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Laura
She who experiments with a perfectly good lace pattern in the middle of a project is foolish.
She who makes more mistakes trying to repair foolish choice is careless.
She who tries it all again gets what she deserves.
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Lovely tulips in my kitchen bringing me inner peace as I start all over again.
Laura
When reading about Sarah’s sewing machine, I was struck by the comparison between sewing and knitting. I am a sometimes sewer, a so-so sewer, a sewer of squares anyway and the occasional Halloween costume. It’s really a practical thing; I love nice fabrics and refuse, absolutely refuse to spend a fortune on curtains made by someone else. I guess it’s kind of the way I’ll spend a bit of my yarn budget on cashmere but would never buy a $300 cashmere sweater.
The thing about sewing is that it’s not really all about the sewing machine. If I had to estimate the percent of time actually spent pushing the petal compared to time in preparation and finishing I would say it’s about 25%. There are yardage calculations, finding necessary fusing, ribbon or matching thread colors, reading the pattern, ironing the pattern paper, cutting the pattern out, ironing the fabric, clearing the kitchen table so you have room to work, laying out the pattern, pinning the pattern to the fabric, cutting the fabric, more pinning, winding the bobbin, ironing the seams, sewing the seams flat, trimming seams, fitting, hemming and button sewing. I use the iron at least twice as long as I use the sewing machine.
As knitters we seem to have endless patience when it comes to knitting but give us a bit of finishing and it’s all over. How we suffer through those few hours of steaming or blocking, sewing in ends and seaming all the time bemoaning the time spent not knitting our next project. What percent of time do you think is spent in knitting vs. prep and finishing … 90%? More? Although we all know better, many of us resent knitting even the stingiest of swatches firm in our belief that swatching is really important for other knitters.
Non-knitters assume knitters must be extremely patient, but surprisingly, that may not be the case. When knitting in public just this week, a woman commented to me that she would love to knit but lacked the patience. My response back was that I thought it might just be the opposite. I lacked the patience to sit with nothing to do in many of life’s waiting moments. That knitting filled a void in time and gave me an outlet for physical and mental energy. The comparison to sewing only strengthens this theory. While we're willing to spend both time and energy on our creations we quickly lose interest in the non-knitting aspects of our craft. Do sewers make better knitters because they approach the project timeline differently?
What if we were willing to spend as much time off the needles, in pre- and post-knitting, as we were on the needle? How might the quality of our finished projects improve? Would we, however, get less joy out of creating them resulting in a higher number of UFOs?
So what do you think? Are you patient or does your knitting mask a restless spirit?
Sarah
A while back, I fell in love with the Elizabeth Zimmermann hybrid sweater as knit by Brooklyntweed -- but then again, who didn't? I planned on knitting one for Jason, so I chose my yarn (Plymouth Encore worsted) in a tweedy dark brown, plus a ball of tweedy camel for the contrast-color hems. Then, like a good knitter, I took Jason's chest measurement, swatched, and did the math.
Math isn't always all it's cracked up to be. I measured Jason's chest, thinking (I thought logically) that I would want to knit the sweater body to fit his body. What's the problem there? Well, Jason has a very V-shaped torso, so his waist is quite a bit smaller than his chest. Also, I aimed for a tiny bit of ease. Can you guess where this is headed? The fact that it's not Jason wearing the sweater in the photo, but my dad, has probably clued you in.
The sweater didn't end up being ridiculously large on Jason, but it was large enough on him that it looked sloppy. To be worn well, I think this sweater should be pretty fitted. Jason suggested that I "knit it smaller" and I must say that I laughed at him mockingly. Reknit the entire sweater at a finer gauge, or with a smaller number of stitches? No way. Not when I could tell that I could solve the entire problem by changing the designated recipient!
The sweater fits my dad perfectly, and he loves it! Of the four sweaters I've given my dad, this one definitely turned out the best -- so really, my miscalculations were a stroke of luck. I've got some ideas for a new Jason sweater, so he's not hurting. (Not to mention the fact that the weather has turned considerably warmer here -- it's not like Jason would have gotten much use out of it anyway.) I'm also quite pleased to have tried out this hybrid construction: I used the instructions in Knitting Workshop, but you can also find them in Knitting Without Tears. I think this version is called the shirt-yoke version -- the saddles are knit across the back and grafted together in the middle. For the neckline, I did a contrast-color folded hem as for the sleeve cuffs and hem.
Though overall I'm quite happy with how things turned out, I have to say that I am not planning to work with this yarn again. It's a blend of 75% acrylic and 25% wool, and it just was not that pleasant to work with. Supposedly it's easy-care, but I felt like it did not hold up as well in my gentle washing process as pure wool does -- it definitely lacked wool's resiliency. Oh well, my dad is such a great knitting recipient that I will happily knit him a replacement if it wears out!
Laura
Dear Yarn Companies,
Shh, I have a secret to share with you. Knitters love yarn. I know, it's shocking, but true. We love yarn . . . we love winding it, we love looking at it, we love knitting with it in fact we love buying it. That's why we all have excess Stash (OK, so there is no such thing as excess anything having to do with yarn). So what's up with the boring color card photos almost all of you use on your web sites?
Maybe, just maybe, you could provide us with some pictures of the yarn that actually show it's beauty, the depth of it's color, it's various color ways, how it matches up with its buddy two rows down and one column to the right on the color card so we wouldn't have to guess. If we had pictures like this one we'd only fall in love sooner. Yes, we'll still need the color cards but please invest in a ball winder and a nice camera too! We'd appreciate it.
This is the new Cascade Heritage Sock yarn. It is still as yummy as I thought when I got it. Swatching away on new sock pattern ideas. We're going to start adding lots of great yarn photos on our Bella Flickr account to add to this one.
Laura
I love watching other people knit. Not only does this mean I am most likely also knitting myself, I enjoy the amazing variety of styles and techniques we each bring to the same craft. There are the major differences between western and Continental knitting, straight or circular needles, how we hold the yarn, our needles, and the little quirks in our techniques - a bit of a tug here or a pinkie sticking up in the air there. All things buried deep in our muscle memory so we are mostly unaware of our repetitive movements.
My husband's cousin is sadly just out of the hospital, again. She's had a hard time of it and so we wanted to send her something that would bring her comfort. My first thought, cashmere, in this case Karabella Boise. It's 50% cashmere and 50% fine merino making it super soft but just a bit more practical. Certain to bring joy into the life of any knitter. Our cousin is a beginner knitter and will be understandably weary for a while so I thought a simple scarf would be just the trick. This pretty brioche pattern is perfect for new knitters, its easy, there's no purling and so much more interesting than garter.
I wanted to get her started so she could jump right in. Thing is, since I was sending the needles along with the scarf, I was working with straight needles for the first time in years . . . and I kept dropping them on the floor! Literally on the floor. At the end of each row my left hand automatically let go of the empty needle it had been holding; not a problem if your knitting with circular needles but not such a great move with these bamboo needles. It was an automatic action, without conscious thought or as it turns out control. In spite of my efforts I dropped them time and time again until I changed to a wider chair where the needle would only fall on the seat. I guess that makes me an old dog.
Sarah
The yarn-purge continues. As I mentioned in my last post, you can see all of the yarns I'm selling on my Ravelry trade/sell page, here. You can either email me at [email protected] if you're interested in a yarn, or message me in Ravelry. First-come, first-served, and I'll take payment via PayPal. Priority shipping is included in the price, provided you live within the continental US.
5 balls Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran (495 yds total) shade 5, a nice teal-y blue: $30
8 balls MaggiKnits Maggi's Linen (dk, 1048 yds total) olive green: $42 SOLD
3 skeins Colinette Giotto (bulky 468 yds total) "Velvet Plum": $55
4 wound skeins Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool (dk, 768 yds total): $28 SOLD
2 wound skeins Manos de Uruguay 100% wool (aran, 270 yds total) "black cherry": $20
8 balls Rowan Felted Tweed (sport, 1528 yds total) "Bilberry": $70 SOLD
That's all for now, though I've got a few more things in the stash I'm on the fence about. If I decide to let them go, I'll let you know!
Sarah
I can't believe I'm saying this, but...I need to destash. Much as I love yarn, and love my stash, it really is getting to be a bit much. With Measure as active as he is, and with my need to spend most of my knitting time on design rather than personal projects, I just don't have time to knit all that I own. And since the purpose of yarn is to make people happy, I'm going to offer it up to those who will give it the care and attention it deserves.
You can see all of the yarns I have for sale on Ravelry; my trade/sell page is here; or scroll down -- I'll be posting some today and more later. Prices include shipping (Priority, within the US.) Email me at [email protected] if you're interested, or message me in Ravelry. I'm selling (via PayPal) on a first-come-first-served basis.
1 skein (lace, 400yds) Jade Sapphire Cashmere Silke "Oceana": $30 SOLD
10 skeins Adrienne Vittadini Nadia (aran-bulky, 710 yds total): $65 SOLD
13 balls Rowan Spray (bulky, 1131 yds total): $70
2 balls Brooks Farm yarn (dk, 1000 yards) Not sure whether it is Harmony or Duet, but I think it's Harmony. Both skeins have been wound. $50 SOLD
5 skeins Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted (worsted, 950 yds total) "Charcoal Heather": $30 SOLD
5 balls Jaeger Trinity (dk, 1085 yds total) color 444 (ecru): $20 SOLD
Laura
Did you start to knit as a child or an an adult? Maybe you picked it up again after many years away. So many of us learned as children, maybe at a grandmother's knee before taking a bit of a hiatus. Knitting in general took a bit of a break, even skipping an entire generation of women as those who knit before us celebrated freedom from knitting and darning yet another pair of socks. No second sock syndrome for them - no knitting meant cold toes.
Old country connections influenced my reentry into the knitting world. First, when living with an Irish housemate then again when I married into a German family where both my MIL and grandmother-in-law (GMIL?), Oma to her grandchildren, were both life long knitters. Intrigued I picked up my needles some mohair and never looked back.
My husband's brother and his wife are visiting this week from Philidelphia with their two daughters. The most cooperative and photogenic little angels I have ever been around. If you think this picture is cute you should see her our new Home Page with the Anny Purls Buddy Bag.
No need to pose here - the kids are completely enjoying the warm California Spring air jumping for joy on the family trampoline. The sweater, knit by my SIL, is an old Debbie Bliss pattern. A bit oversized, super easy to pull on but not at all bulky in this pretty purple Cashsoft.
So how did my mother-in-law, who raised only sons, end up with two daughter-in-laws that knit? Serendipity, fate or was it the knitting connection that brought us together?
