Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I realize I've been rather un-chatty the last few months. So, what has been happening? The autumn knitting did not all go according to plan. I started off with a plan to have a new class on short rows. Gabi suggested I pick a good project to sell the class, so I chose "Dreambird KAL" by Nadita Swings. There are over 3000 of these on Ravelry . It is a popular pattern, and I figured I would just knock mine out over Dragon*Con weekend. Well, it turns out this is not the easiest pattern to follow. There are a couple places in the pattern where people are making tweaks. I think I started and ripped this thing three or four times before I finally figured out what I liked. The pattern is worked in feather-like sections I call a "quill." Each quill typically took 2-4 hours for me to knit, depending on how much I concentrated and whether I made a mistake and had to rip back. My shawl has 21 quills. But, the final project is flattering. In the end, I completed re-w...

Ah, yes, today is Black Friday. Perhaps you, too, have discovered your inbox and mailbox overflows with catalogues and coupons. I was flipping through the J. Jill catalogue on the way to the recycle bin when I discovered this: It is a bit Bonus-like, don't you think? At first, I wondered if the similarity was coincidence. Then I read the description: " Shimmering Fair Isle Pullover ." If you are familiar with Bohus sweaters, then you know " Blue Shimmer " and " Pale Shimmer " are famous patterns. This J. Jill sweater also bears similarities to " The Large Lace Collar " and " Large Swan ." This is definitely a modern take. It is tricky to see, but the pattern does incorporate beads. Some of the rounds incorporate fuzzy yarn. In typical Bohus patterns, the shimmering effect is created by subtle color changes from round to round. In this machine-knit version, the effect is created with a textured yarn. I'm a bit bia...

First off, I can't take credit for the picture. I found this on the Etsy store WandererWoods . This is someone making beautiful oversized crochet hooks and other wooden items, including kitchen utensils. The shop is listed as out of Kamyanets-Podilsky, Ukraine. I have no doubt the goods are lovely. I think this picture is beautifully photographed. However, as someone who both knits and crochets, there is something glaringly wrong about this picture (and others in this Etsy shop). Answer: The pink fabric is knit not crochet. I'm not trying to be mean about this. One of the things Center for Knit and Crochet has noticed is how much confusion there is between the two crafts. A lot of time, this doesn't matter. Does a non-crafter care if the scarf is knit or crochet as long as the scarf is warm? But for those of us who may want to write about these crafts, or even conduct scholarship, this confusion is maddening! And here we have the peculiar example of a wood worker who...

While there are immigrant communities in the Atlanta area, I don't think of Atlanta as a focus of the Japanese expatriate community. When I've traveled to the West Coast, I've been more likely to encounter Japanese knitting magazines, stitch dictionaries, and pattern books in yarn shops than I would here on the East Coast. When STITCHES South was still a regular event, I would acquire a new Japanese stitch dictionary each year, typically from Yarn Barn of Kansas. Eventually, I discovered there are some Japanese book sellers on Amazon. So, you might imagine my delight several months ago when I encountered a pre-order opportunity for this: I'm used to dealing with these books entirely in Japanese. This one is translated by Gayle Roehm. I've taken a couple classes from Gayle, (see posts here and here ) mostly in how to read Japanese charts and how to do some of the unusual maneuvers required. When I think of Japanese culture, I think of commitment to very high st...

First off, I had a wonderful time at Georgia FiberFest a couple weeks ago. There are some swatches I want to make related to the classes I took from Franklin Habit and Galina Khmeleva. With luck, I'll blog about that in October. In the meantime, let's talk about an epic fail! Back in July, I decided I wanted to make a felted bag for storing my Majacraft flyers. My mother purchased the high-speed head for me for my birthday. (Thank you, Mom!) While it took a few months for it to arrive, it was worth it. But I realized I now have 6 flyers (not including the jumbo-sized Overdrive). Once upon a time, my spinning bag was the right size. But now, all those helpful accessories don't fit. I decided to make a felted bag to keep my flyers safe and unscratched. I purchased 6 skeins of Patons North America Classic Wool Roving . This is a nice bulky yarn that will felt when thrown into the washing machine. It isn't too expensive. With coupon, the materials cost came out around...

It has been a very busy month around here, and there's more coming. The recent past: out-of-state trip for Mom's 75th birthday visit from 15-year-old nephew including ropes course, go karts, rafting, and indoor sky diving trip to Gen Con stops at Fiber Frenzy and the Woolery eclipse in Sweetwater, Tennessee The impending future: Dragon*Con Georgia FiberFest Mensa Peachtreat 42 Game night at my house Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair Cuddly Hubby will be home for Dragon*Con. Also on the upside, the fall issue of Spin Off magazine just arrived at the friendly local yarn shops. And please look down through the table of contents to page 80. I wrote the article about eleven months ago, so this has been lurking for awhile. I had a great time writing the article and working with the friendly staff at Spin Off . This is definitely a champagne, chocolate, and flowers sort of accomplishment. If it weren't that we'll be busy with Dragon*Con, I would have a ...

I've continued experimentation with the Y increase and hyperbolic knitting. In this case, I started with 8 pairs in the round. I alternated one round 1×1 ribbing, one round Y increase in every pair of stitches (thus doubling). I started with 8 pairs and bound off with 512 pairs. The yarn is Lily Sugar 'n Cream kitchen cotton — sturdy, inexpensive, easy-care yarn that comes in a 2½ ounce/120 yard put-up. Some stores also carry it in a 14 ounce cone. I would love to make a very large hyperbolic poof. I think it would be interesting to be able to fall into one, as if it were some strange hyperbolic version of a bean bag chair. Here is the problem: Powers of 2   2 1   =  2   2 2   =  4   2 3   =  8   2 4   =  16   2 5   =  32   2 6   =  64   2 7   =  128   ...

I know right now is summer, filled with summertime distractions. But, there are knitting distractions coming up in the calendar. This Saturday 15 July is North Georgia Knitting Guild's annual Beat the Heat Retreat in Woodstock. This is a day of knitting camaraderie with workshops, activities, food, and just general socializing. The next weekend on Sunday 23 July is Christmas in July at The Whole Nine Yarns . This is the annual day to acquire lots of gift-appropriate patterns. Many of us who teach at the shop will be there to demonstrate the techniques, too. Intown Quilters in Decatur is bringing Patty Lyons for a weekend of teaching Friday 18 August through Sunday 20 August. Classes are: Friday night lecture: Oops, I Accidentally Knit a Dress (Tales of Lies, Heartbreak and Denial) Saturday classes: Finishing Seams Simple & Best Buttonholes Sunday classes: Secrets to Spectacular Sweater Success & Knitting ER Tragedy & Treatments The September calendar overfl...

A couple months back, I posted a video showing how to work the k-yo-k increase in reversible lace. I mentioned that one of the interesting things about reversible lace is you can knit into the same stitch twice. Each "stitch" is actually a knit-purl pair. You can knit, purl, then back up and knit again, then purl again. I've tentatively named this a Y increase because it is one stitch that splits into two stitches. When I sketch it out as a stitch chart or stitch map, it looks like a Y. I've begun experimenting with this increase. One of my plans for reversible lace is to turn circular shawls into swirl jackets. Circular shawls are fabulous lace projects. But how do you wear them? For so many people, the first thing you do is fold the shawl in half. When worked reversibly, you could insert sleeves and have a swirl jacket instead. I decided to test the idea with a teddy bear jacket. It turns out that an 8-section polygon was a little hyperbolic. The 7-sect...

It all started with cleaning out the stash. After I acquired significant new stash at the fire sale, I needed to put it all away. I do have a wall of not one but two Ikea 5×5 cubbies. That's 50 cubbies! (By the way, while you can fit two of these flat-packed into a 2007 Honda fit along with yourself and a 6'2" cuddly hubby, it is maybe not the best idea. Re-roll that Wisdom check.) Revisiting the stash reminded me of dreamed-about projects yet unrealized. And I needed to use up yarn and fiber so I could make more room. There were six skeins of Noro Kureyon Big, a bulky-weight yarn. I knew I wanted them to become an up-sized Jester Tentacles Bag. As that looked like a quick way to generate open storage space, I gleefully cast on. I had made a previous Jester Tentacles Bag that turned out too small to be useful. This time, I changed the math a little from what Cat Bordhi wrote: MCO 70 90 becomes 140 180      k 75 95    wy 25 35   ...

In the Kennesaw Kudzu pattern, each multiple of pattern is worked back and forth and decreased to a point. This shaping creates the pretty leaf edging. But it does raise questions of how to deal with those final two stitches and where to hide the tail when you are out at land's end? To graft that final knit-purl pair, start with “wrong” side facing: plunge a blunt tapestry needle into the base of the final stitch 
leaving needle in place, pull tail up and out poke eye of tapestry needle from purl side to knit side of penultimate stitch 
thread tail in eye of tapestry needle 
pull needle to bring tail through penultimate stitch and to re-complete final stitch. I prefer to duplicate stitch ends. In this case, I don't have any horizontal fabric that I can use for duplicate stitch. Plan B is hiding the ends vertically. Identify a knit wale and thread the tail down through a vertical column of stitch legs. This isn't my favorite way to deal with an end, but it will...

The Kennesaw Kudzu socks and hat both start with a center-out cast-on. This is a combination of Gwen Bortner's encasement pick-up and a typical center-out cast-on. Wrap the tail counterclockwise in a circle twice.
 Knit into the center of the circle.
 Yarn over.
 One pair completed.
 Repeat as many times as needed.
 Pull tail gently but firmly to close hole. In addition to the hat and the toe-up socks, this cast-on would be useful to work a circular shawl in reversible lace.

I said I would blog more about my winning entries at Maryland Sheep and Wool. One of the entries was a hat. This was the winner in category K14: Miscellaneous knit from commercial yarn. The design started out as socks. For the sock pattern, I decided to investigate just how stretchy reversible lace is. Socks normally have a heel turn. For some sock knitters, this is part of the fun. You work in the round for awhile, sometimes in pattern, then you have the excitement of a heel turn, then you work in the round some more. For others, this is exactly why they don't knit socks. For many people, working in the round without increases or decreases is perfect television knitting. Paying attention to a heel turn is not. And of course, there are multiple ways of dealing with heel turns. So many choices! So many options to like or dislike. While I typically enjoy the challenge of a good heel turn, I sometimes don't like the design options. If I'm working a pretty lace pa...

I made another reversible lace video. This time, I'm demonstrating the knit, yarn over, knit into the same stitch double increase. In reversible lace, you'll substitute knit-purl, double yarn over, then knit and purl again in the same stitch pair. The maneuver is a little fiddly, but it does get easier with practice. Knit 1, paying attention to where the left shoulder of the mother knit stitch is. Purl, but do not drop the mother purl stitch off the left needle. Bring the left needle tip up behind and into the shoulder of the mother knit stitch. Double yarn over. Put the right needle in "through the back of the loop" position and knit the shoulder. Purl again, but this time drop the old stitch off the left needle. Working out how to do this maneuver made me realize it may indeed be possible to knit into the same stitch twice! Heresy! In normal knitting, you can't work the same stitch twice. In the video, I show you how this doesn't work. Speci...

This year, I was able to attend the 44th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. As many of you know, I have a very lovable cat with health issues that curtailed my travel in 2016. While Vincent is not fabulous this year, he appears to be more or less stable. It was with some trepidation that I penciled a couple weeks at the Maryland man cave into my schedule. Time with the Cuddly Hubby was well-spent. He has made geek friends that he sees usually two or three nights a week. Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) fell on the group's usual Thursday game night. It was an all-out Star Wars party with decorations (including a Princess Leia cardboard standee) and appropriate games including Trivial Pursuit DVD: Star Wars Saga Edition . The competition between both teams was tight. I think next year we want a rematch using Trivial Pursuit: Star Wars Classic Trilogy Collector's Edition instead. I brought Star Wars chocolates. Michelle brought Wookiee cookies — gingerbread cookies decorate...

The game master asks, "Are you sure you want to do that?" This is a running joke between Cuddly Hubby and me. Cuddly Hubby is a benevolent role-playing game master. He is not trying to get the player characters into mortal danger. Danger, yes, as that is part of the game. But he wants everyone to have a good time. Having your 12th-level elf cleric bludgeoned to death in two rounds by a hill giant does not a happy gaming session make. If a player is about to make a decision that is maybe not the smartest thing to do, Cuddly Hubby will ask, "Are you sure you want to do that?" Sometimes life needs a little pop up to say, "Are you sure you want to do that?" (I also need an iPhone app to say, "Don't listen to the Garmin! That way lies traffic madness.") Back in October, I decided to spin a pound of lace weight yarn. I spun all during Spinzilla. I took a bit of a break going into the holidays. Then I heard there were people trying to spin f...

I just happened to pick today to drive out to Robinson Salvage. I've been visiting about every-other week since January as the pile evaporated but the savings deepened. Apparently, today was the day the remaining stash was marked to 90% off. That's the first pile. Some yarn, a few books, some spinning add-ins. Lots of cotton. The second pile is all Mountain Colors. When you mark $21.95 down by 90%, that's only $2.20 a pop. This pile was about $50. I must say, I was surprised these didn't go faster. Then again, there are fewer spinners. It isn't surprising that the spinning fiber didn't move as fast as the yarn. In between January and today, I purchased a whole breed study and enough silk-wool blend to make an entire sweater. Over the course of the sale, I think I purchased around 4 or 5 grocery-cart fulls. I have more than doubled the spinning fiber stash. If you see me at a fiber festival this year and I attempt to purchase any yarn or fiber, please...

Several months ago, I posted a video of how to work the centered double decrease in reversible lace. I finally got around to shooting a video for how to work a regular double decrease in reversible lace. For the double decrease, the center stitch is on the bottom of the stack. Unlike a centered double decrease, a double decrease tends to break up the vertical line. While this is a subtle distinction, it can make a difference in lace patterns where uninterrupted wales are part of the design. knit-wise, right stitch on top (leans left) = slip 1 stitch knit-wise knit 2 stitches together pass the slipped stitch over purl-wise, right stitch on top (leans left) = slip 2 stitches together knit-wise slip 1 knit-wise return all 3 stitches to the left needle purl all 3 stitches together up through the back of the loop knit-wise, left stitch on top (leans right) = slip 1 knit-wise slip 1 knit-wise again return 2 stitches to left needle/cable needle through the back of the ...

Now that Yarn is over, I've shifted focus to what is happening in my own home. I spent the last week or so organizing the stash. This required two trips to Ikea. I'm not completely finished, but I have corralled most of the yarn, fiber, and craft supplies (including the beads) into one room. This involved moving some stash out of the master bedroom. I don't even remember why there was stash there, other than it must have been when I first started knitting, since most of it was very old stash. In the process of doing that, I discovered moth damage. The basket isn't even in my Ravelry projects, as it was executed B.R. (before Ravelry). It is also B.B. (before blog). The pattern is Entrelac Tote by Melanie Smith marked "Revised 10/25/2005." It was probably in the very first order I ever made from Knit Picks. I recall it being a very fun knit that I worked up almost immediately. In fact, it was so much fun that I ordered 2 more skeins of spruce, 2 more skein...

As some of you know, I am one of those people who says, "Why not?" Back in the summer, my gaming friend Paul asked if I had seen a documentary called Yarn . Why, no! I decided I wanted to see it. But it wasn't playing anywhere in the southeast, not even some place I could drive to in three or four hours. I put together a proposal for Atlanta Knitting Guild. The proposal was something along the lines of, "Here's this neat movie. I want to see it. I'll bet other people would like to see it. Can we bring it here?" There were multiple possible ways to do this, including simply screening the film at a guild meeting or going big, renting a theater, and selling tickets. In the end, guild president Susan Duralde put a lot of enthusiasm behind the idea of going big. The AKG board got behind it as well. And now, Atlanta Knitting Guild will be screening Yarn this week on the morning of Saturday 25 February at Lefont Theater in Sandy Springs. As you can see, ...