Washing Handknits



I had a knitting scare yesterday. I was blocking the above glove in warm soapy water and the red color of Knitpicks' Palette started bleeding. With a white background this could have spelled disaster for the color pattern. I quickly grabbed the glove and immediately put it on a towel to block but I still think I can see a bit of bleeding on the white near the bottom of the glove.

It was so weird because I'd never had this happen with Palette before. I wonder if there are ever "rogue" skeins of yarn that bleed dye or are dyed differently?? This happened once before with Nature Spun sport weight and my Pablo Neruda socks. I'd used Nature Spun a zillion times but the purple color bled near the foot on one sock when I was washing them and ruined them. Here are the socks before that fateful moment.



I'm also not sure if this was a current skein of Palette or one from several years ago. I'm getting another batch of Palette soon and I'll do tests with it before I proceed. Anyway, the gloves above combine three of my favorite knitting things: 1) lots of colors, 2) knitted letters, and 3) those wonderful Norwegian charts of people holding hands. I plan to add some embroidery to them as well to add even more colors.

TECHpattern and tutorial: gaugeless MAGIC LOOP ski hat with a TKIO (Part 3 of the "knitting seamless tubes and circles" series)

This post is PART 3 of the knitting seamless tubes and circles series. It is also (ta da!) the first TECHpattern--a pattern and tutorial for a ...

Gaugeless, guaranteed-to-fit
MAGIC LOOP SKI HAT with a TKIO
2 magic loop ski hats
This is a very long post. Every detail I could think of is covered in excruciating detail for those who might otherwise be alarmed by the prospect of knitting a seamless tube. However, this is actually a very simple "envelope-style" ski hat, knit from the top down with a too-long circular needle in the "Magic loop" technique.

This hat doubles as a tutorial on the Magic loop method. But it also doubles as a gauge swatch, because you can make this hat using ANY weight of yarn with any needles proportionate to that yarn. (If you want to learn Magic loop, or if you want to make a gauge swatch for some yarn you're thinking of using for big project, your effort won't be wasted even if you don't want a hat of this style for your own personal collection. Four oz. of yarn in any thickness pretty much makes a hat, and lots of worthy organizations collect hand knit hats for shivering little kids all over the world.)

Materials
  • Enough yarn in any weight to make a hat (4 ounces of most weights of yarn will do it) and
  • A too-long circular needle in any size you want to try, in a length of 40 or 47 inches. The needle must have a VERY flexible cable.
  • A second too-long circular needle OR a 16" circular needle, 2-3 sizes smaller than the first, to be used for the ribbing.
Addi Turbos are usually too shiny for me, but they unquestionably have a very pleasant, flexible cable, well-attached, which easily stands up to the cable-torture the Magic loop technique metes out.

I think of ski hats as being knit tighter than ordinary hats, and the two sample hats of the illustrations were each knit tighter (that is: with smaller needles) than is usual for that type of yarn. You can make up your own mind about this. Because it is gaugeless, you can mess around on this hat matching needles to yarn, to see what happens to stitch gauge and row gauge.

Link-o-dex
If you need more info than the pattern contains, some of the methods used in this hat have been described elsewhere in this blog. Most of these links are also inserted in the part of the pattern where you'd maybe need them, but they're also collected here in one handy spot.
click picture
•The hat is started from a little I-cord loop, called a TKIO (see "The TKIO--a cute way to start hats" TECHknitting of March 6, 2007.)

•Next, the stitches are placed on a circular needle, separated into a front set and a back set in preparation for knitting the hat with the magic loop technique. (see "Knitting seamless tubes and circles, part 2--the theory" TECHknitting of March 16, 2007.)

•The hat grows wider through matching sets of right- and left-leaning increases (see "Two handy increases, one slanting left, one slanting right" TECHknitting of March 20, 2007.)


•Deciding how large to make the hat requires taking "ease" into account. (see "Gauge, ease and fashion or--'why doesn't my sweater fit?' " TECHknitting of January 23, 2007.)

•The hat is ended with a ribbing--the last round of the hat and the first round of the ribbing are knit with a special trick which improves the ribbing transition zone (see "Where the ribbing ends--improving the transition zone" TECHknitting of March 9, 2007.)

•Finally, there's a neat trick for binding off the ribbing (see: Easy fake tubular bind off: casting off 1/1 ribbing the TECHknitting way, TECHknitting of April 1, 2007)


THE PATTERN


Part 1: starting the hat from a TKIO
STEPS 1-4 are only done once for each hat--to get the hat started from the TKIO.

step 1: (below) Make a TKIO as set forth in the TKIO post. However, do not transfer the stitches to double pointed needles.
click picture
step 2: (above) Transfer the TKIO to circular needles as shown. The ball yarn is coming out to the left, the needle tips are facing left, and you are looking at the "outside" of the TKIO.

TECHtip: All kinds of side-to-side AND top-to-bottom rotation is going to happen next. To better track which needle is which, maybe get a SHARPIE and mark your top needle--the one that's red in the illustrations. Having a mark makes it much easier to follow the action--the marked needle will always be your working (right) needle.

step 3: (below) To get this configuration, the TKIO has been flipped side-over-side so the ball end now comes out to the right, the needles point right, and you are looking at the "inside" of the TKIO.
click picture
step 4: (above) The red needle has been drawn all the way through the top three stitches. Those stitches are now resting on the cable, and the red needle has been brought all the way around to the working position. Fold the TKIO in half so the inside is in and the outside is out--the TKIO should hang DOWN from your needles, not stick up (see step 5 for a picture of this). Using the red (working) needle, knit the three stitches on the green needle. This knits one side of the TKIO shut. (For further info on splitting the stitches into sets, try this link.) You are now about to start knitting on the hat, proper.

TECHtip: Give the yarn a good yank before you knit the first stitch of any set. See--on a circular needle, the cable is a much smaller diameter than the needle tip. By giving the yarn a good yank before you start knitting with the red (working) needle, you're removing the normal slack between the stitches AND considerably tightening up the loop of the previous stitch, that being the last stitch on the cable.

By making the last few stitches on the back needle smaller, and removing the normal slack between the stitches of the back set and the first stitch of the front set, you will get a nice, crisp edge--a built-in fold line. In fact, because of this tightening trick you'll get a MUCH nicer, crisper edge between the stitch sets with Magic loop than would be possible with double pointed needles (dpn's have no small diameter cable to tighten edge stitches around). In a previous post, I said that I find Magic loop best suited to items which will be used folded over as they are knit, such as the ski hat we're making here. This fold-line trick is the reason.

BTW: the opposite is true also. If you want to knit truly round objects--such as socks--with the Magic loop technique, you have to be careful NOT to give that edge stitch a yank, or you will get a "fold line" down the middle of your sock, where you might not want one!


Part 2: Knitting the top (slanted increase portion) of the hat

STEPS 5-8, described below, are the Magic loop technique, repeated throughout the rest of the hat. Each round is made of two half rounds
  • Steps 5-8, when repeated ONCE make a half round.
Each full round is made of two half rounds.
  • You must repeat steps 5-8 TWICE to make each full round
This hat is knitted by alternating one full round "plain" and one full round with increases. On every plain round, no increases occur--you simply knit into every stitch on your needles, including knitting into the increase stitches which were added in the row below. On every increase round, you add four stitches. By locating these four stitches near each end of each stitch set, you get the classic "envelope" ski hat shape.

Knitting one round plain

In starting the hat from the TKIO, you have actually already knit 1/2 a round plain--all that remains in the first round of plain knitting is to create another 1/2 round.

step 5: (below) The front three stitches have been knit with the red (working) needle, and the green needle is popped loose of the work.
click picture
step 6: (above)To get to this configuration from step 5, draw the green needle (the needle now loose) rightwards, so the back stitches which were on the cable, will be resting on the green needle instead, as illustrated.

step 7: (below) To get to this configuration from step 6, the work has been flipped side over side, such that the red (working) needle (carrying the stitches just knitted) is in the back, and the green needle is in the front.
click picture
step 8: (above) To get to this configuration from step 7, the red (working) needle has been drawn out of the back stitches such that these back stitches rest on the cable of the circular needle. The red (working) needle has been drawn to the front, and is ready to knit the front stitches off the green needle. To complete the second half of the round, use the red (working) needle to knit the front 3 stitches off the green needle, until you are back in the same configuration as shown in step 5.

Steps 5-8 are the steps you will follow to make every 1/2 of every plain (no increase) round. In other words, to make a whole plain round, you would repeat steps 5-8 twice--once on the front set of stitches, and once on the back set of stitches.

TECHtip: The gymnastics of rearranging the needles between sets means Magic loop knitting is not a good candidate for marking the beginning of the round with a stitch marker. Instead, put a safety pin in the fabric at the edge where each round starts so you can tell in which half of the round you are working. (The picture of "measuring a hat for length," below, shows a stitch holder being used as a round marker.)

Knitting the increase rounds

The increase rounds are superimposed on the pattern of Magic loop knitting set forth in steps 5-8, above. On an increase round, the increases are made one stitch from the edge on each stitch set. (For further info on increases, try this link ) Specifically, on an increase round, during step 8, make the first half of the increase round as follows:
•* K1 (knit 1).
•Make a right leaning increase by the forwards loop method
click picture

•Knit to within 1 stitch of the end of the stitch set (on the first time you do this, you'll only have to knit 1 stitch before you are within 1 stitch of the end of the stitch set).
•Make a left leaning increase by the backwards loop method.
click picture
•Finish this half of the round by knitting the last stitch on the front needle (K1).*
What you have just done is to perform increases on both ends of the first half of the round--in other words, on both ends of the first repetition of step 8 of the Magic loop knitting sequence. You will now have 5 stitches on your front needle instead of the three you started with, and you'll need to re-arrange your needles as per steps 5 -7 to get to the second half of the increase round. As you knit the second half of the increase round, when you get to step 8 again, you'll repeat the sequence within the asterisks: *k1, make a right leaning increase, work to within 1 stitch of the end of the stitch set, make a left leaning increase, k1.*

From here on out, you follow the Magic loop sequence of steps 5-8 for each half round. The hat is created in 2-round cycles: On alternate full rounds, you knit plain on both sets of stitches (no increases) and on the following full round you create increases during step 8 on both halves of the round (both sets of stitches).

Deciding when to stop increasing

click picturemsurng for stitch gauge
In knitting the hat from the top down, you quickly create enough fabric to measure. And measure it you should. Begin by steam blocking--once you've made enough fabric so you can keep your iron away from the needles (and especially, away from the plastic cable) lay the work (still on the needles) on the ironing board. Set the iron on steam, hold the iron an inch or so above the fabric, and let the steam penetrate the fabric. Pat the fabric flat, let it dry (takes only a very few minutes). Lay a tape measure on the hat. Now you've got your stitch gauge--the number of stitches to each inch of fabric.

You might think the next step would be to measure your Intended Wearer's (IW's) head and keep increasing to match that measurement, but there is a better way. You see---measuring your IW's head does not tell you anything about how your IW likes hats to fit--whether tight or loose. In other words, a head measurement tells you your IW's head size, but says nothing about how much "ease" they prefer in a hat. Instead, take your Intended Wearer's favorite hat, and measure how big around THAT is. Do the math and figure out how many final stitches you must have to make the hat you're knitting match the favorite hat. As an example, if the IW's favorite hat is 21 inches around, and if you are getting 5 stitches per inch, your final stitch count ought to be 21 x 5, or 105 stitches.

TECHtip: Gauge is notoriously hard to nail down, partly because it's so hard to measure. It's very common to mistake 5-1/4 stitches per inch for 5 stitches per inch, or 4-3/4 stitches per inch for 5 st/in. Result? Garments too big or too small. Stack the odds in your favor: measure over 3 or 4 inches or even more. Measuring over this longer span makes it less likely that you're holding the material under tension when you measure, and it also makes it easier to account for fractional stitches. It is because bigger gauge swatches are much better than smaller ones, that gaugeless hats are such a great way to test-drive your yarn while also creating a reliable gauge swatch.

You might think it wise to test the hat's diameter by having the IW try on the hat-in progress. But beware: a try-on can be misleading because stitch gauge has the most ferocious tendency to stretch on a piece of knitting which is not bound off. If the trial try-on and the mathematical option disagree, let the math rule. As long as you've carefully measured your gauge AND the target hat, then--as counter-intuitive as it may seem--the math is far more likely to be right than the try-on as regards the diameter of the hat.

Part 3: Knitting the hat to the correct length

click picture2 folded hats
Once you've got the hat as big around as you need it, stop increasing and simply knit the rest of the hat plain until it is as long as you need the hat to be. Unlike the diameter of the hat, however, the length is a little trickier to measure off an already existing hat. As you can see from the picture, these two hats, knit to the same pattern but out of different yarns have vastly different relative row gauges--they have different angles and rates of increase. The first time through with a new yarn, you really don't know if the ski hat you're knitting might wind up with a relatively flat-ish top, or almost pointy enough to be an elf-hat.
click picturetry hat 4 lngth

This means that even if the ski hat is pretty much the same style as the IW's favorite hat, unless both hats have the same relative row gauge (angle of slope), you really can't measure the correct length from an existing hat because you can't know how deeply into the point your IW's head will go. This is where it IS handy to have the IW try on the hat-in-progress: unlike stitch gauge --which stretches madly on unbound knitting--the row gauge on the hat-in-progress won't stretch. Therefore, you may confidently rely on the try-on to determine the length.

Magic loop and the plain tube

As you knit the plain tube, there is no reason to keep the two circular needle cable loops popped loose of the fabric between the stitch sets as you've been doing up to now. In fact, there are good reasons why you shouldn't keep the cable loops popped out in the same place. If you keep the stitch sets separated past the increase rounds, you may wind up with the fold line carrying down the body of the hat, where no fold line is necessary.

To avoid this problem, you can either switch to a shorter (16") circular needle in the same size as the one you have been using, OR you can switch to a more free-form version of Magic loop knitting which has only one loop of cable popped free. To do this, you simply dig out one loop of cable from between two random stitches, about 3/4 of the round away from where your needle tips are. When you've knit to that spot, you reposition the cable another 3/4 of a round away from where the needle tips are, and so on . By randomly varying the place where the cable pops loose of the fabric, you avoid the fold line problem, and you also avoid any tendency towards ladders which might otherwise trouble you.

In any event, however you choose to do it, at some point, you will have knit the plain tube of the hat 1-2 inches less than the final desired length.

Ribbing

The last 1-2 inches of the hat are knit in ribbing. If you have a sort of ribbing you prefer, and if you have neat way to bind it off, use that. Otherwise, switch to a 1/1 ribbing (k1, p1) and prepare for the ribbing transition zone as follows: Switch to needles 2-3 sizes smaller, and knit the last full round of the hat. On the next round, establish the 1/1 ribbing by slipping the knit stitches, and purling the purl stitches. On every round after that, create the ribbing by knitting or purling as the pattern is set. When the ribbing is long enough, bind off. That's it--you have a gaugeless, guaranteed-to-fit, Magic loop ski hat, started with a TKIO.

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on "TECHpattern and tutorial: gaugeless MAGIC LOOP ski hat with a TKIO (Part 3 of the "knitting seamless tubes and circles" series)"
In my continuing efforts to collect all the purple colors of Wool of the Andes and Peruvian Highland wool, here is the offering from Elann (along with some gray for DH's socks).






I just realized that Easter is next Sunday! So it is again time for my usual public service message. Rabbits are delicate creatures, they can live a long time, require as much care as dogs and cats (I consider them higher-maintenance actually), spaying/neutering them is not inexpensive, etc., etc, etc. Please pass the word along so the shelters aren't filled with discarded children's pet Easter rabbits again this year. Chocolate Easter bunnies are definitely the way to go!


the peepers are awake...

"Ere yet the earliest warbler wakes, of coming spring to tell,
From every marsh a chorus breaks, a choir invisible,
As if the blossoms underground, a breath of utterance had found. -Tabb"
From Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock

The spring weather is here and while taking my walk up the lane I heard the chorus of the spring peepers. It has to be one of my most favorite sounds, as it means spring has really truly arrived.
I took some cutters with me in hopes of finding pussy willows, which I did. I cut a basketful, gathered eggs, and found some good reading in the mailbox...

Now at least I've done a little spring decorating...

I want you to know I appreciate all your kind comments. I have a sewing order to fill so I may be absent more than usual, but will catch up with you all soon!

Gracie's Quilt

I met my friend Gracie in college. We both lived in International House at Illinois State University and we soon realized we shared many classes because we were both French majors. We've kept in touch over the years via email and I know she is an excellent and addicted quilter.

Anyway, yesterday a box arrived from Gracie. I'm having trouble photographing the incredible and bright colors but this quilt is by far the most incredible handmade gift I've ever received.








The little patch says the quilt pattern is Flamenco and the fabrics are Kaffe Fassett. I don't think she could have chosen better for my tastes - I love touching it and staring at the colors and the stitching. DH wants to hang it in our living room so I'll get a better photo once we do so.
I think these latest thick hiking socks for DH are really ugly but a) I wanted to use up all the Cormo I had so I had to do two-tone, b) they won't look two-tone when he wears his hiking boots and c) DH likes them. Boy doing 9" of K2P2 ribbing for each sock is certainly fun. Not.



Spring has sprung. This photo shows the buds on the lilac bush.



Blogging may be sporadic this week as we will have visitors. I will have to keep an eye on the brown large-eared one to make sure she doesn't use this excuse to beg for extra food.
Just in case you thought that was the only knitting I have clogging up the armoire, here's the growing pile of items to be given away next Christmas.



And here is the pile of items knit for booklets. I figure I should keep these although I have friends who are always trying to abscond with them. I have a vision of my next crafts room having a large corkboard so I can hang them up and enjoy the colors.



I'm amazed at how many of you save little bits of yarn. I already have quite a few tiny bits of yarn because of all the color knitting I do. I will have to come up with some new methods for storage because they always become tangled if I just toss them in a container or drawer.

I put a new post up on the Glove Knitting KAL on figuring out your hand size for knitting patterns. If any of you know your hand size for purchasing gloves will you check it out please? I'm trying to see if there are any others who have differences in their commercial glove size vs. knitting pattern hand size. Thanks!

new clothespin bags & a peek at the kitchen

Spring is definitely in the air and I can't wait to hang that first load of laundry out on the line. With that in mind I made myself a new clothespin bag, as well as one for my online shop. Mine is made of fabric leftover from covering the stepstool, and it's filled with clothespins and all ready to go...
This one is for the shop and is made from a great Sis Boom floral...
And yes, that is the new painted kitchen cabinets in the background. (A before picture here) Here's a peek at some of what is finished...We're not even close to being done ~ it's going painfully slow. The bridge faucet arrived yesterday so hopefully this weekend work will move forward with the farmhouse sink installation.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Does anyone else have trouble throwing away knitting mistakes? Here is a pile of various items I've knit, mostly unfinished, that I gave up on because I hated the colors or just hated knitting period. DH didn't like the blue and white Selbu glove. I don't really know why I have to hold on to this stuff (in sewing I guess they call similarly unloved items "wadders") but I guess it is because they all represent a piece of my life in some sense. Anyway, now that I have a photo I'm free to toss them.

Doesn't Jack look like he is contemplating his fat cat belly? I adore him but he is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.

Slippers

My very own slippers.

Warm and cosy, what more can I say. They are just whats needed on a cold Swedish winter's night. And extremly comfy.

Two handy knitted increases, one slanting right, one slanting left

Some housekeeping information: If you're wondering what happened to the series on seamless tubes and circles, the answer is that yours truly (having no editor) did not properly think through which subjects had to be posted in which order. The reason for this detour will become clear when the seamless tube and circle series returns with a post featuring a pattern for a magic loop ski hat.

A matched pair: right-leaning and left-leaning knitted increases

These increases are nearly identical, but the right leaning increase is a forwards loop while the left-slanting increase is a backwards loop. (These increases are really just subsets of the forward and backward looping-on casting-on described in a previous post. However, instead of casting-on an entire row of foundation stitches, only one stitch at a time is being cast on, to serve as an increase.)
click picture
(Above) The fabric in this picture is growing to the right because the increases are being made very near the fabric's right edge (one stitch in from the edge, actually). The increases are right-slanting ones, which means that they lay smoothly and do not leave a bump on the fabric surface when used to make an increase by the right edge of a knitted fabric. This right-leaning looped increase is made by twisting the standing yarn UNDER the tail yarn (in this illustration, the tail yarn=yarn coming out of the immediately preceding stitch).

The loop which results from twisting the standing yarn under the tail yarn is called a "forwards" loop because the loop lays on the right needle right arm forward, just like a regular untwisted stitch does. In other words, if you compare the right-leaning increase to the ordinary stitch sitting beside it you will see that both lay right arms forward.
click picture

(Above) The fabric in this picture is growing to the left because the increases are being made very near the fabric's left edge (one stitch in from the edge). The increases are left-leaning ones, which means that they lay smoothly and do not leave a bump on the fabric surface when used to make an increase by the left edge of a knitted fabric. This left leaning looped increase is made by twisting the standing yarn OVER the tail yarn (in this illustration, the tail yarn=yarn coming out of the immediately preceding stitch).

The loop which results from twisting the standing yarn over the tail yarn is called a "backwards" loop because the loop lays on the left needle "backwards," like a twisted stitch would. Compare the left-leaning increase to the regular stitch sitting beside it--the regular stitch is right arm forward, but the increase loop is left arm forward.

* * *

The easiest way to make both of these increases is to pinch the standing yarn between your left thumb and forefinger, twist it into the kind of loop you want (per illustrations above) and then place it onto the right needle.

* * *

Initially, you may find knitting (or purling) into looped increases awkward. Like all looped-on stitches, looped increases--whether left- or right-leaning--want to shrink and stretch and share yarn with the surrounding stitches. If you're really having a hard time skewering those loops with your right needle when you come to them in the next row, cheat a little, and knit (or in flat knitting, purl) into the back loop instead. I made two long samples--one flat knit and one circular knit, and could see only the most subtle difference between working into the front loops or working into the back loops, so do whatever you'd find easiest. With practice, knitting into these awkward little thingies will become one more of your "mad knitting skillz" (as the 8th graders like to say).

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: Left slanting and Right slanting increases in knitting)

spring at last?

The robins are back and I've even heard some Canadian geese fly overhead...sure signs of spring. There is still some snow on the ground, but as you can see by the barn, the rhubarb is just starting to come up. Even Bailey is venturing out more...

Hopefully we won't see any more 14 degree F temps (which we had last night), and Sparky will be able to shed his blanket for good...

It's the official start of 'mud season' and muck boots will be needed when venturing anywhere on the property. I'm so tired of the snow by now that I don't even mind. And look at that blue sky ~ it's been too long since we've had any of those.

There is no sign of any tulips emerging yet, but they should be up soon. In the meantime I've planted three pots of them, and also an amaryllis, in hopes of having some springtime indoors...

Have a good day!

Cute slippers


Cute little feet warmers made all in one piece.
whats needed 1 ball of chunky yarn (Chunky manda novitta,Finland yarn)
Size 7mm knit needles,8mm crochet hook,5.5mm crochet hook
Step one) Cast on 22 stitches,knit and pearl 9 rows then cast off on the knit row then with the final stitch, swap for the 8mm crochet hook.
Step two) Circle with a double crochet (dc stitch) 3 rows, that starts to bring up the sides.
Step three) Half way across chain on 10 stitches, join to the other side as if a strap and then circle with another three rows only on half of the slipper shape.
This will then make the heel part so that the slipper will stay on your foot.
Step four) End back at the strap and now is a tricky part maybe to understand, you need to chain two and then go under the strap.(see top pic)
Step five) Now is the part of the top cover for the toes, you need to (Dc) 8 stitches and then go back and forward for 7 rows. (see top picture)
You need to edge down one side so your at the start of the side stitch.
Step five) it's the top stitch time, change to the 5'5mm hook and then use a blanket stitch(I think its called that joins the front flap to the slipper.
Top tip) I used two balls of wool and made both slippers at the same time(but you only need one ball in total so you'll have two spare half balls), Why (1) to remember what I was doing and get it right twice. (2) Tension, and to make sure they where as close as possible in size. It will only take two hours in total.
My tention square, was my dummy run. I made with 28 cast on stitches and the slipper looked as if it would fit a man, tension. So I just unpulled it and had another go, with chunky wool and large needles it really is a fast project. If you cant read a pattern there is no excuse just make up you own.

I am going to finish ends and make a flower for each, my next post will be an image of the completed project.

What to do with a cheap Ikea Lamp shade!

20krs=£1.65

Here is a branch out attempt on my canvases, some one suggested at the School coffee that maybe I could use what I do with the knitting on a lampshade. (Good idea Christina)

It works on the canvas, but as far as lamp shade goe's mmmm.......... think I'm needing a little bit more work. Here it is balanced on my candle holder.

Think the picture is actually better than the finished thing.

I finally found a use for those bags you get when you order Victoria's Secret flannel PJs. I like to keep the colors for each knitting project separate and each of these bags holds the content of one glove project. One bag contains 10 skeins of yarn and one contains 20. (BTW, never pay full price for VS flannel PJs. The discontinued patterns go on sale for under $20 every few months.)




This is what I saw every time I looked down from the desk while working hard on the glove booklet.



Like any self-respecting rabbit, she begged for food shamelessly while I was preoccupied with the booklet. Plus DH & I are noticing she double teams us more frequently. I'll feed her and then she'll immediately go to DH and beg for something to eat. I'm definitely going to have to work harder to enforce the bunny diet.
I 'm currently unable to get a photo of the glove booklet cover into my sidebar. I actually had an artsy photo for the booklet cover of the glove on an Adirondack chair with the mountains in the background but Lulu said it was the wrong size. So instead I just stuffed everything in the scanner as I've done with the other booklets.



Oh no! My new gloves don't fit. No really these are just another pair of thick boring hiking socks for DH. He insists upon 9" of K2P2 ribbing for every pair which is torture. I'm knitting them simultaneously because I am going to run out of one of the shades of undyed Cormo yarn. The feet will be a lighter color.

back to the drawing board...

This weekend I was really motivated to finish the knitted t-shirt. All that was left was a sleeve, the ribbing around the neckline, and sewing it all up.
I sewed one sleeve in and realized there was just too much sleeve for the armhole. When I tried it on, it was very obvious by the way the sleeve had puckered. It also seemed that the 1982 design was too high to the collar~husband & daughter agreed it didn't really look good there. I suppose I could have lived with that, but the thought of reworking the sleeves was too much (not that I would know where to even begin)...I started ripping it all out last night...

I don't blame the pattern; I know lots of women have made it and loved it. I'm sure I must have done something wrong and am just chalking it up to lack of knitting experience.

Here's what I had this morning. I've cast on for a different short sleeve sweater, which is the one I actually bought the yarn for in the first place, but later changed my mind.

It's knit on circular needles and "a great beginner's sweater...so simple even a new knitter could finish it in a snap" (Knitty). Just what I'm looking for, some nice, relaxing, mindless knitting.


Glove Knitting Booklet




The glove booklet is finished and for sale at my Lulu store. Catchy title, eh? It is 36 pages, all-color, with over 50 photos, diagrams and charts including a gallery of gloves that don't fit. The price is $18.38 for print or $8.75 for a .PDF file. You can also email me at nanetteblanchard (at) earthlink (dot) net if you would prefer to pay by check - Lulu takes both credit cards and Paypal.

I originally wanted to add more glove patterns but I had to work to keep the price down (all-color booklets are more expensive to print). I plan to add more glove patterns (including one with individual finger gussets) to the store individually at a later date.

HERE is the book's info page and HERE is the KAL page for either of the glove patterns from the booklet. Please let me know if you'd like to sign up for the KAL - one thing I thought we could do is get KAL members to upload photos of their hands so we could talk about modifications to make their hand-knit gloves fit better.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The corned beef and cabbage are in the crockpot, along with some carrots and potatoes. Later I will make a couple loaves of Irish Soda bread.

We will also be celebrating our daughter's induction into Phi Theta Kappa national honor society and making the Dean's List at her college. Last night we attended a beautiful Honor's Convocation.

Congratulations Stephanie!

May the road rise up to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

And rains fall softly upon your fields

And until we meet again

May the Good Lord hold you in the

Hollow of His hand.

~An Irish blessing

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Knitting seamless tubes & circles-part 2: the theory

The first post of this series tried to convince you of the wisdom of learning to make seamless tubes and circles. If you're still with me, today's topic is: How does it work? What is the theory behind this mysterious double pointed needle voodoo--this "Magic loop" hoopla?

Future posts will get down to the actual (k)nitty-gritty--how to hold 4 (5?) needles with two hands, how to cast on, all that good stuff. But for today, we're not going to worry about how the stitches are cast on, or how they find their way from one needle to the next, or ladders, or any of that stuff. Today, we're just going to look at some stitches ALREADY ON the needles. Today, we're dealing with--

The THEORY of seamless tubes and circles 101

The traditional way of knitting small tubes or circles is with 4 or 5 double pointed needles (dpn's). But nobody has that many hands, and the thing looks horribly complicated. The alternate non-traditional method--using one very long circular needle--a method called "Magic loop"-- also looks complex.

Given how un-intuitive these methods seem, there must be a pretty good reason why they're so popular. So what is that reason? What's with all those needles, all those darn loops?

The WHY of DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLES

The deal is this: double pointed needles (dpn's) allow your knitting to choose its own natural diameter. This is true whether you are knitting a pass-through tube (sleeve) or a dead-end tube (hat, sock, mitten)--or any flat circle (lace shawl, hat top)--on dpn's these items all get to find their natural diameter without any stretching.

An example: per the illustration below, if you have a tube of 44 stitches, and you put that on four dpn's, you'll have 11 stitches on each of the four needles, right? Each SET of 11 stitches can just sit in the middle of its own personal needle, taking up exactly 11 stitches worth of needle-room. The stitches in each set never need to stretch their way down the length of the needle. Any unused lengths of needle just turn into naked needle ends sticking out PAST either end of the set. As a result, the tube gets to hang down from the needles in its natural shape--at its natural diameter.

Now, the thing is, the naked needle ends on the dpn's are free to overlap one another as much or as little as necessary. That's what makes the dpn system so very flexible. On the illustration below, if you were to increase one stitch per set--so you had 12 stitches on each of 4 needles, each needle would have less naked needle-end, and more of each needle would be taken up with stitches. In this way the tube would remain free to find its own diameter.

So it all boils down to this: stitches on dpn's don't have to stretch ALONG the needle--the excess needle just sticks out. That means there's no gap between the stitches of one set. But, how about the gap BETWEEN sets?
click picture
44 sts on dpn'sLet's look at the gap between stitch 11 and stitch 12 in the above illustration. It is true that two needle ends are sticking out of this gap. However, although there is a right angle bend between them, stitch 11 (the LAST stitch of one set) and stitch 12 (the FIRST stitch of the next set) aren't really any further apart from one another than if they were two stitches in the SAME set. In other words, they're just as close to one another as they would be if they were on the same needle. See: the knitted fabric bends readily and the fabric easily accomodates the right turn between each set of 11 stitches, while the naked needle ends overlap as much (or little) as they need to, to keep adjoining stitches from different sets right next to each other.

Bottom line: with dpn's, there is no stretching between stitches in the same set, nor between stitches in adjoining sets. The dpn's let the tube you're knitting find its own diameter, and any excess length of needle just sticks out PAST the stitches.

Of course, the whole thing looks like a porcupine, with all those naked needle ends sticking out. And that is especially so when you're just starting a center-start garment with a very few stitches. However, within that ferocious-looking nest of needle ends, the tube or circle lays very nice and tidy and most of all it lays peacefully UNSTRETCHED.

The WHY of a too-long circular needle (called "Magic Loop")

We now pass on to the trick of knitting with a too-long circular needle. Before we jump into this method, let me give credit where credit is due. Knitting with a too-long circular needle was popularized as a legitimate method in a booklet which named the technique "Magic loop" knitting. The booklet, available on the web, and probably at your LYS, contains several patterns, and is well worth owning. Before this booklet came out, I expect knitters only thought of this trick in an emergency--unless you have a very flexible cable, this technique is a needle-ruiner. Only recently have cables become well-enough attached to the needle, and flexible enough, to pull this stunt. The kind of needles I used when learning--stiff nylon cables, uncertainly attached--would have been (and were and still are!) ruined by the kink this trick puts in a stiff nylon cable, and by the bending this technique imposes on the cable-needle joint.

Oh wait--one more thing before we jump in. I expect you are wondering why this trick even developed--after all, it seems sort of odd to create a small seamless tube with a too-long needle. Why not just use an itty-bitty teeny circular needle in the first place? Actually, there ARE tiny needles touted for making little tubes--needles 8 inches long and 12 inches long. The reason NOT to use them is because a needle that small is very hard to manipulate. The needle tips have to be very short or the cable wouldn't be long enough to wrap around the back. You'll soon have cramped hands from trying to grasp the little nubbin needle tips with your finger tips--you'll never be able to get your hand on the needles.

OK, now we come to the theory of the technique.

The deal with a too-long circular needle is this: by popping two loops of cable out between two sets of adjacent stitches, the stitches separate into two sets in a flattened sort of tube. As with dpn's, disassociating the length of the needle from the amount of room each set of stitches takes up, allows the stitches in each set to sit unstretched, taking up exactly as much needle-room as they need.

In other words, in the same way that the naked needle-ends protrude past the ends of the stitch sets in dpn's, so unused part of the cable needle protrudes in loops past the ends of the stitch sets in this technique. Because the cable loops are free to stick out of the fabric as far or as little as necessary, this allows the tube you are knitting to find its natural diameter without stretching around the circumference of the circular needle.
click picture
Between stitches 22 and 23, in the illustration above, the first loop of excess cable has been popped loose of the fabric, and between stitches 44 and 1, the second loop of excess cable has been popped loose. (Notice that the front set of stitches lies on the left needle tip, but the back set of stitches isn't actually on the right needle tip--it is on the cable. The right needle has been drawn all the way around, and is positioned ready to knit the waiting stitches off the left needle.)

The cable loop which pokes out between sets is theoretically flexible enough so that stitches in adjoining sets are no further apart than stitches along the same needle in the same set, and the knitted fabric is theoretically flexible enough to take the 180 degree bend between the front and back set of stitches without distortion. In actual practice, you may find that there is distortion along the line between the front and the back sets of stitches.

WHICH METHOD WHEN?

IMHO, Magic loop, with its flattened, doubled fabric, is a perfect match for creating objects which are used flat and doubled--classic ski hats, diamond-shaped potholders. This is partly because magic loop tends to distort the fabric slightly along the fold line, and so works best for objects which will stay folded, and partly because it is so easy to visualize what your finished project will look like, given that you are knitting it in the same shape as it will be used. Other than for these folded, doubled objects, I personally don't use the method much because is S-L-O-W--you have to stop and re-arrange the needles twice on every round--that'd be every 30 or 40 stitches on a sock, for example. All this needle-re-arranging takes me, at any rate, far longer than switching from one double pointed needle to the next.

Double pointed needles are (yes, believe it or not--they really are) much faster once you figure them out, and I much prefer them for truly circular knitting. In the how-to post for dpn's, there will be a trick for avoiding ladders, which are the chief reason many knitters give for disliking dpn's. With ladders eliminated as a problem, it might be that more knitters would also come to prefer dpn's.

However, despite my personal preference, experience shows that the too-long circular needle technique is undeniably less intimidating than the traditional double pointed needle way of making small tubes. For this reason, magic loop is becoming popular.

* * *

The next several posts will leave theory behind and jump into how-to's. Magic loop will be dealt with first--just because it is slightly easier for a first-time seamless knitter. Stay tuned.

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on--Seamless tubes: the theory of double pointed needles (dpn's) and the theory of "Magic loop")

a sleeveless tunic...

I saw this picture somewhere on the web over a year ago and loved the whole outfit. Yesterday, as I was browsing through my idea files, I came across it and thought I would give it a try. I am finding out that patten making is not altogether simple...
Everything is in metric, which I can handle; but some of the numbers are impossible to make out on my copy. After a bit of figuring though I thought I had it. Not trusting my pattern completely, I found an old sheet to use for a practice version...
After cutting and sewing, I tried it on but sadly the armholes were a little small and the neckline too wide, so tonight it was back to the cutting board for some modifications. I've spent about an hour on alterations and it's late....
...I think I'll work on the next prototype tomorrow.