In Which the Pirate Considers Skills.

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

Oh, goodness, there are so many things I’d like to learn.

For starters, I’d like to learn to crochet. It seems like a good complimentary skill to go with knitting – I could do crocheted edges, or crochet separate pieces together. And there are also some crochet projects that really appeal to me on their own, like the Prairie Star afghan I mentioned a few posts ago. Crocheted clothing doesn’t appeal to me as much, honestly, but things like amigurumi (cute little crocheted toys) are near-irresistible, though I have no idea what I’d do with them once they were made up. And I’ve been told that crochet is a lot faster than knitting, so it would be perfect for things like dishcloths and swiffer covers. I bought a set of crochet hooks with the gift card that my parents gave me for my birthday last year, but so far I’ve only used them to pick up dropped knit stitches. There’s a copy of The Happy Hooker on my bookshelf; I just need to set aside some time to sit down with it and absorb the information.

I’ve already tried stranded colourwork with the (still unfinished) Napramach bag, but I’d certainly like to get better at it. Which means learning how to knit better in the English style, so that I can hold the different strands of yarn in each hand, instead of having to struggle with all of them in my left hand. I’d like to learn how to better handle the multiple strands, how to manage the dominant colour, and how to keep the tension even. And I’d really like to knit some colourwork gloves, even if I don’t go with the traditional black and white. I have a copy of Selbuvotter and every so often I take it off the shelf and sigh longingly at it. I just picked up a copy of The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques as well. It was delivered yesterday and I’m looking forward to learning from it.

I’d like to improve my spinning skills, too. I would like a better understanding of how to make yarn, the different types of wool and their uses, spinning techniques. I have a drum carder and I’m not afraid to use it. I want to make lovely blended batts and experiment with different styles of yarn. I want to try spinning a cabled yarn, and sturdy but soft singles, and I want to learn to navajo-ply without getting tangled up. I’d love to try dyeing yarns and fibres. Maybe one day I will be able to go to Yarn School and really throw myself into it for a long weekend.