A Sense of Direction

Last year, I got a windfall. My mother had given me some birthday money, and I also received a $100 Amazon credit for some survey work I had done. I decided to use this money to flesh out my knitting library. I followed my usual process: reading reviews, checking candidates out of the library, reviewing them, and then purchasing the ones I thought had staying power.

The design book I chose was Knitwear Design Workshop: A Comprehensive Guide to Handknits by Shirley Paden. So far so good. It's a workbook, so it's not something I'm reading cover-to-cover. Instead, I'm figuring out how to use the book--a tool like my needles and stitch holders.

The first four chapters are the basics, and that's where I'm living now. In these chapters are dozens of charts and tables, as well as a set of silhouettes for making sketches and design notes. I'm not a paper-and-pen notebook kind of person, so I'm trying to figure out how to convert all this to the computer. The tables and text-based notes are easy; word processing and spreadsheets will do the trick, and I might try keeping all of this in OneNote, a program in my MS Office package that I'm liking more and more (I can't believe I'm writing that...).

I'm not as sure about the sketches. I have the ability to scan them in after I've done them, but unlike my daughter, I don't think I'm much of an artist (though maybe I'll add that to my things-I-want-to-learn list!). So I'm not sure what's going to be helpful here. I need the silhouettes for making notes on, but I'd love to find a way to put my notes on the silhouettes in electronic form. Maybe Publisher is my answer. I'll be playing with that next week, I expect.

So tonight, I am creating spreadsheets for measurements and notes. My first project is going to be a sweater for Carl. We've been married for more than five years, so the boyfriend rule no longer applies. (For those who don't know, the rule is that you cannot knit a sweater for a boyfriend; if you do, by the time you're done, he won't be your boyfriend any more, and he'll probably keep the sweater anyway!) I'll write more about the actual sweater in the next post.

Beginning in the Middle

My church has a part of the service called "Joys and Concerns," where anyone can get up and talk (briefly) about what's going on in their lives. When I turned 45, I told the congregation that the first half of my life had been rough--very rough--and that I was hoping the second half would be better. Several older women came up to me after the service and assured me, with knowing looks, that it would be.

I decided at that birthday, now almost a year and a half past, that I wasn't going to wait to see. I was going to make it better. It's taken me that year-plus to define what this process would mean: in a word, it's learning. I'm an educator by trade and by calling, and what I love most is the learning that goes on in and around me. When I teach new courses or redesign old ones, I get so enthusiastic about what I'm learning and what I get to teach.

So in this blog, and in my second half, I'm actively bringing this learning to the rest of my life.

Last year, I learned how to eat. In January 2010, I joined WeightWatchers online, and I have lost about 50 pounds. I feel better and I look better, and I am even wearing some medium(!)-sized clothing. I haven't seen this weight in about ten or twelve years. I'm not done losing weight (and I'm sure I'll have more to say on the process later), but I believe I have spent a successful year learning about food and eating.

Now it's time for a new learning adventure. This year, I'm going to learn to knit the way I really want to. I already know how to put needles together and make articles of clothing. I've done afghans and shawls and baby blankets and scarves and hats and mittens and socks and sweaters and iPod cases. This year, I want to learn to design knitwear--to make truly customized pieces.

This blog is where I'm going to chronicle this learning adventure, including all the inevitable missteps and celebrations. Those of you who join me here, welcome!