit to date. She had me help her learn to read the chart and oversee working the first set up row across the back.

As she started cabling she was kind of fretting each knit and purl so I encouraged her to think of the cable elements as vertical units and the stuff around them as frames - not as a disconnected line of knits and purls across one row at a time.

In other words, even though working a cable cross might involve two knits and a purl, she should think of it/try to see it as a 2-stitch cable moving right or left in front of the purl stitches in the background. After all that is in fact what the eye sees when you look at cables and its the impression the knitting is trying to convey.

I encouraged her to reference the chart but also practice letting her eyes tell her what is right or more importantly, occasionally wrong on her needle to help her catch and correct errors quickly.

That seems to have done the trick for her because ever since that little talk things seem to be under control.

In fact she feels so confident, this morning as she left for work she explained she stopped knitting last night with just 8 rows of the first front panel to knit as she was too tired to focus and she now knows that 8 rows can quickly become a lot more than that if you are ripping and re-doing them looking for/fixing mistakes.

Smart girl. 'Took me about 20 years of knitting and re-knitting to learn that one!

She also mentioned she plans to have the little cardi finished by tomorrow night - and no, she does not plan to stay in tonight to get a start on that goal.

When that girl sets her sights on something, she can make it happen so I won't be surprised if she actually hits the target. It really is soooooo small and she's already done the biggest piece.

I'll be re-working fingerless mitts as my first order of weekend knitting business. Not nearly so interesting as cables on a seed stitch background bracketed with twisted stitch, faux cable columns.

How fun to have both actual and vicarious knitting right here in the house!

Thanks for dropping by this Friday - have a great weekend!