Spring and Short Rows

I keep having songs like “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most “ going through my brain.  It has been some crazy see-saw weather on the planet, no?  Two weekends ago we drove to Two Harbors MN on the glorious North Shore of Lake Superior for the 2nd Annual Knitting-By-the Shore-Retreat.  In the snow.  There was 22 inches of snow in Duluth.  In the parking lot of At Sara’s Table, a farm-to-table restaurant with great food:

Here’s the gorgeous setting:

 

a lovely bit from a walk I took on a chilly morning:

I taught a Short Rows Three Ways class to an highly entertaining group of fab knitters.  I also learned a thing or two from them, as happens in all good classes.

I’m going to teach an abbreviated version at the Yarnery on Saturday for one of their PopUp Classes.

“How do Pop Ups work? You show up at The Yarnery, Saturday, May 4, at 10:00am prompt (latecomers may not be seated depending on availability, and given the popularity of Pop Ups, it’s a distinct possibility). Bring some yarn and needles. No pre-registration, and all for only $5.00. As an added bonus, your purchases that morning are 10% off.”

If you are local, come on down!  Or if you are not local, come on down anyway!

Speaking of popping up, I came home from the North Shore to warmer weather, and a few goodies popping up in the garden:

Crown Imperial Fritallaria

Catkins on the Hazelnut Bush

and the first squill, which I loooove.  If it ever warms up again, maybe they will bloom.

Arm Knitting?

Perhaps everyone else has seen this, but I ran across it by accident while watching  some links via Kmkat on You Tube.  

There are lots of other videos about it, too.  I have a friend whose daughter is highly enamoured of finger knitting, but Mom is stumped on what to do with the miles of product.  (Can’t just throw them away when no one is looking, I guess.) Maybe use it for arm knitting?  I haven’t tried it myself, I’m more of a 2.75mm needle girl, I am.

Still, I’m pondering projects for kids —  a giant ball of t-shirt loops and make a rug?

March Went Out Like A Lion

Here we are – Easter Sunday. Lovely primroses over at Jane Brocket’s place. Here are mine:

Somehow my last post disappeared, leaving only the photo of my ipad doing the weather report, even after comments had been left.  Odd.  Bluestocking Knits pointed out that I could be grateful that I have more weather to wear hand-knits.  She is right, I suppose.   She lives in Southern California, where the season is short.  I have been wearing them.  My disappeared post showed the Cloche Hat.  I also finished Burr (Veronik Avery) at the end of February, and have worn it frequently.  I took it on a trip to DC about 3 weeks ago, thinking I might wear it outside as a light jacket. I wore it every day under my light jacket and still shivered.

I love the sweater. I decided this winter I would knit some sweaters from designers I admire, with yarn from stash.  The Thirteen Mile sport I used for Burr is wonderful yarn.  Soft, plant dyed and direct to you from Montana.  It is light but warm, a perfect weight to wear in place of jacket at the office.  I was introduced to this yarn when Gale Zucker asked me to design the Wolf Pack Hat in Shear Spirit.  I was also inspired to try and do Burr in the contiguous sleeve method that Susan Rainey used.  I have made several sweaters with the Barbara Walker method, and even taught a couple of classes on how to make your own.  Coincidentally, this one was on the dining room chair where I left it last night. Please don’t look at the rippled front band.  It is at least 12 years old, in Kureyon.

Not being the technical wiz and brainiac planner that Susan is, I got 3/4 of the way up the shoulders and realized that I had neglected to remove the seam stitches.  I had a four-stitch wide band up each armhole that looked ridiculous, even to me.

I ripped it out and did it the old fashioned way.  I don’t mind sewing set in sleeves.  I’ll have to do a post with my technique. It’s not elegant, but it works.

Any way, I love this sweater. There’s only a few mods I would make.  The shoulders are a bit big:

I made a combo of the large and medium, but added length to the body.  Details on Ravelry.

image.jpg

Knitting Two Socks at a Time on Double Pointed Needles

I bumped into my friend Bob in the Skyways of downtown St. Paul the other day. He is a knitter, and after discussing naughty puppies and naughty horses, he brought up second sock syndrome.  I explained to him my approach to avoiding second sock syndrome, using double-pointed needles:

 

You may think it an attempt to trick you, but really, it is so simple.  Two sets of sock needles, wind the yarn into two balls.  Work one cuff, then the other, one leg, then the other, etc. etc.

I have tried to do the two socks on one long circular.  This pair started out that way, to help  a knitting student who wanted to learn the technique.  Seriously, to me it is one big pain in the rear. Fussy, tangled, and more trouble than it is worth.  To me.  I have many friends who prefer that approach and I hope they continue to be happy with it.  When a student asks “Is it really better?” I tell them they’ll have to try it and see.  I prefer working socks on double pointed needles, and two sets helps me to avoid Second Sock Syndrome.

Another ‘time saver’ that I don’t find saves me any time is cabling without a cable needle.  Perhaps that conversation is better left for another day.

On the topic of Wise and Foolish Virgins, Stashdragon left me a link to an article on Norwegian Tapestries that includes a photo of the original. Don’t just look at the photos, though, it is really an interesting bit of writing, including the tale of a weaver who argued with the carpenter building her loom.  She ended up being burnt as a witch.

 

Scottish Theme Day

I have a friend originally from near Glasgow who sent me this today:

The link to to news story, too.  Then I saw it on Jean’s Knitting, as well. And via that same blog, a link to the photoshoot! By now, it is probably all over the knitblog universe.  I may be a horse lover, but I don’t plan on making a horse covering of any sort.  (Since I am riding a Fjord horse, perhaps Dale of Norway?  Not.)

I also just finished reading Mrs. Miniver, and loved this part about her Scottish sister-in-law:

“She (Mrs. Miniver) brought her eyes back from the hazy middle distance to the near, clear presence of Clem’s sister, who had planted her back firmly against one of the rowans and begun to knit.

“…where did that knitting come from? I swear you didn’t have it on you a minute ago.  I believe you materialize bits of knitting out of thin air, the way conjurers do with lighted cigarettes.”    ”No…they grow out of my fingertips, like a thread out of a spider   As a matter of fact, my whole inside is made of wool.  One gets like that, you know, living in the Highlands all the year round.”

I enjoyed the book, althoug it really had little in common with the movie, which I  love.  I’m a real sucker for WWII propaganda films.  I followed up with The Real Mrs. Miniver, written about the author.  She was a much more interesting character than the fictional Mrs. M.

Do you mark passages in books about knitting? (or other areas of interest)  One  favorite that leaped out at me and made me laugh was in an “Golden Age” detective novel by Gladys Mitchell St. Peter’s Finger, written in 1938.

“Yes, yes,” replied Mrs. Bradley (The detective/psychologist), taking up her knitting again and doing some rapid decreasing which she felt she would regret later on.

I remember it from time to time when I do some rapid decreasing or increasing I know I will come to regret.

Happy New Year and a Giveaway

The good folks over at Knittyblog are giving away a copy of Wearwithall and some yarn.  Go over and see if you can win!

Holidays were a bit hectic.  My husband’s mother passed away after many years of dementia, so there was all of that to deal with.  It did not prevent us from making gifts, however.  This year’s effort was tiles with modpodged photos designed to look like Polaroids.  ”So vintage.”  The 12-year old asks “What’s a Polaroid?”

Or the annual parade of Handknits on Ice:

Best wishes to all for 2013, a bit late, but still heartfelt.

Annie’s Excellent Bind Off

There is always more to learn in knitting and in life, isn’t there?  Annie over at Knitsofacto reminded me of a bind-off that we discussed, but I never did try, although I bookmarked it last year.  Follow her step-by-step instructions, it is really quite simple.

I haven’t had time to make another cowl yet, but I was anxious to try it after Annie reminded me.  (I do love having virtual friends.) Here it is, looks good, no? (Except for the cell phone photo on dark day, of course. )

It’s a clever variation (with a twist…) on a purl-2-together bind-off that gives a through the back loops effect without having to torque your wrists. It keeps the edge snug but still fairly stretchy.  Other features and benefits — looks good on both sides, much easier than the sewn bind-off, and certainly easier to undo if necessary.

In the photo, the stitches to the right of the needle are Annie’s Bind Off, to the left, the sewn bind-off.  The only noticeable difference to me is the way the knit stitches are slightly more pronounced in Annie’s bind off.  It’s not a drawback, in fact I like it.  Both seem to be equally stretchy without drooping. Knitters choice.

Go visit Knitsofacto and try out this bind off.  I do think it would especially excellent for garter stitch.  Plus, if you have never been to Knitsofacto world, it’s a fun and friendly place to chat.  (Or natter, as Annie might say.)

MLE

Goldilocks and the Three Bind-Offs

The Yarnery asked me to design a cowl that would use one skein of Metalico, from Blue Sky Alpacas.  I could expand to two skeins, but since it is pricey, it’s nice for customers to have some affordable options for such luscious yarn.  The other request was that it be “Something a man would wear.  Or at least a gay man.”

Metalico is a singles blend of baby alpaca and mulberry silk.  The colors are natural and undyed, and really do have with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.  Designing for such a non-springy yarn was  a challenge.  I started out swatching with some Frog Tree Alpaca sport so that I wouldn’t wear out the Metalico.  This wasn’t a great idea, as the Frog Tree is plied and has no silk.  What worked in that was a dismal failure in the Metalico.  I wish I had been alert enough to record all the failures.  (Gale, photography teacher extraordinaire, always says “Document, document, document.”)  I just get in the flow and rip and restart.  And rip and restart.  Nothing I tried  lent the yarn enough elasticity. I had a wonderful idea for some giant, slightly cabled pattern down the front, but it would have needed a garter belt to stay up.  Plain ribbing seemed too boring.

At last, I went with a combination of ribs and welts.  There are lots of variations on this out there, especially in some of the older books, like Mary Thomas.   I was surprised that it worked. It had enough elasticity to stay up on the neck, and go over the head.  The variation in stitches showed off the yarn, and they didn’t get lost in the slightly tweedy appearance of the Metalico.

Then it was time to bind off.  My usual approaches all failed, and left a sad, droopy edge.  I was in a hurry to get the cowl done and off to the shop for the Blue Sky Alpacas trunk show, so I didn’t record that process, either.   I decided to make a second one in some Malabrigo Silky Merino DK that was calling out to me.  Silky Merino is quite similar to the Metalico, but has a bit more loft and elasticity because it is 50% merino instead of 50% alapaca.  It really showed when I worked with it, and the finished cowl has a bit more bounce.  I did record some of the bind-off failures this time.  They weren’t quite as egregious as with the Metalico, again, I think it was the merino vs. alpaca aspect, but what failed before, failed again.

My number one favorite bind-off, useful about 90% of the time, is the Knit Two Together Through the Back Loops: *Knit 2 stitches together through the back loop. Return the stitch back to the left-hand needle; repeat from *.

Fail.

Second attempt, bind off in pattern.  It was a bit better, but still rather Sad Sack:

Finally,  just right.

The good old sewn bind off. If you don’t know that one, it is in lots of books, but here you are:  instructions are generally break yarn, leaving a tail about three times as long as the circumference of the item to be bound-off.  Frankly, I don’t do this, I would rather weave in some ends than fight with yards of yarn as I sew the edge.  Thread a blunt tapestry needle.
With tapestry needle, *sew right to left through 2 sts as if to purl, leave sts on needle, draw the yarn through both stitches.
Sew left to right through first st on the needle as if to knit , draw the yarn through and remove that stitch from the needle. Repeat from * until all sts are bound-off.  (If you have never done the sewn bind-off, remember that if you need to undo it, you have to take it out bit by bit.  It won’t rip out easily.)  Looks just about perfect, doesn’t it?

Naming patterns is often a challenge.   I looked online for images of herringbone brickwork, since that’s what this stitch pattern suggests like to me.  I found Tamworth Castle, in Warwickshire, UK, has a famous herringbone stone wall.  The cowl doesn’t look exactly like it, but who cares, really?  It was fun to search it out.  So it is now the Tamworth Cowl.  The second also took just one skein of Silky Merino DK and is now waiting to be given to the someone who looks good in that nice blue-grey-green. Huh, that’s my color, isn’t it?

Done and Dusted

At last!  The crocheted afghan of massive avoirdupois is finished.  I’ve got to block it and mail it.  I hope it fits into a large flat rate box, or I’ll be spending a fortune to ship it.
I was accumulating a large pile of bits and pieces of yarn as I wove in ends and snipped them off.

This got me thinking about possible uses for them besides the trash, or maybe stuffing a knitted toy.  I certainly wasn’t movtivated to do anything creative with them.   Then we had dinner at a friends, and that all changed in one magic moment.

Our friend took out a dust mitt his grandmother made him.  He said he doesn’t use it, but he keeps it for a memento, because he really loved her.

I begged for an action photo:

I did a quick search on knitted dust mitt, and it didn’t take long.  If anyone seriously is interested, here you are, a free pattern.   Personally, my ends and pieces are in the trash.

MLE