This is my class; We knit, loom, crotchet, and draw/paint :)

And this is me knitting my hat!

http://www.elfinhouse.com/

This website is a personal site that shows very unique clothing items that were hand knitted. If you want to go out of the box with your knitting styles, then I would check out this site. You can even buy the items seen! Very pretty :)

http://www.knittinghelp.com/

This is an awesome website that teaches you how to knit! It is so cool because it actually shows videos on how to knit, step by step. Pretty cool, you should check it out if you are new to knitting or if you just want to refresh your brain on an old craft.

History of Knitting-

Surprisingly, there is no concrete information about the beginning of knitting. A lot of people say that knitting originated when fisherman began to tie different types of knots for their fishing nets, but it is not confirmed. Others say that the first origins of knitting were found in Egypt, when fragments of socks were discovered. These socks were dated through 1000 and 1300 A.D. Knitted pieces that are from the past have been found in many different countries: Egypt, England, Holland, Scotland, Spain, Germany, etc. “The first trade union devoted to knitting professionals was founded in 1527 in Paris. It was originally a male-only occupation but soon became a household activity when knitted stockings became extremely popular. Apparently, by the late 1600's between one and two million of these knitted stockings were exported from Britain to various parts of Europe.” The first items that were made from knitting were stocks and stockings. Then they went to sweaters and scarves. This process began more and more popular and now it is where it is today.

Reflection-

Week/Day 1: October 21^st

This was the first day that knitting was introduced to me. It was just a normal day, however; we had senior pictures, so a lot of students were late to class. My teacher, Mrs. Washburn did not want to have a lesson without the whole class present, so we begged her to teach us how to knit. Knitting being one of her passions, she could not refuse and proceeded to teach some of the girls in class the basics of knitting. I was one of those girls who were eager to learn this new to me, yet, old form of art. After my teacher showed me the basics and got me started, I caught on real quick. I learned the art of casting on almost immediately, but then the next step gave me some problems. Mrs. Washburn showed me over and over again how to actually begin knitting, but I could not understand it. There was a reoccurring process that was holding me back. I kept saying “Jack just won’t jump off!” (Referring to the jingle Mrs. Washburn taught us to explain the steps). In my head, I was so frustrated. I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. So it took a while but I figured out how to do the basics, realizing I wasn’t letting the string off at the end of the knit. That whole weekend I practiced on the needles and yarn my teacher let me borrow, but I wanted some of my own. So on that next Monday I went to Walmart and bought my own needles and yarn, I was going to be prepared the next day to perfect this art.

Week 2:  

I started off with new needles and yarn. The needles are this pretty blue, and the yarn is mixed colors: blue, pink, and purple. It was relatively cheap, so it is not the softest yarn, or the best to knit with, but it will do. At the beginning of this week I was going to knit a scarf… But by Friday, I realized it is going to be more like a blanket. Starting off in week two, I was happy that I knew the steps in knitting, but a new problem surfaced. I was SO stiff in my knitting. I got hand cramps daily and everything felt so tight. So I talked to my teacher about it and she said it just takes time to loosen up. I kept trying to loosen each knit, but it still felt really tight. I got extremely irritated because my fingers and arms hurt so badly from not “loosening up.” I was so jealous of my teacher because when she knitted, she did it with such finesse. It didn’t seem fair! But throughout the week it got easier to knit, and it started to flow more.

Week 3:

The third week is when I realized the blanket was going to take too long, so Mrs. Washburn suggested I knit a hat. That seemed exciting to me so I took her advice and used the really soft wool her previous classes had died themselves. She gave me a weird looking contraption and said that these were the needles I would be using to knit this hat. It was basically two tiny wooden needles connected by a hollow plastic tube. It looked more difficult to use than it really was; basically you casted on the same way and knitted the same way. It just connected the knitting together which created the circular hat. I already was pretty good at basic knitting, so this was simple for me. While I sat by my friend Priscilla, we talked and we knitted. I thought about how I was going to make hats for Christmas presents. It would be a cheap way to show you care! It is a lot more personal than any other gift. Each day I worked on this hat. It took about three days to finish. At the end of this week, I finished the hat. It fit PERFECTLY and looked really cute. I felt so proud that I created something before anybody else had. I made a hat in three days, and was able to show it off to my friends and family. It made me feel proud and confident.

Week 4:

This week was my easiest week. On Monday I started on another hat. This hat is for my neighbor and I am using pink yarn that my sister gave me.  When I began my next project, it seemed so easy, because it was! I was knitting with great speed and it looked so pretty. With each day the hat grew more into a hat and it looked prettier. As I was knitting I would not just think about the actual knitting process as I did before. But now I was thinking about random things. I wouldn’t have to watch myself knit, or even think about it. I became so good at the art, that i could do other things besides focus on what I was knitting. So every day in class I worked on my hat. I am now almost done with it; I just have to start bringing it in at the top. Once I am done with my current hat, I am going to start on another one. This whole process is just so exciting!

The first hat I've made. Took me three days. But the first day I just started it, so I didn't do much. Finished it up today. Looks great & fits well:)

It's Taylor Made!

Hi, my name is Taylor. Aka: Taylor Made. I have recently picked up the art of knitting, thanks to my extremely talented teacher, Mrs. Washburn. The class asked her one day to teach us how to knit, so she arose to the occasion. At first I struggled, but then I got the hand of it. Now I am done with my first knitting project, which was a hat. It's pink, and really soft. My next project will be a blanket for my cat. I love my cat, so he deserves the best. I'm thinking this whole blog will be about all my different "Taylor Made" projects, whether they are knittings, drawings, collages, etc. So... Enjoy :)