Category: Knitting

blue_felt4
More in the series: wishiwerebaking.

This is the first experiment in felting. It’s about 10 inches across, and I’ve blocked it to retain the points that came from doing regular increases (e.g., every 10 sts, knit a row, then every 11 sts, etc.). I’ve yet to finish it, ’cause I need to take it to the craft shop and find some nice satin ribbon or something to trim it out with.

It’s actually way fuzzier than I expected, and you can still see the stitches underneath. I don’t know if it’s supposed to go this way, but … oh well. I tried brushing it while wet, scrubbing it against itself, and all manner of things until my hands were rather raw. What worked best was just throwing it in the washer on hot & letting it go.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

semantic: adjective relating to meaning in language or logic. From French sémantique, from Greek semantikos ‘significant’.

semantics: plural noun [usually treated as singular]. 1) The branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. 2) The meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text.

Late last night, slumped against a pile of pillows knitting, I had a realization. I realized that the world would be a better place if the names of things were actually descriptive of what they do. To what am I referring? I am referring, of course, to “point protectors.” I realized that they were misnamed only after I had invented the silly things again.

You see, I am working on a new hat, and have decreased to do the band, so I’m back on to double-pointed needles instead of working on a circular. This means that I’m juggling four or five needles, a ball of yarn, an almost-fully-knit hat, and the television remotes. So, scrambling to find the remote while not losing my knitting, I began to think. I thought all through the commercial, and well through the next segment of the show (something about volcanoes or global warming or Mars or something).

At the next commercial, I carefully set aside the knitting and went out onto the back deck, to retrieve the left, pinkish-purplish flip-flop which resides there. I retrieved the left one because my left foot’s smaller than the right (one of yours is, too, you know), so I figured it could lose a half-inch or so and not have any effect. I proceeded to pare away 1/2 an inch and to cut it into cubes, each of which I skewered so that I’d have a place into which to place my points, and voila! I no longer ran the risk of my work slipping off of the needles!

At which point I realized that the things called “point protectors” are probably not designed to protect the points of your needles. No. They’re probably designed to keep your work from slipping off of the needles. So WHY are they named “point protectors?” I had passed the things up many times, simply because I thought to myself, seeing them, “why do I care about protecting the points of my needles? And I’m perfectly safe from the points, so why do I need to protect myself from the points? After reading Isobel’s blog, I’ll be careful, so I don’t need those.”

Bah, I say. Semantics! Name the things “yarn keepers” or something!

And then, this morning, I find that I’ve been holding my knitting incorrectly and am knitting everything (well, everything round, anyway) backwards.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Shown here is my latest creation. Turned knit side out, it seems to want to
resemble something Mongolian. Turned purl side out, it seems to resemble
something Andean. This is perhaps not as clear in these pictures because of
the glass jar upon which it’s settled (and yes, there’s fog in there ’cause
I’d just washed it and because it was miserably cold out on the deck).

This is more playing around with the Herringbone stitch. Herringbone is
comprised of knitting through the back loop of two stitches but only dropping
one of the stitches off of the needle. Thus, every stitch gets knitted twice,
but you don’t end up adding stitches. The final stitch in a row (if you’re not
knitting in the round) is then knit as a single stitch. For purl, you’re
simply purling two stitches together and dropping one stitch off the needle.
Thus, you end up with herringbone only if you’re actually knitting and
purling; otherwise you end up with a sort of elongated stitch, and a firm,
thick, almost woven feel.

Knit side, side view.	Knit side, from the back.

The pattern I ended up with is below. However, you’ll notice that I didn’t
follow this pattern; rather, I wrote down what I did and have altered the
pattern below to make up for what I view as mistakes. Mostly, the piece to the
left deviates from the pattern only in the last 5 rows or so, as you can see
by the gaps left around the transition area of the base. I was kind of feeling
my way through, and … well, didn’t really like where it ended up as much as
I could have. So, I deviated right around step 28, and I didn’t continue with
as many rows as I write in the pattern, but … well, next time I’ll try to
follow it. Like I follow all recipes, I guess. Sigh.

Knit side, closeup of the band.	Knit side, showing transition in the band.

Abbreviations:

• Asterisk (*). Repeat between until you’ve gotten to the end of the
  row.
• H – Herringbone Knit (see above)
• HP – Herringbone Purl (again, above)
• RYO – Reverse Yarn Over. Don’t just throw a loop over your needle, but
  twist it; it works better, I think, and is the way I’ve done things.
• KFB – Knit through the front loop but don’t drop the stitch off the
  needle. Knit through the back loop of the same stitch, then dropping the
  stitch off the needle. This results in an added stitch, but one which is
  attached, unlike the Yarn Over.
• K2TOG – Knit two stitches together.
• S – Slip a stitch from left to right needle without knitting it.

Pattern:

1. Cast on 5 sts using double-pointed needles. (Switch from dpn’s to
   circular when you get enough stitches to be happy about it).
2. *H1, RYO*
3. H10
4. *H1, RYO*
5. H20
6. *H2, RYO*
7. H30
8. *H3, RYO*
9. H40
10. *H4, RYO*
11. H50
12. *H10, RYO*
13. H55
14. *H11, RYO*
15. H60
16. *H12, RYO*
17. H65
18. *H13, RYO*
19. H70
20. P70
21. *K2, KFB2* (=105 sts)
22. *K2, KFB4* (=175 sts)
23. *KFB* (=350 sts)
24. *K2TOG* (=175 sts)
25. *K2TOG* , K1 (=86 sts)
26. P86
27. H86
28. H86
29. H86
30. Bind Off 30 sts
31. S1, K1, *HP52*, K2
32. S1, K1, *H52*, K2
33. S1, K1, *HP52*, K2
34. S1, K1, *H52*, K2
35. S1, K1, *HP52*, K2
36. S1, K1, *H52*, K2
37. Bind Off

Purl side, front	Purl side, back
Purl side, bobbles.
Purl side, closeup of the band.	Purl side, closeup of the top.

I do believe that I may attempt to follow my own pattern and re-knit this one (perhaps for an article somewhere?). Orange definitely suits it, and the yarn (some cheap microfiber stuff), while not particularly easy to work with, is stiff enough and smooth enough to show the pattern nicely. Of course, it’s also unfriendly enough to show where I did the RYO’s, so I’m wondering if maybe I should find a better way of increasing for Herringbone. Maybe knit through one stitch, don’t drop it, and then knit through two stitches to make the herringbone as usual? Don’t know. It’s a hard one, because herringbone shows the stitches so clearly.

The other thing about herringbone is that the increase I was doing ended up being steeper than I’d expected, had I been doing plain knit stitches. In other words, to get that same steep point in knit I’d expect to do probably half as many increases. Strange.

This guy? This is the side view of a hat, done up in Lion Brand Chenille. I
think this was like my third hat ever, and it was my first experiment in
knitting something both round and flat. It’s also my first experiment
with cabling, even though it’s a simple 1 stitch cable.

Here’s a better view of the top. Needless to say, I wasn’t terribly creative
about closing up the whole in the top, and I believe I probably cast on way
too many stitches for the first row. I’m told, however, that the whole lets
out heat … yeah, okay. But it’s fuzzy and comfy, and it works.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Admittedly, compared to the Miracle Mac, it’s hard for me to feel like, um, a real knitter. See, I am a slob at math, and though I can remember how to stitch, following a knitting pattern takes all the joy from my life. I can’t keep track of stitches or knits or purls to save my immortal soul, and it’s a good thing the yarn gods don’t require counting, or I’d be in the scrap handbag on my way down. What I do like to do, though, is loom knit. No counting. No fuss. Variations as I choose, but the freedom to not think; to just do a brainfloat and let the yarn …work.

These are two hats made for a set of twins out of polyester Italian baby yarn. I love that you can get two good sized baby hats out of one 40 yd. skein. It’s a personal gift, one that doesn’t take too much time, but one that means a lot.

Now, like most ‘real’ knitters, I fully recognize the limitations of the loomcraft – because looming is definitely crafy. It’s like… um… macrame, if we need a comparison. It’s not something you can make anything really fancy out of – you can do baby hats by the bucketload in soft, fuzzy chenilles, and I’ve made some really pretty throws and scarves, but I think socks, hats and scarves are the limit. No sweaters. I doubt if one could make sleeves on a loom – really, you could, but the shoulders would be an absolute bear. It’s probably easier to pick up the knit sticks and just do it… “right.”

Thing is, there’s not a “right” or “wrong, really;” I’ve been hanging around the yarn lady too long. Does it really matter how the you get there? The end result is the proof. I love feeling competent and creating something. Giving a handmade gift to a person for their very own child is priceless. I know people who have knitting machines — surely that doesn’t mean that they can’t knit? I think they should get extra points for figuring out how the machine works. A loom is so lowtech that anyone can get it, which is why I love it.

This orange hat is my first attempt at loom-knitting a hat, made about three years ago now, and I still wear it regularly (although I really should pull myself together and make a scarf — there’s just not enough in my winter wardrobe that matches burnt orange…) I’m still very proud of this hat. It’s thick and compact, and I actually like to wear it wrong side out. The right-side out has nice ribs, but I like the smooth side, and I really love the mottled color of the chenille. Sadly, this hat is also really, really big! It routinely falls off of Mac, but it fits my large noggin’ just fine. I thought it’d be a good baby hat… obviously I’m not great at sizing things yet. Fortunately, there are an abundance of adults and homeless people who are benefitting from my attempts.

This is my latest loom and project — I made a 10′ wide scarf on a straight knitting loom instead of a circular one, which is what people ususally work with. Using three skeins of 40 yd. chenille yarn, I made a six foot shawl/blarf/blanket/scarf that has gotten me a lot of commentary. One woman I met in an elevator said she saw something exactly like it at Nordstrom’s for about a hundred dollars. While I was flattered that she said I had mad skillz (heh), I thought that if what she said is true, it’s really sort of a shame… the scarf/blarf/blanket is made of a really inexpensive yarn, not even remotely a natural fiber, but it’s fluffy and pretty and warm – and really cheap. Which brings me back to why I love loom knitting – because any idiot can do it. I hope people actually take a few and try it instead of trekking out to the mall (o, place of evil!) and buying something. Once you get the hang of it, it really is a lot more fun to do it yourself…

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Every once in awhile it’s good to go backwards, and look how far we’ve come in creating craft. This little chenille hat was one of the first Mac ever made. It’s soft and cuddly …and looks like it ought to go with a fuzzy burgundy and gray dashiki. The first hats we made were more caps – it just seemed like so many stitches couldn’t be quite right! So they were mostly shallow and caplike, but still really nice, and I have to admit that Mac has had a penchant for creating fun hats sans patterns… creating is sometimes just not as much fun if you have to follow someone else’s lead. – TadMack

Mac: I especially like the intermingling of the two colors of yarn, more easily visible from the wrong side. The chenille’s not a particularly plush variety – just Red Heart, I think – but it’s certainly soft enough to sit on top of your head.

Shown to the left is the finished version of the hat Mac started about a week ago. It ended up taking two balls of Lana Grossa Cool Wool Big Print … and, blocked, is absolutely immense. I didn’t block out a gauge swatch first … shame on us, I guess. However, it reverts to its former small size when you toss it into the dryer, so I guess that it’s probably an OK child’s hat, all told.

TadMack: Ironically, adults are rather swoony over it — total strangers are putting it on and requesting hats of their own. But… the ruffle. People, the ruffle. It’s a hat for a toddler girl. Please, adults: just say no, okay??

Mac: Here’s another shot of the “right” side. Note the quotes around that, because the purl side is much more attractive to most who’ve seen it. This stitch (herringbone) gives a nice, even presentation on the knit side, but gives a marvellous spiral / ridge on the purl side. Because it’s done in the round, it’s a spiral, and quite attractive.

These last two will give you an idea of the “wrong” side, and you can see a bit more of the pattern in them. The basic idea here was to knit more of an increase than would let the hat lie flat, so that it’d have bobble-ish edges around the top. Then, it’s a round of purl, and then straight down for 10 rows, followed by a radical decrease (2×2 rib for 3 rows, *k2tog, p2tog* 1 row, 1×1 rib 3 rows), a band, and a frilled edge accomplished by essentially reversing that radical decrease.

Here’s a better picture of the spiral & the top. One thing I must say, though: now that I’ve got this one, I’m attempting to duplicate it with minor modifications so that I’ll have a good pattern & can post it here.

Mac: I took the hat in to show to the yarn lady and she commented that I hadn’t followed a pattern. Well, no, that’s not the point, is it? But, she said it as if it were a bad thing not to have had a pattern. Umm… where do patterns come from, pray tell? Anyway, so that the yarn gods are now satisified, I have a pattern roughed out based upon this hat & on the things I want to change, so now I just have to follow that pattern … several times, because I’ve had several requests for this hat already. And yes, those requests are from adults. Sigh.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Shown here is a hat, looking all funky and gnarly. I took this shot because a) I hadn’t taken any shots of this hat, and b) I had the film to burn because I finally finished up the shawl I’ve been working on for the past six months. The effect here was obtained by increasing crazily – by doing a reverse yarn-over after every fifth stitch for maybe 20 rows. This gave me simply too many stitches to sit flat, so it gives me the baubles. I particularly like it, even though it doesn’t get worn out anywhere.

Shown here is the beginnings of a hat (yarn I purchased in a fit of celebration for having finished the shawl). I’m doing what the Readers’ Digest Complete Guide to Needlework calls a “herringbone” stitch, I think. It amounts to knitting through the back loops of two stitches & only pulling off one stitch. So, you end up going through each stitch twice, and almost end up with a double-knit feel. It’s quite thick & will make a nice baby hat for friends who live in the cold.

And here, on the “wrong” side you get a real picture for how many stitches, as you can see the spiraling as I work my way out. Even though this is the wrong side, I suspect that the hat will be worn with this side out, as it shows such a nice spiral pattern. Keep the number of stitches you see here in mind, though, and look at the following picture.

Yes, this is the same hat, but shown upon the sea of the blocked-out shawl. The finished shawl ended up being 66 inches long x 48 inches wide. (168cm x 122cm) Knitted on US#6 (4mm) needles. The pattern is described in other places on this blog if you’re interested.

And here’s a good closeup of the stitching.

All of these link out to higher-resolution pics, if you’re interested.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Thank you Isobel for the pointer to Conjoined Twin Sock Instructions, as I’d seen it in a book at the knit shop but hadn’t really had the time to sit down & look through it all. I’m with you, that at least it’ll give me identical socks … and maybe it’d be a good technique for sweater sleeves, too!

That’s it … now back to work for me.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

So, for my birthday, I went down to the little yarn shop (of horrors) and bought some yarn. I did this because they’re where I purchased things for my Save Me From Teleconferences piece, and I realied that I should probably buy some more … as, at the rate I’m going, at about 40 inches wide, on size 6 needles, I’m doing about 6 inches with a single 190 yard skein. So, since I only bought 3 skeins to start with, I need to at least make sure that I get to something roughly square … and I need to pick up the yarn before they stop carrying it (I justify my purchase).

I realized that my argument for buying more of this yarn is pretty flimsy, if not downright nonexistent, as I was waiting for the yarn lady to turn the skeins into balls: the place is absolutely packed with yarn, overflowing from baskets, tupperware bins, all manner of hidey-holes up the stairway, and probably upstairs, where I’ve never been – it’s apparently for the serious devotee of yarn learning, and, well, I’m frightened.

My argument was made even more flimsy when the yarn lady was shocked to find that she actually had oodles of my particular dye lot, and hadn’t even known they were in the shop (she’s relatively short, I’m tall, it’s on a top shelf, etc.). I, of course, got to visit the various colors of Cool Wool they carry there, and to really wonder whether I should invest in bulk quantities. These visits are oddly theraputic, as I both get to visit the source of my desire (the YARN, not the yarn LADY), while noting what will happen if I actually keep on buying yarn without finishing projects: the bins, the stashes of yarn creeping out from every available storage space, the sitting around a table talking about yarn while saying to a friend, “No, you don’t have to go home, I’ve got half a chicken in the fridge….” (Actual quote from the yarn ladies from this trip).

And then, there’s the phrase “knit wit.” Be afraid. Be oh so very afraid…

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.