Party time February 2, 2010

Hello, blog.  I’ve missed you.

 

Things have been busy.  Lowell’s birthday was last Friday and I spent a long time planning a surprise party for him.  It was hard, too, since I had to hide things in very creative places to keep him from finding the decorations or food!  The planning took a lot of my time last week.  I was sure that someone was going to spill the beans, but the party ended up as a complete surprise.

 

About halfway through the party, I sat down and pulled out my spindle.  (I had tweaked something in my wrist while cleaning and knitting aggravated it, but spinning seemed okay.)  It’s funny to see people’s reactions when you pull out a spindle.  Friends who are completely used to you knitting in public suddenly look at you like you’ve got five arms and two of them are spinning.  But then they start to pay attention to your hands.  You can see the transition; when they see the fluffy fiber becoming thin string, they can’t stop watching.  They may make disparaging comments about it being a waste of time and too tedious, but they also can’t take their eyes off the twirling spindle.  It’s fun.

 

 

This yarn is going to be a not-quite-birthday scarf for Lowell.  He wanted something natural and soft.  It’s Ecolana from Aslan Trends.  60% alpaca, 40% merino, all natural and undyed.  It’s a very rustic looking yarn.  It feels great in the skein but like so many yarns, it doesn’t knit up that way.  I wouldn’t say it’s scratchy, per se, but it’s surprisingly harsh for alpaca and merino.  There are also a large number of coarse guard hairs (hairs from the outer coat of the alpaca) that I’m having to pick out as I knit.  It’s unfortunate, because I really like the look of this yarn.  Lowell likes the knit fabric enough that I don’t need to rip out the 6 inches I’ve got knit, but I don’t think I’ll be using this yarn again.

 

The Ecolana was on sale at Webs when I bought it.  I couldn’t help throwing a few more on-sale items into the cart:

 

 

Another color of Ecolana (which now I kind of regret), and four skeins of Universal Yarn’s Deluxe Worsted Tones.  What can I say, the Tones were pretty and 220 yards for $4.50.  You’d have to be some kind of yarn-hating freak of nature to say no to that kind of offer.

Twisted Stitches: Left vs Right January 19, 2010

I love knitting and especially designing twisted stitch socks.  Exhibit A: Danube, Salzburg, and Glass Slipper.  I’ve finally completed my collection of German stitch dictionaries (if you haven’t seen, they’ve reprinted all three Überlieferte Strickmuster into one volume over at Schoolhouse press).  Well, “completed” might be a bit strong- I’ve gotten enough that most traditional twisted cables are covered.  I’d consider myself a twisted stitch fanatic.  I know at least three ways to do the cable turns and I understand why twisted ribbing is stretchier than regular ribbing.

 

How is it, then, that I’ve missed learning about this fabulous information until now?

 

Something about these beautiful stitches has always bothered me.  You can see it on the accent cables on Salzburg.  One cable is very compressed and just looks likes close diagonal lines.  The other cable has some space between the diagonals, allowing you to see the way the cable swirls.  It happens with any of the twisted stitch cables.  The ones that travel to the right always seem squished, not as defined.  I’ve always wondered what caused that.  And, of course, what I could do to fix it.  (What can I say, I’m a huge perfectionist.)  I started to think that this phenomenon was just a fact of knitting, like the curl of stockinette or the inelasticity of stranded projects.

 

 

I’m very glad that I always read “Ask a Knitter” in the Ravelry newsletter.  Usually I know the answers to most of the questions, but this time…!  This issue is written about just this problem.  Turns out that it’s the very twist of the stitch that causes this squishing, this lack of definition.

 

Knitting a stitch through the back loop causes the left side of the stitch to overlap the right.  This is a left-twisted stitch.  When a stitch like this travels to the left, it travels in the same direction as the twist.  The stitch stays flat, even, and well-defined.

 

 

But when a left-twisted stitch travels to the right, it kind of rolls onto its side.  It’s traveling against the twist and the pull of the yarn makes the stitches appear narrow and squished.  Think about looking at a book cover versus looking at the spine.

 

If you’re a crazy perfectionist like me, you can twist the stitches so that the right side overlaps the left.  That way the twist of the stitch isn’t fighting the direction of travel.  To twist a stitch to the right, use the right needle to remount the stitch so that the right-leaning leg is in the back.  This is sometimes referred to as an “Eastern mounted stitch.”

 

 

Then knit the stitch through the front leg, wrapping the yarn around the needle in the opposite direction of normal.  The opposite wrapping will make the new stitch have the same Eastern mount so that you don’t have to remount the stitch on the next row/round.  Ta da, a stitch with the right side overlapping the left!

 

 

 

You might notice some similarity in the above picture to this tutorial of lifted increases.  The principle is the same, creating directional stitches.  It’s also the same as M1L and M1R.

 

 

See, no turning on their sides!  The stitches are flat and well defined.  Now, not everyone is as big a dork-perfectionist as I am, and not everyone is going to want to micromanage their twisted stitch projects so much as to change stitch mount for every right-traveling stitch.  But for those few of us who do, aren’t you glad to know about this?  Go check out the Ask a Knitter column in the #67 issue of This Week in Ravelry for more!

Oh Crap January 14, 2010

Oh crap.

 

I love my CPH.  I loved knitting it.  I love wearing it.  Do you know what this means?

 

It means that I can’t stop looking at sweaters and wanting to knit them.   Last week, I was running errands and saw a woman wearing an awesome sweater out the window.  I tried to kinnear the sweater as best I could.

 

   

 

I love the huge cables on that thing.  I wish I had gotten a better picture of the back, though.  According to my notes (yes, I kinneared and took notes!) the back had two of the arm cables side by side and they interlaced together.

 

We went to see a movie the other day and a preview for Greenberg was shown.  I leaned over to Lowell and whispered, “I like his sweater!”  I particularly like the lines of eyelets on the drop shoulder.

 

 

 

This can’t be good.   I mean, I already stare at people’s socks, hats, scarves and mittens.  Now I’m going to stare at their sweaters and cardigans too?!  I won’t be able to go anywhere without taking pictures of strangers and gazing intently at their shoulders to figure out what kind of sleeve they have. 

 

I’ve already started on a designed-from-scratch sweater for Lowell (almost 8 inches long now!)  I’d post a picture of it, but if it turns out well I might want to submit it somewhere.  I completely understand that magazines want their patterns to be a surprise, but it really puts a kink in the blogging, you know?  Suffice to say that it has cables and the design relied heavily on Lowell’s input.  It’s based on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s seamless bottom-up saddle shoulder pattern from Knitting Without Tears.  It’s also green.

Logi January 7, 2010

 

 

"When Loki and Thor traveled to Utgard, the citadel of the giants, they were told by the giant king that no one could stay in the citadel without proving themselves superior at a skill or craft.

Loki was the first to demonstrate his skill, saying that he could eat faster than anyone in the hall. He started at one end of the table and his challenger, the giant Logi, started at the other, eating towards the center. Loki ate everything, leaving only the bones behind. But Logi ate the bones and even the wooden trencher!

In the morning, the giant king revealed that he had tricked them. Logi, he told them, was fire itself and no one could consume faster than fire. Utgard vanished, along with the giants, and Thor and Loki returned home."

That is an extremely abridged version of one of my favorite Norse myths, where Thor and Loki go to fight some giants and end up humiliated by a clever king and some magic. The cable on this scarf was inspired by the interlocking designs on Viking armor and jewelry which is surrounded by double moss stitch borders. The cable starts and ends in a pair of points, like the tips of a flame. To do this, fewer stitches are cast on and then increases are worked to make the points.

 

 

 

This scarf was designed for my brother-in-law, and if you’d ever seen him and my husband eat a pile of barbeque, you’ll know the other reason this scarf is named Logi.  This is a great pattern to knit for guys, especially when you tell them that the cable is Viking-related!

 

Using one skein (200 or so yards) of Malabrigo will produce a short but still respectable length scarf. In order to make the scarf wider and/or longer, add a second skein. To easily make this scarf wider, add pairs of stitches to each edge and work them in double moss stitch. For example, the first row for a wider scarf might read "Sl 1, *p1, k1* twice x3 , p12, *k1, p1* twice x3, k1, turn." This adds two stitches to each the right and left side.

 

The scarf will have a tendency to flip inwards around the cable as it’s worked. This is because of the two columns of purl stitches on either side of the cable. When the scarf is finished, steam block the scarf aggressively to relax the fibers and minimize the flipping. Wet blocking will work but steam blocking is more effective for combating the flip.  Learn more about steam blocking versus wet blocking at TechKnitting, Knitty, and KnitSimple.

 

  

Logi

Download the PDF: Logi

• Needles: One pair size 9 (5.5mm) straight needles or size needed to obtain gauge
• Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted [100% merino wool] 216 yds/3.5oz Color: Loro Barranquero; 1 skein
• Yardage: 200-250 yards (180-225m)
• Gauge: 26 sts x 21 rows = 4”(10cm) in pattern
• Finished Size: 4.5” x 52” (11.5cm x 132cm)
• Notions: Cable needle, tapestry needle

 

Special Stitches

M1R: Insert right needle into the right leg of the knit stitch or the top of the purl stitch below the next stitch. Knit this new stitch.

M1L: Insert left needle into the left leg of the knit stitch or the top of the purl stitch two rows below the stitch just worked. Knit this new stitch.

K2tog: Knit 2 together

SSK: Slip next 2 sts purlwise. Insert left needle into the front loops of the slipped stitches and knit them together.

P2tog: Purl 2 together

SSP: Slip next 2 sts knitwise. Return sts to left needle and p2tog through the back loops.

C4F: Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to the front. K2 from left needle, then k2 from cable needle.

C4B: Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to the back. K2 from left needle, then k2 from cable needle.

T4F: Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to the front. P2 from left needle, then k2 from cable needle.

T4B: Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to the back. K2 from left needle, then p2 from cable needle.

 

Scarf

 

CO 22 sts.

Row 1 (RS): Sl 1, *p1, k1* twice, p12, *k1, p1* twice, k1, turn.

Row 2 (WS): Sl 1, work stitches as presented (knit the knits and purl the purls,) turn.

Row 3 (RS): Sl 1, *k1, p1* twice, p12, *p1, k1* twice, p1, turn.

Row 4 (WS): Sl 1, work stitches as presented (knit the knits and purl the purls,) turn.

 

Work Chart A for 8 rows. On WS rows, work stitches as presented or read the chart from left to right. 8 sts increased. 30 sts

 

Work Chart B until scarf is 2.5 inches less than desired length, ending on Row 16. On WS rows, work stitches as presented or read the chart from left to right.

 

Work Chart C for 10 rows. On WS rows, work stitches as presented or read the chart from left to right. 8 sts decreased. 22 sts

 

Row 1 (RS): Sl 1, *k1, p1* twice, p12, *p1, k1* twice, p1, turn.

Row 2 (WS): Sl 1, work stitches as presented (knit the knits and purl the purls,) turn.

Row 3 (RS): Sl 1, *p1, k1* twice, p12, *k1, p1* twice, k1, turn.

Row 4 (WS): Bind off all sts knitwise.

 

Finishing: Weave in ends. Steam block to relax the fiber’s tendency to flip inwards at the edge of the cable. Steam blocking will lessen the flip more than wet blocking.

 

Click on charts for bigger image, or download the PDF above.

 

 

 

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested, but they are free. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein@gmail.com.

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Side Effects Include January 5, 2010

Suffer from depression? Try Spinnyng, the new drug from ancient civilizations. Side effects may include sensitive thumbs, spinner’s limp, fuzzy growths known as "supplies," slubs, and increased risk of cashmere which could lead to serious problems with qiviut.

Ask your doctor for more information about Spinnyng!

 

I’ve been very diligent about taking my Spinnyng every day.  So far, I’ve managed to grow my stash quite a bit, following the plan laid out by my last post.  Let’s see, this pretty braid came from Knit Purl in Portland:

I ran over to Knit Purl while everyone else was finishing their coffee (conveniently located two blocks from the yarn shop).  I might have gotten a few other things while I was there, including some Malabrigo Worsted in Oceanos and Madelinetosh merino in Fjord.  Oh yes, the fiber is Chameleon Colorworks 100% Blue Faced Leicester in the Taos colorway.

 

I also managed to connive the family into taking me to Weaving Works, under the pretense that it’s an interesting store even if you don’t do fiber crafts.  I’m not sure they bought it.  But I bought a lot of fiber!  I bought 2 oz of dyed merino in a colorway they call “Autumn.”  And they had some dyed merino/bamboo in the most gorgeous blue-grey that I couldn’t resist.  I got some of that (maybe more than “some”), some light blue, and a warm brown in the same fiber which is officially the first fiber that I’ve bought with an actual finished product in mind.  I plan on these fibers becoming a scarf of some sort, although I haven’t really thought about what kind of yarn I want to make yet.  I don’t quite feel confident enough in my spinning abilities to tackle that project yet.

 

        

 

But I am getting in good practice!  Check out this bobbin:

 

This is the 2.5 oz of Blue Faced Leicester that I bought in October from Weaving Works.  I dyed it with some food coloring using a hot pour technique.  It’s mostly light green with some spots of white, teal, and brown.  Not my best dye job, but then this isn’t my best spinning either.  This is purely practice spinning, although if I get something useable out of it I’ll be happy.  I just filled up the first bobbin tonight and started a second one.  Spinning is the best part of my day right now.  Very meditative and soothing, no pressure.  I go into my studio, put on an audiobook, and suddenly it’s two hours later.  I’m so addicted to spinning right now that I’ve even started bringing my spindle around town instead of a sock project!

 

But doing worry, loyal knitters, I have a new scarf pattern on the way.  It uses some very yummy Malabrigo Worsted.