Author Archive
Needle Tip: Circular Knitting Needles with Clear Tubing Cables
February 5, 2011 | 
Author A couple years ago I bought a bunch of bamboo needles direct from China, which you may have read here I had to sharpen as they were sloppily made. I got about 45 needles for about $40 US. Among these were two sets of circular knitting needles in two lengths, but I did like them because the clear vinyl tubing cables were sticky and the yarn would not slide on them easily.
Just solved that problem. I needed an unoccupied set of #3 us needles for a necktie I’m working on and grabbed one of these in desperation. Then it occurred to me to put a little oil from my forehead on the cable to occupy the tackiness with some molecules other than my yarn. It worked! I put on just a tiny bit and rubbed my fingers back and forth until they moved smoothly, and now as I knit the yarn doesn’t drag on the tubing. It doesn’t feel oily either.
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What is Wrong with Cascade 220? I’ll Tell Ya.
You hear a lot of people talking about using Cascade 220 superwash wool. It comes in a lot of colors, is relatively affordable. 
But that’s all there is to recommend it. It’s very blah yarn. The wonderful, natural wool characteristics have been ripped from these sad fibers and what you have is lifeless, convenient yarn.
I bought three balls of slightly deep red Cascade 220 when I first got into knitting a year or two ago. I was going to make myself a neat scarf. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Reviews | 
Tags: alpaca, cascade, cascade 220, cascade 220 review, cascade yarn, good wool yarn, superwash, superwash wool, what is good yarn, wool, yarn | 
No Comments »
This May Be Why Knitting is Relaxing
We all know knitting is a great way to relax (except when you mess up or can’t figure out the pattern or you have to rip it all out AGAIN or ….). I know from my own experience I find myself sighing in relief after just a couple minutes of knitting. Well, scientists at the Institute for Knitting Research and Technology – just kidding, that doesn’t exist (yet). The following article at psychologytoday.com gives great insight into the different modes of the mind, and I believe the element of Read the rest of this entry »
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Solving Knitter’s Block: When Nothing Will Let You Knit It.
I stopped by Gail Knits, the LYS near my home looking for inspiration. I just finished by Christmas gift blitz of six scarves and two shawls in three weeks (all on superbulky yarn and or large needles, so don’t be that amazed) and want to knit something for myself. I’ve been eyeing a leaf lace pattern for a scarf, but try and try again I keep messing up, not liking the yarn, not liking the pattern, wanting to change the pattern and not getting it right, and ripping everything out about ten times by now. Something was wrong. I had what I’ll call “knitter’s block”. Nothing would cooperate: not my hands, not the yarn, not the pattern. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in The Knitting Experience | Tags: acrylic, acrylic yarn, alpaca, alpaca scarf, artificial yarn, being real, cascade yarn, chicken nuggets, christmas gifts, dying wool, eco alpaca, eco duo, fake yarn, Gail Knits, hand spun yarn, knitter's block, Knitting, knitting lace, lace, lace leaf pattern, las vegas, mdf, natural dyes, plastic flowers, real friends, real purpose, reversible cable scarf, reversible scarf, scarf, single ply yarn, vinyl flooring, wool blend, wool yarn, yarn | No Comments »
Update for the Leafy Lace Scarf
I’ve been doing another of that great scarf pattern but I’m starting to realize I don’t like the look of the double decrease, which is supposed to mirror the sk2p (slip one, knit two together, pass slipped stitch over). It doesn’t look as nicely defined as the sk2p. I’m going to try k3tog instead, which is supposed to lean right, as well as my own concoction: k2, slip new loop back to left, pass next unworked loop to the right and drop off left needle, then slip new loop back to the right. I haven’t had time to try this yet, but wanted to post it here in case you are trying the pattern and want to see if it looks better before I can get back to you on it. Happy Knitting….
By the way, I’m also adding a 2+2 cable crossover in the middle for added vine effects.
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Posted in Techniques | Tags: double decrease, knit three together, Knitting, knitting decreases, lace, lace leaves, lace pattern, lace scarf, sk2p | No Comments »
Don’t Hurt Your Wrists: Large Needles and Portuguese Knitting Caution
Hey there. I just wanted to let you know what I’m finding out as I work on a scarf using super bulky yarn on US 15 metal needles. The taper on the tips of these needles is kind of long, and what I’m finding is that it has me moving my hand sideways at the wrist in both directions more than on smaller needles, resulting in significant soreness in short order. I think it’s in part due to using the Portuguese style of knitting combined with these big needles.
It would take a lot of attention to make myself not do that movement. I even restarted the scarf on #13 needles in metal but they are also long tapered. My Knitpicks circulars have a shorter taper and were better, but still had me worried. So I’m using my bamboo 13s which have an ever shorter taper – altered by me last year – and paying attention. I also needed the longer needles as it was hard to do the cables fast on the circulars.
It may be that I’m a bit knitted out after xmas, having done five scarves and two shawls. I wasn’t sore when I finished them, but now I’m getting sore. Be careful and don’t think you can tough it out. If you get sore, give it a rest. I know this may seem insane, but you do not have to knit all the time.
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Knit Better Ribbing When Designing Projects
I almost always try to modify patterns or design my own stuff. I can rarely do something as designed, and when it comes to knit ribbing my experience is that where it asks for p1k1 ribbing I know that will just not pull in very tightly. I’m currently looking for a pattern for fingerless hand warmers things and I want them to hug my hands, or the hands of whomever I’m making them for. That way sizing is not such an issue. They size themselves.
One pattern I found has some nice cables along the wrist and at the knuckles but nothing on the back of the hands, and the whole thing is done in p1k4 ribbing, which doesn’t make sense to me either. So if I use that one I will certainly reverse the locations of the cabling and switch it to p2k2 ribbing at the wrist and knuckles. I will probably change the cables to two columns crossing instead of four, or maybe find a way to transition from the ribbing to four column cables.
So be brave and smart. Try swatches of the p1k1 and p2k2 ribbing and you will see the difference.
By the way, I know ribbing can be a bother in English or Continental knitting styles, but it’s pretty easy in Portuguese knitting style. Portuguese knitting is pretty easy to learn and I always use it for ribbing or any pattern that has a mix of purls and knits. There are a few tricks, which I write about on this blog, so check it out.
Related articles
- Projects ” How-To’s ” Quick Knit Wrist Warmers (cutoutandkeep.net)
- Projects ” Creations ” Fingerless Mittens (cutoutandkeep.net)
- A Bunch of Scarves, Some Cable Knit, and a Shawl (knitforbrains.net)
- Fixing and Preventing Ladders after Cables (knitforbrains.net)
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Fixing and Preventing Ladders after Cables
When I was working on a cable knit hat for my brother-in-law for this Christmas I was pleased that I found a way to defeat the dreaded laddering one can get when switching to purl stitches after knitting a cable. I looked on the web for solutions but while what I found were good, they didn’t cut it for me. http://techknitting.blogspot.com/ is brilliant for so many things but I didn’t like the answers.
The two-part solution is pretty easy.
Part one is that when you finish the last knit stitch before doing a purl be sure you pull the knit stitch tight. This will reduce the extra yarn that can end up in a ladder next to the cable. You have to be mindful to do this each time.
Part two: As you are knit stitching across a cable set you will find that the last loop you are going to knit in in the set is pretty loose. Knit it, then when you go to purl the next stitch you will probably see a big ladder forming. Too much yarn in there! So what you do is this: with your working needle pull that un-worked loop on the left needle a bit to pull the ladder yarn up into the loop. Purl the stitch and move it off the left needle.
Now, be careful not to pull your needles apart too much or you will defeat the solution. Next, you probably have another purl stitch coming. If so, or even if not, again pull some of that extra yarn from the last purl you did into the next loop before you purl it. What you are doing is redistributing the wealth of yarn that was ending up as ladders. If you have another purl or knit coming, do the same, but pull less yarn across. With practice these corrections will look nice.
You can also do this if you look back across your recently stitched row. Check for ladders you missed on this round or row and use a third needle to move the extra yarn out of the ladders and into the surrounding stitches.
This technique is pretty easy and doesn’t require any funny stitches. I tried twisting the purl stitches after a cable but that didn’t help enough. You will find other suggestions on the web, but this is the simplest that I’ve come up with and very effective. I hope it works for you.
Related articles
- The Secret of Correct Yarn-overs in Portuguese Knitting (knitforbrains.net)
- Knitting Backwards Without Twisting Stitches (knitforbrains.net)
- Knit A Really Fast Scarf for a Christmas Gift (knitforbrains.net)
- Better Short Row Ideas (knitforbrains.net)
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A Bunch of Scarves, Some Cable Knit, and a Shawl
Like so many of us I am finishing a few gifts I started late for Christmas. I didn’t really get the knitting bug for gifts until a week into December and managed to bang out four scarves and a shawl in time to ship and arrive before the 25th.
I did a soft, girly, garter stitch scarf for my grand-niece Rei in Vermont. She is all of 7 years old and just the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. The scarf is made with some downy mini-bouclee yarn that is mostly white with a shifting of colors over it in pink, blue and green. No pic, sorry.
I made a simple shawl for my mom, who is all of 89 years old. You may know how it is when the right colors of yarn just announce themselves, “I’m for her” and you don’t have to think. I did this one in Homespun Tudor, which is a nice light mix of soft greens, aqua, lavender, gold, and rose. It was perfect for her. Just another garter stitch piece because I had to mail it asap. I was able to finish it in three days, with a total of 8900 stitches or so. I put a crochet chain fringe on it that I tend to favor for such things, as it looks really nice, but you also can’t do a cut fringe in this yarn as it just frizzes out.
Here’s a pic of Mom looking at me on the TV as we were doing our now annual Google video Christmas chat. I highly recommend it. This is the second year we’ve done it and Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Projects | Tags: black scarf, cable knit, cable knit scarf, cables, Casting on (knitting), Christmas, Christmas gift, Crafts, garter stitch scarf, garter stitch shawl, Google video chat, Jimmy Beans, Knitting, Knitting needle, leaf lace pattern, oatmeal yarn, piano scarf, scarf, shawl, Thick and Quick, Vermont, yarn | No Comments »
Knit A Scarf – Fast!
I made this scarf recently for a gift and it turned out great. This is a squishy, loose-knit scarf and the pattern is reversible, and looks good for a man or woman depending on the color you use. You may be able to finish it in three hours or less.
There is another, newer free pattern with a hat here http://knitforbrains.net/patterns/fast-knit-manly-geometric-hat-and-scarf-but-she-likes-it-too-free-pattern/ and a Faux Cable hat here http://knitforbrains.net/?p=960
By the way, sorry I haven’t posted much lately here. I grew a handlebar moustache this summer (2010) and have been doing a lot of blogging for that at www.handlebarmoustachelife.com. Take a look.
For this scarf use just one skein of Lion Brand Thick and Quick Yarn or another yarn just as thick and long (108 yards or 98 meters) – or even multiple strands of Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Arts, Casting on (knitting), christmas gift idea, Crafts, dragon, dragon scale, dragon scale knitting pattern, dragon scale scarf, easy scarf pattern, knit a scarf, knit a scarf fast, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, knitting pattern, Lion Brand, Pattern, Portuguese Knitting, scarf, Wool-ease, yarn | No Comments »
