Tutorial: Latvian Techniques
Here are a few techniques we learned in last week's class -- a left- and right-leaning braid, and a two-color cast on.
This is a picture heavy post. If you're interested in any of these techniques they're behind the cut.
January 28, 2007
November 09, 2006
Tubular Bind-Off
Quite a while ago I promised you guys a pictorial of the tubular bind off. It took 8 months, but here it is.
April 27, 2006
Bag It
I know you all warned me about trying to pre-wash more hanks of linen but I had to try. It's really hard to accept defeat.
I'm happy to report complete success this time! If you like the way knitted linen feels but hate that hardness of the yarn here's what you need to do:*
- The hank comes with 2 ties already on it. Add 3 more to each side, and tie them in a figure 8. To be safe I made each figure 8 into 3 sections instead of 2. 270 yards makes for a think hank and I wanted to make sure this yarn didn't budge.
- Fill the sink up with warm water, a little laundry detergent and a little fabric softener.
- Put the hank in the sink and let it sit for a good hour.
- Drain the water.
- Fold the hank in half, half again, and then wring. I would never do this with wool but it really helped with the linen.
- Untwist the hank and rinse until the water runs clear.
- Repeat the wringing out process.
- Put it in a lingerie bag. Pin through the bag in 4 inch intervals very close to the hank. Make it so the yarn can't fold onto itself and tangle.
- Drop it in the dryer with a few lint-free items. I used woven pajama bottoms. This step isn't necessary but giving the yarn something else to bang up against will speed up the process.
- Run it through a few cycles of drying. It took a little more than 2 cycles to dry my hank.
- Unpin, remove from the bag, and wind.
- Sit back and enjoy your beautiful and stress-free pre-washed linen yarn.
*Many thanks to Jayme and Patty (blogless) for their comments and suggestions. This method is a combination of ideas they sent to me. Thanks ladies!
April 26, 2006
Four Hours
This story is entirely my own fault, and I'm sharing this it so you don't make the same mistakes I did.
i seriously doubt you would
It starts out with a comment from Jayme, suggesting I wash the linen hanks so they'll soften before I knit with it.
jayme honey, i'm not blaming you for this...it's all my fault
I tie the hank in 4 places (making it 6 places with the 2 that are already there), drop it in my easy-does-it-can't-felt-to save-my-life front loader. A little detergent, a little fabric softener, and we're off.
i go upstairs, make myself a french bread pizza, and wait for my soft and fluffy hank to finish its bath
An hour later I take out the hank and it's a rumpled mess. It's linen's version of felted. It's twisted and knotted all onto itself. I try to untangle it but wet linen is like velcro and it won't budge. It even makes irksome creeky noises when I pull on it. I put it into a lingerie bag and let the dryer do its thing.
at this point you're probably wondering why i didn't use the bag for the wash cycle. join the club.
Three cycles of drying later and the hank is fluffy, soft, and haloed.
and knotted, kinked and clumpy
It's midnight, and I go to bed, exhausted and annoyed.
Next night, I detangle it enough to get onto the swift and commence unraveling it inch by inch by hand.
2.5 hours later and i'm done. i considered taking a pic but i just didn't have it in me
Equipped with a wonky looking (but detangled) hand-wound ball, I drop it in a tall box on the floor and attach the free end to the winder.
this was blissful for about 20 seconds
And then, the ball exploded into three mini-balls. The ends wound all up onto each other, and it was again a mess.
i swear this happened, and even though i had consumed 4 mai tais earlier that evening, it in no way impaired my perspective. the ball exploded and made three mini balls of hell. they were multiplying.
Another hour gone by (with a TIVOd episode of CSI: Miami in the background) and I was back in business.
i was a ball-winding-madwoman. no one could stop me.
And no one did stop me. But something did. It was at this moment that the 2/3rds of a center-pull-ball-in-progress did the only thing it could do to thwart me.
It flew off the winder. In majestic form. It arced and hit the wall with a thud, trailing a lone strand of yarn still connected to the winder. For a brief moment it was beautiful, almost comet-like.
The fucker committed suicide
Isabella thought this was just grand, and did what any kitty would do to her prey. She pounced on it and squeezed it with all four paws.
I extracted the ball from her and plotted my next move.
I took the suicidal ball and stretched and pulled and got it back on the ball winder. Conscious of my speed, I wound at a slower pace, stopping occasionally to make sure the ball didn't work its way back up the winder.
the yarn was obviously committed and i wasn't taking any chances
A few moments later I emerged victorious.
Behold, a pre-washed, fluffy, soft, drapey and cuddly ball of yarn.
April 22, 2006
How To: Short Row Raglan Shoulders
Thank you all for the wonderful comments on Somewhat Cowl!
Several people left comments asking for more details on the short rows that I inserted in the shoulders. I'll share with you what I did, and what I think you'll need to do for yourself.
The point I want to stress is that you must do this by trying it on your own body. Shoulder width, drape and stretch of yarn and armhole depth will all play a part in how many short rows you need.
Here's an updated version of the illustration I presented in my last post.
This illustration shows you how SC's shoulders fit me after doing the yoke. The end of the yoke came out at a soft angle rather than a harsh 90 degrees.
After looking at SC on my body in the mirror, I decided I need about 1.5 inches total length added in the center of the sleeve, tapering out to nothing at the edges.
So, here's what I did, starting with the first row of the sleeve after knitting the yoke (let's assume a gauge of 6 spi):
Row 1: Pickup and knit stitches at armhole, and then around the sleeve until 15% of the sleeve stitches from the center top of the sleeve are knit. So, if the sleeve had a total of 100 stitches, knit 15 stitches past the center top of the sleeve. Wrap and turn.
Row 2: Purl 29, wrap and turn.
Row 3: Knit 35, wrap and turn (picking up and knitting wrap when you come to it).
Row 4: Purl 41, wrap and turn (picking up and knitting wrap when you come to it).
Keep following the above, going an extra 6 stitches (1 inch) past the last row's short row until a total of 1.5 inches of short rows have been knit.
Once they've been knit, start knitting all sleeve stitches in the round. For short sleeves on SC, this means knit an inch of sleeve in stockinette before switching to 2x2 rib.
added later: grumperina left a comment that she also has written up some details on short row shoulders. you can read hers here.
Let me know if this makes sense, or if you think I've left something out. Like so many things in knitting (or just because I'm Italian and like talking with my hands) it would be a lot easier to demonstrate in person than try to get it down on paper.
December 30, 2005
That Crazy Starmore Increase
I've tried so many times to explain this increase in emails. Since I have some extra time this week I thought I'd take a few pics instead.
This increase -- the centered double increase -- was first written about in Starmore's Aran Knitting. She uses it in other arans as well, and you'll see it in many designers' patterns now. Jenna Wilson's Rogue and Jodi Green's Mariah both use this increase.
Here's my attempt to explain it. I hope it's helpful to some of you!
note: all images are clickable to bring up a larger size.
First, knit into the back of the stitch AND LEAVE IT ON THE LEFT HAND NEEDLE.
Now, knit into the front of the stitch and slip the stitch off your left hand needle. You have now made 2 stitches. Just one more to go!
This next step is the hardest -- but it's really not hard. If you look closely right in between the 2 stitches you just made you'll see a strand of yarn that's going vertical between the two. It's actually the left leg of the stitch you just knit into in the steps above. I've drawn it in red -- click to enlarge and you'll see.
Here's the stitch picked up with my cable needle. I promise if you look you'll see it!
Now, take that strand and place it on your left hand needle.Knit into the front of the stitch (the way you would normally knit a stitch). You may struggle with this a bit, and you might find it easier to pull on the stitch a bit to stretch it first. Knitting this third stitch should be a little bit difficult though -- that means it will be tight and not form any holes.
After knitting it slip the stitch off your left hand needle and you're done! You've made three stitches out of one!
March 10, 2005
8 To Go*
I'm past the armholes on the back now, so it should be smooth sailing!
While working on it last night I thought some of you might like to see how I do the armhole curves. I think I saw this first in EZ's Knitting Without Tears. You see how my edges don't do any of that stair-stepping? It makes the curves nicer and sewing it up far easier! Wanna see what I do? Here are a few pics for you too!
* inches left on the back
February 25, 2005
How I Organized My Stash
A bunch of you have asked how I went about organizing my stash. I don't think I did anything particularly noteworthy, but since you asked, here ya go!
I started by pulling out the bins that I had already started filling with my stash over the summer. They were partially full.
Then, I gathered up yarn I had stored elsewhere throughout the house. Mostly they were in bags or boxes. I stacked them up all around me, keeping them in some sort of order (e.g., sock weight, full sweaters, yarn for felting, cottons and summer-weight yarn all in separate heaps).
Then I created a spreadsheet with columns entitled Name, Yardage (this is per skein yardage), Fiber content, Color (I listed both color number and a descriptive name if it was helpful), Number of balls (I went down to half balls if appropriate), Notes (e.g., gift from so-and-so, bought for Mom's scarf but she didn't like it, etc.), and Total Yardage (this column is calculated based on yardage and number of balls). If I were to do this again I would add another column -- bin number. This way I wouldn't have to hunt around to find the yarn I now know I have!
Here's a copy of the spreadsheet template I used. I've left 4 entries in there so you can see how I used it.
I then started with one of the bins and took all the yarn out. As I gathered the yarn together I input what I had one-by-one and put them on the other side of the room. I didn't put the yarn back in the bins until I had quite a bit of the yarn catalogued. This allowed me to see how to best group the yarn to fit well into the bins.
About halfway through this process I had to go out to Target and buy 4 more bins. Yes, that's double the number I thought I would need. Oh -- my bins are clear and I find it really helpful so I can see what's in them.
After a couple of weeks I decided I wanted to use this to keep a running inventory of my stash as well. So I added columns in the spreadsheet to keep track of each month's usage. The way it works is you type the number of balls you've used into the month name column (e.g., February) and the spreadsheet automatically calculates the new totals. It's been fun to see the numbers going down (albeit slowly). I also anticipate using it when I have a new project in mind to see what I have in my stash that's appropriate.
That's pretty much it. Was this helpful? Feel free to download the spreadsheet and use it to your liking. If you have other suggestions or come up with better ways I'd love to hear about them.
January 21, 2005
Random Thoughts
I considering posting my near-done sock #2, but it looks a whole lot like his near-done sock #1.
Instead, I'd thought I'd share with you all some links I've come across that you may or may not have seen before.
New Project Ideas
- Sideways Short-Row Seaman's Scarf -- Really interesting technique, and a great way to use just 1 ball of Noro!
- Breast Cancer Sock -- I need to make these for my Mom, who's a 15 year survivor!
- Saxony Sock -- While visiting Lisa's site for the Breast Cancer site I came across these cabled socks. Very pretty!
- Lite Brite -- I don't know why I didn't notice this pattern when it first came out. It has a solid-colored body, and uses Noro only on the raglan arms. I can get my Noro and avoid horizontal body stripes! Put this one in the hopper for next fall.
Resources and Techniques
- How to test if your fiber is wool -- without the chance of setting your house on fire!
- Nicely illustrated knitting basics. This is the site I link to whenever someone asks me things like "How do I do a lifted increase?". Their illustrations are clear and easy to understand.
- No-wrap short rows -- By now you all probably know I LOVE the OzYarn no-wrap short row instructions. I was describing them to my friend Hope and she told me that they're called Japanese short rows. I thought you'd like to know that.
- Great resource for old lace stitch patterns. Warning -- the charts indicate the stitch you'd knit when you're on that row, not the way it would look on a RS row (the more common way). I find it hard to retrain my brain to knit this way and actually rewrite the chart beforehand.
I feel like I had more than this to share! I'll add to it if something comes to mind.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Added Later
In keeping with the randomness of this post, I have a question about Opal yarn. How do you know which Opal pattern you have? The only thing I see on the ball that would seem to indicate the type is "Farbe 5 Partie 16". I've googled and translated and searched all over the place and still can't seem to find a way to figure this out!
January 01, 2005
New Beginnings
It seemed only fitting that I give my favorite sweaters a bath today. I hate washing handknits! Wow, I'm sure that's a profound statement. I'm guessing you all just love it, right?
Well today I tried something new (for me) and it worked really well. I used my washing machine to spin them out after soaking in the sink. I have a front loader and I thought it wouldn't work -- but it did! I turned them inside out and switched on the spin cycle and voila! My sweaters weighed a fraction of what they did before they went in. I should have dry sweaters by the morning (with brand new Isabella paw prints on them to boot!).
I'm also playing around with my blog design. I don't think I'm done, although I am done for today. I wanted something cooler and with less color, but it's really hard to judge colors on this laptop monitor. So when I feel like hooking up a regular monitor I'll take a peek and do some tweaking.
I'm taking Margene's advice and making sure I do all the things I love today. Since I haven't knit yet it sounds like a fine excuse to do so! Make sure you do the same :)
May 26, 2004
Almost There
I've been putting alot of thought into my Drape Along project this week. Last night I knitted up a swatch and it was "OK". Not great - but OK. So I'm going to tweak some things and even try a different stitch pattern today. I think I'm close though and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post what I'm finally going to be doing with this yarn!
Cast On Methods
I pretty much always use a long tail cast on unless the pattern specifies a particular technique. I tried to use it for the beginning of Smooch - which starts out with that picot edge - but the edge was too stiff and heavy. I finally tried the thumb cast on and I liked it alot better.
I also used the thumb cast on for the ruffly beginning of cheesylove. Again, it seemed perfect for the design.
Added Later - Here's a link for the thumb cast on. It's called the single cast on.
Then, over the weekend, I was playing around with some sock yarn that I picked up at MDSW. I have a Fiber Trends sock pattern that I really like that's cuff-down. I was afraid of a too tight cast on so I looked around. Finally, my Twisted Sister sock book suggested that same thumb cast on for a very elastic edge. I tried it, and poof - VERY stretchy cuff. To the point where the ribbing almost looks ruffled when it's not stretched. It was very pretty. So, I think I'll be using that cast on from now on for cuff-down socks.
I'm curious though, was I the only one who was clueless about using that cast on for the cuffs of socks? I don't knit many socks so it's entirely possible. I figured I'd share it though just in case it's not totally common knowledge. Are there any other good cast ons for cuffs?
Tune in tomorrow for more than your fill of linen drape swatches. I hope to have a winner by then.
May 12, 2004
Cotton Steeking Adventures
A few of you have mentioned that you were interested in how I steeked my cotton Mission Falls tank so here ya go...
I started out by pin fitting the tank on my body:
Once I got a good fit all around (it took a bit of tweeking), I carefully took it off to make sure the pins didn't fall out.
Then, I laid the garment flat, folded along the center front and center back so the side seams were in the middle (hopefully that makes sense). I then pin marked the excess fabric that needed to be taken in on both sides of the side seams. Note: Since I knit it in the round there really aren't side seams. In my case I marked along the line where the side seam would be, which is also where yarns were joined.
See all those ends I was able to get rid of? Woohoo!
Then, I took out my trusty Viking sewing machine, and stitched along the lines marked with the pins. The hardest part about the stitching was the fact that the shaping was at the sides, so I couldn't just sew between 2 stitches. I had to sew across them at times. I fiddled with the presser foot tension, the stitch length, and even dried dropping the feed dogs. I finally determined I should use a very weak presser foot tension, and a stitch length of 3.5. I liked it better with the feed dog up - it helped push the fabric through and didn't catch it like I had been concerned about.
Once I stitched along both pin lines, I cut up the center.
Here's a closeup in case you can't see the stitches. Sorry it's a bit blurry.
And then, I sewed a second row of stitches about a quarter of an inch away from the first row. This second row is further out than the first row and is hidden in the seam.
I then clipped very close to the second row of sewing and seamed up the tank using the mattress stitch.
Voila! A tank that actually fits!
In case you're wondering why I had to go through this exercise at all, here's what happened. This is the first tank that I've made for myself. I pulled out some knitted tanks that I own to use as a comparison for sizing, but they all had some kind of rib in them. So they were definitely smaller than I'd like for a st st tank. So, I made the tank just a bit narrower than I would a sweater and it was just way too much ease. In all honesty though, I'm glad I went through the exercise. I taught myself that steeking isn't so bad, and I saved my time weaving in all those ENDS. Hell, it was worth it just to get rid of the ends!