Bamboo With a Mind of Its Own

April 29th, 2007

I was in town with Corey on Friday, and he agreed to come with me to the yarn shop for a little splurge spending. It was only a little bit, but it was a nice little bit. At first I was looking through the wools and alpacas, but didn’t see anything that excited me which I hadn’t already bought before. I tried to look for some linen, but all I could find had just 20%. As I was walking towards the cottons, I saw some really vibrant colors with a great sheen. One of the colors, a beautiful deep purple, I thought would be perfect for my mom (mother’s day’s coming up!).

It’s Plymouth Yarn’s Royal Bamboo (100%), and it is amazing stuff. I knit a swatch and love the drape and stitch definition of this stuff. After some thought I decided that a nice little purse, or drawstring bag might make a nice gift for my Mom.

I was wrong, oh so wrong.

I can’t tell you how many times, and in how many ways I cast-on for this bag. Ideally I wanted to do a figure-eight cast-on so I didn’t have to do all that provisional cast-on and grafting stuff. Then I moved to all that provisional cast-on and grafting stuff (all of this in the round mind you). Then I moved to knitting flat with a provisional cast-on. Throughout this I tried multiple provisional cast-ons, and it all failed failed failed miserably!

I find that the yarn is very slippery, is prone to splitting a lot when re-knit many times, and doesn’t like metal needles at all. Bamboo (needles that is) is the way to go. However, I even tried using bamboo straights. I don’t think this has anything to do with rational explainations such as really slippery yarn. This yarn has a mind of its own, I swear.

It turns out, it wanted to be a mini-Clapotis. Hmph. I can’t wait to feel the drape when this is done!

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Cathédrale

April 27th, 2007

I finished the kerchief last night, much to my excitement. I only had a few rows left to do, then the bits for ties so I could tie it easily around my head. I’m really proud of how I figured out the ties, and I plan to use it again in the future (as I love wearing these kerchiefs). If you’re familiar with knitting triangular shawls, this explanation will make sense to you.

Finish your last wrong side row, and turn your work to start the next right side row. Decide how many stitches wide you want your ties to be and designate this number A. Then begin your row up to where the first increase, or YO is (in my case, it was k2, yo at the beginning of every row). Those are your first few stitches, then knit the rest until you’ve reached A stitches for the width (including the YO). Then wrap the next stitch, turn your work, knit across. Repeat those two rows exactly the same until the ties are as long as you want. You’ll notice that along one side of the tie you have a bunch of wrapped live stitches, and your working stitches will be the end of the tie. When you’re done, bind off around the edge of the piece just short A + 1 stitches. Knit A + 1 stitches to the end of the row, turn and start the same pattern as before with the knit to the increase, knit to the end of the row, wrap and turn, etc. When you’re done, bind off the rest of the stitches.

Hmm…that was a bit of a quick and dirty explanation, but does it make sense?

Anyways, the lace pattern for the kerchief totally reminds me of gothic arches, say in some of the Gothic cathedrals in Europe. The colors don’t quite match up with that image, but I like the name. I’m so excited to get to wear a completed knit from my own handspun, and you can’t really tell that it’s handspun by any incredible unevenness either!

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Rainbows

April 24th, 2007

Once I finished the kerchief swatch (after laboring over how to line up the stitches) I couldn’t wait to cast-on with the soy-silk/wool yarn to start the project. I was going to show a picture of the swatch so you could see the lace pattern in action, but today I have even better. I’ve done probably 1/3 of the kerchief, and everything just seems to be falling into place just right on this project.

It’s so satisfying when you’re creating something totally from scratch when it just seems to work better than you imagined. Navajo plying this yarn to maintain the color stretches was surely the right way to go.  I’ve even got this beautiful heathered transition between each color due to the two colors mixing at those points during the spinning. I can’t claim credit for that, it just happened. However, I will definitely attempt to do so on purpose when I choose to make a similar self-striping yarn from pre-dyed roving.

I cannot tell you how much of a pleasure it is to knit this yarn. First of all, it’s of my own creation, and that in itself carries its own satisfaction. Second, it is holding up amazingly well, and feels great between my fingers. I’m guessing that this will block really well, and it’s showing the stitch definition beautifully.

And look at those colors!

I learned a whole lot while going through the process of charting the lace pattern. It took me at least four tries to get the pattern from written instructions on a rectangular piece, to charted instructions on an ever increasing triangle. I hope to write a little something on how it works, the way the stitches line up, and what I did to get this charted at some point. Hopefully that will prevent someone else from having to take the time I did.

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SSS…

April 22nd, 2007

…or the Second Skein Syndrome. Do you have this problem? When you’ve spun a bit of fiber that results in two skeins, does the second one end up noticeably more regular and thinner? This seems to be a trend with me lately, enough so that I felt the need to name it. SSS.

This is the wool/soy silk all plied up and ready to go once I’ve got my pattern worked out. I am going to knit a kerchief out of this, because I am in desperate need of another one. The first one I knit gets so much use that I would like other colors to choose from. What better way to make it than with my own handspun?

This is the second yarn that I’ve used the Navajo plying technique, but I don’t think that I do it right. The way I do it results in probably exactly the same thing, but my process is a bit less smooth. I find that I need to make a length of the chain before I spin it, spin it, then make another length, spin it, and so forth. It works.

Knitting? Oh yeah, I remember that. No really, I’ve been doing a good bit of knitting lately, but not as much as previous months. I’ve started a lot of things, but not finished much. I’m still working on the sunset socks, and I’ve just today started another pair of socks with some Socks That Rock I recently ordered. Pictures later when there’s more to show. I haven’t touched the lace shawl because I keep getting discouraged by needing to rip back. I have a hard time coping with knitting that requires my full attention. I will get through it, because I really do enjoy it.

Other than that I’ve got tons of ideas going through my head; I’ve been perusing a borrowed (from the library) copy of Barbara Walker’s Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, which has been giving me many ideas. I plan to swatch up a few of my favorites, just for kicks, and to submitt to this previously mentioned site.

All in all, it’s been a bit boring in my knitting world lately. I think I still itch for that large project to keep me occupied. I haven’t had the money lately to buy a large bulk of yarn, so….yeah.

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Eye of the Partridge

April 15th, 2007

Toe Up or Top Down (Click to enlarge)

Details: This isn’t actually a heel pattern type, but a stitch pattern that is used on the back of the heel. It can be used anywhere really, but is often used with many of the heel flap methods. The basics of the stitch pattern involves alternating sl1 and k1, and purling the wrong side rows. It alternates in a way similar to moss stitch, so that you’re slipping a stitch that was knit two rows before it, and vice versa.

Advantages: This stitch pattern adds a lot of padding to the heel, and helps prevent it from wearing away quite as fast. It also looks very nice, and adds a fun detail to the sock. It can also feel more comfortable and padded to the heel.

Disadvantages: It seems to take up more rows to create an inch than normal stockinette stitch. This may require knitting the gusset rows more quickly by not alternating them with a regular knit row. For feet without arches, or wide feet it actually may be better to decrease the gusset stitches more slowly by alternating gusset rows with knit rows, as it creates a more loose arch.

Learn How

• Eye of partridge
  

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Fingerless Gloves?

April 14th, 2007

I tried. I really tried, I swear! The handspun that I said previously would be fingerless gloves just happened to turn into a sock. I don’t know how it happened! One minute I’m knitting the ribbing to go all the way up to my thumb, and the next I’m starting a heel flap. Perhaps it is for the best, since I don’t have any socks on the needles right now.

These socks probably won’t be so much socks as they will be slippers. The yarn isn’t quite sturdy enough to deal with the wear and tear of socks with shoes, but they will be perfect for wearing around the house. They feel so soft around my foot. I can’t wait until they’re done! It’s really interesting to watch the long color repeats, especially that brown. It’s kind of funny how it worked out that the brown would be the length of my foot, and the heel, ankle, and toe would be the brighter colors. It’ll be interesting to see how different or similar the other sock turns out.

I’ve been going crazy in the spinning world. Yesterday I finished two skeins: one a plain targhea wool, the other a 50/50 wool/soy silk blend. Now that is some interesting stuff. I get the impression that it would be impossible to spin the soy silk on its own, but mixed with the wool it slides more easily, and has an dull sheen to it. It seems to need less twist than straight wool, and it sticks together well and doesn’t curl in on itself as easily as wool. This occasionally become a problem because I test my length before winding it by loosening it to see how it twists. I think it’s easy to overspin this stuff, and when overspun it tends to snap. Quite a few incidences of that, which was incredibly frustrating. However, overall it wasn’t too bad to spin at all.

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Do You Sweat…

April 11th, 2007

while spinning? OK, so I know that’s a weird question, but it’s true! I find that my left hand (the one holding the fiber) tends to get a bit clammy after I’ve been spinning for a while. Perhaps this just means that I’ve been spinning a lot of wool (I have). Perhaps this just means that I’ve been spinning too much (is’t possible?).

Anyways, I have been spinning a whole lot lately. I finished the light coppery/silvery/shiny yarn, and have got tons of ideas of what to do with it. I’ve started a few fibers that I got as a gift from Mom for my birthday (oohhh such awesome things I got too). Right now I’m spinning a not so wonderful (slightly felted) wool in some beautifully vibrant colors, and a small sample of wool/soy silk blend. The wool/soy silk is interesting in how it spins, and it really seems to take twist well.

Fun stuff!

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That’s It!

April 8th, 2007

Fingerless gloves/wristwarmer thingies! My husband is so clever, and I’m going to swatch it up tonight. I’m thinking a wide 3×1 or 4×1 rib, with moss stitch at the edges. What do you think? I can’t wait to see how this yarn stripes up (quite randomly I’m sure), and if I’m quick enough I can get these finished before it really gets warm.

Also, I recently found this really awesome website that is compiling swatches. It is called The Walker Treasury Project. Excerpt from the website:

Every knitter knows that Barbara Walker’s Treasuries are indispensable. We use them constantly for designing, for help with a difficult pattern, and for pure inspiration. Sometimes, though, the mostly black-and-white and small pictures keep us from seeing the full potential of a pattern. That’s where the Walker Treasury Project comes in. We’re gathering high-quality, color photos of all the patterns in all the Treasury books (including Mosaic Knitting) and putting them on the internet as a visual aide to this wonderful collection.

So it’s a volunteer thing; people knit up a swatch of their favorite stitch patterns, take a good quality high contrast photo, and submitt it! Check it out, definitely a source of inspiration. I have fallen in love with some of the stitch patterns. Now I just need to find those books, and save up some money!

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I’m in Love

April 1st, 2007

I am so totally mesmerized by this yarn, I keep showing it to my husband Corey saying “Look, look, isn’t it wonderful/great/gorgeous/shiny/soft/…” Of course he humors me, smiles, and says yes as a good supportive husband would. I do the same when he goes on about the things he obsesses over…

But about that yarn. I just have the hardest time believing I spun that; I created that; That came from my hands. This is the first handspun that I have made that has really felt like real yarn. The others were real yarn, and I knit with them, and it was great, but…This one is a step above the rest. This is yarn.

OK, enough fawning. I spun the singles quite thin, and made what was to be the greatest decision of all, to make a 2-ply out of the resulting yarn. I used the Andean plying method, which involves some complicated wrapping of the yarn around your hand, so you have something that pulls from both ends and doesn’t get tangled in the process of spinning it on your spindle. Only, it did get tangled and quite badly too. I made the unfortunate mistake of not washing the singles to set the twist before plying. When I got to about the middle of the plying I was having a hell of a time trying to pull out the singles without tangles, and I even had a few breaks. Lesson learned.

The fiber is a beautifully dyed 50/50 merino silk with coppers, whites, silvery grays, black grays, and tons of other striations throughout. I love the subtle blending of the colors, and the sheen of the final yarn is amazing. It’s slightly exaggerated in the photo, as I was trying to tweak it a bit to get it as close as possible to the true colors. Oh, and why was plying it the greatest decision of all? It seems to have really played up on the shine of the silk, creating more angles for the light to reflect off of it.

I am completely and totally in love. Ridiculously so. I’ve even gone so far as to consider not knitting it, as I love staring at and fondling it. I will knit it, because I know that I will love being able to wear this yarn close to the skin (a spring scarf perhaps?).

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