Archives for March 2014

The rain is really coming down here today but I’m just happy that it isn’t snow. A dreary day like today is a good day to do one’s taxes, so that’s what I did.

Loki helped by lurking nearby in case I needed him.

Next up on the agenda, knitting.

I am going to take some time away from this project because I need to knit a T. Rex. 🙂 I went into the stash room and chose this for the T. Rex:

Some vintage Socks That Rock in a colorway called Lucky. I will be using this pattern.

And now it’s time for a Loki-break!

There were a couple of questions in the comments recently, so I shall attempt to post coherent answers here.

Catspaw asked: “Do you knit with a color in each hand? Which color is in which hand?”

A long time ago I did learn to work two-color stranded patterns by holding a color in each hand. But I find it easier and faster to knit with both colors held in my left hand. (I am left-handed, by the way, but knit for the most part right-handed.) I keep the background color on top. I want the foreground color to “pop” and to get that effect, I need to keep it consistently on the bottom.

Everyone is different and knits slightly differently, so you need to find a technique that works well and is comfortable for you. One of the most difficult things about color knitting, I think, is maintaining an even tension so you don’t have annoying lumps and ripples in your colorwork project. By using the two-colors-in-one-hand technique I can maintain a pretty good, even tension in my colorwork. Here’s a close-up of my work, unblocked:

All I need to do to block it is give it a light steaming with my steam iron.

Techknitter had a really good series on color knitting techniques:

• Part 1: How to knit with two or more colors: background information
• Part 2: Color knitting, one color in each hand
• Part 3: Knitting with two colors on one hand AND three color knitting
• Part 4: Multi color knitting, one color at a time, also called multiple pass knitting
• Part 5: Color knitting, one color at a time, also called slipped stitch knitting

Second question from the comments was if I intend to publish the pattern for my current work in progress, the Nordic Scarf. I do and I will, when I finally complete it. It is taking a fair amount of time to knit because it is a big project — fingering weight wool knit in the round to make a double-sided scarf that is pretty wide (like 13″, so that’s 26″ around) and pretty long — I estimate the finished length will be close to 80″. Another factor is lack of knitting time. I rarely pull out knitting at lunchtime anymore (too busy with “real” work at the day job), and never knit on my commute (too crowded for comfort) so my only knitting time is during weeknight evenings (when I also have a million other things to do) and on weekends, when I get most of my knitting done.

This does not concern me overly much as I have no deadline for this piece. The only downside is that it makes for boring blog posts. Look! another 3″ of the same pattern is done!

But here to entertain you is Loki, who has just decapitated his little bird toy. Doesn’t he look proud?

Not too much to see here. I am knitting along on my Nordic Scarf:

I am past the halfway point on this, and not quite two-thirds done. The scarf is measuring around 51″ at this point.

Loki is waiting not too patiently for me to step away from the computer and play with him, so I am doing just that!

And we are too tired to blog!

After my post about my new motorized base for my ball winder, there were some questions/discussion in the comments about swifts.

I did a post about swifts a few years ago (wow, 7 years ago!), when I had just acquired a Beka swift.

And a Beka swift was recommended in one comment. But after using my Beka swift a few times, I became disenchanted with it. I found that often the skein of yarn being wound would ride up on the swift while in the process of winding, and as it rode up it had the tendency to tangle. Not cool. Of course your mileage may vary and it did not happen with every yarn, but it happened to me often enough to cause me to consider my Beka swift unusable.

My go-to swift, the best one I’ve ever used, is a Strauch floor swift. This swift also comes in a table model, and in a convertible model that you can switch between floor and table, but the only one I’ve used is the floor model.

(Bonus shot of Loki there.) I looked at the price tag of this swift. I’ve had mine for quite a long time and it was a lot cheaper back then!

I use this swift for all my yarn winding needs and it has never let me down. With the umbrella portion collapsed it takes up very little floor space.

Speaking of swifts . . .

Have any of you watched the new tv series Atlantis that recently aired on BBC America? In one episode the gang go to see Daedalus for help. Daedalus (played rather comically by Robert Lindsay) was characterized as being an odd, quirky inventor with all sorts of contraptions in his workshop. One of the contraptions in his workshop was a wooden swift, apparently supposed to be some mysterious device, as it was slowly turning on its own. Heh.

Still knitting along on the Nordic scarf:

Loki is still adorable:

And I am indeed collecting his loose fur acquired during our grooming sessions. It seems to be definitely spin-able!