Best Thing About Stitches

The best thing, to me, about Stitches Midwest (even better than the yarn), was seeing all the knitters walking the Market floor wearing handknit garments. The garment of choice seemed to be shawls. I just don't see any handknits on the streets of Charlotte. It was also amazing for the ego to have people continually stop me to touch and marvel and rave over my pink cotton shawl. Mistakes and all! I even bought a couple of shawl pins for it and that makes it wear even better.

I also chose to be in the Student Fashion Show wearing the fuschia top and shawl I knitted last winter and basked in the compliments. I am in two knitting groups and of course we rave over each other's knitted creations, but in my day to day life nobody even "gets" why I knit, especially since purchased "handknits" are generally cheaper ....I understand knitted scarves showed up in The Dollar Store last year.... So the atmosphere of being surrounded by hundreds of knitters was amazing.

Design Change

I decided that the ribbing pattern I was using on the dark green cotton was a lot of trouble for very little wow factor; you just can't see a pattern in dark yarn. So I frogged the 4" or so I had knit. I decided to go for original design. I cast on 104 stitches, joined for the 'in the round' knitting and knitted 2" of k1, p1 rib, then switched to a crossed rib pattern. I do three rows of k2, p2, then I k2tog, leaving the stitch on the left needle, and knit in the first stitch again. No decrease. Then I do the P2. It looks like a minicable. Am very pleased and the pattern is completely mindless. I'll divide at the armholes and continue to follow the shape of the pattern I had chosen.

More Digging for Yarn

This is the other 75% off bag I got...it is Tahki Classic Cotton Dot, a worsted weight cotton and I've cast-on for a fitted pullover style vest.

Digging for Yarn

I lied; I DID buy yarn the first afternoon at Market. I was tagging along behind my friend, Helen, and she knows how to spot those bargains! One of the booths had a bin of what I assumed to be discontinued yarn packaged in bags of ten skeins with a price of 75% off and the knitters were diving in. Helen pulled out a package of Trendsetter Yarns Iguana and said it would make a great shawl. Nice and soft and a good Fall colorway. It is a polyamide/acrylic and says to handwash with no detergent, dry cleaning recommended. So it will definitely be a shawl.

Stitches Midwest

Stitches Midwest was a blast! Getting there was a pain, though. Delay, delay, delay....

First, our plane had to be switched out because of a biohazard on board (leaking toilet). When boarding was completed and the plane secured, the airport closed for a security breach. We were finally cleared for take-off and ended up being almost 2 hours late. So no gate at O'Hare. Forty-five minutes later we disembarked, only to discover that USAir's baggage carousel was out of order and the airline had to negotiate with Jet Blue to use theirs. Then the hotel shuttle did not come until we finally called the hotel and asked for a shuttle. Then our rooms were not ready until late afternoon. And on and on and on.

I was so stressed and worn out that initially I felt like I was moving through a dream at the yarn market. Completely overwhelmed. Plus, as a non-woolly person, everything seemed to be wool.

On Saturday, after a lovely continental breakfast in the hotel, I finally got my blood sugar leveled out and commenced to buy yarn!!! I'm going to share a purchase with you everyday for awhile.

Stitches Midwest

Early this Friday morning I will be boarding a

(hopefully a more up-to-date, one!)

with three girlfriends


And fly to Chicago to BUY YARN!!!

Knitting Guild

Our Knitting Guild met last night and after a wonderful 'show and tell', our latest charitable project was announced. This one benefits knitters and children alike. As a Guild, we are going to learn a new knitting stitch/technique each month and practice the technique by making 6" blocks. Sometime next year we will pool all our blocks and sew them into blankets for children in need. Last night we learned to make "mitered squares" and I loved the technique. I can see very successful dishrags knitting using this pattern! Nice, firm, straight edges and an interesting design diagonally across the square.

In a questionnaire given to members a few months ago, many said that they wanted to learn new techniques at the meetings. Kudos to the officers for coming up with an idea that addressed that and also allows us to help others.

Also at the meeting, there are two other members knitting MS3 and they are beautiful..one dark green, one dark blue. Much more shawl-like in size, too. My MS3 is actually going to be a wide scarf or narrow shawl. Take your pick! For that reason, I am going to hold off on finishing it until I see just what "asymetrical" means. Mine might need to remain rectangular and it might end up as a dresser scarf on a table.

Making Yarn More Inspiring

A long while ago I bought a huge ball of variagated green/cream cotton. I find it very uninspiring.

Today I was cleaning out and trying to reorganize my yarn in anticipating of purchases from Stitches Midwest next weekend. This yarn is the perfect color for dishrags for my kitchen but I only knitted one so far. Since I just bought a new ballwinder (again in preparation for the fiber trip) I decided to wind this ugly huge ball into nice yarn cakes. Now isn't this nicer?

Fashion Forecast

Get out your chunky yarns! According to the Back to School Fashion Forecast in the Style Section of our local newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, "Kitwear takes center stage this season....from knit dresses to thick cabled coats expect knits to be everywhere. The article says "the trend is toward 'outrageously thick and chunky knits, primarily handmade". These quotes are credited to Gloria Baume, fashion director of Teen Vogue.

The knitted fashion example shown in the article was a cropped cabled cardigan by BB Dakota (available at Nordstrom) with elbow length sleeves and one large knitted button.

Messenger bags are also going to be big, according to the article. Sounds like a knitting bag to me!

Weaving in Ends

Anybody who likes to weave in ends, raise your hand......hmmm.....don't see anybody out there! I, too, hate those ends. I despise threading my yarn needle and working the yarn in the back....I am not an orderly person and do it very randomly, unlike the nice photos in the technique sections of many books and magazines. Sometimes I hold the old yarn and the new yarn (or the tail of the cast-on row) together and knit. Of course that makes a thick part. (For socks I found a tip that recommends knitting the first round with the yarn and the cast-on tail from longtail cast-on. It is supposed to make the top of the sock stronger and stretchier. Don't know about that, but is sure beats weaving in the end later!)

Knitlist has a thread about weaving in ends and I was reading it. The two handed fair isle method was mentioned along with a link. The link was not working today, so I googled "weaving in ends" and this is what I came up with. I tried it, and it is slow but it works. Run, do not walk to this website and bookmark it!!! You will be so glad you did.

MS3 Stitch Marker Tip

For those of you struggling along with the MS3, I found a way to mark that center stitch (you know the one that alternates between a beaded stitch, a yarn over, a regular knit stitch, and a double decrease?) I bought a package of stitch markers that look like little plastic safety pins. After you finish your row, you can put it right INTO the center stitch, whatever that might be on this particular round. It surely has helped me.

Getting Organized

I am always elusively searching for a way to be organized. When I discovered "online knitting" and all the free patterns, I had piles of printouts all over the desk. Since I have a file drawer on my computer desk, I made folders for the project categories and would just shove everything in the folder. This works nicely.

Recently I wanted something a little easier to search through and dream over. So I have put the patterns (including ones torn from my magazines) into plastic sleeve protectors and put them into a big notebook. It looks neat and hopefully will help me remember those projects "I could not wait to make" at one time or another.....



Now, if I could just make one of those project notebooks, where you put the photo of the Finished Object, the ball band, a yarn sample, and the pattern into a protective sleeve, complete with notes. I'm afraid that is WAY beyond my capabilities at the moment.

Double Knitting

Anyone ever tried Double Knitting? I have a purse pattern that calls for that...it sounded fabulous. It would make a reversible purse that did not have to be lined.

I started it and decided that, although fascinating for about four rows, it was the most tedious thing I had ever done....worse than MS3.... tedious AND boring. At least you can't call MS3 boring. This photo gives you an idea of what it looks like. Note that this piece of knitting will NEVER get any bigger.



Just think about doing a twelve inch square in K1 P1 ribbing, using two strands of thread alternately. You have to bring BOTH yarns to the front for the purl and use only ONE of the yarns; then you have to take BOTH yarns to the back for the knit and, again, use only ONE of the yarns.

The double knitting concept is similar to the technique where you knit 1, slip 1 across and on the way back you knit the slipped stitches and slip the knit stitches; you end up with a hollow piece that turns nicely into a purse...you knit the front and back at once. But you knit every row. Flipping yarn back and forth for K1 P1 ribbing is bad enough with ONE yarn!!!!

But it does make a cool knitted fabric........

Top Down Raglan Formula

I am starting to think about knitting a sweater again. I have never liked any sweater I have knitted; perhaps I did not buy the proper yarn? I also have only knitted cardigans recently and they tend to droop front and hike up back. And, making it even less desirable to spend hours knitting a sweater I won't like, I love to shop our local Goodwill store and I find some amazing sweaters that I like, fit nicely, and are pleasantly 'broken in'. But I still drool over all the sweaters in the Knitting mags and books.

Today I got an email from a friend with a link that I want to share with anybody thinking about knitting a sweater but overwhelmed with pattern choices and not sure about adjusting a pattern to fit, finding the suggested yarn, etc, etc. This is a free 'pattern' and is called The Incredible, Custom-fit Raglan Sweater. I printed it off and filed it away and plan to challenge myself with it. Anybody care to join me?

Socks, continued

I walked around in the sock pictured in the last post and was not so happy with it. I felt every purl bump on the sole of my foot. Decided maybe it was the yarn that needed to be softer, so got out the Tofutsie yarn I bought in Texas.

While carefully reading over all the sock patterns in Charlene Schurch's book, I spotted the one she calls her "princess foot" sole. She purls all the sole stitches instead of knitting; that way you are walking on the smooth side. Hmmmm.....I certainly have "princess feet"....it might take buying five pairs of shoes before finding a pair I will wear all day!

Admittedly the purl on the outside of the sock is not that pretty, but socks are to wear, after all. We'll see if it helps.

One Sock Finished

Yes, I finished a sock! And it fits! I used 100% cotton called Katia. Bought it awhile back when I first determined that I would eventually knit a sock. I have bought other yarn since, but decided to go ahead and knit this up first. I cannot grasp the concept of grafting. However, somebody in my knit group mentioned that she simply did a two-needle cast-off on her socks so I did that.

The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks, four stitch pattern, openwork rib. I knitted on two circulars.

Fantasy Shawl

This is one of the center motifs on my Fantasy Shawl, knitted from Cherry Tree Hill merino. This yarn absolutely floats and nary a tingle, so hopefully it will not itch when I wear it. Three of these form the center of the shawl. Two rectangles will be knitted and sewn to these. This is ALMOST mindless knitting; no charts and simple yo's and k2tog's. I thought it was hard until I began MS3.



Speaking of MS3, I am only on Clue 3, but it is progressing. I really, really like the feel of the Tencel yarn I am knitting. Tencel is a cellulose based fiber, making it a natural fiber in my book, anyway. And it was so CHEAP. The whole cone cost about $6. My knitting friends told me I was knitting with thread. Well, yeah. But it is soft, pretty thread!!!

Knitting Book Bliss

Know how to make knitting books even better? Go to your nearest copy shop and ask them to turn your favs into a spiral bound. I did this with my Sensational Knitted Socks book and am so pleased. It cost about $2. I did have to leave the book with them and go back and pick it up. I plan to do this to all my knitting books.



No more trying to figure out how to hold a book open to the pattern you are knitting. Pure bliss.

Dishtowel Discussion

Any of you still have dishtowels with the crocheted towel-topper? They've been being gifted for years: buy a pretty dishtowel, cut it in half widthwise, poke holes along the top with a sharp crochet hook and crochet a top that buttons over a drawer handle.
Well, there are now patterns on the internet that lets you knit the entire towel, including the topper. Here is one.

I knitted one of these in cotton and love it. Only problem? Take a look.





Figure it out? I have KNOBS on all my drawers and cabinets. This is what I have done for the past months. THEN I had a bright idea and it resulted in this towel (knitted from Louet Sales sportweight linen, thank you very much)



Instead of making a top that would fold-over and button, I simply made a button hole large enough for the knob. And, yes, I made the buttonhole too big. But it works anyway.




I still love my cotton hand towel, so buttoned it onto the oven handle. But the oven is across the kitchen from the sink. Drip...drip....drip...

Makeshift Needles

Ever wanted to start a new project NOW and the proper size needles are all busy in other projects? This is a quick remedy: if you have any of the proper sized DPNs hanging about, stick point protectors on the end of two of them and start knitting. This is especially nice if you are knitting a teeny purse strap.