Knit for Brains dot Net

Archive for the ‘Products and Tools’ Category

I’ve been doing a little experimentation and designing for some minor pattern ideas that involved doing some i-cords, but they required a DPN of a certain size that I didn’t own. I popped in at Joann’s with one of my trusty 40% off coupons that blessedly rain from the sky these days and browsed the needle aisle. (By the way, do sign up for their email coupons at knitpicks.com)

A set of 4 Clover DPNs in the size 11 I was looking for would set me back about 12$ before the discount. That’s a lot to spend on an experiment, I thought, especially since I don’t use DPNs for anything, having nice sets of Options nickel and acrylic Zephyr circular needles. they have a nice taper at both ends…. Wait a second.

And there I realized I have all the DPNs I need. Without a cable these neat knitpicks.com circular needles sets can double for DPNs for my i-cord needs. they are a bit short for real DPN projects, but again, I don’t need them for that. So use your Options! Whether nickel plated tips, the  Zephyr acrylics or the Harmony wood needles, make use of your resources!

Saved my coupon, saved my money. End of story.

You can easily knit past the threaded holes when they are playing left needle.

I was talking to my cousin Leigh about knitting one day and she mentioned she had not yet tried Portuguese Knitting (PK) yet, not having decided what to do about the pin/hook situation. She lives in hot, humid Tampa and doesn’t tend to wear garments that have much fabric up high where one would pin the PK pin for the yarn. So I suggested she use the little sock hanger idea, maybe from a short chain around her neck or a choker or such.

So today I tried that myself and it works great. Maybe better than a regular pin in that the chain I’m using has a set of beads on it that give it a little weight. So with the yarn on the sock hanger (you could use a j-hook or something more decorative, even make it a jewelry-like pendant) it kind of is suspended in the air, and hangs there on the weight of the beads as I knit. It seems to keep a nice, light tension on the working yarn.

I’ve seen Andrea on her DVD where you can hear the yarn vibrate almost like a guitar string as she flips it with her thumb. I get that as well, but when I knit with a hook or pin sitting in a fixed position on my shirt or vest there is no give or springiness to keep tension on the yarn in a flexible, self-adjusting way. I have to keep the work at the right distance and watch how I’m keeping my yarn tensioned with my right hand and arms. With the hook on a chain with beads for a little weight the tension is “managed” nicely for me by the springiness in the setup.

The one problem I’ve had with Portuguese style is that my knit stitches were always rather tight. I would have to deliberately pull the loops I was creating a bit more to open them up as I formed them. THIS HAS BEEN SOLVED by this trick with the hook on a weighted chain. I just did a few rounds on my speed practice swatch and find that now I must be sure I don’t give an extra pull when making a knit stitch or it’s too loose. Now my knit and purl stitches are all evenly tensioned and I can slide my stitches on my needles. I feel normal now. See #4 below on how to change the tension.

Here’s a picture of my first setup:

And it occurs to me that with a sock hanger you could use the second hook for a second color for color work knitting. And they are cheap! Not elegant, but cheap.

That said, I fashioned one that is more wearable as a pendant/necklace (see below). The possibliites are endless but the weight of the pendant is important, I find (see below). You could do one with a nice sterling j-hook and some cool beads on either side, or in anticipation of two color work, two hooks with beads keeping them apart.

There are a lot of nice j-hooks at www.silverenchantments.com and other places.

By the way, last night I was knitting with the sock hanger in the placket opening of my golf shirt. Turns out I wore the shirt to bed and woke up with the hanger still in place! I also accidentally wore it out to a restaurant. Oops. I think the pendant hooks necklace will be a lot less strange looking.

Notes added late 9-21-09:
More on the Portuguese knitting pendant idea:

A great thing about the knitting pendant is that as long as the pendant or beads are kept hanging in mid-air the tension on the yarn and your stitches is kept pretty much constant. I also find that the little bit of bounce from when you flick the yarn over the needle helps to advance the working yarn as you knit.

If you want something more elegant you can easily make a pendant or add a j-hook to something you have on a chain. I found an old rune pendant that I have and added a j-hook that I bought at Michael’s. It weighs 14 grams – I have a small digital fisherman’s scale I use for weighing balls of yarn. The beaded necklace you saw with the sock hanger on weighs 15 grams.

Here’s the one I made with a metal pendant:

IMPORTANT: You can experiment and see what weight produces the best tension for you. I tried a pendant weighing thirty grams and found it made my knit stitch tension to tight again. Twenty grams also made knit stitches tighter than I like on bamboo with acrylic yarn but might be okay on metal needles.

After more research I’ve found the critical elements are:
1. Pendant weight of about 15 grams. Mine is 14 grams.
2. Chain/cord length of 24 inches.
3. When knitting, keep the angle between the cord and your yarn between about 150 degrees and 170 degrees, meaning its closer to a flat angle as you work so the weight of the pendant can have full effect and “bounce”. This keeps your loops on your needle tips and draws the loops on the needles closed.
UPDATE:
4. If your resulting tension is too tight, as it tends to be for me on knit stitches, allow the pendant to be closer to your chest (let it hang lower so the angle is smaller, more toward 90-120 degrees). This will reduce the pull on the yarn. If your tension is too loose, keep the pendant higher in the air and this will effectively increase the pull a little to tighten up the loops. Totally adjustable tension!

On that note you might want to make a pendant set with easily removed charms or such so you can vary the weight as you experiment to find the right weight. If you don’t have a digital scale note that for reference a USA nickel weighs approximately five grams.

And here is my version for stranded knitting:

This is what I made for fair isle work.

I don’t have the exact weight of the pendant but it felt about the same as my single strand version. Worked great. Those are carnelian beads. If you make one with such beads be aware that with all the bouncing that over time the wire cord you use will wear through and the strand is likely to break, so this is not necessarily the best design unless you want to periodically restring your necklace to prevent surprises.

Added 10-13-09: And here’s a budget version you can make. I bought a pair of flipflops to day and they came on this plastic clip. It could be used in a similar way. Just hang it on a chain or string with a loop to keep it centered. You will need to add some weight though, as this is very light. Here’s the pic:

Flip-flop sandal clip from store.

(May I suggest you subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog as often update it with new discoveries, as I have above in this post about the Portuguese knitting pendant.)

- Eric

You may remember I bought some cheap knitting needles from China and was going to send them back. About half of them were so dull I literally could not knit with them. Well, I kept dragging my feet, not wanting to spend about 20.00 USD to send them back, wondering if they would really be refunded as promised, and finally decided to just try and sharpen the dull ones.

It turned out to be really easy to sharpen them with a sanding disk on my drill, the polish and buff the tips with fine steel wool. Now they are exactly as sharp as I prefer my needles, which is sharper than even good bamboo needles come, and I am happily knitting away at a knitting needle case with a pair of them.

If you do this – many a handy guy will be tempted – I just used the standard sanding disk that came with the disk for my hand drill. I kept the needle at a sharp angle, almost parallel with the surface, and made sure the new tip had the proper taper of about an inch. When it was right, I refined the tip on a piece of sandpaper held in my hand. Then I buffed the sanded taper with 00 steel wool and finally polished it with 0000 extra fine steel wool.

I don’t think a pencil sharpener will work for this as they are meant for soft pine wood and bamboo is hard. Power tools to the rescue!

UPDATE: After some use I found that the tips still had remnant groves from the sanding with the disk, and so the steel wool was not enough to smooth them out. So I took some 138 grit sandpaper and twisted the tips in that for a bit and found it smoothed them out great. I had to readjust the tips again as they got sharper in this process, but it shows you can sharpen and dull up your bamboo tips as you need.

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.

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

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?

Knitpicks.com just released their new Options Zephyr Acrylic Interchangeable circular needles. They are CLEAR and light and slightly flexible, and they say they are allowed on airplanes. You may have heard of TSA agents confiscating knitting needles. Here’s what the TSA web site had on it today about traveling with you pointy things:

Transporting Knitting Needles & Needlepoint: Knitting needles are permitted in your carry-on baggage or checked baggage.  However, there is a possibility that the needles can be perceived as a possible weapon by one of our Security Officers.  Our Security Officers have the authority to determine if an item could be used as a weapon and may not allow said item to pass through security.  We recommend the following when bringing knitting needles on an airplane:

• Circular knitting needles are recommended to be less than 31 inches in total length
• We recommend that the needles be made of bamboo or plastic (Not Metal)
• Scissors must have blunt points
• In case a Security Officer does not allow your knitting tools through security it is recommended that you carry a self addressed envelope so that you can mail your tools back to yourself as opposed to surrendering them at the security check point.

Most of the items needed to pursue a Needlepoint project are permitted in your carry-on baggage or checked baggage with the exception of circular thread cutters or any cutter with a blade contained inside.  These items cannot be taken through a security checkpoint. They must go in your checked baggage.

So remember that padded postage paid envelope for your stuff if you can’t get your deadly needlecraft on the aircraft. The Zephyrs may be easier to pass, but don’t it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you are going to be away for a while you might send your knitting tools ahead by UPS or such, then ship it back.

Here are the new needles:

In the Ravelry SMACK (Straight Men Also Crochet and Knit) forum there is a thread on air travel with knitting. Some airlines and countries are very strict, such as Australia and their airline Quantas. Canada is supposedly very easy.

And some posters said they have even prepared pencils to knit with by coating the tips with clear nail polish. Others have successfully got onboard with bamboo dpns, stashing them among  a few pens and pencils.

Note: also be aware that if you have large metal stitch holders you may not get them on board. Find an alternative.

What to buy? Everything? No. As fun as it is to buy new toys it’s best to learn some things first. I’ve found from my first explorations that there are ideal collections of needles for knitting. You will read that some yarn is more slippery so it is better to use bamboo with that kind, and other yarns are better on metal or other slick needles. Here’s my discoveries as I learned to knit.

At first I started with a set of aluminum needles from Walmart and the written instructions. I found it very frustrating trying to control the yarn on the slippery metal needles but that may have been, and most likely was, due to my choice of knitting method and lack of proper application. I almost quit a few times because of how slippery it was, and as I mentioned before, I came to feel like I needed to be an octopus to knit.

It was recommended in various places that bamboo is better for the beginner, but in my opinion maybe not. Bamboo does give you more control but it can also get a bit frustrating. One thing is that the points are duller, sometimes too dull, depending on the brand, and that can make it a bit harder to catch the yarn and pull your loops through your loops. If you are handy you can sharpen the tips a bit – be sure you keep a good taper. I haven’t tried this yet, but will soon.

Point Sharpness Varies. Top to bottom and all size 8 US: Clover bamboo, cheap bamboo, aluminum, Options Nickel-plated.

Another thing is that you may not like the lack of slipperiness with the yarns you will tend to use. It’s best to reserve bamboo for slippery yarns. If you want to have some around, you may not want to have them be your only set. Try some first, then buy more if you like them. Go to a real yarn store and learn about the yarns that will be better on bamboo and decide if you will ever really want to use it. Alternately, you may want to buy the bamboo and then make the slicker with polishing or even clear coating. (If you intend to clear coat with something like urethane or whatever, be aware some bamboo has been waxed and that can interfere with extra coatings.)

On my current exercise, which is the sweater sampler from The Sweater Workshop book, I started with a set of 16 inch bamboo circulars and didn’t like the friction of the needle so I used the 0000 super fine steel wool to polish them and I like the new surface better. It has some bite but the yarn slides better. This may be a good middle ground for you, and I will give any bamboo units I buy the same treatment.

Super Fine steel wool, marked 0000, is for polishing. It will remove any clear coat on the bamboo.

One reason to get bamboo is that you can get a set of fifteen sizes for about $25 on amazon.com and elsewhere. This is a great buy, and handy if you feel like having everything you need available in case you need to change needle size to adjust your gauge result for a project. Then you don’t have to run out trying to find what you want. If you don’t like the points you can, again, sharpen them.

By the way, sharpening should not be attempted with a blade. You will want a powered sander disk or belt. Ideally, I would use a stationary belt sander to get an even and quick taper, then fix the point the way you like it. Finish with 00 (double zero) steel wool and then 0000 superfine steel wool for your final shine – or whatever process it takes to get it smooth. If you have a buffing wheel you could use that but don’t use any compound.

BUT, as you will read below, you may find it more economical to get something like the Options wood or nickel circulars as they can be dual purpose, instead of spending money on a set of bamboo you may have to labor over to sharpen or polish if you aren’t totally satisfied with them. There are  other brands of interchangeable circular needles. I chose the Options based on a very positive review and I’m very happy with them. Read on.

I liked bamboo at first but now that I have learned to control the yarn I don’t feel much need for its lack of slipperiness. When I got my new set of Options Nickel-plated interchangeable circulars – which you can use as “straight” needles by capping the cable with the “button” end that comes with it – I fell in love with the slickness. It’s like knitting on glass. Very sexy.

About controlling the yarn; at first I tried to learn regular continental and then English knitting but had trouble. I was very pleased with I found Portuguese knitting as yarn control is totally handled by the yarn around the neck or around a pin on your left shoulder. Then I discovered Eastern European knitting and I really like both the speed and yarn handing. I use both, depending on the project. I find Portuguese knitting is a bit better for bulky yarns – or maybe I just need more practice.

So on to the rest of the needle commentary. I mentioned my nice nickel Options set. I got them from knitpicks.com, the manufacturer and seemingly the only source. They were under $60 for the set, which comes with pairs of points for sized 4 through 11 and two pairs of cables to make two 20 and two 34 inch circulars. They come in a handy-sized bag to protect them from the cat and keep various parts and tools together.

Options Interchangeable come in a handy bag to keep everything together.

Like I said, you can cap the two cables and make each point into a one-ended knitting needle that is about 15 inches long. Or you can put both points on one cable and just turn your work like you normally would without joining to knit in the round. Voilá, you have a nice set of “straight” metal knitting needles as well as a set of metal circular needles. I’m going to use these for a flat scarf that is project #2 coming up, and also for a sweater that will be knit in the round. You can also get longer cables and also points up to size US 15, all purchased separately for a reasonable price. And of course if you prefer a bit more friction you can try the wooden version, which is rather colorful as well. I haven’t tried them so I can’t testify to what they are like but I’ve heard people like them plenty.

A single Options tip set up for use as a single pointed "straight" needle.

So, that handles all your circular and straight needle needs. What about smaller sizes? Usually this is for things like fine lace and socks. I don’t know a thing about lace, so you will want to read elsewhere for that. Socks are what got me into knitting – no, I haven’t started a set yet but I bought all I need – so I will address that part.

What I bought for socks is based on a middle of the road approach. Those pointy double pointed needles (dpns) look kind of scary, like massaging a hedgehog, so for starters I’m going to try the magic loop method, which recommends a 40 inch circular needle. I got Addi Turbo needles in nickel plate  #2 US, as well as a 47 inch one in case I decide to knit two socks at once on separate needles, and some people suggest having the circular needles of differing lengths so you can tell them apart in case that is ever a challenge. That would depend on your pattern and where you are in it.

Socks and sweater sleeves and sometimes sweater collars and parts of hats and other stuff are often done on dpns. You can use circulars on these parts but at some lengths the cable may become an obstacle to wrestle with. Usually the pattern will suggest a 16 inch circular, which is pretty tight but not really hard to work with. I don’t own any in metal yet. They are pretty expensive, like 15.00 and up. You can also get metal in 12 inches. I bought a set of bamboo at 16 inches for $25 off amazon but as I said, I have to polish them with the 0000 steel wool to be happy with the feel of the bamboo on the yarn I’m using.

So for such applications it may be a good idea to get some dpns just in case.  Recommendations I’ve found are to use bamboo or wood as they are less likely to slip out of your stitches, especially if you make a sudden move, like to free up your yarn supply. I don’t like the thought of trying to put stitches back on a needle so I’m going to get a set of bamboo. They come in various lengths so you will want to get a set that will suit your most likely projects. The set I found with five pieces is $20 now on amazon.com. I will probably get a set that are 8 inches long. Better too long than too short.

Another note on dpns: they come in sets of 4 and 5 and sometimes 6. You knit with all but one in loops and knit onto the empty one. You may prefer to own a set of 5 so you can have all your stitches split between front and back, especially for socks and if you are working with an even number of stitches, or if your stitches are divisible by three you can divide them on three needles and knit with the fourth.

So, here’s the summary:

I got my Options in nickel because I like the slickness and can use them as circulars or straights.

I found bamboo frustrating due to non-sharp tips and also higher friction before buffing with steel wool, and don’t think I will have much need for the friction for the yarn I’m likely to use. If you discover you want to use slippery yarns then get a set of bamboo straights for $25 off amazon.com or better yet, maybe a set of the wood Options Interchangeable Circulars which can be, again, be used as circulars or straights.

If you are nervous about knitting on slippery metal, get some expert help on yarn control and look into Eastern European or Portuguese knitting. And practice. You get better.

I bought 40 inch and a 47 inch #2 US Addi Turbos for socks for when I get around to that. Again, I like the metal.

I am ordering a set of 8 inch bamboo dpns for other uses in case I need them, again, so the needles will be less likely to slip out of my work.

I hope all this is of use to you. Nothing like the voice of a little experience, and that’s what I have – a voice and a little experience. If you have anything to add please leave a comment.

And here’s Max’s latest picture as official Knitty Kitty:

"Yarn makes a nice pillow. Wa-wa!"

I know that’s backwards, but I couldn’t resist.

I got my ball winder from knitpics.com the other day and it’s pretty cool. Very affordable at just 19.99. I didn’t have any skeins I wanted to ball up yet so I turned its fury on a scarf I crocheted back in May before I decided to get into knitting. It was the bulky Wool-ease in a sort of oatmeal color. The scarf didn’t excite me, just done in alternating rows of dc done in the back loop. It had an interesting accordion like texture but seeing it was 105 degrees outside I was not too attached to it. I decided to canibalize it for a cossack hat and so threw it to the hungry ball winder.

The top of the winder has a sort of notch to hold the start of the yarn but it’s not cut right for a bulky yarn. Once I got it started it made short work of the scarf. I held it to the floor with a foot and just wound away. The ball winder is designed to put more distance between the turns of the yarn than I would have thought. As you can see in the picture it’s not closely wound. So the ball was bigger than perhaps necessary, and being bulky yarn it turned into a ball that was a little too large for the winder to finish.

It was crochet; it had to be destroyed.

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So now I have a very cool ball of yarn to turn “reinyarnate” into a hat. (Read about technique below…)

Proof of Reinyarnation

There is a bit of a technique to using a ball winder. One thing I find is that if I don’t control the incoming yarn it will flop about a lot and the ball will be kind of loose and larger when done. So what I do is take a small piece of fabric and hold it loosely around the strand of yarn so that it keeps a very mild tension on the line. This produces a somewhat smaller ball and deters the yarn from tangling in the wire yarn guide.

Another thing I do is put the source skein or ball in a shoebox or paper bag on the floor. Backing up a bit: I clamp my ball winder to the back of a chair and put the source yarn on the floor below it. So with the source in a bag or box it won’t travel all over the room.

And sometimes I will put the source on a vertical paper towel holder if I can get the rod through the ball/skein easily. This helps more with oblong skeins you buy at craft stores as when they are being unwound they can flop about a lot in the bag or box. Don’t expect them to actually turn on the towel holder, and at a certain point you will have to deal with the last bit of yarn flopping about oddly anyway.

I find the ball winder very handy, and use it to rewind balls for projects that I’m restarting, or when I’m done with part of a ball, as the ball becomes squishy when you pull from the center and it’s nice to put it back in good order for storage or further use. And you can in many cases, of course, rewind and rip out at the same time, straight back to the ball.

If you have pet, beware of leaving your needles out where they can get to them. I’ve discovered that cats are crazy about bamboo needles. They are like cat nip to them. I might as well be knitting with mice tied to my needles for all the attention it gets.

I mentioned this to to someone who works at the Gail Knits store and she said yes, beware of mixing cats or dogs and non-metal needles. My cat Max is all over me when I have bamboo out. The first hint was when I was first learning to knit and I was digging through a bag of stuff and pulled out a Clover circular that had a small swatch of practice knitting on it and set it down on the carpet.

I left the room for about 2 minutes, sitting at my computer to look up something, when Max comes proudly marching in with his prey: dragging the swatch still on the bamboo circular, trailing the yarn all the way back from my bedroom, through the living room to the dining room where the ball of yarn lay abandoned. I just laughed my head off, and he was so happy with his prize. So I bound off and cut off the swatch for him and rescued the needles for myself.

Here he is mauling his prize:

Max and his prey

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Then the other day I was starting my sampler for the Sweater Workshop book on the same Clover #8×16″ and he was right there, as the picture below shows.

A not-very-subtle interest...

So have to be studious about hiding my non-metal needles and crochet hooks, and Options cables and Zephyr tips when I am away for a moment or more.