Archive for August 2009
Knitting Cables: An Excellent Alternate Way
August 30, 2009 | 
Author In perusing the ravelry.com cable knitting groups I found a thread “defending the lowly cable needle”. I have no doubt each of us will have our preference for working cables. Some are adept and doing it with an old fashioned cable needle as instructed in the patterns, to “let the cable needle hang to the front/back” while knitting the other stitches. Some people are scared of cables, but I’ve found there are other ways that may be easier and a lot less scarier. I really like the look of cables so was very frustrated trying to do it the more common ways, so I kept looking and thinking, with good results.
One way I came up with recently is outlined in the post A New And Better Way To Knit Cables. It uses a crochet hook in the right hand along with the right needle, and can be used with any knitting style. While posting to groups about this discovery I found the thread mentioned above and in it Lynne from Great Britain, who goes by the ravelry.com name Mini-mum, tells about her way of doing cables. She has been knitting for over 40 years and is quite adept at cables. Her techniques is also great, and it will work fine for English and Portuguese styles of knitting but it won’t work for continental or eastern/combined knittiers as it requires you to hold a third needle in your left hand while knitting, and that’s where they hold their yarn. If you use continental or eastern/combined (or English or Portuguese) then try my way with a crochet hook, or try the pinch methods.
Lynne says,
“I normally use slick nickel plated needles for knitting with. I love them. However, I find it helps to use a bamboo (third needle) as it clings to the knitting better and doesn’t slip around ‘without permission’.
Definitely use a bamboo needle. Lynne uses a spare dpn herself. I went to Joann’s and got a set of #4 straight knitting needles by Clover for use with most of my cable knitting. I figure that size will be easy to get into loops for several sizes upwards of that, and the smaller size doesn’t matter relative to the needles you are knitting with as your right needle determines your gauge. I’ll probably get a set of #1s for when I do socks, now that I see this method works fine, although considering the tight workspace of sock knitting I may go with my crochet hook method. I’ll have to do some tests.
HOLDING THE THIRD NEEDLE
Lynne writes,
“The (third needle) is not exactly parallel as my left index finger is in between the two needles to keep them apart, otherwise it would get in the way of knitting.”
“The (third) needle is held in my left hand, parallel to the left hand needle. I don’t move it unless it’s to roll it over the LH needle to the front (for a right twist cable) rather than the back (for a left twist cable). I don’t drop it, I don’t put it down, I just flick it out of the way, between other fingers, but bear in mind that I enjoy cable projects that have a lot of cables in them, not just every few rows.”
This pic shows how I tried holding the third needle. It also shows Max noticing the bamboo needle.
Experiment with holding the third needle while knitting. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Knitting Cables | 
Tags: cables, Cat picture, dpns, needles, Portuguese Knitting | 
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A Better Way to Knit Cables? Give ‘em a Right Hook!
I have been learning to knit over the last two months. When I first really looked into knitting and found some great books at the stores I was very excited about cables, for one thing. Cable knit garments looked so odd – not that I had never seen them before. It was just cool that you could do that with knitting, what with all the patterns you could make moving the cables left and right.
Then I tried doing cables. Not so much fun. Using a cable needle was a bit cumbersome. A couple of times, with my slippery nickel plated Options needles I have lost loops off my left or right needle in the process and had to restrain my panic as I prayed to the knitting angels that I could retrieve them. Maybe cables should be done on bamboo by default, I thought. No.
Then I discovered, as in a recent post, that you can do cables without needles in a sort of pinch and switch method. I’ve experimented with this and while it sure looks easy on video, and maybe is easier with larger needles, for a tighter knit on smaller needles it is more precarious than using a cable needle. I thought there had to be a better way.
I had come across a cable thimble on another web site and wondered if that would be a useful tool, but found no instructions on how to use it. I tried making one myself with wire, but still couldn’t figure it out. Plus, the little cable thimble sells for about 10.00 USD and that wasn’t worth it.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am starting my Fountains pattern scarf in red superwash by Cascade. Well, after all the above experimentation, struggling with the pinch and switch method, I just about quit last night. I all but ripped it out. I even decided on another pattern called “lighted torches” that doesn’t have any cable crossovers.
Then an impression came into my mine, and image from the Angels of knitting: use a crochet hook held in the right hand along with the right needle to temporarily hold the outer loops while doing the swap with the inner loops. So I tried it this morning with a crochet hook and it worked! It was much easier to manage the switcheroo of the loop sets. No struggling with the tightness of the loops, no fear of losing loops, and it seemed quicker to do.
Here’s how to do cables this way. You are ready to do your crossover. Let’s say it is a three plus three crossover. I chose a crochet hook to give me the extra security for the loops in limbo, and it keeps the loops from closing down. Use a crochet hook that is a size or two smaller than your knitting needle – this makes the loop transfers a bit easier. I used a size 5 hook with a size 6 needle. Hold the crochet hook along side the right needle. If your instructions say to hang the cable needle in the back, then put the crochet needle in back of your right needle and in front if it says to hang the cable needle in front.
The switcheroo with the loop sets on the right needle and hook, ready to be moved back to the left. And Max makes an appearance as well at the upper right. I was using his needles.
Use the crochet hook to pick up the first three (outer) loops off the tip of the left needle. Then slip the next three (inner) loops from the left needle to the right needle. Now slip the outer loops from the crochet hook back to the left needle, and lastly use the left needle to pick up the three loops you slipped to the right needle. Now you are ready to just resume knitting.
Summary of the switcheroo:
1. Slip first set of loops from left needle to crochet hook at the back or front of the right needle per your pattern instructions.
2. Slip second set of loops to the right needle.
3. Slip first set of loops from crochet hook to the left needle.
4. Drop the crochet hook when it’s empty.
5. Slip second set of loops back to the left needle. All loops have been returned to the left needle.
6. Knit the loops.
7. Get up and dance around.
As you can see, it’s a good bit different from using a cable needle. The hook is used to rearrange the loops before knitting them and is not let go of until the loops are rearranged. Then you drop it and knit all the loops for the crossover without interruption. With a cable needle you transfer the first half to the cn, knit the other half, knit the first half off the cable needle. In any case, this way seem less clumsy and more secure as I don’t ever loosen my grip on the left needle. I’ve had my left needle slip out of loops while working with the cable needle.
So now the world is a better place. We can cable without fear. I just knew that scarf was not going to be fun until this idea came to me. I just hope it makes cables easier for some as it has for me.
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Super Socks Solution
There’s a fine book called Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi. As you can tell, I disagree with the sentiment. Sorry. Socks Suck on Two Circular Needles.
As of this writing I have just begun my first sock. I thank God there is more than one way, and especially that there is the magic loop method that uses one circular needle.
The idea of knitting a sock with a hedgehog of dpns was never attractive to me. Frankly, it also looks like bad feng shuei, what with all those needles pointing at everyone. So I never gave that method a thought. My cousin Leigh was going to try them but I’m urging her to use magic loop.
So I did at first test the method with two circular needles. For some reason I avoided the magic loop at first as it sounded too magical. Complete ignorance there. Anyway, the two circ method is done with one at the back of the sock and one at the front, with half the loops on each. In all honesty it was visually confusing to see both needles hanging there. Also, the weight of the back needle caused that half of the beginning of the sock to hang strangely and that only got me more confused.
Again, at first the magic loop seemed really alien. How could that even be possible? But having given up on the two circular method I had to try magic loop and it really is the best. It’s very easy to tell what you are doing, where you are, and repositioning the needles for the turn to the next half round is a snap. On two circs I was confused at that point also. I kept getting mixed up about which one to move in which direction. With one circular needle it’s very clear. There’s only one thing you CAN do. You just slide your filled up working needle out of the loops and your emptied left needle back into the other loops. The working end of your circular needle stays the working end, going round and round, chasing the other needle as you knit. Turn the work, move the needle tips to the start position and start the next half round. It is so easy! Good thing. I was running out of ways to knit socks!
I was also happy to see that there was not even the slightest sign of laddering at the turns, even without me pulling the yarn tight for the first stitch.
Here's my test tube. Even with this space between the left needle and the back cable there were no ladders.
There’s a little more to doing socks on one circular needle. This probably applies to using two circs as well. The best pictures of sock construction for this method I found are in How to Knit Socks: Three Methods Made Easy, by Edie Eckman. Apparently, there are ways to position various sections of the stitches for different parts of the sock, so do look into it before starting off.
I have the Sweater Workshop book by Jacqueline Fee which calls for dpns to knit sleeves and collars, so I did buy a set, but now that I’ve tasted the magic loop I think I can use it for that as well, so I ordered a sixty inch cable for my Options needles and will use that.
So there you go. I hope you enjoy, and if you use the other two methods or gave up on them do try the magic loop. I think you will be glad. Use a 40 inch circular to give yourself enough room.
And someone has a book on how to do two socks on one circular needle. I can see that would work as well, but you would have to contend with two sources of yarn, or more if you are doing multiple colors.
Thanks for stopping by and reading. Feel free to leave a comment.
- Eric
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Cables Without Needles are Not Such a Miracle
RE-EDITED ON 8-28-2009
Hi there,
The other day I was pleased to find out how to do cables without a cable needle, but the more I experiment with it the less excited I am about the technique. The rest of this post introduces that technique and there is a link to a video that shows how, but I have a better way that came to me this morning, a gift from the knitting angels, Knitatron and Perlael. (You can take that tongue in cheek.) Read the post A New and Better Way to Knit Cables.
When I first got into knitting I discovered that cables were strangely exciting to me. I had to restrain myself from buying cable pattern books. (I was unable to do this with sock books). I still long for the gray cable vest I saw in one book. They just look, well, “hot,” not just warm.
I’ve only been knitting a couple of months now and after learning and practicing the basics I’ve settled on my first two real projects. On is a practice sock, primarily to test the Sock Wizard software, and the other is a scarf in dark red super-wash wool by Cascade. The pattern I picked is called Fountains, and I got it out of the Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns by Sterling Books. It’s a complex mix of little cable crossovers and lace (a guy would say it has holes in it. It’s NOT lace!). The pattern doesn’t look feminine to me, and has a great multi-level effect. Here’s a picture.
Yeah, I know it’s pretty advanced for a beginner, but one reason I’m doing knitting is to develop concentration. This should about do it. Anyway, on my first attempt I didn’t know how to do a cable without a cable needle and it was very clumsy working with and around the cable needle and left needle. It also introduced the risk of my left needle slipping and me losing some loops from it.
The fountains pattern has a twenty stitch wide repeat by twelve rows. In that block there are nine crossovers! Trying to do it with a cable needle I gave up after the first three. Then on the very next day I was browsing around the web and found a video on doing cables without a needle in Portuguese knitting style. The no-needle cable technique is better watched than explained, so I won’t bother here. And even though it is Portuguese style the trick works for all styles of knitting. Here’s the video:
Portuguese Knitting Lesson – Left Twist
So, that video is useful in demonstrating this method, but in practice it’s not much easier than using a cable needle. I’m sure with more practice I would get better, but honestly it wasn’t fun to work this trick. I tried this on worsted weight wool with #8 needles and it was very precarious. I nearly lost loops a few times, and the tightness that is inherent in the process of crossing stitches like this made it more difficult.
I almost gave up on my Fountains scarf again. Then this morning I tried an idea that came to me when I was trying this no-needle trick, and my idea was much easier. It uses a crochet hook. I have complete instructions in the post A New and Better Way to Knit Cables.
So I’m back to the fountains pattern and very happy to see I’ll be able to work cables with greater ease in the future. For a while there I thought I would just have to give up on them again. I’m saved!
By the way, I have a book called Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch that has some cool patterns of cables with the cable winding around yarnover holes! Very cool. Built-in ventilation! And like I said, I’m starting my first sock. I will have a post or three on that soon. I’m using the magic loop technique with one circular needle, which is great. After a test sock I will try something with cables or something.
Thanks again.
Eric
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Portuguese Knitting Tips: Let the Needle Do It.
(To learn more about Portuguese knitting follow the link to the youtube videos in Information box on the right, further down the page, or visit andreawongknits.com to order her DVDs.)
Hi,
As I practice more with Portuguese knitting, becoming more aware of the rhythm and movements and reading my stitches, I’m finding ways to refine my knitting technique. I also found I was getting into a bad habit of “nursing” the yarn as I work a stitch, meaning using my index fingers to secure, hold and manipulate the yarn and loops rather than trusting the right needle tip to move the yarn. I realized part of this was due to a flaw in my technique where I was pulling the yarn to the right for purls and left for knits, trying to keep the right needle in front of the left, and this left the yarn at an insecure position, so I felt I needed to hold it with my fingers.
Fortunately that was easy to remedy. In Portuguese knitting you do insert the right needle through the front loops and bring it up between you and the left needle to pick up the yarn. My error was thinking I had to push the right needle to the left or right and then up on top of the left needle – my side of it – to finish the stitch. Again, this is the wrong trajectory and doesn’t hold the yarn securely. So I forced myself not to use my index fingers to stabilize the yarn and loops and this forced me to discover how to do it right.
For purling, you insert the right needle from the left and up in front of the left, then flick the yarn around the needle with your left thumb, then PUSH the right needle under and back and slightly to the right – diagonally away to the right as if toward where your right knee would normally be. Moving in this direction keeps the yarn on the needle tip and there’s no need to use your fingers to secure it. For knit stitches it’s the reverse direction you want to go. Pull the new loop you are making toward your left bicep, more or less.
(Remember that the essential difference between knit and purl stitches is that in a knit stitch you pull a new loop toward you and in purling you push a new loop away from you. Knowing this also makes it easier to read your stitches and know what you need to do next or how to fix what you just did!)
By refining my technique in this way I find it’s not only easier but my knitting fluidity and speed have increased significantly.
Thanks for stopping in to the blog today!
- Eric
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OMG: a Knitted Brain!
I would be remiss if Knit for Brains dot Net didn’t at least link to this article about how psychiatrist Dr Karen Norberg, of National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, spent a year knitting an anatomically correct replica of the human brain.
Talk about not being able to get knitting out of your head...
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Zephyr Acrylic Needles Review: Is Clear Too Clear?
UPDATE: I have found that the frost effect produced by the method below doesn’t necessarily last very long with the friction of the yarn over it, so I’m looking into better ways to frost the tips. You don’t want to keep going over them with steel wool as that will wear them down. I will say that you do get used to the clarity of the tips after a while, so you may not need to bother if your eyesight is good enough. Use them for a while and see what you think.
I got a sample of the new Knitpicks.com Zephyr acrylic Options circular needles and liked them a lot at first try, so I ordered a set. In the days before they arrived I played with them more and started to feel that I didn’t really like the glass-like clarity much. It made it harder to see what I was doing. I could see the yarn through the needles as well as in front of it and in placing the needle tip that made it a good bit less distinct than I preferred.
I don't like seeing the yarn through the needles like this.
In the mean time the box with my set arrived and I let it sit on the dining table until I could come up with a decision or solution. I looked on the internet for ways to stain the acrylic a less transparent color but found nothing. Then it occurred to me I could just make the tips frosted by going over them with steel wool.
The tape gives the frosting a nice, even edge.
So what I did was wrap some scotch tape around the needle one inch from the tip, nice and straight around the shaft. I tried some 000 steel wool but it didn’t give it enough of a frost, so I tried some #1 steel wool, which is courser. It does leave some faint lines in the surface but as it is more abrasive the overall effect was better frosting.
Twisting the tips evenly in the #1 grade steel wool.
You will want to experiment with how to do this; how hard to pinch and where. I wrapped the tip in a bit of the steel wool and twisted sideways, working my way to the tip and back, dusting it off and checking where I was missing. Then I went lengthwise toward the tip to give it a crosswise abrasion, then again did it twisting side to side. Dust off the tip on some cloth to see how it’s coming. Compare it to an untreated tip and see if it’s frosty enough. Remove the tape when you have the frost effect the way you want it.
The frostiness will be reduced by the angle of the lighting or oil from your hands. The one on the left has not been frosted yet.
I tested my first treated pair and find it is very satisfactory. The distracting transparency is much reduced. Additionally, the smoothness and slip of the needle tips is further reduced. Whereas the Zephyrs have a sort of faint creaky feeling or sound when new, the frosted ones feel and sound more like bamboo. This is fine with me as less slip is one of the reasons I got them.
If you try this you do it at your own risk. Be methodical. Also, be aware that steel wool sheds a lot, so do it over newspaper and be sure to dump the shed fibers in the trash. If they get on the rug and ever get wet they will rust and stain the carpet. You may want to vacuum when you are done for good measure. If you don’t like the frostiness you can reverse it SOME by using 0000 steel wool or maybe with clear nail polish.
So I decided to keep the Zephyrs. They do have the sharpness, friction and travel-worthiness I was looking for, and they do have a certain futuristic elegance.
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Posted in Products and Tools, Reviews, Updated Since Posted | Tags: circular needles, knitpicks.com, needles, Options Interchangable, review, tools | 1 Comment »
Knitting as Meditation
There are many ways to improve your quality of living. Meditation is well known as a reconditioner of the human heart, mind and spirit, and knitting is apparently a pretty powerful mode of meditation. There are books and articles on knitting as a therapeutic, meditative and even spiritual tool. Many find knitting as a way to get through tough times, but apparently it has benefits that can help keep tough times away by soothing are training our minds and perhaps healing our bodies.
The rows to enlight-knit-ment?
As I’ve mentioned before, one of the reasons I got into knitting is to improve my powers of concentration. Delving into the craft I’ve been surprised at the degree of detail involved in producing a knitted item. I had done some basic crochet in years past, but I’ve found knitting is a good bit more complex. But don’t let that scare you away if you are new to it. I’ve enjoyed the structure and discipline called for in knitting. That’s what I want and need anyway.
So this post is supposed to be about knitting as meditation. Why am I writing about the degree of detail and mental demands in knitting? I think part of what’s calming and meditative about it is that it absorbs your attention and in such a way that it draws you away from other mental activity that either contributes to stress or which scatters your mental energy. Because knitting demands a certain kind and degree of attention on one thing it functions to order or comb out the jangles and tangles of your mind, both consciously and non-consciously.
Knitting is both creative and organized. In this way it occupies the left brain to maintain the structure needed to follow the pattern, but also stimulates the right brain as a creative activity. So a part of the soothing, meditative effect could be a result of this as a possibly balancing activity, along with occupying the left brain which often is a source of stressful mental activity.
In my own experience I find myself sighing in relief even as I cast on, as if my inner being is getting the signal that some good knitting time is coming, and this relaxation response continues as I knit, with a few more sighs as I get into it. Part of this is also the satisfaction I get from allowing myself a creative outlet, something I have tended to neglect in my life. That alone is very satisfying. When you are deficient in creative self-expression you will feel stressed.
I believe additional soothing effects come from the feeling of the soft yarn on your finger tips and pressure on the needle shafts. Your fingertips are loaded with nerve receptors and you have acupressure points near each finger tip. The tactile stimulation with both your needles and the yarn is likely to be very supportive of mental function and overall body health in some way. Most of us know how soothing it is to pet a cat, dog or other animal – any soft, smooth or furry material. And while you aren’t directly stimulating the acupressure points they receive some from the movement of the tissues as you handle the needles. Your mind is focused and soothed, which takes stress off the body as well.
Practitioners of meditation receive long lasting benefit when they have been doing it for a while, so it’s not like you will have to knit to relax. As in any activity, what happens is that you train your brain, actually reconfiguring and growing the new neural connections between your brain cells, that knitting requires. Thus your ability to concentrate and to enter the soothed state outside of knitting grows and grows the more you knit. You could even just imagine knitting to help yourself shift closer to that state.
So knitting isn’t just a nice little needlecraft. It helps you develop a quality of mind and consciousness and even condition of body through the direct and indirect effects of the activity of the mind and hands. Considering this you look differently at knitting as an activity.
You may have seen the tshirt that reads, “I knit because I’m smarter than you.” Or maybe you are smarter because you knit. Or both!
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Chart Holder Thingie is Great
I got a chance to use my Knitpicks.com chart holder and it works very well. The magnets let you mark your row and make it easier to follow, plus it obviously holds it up for you, even on your lap or the couch next to you. There’s a magnetic catch that holds it closed when folded closed, and that holds it open at the angle you see when needed. It was just about 10.00 us. Good idea. On the picture below you can see my full detail chart I did in Excel for the red scarf.
Knitpicks Chart Stand with Magnetic Place Markers
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Build Your Most Useful Needle Collection
So in the end, what needles to buy?
My thought is to save you some trouble. From my own experience I can suggest what may be the most usable needle collection for your convenience in most knitting situations.
When you start out into knitting you will want to t start with a small selection of different kinds of needles, meaning what they are made of, until you learn to knit with some degree of comfort and ease – just the basic skills in early practice – to give yourself the chance to try a couple of kinds of yarn, including wool, acrylic, rayon, cotton and maybe others. If you go to a yarn store or know another avid knitter you might be able to try a few of these. This will give you a feel for the difference between metal, wood, plastic and acrylic needles, but also you can try different point sharpness to see how you like that aspect. Bamboo tends to be duller and metal or acrylic sharper.
Also, as you learn to knit and control your tension, you will see differences in the tightness of your knitting as well as develop a sense of how you like to work. Along with the thinness of the yarn, these factors and what you plan to knit will influence your needle sharpness and needle material.
As a beginner my knitting is some times a bit tight so I prefer sharper needles. A slight drawback to sharp tips is it seems easier to split your yarn, but I think with sharper tips it’s easier to keep the yarn on the tip as you pull it through your loops.
You have probably read that different materials have different slipperiness for your yarn. This is the main consideration for needle choice. Until you get more dexterous at handling your needles and yarn you might prefer less slick needles. I like the feel of my nickel plated Options but I’m finding with the smaller needles sizes and thus smaller gauge I have less room to move and I’m more prone to slip up and lose loops off my needles.
The bamboo is going back to China
I’ve tried bamboo also. As I mention elsewhere, I prefer it smoother than how they come stock and go over them with 0000 super fine steel wool first. That takes the clear coating off and buffs the surface so there’s less tack.
Bamboo can be had for straight and circular and dpns. You may be tempted to stock up on a few sets of bamboo needles in different sizes and different lengths of circulars, which you can get fairly cheap off amazon.com. this may seem economical, as you can get 15 sizes in a set. But what if you need other lengths of circulars? At 25$ per set that will add up fast. Do you really want to spend that much?
As you knit or do a swatch you may need to change needle size to adjust your gauge, so you may indeed want more needles on hand. A set would make sense so you don’t have to run to the yarn store where you can be tempted to buy other things as well.
At this point, for all I’ve observed and tried, which now includes the new Zephyr acrylic circular needles from Knitpicks.com, if I were to lose all my needles or be starting out, I would buy just the Zephyr set of circulars as they can be used for circulars or straight needles. You could get a Denise set alternately, but I like the sharper Zephyrs.
Along with my Zephyr set I ordered an extra 60 inch cable so I can use it for a sort of magic loop approach to knit smaller diameter rounds. Often you need a 16 inch circular for sweater collars or perhaps a sleeve, or may need dpns for something. I’ve decided there’s no point in getting the dpns if I can use the 60 circular magic loop-wise. I haven’t tried it yet, but it seems pretty obvious it should work. If you can use it for socks you can use it for collars and sleeves, hats and more, even where you need a larger needle size.
Max and the new Zephyr Options Acrylic Needles
What else do you need? If you are into socks and mittens you may need some smaller needles, either dpns or 40 inch circulars for magic loop. Options needles go down to size 4US and Denise only go down to 5US. I’m going to lean toward working with worsted weight even for socks, which is fine on size 4. I’m not crazy yet about tiny needles, tiny yarn and that many more tiny stitches.
I think with this proposal you could get away with spending about $55 usd for your Zephyrs or Denise set, then another $20 or so for a set of cheap bamboo dpns if you need cheap small needles for socks and such. You can get some metal circular needles for around $15 each at 40 inches. So if you want to go that route for socks get size 2 and 3 US. Unless you really like the slickness of metal the acrylic Zephyrs or Denise should do you fine for most needs. PLUS these sets are more welcome on airplanes. I’m not so sure the wood Options are, although I would think so. Maybe if you hide them among your colored pencils when you board?
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Posted in Products and Tools | Tags: circular needles, knitpicks.com, Options Interchangable, review, tools | No Comments »
