I am a Western knitter! Still a left handed knitter but a Western knitter. The Western part, thankfully, doesn’t change how I read a pattern. It does change how I want to teach others how to knit moving forward and what words and phrases I will use when writing patterns. It’s not the Western part that changes those things actually, it is this part of the book and the other info contained there that will change those things. If you want to know more check out THIS video or pick up a copy HERE.
I worked the knit part of the garter stitch, then started the purl part of the garter stitch and was so confused by what I was seeing compared to what I was expecting that I ripped out my swatch until only the first few rows of knit garter remained. I was able to carry on after that just fine and finish the first swatch.
For someone like me who has a lot of knitting experience, over 20 years at around 40 hours per week, I am learning a lot from this book and workbook It isn’t so much that I am learning new stitches or new ways to do them, it is that I am learning why things happen the way they do and how to make that work to my advantage and how to teach others to use it for themselves.
My ribbing stitches and the larger leg were brought into question with this exercise. Flipping through the pages of the workbook, I think this going to be addressed in more detail later, but before I knew that I gathered and made some ribbing swatches to try to understand what is going on and why.
I didn’t figure out any fixes yet, because of the pages to come, but at this point working 1 x 1 ribbing is not for me. One leg is larger on BOTH the knit and purl side, at least I’m consistent.
The next swatch for Lesson 2 so far is just stockinette but I’m excited to see what I learn and what gets confirmed.
Happy making!
Azariahs Fibre Arts 