Knit in Public Week: Day 7
A Chat with Blogger Gretchen Tracy
The full schedule of prizes, giveaways, tips, and tutorials can be found on this page here.
Don’t forget about our Grand Prize Giveaway! Enter here for your chance to win!
Gretchen Tracy is one of our friends and contributors to AllFreeKnitting. She runs a popular knitting blog called Balls to the Walls Knits and is constantly churning out creative one skein patterns for cowls, hand warmers, and more. We’re so happy we had the chance to get to know her even better!
How did you get into knitting?
I learned how to crochet in college, but it wasn’t until my little sister (through Big Brothers Big Sisters) wanted to take a knitting lesson that I began to knit. The first thing I made was a vertically striped scarf for her. I didn’t really understand how color changes in knitting worked, though, so I made up some stitch-crossing technique that now strikes me as completely nuts. The second thing I made was a pair of socks for my husband. It took me forever to figure out how to join my cast-on in the round!
How would you describe your knitting style?
My favorite things to knit and design are small projects with some detail but that don’t require line-by-line knitting once you get the pattern down. I’ve got three kids; I simply can’t drag a knitting pattern around with me, or design something that requires me to write down instructions for each and every row!
When is your favorite time to knit?
Did I mention I have three kids? (all boys – 3, 5, and one month) So, basically, any time they’ll let me!
What’s your best piece of advice for other knitters?
Keep doing it! Because I learned how to crochet before I learned how to knit, I was mystified by fixing mistakes when I first started – I was used to being able to easily rip out to the mistake to fix it. That technique doesn’t work nearly so well with knitting. The more I did it, however, the more different knit fabrics made sense to me, and the more confident I became. Mostly, you just have to trust that you’ll get better! The same thing goes for following patterns – they seem really complex at first, but the more you do it, the more you understand. And today’s Internet knitting scene is great, since you have thousands of videos and tutorials at your fingertips. And often, you can even contact the designer with your questions!
Today’s Giveaway:
Today we are giving away 3 skeins of Lion Brand Country Yarn and the popular knitting pattern book, Knits of Tomorrow!
Answer the question at the bottom of the post for your chance to win this amazing prize! The winner will be notified in tomorrow’s blog post.
Official Rules for Daily Contest
- There is a maximum of one entry per person. The entry will be based upon a comment left on this blog post. Duplicate comments will be deleted and are not tallied.
- Winner will be selected at random from the comments on this blog post below.
- Winner will be announced here on the blog tomorrow as well as contacted by the email address provided.
- You have until June 20, 2014 at 11:59p EST to leave your comment on this post. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
- Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada.
Do you like to knit with friends, or do you prefer to knit alone?
- DIY Knitted Hats, Headbands and Ear Warmers, Oh My! - September 29, 2022
- Designer Knit Baby Patterns for Fall - September 24, 2022
- What’s Your “Purse-onality?” - September 15, 2022
