TED Talk Evaluation

Overall Grade: 27/30

During my presentation, I noticed that I looked at my notes far too much, and although I did make eye contact occasionally, it was extremely brief. In retrospect, I should've practiced more beforehand. This would have allowed me to memorize what I would say and I wouldn't have needed to read off the cards as much. I also would have been less nervous overall, and I'll admit nervousness made me hide behind my note cards instead of looking at the audience. I was told afterwards that I sped up near the end, probably in order to get it over with.

Now that I think about it, most of the examples of things knitted by my family were unnecessary and didn't add much to the presentation. It was nice to have them actually there, but just putting pictures up on a powerpoint would've worked as well.

I spoke loud and clearly, I think, and I tried to make the powerpoint so that it wouldn't detract from anything I was saying. I used simple pictures that conveyed my point. I was very happy that there were plenty of questions afterwards, because one of my fears was that no one would be interested enough to ask any.

Something I didn't mention in my presentation because I didn't think it was entirely relevant was that the sweater is not technically comfortably wearable. I can put it on and it plays the role of a functional sweater, yes. But I wouldn't want to wear it all day long. I had sewn it only a day before the actual presentation, so I already had my speech written and practiced. I was also right up against the time limit (at least in practice, I might have sped up during the real thing), and having to explain what went wrong and where would have put me over five minutes.

However, the fact that it didn't work out and I can't even give it to my friend is an even better indicator of the intrinsic motivation I have towards knitting. It could be argued that a strengthened friendship could have been my extrinsic motivation. Or possibly her admiration of my handiwork was motivation. But since I am not able to give it to her, literally any remaining shred of extrinsic motivation has been flushed down the toilet, and I am absolutely sure that knitting is a true passion of mine.

Sewing.

Today was the day of truth, the sewing up of my sweater. I had all the parts ready, just in time for the TED Talk. Since I have hardly any experience with sewing, I asked my mother to help me. I already knew from smaller projects (such as the purple gloves I had made a few months ago) that I was lacking in sewing skill. I generally just try my best to make it so that the two parts don't completely fall apart.

She explained how I would pin it together and showed me which stitch I would use. I struggled with it for a while, and she would take over occasionally and sew up sections for me so it wouldn't take all night. I still got practice, though, and I feel more confident in my sewing abilities now.

We did run into an issue with the sleeves. We had pinned them in the wrong place and had to take out a whole row of stitches. And it's not easy taking stitches out. We did it eventually though, re-pinned the sleeves, and kept going.

The finished product was wearable. Unfortunately, it wasn't comfortable. The shoulder was too tight and the neck didn't give enough room around the back. The whole thing was a little baggy. I'm still proud of how it looks, even if it's not something I would want to wear.

Because of this, it's not something I would want to give my friend. I'll make her something else to make up for it!

So close!

I'm very nearly finished the sweater I've been working on. I don't want to post pictures of the finished product here, since I'm planning on keeping the big reveal for my TED Talk. But here's the deconstructed sweater:

From left to right: beginnings of the second sleeve, first sleeve, front of sweater, back of sweater. The reason the edges are wavy is because it was knitted in stockinette, which tends to curl under. To stop it from curling under, you're supposed to "block" it, which means soaking it in water and then pinning it into the shape you want it to stay in. The process sort of scares me a little, since I don't want to ruin all my hard work by just dumping it in the bathtub, so I'm not sure if I'm actually going to do it. The pattern I'm using doesn't say anything about blocking, so I don't think I'll bother. When I sew it up it'll stay in place anyway.

Earlier this week, I took a little break from working on that in order to make this fingerless glove! I'm really proud of it and I love that it turned out the way I wanted it to.

Unfortunately, I only have this one glove done. It wasn't very hard to make, so I might have enough time to finish the second one before the TED Talk. This was mostly a side project, anyway, to practice knitting in the round. Which I love. It seems complicated and overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it it's just like knitting on regular needles. I actually prefer this when it comes to gloves, since you don't have to sew it up at the end, and sewing is really hard. I'm getting better at it though!

Making this required quite a bit of sewing in order to close the holes that were at the top and bottom and to get the leaf attached.

This was actually more of a side project than the gloves. It also used double pointed needles, and I learned something called i-cord to make the stem. It was really fun to make and it's so cute! I'm worried that the leaf is going to fall off since I'm not very good at sewing, so I'll probably get some help from my mom to get it more secure. Right now my idea of sewing is taking the thread and just looping it around a lot until it seems like it won't come unraveled too easily. I'll have to look up how sewing actually works. 

Until then, I'll keep knitting!

comments comments comments

I've commented on these blogs!

http://crochetnotcra-che-t.blogspot.com/2013/03/prince-charming.html?showComment=1363734637644#c8024145240302516970

http://aripianoprodigy.blogspot.com/2013/03/back-to-bass-ics.html?showComment=1363734777046#c2101228474849126435

http://aslin7weeks.blogspot.com/2013/03/video-time.html?showComment=1363735435347#c2506657779650745623

Vlog!

This is my vlog, where I talk about why I love knitting!


Genius Project Vlog from Jessica S on Vimeo.

I keep saying I'm really close to finishing things. This time I swear it's true. Probably. Here's a picture for proof:

I know I'm close to being done, it's just a question of when I'll find the time to actually finish it. That picture is of the finished front of the sweater, and the work-in-progress back. I only have a few inches left, which shouldn't take long at all. (I have season 2 of New Girl to catch up on, so by multitasking with that, it'll get done in no time.) Then I need to make the sleeves, which are about one third the size of the front piece.

I'm still working on the fingerless gloves. The trouble is that I keep ripping out what I've got and starting over. It's really tough to work with double pointed needles, especially when you've got four of them in your hands at once. I think what's mainly tripping me up is the ribbing and the fact that I have to switch from knitting to purling and back every two stitches. I'm used to working pretty quickly on regular needles, so probably if I just slow down and take my time with the double-pointed ones I won't make as many mistakes.

I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane and look at the second knitting project I ever did. They were fingerless gloves, except instead of using DPNs, it was knit flat and then sewn together.

Don't ask how I took that picture without the use of my hands. Anyway, Do you see the rows that stick up from the regular knitting? That happened because when I first started, I didn't know which side of the work was the "wrong side" and which was the "right side". Wrong and right refer to which side is supposed to face out when you're wearing it. I knew I was supposed to purl on the wrong side, and knit on the right. The only way to keep track of that without counting each row, though, was to be able to recognize the difference between the sides. Now I can do that! It's ridiculously easy, actually, but at the time it was a concept that went way over my head. Another issue with these gloves is that the one on the right is bigger than the other. Also (although you can't see this in the picture), the garter stitch at the bottom doesn't go all the way around for one of them. 

But I'm glad I can recognize my own mistakes! It means I'm learning, which is great. I'm really excited to get these two projects finished (which will probably happen over spring break), and start practicing for my TED Talk!

Readings:
Knitting Over the Edge, a pattern book filled with cool ideas for making borders on your projects.
This, to figure out how to knit in the round.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knitting, whose title doesn't describe me at all and which I used to understanding both knitting in the round and cabling a little more.

Blogs!

I commented on these blogs this week:

http://aripianoprodigy.blogspot.com/2013/03/some-major-progress.html?showComment=1363121301764#c8298738729450887569

http://karaspicture.blogspot.com/2013/03/this-weekend.html?showComment=1362763324984#c1134288879768023364

http://wissahickoncompliments.blogspot.com/2013/03/bumpy-roads.html?showComment=1362762940835#c875690634067045769