It takes less yards of fat yarn to make a similar thing in a thin yarn.
Books that have projects for one skein of yarn are a great place to study this phenomenon.
There are 3 books in the series called One Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. The books are divided into Chapters by yarn thickness. The projects are made with different types of yarns. One can get a great sense of how much of what it takes to make what. I spent probably a month going through the first book in this series to match project with yarn thickness with yardage with needle size. I never made anything out of the book yet although the directions look really great for beginners (techniques explained).
I have started but not completed two projects in Leigh Radford's book called One Skein. That's where I found the garter stitch fingerless mitts with the dropped stitch detail. I also tried to make the Baby Bolero which would have turned out super cute (needs two skeins of the yarn I used, Mission Falls Cotton, awesome, but less yardage per skein than the yarn recommended) if I had known how to sew pieces together. The book isn't really set up for beginners and doesn't explain a lot of techniques. Turns out when you seam knitted clothing that's made out of thick yarns you either use thinner yarn or you split the yarn (if it's splittable). The seams were too bulky to even think of forcing a baby to shove his arm through. I used the bulky yarn to sew together little 8" sleeves and then I sewed them together using a whip stitch. The seams would have competed with the baby's arms for space. Needless to say, the baby didn't get his bolero.
Another great book for studying yardage is called The Field Guide to Knitting by Jackie Pawlowski. This is a tiny, thick book that gives all kinds of information about different stitch patterns in the same way that Birders learn about Birds out in the field or Insecters learn about Insects. It's a great format for those of us who spent our childhoods reading Encyclopedias. I remember being awestruck by a sales clerk at one of the first stores I went into who told me that cables take up a lot more yarn than stockinette. Ever since then these differences of yarn hogginess have fascinated me. Stockinette takes up slightly less yarn than Garter Stitch. It's all in here along with more than a hundred other alternatives.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Losing Control - More On How To Hold The Yarn
There's a very nice video at Philosopherswool.com on how to knit Fair Isle Knitting style which someone mentioned on Ravelry. Fair Isle is where you knit with two colors at once. I love this style of knitting. At any rate, if you have to knit with both fingers at once doing what are considered two different styles of knitting at once I guess you learn pretty quickly which way keeps the tension and which way loses the slack.
For one, the woman in the video held the yarn over her index fingers way down on her finger (index finger), past the first knuckle in the middle joint. I tend to hold it over the nail bed.
She also talks about keeping the finger close to the needle. A lady in a yarn store was showing me how to do that. I tend to hold my fingers out. No wonder I lose control of the yarn.
I suspect that there is something to know about the angles that needles are best held at in relation to each other but I still haven't heard anyone talk about this.
For one, the woman in the video held the yarn over her index fingers way down on her finger (index finger), past the first knuckle in the middle joint. I tend to hold it over the nail bed.
She also talks about keeping the finger close to the needle. A lady in a yarn store was showing me how to do that. I tend to hold my fingers out. No wonder I lose control of the yarn.
I suspect that there is something to know about the angles that needles are best held at in relation to each other but I still haven't heard anyone talk about this.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Stitch Markers and Row Counters
One of the less attractive features of learning how to knit is having to learn how to count. There is incessant counting. Casting on.Checking for dropped stitches. Recounting to check that the first count was accurate. Recounting again because the first two counts don't agree. Counting out cables and stitch patterns and lace patterns. Counting to match two of anything. Refusing to count is how sweaters are made with mismatched sleeves.
It seems that someday counting will become more automatic. I've already noticed an easing of the counting stress which comes along with being able to hold the yarn automatically. And after dropping the needles becomes less automatic, and after the initial frustration of not believing that yarn will someday follow one's wishes.
The thing about Counting is that either you are a Counter or you are not a Counter. I happen to think that people count in order to fall asleep. Like counting sheep. Counting is like anesthesia. One elephant, two elephant, three elephant, four --- There's a man standing over her in a blue medical robe and mask -- she's out. But, in the case of knitting, her hands are still going for it, making a mess. If you space out for just one second, you are doomed to make a mistake which often means that you must Rip Your Stuff Out.
More to come about Ripping...
But, for Counting, there is help. A White Knight on a White Horse with a Gleaming White Grin. Not my type but if he can help to avoid ripping he must be an invaluable resource. Thing is, Knitters of the Past have devised solutions.
I didn't find out about these techniques until after I was convinced that I had completely lost my entire brain. But, an elderly lady in a yarn store eager to help and rich with wisdom listened to my traumatic tale of the dishcloth, an ugly thing meant only for practice which had a heart pattern. It took me probably 2 months. She showed me stitch markers, ugly plastic rings that were embedded all over the sweater she was knitting. These are kind of like Post-It Notes for knitting. You can place them every 20 stitches, you can keep track of all increases, descreases. They were so ugly I didn't think I could use them. Some open up and click close, some are simple rings. Companies make special brass safety pins that can be used. I love these because they are not plastic but they also don't fit on to all needles. A nice option is to tie scrap yarns into circles and use those. Beginner knitters don't really have a lot of scrap yarns, except for that one piece of dark blue yarn that shows up in the wash week after week. Clingy little bugger.
I also found a book called Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Riggetti which has a whole chapter on Counting. It really fascinates me that more books don't include this information.
The problem for me in the end is organization, and some sort of subconscious problem. I keep losing track of where I put the stitch marker box and so they are never around when I needed them. They get lost very very easily.
One teacher in a yarn store told me that the one most important piece of advice she gives to knitters is to learn how to read the knitting itself. Obviously this was great advice. Sounds so spiritual. Learn to read the Fire. Learn to read the Surf. Learn to find your dropped stitches before it's too late. If only this Teacher Genie were installed permanently in a bottle by my bed so that at 2am when I simply can't put the damn knitting down I could let her pop out and tell me how many rows are in the cable I made that looks suspiciously 3 rows longer than all the other cables. I knit almost an entire bag with 10 row cables on one side and 12 row cables on the other side. I swear to God I was counting. And I was "reading the knitting" -- like a true beginner. So, now I have two pillow covers because the two sides don't match.
Stitches aren't the only thing one must count. Stitch Markers are only for the horizontal count. The vertical count needs Row Counters. Stores sell row counters that look like tiny slot machines or abacuses, more plastic, that hang around one's neck, tie to one's knitting, fit on to the end of the needle. Problem is when you forget to change the number of the row when you reach it.
Knitter's have shown me how to tally the rows on a piece of paper which for them always seems to be at their side. This is better. This is like being the World War II Flying Ace who counts enemies shot down during combat. Counting = War, especially to a beginning knitter who can't really Read The Knitting.
It seems that someday counting will become more automatic. I've already noticed an easing of the counting stress which comes along with being able to hold the yarn automatically. And after dropping the needles becomes less automatic, and after the initial frustration of not believing that yarn will someday follow one's wishes.
The thing about Counting is that either you are a Counter or you are not a Counter. I happen to think that people count in order to fall asleep. Like counting sheep. Counting is like anesthesia. One elephant, two elephant, three elephant, four --- There's a man standing over her in a blue medical robe and mask -- she's out. But, in the case of knitting, her hands are still going for it, making a mess. If you space out for just one second, you are doomed to make a mistake which often means that you must Rip Your Stuff Out.
More to come about Ripping...
But, for Counting, there is help. A White Knight on a White Horse with a Gleaming White Grin. Not my type but if he can help to avoid ripping he must be an invaluable resource. Thing is, Knitters of the Past have devised solutions.
I didn't find out about these techniques until after I was convinced that I had completely lost my entire brain. But, an elderly lady in a yarn store eager to help and rich with wisdom listened to my traumatic tale of the dishcloth, an ugly thing meant only for practice which had a heart pattern. It took me probably 2 months. She showed me stitch markers, ugly plastic rings that were embedded all over the sweater she was knitting. These are kind of like Post-It Notes for knitting. You can place them every 20 stitches, you can keep track of all increases, descreases. They were so ugly I didn't think I could use them. Some open up and click close, some are simple rings. Companies make special brass safety pins that can be used. I love these because they are not plastic but they also don't fit on to all needles. A nice option is to tie scrap yarns into circles and use those. Beginner knitters don't really have a lot of scrap yarns, except for that one piece of dark blue yarn that shows up in the wash week after week. Clingy little bugger.
I also found a book called Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Riggetti which has a whole chapter on Counting. It really fascinates me that more books don't include this information.
The problem for me in the end is organization, and some sort of subconscious problem. I keep losing track of where I put the stitch marker box and so they are never around when I needed them. They get lost very very easily.
One teacher in a yarn store told me that the one most important piece of advice she gives to knitters is to learn how to read the knitting itself. Obviously this was great advice. Sounds so spiritual. Learn to read the Fire. Learn to read the Surf. Learn to find your dropped stitches before it's too late. If only this Teacher Genie were installed permanently in a bottle by my bed so that at 2am when I simply can't put the damn knitting down I could let her pop out and tell me how many rows are in the cable I made that looks suspiciously 3 rows longer than all the other cables. I knit almost an entire bag with 10 row cables on one side and 12 row cables on the other side. I swear to God I was counting. And I was "reading the knitting" -- like a true beginner. So, now I have two pillow covers because the two sides don't match.
Stitches aren't the only thing one must count. Stitch Markers are only for the horizontal count. The vertical count needs Row Counters. Stores sell row counters that look like tiny slot machines or abacuses, more plastic, that hang around one's neck, tie to one's knitting, fit on to the end of the needle. Problem is when you forget to change the number of the row when you reach it.
Knitter's have shown me how to tally the rows on a piece of paper which for them always seems to be at their side. This is better. This is like being the World War II Flying Ace who counts enemies shot down during combat. Counting = War, especially to a beginning knitter who can't really Read The Knitting.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Too Old To Learn
When you're only 8 years old, it's cute to make mistakes.
When you're twenty years old and learning to knit, it's ok that your stitches are uneven.
But, when you're approaching 50 and your stitches look like they just snapped out of Godzilla's dentures before he attacked Tokyo. And you accidentally dropped a stitch down there in that ruffle. And you somehow managed to turn your circular knitting around on the beret you just made and all the increase stitches show and the band looks weird. And you didn't notice any of this until you were blocking it. And the blocking apparently doesn't perform the magic for beginning 50 year old knitters that it does for everyone else because everything is still as crooked as Bernie Madoff's financial dealings.
And nobody really understands that your eyesight just doesn't really work anymore. Especially you.
Well, I guess that's just how it is. Good thing I live in a warm climate and haven't actually had to wear anything I've made. And if things ever do cool off I'll just have to invent a busy little relative who is just learning how to knit and gives me things. How sweet.
When you're twenty years old and learning to knit, it's ok that your stitches are uneven.
But, when you're approaching 50 and your stitches look like they just snapped out of Godzilla's dentures before he attacked Tokyo. And you accidentally dropped a stitch down there in that ruffle. And you somehow managed to turn your circular knitting around on the beret you just made and all the increase stitches show and the band looks weird. And you didn't notice any of this until you were blocking it. And the blocking apparently doesn't perform the magic for beginning 50 year old knitters that it does for everyone else because everything is still as crooked as Bernie Madoff's financial dealings.
And nobody really understands that your eyesight just doesn't really work anymore. Especially you.
Well, I guess that's just how it is. Good thing I live in a warm climate and haven't actually had to wear anything I've made. And if things ever do cool off I'll just have to invent a busy little relative who is just learning how to knit and gives me things. How sweet.
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