A Book I Love

The Knitting Answer Book by Margarette Radcliffe is one of my nerdy favorites in my knitting library.  It's not a new book, (2005), but it's one I rediscover every 6 months or so. 

The design of it is that if you have a question about your knitting, you look up the question, and she provides at least one, if not several correct answers on how to solve your issue.  It's small and light, fits neatly in your knitting bag, and it's very good at its job.

The funny thing is, I don't use it in this way very often.  I just like to sit down and read it.  There are so many nuggets of wisdom in here, and so many questions from knitters on so many issues, I feel like it makes me a better knitter and a better teacher to read it.  It reinforces things I know, and introduces me to the reasoning for things I don't.  There are the answers to how to untwist your join in the round, but also more complex stuff like which yarn types are more prone to biasing.  There are no articles, just potential questions, and her answers to them. 

Each question and and answer only runs approximately 100 words, so a quick knitting fix can easily be had, or I can sit with it as long as I like.  The writing is clear, the solutions are accurate and effective, and frankly, I wish I could say I wrote this book.  That being out of the question, I'm really glad she did!  If you haven't seen it, take a look.  I think you might love it.

Can't Stop Falling In Love

I know it has happened to every one of us: you see a fiber, and it's beautiful.  You want to get to know it a little better, but you're afraid it might not feel as good as it looks.  Plus, it's probably really expensive and full of itself.

You muster up the courage, and wear your heart on your sleeve.  You pick it up.  It's soft!  And perfect!  You turn the label looking for the price, hoping your dream of a life with this yarn won't be dashed, and YES!  It's in your price range!  Check the yardage...no, it isn't one of those 64 yard skeins, it's a regular, decent sized hank.  It's love!

You and your new love go home together.  You want to make every project in your queue out of it, from socks to sweaters to that gorgeous bikini from Vogue.  You seriously consider upholstering your furniture in your new fascination. 

The two of you set a date, and you dive into a project.  It works.  It's wonderful.  You call the LYS and order the yarn in every colorway they make.  And on the day you go to the LYS to pick up your new, marvelous haul, you meet a new fiber.  It starts all over again.  You bring them both home. 

Are you fickle?  Crazy?  A yarn slut?  (Well, maybe this last one, but in the nicest possible way.)  No, you're a fiber addict.  And so am I.  Thank heaven there is no 12 step program for us!  This weekend alone I fell head over heels in love with three separate yarns.  I'm trying to give them all equal time, and am designing projects for each of them to celebrate our new relationship.  My new BFFs (and a taste of their colorways) are:

Cascade Luna - Peruvian Cotton, colors like you've always wished for, soft and crazy strong.  The finish is a little matte, and a little shine.  Worsted weight.  Woo hoo!

Cascade Epiphany - Royal alpaca, cashmere, and silk.  Touch it, and you'll want to be alone with it.  Don't share.  Let other people buy their own.  Light worsted.  Beautiful soft hand.  Very warm for its weight.  Thank you, Cascade.  I will name my next child after you.

Cascade Kid Seta - Mohair, silk and a touch of wool.  Usually I don't love mohair because I'm not good with shedding.  Honestly, this yarn is ridiculously well behaved and super soft.  Its loft is not easily crushed.  The colors run the gamut of the seasons.  The silk keeps it strong, and gives nice workability. 

Okay, enough with the blogging.  I have guests.  I need to get back to them.  We'll talk soon.

Freebie Friday Vintage Vest #171

Today's featured feebie is the 171 Vintage Vest from WEBS.  It's beautiful, and deceptively light for it's warmth due to the soft alpaca fibers in the yarn.  It holds its shape well thanks to the silk.  It's just the kind of layer that makes your lightweight tops more comfortable on unpredictable spring days.  Add a little beading to the edge and it goes out for fancy evening.  I love this sweater.  I hope you will, too.

I can't get the photo to transfer, so just click the link and take a look.  You'll be glad you did!

Knitting Pattern Central

My patterns can now be found through Knitting Pattern Central!  Thank you, Rachel!  I appreciate the recognition.

Sample Mess

I received a sample knit back today, and I really wish the sample knitter had paid some attention to gauge. (It is in the agreement, in bold type.)  We're two stitches off on stitch and three and a half off on row. There are no humans made in dimensions that would work with these mittens. Not even close.

Why would you continue knitting when it's obvious that there is something very wrong?  That's the time to re-measure gauge.  If it's off, rip back and fix it.  If it's on and the garment is a distorted shape, do the math.  Multiply the gauge times the finished dimensions and see if the stitch counts match.  If they're way off, abandon ship!  Either re-write the pattern yourself, get someone to help you, or pick a new project.  There is no virtue in making a useless garment.  And in this case, the sample knitter made not one, but two.  Sheesh!

Adjusting a Pattern So It Fits You

Teaching a class yesterday, I was told of one knitter's frustration at trying to find patterns for garments her size.  I sympathized.  As nice as it would be if patterns said something like, "Liz, this will fit you perfectly if you just use a US 6 needle," they never do.  "Do you swatch?" I asked.

"Well, not if it doesn't come in my size."

If the pattern is only off by a size or two, this doesn't have to be a problem.  Grab a calculator, and adjust the gauge so that the pattern works for you.  We're not changing the number of stitches, just the size of the stitches.  Let's do a mitten pattern.  The pattern makes a women's large mitten, 8.5 inches around at a gauge of 7 stitches to the inch, and the pattern is 60 stitches around on worsted yarn. 

What size do you want?  Measure around your palm with a measuring tape.  Add a quarter to a half an inch for a normal mitten.  What's the total?  If you wear a women's small mitten, probably 7.5 inches total around for the mitten.  So let's do the math. 

60 stitches divided by 7.5 inches = 8 stitches to the inch.  So we either need smaller needles or smaller yarn.  Which one?

Look up the recommended yarn on the manufacturer web site.  Let's say the pattern says 7 stitches per inch on US 5 needles, and the website says the yarn is rated for 5 stitches per inch on US 7s.  This means the pattern is written for the yarn to be very compressed, making a denser fabric.  Compressing it further will make it hard to to work with.  So go down one yarn weight. Knit a gauge swatch with the recommended needles, and you'll be close.  Adjust needle size if necessary.  (Too many stitches per inch?  Go up a needle size.  Too few?  Go down a needle size.)  Within half an hour you'll be all set with the correct yarn weight and needle size.

If the yarn is rated for 6 stitches per inch on US 3 needles, then the original pattern is written for the stitches to be very loose.  Using the recommended yarn, go down in needle sizes until your gauge swatch gives you the proper gauge.

Make sure to count fractions of a stitch. (This is why you want swatches of at least 4" by 4".  Fractions of a stitch are easier to gauge when measured over several inches.)  On a garment with 100 stitches cast on, being off by a quarter stitch can mean several inches of extra or missing fabric. 

That's it.  Two minutes with a calculator and the internet and you'll be starting a project guaranteed to fit!

The Sap is Running!

I grew up in a place where making maple syrup was an integral part of the early spring.  Here in Western New York they also make syrup, and the boiling sap is a unique smell easy to recognize in the air.

For sugar maple trees, there doesn't seem to be a more active time than spring.  The buds come out on the trees in extremely adverse weather conditions, and then, one day, it's warm enough for long enough that the sap starts to run.  The buds change color overnight, and the tapping begins.

Here in Buffalo, it was in the 50's for the last three days.  Today, in the mid-thirties.  The sap running doesn't mean winter is over, it's just a really good promise that it will end eventually.  And those first few batches of fresh, sweet maple syrup are definitely the taste of spring to me.  If you haven't been to a "Sugar house", the place where syrup is made, call around.  Go to a sugar party.  Happy spring!

Freebie Friday Yosemite Pullover

Here in Buffalo it's been in the 50's for days.  The thaw even caused a flood in my basement!  (Don't worry - the stash is safe!)  The birds are busy nest building and singing up a storm.  It's time to throw a winter's worth of biodegradable yarn scraps on the yard and let the birds decorate with it.  I love seeing little flashes of color on the edges of a  nest!  And I like to think the chicks are just a little cozier with my alpaca scraps around them.

On these in between days with the funny almost-a-coat-but-not-quite weather, I'm always looking for the right sweater.  Cotton sweaters are great over a tee or a tank, or under a jacket or windbreaker.  This one from Knitty.com is a perfect fit for today. 

Yosemite Pullover

Take a look.  It's available in sizes XS to 2x.  Though the original yarn is discontinued, Cascade Pima Silk is an ideal substitute.  Enjoy!~

Sheep Square Washcloth

Here's a new square based on the Knitter's Mitten pattern I posted awhile back.  It's a Baa Baa Black Sheep theme that would make a nice baby blanket square, maybe with the Hickory Dickory Square and some of the others. 

This square is 38 stitches wide by 50 rows tall , using a worsted weight and size US 7 needles, or a DK weight and size US 5 needles.  As a baby blanket square I would do this in colorwork to emphasize the Black Sheep of it all.

Grey squares represent purling on the RS, knitting on the WS.

White squares represent knitting on the RS, purling on the WS.



Cables 4, Liz 1

This weekend my knitting time was nearly exclusively eaten up by designing and knitting cable swatch after cable swatch. The cables defeated me the first four times.  I wanted the cables to be beautiful and interesting, and also follow the contours of the mitten.  I wanted them to be busy enough to trap lots of air and make a warmer fabric.  They weren't.  Wishing didn't make it so.  Finally, trial and error combined to give me a shape and design and fabric I liked.  It was a day and a half from sketch to satisfying swatch.

I now have a much greater respect for cables than I did before.  I had knit them, and had incorporated basic cables in to several designs.  I had not designed them from scratch, and had not fiddled with gauge and shaping to any degree.  Twists, pretzels, ropes, and braids all behave so differently!  Some contract the fabric width wise, some lengthwise.  Some cause a lot of contraction and some cause almost none.  Some look one way when they stand alone, and very different when they're repeated. 

Picking a yarn weight and needle size for cables has it's own set of questions.  Do I want deeply carved cables or smoother patterns?  Do I want a supple fabric or a firm one?  I ended up with worsted on US 4s, leaving a carved cable on a fabric that still retained some softness.  This same yarn and pattern knit up on 7s as a completely different fabric.  It felt delicate, like it was made from spun sugar.  The fabric was very supple, and the cables looked like an etching on the surface of the swatch.  They're chameleons, these cables are.  But we're working it out.  I think we'll stay friends.