Skeery Knits: Techniques That Terrify...Let's Discuss

My good buddy Sean and I first "met" in cyberspace and discovered that we had a string of random things in common - Florida, knitting, similar page protectors for our patterns and fasting for better health. You can check the archives for more on any of those topics, but I'm including this disjointed intro to say that our stars aligned yet again today. I was just thinking this morning that we're due for another go 'round our discussion table, and there he is in the comments saying the very same thing. Thanks for the nudge Sean!

This discussion is one that I've wanted to open for some time, and to break tradition a little I will include my own answers within the call for responses. I've been spitting out FOs left and right lately (and there now, I've just jinxed that by writing it...ah well). Each of those finished objects is the product of thousands of stitches and anywhere from one to 5 different techniques. In some cases, these are things I had tackled before (cables, shaping, picking up stitches, Turning A Heel.); and in others, the techniques were new to me, and therefore quite daunting (magic loop knitting, 2 socks on 2 circulars). But in all cases, I knew that there were only a few ways to skin the cat, if you will, and without pressing ahead with a specific technique, the project just would not be finished. Believe me when I tell you that the thought of some of these steps gave me great pause. In fact, something as simple as mattress stitch seaming up my Central Park Hoodie caused me to neglect it for weeks. And don't get me started on what picking up over 300 stitches evenly did for my confidence (shudder). For my Sangria Socks, I snapped a dpn and cursed another pair of socks tying up my circulars before I finally buckled down and googled "Magic Loop" to get the pair finished on a spare needle. Why so afraid of these things? Well, they were either unfamiliar to me, or they had very negative associations based on what I had heard or read from other knitters.





Speaking of other knitters...there is much talk of knitting stardom around our community, and what constitutes a really good knitter. Whether someone is or isn't a Knitter with a capital "K" gets tossed about quite a bit. And let's face it, we all measure how "good" a knitter is by what techniques they have been willing to try, and by how well those attempts come out. Now, allow me to digress for a minute - the amount of courage one has does not always directly equate to the measure of one's skill. To see that someone has braved Fair Isle, or a moebius, doesn't necessarily mean they are a better knitter. So to put such a knitter above yourself based on their courage to try such things doesn't seem quite right to me. I think learning to cast-on at all, and then sticking with it is about the height of knit bravery, because really every other thing is just a product of that, right? Hmmm..that may well be a discussion for another day. I will concede that if you have tried or are willing to give certain knit tricks a go, then you do deserve the admiration you get when it works. Hopefully, as a group, we can agree to let those examples inspire us.



But we're not talking inspiration today folks, we're talking fear.
I assume you all traverse the web at least as much as I do, and if you haunt the library and bookstore craft sections as I do, then you've probably seen just about every technique out there. Which of them just gives you the heebeejeebees? Is it mitered squares? How about (GASP!) steeking, or shadow knitting? Have you done a sock yet? What about cabling without the use of a cable needle? Is it tools that get you shook? Are you afraid to branch out in the round by trying those new fangled circular needles? Maybe you throw (English) and you've considered trying to pick (Continental), but haven't made the switch. And what about yarn and pattern types?! Does the thought of lace knitting with cobweb weight yarn on size 0000 needles just make you dizzy? (That one makes me a bit lightheaded I must say)

You'll notice I intentionally didn't link to many of these techniques I've mentioned and that's because (a) I trust your research skills, and (b) I would not want to bias your answers here by linking to some page/example that actually makes you afraid to try something you were not daunted by before. However, please feel free to share your own links with the group - links that address the dreaded techniques you see listed by others, or those that show examples of your own unconquered skill. That way we can better appreciate what makes you quiver, or we can find something to add to our own list of Techniques to Tackle.



So, Share with the group...we promise we won't laugh. If anything we'll more likely say things like "Mmm hmmm, I know that's right." Let's name the enemy, call it out and face it together! Just think - this could be the start or the expansion of your knitting arsenal. Pull up a chair, and let's discuss...when it comes to your knitting,

What techniques terrify you?

May I Present: The Hot Lava Cardigan

You have been patient dearest reader, and I will make you wait no longer.
After about 3 weeks of knitting on and off, plus 1 full day of blocking, my Hot Lava Cardigan made its debut in our photo studio yard on Friday.

Pattern: Hot Lava Cardigan by Blue Alvarez Designs
Needle: US Size 10 ½ (for collar) and 11 for sleeves and body
Started: May 15, 2007 / Finished: June 4, 2007

If you’ve perused my sidebar lists, you’ll see that this is one of the items on my “I Can’t Wait to Make These” list. I couldn’t add it to my progress bar list of course, because that would have spoiled the surprise. This shrug (it doesn’t really strike me as a cardigan) has been on my wish list for more than a year. It’s actually one of the first projects I downloaded from the web and stashed away to make. The only delay all this time has been to find just the right yarn – enter Noro Iro.

Yarn: 5 skeins Noro Iro, Color # 43?
Purchased at Knit NY in January 2007
Retail ~ $19.99 per skein (I won yarn money in Atlantic City – hee hee)

Noro’s Self-striping blended yarn is 75% wool and 25% silk, and if you’ve ever felt Kureyon or some of the other Noro yarns, you know that that little bit of silk can make the difference between “mmmmmm” and “yes, it’s a gorgeous colorway, now get it off my skin!!”. But I digress.

This yarn was mostly great to work with. I have to qualify that because the fiber itself was wonderful. There wasn’t too much slubbiness so my gauge stayed on track most of the way through. And the colors flow well into each other. That is until you come across a knot. And in 5 skeins of this, I came across at minimum 3 knots per skein. Uh huh. You know what that can mean for a sweater knit in the round that you’re cruising along with – unexpected and unwanted stops and starts.

Two things about the knots: On the one hand, it didn’t allow me to predict color changes in the striping as I would have liked. But I gave up a notion of perfectly symmetrical sleeves and fronts right from the beginning, so that was fine. On the other hand, coming across my first knot jolted my memory about using a felted join. Because these are all natural fibers, I was able to undo the knots, wet the two ends of the yarn and rub them together to felt them – then I just kept knitting away. Well, the major triumph here of course is that I used this SAME technique for joining a new ball of the yarn. And what does that mean? I only had THREE ends to weave in when I was all done. Beauty!

Sleeves knit using the Magic Loop method (very clear instructions!)
Shoulders/shrug knit back and forth on 24” circular
Back and front of the bolero section knit in the round on two 24” circulars

The other technique this sweater allowed me to really put to the test is blocking. It would have been difficult to show this in before and after shots, but trust me when I tell you that the shrug part of this was cutting off circulation and airways. After I blocked it, I could breath and smile and love it again. If you make this, you'll definitely want to try it on as you go - the shrug needs to fit well across your back, and the bolero section needs enough increases to fit around your back and curve just right toward to front to avoid curling. Knit and learn darlings, knit and learn!

That's all the news that's fit to print. If you're considering this project, do let me know!

P.S. I shared some of your compliments with hubby regarding the photos of my CPH, let’s just say he was VERY happy to get out in the yard and snap pictures of this project yesterday. Thanks you guys!!

Tidbits

The mystery knit is now complete and will be blocked in the next couple of days, then pictures will soon follow. I'm about 80% happy with this one, but that should change if the blocking affects the fit the way I'm hoping it will. Much of my glee comes with having used 655 yards up from the stash and completed it in under a month!



I had a mini crisis moment last night when I nearly ran out of yarn for the bind off, but then the Yarn Harlot came to my rescue (an old post, but OH SO valuable). I didn't end up using this technique because I frogged a few rows to salvage some yarn (grrr). But knowing that this was available if I ran out mid-way kept me sane.



The tidbit that's left.


Once I show you the mystery knit modeled, I will try to remember to cover some key points:

- Pattern/Technique Specifics (the wooly details)
- Spit felting (sounds so ick, but works like a charm - less ends to weave in!)
- Manhandling wool - Do blocked knits really have more fun? (or at least get more wear?)




In the mean time, pull up a chair at the table, the discussion is going quite well and will only get better once you show up.

Altercraft

The sewing bug bit me SO HARD this morning it was downright scary. I'm not a seamstress by any stretch, but I do admire the usefulness of sewing and I have friends who are superb at it, and they always inspire me to at least give it a try.

My machine is from the 1940's and the only thing I know how to do right now is make straight lines of stitches. That was all I neededto make these next few projects though.

Oh! I'm on a recycling track lately too, not to mention that and I'm determined that all hand made productions from this household must be made with materials that already reside here (quite comfortably so and usually undisturbed).

(all photos enlarge when clicked)

A toddler sized skirt made with material from a queen sized (bed) skirt





Easy kid pants (for baby up to children's size 7 ) made with tutorials found here and here. I'm sad to say that these were actually too narrow for Mizan to wear - seems I didn't account for enough seam allowance when I traced out the pattern from a pair of her pants. These will either be donated to charity, or I may cut them down into shorts and make them a baby gift if my sister delivers me a neice in October.



One snuggle blanket for the Snuggles Project. I cut off the bottom half of a large crocheted coat that I bought at the thrift store for $3.49 last fall. My intention was to unravel and reuse the yarn as suggested here. Instead I just cut away this lower portion and machine stitched the edges together for a fluffy Snuggle. The other half of the coat became this:


A cropped shrug that I will likely give to my mom. I did a single crochet edge around the bottom to keep the stitches from unraveling. The single crochet border is done with some vaguely matching Encore wool/acrylic yarn. If she doesn't like it, I will donate this to charity as well.

Non-work related productivity feels rather good on a day off!

Well I'll Be

CPH Progress Report Day 1479 (or something like that):

I've had a nearly phobic apprehension to the attachment of the sleeves to my Central Park Hoodie. Not for any good reason...just because this technique is very new to me and, like all brand new knitting adventures, it has the inherent potential to go very, very wrong.

But this time, it went right.

I give credit for this success to:
*This wonderfully clear tutorial on Knitty (I used the weaving technique plus mattress stitch)
*The tip I heard on the Stash & Burn podcast about finishing where Nicole suggested that it's easier to attach a tube to a tube - in other words, seam the body and the sleeve to the armhole first, and then attach them to each other. Worked like a charm, and no bunching!
*Dreamy David - the golden-voiced Aussie over at Sticks & String...with his show playing in my ITunes, I think I could be soothed into trying any new knitting technique. *swoon*

While we're on the subject of sleeves, if you're going to knit the CPH (Cindy, Nicole), be warned - the sleeves fit snug! No, let me rephrase - the sleeves in your selected size WILL BE TIGHT. If you look closely at my arm picture, you'll see my skin peeking through. Cozy and warm, yes. Flattering? No. Knit and learn darlings! I suggest either factoring in more increases or just knitting the sleeves one size up - much easier to take in any extra bulk if needed.

I've got a new discussion topic in the works, so be on the look out for that. Tomorrow I'll post some more shots from the yard to start our long weekend off with some cheer.

Thanks as always for stopping by!