Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I had tea last weekend with a dear fiber arts friend. She brought a treat for me — a pair of Clemes and Clemes wool cards. These came from a stash being dispersed because the fiber artist had passed away. In the picture, you can see an uncleaned card on the left, and a cleaned card on the right. The cards looked used. It didn't help that the wool in the cards was a brownish color. Were the cards still sound, or were they beginning to rust? I cleaned the cards by: 1. Using a small-gauge knitting needle (like a US 0 or 1) to dig out the wool scraps. 2. Dragging a pet brush through the combs. 3. Carding a little waste wool. The first step is just like it sounds. If you use a small needle, you can slide the stick in between the teeth and pry up the wool scraps. You may be surprised by how much better a card will look after just that step. In the picture above, that was all I had done to the card on the right. When I used the pet brush, I held the combs over the sink. The ...

There are many, many ways to increase in knitting. This is different from crochet. Increases in crochet are easy — just work in the same stitch again! But in knitting, we have different ways to increase. Very often, these methods result in a slant. In other words, the method produces an increase that does not have bilateral symmetry. If you are working two increases close together, you may want to work them so they mirror each other, with one increase leaning one way and the other leaning the other way. This will produce bilateral symmetry that pleases the human eye and mind. One of my favorite ways to do this is with a make 1 increase. There are three basic ways to execute a make 1. 1. Lift up the running thread between stitches and work it, typically twisted shut. 2. Create a yarn over on the previous row or round, then work it, typically twisted shut, on the next row or round. 3. On the previous row or round, cast-on a twisted (backward) loop on the right needle; then work it...

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...