Of ships, hats, & holidays

Elianastar: My stepdad was a career U.S. Navy man and I spent a fair amount of time on or near Naval Bases growing up. A goodly portion of my 8-10 year-old years were spent on the U.S. Territory Island of Guam, and my 13-16 year-old years were spent on the main island of Oahu, Hawaii. (The main island, not the Big Island.) The rest of my 7 to 17 years were spent within driving distance of a U.S. Naval base. My stepdad retired from the Navy my senior year, weeks before my graduation. As a result, I have a soft spot for those in the U.S. Navy. I hasten to add however, that my brother was U.S. Army Airborne, my husband was in the U.S. Air Force when I met him, my son-in-love is in the Oregon National Guard, and you don't spend any time near a U.S. Navy base without meeting your share of Marines... so I've got a broad support for the U.S. Military as a whole.

Which brings me to the point of this particular blog. I follow Wendy Knits blog and she posted a couple of days ago about a blog that she follows, Adventures in Paradise. The author of Adventures in Paradise has a daughter who is in the U.S. Navy. She will be taking command of the U.S.S. Decatur sometime in December of this year. It is her goal to demonstrate support for each sailor on the ship with individual gift boxes. Central to these gift boxes, she'd like to include at least one warm, knit or crochet cap, in Superwash Wool, but she has included a list of additional items that will be greatly appreciated by the crew during off hours. There are 278 sailors on board and any overflow of gifts will be passed on to other ships in the area. 

If you have kids or are a teacher, these sailors would love letters from kids! This makes a great writing/English exercise for students and will make the day of any sailor who receives the letters!

If you have the heart and will to participate, you can get all the details @ Adventures in Paradise. You do not need to be able to knit or crochet to participate... there are lots of other things that are requested, in addition to cash which will be pooled to purchase a number of things in bulk from Costco, particularly those things that do not arrive in sufficient quantity. However, if you do knit or crochet, or know someone who does, warm hats on a ship at sea will be profoundly appreciated!

Please note: All donations must be received no later than November 1, 2010, so time is of the essence!

If you need pattern ideas, Wendy Knits wrote a second blog that includes some optional pattern ideas. If you don't have a Ravelry membership, (and if you don't, that's easily fixed), here is a Google search of potential knit & crochet patterns to consider. If you are a member of Ravelry, here is a search of free patterns &/or patterns that can be downloaded via Ravelry.

When you are deciding on a pattern, keep in mind the conditions under which these hats will be worn: at sea, on the deck of a ship, often under very windy conditions. They either need to be of a design that will hug the head fairly well (don't make them too shallow so they can be pulled down over the ears and stay put), or have some sort of ties to secure them under adverse conditions. There are no color specifications, so unlike on the battle field, you can be a lot more creative with these hats than you can with those who must remain under camouflage conditions. 

Whatever hat you end up making, it must be made ONLY in 100% washable wool... no blends, no acrylic... only 100% washable wool. This means it will be labeled as either "washable" or "Superwash" and include the word "wool" and no other fiber content. This may be merino wool, peruvian highland wool, a nondescript wool... any wool of any kind that is washable/superwash and can pass the "burn test." If you have any questions about whether any particular washable wool is acceptable, perform a "burn test" on a small scrap of the wool. (Do this outdoors and have copious amounts of water nearby... just in case.) Basically, if it is very difficult to ignite, if it smells like burning hair, it it does not "bead up" or appear to "melt" rather than burn, and if it turns to black and hollow ash, it will pass inspection by the military. Include one yarn band for each hat and tape a scrap of yarn to the label in case it needs to be tested for suitability.

If you are at a loss or unsure, these are some safe yarns you can consider:

Knit Picks Swish Worsted, Swish DK, Swish Bulky, Bare Swish Bulky

Cascade 220 Superwash

Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted

Mission Falls 1824 Wool

Herrschners 5th Avenue Merino Superwash

Jimmy Beans Wool

Little Knits

Also check out the offerings from other vendors in the right sidebar under the heading "Gathering Fleece..."

You can also do a search on Ravelry for Superwash Wool... just make sure whatever you choose is 100% wool, no blend of any other fiber content. From there, you can check with your LYS (Local Yarn Shops) or do an internet search for resources that fit your budget.

If you've got any spare Greeting Cards, toss a few in with anything else you send... and toss in a book of stamps if you can. Or maybe consider grabbing an All Occasion greeting card assortment at your local department store.

Please keep in mind that there is very limited storage space on a military ship and factor that into your choices. If you'd like to add some of the other items to your donation, you might consider some of these:

Skip-Bo Card Game (my husband and I adore this game and it is more fun with more players)

Original UNO Card Game

Dutch Blitz Card Game

Mille Bornes Card Game

Phase 10 Card Game

Sorry! Revenge Card Game

Trivial Pursuit Card Game

Copag Poker Size Playing Cards

Bicycle Double Pack Poker Playing Cards

Bicycle 12 Deck Player's Pack

Great Group Games

Team Building Activities for every Group

101 Improv Games for Children and Adults

Toothbrushes

Toothpaste - Cinnamon

Toothpaste - Mint

If you choose to order from any of these links, you could have them delivered directly to Lynne... no extra shipping costs for you and no hassle getting them out for delivery. Just obtain her mailing address before placing your order.

If you can find your way clear to participate in this, in any way, let us extend our gratitude to you here and now. You will be making a huge difference in the lives of people who have voluntarily chosen to leave their friends and family in service to their Nation. We appreciate your generosity almost as much as they will.

Thank you for your generosity. If you aren't able to participate, please consider sharing this with someone you know who might.

Joy in the journey!

YAY! 1,500 page views to our little blog!

We started our blog on August 9, 2010. A lot of time & effort has gone into letting people know we are here & inviting people to share in our fun. It is very satisfying that we've already been visited 1,500 times in this brief time! Thanks for stopping in! It may not sound like very many, but we've been reassured by those who know about such things that this is very good progress for such a short time online!

It is generally slow progress to get a blog going. No one knows about your blog. No one knows you are writing a blog. A bunch of people don't follow blogs. A bunch of people don't even know what a "blog" is! Even for those who do know what a blog is, that follow a blog or two, know that you are writing a blog... and care... the beginning stages of developing a blog tend to not be particularly exciting... or abundant. Which leads one right back to the "generally slow progress" observation with which we began.

"Blog" is basically a contraction form of "web log"... a kind of public diary written online. In its earliest incarnations, a blog was primarily a personal online journal, frequently created to help long-distance friends and family stay in touch in a more personal and fun way. They generally included lots of photos of the grandkids and nieces and nephews and happenings of you and your family's excursions and hobbies and such. These photos were accompanied by (hopefully) pithy and amusing notations telling the story details of said photos.

The thing about blogs – in their infancy – that made them better than phone calls and regular emails were that they were supposed to be updated frequently and were intended for the general public, or at least to be shared with as much of a specific public as one chose to share ones blog. The format included a series of posts, restricted to a single page presented in reverse-chronological order... newest post first.

All blogs are intended to represent and reflect the personality and key interests of the blogger. As such, although there will tend to be a distinct overall flavor to any given blog, there are no guarantees that you won't come across a post of philosophical observation, or social issue commentary, or personal screed of some other sort from time to time that may feel a bit "off topic." So brace yourself. Blog posts, (particularly our blog posts), may be liberally peppered with links to related topics and references elsewhere on the web.

The problem for bloggers, generally, is that, unlike email that the blogger would send to people with whom they chose to communicate, the blogger must find ways to entice others to voluntarily submit themselves to the ramblings and cogent diatribes on subjects of interest to the blogger. This means, first of all, the blogger must consider the content and presentation of content by way of presenting something of interest to people outside the skin of the blogger. Additionally, said blogger must bother to post something with sufficient frequency that anyone interested in following them will not be repeatedly disappointed with stale content, interesting or otherwise.

Blogs have grown up in many ways and now you'll find blogs by businesses & other enterprises, governmental & political blogs, social blogs, instructional blogs... and there are still those who maintain a blog to stay in touch with friends and family. We have direct links to blogs we find specifically interesting, relative to the kinds of things we talk about here, under the "Roving Elsewhere..." sidebar on the right side of every page. We would not hesitate to recommend them for your consideration.

Our blog is intended to create a sense of friendship, to provide a measure of social interaction, offer instruction & support along the way, hopefully give one a giggle from time to time, and to share a little of ourselves in ways we hope our readers will find entertaining and worthy of checking in on a regular basis. We first chose to start a blog to share crafting information that we find on the internet and/or create ourselves.

So, expect to find, in descending order, the following kinds of info on our blog most often: knitting related information; crochet related information; other fiber related information such as spinning, felting, fingerloop braiding, etc; other crafting ideas and how-tos; our gardening exploits and resources we've discovered. You will also find occasional stories about our pets and other critters, home decorating discussions, and posts about beading and painting and sewing and cooking/food... almost anything related to home & family. As we are both just beginning to venture into design to one degree or another, we will be offering pattern designs... some free, some for purchase.

You may follow us a number of different ways:

• Obviously, the first way is to simply come here to our blog page via a bookmark in your browser(s) of choice.
• If you have an iGoogle account, add a GoogleReader gadget to your iGoogle homepage or add our blog address, <http://rovingstarpoints.blogspot.com/>, to your GoogleReader. You'll find our new posts there as soon as they are posted.
• If you are on Facebook, consider adding the "NetworkedBlogs" app and follow us via Facebook. You can also click on the link to NetworkedBlogs via the "FB Trackers" in our right sidebar. This is a great way to follow the blogs of other friends on Facebook as well.
• We have a Roving StarPoints fan page on Facebook. We'd love to have you friend us as a fan there which will ensure you get a note when a new blog post has gone up. You can quickly get to our fan page by clicking on the Facebook sidebar icon under "RSP FB Page" on the right side of every page.
• If you have an Amazon Kindle, you can subscribe to our blog which will be automatically downloaded to your Kindle when we blog a new post. If you don't have a Kindle device, but would like one, (Elianastar highly recommends Kindle), we'd love for you to link to Amazon via our Book~Shop and consider purchasing one from us. If you purchase one via our Book~Shop link, we will receive a small referral fee from Amazon, for which we would be profoundly grateful!
• If you don't have a Kindle but would like to subscribe to our blog, you can download a free Kindle App for your Windows PC or Macintosh computer, Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry or Android phone. We have a direct link to learn more and download one or more of these apps in the right sidebar. We receive a pittance for your subscription on Amazon, but these days, every little bit is profoundly appreciated. 
• If you are a member of Ravelry, feel free to friend Elianastar's Profile where you will find a direct link to our blog in the upper right of the page, and links to specific posts at the bottom left.

There may be other ways, of which we are as yet unaware. We keep our eyes open for as many different avenues to make accessing our blog as easy as possible. If you know of other ways of which we might be interested to link to our blog, please let us know.

In the meantime, we truly appreciate the time and attention you give to our blog and particularly appreciate hearing your thoughts and comments. Please don't hesitate to let us know you stopped by. If you have thoughts or ideas about topics you'd like to see us write about or comment upon, we would be particularly interested to receive your suggestions!

With our appreciation,
Roving StarPoints

Define "Skill Level"

Don't you just love it when an article or class or anyone anywhere declares that one should "know your skill level" before jumping into a project or class... and doesn't bother to define what those levels are or the criteria with which you qualify for that skill level???

A question came up elsewhere, and I've spent at least an hour on the internet attempting to track down some basic list to answer the question, "what skill level am I?"

My experience is that most people short-change themselves in terms of what they can do or learn to do, so I'm not really a fan of these sorts of boxes, personally. But I respect the fact that other people like the safety of a "nest" that lets them know "which box to check." Such knowledge can function as a kind of "training wheels" while they test the waters and venture forth. Once they realize that all crochet, and all knitting... and all of most everything else in life, for that matter... is just one step after the other, they'll unscrew the training wheels and head for the nearest high hill, down which they'll careen with squeals of delight. But, until that "secret" is revealed to them in a meaningful way, they like to know to which pleasant nest they belong.

AdesinaCat, for example, doesn't know that as a "new knitter" she ought to be intimidated by a cabled purse pattern. Nor does she know that everyone is a "new knitter" when they come to some skill they've not tried before... no matter how many months/decades/years they've been knitting or crocheting or sewing... or whatever they come across in life. She is fortunate to have a knitting companion, her beloved mother, who knows the secret. :-) She showed me the pattern for a KAL (knit-a-long) on Ravelry and asked if she could make it. Of course she could make it. Cable knitting is nothing more complex than knitting a few stitches out of order, right? It was a simple, basic, cable... just follow the directions carefully until you get the hang of it... or test it out in some other yarn first and then start the project.

As a result, her second finished project following a pattern is a perfectly lovely cabled purse, which she finished without incident, and which you can view on Ravelry. (If you don't have a Ravelry account yet, it is free for the asking, and seriously important to have for all sorts of awesome reasons. See links at bottom of page.) She is about to embark on an Entrelac purse. I love it when people don't realize they "aren't supposed to be able to do" something, and just go and do it!

So far, the best succinct list I've found regarding Skill Level is this one from the Patternworks site:

How do I know what skill level I'm at?

Here is a basic description of the different skill levels:

Beginner: knit and purl, minimal or no shaping

Easy: basic stitches, repetitive patterns and color changes, simple shaping and finishing

Intermediate: variety of stitches, knitting in the round, mid-level shaping and finishing

Experienced: advanced techniques (cables, lace, Fair Isle, short rows) and color changes, refined finishing

I don't know about you, but I find this very unsatisfying and confusing. First of all, there are quite a few terms here still undefined: "basic stitches," "simple shaping," "mid-level shaping," and "refined finishing"... what does that mean? My second issue is, by this definition, AdesinaCat is an "Experienced" knitter having completed only two entire projects from someone else's patterns? Huh?

But my biggest issue is the fact that not one thing listed here is beyond the reach of anyone who has mastered at least one successful way to cast on and bind off, who can knit and purl without talking themselves through each step, can slip a stitch from the left needle to the right needle and wrap the yarn around the working needle. No one. I do concede that one must feel comfortable with these most basic of skills but only by virtue of having some degree of confidence so as not feel too overwhelmed to do something "extra" or "new." That puts anyone who has made a potholder, scarf, or baby blanket well within reach of "Experienced" crafting skills. They just don't know it yet. And if the rest of us will keep our traps shut and not tell them we are about to teach them an "advanced" skill, they'll do it and never know they've just done something they "aren't supposed to know how to do because they haven't been knitting long enough."


Here is my personal wish list for all designers:

• provide a list of the skills a given design will require to create, and when possible, provide links to tutorials or the name of a basic reference text wherein the poor soul who gets their hands on your pattern can figure out how to do each of the skills. Your "not experienced" crafters will adore you! With so many patterns being made available as PDF downloads, links make a lot of sense to include, but even printed patterns could include a few links or reference books.
• provide an actual, separate, swatch pattern if the pattern uses a stitch pattern &/or "not basic" technique. Meaning, anything beyond basic knit/purl, empower the knitter to play with the elements of your design before they cast on for the project.
• in addition to the name brand yarn for which the pattern is written, provide a basic description of the yarn in the materials list: fingering weight sock yarn; any worsted yarn with which you can obtain gauge on this needle size; etc. We can't always afford the yarn in the pattern, or can't wear or work with the yarn in the pattern. Make it just a little easier to find something that might work instead... pretty please?
• needle &/or hook sizes in MM, please, for the love of Mike. Why the industry continues to support archaic, arbitrary "sizes" rather than actual measurements of the tools that directly translate into gauge is one of my major pet peeves.

If you struggle with confidence about your knitting skill level, permit me to recommend a few reference books that will be of great help when you come across a technique with which you are unfamiliar or cannot recall how to perform.

"The Knitting Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask" by Margaret Radcliffe... and she's not kidding.

"Teach Yourself Visually Knitting" ... great for visual learners


"Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting" ... a virtual knitting course in a book but also a great reference book


"The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques" by Nancie M. Wiseman


Want a fast, almost entirely painfree course to "Experienced Knitter"? Do yourself a favor and get a copy of Jacqueline Fee's book, "The Sweater Workshop," and if you do nothing else, make The Sampler. It will transform your knitting if you will fully complete that ONE project! Your confidence to knit almost anything will be all but limitless, you'll most likely want to take at least one run at one of the Basic Sweater patterns too, but even if you don't, you'll be far less intimidated by other patterns that catch your eye! I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I do not exaggerate about the difference it can make in your skill set and confidence as a knitter.


We continue to expand the library of books in our Book~Shop, but there are already a good list of references for a Core Library, in both knitting and crochet. (I can't tell you how wonderful it is to finally have ONE place to "gather" all my favorite books and resources to share! Blogs are wonderful things for that reason alone!)

In the meantime, do not let anyone put you into a box you do not belong. If you've successfully made anything, you can learn to do everything that interests you as a crafter... (or human being). There is almost always more than one way to do almost anything. All you need are the right resources. Here at Roving StarPoints, that is our "Prime Directive." :-) Let us know if we can help you in any way. If we don't know the answer, and most likely even if we do, we'll direct you to any support resources we can find to help you achieve your goals.

Additional comments viewable @ "Comments on 'Skill Levels'?" from the Knit Picks Community