theraineysisters knitting and so much more

February 15, 2007

From Sally — A Stitch in Time Saves Eight (Not Nine)

Filed under: Feather and Fan Shawl,Knitting Tips — Sally @ 4:27 pm

First, I’d like to say thank you for the birthday wishes and for all of the advice and encouragement on the Pearl Crisis. I went ahead with the large pearls I have. Having no invisible thread, which was a good suggestion, I chose not to care. I’ll post some pictures of the finished product eventually.

Today, however, I’ll tell you a story about the hazards of not paying attention. No, it’s not the starting-my-hair-on-fire story – it’s something far more horrible: making a really big mistake in your lace knitting a number of rows back when you have 1300+ stitches per row. Yeah. That.

There I was, knitting happily along on my Feather and Fan shawl. I was doing the pattern row, where you place yarnovers and decreases to get the feather and fan shaping. I did a series of 8 k2togs, and then I was supposed to do 8 yarnovers separated from each other by a single knit stitch. There was a problem, though: I didn’t have 8 stitches left in my pattern repeat. I only had three or four. Looking at my knitting I realized that four rows earlier — the last time I was supposed to do a pattern row — I had forgotten to do the yarnovers on one half of this particular repeat. I’m not sure how I did something so stunningly careless, but I did.

Now, if I had forgotten or dropped one yarnover, it would be no big deal. I would simply use a crochet hook to create a yarnover between the appropriate two stitches by stretching the running thread between them and then “laddering” my way up to the current row using the running thread on the intervening rows. That after-the-fact yarnover would be a bit smaller than the rest of them because it would be created using less yarn than truly necessary. Moreover, the stitches on either side might get pulled a bit tight. It’s not a perfect solution but after blocking, it would be pretty imperceptible. That solution would certainly be far preferable to ripping back.

That trick wasn’t going to work to replace 8 missing yarnovers. There simply would not be enough yarn to do it in such a concentrated place. Let me just remind you that I have 1300+ stitches per row right now; it takes me almost an hour to knit one row. So ripping back was not an option, either.

So here’s what I did. I undid the k2togs that overlapped where my yarnovers were supposed to have been. Then I ripped back the 8 stitches that were supposed to have yarnovers in between them. (Four rows total.) That left me with four long strands of yarn. I broke each of them in half. For each row, I wrapped new yarn around my needle 8 times to roughly calculate how much yarn I needed for each new stitch I was going to create and then added a bit extra. I then felt spliced that new length of yarn into the middle of what was already there. (Is this making sense?) I then had enough yarn to add in the yarnovers on the first row and then ladder up the stitches created by them on the subsequent rows.

It was a pain in my birthday ass, but a lot easier and faster than reknitting four rows.

April 18, 2011

From Susan — Nieblings for Two

Filed under: Lotus Flower,Updates — lv2knit @ 7:51 am

If one Niebling is good, aren’t two even better?  I made my first Niebling table covering (doily??) a couple of years ago.  It was knit out of laceweight alpaca — not a very practical doily.  I had it in mind to knit another, and I finally did.  I chose Lotus Flower, because I thought it was very beautiful.   The pattern is readily available on Ravelry by Doilyhead.   I used Aunt Lydia Crochet Cotton Size 10.  Cheap stuff you can buy at Joann Fabrics.  After reading this discussion, I probably would have chosen differently…but, it is too late now and it seemed to have worked out fine.


Lotus Flower by Herbert Niebling, Aunt Lydia Crochet Cotton ~1200 yards, US 1(2.25 mm) Needles

I did need to starch it, which was traumatic to think about but easy to do.  I had to starch it:  after just wet blocking, it became a limp rag that did not hold its shape properly.  I immersed it in a 50-50 solution of Sta-Flo liquid starch and water and then pinned it out on a piece of styrofoam insulation.  This worked out great…getting the insulation to my car was a comedy of errors, but that is a different story!!  Don’t attempt this feat on the windiest day of the year!

Believe it or not, this was my “take-along” knitting project!  The even rounds were straight knitting of up to 1200 sts.  The pattern rounds were often simple repetitions that were easy to follow because the pattern is so pictorial.  Still, it took a couple of months to complete.

Lotus Flower Overall Grade: A

Pattern: A — nice “starter” Niebling
Yarn: A — though there are probably higher quality choices out there
Finished Size: 40 inches in diameter

All in all, I am very pleased and highly recommend this pattern.  I am without a knitting project!  I just finished a Holden Shawlette, which I will post later…but now my needles are bare!  I have a few ideas, but the project has not revealed itself to me.  Hmmmm…

PS to Surly: NO, it will NOT fit into your suitcase!

PS2: I did need to join a second ball and also join within the first ball because it had a knot tying more length onto the ball.  I spit spliced it.

PS3: Bonnie asked about spit splicing and how it works on non-wool fibers.  I “spit splice” all kinds of yarn, but that doesn’t mean that I felt them together: I thin out each end, overlap and suck on the yarn — very appealing in public!!  I do this with almost every yarn I use.  If the ends are difficult to blend, I let them hang to the inside and then I sometimes weave them in or just cut them.  I had absolutely no trouble with the crochet cotton at all and the ends were completely smooth and the transition invisible.  I make sure I overlap the ends over several sts and never when a YO is involved.  In this pattern there were long stockinette areas where I could easily splice my thread.

May 28, 2006

From Sally — Joining Yarn

Filed under: — surly @ 8:40 am

Unless all of your projects use one skein, you will — eventually — have to join a new ball of yarn. Here are some tips.

1. When possible, only join yarn at the beginning of a new row

Leave a long tail of the old yarn. Start knitting with the new ball (also leaving a long tail). If the yarn is particular slippery, you can loosely knot the two tails together. This is temporary, until finishing. Yes, the new stitches will seem a bit loose for a few rows. That’s okay. When you are doing your finishing, weave each of the ends into the seam (if there is one) or into a few side stitches if there is no seam (e.g. a scarf). If the yarn is slippery or likely to work itself out (which is often the case in some of the more novelty type yarns), tack down the end after weaving it in using a sewing needle and matching thread.

The reason for not joining yarn in the middle of a row is that the weaving in is often noticeable, especially with bulky yarns, unless you are extremely careful. If you are not sure if you’ll make it to the end of the next row, check whether the yarn you have left in the old ball can go back and forth across the next row four times. (Some people say three, but I’ve been burned so I say four.) If it can, you can most likely finish the row. If not, stop before you start.

2. Felted or Spit Splice

You can avoid weaving in ends almost completely with a felted splice, more commonly known as a spit splice. So, here is my method. Note: This method works best with 100% wool yarn. It does not work with washable wools (which won’t felt), cotton, linen, etc. It does work with silk/wool blends and many other yarns. I always test whether or not this method works before I start knitting. (Forgive the funky photos; I am taking them with my built-in web cam.)

Here are two “ends” — one from the piece I am knitting, where I am running out of yarn, and the other from the new ball.

Photo 3.jpg

After making sure that an inch or two of each end is slightly unraveled, I moisten the end of each. I stick it in my mouth — hence the name spit splice. You can also dip each end in water. Once each end is moistened, you overlap them and twist them together slightly with your fingers.

Photo 5.jpg

Then you lay the overlapped, slightly twisted together yarn across your palm and rub your hands together vigorously. This felts the two ends together, giving you one continuous piece of yarn.

Photo 6.jpg

When I finish knitting this sweater, I won’t have any ends to weave in except for those used to seam or start a new piece.

May 27, 2006

From Sally — Joining New Yarn

My favorite way to join yarn is with a felted splice, more commonly known as a spit splice. I am almost to the same point my sister is in the Sunrise Circle Jacket, and I need to join in a new ball of yarn. So, here is my method. Note: This method works best with 100% wool yarn (or other natural wool-like yarns such as cashmere, alpaca, etc.). It does not work with washable wools (which won’t felt), cotton, linen, etc. It does work with silk/wool blends and many other yarns. I always test whether or not this method works before I start knitting. (Forgive the funky photos; I am taking them with my built-in web cam.)

Here are two “ends” — one from the piece I am knitting, where I am running out of yarn, and the other from the new ball.

Photo 3.jpg

After making sure that an inch or two of each end is slightly unraveled, I moisten the end of each. I stick it in my mouth — hence the name spit splice. You can also dip each end in water. Once each end is moistened, you overlap them and twist them together slightly with your fingers.

Photo 5.jpg

Then you lay the overlapped, slightly twisted together yarn across your palm and rub your hands together vigorously. This felts the two ends together, giving you one continuous piece of yarn.

Photo 6.jpg

When I finish knitting this sweater, I won’t have any ends to weave in except for those used to seam or start a new piece.

PS – from Susan: I have used this method on non-wool yarn, but I don’t “spit and splice” I just splice.  I used it on the Summer Tweed cardigan, which is silk and whatever.  I split the yarn into half its strands and overlap them and twist them together.  I let the extra overlap fall to the back of the work.  Sometimes I trim them later, but often do not.  It also shows me where I added new yarn so I can see how much knitting I am getting per skein.  It does not work for all yarns but it is sure worth a try!

Splice

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