By emy Monday, August 30, 2010

Back in May when Lynn first joined us, like Gaia, Mercedes and the rest, she was just as smitten with crochet.

So we got her working on the spidery shrug. It took her a while to get the hang of it -- her first lesson was well over 3 hours as she has to learn how to:

• hold the crochet hook,  
• carry and tension the yarn on her fingers and feed it through,
• do swatch practice to ensure her tension is even,
• recognize and decipher the crochet symbols,
• actually work the various stitches.

If you see the shrug closely, you will notice that she has used 2 different strands of yarn. This gives the finished project a different look.Sounds like a long time isn't it? Actually, given all the steps she had to go through, three hours is a reasonable time as there are several stitches involved in the pattern.

When she came back for her second lesson, she has this much progress to show.


Apart from wanting to make sure that she has followed the pattern sheet accurately, she is concerned about any possible mistakes made when stitching at home.

And so, the project kept growing.



If you see the shrug closely, you will notice that she has used 2 different strands of yarn. This gives the finished project a different look. (You can compare it with another customer's WIP -- this was done sometime late last year.)




When she came during the last lesson and announced that the yarn might be running short, I nearly had a nervous breakdown!

This project has been crocheted by various customers throughout the last 5 years that I am absolutely sure that 6 balls of yarns would do the work but Lynn's project was short of 2 inches of cuff frills.

Turned out when Lynn had a more relaxed gauge when she was working on the frills around the neck and the cuffs. That in turn, resulted in the yarn shortage. To rub salt to the wound, I was totally out of stock for the bamboo yarn for this project. I couldn't even find a yard of spare yarn anywhere.

In the end, we managed to remedy the situation by modifying the cuff frills pattern ever so slightly.


Most of the new customers gasp in awe when they realize that this is a beginner crochet project. Of course, I must accord much credit to the ladies themselves who persevered and undergone our personalized coursework regime -- it's always tempting to be spoon-fed! But once they discovered the joys of empowerment, there's no turning back!

Now that Lynn has conquered this, she is moving onto a second project!

By emy Friday, August 27, 2010

Remember Melissa?

After that pale pink cardigan that she knitted for her sister, she decided to knit up another garment. This time, for herself.


All I did was help her to take her body measurements and dispensed some advice on some areas to look out for. And off she went.

She came back after several weeks with a WIP to show.



Melissa felt really excited about being able to start out a new project on her own. I just loved the fact that she was so fearless. This is just one of those moments when I feel so satisfying being in the role of a knitting teacher (as some of the gals like to address me as), a knitting instructor or enabler -- to be able to advise and assist another new knitter to rise to greater heights in their quest of knitting. [Ok, I'll step down the soapbox and keep my emotions in check.]

To keep the task simple, she decided to knit lace pattern straight up without any shaping.  She figured that she would have me help her incorporate some shaping into the bust area later on but we were caught in a bind -- how do we transition the lace pattern so that the bust area remains modest?

You see, as much as she is a 20 something young adult, she prefers proper coverage without showing too much unnecessary skin. In fact, with the tunic she crocheted the last time, she would only wear it out with a spaghetti strap top (or a slip, for us 30somethings) underneath. Me? I just proudly wear my crochet lace tops out as is; likewise for my knitted tops.

So it is then decided that we would transition the lace pattern to plain stockinette for the upper bodice / bust area with a modest neckline.



Isn't the final handknit lovely? We put this onto the mannequin once the loose tail ends are being tucked in. Once it's being washed, the tunic will smooth out and drape much better -- I should have just tugged the tunic into shape properly, now it's bothering me.

Nevertheless, this babydoll top will certainly get a lot of wear from Melissa.

Now that Melissa is away overseas for a good two years for studies, I hope the knitting and crochet knowledge she has acquired will keep her hands busy!

By emy Wednesday, August 25, 2010

If you have been reading our blog, you would have gasped at Jenny's tenacity when it comes to her knitting projects.

Well, I am happy to report that all the rip-back effort has gained traction. The project is now growing at an incredibly fast rate, with Jenny giving it the much needed boost.






In fact, not only did she work in an additional crochet motif on each side, Jenny also added in a sprinkling of yarn overs at the lower bodice in this updated version.

I expect this piece to be completed fairly soon...maybe by end September?

By emy Monday, August 23, 2010

Lately, it seems that the interest in crochet is increasing. And that's not just amongst our current customers but with inquiries from new customers too.

When Gaia first contacted us back in May, she was really excited and psyched up to learn crochet. She was so smitten by the various granny square inspired skirts she saw in the stores that she wanted to pick up the art of crochet and master the skill in order to make her own skirt.

She grasped the concept of crochet rather quickly. In fact, to accelerate her learning, I taught her using a combined learning system of having paired the crochet symbol abbreviations along with the Japanese crochet craft symbols.

She had some slight problems with tension that was quickly overcome with the swatch work she was doing during her first lesson. Obviously, having a private individual setting helped as I was able to sit close and observe the way Gaia was handling the crochet work and provide immediate remedy instructions.

After the first lesson, she was able to read the crochet symbols required for the granny square pattern she chose and work them from scratch.

In fact, she's pretty quick with her hands. She had some squares all ready within 2 weeks or so for her second crochet class. I would consider her rather gifted as all the stitches that one has to master in order to work a granny square usually means that the first lesson would take an average of 3 hours or more -- mostly four hours, to be on the safe side; given that a combination of several stitches would be used during the crochet work, meaning the customer needs to be very confident.






Initially, she was concerned that the squares all looked wonky. She was worried that they would not align and seam up nicely and neatly as they should.

Just so to convince her, we actually started on the crochet edge join seaming technique immediately. Once the squares fell into place, she visibly relaxed.






For the pattern she was working on, we decided on a granny square motif which she would crochet two different size variations to cater to Gaia's project needs.  It was decided that the smaller squares would go onto the waist band edge while the large ones would trim the skirt hem.

By emy Thursday, August 05, 2010

When Jacquelyn took up knitting after a long hiatus, she decided that a simple knitted project will suit her corporate jet-setting lifestyle.


So we decided a simple fitted tank top will work well to meet her needs.






The yarn is a lovely cushy yarn and Jacquelyn was totally enjoying the knitting process. And it certainly helped when the Addi knitting needles are in use. The smooth joins make it a cinch to knit circularly. In fact, when it came to the upper bodice, we decided to go for a simple stockinette pattern.




In fact, it was knitted up fairly quickly towards the end as Jacquelyn was so excited at the prospect of being able to wear the finished project.


With a fairly chunky ribbed border around the neckline and the armholes, the tank top looks fabulous!




This blouse has a very flattering fit. In fact, it fits Jacquelyn to a T. [We had decided to put it on the mannequin the other day as Jac decided that she wasn't appropriately dressed to model the FO the other day.]


In fact, I love the look of this tank top. See how the ribbing skims the body curves?


Like I have always said, gorgeous looking knits do not have to possess complicated or highly detailed patterning. What you really need is to have good fitting and even knitting tension to get a lovely project piece that can get you lots of compliments!


Want to learn how? Join the customers who have signed up for knitting lessons with us to discover how to do custom fitted knitting!


In fact, most of my customers who have previous knitting learning stints in knitting shops find our personalized individual approach far more appropriate as it addresses their specific queries and help improve their understanding of custom fitted knitting way better!