Learning

In my life, I always like to be learning. Sometimes it's about animals, sometimes it's about the education of children about nature, and lately it's about knitting and the things that go with it.

I've been learning how to create my own appliques, how to knit with the magic loop (yes, I said magic) and how to cast on so that there isn't a solid line that has no stretch. It's important to always be building up your personal self.

For me, it's what keeps me going. And fortunately, it's been somewhat profitable as well. I feel fortunate to enjoy doing something that can pass as a very part-time second job.

Something interesting to know: If you happen to need random t-shirt like fabric in many colors for a project, you can get about 1-2 lbs. for just a dollar. It's a great way to recycle (these are t-shirts that just weren't selling so those who need to serve community service time steam iron the solid colored pieces and package them to be marketed as rags). I personally appreciate that they are not just throwing out that amount of product and finding a last ditch effort to get rid of the things. They work perfectly for someone like me.

If you're a knitter and wanting to add designs to your work but don't feel like creating a pattern grid for each little design, here's something you can do.

Get some cheap to free fabric just like the above mentioned find. You'll be reusing something that would have otherwise gone to waste, and save yourself a lot of planning time.

Next step: Go to a fabric store and invest in the thinnest iron on backing you can find. It will leave only the adhesive on the back of your fabric after ironing it on. One use for this is to cut out patterns and iron them on your knitting. You can free hand it, or something that I've been trying is using dollar store socks! They generally have cute patterns like penguins and such that you can cut out and iron on.

Another thing that you can do is to cut a piece of your adhesive paper into an 81/2 x 11 sheet. You can then iron on that same size of fabric. This is where these good will finds come in very handy. They are just bigger than that very size, so they overlap and you can cut off the edges. You can then run them through your printer, adding any design you can possibly dream up to a fabric. I would be wary of picking any random image online, as there are most likely copyright issues to be had but still, it does open some doors.This is an example something I was able to do. It's a logo for a local college. Pretty easy, but it doesn't turn out looking too bad.

I am also learning not to trust any one driver in this state. It is very apparent each time I go off to work why my insurance has doubled simply by moving here. I have learned that it is imperative that I don't go out if the weather ever decides that snow is going to be a part of the day. I have a feeling it would not be a good idea...

So I stay inside once it's dark and cold and I knit, or print, or cut and hope for the best!