Thursday, March 27, 2008
That's a Stripe of a Different Color
Drug of Choice
Crack cocaine and methamphetamine have nothing on Jamieson's Shetland Double Knitting yarn, my new drug of choice. And my favored method of administration is the Sonoma Mountain Wrap. I can't put the thing down. The Woven Stitch seems to be in harmony with my natural rhythm, a rocking motion that's soothing and mesmerizing. And the yarn flows through my hands like buttah.
Whenever I am tempted to put the project down, I think: No... just one more stripe! The colors are so rich. The designer, Carol Lapin, has put the colors next to each other in ingenious and varied ways. Each time a color appears, it appears next to a different color than it did the last time. My especial favorites so far are Purple Heather/Peat and Olive/Seaweed. Ooooooooh. Ahhhhhh.
Knitting Advice: Fear Not
I sometimes tell my students: Don't be afraid of your knitting. New knitters are understandably nervous about dropped stitches and other mistakes. It only makes sense; if you don't know how something works, and don't know how to fix it, mistakes are alarming. But really, it's only knitting, and no lives are at stake. So get in there and dig around and see if you can figure out why that goofy stitch doesn't look like the others. See if you can get that dropped stitch back on the needle. And if you can't figure it out, ask for help. The only true knitting disasters involve scissors, fire, ink, and family members who help out by putting your heirloom 100% wool sweater in the washing machine on "heavy duty/hot/hot".
The beauty of knitted fabric is that it's flexible and forgiving. When sewing a seam, if you're a stitch or two off, you can easily fudge by stretching one piece slightly to fit it to the other. If you slipped a stitch somewhere instead of knitting it, chances are its hundreds or thousands of close friends and neighbors will draw attention away from it.
If you're seeking perfection, knitting is not the place to find it. You could end up knitting and re-knitting forever, and then your yarn would look like hell anyway. So, if it looks good, it is good, and no one need be the wiser about those little unexpected embellishments.
New Word
And, finally, thanks to Ms. Not-Morris, who brought a wonderful new word into my life: Poopstitch.
Crack cocaine and methamphetamine have nothing on Jamieson's Shetland Double Knitting yarn, my new drug of choice. And my favored method of administration is the Sonoma Mountain Wrap. I can't put the thing down. The Woven Stitch seems to be in harmony with my natural rhythm, a rocking motion that's soothing and mesmerizing. And the yarn flows through my hands like buttah.
Whenever I am tempted to put the project down, I think: No... just one more stripe! The colors are so rich. The designer, Carol Lapin, has put the colors next to each other in ingenious and varied ways. Each time a color appears, it appears next to a different color than it did the last time. My especial favorites so far are Purple Heather/Peat and Olive/Seaweed. Ooooooooh. Ahhhhhh.
Knitting Advice: Fear Not
I sometimes tell my students: Don't be afraid of your knitting. New knitters are understandably nervous about dropped stitches and other mistakes. It only makes sense; if you don't know how something works, and don't know how to fix it, mistakes are alarming. But really, it's only knitting, and no lives are at stake. So get in there and dig around and see if you can figure out why that goofy stitch doesn't look like the others. See if you can get that dropped stitch back on the needle. And if you can't figure it out, ask for help. The only true knitting disasters involve scissors, fire, ink, and family members who help out by putting your heirloom 100% wool sweater in the washing machine on "heavy duty/hot/hot".
The beauty of knitted fabric is that it's flexible and forgiving. When sewing a seam, if you're a stitch or two off, you can easily fudge by stretching one piece slightly to fit it to the other. If you slipped a stitch somewhere instead of knitting it, chances are its hundreds or thousands of close friends and neighbors will draw attention away from it.
If you're seeking perfection, knitting is not the place to find it. You could end up knitting and re-knitting forever, and then your yarn would look like hell anyway. So, if it looks good, it is good, and no one need be the wiser about those little unexpected embellishments.
New Word
And, finally, thanks to Ms. Not-Morris, who brought a wonderful new word into my life: Poopstitch.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
It's a sickness; I need help
Out (of mind) with the old, in with the new
In my last post, I said that my coworkers' hyperproductivity was making me feel like I need to finish some of the projects I've started.
"Feel like" is the key phrase.
Well, I felt like it. Didn't do it.
Instead, I started some new things. I get a pass on one of the things; it's a baby bolero for the silent auction fundraiser at my favorite 5-year-old's school. The other is sheer indulgence. It's the Sonoma Mountain Wrap from Simply Shetland 2. It's in a delirious range of colors of Jamieson's Shetland DK. I knit the first 4 stripes on Easter Sunday. Well, Easter is a time of renewal, is it not?
The wrap is in Linen Stitch, which is:
Row 1: K1, *sl 1 wyif, K1*, end with sl1 wyif
Row 2: P1, *sl1 wyib, P1* end with sl1 wyib.
Now, some people find Linen Stitch putzy in the extreme, but I like the rhythm and am actually quite fast at it. It makes a nice dense "woven" fabric. This piece will be my take-along idiot knitting project until it gets too big to drag around. Maybe I can finish it before the weather gets too warm for me to want to knit on it. Oops, there's that word "finish" again.
(After) Thoughts on the Afterthought Heel
I've been re-thinking my toe-up afterthought heel socks. I've knit many pairs of these, and I've taught lots of people to knit them. I have many pairs that fit well. But I think the pattern needs a little refinement.
I have high insteps, so the fact that these socks don't have a gusset makes them a little tight across the instep for me sometimes. I've been fussing with different ways to add some ease across the instep. Often I'll just add some stitches in the instep for a few rows, which helps. But in some yarns the increases really show, and if I'm doing a stitch pattern down the instep, it's not an option.
Another option has been to rib all the way down the top of the sock to the toe. This creates a nice, stretchy fabric, and it's a good solution. But I don't always want ribbed socks, and a smooth fabric looks better with some of the self-patterning yarns.
Another issue I've sometimes had with the Afterthought Heel is that it hasn't been quite deep enough if I start with the heel decreases right away. So I've been playing with knitting 4 rounds or so plain before I start the decreases. This seems to work out OK.
I rather enjoy tinkering with patterns and solving problems. If anyone has any insights on the Afterthought Heel, please leave a comment.
New and Wonderful
Go to Borealis Yarns and see the gorgeous Silk Garden throw on display. It's done in strips, with each strip being a different colorway of Silk Garden. Unbelievably beautiful. The pattern is newly for sale at the store. (Rah, rah -- can't help proselytizing!)
In my last post, I said that my coworkers' hyperproductivity was making me feel like I need to finish some of the projects I've started.
"Feel like" is the key phrase.
Well, I felt like it. Didn't do it.
Instead, I started some new things. I get a pass on one of the things; it's a baby bolero for the silent auction fundraiser at my favorite 5-year-old's school. The other is sheer indulgence. It's the Sonoma Mountain Wrap from Simply Shetland 2. It's in a delirious range of colors of Jamieson's Shetland DK. I knit the first 4 stripes on Easter Sunday. Well, Easter is a time of renewal, is it not?
The wrap is in Linen Stitch, which is:
Row 1: K1, *sl 1 wyif, K1*, end with sl1 wyif
Row 2: P1, *sl1 wyib, P1* end with sl1 wyib.
Now, some people find Linen Stitch putzy in the extreme, but I like the rhythm and am actually quite fast at it. It makes a nice dense "woven" fabric. This piece will be my take-along idiot knitting project until it gets too big to drag around. Maybe I can finish it before the weather gets too warm for me to want to knit on it. Oops, there's that word "finish" again.
(After) Thoughts on the Afterthought Heel
I've been re-thinking my toe-up afterthought heel socks. I've knit many pairs of these, and I've taught lots of people to knit them. I have many pairs that fit well. But I think the pattern needs a little refinement.
I have high insteps, so the fact that these socks don't have a gusset makes them a little tight across the instep for me sometimes. I've been fussing with different ways to add some ease across the instep. Often I'll just add some stitches in the instep for a few rows, which helps. But in some yarns the increases really show, and if I'm doing a stitch pattern down the instep, it's not an option.
Another option has been to rib all the way down the top of the sock to the toe. This creates a nice, stretchy fabric, and it's a good solution. But I don't always want ribbed socks, and a smooth fabric looks better with some of the self-patterning yarns.
Another issue I've sometimes had with the Afterthought Heel is that it hasn't been quite deep enough if I start with the heel decreases right away. So I've been playing with knitting 4 rounds or so plain before I start the decreases. This seems to work out OK.
I rather enjoy tinkering with patterns and solving problems. If anyone has any insights on the Afterthought Heel, please leave a comment.
New and Wonderful
Go to Borealis Yarns and see the gorgeous Silk Garden throw on display. It's done in strips, with each strip being a different colorway of Silk Garden. Unbelievably beautiful. The pattern is newly for sale at the store. (Rah, rah -- can't help proselytizing!)
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