Monday, March 30, 2015

New Craftsy Class is Live: Preview Trailer & 50% Discount

My new Craftsy class launches today!

Perfect Knits Every Time - Understanding Knitting Patterns is aimed at knitters who are confident with needles and yarn, but are less confident about working from patterns.

In this class I explain how to understand everything about a pattern: not just how to read the instructions and understand all those special terms and abbreviations, but also
  • where to find good patterns
  • how to identify the right pattern for your skill levels
  • how to make sure you're using the right needles and yarn for the project
  • how to understand the sizing information given, and to make sure you always choose the right size to make
  • how to read and work from charts
The goal is to help you find a pattern that's appropriate to your skill level and interests, and make sure that you're able to work through it with ease. Along the way I share tips for working from a pattern, to ensure you not only produce a beautiful finished result, but also that you have a good time doing it!

If you want a sense of what it's all about this, this video explains.

For a limited time, I'm offering you, my lovely blog readers, a special 50% discount. Register here!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Socks of Madness

I have a friend, J. J is a prolific sock knitter, and makes socks for all her family and friends and co-workers and those in need. One year, as a Christmas gift for me, she knitted a pair of socks for Norman. Yes, she gave me socks to give to my husband so I don't have to feel guilty about not knitting socks for him.

She's recently discovered something: that Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn is thicker (and warmer) than your typical sock yarn. And so Noro Silk Garden socks are not only a better gift for this miserable winter we've been having, but they're also quicker to knit.

Her rate of production has increased noticeably.

Now the other thing about J. is that because she often gifts her socks to non-knitters, she likes them to match.

I'll pause here. If you've ever used a Noro yarn of any kind, you'll know that the word "match" doesn't really apply. I adore these yarns, but the colour changes are random and unpredictable.

It's hard to make them match. Indeed, the runs of colour are long enough that I'm not even sure you can be guaranteed to get a matched pair out of a single ball, even with editing.

But my friend J., in addition to being amazingly generous and kind, is very persistent and very patient.

She's been making her Noro socks match. Sometimes, it's required two balls of the yarn.

I know, right?

As a result, she's been left with lots of bits. Small balls of colours she's edited out of the skeins.

When I  realized what she was doing, I shamelessly asked her for the leftovers.

From this...
Heck, it's free Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn. I lurrrve this stuff. You would have done the same. (I figure it's the knitting equivalent of licking the cake batter off the spatula. Don't want to waste a bit!)

So I'm making Noro Socks of Madness in the totally opposite direction.

Random two-round stripes of all those leftovers, totally unmatched. I mean, ok, the heel/cuff/toe of each sock is worked from the same colourway, but otherwise I'm just letting the colours fall where they may.


to this!
They're fun and warm and comfy and wonderful. And did I mention the yarn was free?

There is one small draw-back to this approach, however...


But even the epic weaving-of-ends will not deter me... I've already gathered enough for a second pair.






Wednesday, March 25, 2015

New(-ish) Pattern: Walking on Sunshine

I'm very happy to announce the availability of my Walking on Sunshine sock pattern. (The inspiration for the name? Well, it's a wavy cable, and a sunshiney colour... Children of the 1980s will immediately recognize it. Others will just be amused by the terribly dated video.)

This is actually an update of an old pattern I designed for the sadly-no-more VanDerRock yarns.

We've reworked it, update the pattern write up to my current standards and created easier-to-work from charts. It comes in three sizes for adult women - foot circumferences 7 1/4 (7 3/4, 8 1/4), to be worn with the usual inch or so of negative ease. The pattern is written for DPNs, magic loop or 2 circulars, as you prefer.

I've used Indigodragonfly's fantastic sock yarn, in one of her trademark crazy colours "Dawn's in Trouble, it Must Be Tuesday". (Kim always has just what I need. Last month I asked her for yarn the colour and texture of a shark, and not only could she do it, but it's a standard colourway.)


I love all-over cabled socks, and I ran the cables right down into the heel flap, too.


Need a slightly toothy but not crazy-making sock pattern to brighten up the dull days of March?


Need something to test out your new sunglasses with?


Available through the usual sources: Ravelry, Patternfish and LoveKnitting.

Fantastic photos taken by Gillian Martin, and thanks to Keri Williams for tech editing.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

New Craftsy Class & Giveaway!


I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that I have a new Craftsy class launching at the end of the month: Perfect Knits Every Time - Understanding Knitting Patterns is aimed at knitters who are confident with needles and yarn, but are less confident about working from patterns.

I encounter a lot of knitters in this boat. I remember being that way myself. In my early 20s, when I decided to try knitting again, after a few years' hiatus, I went into a yarn shop. I knew what to do with my needles and yarn, and so I asked for some help choosing a project. They pointed me in the direction of the pattern binders and told me to choose something. Up until then, I'd worked from instructions my grandmother had given me, or had made pattern-less scarves.

I was terrified. How did I know what was going to be easy? I didn't understand the first thing about reading the yarn requirements or figuring out what size to make, and I certainly didn't know what WS and RS and foll alt and even and all those other terms meant. And then there were those *... repeat from where?

(I actually remember asking the woman behind the cash desk how I would know that the hat would come out the right size, when there were all these different yarns to choose from.)

In this class I explain how to understand everything about a pattern: not just how to read the instructions and understand all those special terms and abbreviations, but also
  • where to find good patterns
  • how to identify the right pattern for your skill levels
  • how to make sure you're using the right needles and yarn for the project
  • how to understand the sizing information given, and to make sure you always choose the right size to make
  • how to read and work from charts
The goal is to help you find a pattern that's appropriate to your skill level and interests, and make sure that you're able to work through it with ease.

Along the way I share tips for working from a pattern, to ensure you not only produce a beautiful finished result, but also that you have a good time doing it!

I'm giving away a registration for the class. Enter here. The contest ends midnight Eastern Time Sunday March 29th.

Because browsing for patterns is an important part of the process... 

Sunday, March 15, 2015

In Which I Sort Of Lose It, And Find It Very Informative

I don't spend a ton of time browsing or shopping on Etsy. I have bought the odd gift there, and some craftspeople whose work I love use the site to sell their work. But otherwise I'm not a big user.

I was aware that there are knitters selling handknits on the site - and there is the concern about the now-common practice of selling products manufactured elsewhere. Abby Glassenberg has a fantastic blog post on this topic.

The other day, I tripped over an Etsy shop selling handknits (to which I won't link, for reasons that will be obvious) . I was doing some looking around, as you do, to investigate how a particular design element was being used in fingerless mitts.

My reaction to this shop was visceral. I was shocked. I was appalled. I was offended. I was angry.

The strength of my reaction took me by surprise.

It was pretty clear from the photos that all the items in the shop were worked with twisted stockinette stitch. That is, all the stitches were twisted.

Image from blog HooksandNeedles.com

Now, some patterns use twisted stitches deliberately, for an effect.  Bavarian stitch patterns use them to create beautiful mini cables and travelling stitches.

And sometimes, twisted stockinette is used to create a denser fabric, or to add bias or change the fabric in some other way.

And indeed, some knitting traditions are based on twisted stockinette - specifically Eastern Crossed. It's not like it's not a valid technique.

But it's rare. Especially in North America.

The items in this Etsy shop weren't using Bavarian stitches, and given that they're all stuff like ordinary fingerless mitts and cowls, I'm pretty sure that they weren't using twisted stockinette for a particular effect. And the name of the store and the knitters and the (admittedly little) info given lead me to believe that they're not using Eastern Crossed.

I can't know for sure, obviously, but my immediate conclusion, therefore, was that the knitters creating the items for sale in this store are knitting wrong.

That's a loaded word, absolutely. And my reaction was loaded, too.

As a knitting teacher, I am all about options. I much prefer that students know that rationale behind a particular step or stitch or method, and understand where there are options. And I like, where possible, to allow the knitter to make her own decision about those options.

But I surprised myself with the immediately of my judgement about these items. My initial reaction was not to consider or allow any options - just that they were doing it wrong.

Technically speaking, what the knitters are doing is ok, it's is just not the common North American method.

When I calmed down a bit, and was able to open my mind a bit more, I went back to look at the store again.

And I realized what was making me angry. It was that it seemed pretty clear (again, the only info I have is the store info and the item descriptions, so I will freely admit to jumping to conclusions) that the knitters weren't aware that they were doing anything unusual.

And that was it. That was the bit that I was upset about. These knitters didn't know enough about their knitting to know that what they were doing was either worth fixing or worth explaining. Indeed, I was forced to conclude they didn't know enough about their knitting to even notice - and presumably wonder why - their work didn't look like the work of knitters around them, and as shown in books and magazines and in other pictures online.

And that makes me sad. If you don't see that your work is different, and then wonder why, and then learn more, then the conclusion I come to is that you don't really care about your knitting. And of course, I'm sad about that.

But then to sell those pieces to others... that's the bit that I got angry about.

Now. Does this matter? Not really! And I know there's lots of stuff of questionable quality on Etsy. It's not like Etsy is promoting these items as the best of knitting, or anything.

But ultimately, I realized, I was angry because I didn't want anybody to be disappointed with a knit piece. I didn't want anybody to not like a knit piece. I didn't want anybody to make something substandard, that would leave people with an incorrect impression about handknits.



So yes, as Kim said, I did "flip out" a bit. Probably more than strictly necessary... But I have to say that in thinking about it, I learned a little something about myself.

(As a side-note, I also learned that it's very easy to created twisted stockinette if you're working on a loom, although again, these items were described as handknits, and some of the patterning used would be difficult to work on a loom, so I don't think that's the cause of the issue.)

What do you think? How would you feel if you saw something being sold that was "wrong"?






Thursday, March 12, 2015

Reader Mail! Questions about Blocking and Casting On and Yarn Subs

I've been getting a few comments lately, with questions in them.

Although the commenters are leaving their name, they aren't leaving any contact info.

I'll be honest, I'm not actually sure how/where to respond to them. Is the commenter expecting to find the reply in the thread on that particular post? Or should I write a new post? Any thoughts? Is there a standard protocol for this?

What I'm going to do is write the replies here, and then link to this blog post from the comment threads on the various posts. And just hope that my correspondents find them.


In my recent post on Blocking SusanJD asks about blocking swatches.
About blocking swatches for checking gauge. how do you block a swatch to get an accurate measurement of gauge?
Block the swatch the way you intend to wash the garment... if it's a machine washable yarn, machine wash it. If it's a hand-wash only yarn, handwash it and then roll in a towel to squeeze most of the moisture out. If it's going to be a big piece, like a long scarf or a one-piece seamless garment, hang the swatch to dry.

An anonymous knitter asks about yarn substitutions for Mission Falls Cotton, in the post about my "Colour Your Own Story" baby blanket.
Would love to make this blanket! Mission Falls is no longer in business, how much of each color of worsted weight yarn will I need?
Mission Falls Cotton had 85yds/78m per ball. I used one ball each of 7 colours.

And on my post about the Long Tail Cast On, Olivia asks a very good question
Great post! I'm a beginner knitter, and I love how quick and easy long tail casting on is. However, I find that after I cast on and begin the first row, I always have what I call a "yarn bridge" in between the two needles: basically a stretch of yarn that looks like a very loose stitch got caught in between the needles. Any idea on why this happens/ how to prevent it from happening? Thanks!
I assume that you're talking about when working in the round... ? If not, let me know and I'll provide more info.

It's actually pretty hard to get a really tight join when working in the round... Do the best you can, pulling the first couple of stitches of the first round as tight as you can. But then as you work around and around, you'll work over that spot many times, and it will tighten itself up. And when it's time to weave in the ends, use the tail to tidy up any residual looseness.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

This Weekend! Classes at Linda's Craftique in Port Credit

I hesitate to the use the "s" word, but I think the worst of winter might be behind us. (I'm still wearing two pairs of socks, however. I wouldn't want to tempt fate.)

The best part of turning the calendar page to March is that my teaching schedule starts to heat up again with all sorts of fun events.  And it kicks off this weekend, March 14th, with a visit to Linda's Craftique in Port Credit. I'm teaching two classes: the all important Finishing and Top Down Socks 101.

Info here.

Sunday, March 01, 2015

My favourite new thing: my necklace

For a long time, I've worn a little sterling silver crochet hook pendant on a necklace. I love it, but it's always felt a little wrong to me.

I mean, I'm a knitter.

I've wondered about a knitting equivalent, but never really found the thing.

Until this past Vogue Live in New York. Thanks to the Tsock Tsarina, I was introduced to the fabulous work of Leslie Wind. She's a jeweler, and she makes the most wonderful things for fiber artists.

I was idly looking at a nice display of shawl pins in the booth of Tsock Tsarina. And there it was. The clouds parted and the heavenly choir sang.

A hand-made sterling silver bent-tip darning needle. It's stunningly beautiful and just perfect for me. One of my favourite classes to teach is Finishing, after all. I am a loud and enthusiastic proponent of seaming.

And I regularly go on and on and on about how wonderful the bent-tip needles are.

Sold!

It's taken me a few weeks to figure out how to wear it, though. I initially just stuck it on a chain, but it hung sideways - you couldn't see the gorgeous eye. And then I tried a jump ring, but because the eye is quite deep, it didn't hang right.

Last week, when visiting my K/W posse, I asked Sue if she knew anyone who could help. She looked at me rather askance, texted Jen, and within minutes my problem was solved.

You see, Jen makes stitch markers. Lovely clever and fun little beaded stitch markers. In fun shapes.

So she just made me a custom stitch marker. A long skinny rectangle. With a bead, of course.


Now it's perfect. And I haven't taken it off.