So I found this awesome list of skills a knitter can learn from Discombobbled on the HPKCHC group on Ravelry. This object is to sort through these skills into: what you've done, what you plan to do, and what you are not planning to do.
Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public
This is a great thinking exercise, several of these skill I hadn't even thought of doing. This is a gread starting point for planning future projects and expanding my knitting prowess. I envite anyone to go through this list to see where you might like to go with your knitting.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thoughts on Gardening
I have always considered farming a noble profession, though I had never really considered making a career out of it. I don’t really know why. It might be because I consider it time consuming or labor intensive, but should that honestly matter?
No, it really shouldn’t.
Even so, I have my reasons for shying away from farming.
Before we go anywhere near those, I think it's important to understand what I do like about farming.
For me, farming is more than just a way to get cheap produce. It’s sort of a... I hate the word “spiritual,” so I won’t use it… but it’s sort of a connection you forge with the earth. There really is little that is more exhilarating than seeing those first leaves push their way through the topsoil. Once they do, the magic and excitement really begins. The changes and stages that a plant goes through as it develops are truly amazing to me. Gardening, or farming, is akin to parenting: you plant the seed, watch it sprout, nurture it, watch it develop, nurture some more, see it full grown and produce offspring of it’s own, and eventually die. We are ultimately watching a life-cycle take place every year.
Even though I have a very strong connection to farming and I regard it so highly, my family has had some… less than perfect experiences with gardens in the past.
(On to the story)
My parents, my little brother, and I moved to New Mexico in October of 2003. We really had no idea what “The Land of Enchantment” would hold for us (though my brother and I knew it was going to be terrible no matter what), but we were excited (HA!) to find out. We rented a house in the small town of Flora Vista, New Mexico. It was small, but we fit in comfortably. Our yard, however, was gigantic compared to the house.
In early 2004, my mother had resolved to plant a good-sized garden. By February, she was sketching and coming up with designs for her garden. When April arrived and she was ready to till the ground, she had a monster garden in the making. If I were to estimate the size, I would say it was about a 50x30 foot garden (this is large to me, maybe not to some of you).
If you don’t know much about New Mexico, it is a desert. For plants to survive in the desert, they need to be hardy. The weeds in this state are some of the hardiest in the world – their roots run so deep you could tug at one for hours. And we had to till a 50x30 foot rectangle of this stuff! After much work and much preparing, May rolled around and we finally planted the seeds. Not only was my mother ambitious with the scale of her garden, but also with the number of plants. We had: tomatoes, peas, green beans, Brussels sprouts, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, watermelon, pumpkins (those were mine), and corn, though I’m positive there were more. Planting alone took an entire weekend. Weeding was non-stop. Watering was a logistical nightmare; thankfully we had a well to draw water from.
As summer came to a close, we were faced with more vegetables than we had any idea what to do with – except for corn. The ears of corn never grew larger than 5 inches in length. We ate, we canned, we ate, we froze, we ate, we gave away, and we even ate the produce. Overall, the entire experience was, exhausting.
The next year, we scaled back immensely. We reduced the size by about 50 square feet and the number of vegetables by about half. Even with the reductions, that garden was still a lot of work. As the years progressed, the size of the garden decreased until now where we are down to a few tomato plants.
I love to grow a garden, but I never fully appreciate the time and effort that go into it until I’m in too deep.
I still would love to grow a garden, I just need to make sure I’m ready for it and have everything planned ahead of time to make the experience as enjoyable as possible.
No, it really shouldn’t.
Even so, I have my reasons for shying away from farming.
Before we go anywhere near those, I think it's important to understand what I do like about farming.
For me, farming is more than just a way to get cheap produce. It’s sort of a... I hate the word “spiritual,” so I won’t use it… but it’s sort of a connection you forge with the earth. There really is little that is more exhilarating than seeing those first leaves push their way through the topsoil. Once they do, the magic and excitement really begins. The changes and stages that a plant goes through as it develops are truly amazing to me. Gardening, or farming, is akin to parenting: you plant the seed, watch it sprout, nurture it, watch it develop, nurture some more, see it full grown and produce offspring of it’s own, and eventually die. We are ultimately watching a life-cycle take place every year.
Even though I have a very strong connection to farming and I regard it so highly, my family has had some… less than perfect experiences with gardens in the past.
(On to the story)
My parents, my little brother, and I moved to New Mexico in October of 2003. We really had no idea what “The Land of Enchantment” would hold for us (though my brother and I knew it was going to be terrible no matter what), but we were excited (HA!) to find out. We rented a house in the small town of Flora Vista, New Mexico. It was small, but we fit in comfortably. Our yard, however, was gigantic compared to the house.
In early 2004, my mother had resolved to plant a good-sized garden. By February, she was sketching and coming up with designs for her garden. When April arrived and she was ready to till the ground, she had a monster garden in the making. If I were to estimate the size, I would say it was about a 50x30 foot garden (this is large to me, maybe not to some of you).
If you don’t know much about New Mexico, it is a desert. For plants to survive in the desert, they need to be hardy. The weeds in this state are some of the hardiest in the world – their roots run so deep you could tug at one for hours. And we had to till a 50x30 foot rectangle of this stuff! After much work and much preparing, May rolled around and we finally planted the seeds. Not only was my mother ambitious with the scale of her garden, but also with the number of plants. We had: tomatoes, peas, green beans, Brussels sprouts, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, watermelon, pumpkins (those were mine), and corn, though I’m positive there were more. Planting alone took an entire weekend. Weeding was non-stop. Watering was a logistical nightmare; thankfully we had a well to draw water from.
As summer came to a close, we were faced with more vegetables than we had any idea what to do with – except for corn. The ears of corn never grew larger than 5 inches in length. We ate, we canned, we ate, we froze, we ate, we gave away, and we even ate the produce. Overall, the entire experience was, exhausting.
The next year, we scaled back immensely. We reduced the size by about 50 square feet and the number of vegetables by about half. Even with the reductions, that garden was still a lot of work. As the years progressed, the size of the garden decreased until now where we are down to a few tomato plants.
I love to grow a garden, but I never fully appreciate the time and effort that go into it until I’m in too deep.
I still would love to grow a garden, I just need to make sure I’m ready for it and have everything planned ahead of time to make the experience as enjoyable as possible.
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