vision

Why a knitting blog?  First, I'm excited to post the projects that I'm working on, have worked on, or am planning to start.  The knitting community is all about sharing ideas and gaining inspiration from one another.  A few of my favorite places to go to for inspiration are ravelry and etsy.  If you haven't checked these sites out - do so NOW!  You can always come back to cygknits later.  Ravelry is this amazing forum for knitters and crocheters (is that a word? and do you pronounce the "t" when it's spelled like that?) to showcase their work, share patterns, and compare notes.  There are TONS of free patterns, plus posts about techniques, yarns, and cool fiber-art stuff.  Etsy is a super cool cyber craft market.  On it you can find handmade EVERYTHING (jewelry, crafts, clothing, knitted goods), vintage EVERYTHING, and tons of supplies to make ANYTHING.  I have a little tiny etsy shop (called cygknits!!).  It has a long way to go, but feel free to poke around.  Heck, go crazy and buy something! I'll be posting new stuff very soon.

My other "vision" is to document my journey to knitting instructordom.  Again, not sure if this is a word. I have been looking for a way to tighten up my knitting skills so I really feel like I'm as good as I think I am.  (A little background about how I learned to knit: I learned to knit when I was a freshman at Bates College in Lewiston Maine.  Well, actually my grandma would be pissed if she read that, because she was probably the first one who actually taught me.  She was a brilliant knitter.  She still is, but her hands don't work so well anymore.  Even though my Me-Me taught me when I was just a kid, I got more involved in beading, sewing, and drawing in high school...knitting didn't seem that cool I guess.  When I got to Bates I saw an ad for a knitting workshop that an upperclasswoman was offering and was inspired to check it out. I'm glad I did!  That was my only "formal" knitting instruction. Everything from there has been just me stumbling around from pattern to pattern, trying to teach myself a little something new every time.)  After over 10 years, I've learned a lot...but there's always more to learn and do.  There are lots of great websites that have helped me along the way, like knitty. 

So anyways, I have been looking for a way to formalize some of my knitting knowledge and am "studying" to be a certified knitting instructor through the Craft Yarn Council of America.  I just started the course and am excited to document how it goes.  The course is intended to make sure that you really know your shit.  Actually, that you really know your 'knit'.  This is the only way you can teach other people.  In addition to the homework assignments (yes, knitting homework - I'm in heaven!) and reading assignments, I have to actually do some instruction.  So consider this blog a cyber knitting class.  I'll be posting new techniques all the time, with one lesson building on the last - starting from the very, very beginning.  I'd love to be your teacher!  You're gonna have a blast.  Stay tuned, I'll let you know what you need...