Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Dressed loom from the work side. Back in the summer, I bought a loom. I'd been looking at weaving for awhile. Getting into weaving is a little difficult, because looms are expensive and there are a lot of loom manufacturers. (The same could be said of buying a spinning wheel.) I ended up with an Ashford table loom. This is a rather nice little loom, in that it folds and can be slid under a bed or stacked along the back wall of a closet. This also means it can be easily transported to workshops. And the 24-inch/60cm width is just right for a folding card table. Dressed loom from the back side. The loom sat in my home from mid-summer to mid-autumn. In November, I decided that it needed to at least be put together. So I did that. After another two or three weeks, I bought some Kauni yarn, put a warp on the loom, and wove. Sampler This is just a basic sampler. I used a straight threading (i.e. shafts 1-2-3-4 in order left to right front to back). As you are looking at it ...

My home has been rather chaotic this holiday season. I decided to take a little mental health break and run down to ZooAtlanta on Friday afternoon. It was a nice day, cool in the morning but warming up to comfortable autumn weather by afternoon. I specifically went to view Chelsea and her five-month-old cubs, Sohni and Sanjiv. I had hoped to see them a month ago during Po's birthday celebration, but tiger father Kavi was out on exhibit that morning, the weather was extremely fine for November -- more like late summer than autumn -- and Kavi was not about to give up the yard and go inside. Sumatran Tigers are a smaller sub-species of tiger, but they still have all the majesty one expects in a big cat. Unfortunately, their numbers in the wild have diminished to about 400. Like so many apex predators, tigers require significant space for territory and plentiful prey. With seven billion people on the planet, there are fewer resources for other species. This is true in the Unites S...

As you've probably guessed, I like to find projects that teach me something new. I had been reading and watching videos about spinning, and I decided to try making a cabled yarn. Cabled yarns are different from regular plied yarns in that they have an extra layer of twist. Yarns start with singles. Some people will use a singles as it is, but for knitting, most people prefer to ply the singles. This is partly because a singles, by definition, can't be balanced. Unbalanced yarns can result in skewed knitting -- the stitches will push in one direction or the other, causing what should be a rectangular piece of knitting to instead appear as if it had been worked on a bias. A lot of times spinners who knit will create a two-ply yarn by plying a singles back upon itself. The singles are spun in one direction, but when plied together they are spun in the opposite direction. The two directions of twist balance to create a yarn that knits straight. Multiple singles can also be plie...

Okay, ya'all know this is a knitting blog. And those of you who know me know that I do not cook. I do not like to cook. I do like to eat -- especially other people's awesome cooking. But there's something about the impermanence of food art that I just can't get beyond. Now, the fact that I do not cook means that if I figure out how to make something and it works, then anybody can make it. Furthermore, I do not own any fancy electric cook gear. No mixer, no blender. I do have a microwave oven. So most of what I do involves glass bowls, measuring cups, and basic utensils. I do like mashed potatoes. In fact, I like carbohydrates in general. Potatoes are amongst my favorite comfort foods, probably because I lived off of them for six years of graduate school. They are inexpensive, filling, and they can be endlessly doctored with dairy fat. And I am in luck that at least some Thanksgiving meals require mashed potatoes. (Here in the South, sweet potatoes and yams are also ...

I hadn't bothered to post this little double-knit project earlier. Partly that's because I'm no longer sure which yarn it was, nor do I recall in which year it was made. I designed and knit it back in my Purly Gates days, and it uses both regular double knitting, and textured double knitting. You'll notice that the stripes at the top contain both knits and purls, while the stripes at the bottom are all knit. The cord is based on the Chinese crown knot braid from macramé. I even incorporated an open instead of closed edge at the top to facilitate display. But I also just needed to fly my alma matters' colors tonight. The Cuddly Hubby had ESPN on as usual this morning and the endless loop of news coverage was upsetting. But it was worse tonight when NBC news led off their telecast with Penn State rather than the financial crisis in the European Union. That something so cruel and sickening could happen at a place I hold so dear is heart wrenching. I hold out hop...

As you all know by now, I'm pretty picky about whose patterns I knit. Yes, I want a satisfying finished object, but I usually also want to learn something. I look at a pattern and ask, "Is there anything new and interesting that is worth my time and the precious yarn in my stash?" I thought I had worked out my teaching schedule for the remainder of 2011. Then Mariana sent out an e-mail to the shop teachers including a list of new class ideas for fall and winter. One of these was Double Heelix by Jeny Staiman from the First Fall 2011 issue of Knitty. As Jeny is already in my blog links list (Curious Knitter), I had already read about these and watched her video. And I've already been teaching Judy's Magic Cast On when I teach toe-up socks. I can report that I thoroughly enjoyed the knitting. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I knocked out the project in about two weeks from cast-on to bind-off. First off, Jeny does some of the same twisted, maniacal stuff th...

On Saturday, I took a class from Gwen Bortner. Gwen was here in town to teach for Atlanta Knitting Guild. On Saturday she taught "Entrelac: Beyond the Basics." I had been out of practice on entrelac, so I did some swatches earlier in the week. Specifically, I tried Jay Petersen's clever trick for joining entrelac. Oh my gosh, awesome! Here's what I did: First, I ran a vertical lifeline up the side of the work. You are going to have to pick up stitches on the selvedge in entrelac, so you might as well trap a piece of yarn as you turn. When you need to pick up the stitches, they are then already there on the waste yarn and you don't have to hunt for them. Second, I used Rick Mondragon's technique for modular intarsia. Jay is the clever person who realized you could use Rick's technique to make entrelac lie better. Instead of working ssk or p2tog to join a new unit to a unit on the previous course, pull up a loop in the live stitch. Knit out with the l...

So, what else did I do at the show? I did do some shopping. I seem to be moving into an alpaca phase. The Carolina Alpaca Breeders and Owners had a booth at the show. They had some yarn, but they were also one of the few booths that had fiber for spinners. Specifically, they had whole alpaca fleeces. I took the intemperate action of touching the fleeces. Soft, very nice . . .  soft, also nice . . . OH MY GOSH! There was a black fleece that was warm and buttery-soft. Gorgeous. LUST!!!! So I ended up purchasing the fleece of Black Diamond, who comes from 3 Hawks Alpacas in Murfreesboro, NC. Her sire is Ghost Dancer . I met Anita from 3 Hawks Alpacas, and she said she is breeding her alpaca for good hand-spinning fiber. I believe her. I've combed just a little of the fleece, and I can see already it has a lovely, fine crimp and a thin, soft fiber. I wish I could show you in a photograph just how awesomely soft and wonderful this fleece is. And it is environmentally-f...

I spent the weekend at the Knit and Crochet Show in Greensboro, NC. This is the show in which both The Knitting Guild Association and the Crochet Guild of America come together. Much like STITCHES, there are classes, a market, banquets, fashion shows, and lots of hanging out with other fiber-crafting enthusiasts! First off, I must thank Jan Stephens for giving me a shove. I had put in a proposal to teach at this show, and hadn't gotten anything on the schedule. I didn't make the cut for STITCHES East either, so I was feeling discouraged. Jan told me to go anyway. Somehow Gro matched me up with Dana, who was going and needed a roommate. So it all worked out well. Thank you ladies! I decided not to overload my schedule. I only took three classes. On Friday, I took "Tapas" with Candace Eisner-Strick. I've taken classes with Candace before, specifically “Strickmuster, The Beautiful Twisted Stitch Patterns of Austria” in October 2009 when she taught for AKG. ...

Ya'all know by now that I have to throw in a zoo post every once in awhile. There has been a nice baby boom this year, which means lots of adorable animals that won't stay small forever including Sumatran tiger cubs, a waterbuck calf, a giraffe calf, Chilean flamingo chicks, and a baby gorilla. And, of course, little Po the panda won't be a year old until November. If you aren't spending the Labor Day weekend at Dragon*Con, please follow the link to view this update and promotion from ZooAtlanta: College Colors Day at Zoo Atlanta Basically, you get discounted admission if you show up this weekend wearing your collegiate logo apparel and remember to ask for the discount at the ticket booth. Plus, the Sumatran tiger cubs, Sohni and Sanjiv, will debut. You can see for yourself whether or not they match Po the panda on the cuteness meter.

I'm pleased to present the finished Serpent of Eternity socks: The origin of the design lies with Jenna Beegle, i.e. JennaB or Jenna the Yarn Pimp. As mentioned in a previous blog post from far too long ago, Jenna designed both the yarn and this sock with a horizontal cuff using the Saxon Braid. The original sock pattern was for the January 2010 sock guild at The Whole Nine Yarns. In Jenna's design, the cuff is worked horizontally, then, if I recall correctly, stitches are picked up and the sock is knit downward. I believe Jenna also picked up and added a little ribbing at the top. I liked Jenna's design very much, as well as the hand-dyed yarn she designed. So I wanted to knit my own pair, but I wanted a couple changes. First, I wanted the cuffs to be reversible. Sock cuffs are sometimes worn up and sometimes down, and I wanted that to be an option. (You'll notice I have one cuff down and one up in the photograph.) I spent much of last summer and autumn working o...

During the weekend I finished a shawl. This is White Lotus by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer. The yarn is Colinton 3000, which is 100% fine kid mohair. The yarn, pattern, and beads were sold as a kit. The pattern is well-written, and includes both charts and written-out instructions. The lace pattern is a 22-stitch wide by 12-row tall repeat. For all but the final repeat, every 12 rows adds half a motif on each side of the shawl, which accounts for the almost trapezoidal shawl shape as well as the half-drop arrangement of the motifs. The chart has a thick vertical line indicating both the beginning of a motif its center. For this pattern, I strongly advise two colors of stitch markers. The markers that are the centers on one repeat will be the edges on the next, with the sole exception of the final repeat. I did not want to swatch, so I just grabbed my 3.5mm / US 4 Kollage square needle and cast on using the surprisingly stretchy slip-knot cast on by Jeny Staiman. You can see her video...

Some days the gremlins just get in things and muck them up. At least, I have to figure that's what happened to a particular pattern in Victorian Lace Today . This is a gorgeous coffee table lace book. I sometimes refer to it as the lace porn book, because it makes you want to drop everything, even socks, and go knit lace. The samples were modeled and photographed at an English estate, Belton Manor House, as well as some other locations around Cambridge. And the projects are based on Victorian-era knitting patterns. So, it's all beautiful and all good. My friend Becky sent me an e-mail over the weekend. She was having a little trouble with the Dolphin Lace scarf on pages 106-107; and could I take a look at it and give her some helpful hints? I started by going to the XRX website to look up the errata. Yes, there are errata for Victorian Lace Today . So I downloaded those. Hmmm. Not as helpful as I'd hoped. In fact, I didn't see anything indicating a problem with the...

Today is the due date for entries for the Claudia Hand Painted Yarn Shawl the Love contest. For me, this was a great excuse to indulge in some linen yarn. I had heard great things about linen. For one, it likes being thrown through the washer and dryer. I've seen in person the Flounce duo skirt from Gwen Bortner's Entrée to Entrelac . Linen has some life to it, so a skirt or shawl will have a lot of sassy movement! I was glad to have an excuse to play. I started by shopping for the yarn. The Whole Nine Yarns did have some, but only in half a dozen colors. Eat.Sleep.Knit carries the full line of colors. And I decided to work outside my comfort zone by choosing brown. In the end, I found two mismatched dye lots of "copper pennies" and a light-brown named "honey." I must admit that although I'm not a big fan of brown, "copper pennies" is a pretty colorway in either its dark or light incarnation. And brown can be a nice change-up from the basic n...

Not only are there good yarn shops in downtown Portland, but there are good shops on the east side of the river. Once again, there were more shops than I could visit. I was not able to get to Gossamer, Yarnia, or Knittn' Kitten. While the downtown is readily served by the train, the east side of town is served primarily by bus. I probably should have made an attempt to visit Gossamer (a little over a mile from my hotel), but Yarnia and Knittn' Kitten (both about 4 miles away) were just too far afield. Since I was staying at a hotel near Lloyd Center, I was able to walk to Twisted . Go to the north side of the Lloyd Center Mall and walk a couple blocks north to NE Broadway. There are lots of delightful shops and places to eat on this thoroughfare. Twisted is about six blocks east at 2310 NE Broadway St. As I walked in, a copy of Respect the Spindle was set up on a table, front and center. While this is primarily a knitting shop, there was a Schacht Ladybug wheel and locally d...

I spent last week away from the searing heat and sunshine of the Atlanta summer. This was my first trip to Portland, Oregon, and I must say I won't mind an excuse to visit again. The Cuddly Hubby was attending a conference, which meant I got to enjoy three days without adult supervision. In that time, I visited six yarn shops. Let me say at the start that one of my rules was, as much as possible, not to purchase items I could buy in Atlanta. Also, I was looking more for books, especially Japanese pattern books, than for yarn. I love yarn, but I am trying to keep myself on a yarn diet until I can get the stash to fit back in the boxes. If you are attending Sock Summit, be aware you can easily take MAX, the light rail, from the airport to the hotels. It will set you back all of $2.35 -- you aren't going to find cab fare at that rate. Plus, from the Sock Summit hotels, you can ride the train into the city for free. In the downtown I followed a three-shop hop up 11th Avenue ...