Relief!

So, I recently voiced my concerns over getting this Toula completed. I was afraid that knitting with (and switching out) multiple colors was going to be more difficult than I could bare. Then I finally started looking up "chart knitting" on YouTube--my knitting savior!--and found the simplest answer I could never have thought of on my own. When I'm done knitting one color, just drop it and start with the next color the chart calls for. I had this idea in my head that the unused colors would need to be carried over on the "wrong side" aka inside of each stitch. I didn't know how this could actually work out. And as it turns out, my little Curly Sue head was thinking way too hard.

I must say, I'm beyond ecstatic about this discovery, that knitting with multiple colors is going to be so easy for me. Now, instead of putting off the finished product of Toula, I'm hoping to be wearing her within two weeks, finished buttonholes and all! If any of you are at all interested in learning to knit, or refreshing your memory on getting started, I have two FANTASTIC resources for you... both on YouTube. Easy-to-follow verbal instructions describe each step these ladies are taking to create the stitches, and the videos are close up and focused in on the hands as they work the yarn and needles. I'm a lefty, and work from left to right (backwards from EVERYONE else in the world, I'm beginning to think), but these ladies work things in such detail that I find it SO EASY to reverse their stitches to fit my own backward process.

Knit Witch will teach you the very first basics of making any knit or purl stitch, ribbing, and other technical stitches. She works very slowly, and is very thorough. She uses a light colored yarn in front of a dark background, so everything is very easy to see. Her videos taught me every single thing I needed to know about making my Desert Rose (find my birthmark!), my first-ever non-scarf knitted project, if that proves anything about her teaching abilities!

Knitting Tips By Judy is very helpful as well! She posts videos of a few more "advanced" (for my ability at least) projects. She just taught me how to knit using multiple colors. I watched her "checkerboard pattern" video once and understood completely how to change colors in my Toula.


Now I can't finish the second sleeve fast enough, and can't WAIT to begin the floral pattern around the neckline. I will definitely post my progress. Wish me luck!