Knit & Crochet blog week - a useful tool

I had so much fun posting during Knit & Crochet Blog week last week that I decided to do the wild card topic as well, even though I couldn't think of a knitting tool to recommend when I first thought about it!

My favourite knitting tool is a circular needle. Heck, even two at the same time!

I like knitting garments in the round, because you can motor on through endless stockinette stitch without having to worry that your purl rows are too loose and will distort the fabric. I love doing stockinette stitch: it is so relaxing and soothing, and the perfect thing for going to a knitting group with!

Circulars are great for doing colourwork, particularly in the round. You don't get the ends of a straight needle tangled up in cascades of threads.

You can use a longer needle by leaving a loop out somewhere and pulling the needle through when you get to the loop.

They can also be used for back and forth knitting - there is no rule book that says that you can't turn your work when using circular needles.  The reason why I love circulars for back and forth and any other kind of knitting is that you can't lose "the other needle", or leave it at home by mistake: there is only one and chances are that if you've got your knitting with you, you'll have your knitting needle too.

I love that they're light, easy to handle because they are manoeuvrable and don't have ends to could catch on anything - you don't accidentally poke into someone sitting next to you (and will therefore not get dirty looks) - and best of all: the weight of your ever growing garment won't slip down towards the end of your straight needle which would make it necessary to do a bit of weight-lifting while you are knitting. That's the second biggest advantage in my book. Your fabric will slide towards the middle: into the loop of the circular neede's cable and might just sit quite comfortably on your knees.

You can get them in standard metal, but there are also lots around in other materials: I like bamboo because it is wonderfully light - but I also love my rather expensive Knit Picks circs because the cable/wire (in a lovely purple!) is very bendy and does not go out of shape. They are fantastic! I might get another one in 4 mm but I haven't seen any recently.

In the past I have used circular needles that were very annoying: the joint between needle and the cable (or is it called a wire?) wasn't well made at all, I had yarn snagging on it all the time - it drove me to distraction! Today's circulars are much better in that respect, much!

Using circulars (particularly if you feed a second circular through half of your stitches) is also very good for trying something on before you get way too far to even think about ripping back and trying again.  You can try for size as you go along and will be much happier with the result. Just try the same with your knitting on straight needles! That's a complete nightmare.

I have also found circular needles very good when it comes to steeking: if you wish to do your sewn lines (by sewing machine) before you cast off (say you want to cut the armhole open before grafting the shoulders together), then you can sew much closer to the needle (the cable part of the circular) than you could if the stitches were still sitting on straight needles.  It might be a good idea though to avoid putting the machine's needle through the plastic of the cable!

I think I've come up with quite a few good points, quite a few more than I was expecting before starting this post! I am also attempting to come up with a few negative points, just to be balanced, but I can't think of anything.

There is even a method for knitting socks on a circular needle (two circular needles to be precise: half the stitches on each) even though the circular needle is much longer than the circumference of the socks, but that needs to be the subject for another post.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Sunday: What a Yarn

I really like Colinette Jitterbug. It is a sock yarn weight that I have used for a kerchief style shawlette in a candlelight pattern and will be using for socks too.

This is Jitterbug in Rio, a very nice bright fuchsia. The colour is almost solid, the pink is slightly lighter and more vibrant in places and a little darker in others: very nice and subtle! There are also some very small bits of red and orange in it, just enough for about a single stitch - it does create a lot of interest and variation in the overall colour appearance. I love this colourway!

I also bought several further shades in this yarn - almost all directly from Colinette because it is more affordable than bidding for it on ebay: the price invariably rises beyond what you pay directly. People seem to go a little crazy when they start bidding for any of this yarn.

These are colourways Fruit Coulis on the top, and Dark Umber below. I also bought Cherry which is very similar to but without the darker pink/purple of the Fruit Coulis.

I also have some Frangi Pani and I just realised that I need to take pictures of that shade too!

Since then I also bought a skein of Colinette in Magenta, the colours are more pink than the photo shows, and it's absolutely gorgeous!

I also used a Knitwitches silk that I love: 100% silk single ply Indian silk in colourway Lucerne. This is the most gorgeous yarn that's absolutely wonderful to knit with! Unfortunately the lady running Knitwitches is sold out on all the colourways (Lucerne, a lovely mix of aqua blue and a gorgeous mid grey, isn't even listed although the banner graphic shows this colourway), though the undyed variety can be ordered. I had started the Balmoral Thistle design doily in the Kinzel Modern Lace book but it turns out that I haven't got nearly enough yarn. I may frog this and make something else with it, the yarn is so gorgeous that it really deserves a proper project and not a half finished one:

I liked it so much, I bought more in the turquoise colour way, I just couldn't resist:

I haven't decided yet if I could carry on the doily with the turquoise colour or if I still have too little. I want to use these two skeins for something very gorgeous!

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Saturday: Revisit a past Finished Object

This is the first post of the Knit & Crochet Blog Week that I had not prepared in advance, because I couldn't decide what to write about.  There is no one single FO that immediately sprang to mind.  Checking my Ravelry page I find that there are a few completed projects: it isn't so much which one to pick but more a case of what to write.

I tend to go into way too much detail in my blog posts. I suppose it's the German in me: we just love to be thorough! It's dreadful: why would you want to go on and on and on about something as if you wanted to make sure to lose your reader's attention? I don't like that about myself and - still - I keep doing it! Oh, to be a bit more concise! Just a slightly more flippant approach in brushing past at least a couple out of the dozens of details! That'd be the ticket.
It wouldn't be me as much but I would really like to find the golden middle.

Back to the subject: for some strange reason I picked my Blue short-sleeved raglan top.  It is a pretty simple design so I was a little surprised at myself for deciding on this. When I get an impulse, I like to go with it.

It is a modification of the striped raglan tee off the Lion Wool website.  I already described that I changed how I decreased at the shoulders: After three repeats I changed the decrease row from every forth row to every third row. After six of those, it was five times every second row and then even every row because I wasn't getting a good shoulder shaping otherwise.  The reason for this change is my yarn: it has a lot less give in it than the suggested Lion brand wool.  Because it is less elastic the garment just wouldn't shape itself to my shoulders like wool would.  If I had followed the instructions as given, then the neckline wouldn't have sat properly and the rest of the garment from the shoulders down would have hung like a sack of wet potatoes.  The picture of the Lion tee does show that the shoulders look quite straight and the neckline is a slightly odd opening at the top.

I think I did pretty well with my adapted shoulder shaping: it sits and hangs well, and I lucked into a good neckline.

The hem was turned with a purl row for the ridge line, continued knitting for the same number of rows as from the provisional cast-on and then one stitch from the cast-on was knit together with one stitch on the needle.

The top is slightly fitted by a few decreases every ten rows and then increases towards the arm holes.

I learnt a lot from making this top. I was very pleased that I was able to adapt the shoulders to make the yarn work and to achieve a pretty good fit.  I have not worn it much yet but that's mainly because it wasn't warm enough for short sleeves yet.

I am looking forward to better weather for a few more reasons than before I started knitting again!

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Friday: Location, Location, Location

I used to knit only at home, at friends' places and back in those days, my teenage years, when we were meeting up weekly for 'youth group' (don't know if there is a better translation).  My friends were instrumental in my starting to knit (peer pressure! Everything at 15 is cool as long as your friends are into it) - so sitting in their midst while crafting away was really, really cool. Made me feel good.

I only just realised that this must be one of the reason why I enjoy going to knitting groups so much these days! Seeing as it takes me right back...

I really enjoy knitting at knitting groups - I go to a weekly one most weeks and have started going to a monthly group in London's Notting Hill area, the Last Wednesday in the Month Knitting Club. The venue (The Travel Bookshop) has a lovely, relaxing atmosphere with the added bonus of being able to look through their stock, and you get a cup of coffee too!

Since the knitting groups, I started knitting in public too. My usual journey into work on the tube can be very boring. I can only make myself read Metro so many times and reading a paper is never any real competition if you could be knitting instead! It does depend on how crowded the train is. Evenings (particularly after knitting group) is best and those mornings when I managed to leave the house those vital 5-10 minutes earlier than normal. If you had told me not all that long ago that I might voluntarily get myself out of the house earlier than I absolutely have to, I would have called you more than crazy...

(PS: I also knit at work at lunchtime, my colleagues no longer quirk an eyebrow, they're way too used to see me with yet another knitting project.)

But mainly I like cafes and places like that - I am in the process of trying to find out which particular ones are best for spending an hour or two to indulge without having to sit at home in the same four walls. The cafes in the book shops on Charing Cross Road or Trafalgar Square (Borders and Waterstone's, I think) are not bad, but they do get awfully crowded on a weekday evening after work. Not completely great fun as such. I like the cafe in the big Waterstone's on Piccadilly, but it is located in the basement and much nicer when it's nasty weather outside (then it's cosy). Now that it is getting much sunnier and warmer, I will probably try to find places where you can at least see what it's like outside. Maybe on the South Bank at or near the Royal Festival Hall. I will also try the plaza outside the British Library, they have a coffee shop right out front and some seating on the plaza.

There must be other places - any good ideas? Let me know in the comments, I'd love some suggestions!

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Thursday: A New Skill

Should I make this blog post about steeking? It does seem to offer itself very neatly but I did blog quite a bit about the rose coloured Elizabeth Zimmermann cardigan I made (using the pattern for The Green Sweater).

I think I should write about something else.

This is not too much 'something else' because I will also be steeking the front opening (ahem, forgot about the armhole steeking, I'll be doing those too). I wanted to make a colourwork cardigan but very quickly realised that knitting with two colours is very confusing when you need to purl - the strands of yarn keep getting in the way when turning the work to the wrong side.

That proved too frustrating an obstacle so I ripped back and decided to knit this in the round instead. Much easier! Now I've got to shoulder height but I hadn't known enough to allow for vertical steek lines. Thankfully I have enough stitches to work steeks anyway - I've kept on knitting this with hardly a change in the number of stitches on my needles! I think I should even be able to work a steeked seamline on a curve. To achieve a proper underarm shaping.

This is how far I got:

I could be wrong about the curved steeking, but by heck! I am going to try. Nothing ventured nothing gained. And if nothing is lost then you haven't learnt a thing either. The risk is well worth it. At worst I'll have to re-knit the section from the underarms up and have wasted some yarn. It is Diploma Gold 4 ply which is still readily available. I've even got plenty of yarn at home, I should be fine even if I have to re-knit a quarter of this.

The colour work pattern is from a German knitting magazine I bought over there last winter. I think the top was just called Wave Crest patterned cardigan (Wellenmusterpulli), I need to check.  I like the three rows when two colours are being used but I felt that only two rows of the single colour in between those sections was too short and way too much work - so I increased them to four rows. I think this makes the pattern look more even and not quite as busy. I don't follow the instructions for the garment itself, I am just using the colour work pattern.

I am not sure yet how to make the sleeves so that the pattern looks okay at the top of the arm where it meets the front and back. I may have to play around with this quite a bit. I'll see.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Wednesday: One Great Knitter

This blog entry carries straight on from my post yesterday.

The One Great Knitter who inspires me is Elizabeth Zimmermann (there is lots of stuff on the Internet, I like this article remembering her). I have her Knitter's Almanac and I enjoy the mix of very different projects.

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac

I have made the 'Hurry Up/Last Minute' sweater, the December project. Because it is to be knitted at 10 stitches for 10cm it is meant to be a really quick project.  I needed 12mm needles! Knitting this became a bit of a weight lifting exercise too, even on circular.

I cast on on 31 December lat year. Imagine my amazement when I was done three days later! Well, make that three and a half days to be scrupulously honest. But it was very quick. I love the way the wishbone pattern works and gives your torso a lovely shape even if you are a bit bustier. It is a great pattern! I would make this again as well but would start to decrease slightly earlier for the shoulders because the Wendy Viva yarn I used stretches quite a bit row-wise (if that makes sense) and therefore the sweater hangs just a little heavy from the shoulders. Decreasing a little earlier (3-4 rows only?) and then over a few more rows should easily take care of the problem.

What I love about Elizabeth Zimmermann's way of writing is her voice that you can hear in her books: I love it that she writes about how she developed her patterns, some stuff about her life, and that she then gives her 'pithy directions' to follow if you do not wish to re-read the longer description. She coined the phrase 'to unvent' something which I believe stands for not actually inventing a thing because it was probably invented by someone else long ago (nothing truly new under the sun) but that she unvented it: as if unearthed and re-discovered. It is an interesting phrase.

Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes

I also have her 'Knitting without Tears' but have not studied it in detail yet - the few things I caught sight of, when glancing through it, are all concepts and techniques I know about. It would have been useful to have had this book when I picked up knitting again late last year - after a break that possibly lasted about ten years or so. Those ten years back I had put down the project at the time, just for a bit, and didn't come back to until February this year. The result was the Black and White top I blogged about in March. I would not have been able to carry on with this raglan seamed top at all ten years ago. I was making up the design as I went along and got stuck on the underarm shaping. It was Elizabeth Zimmermann's Wishbone sweater project (Hurry Up/Last Minute sweater) that put me back on track: I just had to cast on three inches worth of stitches for the bit under the arms, and off I went! It meant no further problem or delay and I could finish this top in a few weeks.

I love to learn new things and knitting (or any kind of craft) is very rewarding when you want to discover and try out new things: there is so much to learn! And you can keep going as much or as little as you like. Elizabeth Zimmermann's writing encourages me to try things I don't know how to do yet. I feel encouraged to try my hand at designing more items, and to look out for techniques I hadn't even heard of a few months back. I am very likely to buy another one or two of her books and will definitely be looking out for further patterns by her.

Fridica blogged about a little dress which came out extremely gorgeous! This also an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern (the February baby sweater project from the Almanac!).

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Tuesday: An Inspirational Pattern

I love the story behind The Green Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Jared Flood took photos of the original cardigan that are amazing.  The story about how this garment was rediscovered is lovely and it really made me look very closely at all available photographs.

I love this pattern because the cardigan unites so many different techniques: a turned hem leaving a ridgeline at the hem (and neckline!), mitered corners at bottom/centre opening, steeking of not just the centre front but for both sleeves as well and the neckline! It has very deep dolman sleeves, some lovely decreases at the underarm shaping, a square neckline with again mitered corners - and the very best thing of all: gauntlet cuffs! I LOVE those!

My enthusiasm literally fired up and I went to see if there was more information about this garment anywhere on the Internet. Imagine my delight when I realised that Schoolhouse Press is selling the pattern! It wasn't cheap to get because they send you a hard copy (they do not offer any downloads right now and I am not sure if this may change in the future) and the postage of even a few sheets of paper was more than I was expecting. But I had to have the pattern, there was no two ways about it! I was all afire and I am extremely pleased that I managed to get this at all.

I remember my intense excitement when the envelope arrived! It was wonderful to discover this pattern in all its glorious details.  I had some problem deciding on a suitable yarn. Initially I thought that I was going to do a practice run with inexpensive cotton first, but then I realised that the Pima cotton I had in mind was unsuitable (too stiff so wouldn't drape well) and used Mirasol Qina instead. I love the rose colour but the yarn turned out slightly on the heavy side for this design.

I may make this again and would then chose something like Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine instead - there is a very gorgeous Boysenberry Mix colour (shade 1282) that I have my eye on! Or another Berocco weight: Ultra Alpaca Light, a DK, in turqoise or Oceanic Mix! Gorgeous!!

I am amazed that the steeking was not as much of a challenge as I feared. All the other details are easy to follow as well and I really enjoyed making this. Getting to the last stage (I only have to knit the neckband now and sew in ends) I am getting rather hampered by the weather having turned so much warmer - it makes you feel less inclined to work with warm wool. But I will finish this cardigan soon and then wear it with enormous pride!

PS: I did sew down the live stitches inside the gauntlet cuffs so there is a little less left to do. Onwards!

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week - Monday: Starting Out

It's the start of the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week and here is my first blog entry of the week - on the subject of Starting Out.

Now that's an interesting topic. Unfortunately it is also one that I can't answer. Woe me! I nearly gave up on the idea of taking part in this blog event when I encountered only murky depths in my memory: what happened when I started to knit/crochet, how and why did I start?

It is really odd but I cannot for the life of me remember. Which leaves me wondering if my first hesitant steps into the stitching world were an absolutely horrid experience that left me feeling frustrated and incapable? That would explain why I'm coming up empty...

What I do remember is a misshapen piece of red knitting (must have been garter stitch, that's how we all start, isn't it!) which simultaneously grew (in some places) and withered to ever decreasing dimensions (in other places) - I do remember feeling utterly aghast that his sweaty, knotted piece of wool looping in and out looked quite so pitiful. I am pretty sure that my first effort was utterly awful. Complete rubbish in fact.

I also remember clutching those straight, single point knitting needles (I still hate those with a passion) as if my life depended on it, I'm sure I was in danger of developing finger cramps. I felt hot, bothered and utterly frustrated that this first attempt would not turn into the beginning of an elegant little scarf that I could throw back over my shoulder and casually mention: Oh that thing? I made that myself...

If true to form, that piece of red knotting (can't call it knitting) would have hit the wall and I would have never gone near another piece of animal fibre in string form ever again. Or acrylic, or whatever it was. It must have been quite nasty, I do remember the squeaking of the needles in protest at their shoddy treatment in my hot little paws!

Oh huh! There is quite a bit coming back now!

I can't think what made me carry on. I have the distinct feeling that quite a few of my friends were also picking up needles and hooks - it was one of those things where peer pressure just sweeps you along.

Not sure how long after this, but the next knitting project that I remember is a light yellow (citron!) mohair jumper knitted from one cuff across to the other, in a lace pattern, with baggy sleeves. It just needed sewing along the underarm/side seams to finish off. And I think I did! I seem to remember that I did indeed finish this first major knitting project (I'm so proud!). I think I got lots of kudos from my friends for it too - after they'd all poo-pood the idea as: "Don't do it, don't run before you can walk, it's way too big a project, you'll never finish, it's mohair: it'll be REALLY difficult to knit with, and by gosh: it's LACE KNITTING! Don't do it! Don't do it!!!" - But I did manage, and I did finish, hah!

The only thing I didn't get right was the SSK stitch: I misunderstood the instructions and somehow slipped one stitch over the next before knitting that off - the lace pattern did look rather lopsided if  you looked closely. But that was the only thing that was down to my inexperience, the rest went okay. Astonishingly enough.

I don't know what happened to this sweater - it must have long ago gone to that big resting place in the sky where all happily completed projects eventually go! But it was so much fun to prove everyone wrong! Hah! again.

PS: Unfortunately the KnitCroBlo logos don't show up anymore? (Time of writing: Feb 2013)

The Knit & Crochet Blog Week - taking part

Knit and crochet blogger Eskimimi had a great idea for an event. Join in and blog about a specific subject (see the list below) each day in the week of Mon 26 April - Sunday 2 May 2010.  There is a wildcard topic if you would like to pick that one day.

It sounds really good fun and I decided to take part.

If you'd like to know more then hop on over to the FAQs - you can also click through to the Ravelry group from there.

There won't be a central list as an estimated 60-100 people have expressed an interest, but use the tagging system and then each blog entry will be googleable (if that's a word. If it is, it's unpronouncable!). Use the following tags:

Day One: knitcroblo1
Day Two: knitcroblo2
Day three: knitcroblo3
Day Four: knitcroblo4
Day Five: knitcroblo5
Day Six: knitcroblo6
Day Seven: knitcroblo7
Wild Card: knitcroblowc

The topics are:
 
Mon 26 April: Starting Out
Tue 27 April: An Inspirational Pattern
Wed 28 April: One Great Knitter
Thu 29 April: A New Skill
Fri 30 April: Location, Location, Location
Sat 1 May: Revisit a past Finished Object
Sun 2 May: What a Yarn

And the wildcard topic: All Tooled Up (in case one of the others doesn't inspire).
Check out Eskimimi's blog for more information about the topics etc.
 
It will be nice to do something as part of a community!