I’ve been doing lots of knitting! But my writing has been funnelled into my thesis. So starting next week, I’ll be getting back to blogging once again. I have a bunch of knitting books to review (or as I like to say, rEve-ewe), a pair of Dashing gloves to show you, and a few other things. For now, here’s a picture of a ridiculous sweater:
Here is the official Needle Exchange Pattern for knitting a spiral.
Yarn & Gauge
Any you like. I used a worsted cotton yarn for mine, producing a gauge of 24 stitches to 4 inches.
Stitch Dictionary
yo: yarn over. Move the yarn under the needle towards you and then back over the needle away from you. This produces an extra stitch.
Instructions
Cast on 1 stitch.
Row 1: *yo*. Repeat from * – * 100 times.
I really really want to subscribe to Phildar magazine. Every single “catalogue” they put out puts me over the edge. I wish I could figure out how to subscribe. Do they do subscriptions? If anyone has a subscription, please teach me how to do this. I’ll do anything. ANYTHING.
As an example of how easily it would be for Phildar to make me their knitting slave: I absolutely detest bobbles, and I don’t like that bobbly cable pattern that looks like flowers and runs along the middle of Rowan’s Demi. On the other hand, I think it is completely necessary for Phildar’s AVISO Ficelle (from Tendances Spring 2, N° 468), and it may even be one of the main reasons why I like it. In this one it looks like paw prints and contributes to the feeling of wearing some sort of lion pelt.
I usually don’t like slouch; really poofy stuff makes me cringe. But I actually like this. It’s giving me strange, confusing feelings, like the time I was 12 and I realized that Leonardo DiCaprio was a boy.
I’m going to buy the KnitPicks Options set, and while I’m paying for that I figured I should buy some yarn for a few projects I’m planning. This is far too much yarn to buy, so I need to cull the list! Does anyone have opinions on any of these?
Additionally, I’m taking suggestions for luxurious 100% wool or wool blend sock yarn (or even just fingering weight yarn that could be used for socks) that requires 2 skeins for a pair of socks. I want to knit two socks, but each in a different colourway, and I would rather not have leftovers lying around.
Oh yeah, and my essay is finished so I’m totally allowed to spend this morning on a matching hat for my Backyard Leaves Scarf. That makes a full hat, scarf, and mitten set!
I have an essay due in a few days but I’m pretty much done, so I’m looking at The Craft of Lace Knitting by Barbara Walker and the colour versions at The Walker Treasury Project. I’ve decided that despite my complete lack of shawl knowledge because of my vast shawl knowledge, I am completely capable of designing my own shawl. I’ll be using Eunny’s guide and a few example patterns to figure it out, and I’ll post what I’ve learned as I go.
I have a theme in mind for my design, which you probably won’t guess from the stitch patterns I’m considering:
That’s not be being a jackass and saying “nyah nyah you’ll never guess,” it’s just very random at the moment but it’ll come together.
What are your favourite lace stitches?
I was in Toronto last weekend, which means that I spent a whole lot of time eating chocolate Easter eggs and going to Asian import stores and not a lot of time writing final essays. But it was worth it, because I finally managed to buy a bag for my knitting! I had a hard time due to the fact that all the bags I looked at had too many yarn-destroying zippers, but this one has two compartments and magnetic buttons, meaning I can carrying TWO PROJECTS at the same time! I am the 50 Cent / Beck of knitting, if knitting a project was like releasing a rap album. Wow, that was a really obscure reference.
KNITTING BAG!
That dog could even double as a cute pin cushion in times of need. And what’s this blobby thing inside it?
I want to link to this post about why Lion Brand isn’t the yarn of the proletariat because I agree with it completely and I want as many people as possible to read it. One of the things that annoys me most about Lion Brand is their “cheapness” hype. If you really can’t afford cashmere, buy from KnitPicks or unravel a sweater. DON’T BUY LION BRAND. Their yarn is cheaply manufactured and extremely overpriced. The willingness of knitters to pay for crap means they can put on a huge markup, and… tada! You get to pay $6 for 100 yards of 50% wool, 50% acrylic instead of the same for that amount of 100% alpaca. Yarg. Yarg!
I finished my scarf! Just in time for spring. And I am so not blocking it. Right now I just like it all bouncy and bumpy, but maybe I’ll block it in the fall.
Backyard Leaves Scarf, started February 15th, 2007, finished April 8th, 2007
Pattern: Backyard Leaves Scarf from Scarf Style
Yarn: a delicious heathery cranberry 100% merino from a large men’s sweater (roughly DK weight)
Needles: 4mm-ish
Pattern Notes: I really don’t like the seaming requirement. I tried to use a provisional cast-on and then pick up stitches, but it didn’t really work because I wasn’t thinking at the time. I’d try it again, but scarves are so tiring. I need to design something for myself! My creative juices are flowing, and the levies can’t hold them much longer. Fortunately, I hear FEMA is good at dealing with that sort of thing. I’ll keep that as my backup plan.
Would I knit it again? Hellz no. The pattern is real nice and all, but scarves are no longer my thing. To the knitters who have never tried it: I’d definitely recommend it! Although at times I’m not the hugest fan of Annie Modesitt’s instructions (she sometimes doesn’t mention her reasons for doing certain things or just assumes bits of knowledge that the average knitter doesn’t have until I realize that I’ve just knit 2 full inches on the wrong side of something), but her designs are ingenious. I’m definitely going to make use of this scarf’s edging technique in many future projects. Love it!
My favourite part (other than the magnificent edging technique) is the way you cast off. Just keep knitting the leaf until all you have is a single stitch. It’s a BIT more complicated than that, obviously, but that’s the general concept. It’s that sort of thing that makes up for the occasional lack of clarity.
I found the following while looking for tips on knitting fishing nets. This poem is so badass! I love the Finnish. Their poetry is so hard core.
WAINAMOINEN, the enchanter,
The eternal wisdom-singer,
Long reflected, well considered,
How to weave the net of flax-yarn,
Weave the fish-net of the fathers.
Spake the minstrel of Wainola:
“Who will plow the field and fallow,
Sow the flax, and spin the flax-threads,
That I may prepare the fish-net,
Wherewith I may catch the Fire-pike,
May secure the thing of evil?”–From The Kalevala, RUNE XLVIII. Capture of the Fire-fish.
Anyhoo, my latest project is to knit a fishing net for the beau. He’s a catch-and-release type of guy, so he wants a little hammock to keep by the side of his boat so he can submerge the fish while he’s removing hooks. This page here (PDF) is a great step-off point for knitting fishing nets, and I believe I’ll be using it almost exclusively. Faster than knitting a sweater, that’s for sure! Next time we stop by Canadian Tire, I’ll have to pick up some wood (for the ends of the hammock) and a bunch of nylon line.
This is so exciting! I love learning this sort of stuff.
My birthday was a little while ago, and my parents asked me if there was anything I wanted for my birthday. Interchangeable needles (and more importantly the case to carry them in, so I wouldn’t lose my needles in the nooks and crannies of my room) immediately came to mind. I’ve been lustin’ on the KnitPicks Options ever since I heard about them, but I’d also noticed that only went down to a 3.5mm, and I’m a loose knitter so for anything laceweight I need 3mm or lower. I’d heard the Denise Set wasn’t as good, but that it also went down to lower sizes, so I was torn about getting the KnitPicks and sacrificing the smaller sizes. But you know what? That was a filthy lie someone told me. I just checked, and the KnitPicks needles actually go down to a smaller size than the Denise needles (who only go down to a size 5).
You know what this means? Eve’s second knitting-purchase-that-is-not-yarn of the year. I do believe those Options are Options that I can’t refuse. Next thing you know I’ll buy a ball winder and a swift. Yes, those are things I want for my birthday. I want them very much. (The beau hasn’t found me a present yet, so I thought I’d throw that in there. Seriously, you should have seen the look on his face when I told him that the only things I wanted involved pulling bits of string through other bits of string. He thinks it’s “so cute.” 
)
Eve is a PhD student in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her personal blog is The Swamp.
You are currently browsing the Needle Exchange weblog archives for April, 2007.
