Time to switch ‘em up (by Debbie Purcell)

It’s that time of year again.  It is for those of us in the northern hemisphere.  It is not yet November and I’m sorry to say I had to turn the heat on in my house.

I’m somewhat frugal and try not to turn the heat on until at least November.  Yesterday I broke down and turned on the furnace because it was cold in the house.  In Boston we had our first brush with snow this past Thursday, burr!

I’m almost finished with my second market bag from the Naughty Knitterz fall knit-a-long event created by Gypsy for our Facebook group.  It was a wicked fun project for me.

The market bag pattern created by Gypsy is super easy to follow.   I made my two market bags using this red cotton yarn I found.  What a deal it was.  I paid $4 for a giant spool of yarn at my local Walmart.

It’s perfect for the bags I’ve made so far.  What else does a person do with that much red cotton yarn?  Look for a picture of my bag posted to the Facebook knit-a-long event.  I use my bag to carry the other canvas grocery bags I use.  It is perfect to then use to carry home the bread I buy.

My market bag has drawn some attention where I shop for my groceries.  One woman asked where I got the idea.

Now is the time of year I want some warm wool around my fingers so I’m knitting these Cabled Fingerless Mitts.  I found this cool pattern which I downloaded from the Pattern Share page.  I will be knitting up these gloves using the American Gothic yarn you can find on the Misfit Knitterz page.

I was apprehensive about using a yarn blend using pistachio, purple, mauve, and olive brown colors.   From the description I thought the yarn would be pretty but wasn’t sure.  I love it.

I don’t know what I was so concerned about.  All I can say is that the American Gothic yarn is absolutely beautiful.  How does Michele come up with these color blends?

I should know by now to trust any yarn she creates for Misfit Knitterz will be pretty.  This is a lady who taught us to dye yarn using Kool-Aid.

Look for an email coming soon announcing an end of the year deal on the new Misfit Yarnz page.  You should visit the page to see this funky picture slide Mike added which shows all the yarn available in an automated way.

How do you make Christmas stockings? (by Ina Gilmore)

When my friend Erika asked if I could design a Christmas stocking, I thought, “Why not?”  Why let something small—like never having knit one before—stop a knitting project? 

Deciding to start at the beginning with some basic research, I plowed into the project.  After studying Christmas stockings’ construction, I decided it wouldn’t be any harder than knitting socks.  And was pleasantly surprised to find they were easier to knit than I thought.

So just how do you make Christmas stockings?

1. Knitting Christmas stockings is very similar to knitting socks.  Yes, the original Christmas stockings were actually stockings children wore the rest of the year.  So, the overall pattern is roughly the same as a sock pattern.
2. Modern Christmas stockings tend to be larger than socks. Larger in diameter and leg length, although the foot is often knit shorter.
3. To hide the stocking stuffers from little eyes, their stockings are often knit in stockinette stitch rather than a lace pattern.  Stockinette stitch is also a traditional pattern for stockings.  Stockinette stitch even gets its name from knitting stockings.
4. Because most Christmas stockings are knit in the round, stockinette stitch is all knit stitches.  Many knitters prefer the knit stitch to the purl stitch.
5. If this is one of your first projects knit in the round, the yarn and needles are usually heavier than those used to knit socks to be worn.  This makes knitting Christmas stockings easier, especially if you’re not used to knitting with either a set of double-pointed needles or two circular needles.
6. Christmas stockings usually are knit from the top down, although there’s no reason they couldn’t be knit from the bottom up.  You might have to adjust a motif or graph if you’re knitting your sock in more than one color.
7. Because the stocking is for decoration, the heel usually looks squared and is often different than the main stocking color.
8. The toe is often the same contrasting color as the heel.
9. And left-handed knitters will be happy to note that Christmas stockings can be knit left-handed, too.  If the pattern has an asymmetrical motif, you may end up with a mirror image unless you reverse the graph.  The good news is most Christmas motifs are either symmetric or can be just as lovely as a mirror image.

So you can see that knitting Christmas stockings isn’t so complicated after all!  And they’re fun to knit, then display or give away.  There is a picture of the Victorian version of Christmas Stocking to the left on this page.  See all 3 designs on the Stocking Kit page. 

Keep knitting to your heart’s delight — or someone else’s…Ina

When you’re ready to try a Christmas stocking, check out the kits The Naughty Knitterz made from the patterns I designed.   Find all three kits at http://theknittingyarn.com/stockingkits.

Article Source: http://theknittingyarn.com/?p=2506

Choosing Yarn – Big Box vs. LYS (by Jenifer Rank)

What is the first thing to look for when choosing yarn?  Is it color, weight, feel?  Or is it the location that you purchase it from? 

There are basically three options if you want instant gratification and want to start your project immediately.  You can head to a local farmer’s market, a “big box” craft store – think JoAnn, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, etc., or a local yarn shop (LYS).  What is the difference, really?  They all have yarn and a good variety of yarn at that!

So, let’s start with the largest of the options: the craft store.  This is a fantastic option if you are trying to a project on a small budget.  A ball/skein of yarn can cost anywhere from $2.99 to $10.00 – and that’s the maximum of the range.  There are always sales, and usually coupons. 

There is a wide variety of acrylics, wools, cottons, sequins, blends, eco-friendly, baby yarns, and sock yarns to choose from.  When I started knitting about ten years ago, you could basically get either acrylic or cotton yarns from the craft stores.  The stock (and quality of that stock) has improved drastically in the last decade.  Some of the latest additions that I’ve noticed have been the “Bamboo Ewe” and “Full o’ Sheep” from Debbie Stoller’s new line of yarns. 

The craft stores are a great, economical option – especially if you are trying a new skill, like knitting in the round, or attempting to learn to crochet.  The downside of the craft stores is that chances are, there might be one or two employees there that knit or crochet, and they probably won’t be working when you are there.  It’s an “on your own” type of experience, and if you’re a novice, should the yarn your pattern calls for isn’t there; substitution might not be a possibility.  There is also the environmental factor – these goods are shipped cross country in most cases, made in other countries, and the stores do little to support your local economy.

Next up is the LYS option… awesome choice!  I’m a huge proponent of these, even though they are slightly pricier – anywhere from $7.00 all the way to $50.  The stores are usually staffed with the owner and a small, select group of employees – who have experience with the product.  They are on hand to make recommendations, substitutions, and help with pattern selection. 

Often, patterns that your LYS carries won’t be available anywhere else.  The variety of yarns might be smaller than at a big box store, but orders are usually possible and only take a few days… most also have websites or email where you can arrange an order a few days in advance. 

Many LYS also have knitting space, serve tea or coffee, and are a great place to meet and chat with other knitters and crocheters.  These shops are usually arranged by weight as opposed to by brand or type like in a craft store. 

Smaller, more intimate, and based in your community, your local LYS usually participates in things like school fundraisers or “First Friday” events, and offers special discounts on classes and yarns depending on the month or season.  These stores also tend to stock local products, and occasionally spun yarn from the employees themselves!

Finally, there is the option of the Farmer’s Market.  Talk about choosing to support directly from the source!  Many markets have farmers that also have sheep, and they will bring the wool (from sheep, alpacas, llamas!) as a side product – this is usually already spun, but you can find bags of straight wool.  One of the farmers I’ve seen even puts the name of the sheep it came from on the label. 

So when you name your sweater ‘The Maybelle Sweater’ on Ravelry, it actually came from Maybelle!  A quick word about online shopping – yes, this is a great way to go if you already know the product or are prepared to make a large purchase so that your dye lot is consistent.  Shopping via the internet – or trading too, is perfect if you are in the planning stages of a project and have time to wait.

No matter which store you choose, as craft stores are improving their selections, the LYS becomes more endangered.  Support them!  Go to a knitting night, escape from the house and go chat and sip tea and make new, knitty (or crochet-y) friends!

Yarn Review: Patons SWS – Way better than Tofu! (by Jen Chambers)

Decided to try and felt using Patons SWS yarn.  It’s 70% Wool, 30% Soy, so I thought it would probably felt up nicely.   I had a couple of skeins of SWS which stands for Soy Wool Stripes in colorway Natural Earth and thought I’d try making an iPad cover.  I don’t have an iPad, but one day I hope to and I’ll have a beautiful cover to keep it safe from scratches.  I didn’t have a pattern, but figured I just try and see if I could work it out.

I cast on 45 stitches on size 8 needles.  I knit the piece in garter stitch and it used just about the entire 2 skeins of yarn.  The yarn itself is soft and knits up nicely.  The yarn has a slightly different  “twist” then normal worsted weight yarn.  It’s not twisted as tightly and when untwisted it doesn’t consist of 4 threads like most worsted weight.  Instead it untwists into about 50 very fine “hairs” that create a fuzz when separated.  The yarn is self striping and the color changes were subtle from row to row and the pattern repeat was easy to anticipate when it came time to join the 2^nd skein of yarn.

Finished size before felting was 22.5” x 9.5”.  I sewed up the side seams and began the felting process.

I watched closely as the piece felted to make sure I didn’t go too far.  The finished measurement I was shooting for was about 9.5” x 7.5”. I felted this in the washing machine and it took 2 wash cycles to get to the measurement I wanted.

I pulled out the piece and rinsed with cold water then used the book in the picture as my drying form.  I put the book into a zip-top bag, and slid it inside the iPad cover while it dried over the next few days.

After the piece was dry, the felting process had made the finished piece quite fuzzy all over.  So I took a disposable razor and cut away the fuzz and the finished piece was exactly what I wanted.

Overall, I was very pleased with this yarn.  It’s a beautiful yarn that looks great whether you decide to use it for felting or just a normal knitting project.

This Way or That Way? (by Jen Chambers)

Ever decide you want to work your favorite texture pattern while you are working in the round?  Well I did this past weekend.  So off I go and cast on the necessary stitches and get started…first round looked great, second round, not-so-much.  Now I knew in the back of my head that I should be converting something, I really hadn’t thought it through and the second row was all mucked up.

Rip and begin again.  First row, fine.  Second row, now what?  Google!

Found a good website with detailed info on how to convert my pretty textured pattern to work in the round.  Check it out on Knitting Daily. 

The basics for converting to a knitting-in-the-round project:

• Don’t cast on the “extra” stitches your pattern might call for.   
• You’ll only be working the stitches between the * and the semi-colon. 
• If the pattern calls for a knit, then purl it.  If it calls for a purl, then knit it.

So I grabbed my pattern and wrote out the instructions for the “wrong-side” rows. 

Following the original pattern on right-side rows and my new conversions on the wrong-side rows, I jumped in again and my little knitting-in-the-round project is turning out beautifully!

Now I’m thinking of all the cute purses and sweater bodies and caps I could start creating!

Keep It Organized (by Jen Chambers)

I guess it’s because of the new year and an easy time to make decisions for change, so now is the time to organize my knitting.

I have my box of FOs (Finished Objects) that I’m now whipping into shape. I’ve never kept a knitting journal and have always wanted to. So I gathered up a notebook, plastic page protectors and found a great Knitting Journal info page at KathrynIvy.com.  I have started getting organized.  I’m taking photos of my finished projects and keeping notes as to where the patterns are found.  I’m also keeping notes any changes I made as I knitted. I’m snipping bits of the yarn used in the project and taping it to the page so I can see actual color and feel of the yarn. I think this will be very handy on the projects I end up giving away as gifts.

This is a big improvement over my old system which was a scrap of paper here and there, notes stuck in my knitting bags and notes lying on the floor in front of the couch. Now I’ll have a good record of what I’ve accomplished and how each pattern was worked.  I sure wish I’d started this notebook sooner but at least it’s happening now.

I’m also making a copy of each pattern and keeping it with the journal page. Now I’ll be able to quickly start that project again rather than searching back through 50 knitting books and magazines to find the pattern. That will save me a lot of time.

As I go through knitting books and magazines, I’m making a copy of future projects I want to tackle. I have a Ravelry list of future projects, a file folder on my computer containing patterns I’ve downloaded and now a stack of projects I’ve copied.  Now I’m eyeing my stash and thinking of ways to get that beast tamed.