Ta Dah! My Hitchhiker Shawl is completed.

I knitted it out of three skeins of my own hand-spun BFL, from Frabjous Fibers.

The yarn was a two-ply of two different variegated colorways: Cathedral (the colorful one) and Potash (whites to dark grays). Of course, the colors are what really pop out, but it was interesting to see how subtle changes in the Potash colors made the Cathedral colors appear differently.

Good heavens, I knew this yarn would turn out stripey, but I had no idea how stripey. Now I’m prepared for what I’m going to see with all of the chain-plied yarns I’ve been experimenting with. It would be very interesting to see these same colorways spun up as a three- or four-ply, with perhaps two strands of Cathedral and one or two of Potash. We’d get more mixing of the colors. I wonder if  I’d like that better or not. Alas it’s moot as I have no more Cathedral on hand (although I do have another bundle of Potash…).

This pattern is so easy to knit. I knitted this at Pints and Purls after a glass of beer, I knitted this in the car at near-twilight, I knitted this in a rage when I had to get away from my school work for a while –all with no discernible ill effect.

One other thing I love: it’s all garter stitch and doesn’t need blocking. Hah! I don’t really mind blocking, but I don’t take particular pleasure in it either. All that bending over the futon. Hurts my back just thinking about it.

One other accomplishment I’m proud of: I knitted this whole shawl (well, most of it) using a new technique for holding the yarn in my right hand. By the time I was done with this shawl, I had started to knit with that technique naturally. It felt right and comfortable. Sadly, this comfort disappeared entirely when I picked up my next, more complicated project. I reverted to my old ways without realizing it. Gack!

Related articles

• Hand Spun Yarn Becomes Hitchhiker Shawlette (all-she-wants-to-do-is-knit.com)

• 5 questions asking about self-efficacy/confidence
• 5 questions asking about perceived gains from participation in blog week

I make no particular claims on the scientific validity of the scales I used. I threw them together in just a few minutes, without much of the testing and review that normally goes into surveys. In fact, a test of internal consistency showed that the self-efficacy scale had a pretty poor level of reliability (0.517). The perceived gains scale, by contrast, had a good reliability score (0.816).  Oh well. The data are still interesting.

This first post will focus on the results of the Self-Efficacy survey. The next post will present the results of the Perceived Gains survey.

Results

Self-Efficacy

It looks like my fellow craft bloggers are pretty confident using cameras to upload blog content. Nearly 90% of people who responded agreed with the statement. Only about 2% of people who responded indicated slight disagreement.  I’m not surprised. Half the fun of craft blogging is sharing images of what I’ve created. I’m sure others feel that way too and cultivate those skills.

Results were much more mixed on the subject of shooting and using video on craft blogs. Only about one-third of people who responded indicated “agree” or “slightly agree” on this item. The vast majority are neutral of indicated “disagree” or “slightly disagree.”

Shooting video certainly takes more effort than shooting photos. And fewer people have experience or practice doing it.  I just shot my first crafting video a couple of weeks ago. I had to redo it four or five times, and I wasn’t even trying to achieve something of high quality.

And then, of course, there’s the issue of preoccupations and anxiety. I bet there are a lot of other craft bloggers out there who are a bit afraid of video. I was convinced my voice would sound weird or my fingers would look hag-like.  It’s going to be a long time before I can convince myself to put my face in front of a camera. I’m not ready.

In addition, I think there are fewer useful opportunities to apply video in craft blogging. It comes in handy when demonstrating a crafting technique but I , for one, am not all that interested in watching someone fumble around while sitting on their couch, showing off their latest afghan.  That’s what photos are for.

I’m sort of surprised by these results. I expected a lower level of self-efficacy with regard to specialized equipment. When people say they feel confident, I wonder what type of equipment they are comfortable with? The question is a bit complex. Since Survey Monkey only lets you ask 10 questions on the free version of their software, I had to compress about 5 questions into one big question. Grrr.

Software: I bet lots of people know how to use iPhoto or similar programs to improve the look of their photos.

Lighting, etc…: I’ve been known to open the blinds or turn on a lamp when taking photos, but I’ve never used a reflector or other fancy stuff.  I am very curious to know what other people do.

It looks like people are extremely confident publishing blog posts and commenting on other people’s blogs. Not all that surprising given that this was a survey of bloggers participating in a blog carnival.

I’m not surprised by these results either. People seem  pretty confident in using their chosen blogging platforms. I would  be interested to dig into this question further. Are people confident in using the basic tools? What about more advanced features? I know there are lots of WordPress capabilities that I’ve never touched.

So that’s it for now. I welcome your comments and thoughts on this first set of results. More to come soon.

Related articles

• 4KCBWDAY5: You’re Invited to Participate in a Craft Blogger Survey (all-she-wants-to-do-is-knit.com)
• What Kind of Blogger Are You? 7 Different Blogger Types Explained. (zemanta.com)
• An Experiment in My Knitting Technique (all-she-wants-to-do-is-knit.com)

I’m no Star Trek fan girl, but I’m a big fan of the knitted items its fans come up with. I appreciate the love, effort and attention to detail that the fans are willing to invest. Really, it’s no different from the Jane Austen themed knitwear craze.

Here are a few of my favorite Star Trek themed patterns.

Criteria for selection: The pattern has to wow me in some way without creeping me out (I’m, talking to you, enormous-head-of -Captain Kirk hook rug and Zachary Quinto/Spock fan-sweater ).

Trek Girl Dress

This pattern not only evokes the sexy style of women on the original series, it also looks wearable. The skirt is a bit short, but it would probably be OK over leggings. It’s the perfect example of Trekwear that’s not just for conventions. I’m a little worried about that rolled hem though: it seems to want to continue to travel upward. Is that just my imagination?

by Toni Carr, as seen on Ravelry and in Knits for Nerds

Spock Mittens

Such a clever idea. I wonder if it affords any added manual dexterity, useful when you need to work outside in the winter. Again, this is not a sock-you-in-the-face-with-my-geekiness project. It’s subtle.

Spock mittens by Amy Molnar, as seen on Ravelry

Borg Fingerless Gloves

At first glance, these look like innocent cabled mitts, but there’s something much more sinister at work. Here’s how the author describes them:

These intricate cabled gloves are inspired by everyone’s favorite villainous collective, the Borg. The travelling cables reminded me of Seven of Nine and the Borg Queen’s bodacious Borg implants – nanotubes everywhere! Make a pair for yourself or the favorite Trekkie in your life, and remember: We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.

Borg Fingerless Gloves by Sam, as seen on Ravelry and in Tea and Trilithium’s Ravelry Shop

Junior Crew Member Onesie

It is a truth universally acknowledged that children can get away with wearing tutus, capes, and Freddie masks year round, not just at Halloween. And babies get even more leeway. I’m very tempted to knit one of these next time a friend decides to spawn.

Star Trek Junior by Sara Swärd, as seen on Ravelry

Must drag myself through thesis revisions.

Must get/keep myself in shape so the wedding dress fits

Must fix the air conditioner/vacuum/house wiring

Must clean the house after months of semi-neglect (all school related)

Must tend to the yard/eradicate dandelions

Must cajole fiancée into choosing a suit for the wedding

Must eat the spinach in the fridge before it goes bad

Must buy plane tickets

Must work at least 8 hours a day because losing this job would be a bad thing

I must do so many things right now. But there are no musts related to my knitting. Or spinning. So when I can’t pursue my musts a moment longer, I fall upon my fiber like a ravening beastie. Oh, sweet strands of twisted bliss! Take this ache out of my chest for just a little while.

Despite my level of stress and busy-ness, I still seem to be making lots of progress on my craft projects. Last night I looked at my Hitchhiker and realized that I was almost done. When did all that knitting happen? How did I miss it? It’s lost in a fibrous fever dream.

I’ve always been an English style knitter. A thrower. And a rather clumsy one at that.

I learned to knit when I was eight. Mom showed be the ropes (pun intended), but after that I taught myself most of what I know. I knitted in the way that felt most natural to me, clutching the yarn firmly in the fingers of my right hand. And since then, I’ve never deviated from this technique.

When I knit, my whole hand moves, not just my fingers. It works, but it’s terribly inefficient. I’ve observed other knitters forming stitches with only slight flicks of their fingers. It looks so calm. So slick. So fast! I’ve decided that I want to teach myself to knit that way.

Now comes the hard part: overcoming more than twenty years of muscle memory.

I’ve decided to start this process by practicing my new technique  on a simple garter stitch project: The Hitchhiker shawlette. Over the next mile or so of yarn, I’m going to repeat this new technique thousands of times. Will that be enough to retrain my brain? Probably not. But it’s a good first step.

Wish me luck.

By the way, the above is my first knitting video. (*Yay*) After the 4KCBW blog week, I decided that one of my goals for the next year was going to be: getting comfortable with video blogging. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but I wanted to get over the first hurdle and simply GET A VIDEO OUT THERE, DARNIT.  Now that I’ve taken that first step, I feel much more confident about what I might be able to produce next time around.  

Related articles

• Hand Spun Yarn Becomes Hitchhiker Shawlette (all-she-wants-to-do-is-knit.com)

I’ll never spin yarn with such character again!

My yarns are smooth and even.

When washed and dried, the hanks hang in perfect parabolas.

I try to over- or under-ply my singles, but my hands will not obey me.

Oh woe is me.

Yeah. Boo hoo.

There’s definitely room for improvement in the yarns I’m spinning right now. But I’m proud to report that I’m finding good uses for them anyway.

Here we have about 1200 yards of 2-ply. Spun from 2 4-oz braids of hand-dyed BFL from Frabjous Fibers in the Cathedral and Potash colorways.

This BFL is a good example. I got a lot of yardage out of two 4-oz braids, but now I realize I should have plied them a bit tighter.

This yarn is a little bit uneven and not suited to just any project. It needs a pattern that will forgive and even celebrate its slight irregularities.  And it needs to be used for a garment that benefits from a bit of droopiness.

Hitchhiker to the rescue!

I’m knitting this cute little shawlette as a gift for the friend who will be  photographing my wedding. She won’t accept money in payment, so I am making her something special instead. The rustic texture of my yarn seems to work well with this simple pattern.

I’m only going to use up a few hanks of this batch of hand spun in the making of this hitchhiker. But I’m enjoying the process so much and liking the results so well that I may knit up one or two more. It seems like the ideal gift to keep on hand. Plus, it’s a wonderful travel project.

Now the trend is thwacking yarns. It is all over the place. Do you thwack? Why aren’t you thwacking? You aren’t finished unless you’ve washed and thwacked!

This thwacking concept reminded me irresistibly of this scene from Some Like It Hot. Fast forward to the following time mark: 1:24.

Most of the time, I slap it!

Overall goal: I want to find ways to stuff fiber into every nook and cranny of my life. Almost nothing makes me happier.

Specific goals:

1) I’d like to tackle color work, preferably with a  Fair Isle pattern.

I just love this Fair Isle sleeveless hoody on the cover of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting. It seems irreverent somehow, as if Fair Isle is “supposed” to be used a certain way, and this pattern is thumbing its nose at those notions. I’m a sucker for irreverent patterns. 

The cover of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting.

2) I’d like to knit something with this lovely red Blackwater Abbey yarn my mother gave me. It’s gorgeous, crunchy wool that screams to be knit into something with intricate cables.

I keep returning to a few  patterns over and over.

Plaits and Links Cardigan by Kathy Zimmerman as seen on Ravelry

134-55 “Chocolate Passion” – Jacket with cables in Alaska by DROPS design as seen on Ravelry

Hawthorne Vest by Marilyn King as seen on Raverly

3) I’d like to knit more projects with my hand spun.  I keep a special drawer in my yarn storage area just for the products of my hand spinning. If I don’t do something in the next few months, that drawer is going to erupt like Mount Vesuvius. If my obituary says something about death by smothering, you’ll know why.

Side note: I was working on this post yesterday and very nearly posted something extremely grouchy. Don’t blog while grouchy. It’s like drunk goggles, if the goggles were  lined with scratchy, itchy wool. Nothing good can come of it. Plus, everyone will know you’re grouchy and that will make you even grouchier. 

Today is day six and the theme of the day is: A Tool To Covet. The task is to write about my favorite crafting tool.

I have a lot of crafting tools I really love. I love my Addi-clicks interchangeables. I love my light-as feather place markers, perfect for delicate lace knitting. And I love the cute little black embroidery scissors my mother gave me when I was teenager: somehow, after all these years, I’ve managed not to lose them (it’s a miracle).

These things are all wonderful, but the true apple of my eye these days is a magical wheely-bopper.

It’s a truly special tool that enables me to spin as much as I want on my trusty Lendrum, and then free up my bobbins for more spinning without having to make troublesome decisions about what to ply with what. I’m talking, of course, about my splendiforous Schacht bobbin winder.

The wheel of yarnfinity, which enables me to spin almost without ceasing.

Just yesterday, I finished spinning 8 oz of this lovely variegated green BFL/silk from Sweet Georgia. Yummy.

But I wasn’t quite ready to commit to the next step. I had two bobbins full. Do I want to just ply them together off the bobbins? Do I want to split the yarn up into four equal amounts and make a four ply? Do I want to hold onto these until I feel brave enough to try chain plying? Agh! Who can decide?

Bobbin winder to the rescue!

I grabbed a few of the plain plastic storage bobbins (They come in large packs of about 20!).  I just realized I’m almost out. Already. Gack!

Then I set the bobbin winder up on the desk, impaled a plastic bobbin on the winder, and commenced a-windin’.

In no time at all I had spun two very full plastic bobbins. Oooh, they’re so pretty. And my wooden bobbins were stripped and ready for wheel spinning again. Joy!

By the way, I have a runner-up favorite that I just can’t resist sharing. I took some glamour shots this morning and now I can’t get this sexy little thing off my mind.

I’m proud to present: Purple Heartwood Golding Spindle. She spins like a dream.

Today is day five and the topic we’ve been assigned to blog about is: Something Different. The idea is to blog in a way that is different from how I normally blog.

I ordinarily blog in a very memoir-ish, sharing-my-projects style, so today I’m going to branch out and try something very different: blogariffic research.  

I’m calling all you bees, manatees, monkeys and peacocks to participate. Mixed breeds (such as the bee-cocks and monkatees) are welcome too. Also, that one lady who self-identified with house of mule–I especially want you to participate. 

Image from kmonadollaraday.wordpress.com

Join me in a bit of fun, informal research.

This 4KCBW event has been wonderful opportunity to stretch and try new things.

This week, I tried blogging techniques outside my comfort zone that I was uncomfortable with, and the results have mostly been very positive. Before this week, I’d never made an infographic —but and look at me now!  No fear!

Sometimes it takes a drastic move, or the arrival of a magical blue box, to get you out of a rut. Image from http://www.moodychick.co.uk

I’ve created a 4KCBW- themed survey.

The purpose of the survey is to evaluate your experiences as a craft blogger and your specific experience participating in Knit Crochet Blog Week.

• How confident do you feel in the various skills required of a craft blogger?
• What do you feel you’ve gained from participating in blog week?

Take the survey  (only 10 questions) and see your results, along with the results of other participants.

Take the survey

At the end, I’ll do a little statistical analysis with the results, which I’ll post here

Thanks in advance for taking part. I look forward to playing with numbers and telling you all about it.