Swap Reflection

So this whole swap has been one entire learning experience for me. Here's a quick recap of what I've learned over the past two months as I've been working on various projects.

Please don't read if you don't want spoilers about what's in the kit for Cassandra. Thanks.

Colorwork. I've never done colorwork other than those horizontal stripes before, so this was a first in many areas. Not only have I learned how to do duplicate stitch on something flat with a chart, but I've also learned how to duplicate stitch on something that's small and knitted in the round (2 dozen stitches on size 1.5 needles). I've also given a try at undeliberate fair isle-type colorwork, as demonstrated in the hat I made for SPEW.

Cabling. This was probably my favorite part of what I did for the project, but I was able to cable the handle to the bag I made. It turned out nicely, but you can see my cables get better as you go from one end to the other; it was the first thing I've ever cabled.

Hats. This was actually the first hat I made. Not only did it involve colorwork, K2P2 ribbing and decreasing in a pattern, but the hardest part of the project was transferring from the circular to the dpns. I'll keep that in mind next time I make a hat because I dropped just about every third stitch and had to pick it up again.

Any sort of blocking/finishing. This should be self-explanatory... especially with the bag.

Dreaded Kitchener Stitch. Actually, it wasn't that bad and the book I have made a lot of sense with the way it was explained. Shaping the heel and working with the gusset on the mini-sock I made was actually a lot more difficult. This was the first sock I've ever made and I got lots of pictures of it because I'm not keeping it for myself.

This isn't something new, but I've always found it difficult to come up with presents for people. I've been told I do a really good job at it, but it's not easy and I honestly don't know how I do it. This swap was one of those times and I found myself reading through correspondence to find little extras to pack away in the kit I'm sending off. It's just one of those things where I want everything to be perfect, you know.

I don't have the knitting skills of a lot of the people in the group, so my handmade object isn't going to be as good as theirs are. I've only been knitting for about a year now and it's only been in the past few months that I've even done anything other than scarves and washcloths in something other than plain garter stitch. But what one can do with a little imagination and quite a bit of determination is actually quite amazing.