theraineysisters knitting and so much more

…post about my &^%$##%&*&%$ Oregon sleeve?  Oh, good!

Which would you rather deal with (in terms of weaving in ends), this:

or this?

My thoughts exactly!  When you knit a fair isle cardigan, you join new colors at the center front.  The ends get cut off in the “cutting the steek” phase, so you don’t need to worry about them.  However, for pullovers and sleeves, there is no cutting so there is no trimming so the ends need to be dealt with somehow.  Some people simply tie the ends together and trim them short.  Others weave them in.  I WAS a weaver, until my last fair isle when I became a partial splicer.

With Rona I spliced the colors that had gradual changes — you can see from the picture that some changed like water colors and other color changes were very abrupt.  For abrupt changes, you can do a Russian Join, but that can be very time consuming.  I wish I had taken the time!  When I turned my sleeve inside out, it looked like the picture above — LOTS of ends!!

This time I am splicing every color change, even if it is somewhat abrupt.  I don’t care if the splices look like a candy cane!  I made a very conscious decision to not give a rip.  Here is what the under sleeve looks like:

I don’t think you can tell that the colors are spliced.  So, I am very happy now and will be REALLY happy when this puppy gets done, if that ever happens ;).  The dog hair that shows up in every picture comes free of charge.

Man, I’ve been toughin’ it out with my Oregon sleeve lately and have had some “issues” — today, issues resolved! 

I described the way I do my fair isle sleeves using the “magic loop” method.  My method has been less than magical.  You need a very soft, pliable cable to do the magic loop method.  Addis have changed their cable over the years (their timing sucks, btw) and it is now very stiff and unbendable.  For most of my fair isle knitting, I use US 3’s and have them coming out of my whazzoo (sp?).  However, A*St*rm*re yarn is heavier and so I am using a US 4.  All my US 4 needles have the stiff cable except my 47″.  That is just WAY too much cable to deal with!  I have been on a quest at my LYS’s to find a better needle and finally found an older Turbo with the old, softer/thinner cable.  I could probably have ordered needles from KnitPicks, but thought I would shop around first.  I know that Inox has some (out of production) and Susan Bates (not in the size or type I needed), so I hunted.  The difference with the new needle is truly amazing and is making my knitting SO much easier!!

MAGIC LOOP
I know many of you know this technique, but a couple of readers asked for details.  Here is the single loop method:

I simply pull the excess cable length between two sts about halfway around from where I am.  I knit to the loop and then pull the excess out half way around again, etc.  When the sleeve gets too small for the needle tips to feel comfortable, I switch to a modified double loop.  In standard magic loop, you pull out the RH needle, form a loop, and then knit across the cable:

I don’t care to strand (or plain knit for that matter) across the cable.  It is difficult to maintain stitch size and just feels WRONG.  My modification is to pull the second loop out a few sts back on the RH needle.  Therefore you are always knitting and stranding across the regular needle tip:

This picture shows how it looks when the sleeve gets very small, toward the cuff (I’m not there yet!).  You continue to knit on a long-tipped needle (unlike a 12″ circular with itty-bitty, short tips), you get the benefit of the magic loop AND you strand across a regular needle (not a dpn).  When I get to the first loop, the other loop is already positioned about halfway around, so I pull the second one a few sts back from the RH tip.  I keep going in this way for the whole sleeve.  I hope this makes sense and is not too technical and boring ;). 

I will use the 32″ ‘ for the entire sleeve since they did not have a 24″ with the thinner cable.  I am on a roll, my knitting peeps!