- What kinds of learning opportunities does the mentor provide to expose you to new learning?
My mentor has many knitting books, magazines, and sheets available at her house that she invites me to look through or even attempt. These have information on patterns, abbreviations, new pieces, and tips for beginner and intermediate knitters.
- What kinds of learning opportunities exist to reinforce new learning?
Unlike when my mentor was learning, we know have the internet, which is an endless resource of information on knitting, crocheting, and more. I can look at blogs or websites if I want more extensive information or tips, and there are also purchasable patterns, as well as free YouTube tutorials.
- What kinds of opportunities exist that might accelerate learning?
If I really wanted to advance my learning, I could allocate more time that I do now to experiment, practice, and get better. I could also take courses, talk to more people, and work on multiple projects at a time.
- When you get together what do you talk about?
We often talk about the current project I am working on, and information related to it. My mentor often looks at my work and looks for flaws so that we can discuss them, and I can improve that aspect in the future. She gives me new tips and bits of information that are more relevant as we go along, such as keeping notes on the rows, counting your stitches, and more. She also teaches me the next steps that I have to complete in my project.
- What is going particularly well in your mentoring relationship right now?
I think that that communication in our sessions is going well, because I always manage to get a lot of helpful information out of them that benefits my project. I am good at telling her what I want to accomplish and what I need help with, and our communication allows us to have a good pace in the learning sessions.
- What are you learning about one another?
I think that she is learning more about my work, that kind of projects I do in school, and my habits. One thing I’ve learned about her is that she’s a very patient person. Since she is my grandma, I already knew her, but I’ve never worked with her, and I haven’t seen the extent of her patience and teaching abilities.
Progress Report:
In the past two weeks I have continued to knit my hat, using the pattern of knit one row, then alternate between purling and knitting one below. I slowly worked on this until I reached the set length of seven inches. Once I was at that length, I quickly scheduled a meeting with my mentor in order to learn the next few steps. Before we started, she checked my previous work for flaws. There were a few areas that probably could have been done a bit neater and more correct, but overall, it was good. The next step was to decrease the stitches in the row. To do that, I had to knit two or three into one stitch. When I did that, the row slowly decreased until I had only a fraction of what I started with. I am going to do that for two rows, and once I am finished, I will tie off the hat and finish it off with a pom-pom. This was the most difficult part to learn, but it shouldn’t take too long.
I also have an idea of a project I could do next. I know I don’t have that much time left, but since I know the basics now, I think I could do the next project more independently and finish it in time for In Depth night. The project I found was a variation of a knit bikini top, using knit stitches, purl stitches, and decreasing stitches. It may be a little more difficult than this hat project, but I think I would be able to do it.
