We received this lovely photo of a Moebius from Mara Subo via Perl Grey.
Butterfly Moebius from the Knitter’s Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes in Swiss Mountain Tussah [in hummingbird] Knit by Pamela Subotincic.
Mara writes -
"In playing w/ it during a try-on session, I determined the center spot between my shoulder blades hosts the twist detail best. I reworked things a bit by stringing an elastic thru one edge for stability. This stabilizes the draping, effectively injecting a bit of collagen into the flipped over part where the moebius turns. So now I’ve resolved to wear it w/ the flat span across my chest, instead of across my back. Showcasing that ikat effect on the front of the piece makes it totally stunning. "
The striping is particularly wonderful in this one, don't you think?
My dear husband doesn't knit. But he felts. We started off many years ago felting fabric for laptop bags, years before the current selection of handmade ones. These bags need to be lined so that tiny fibres didn't get into the USB ports but gave truly great shock absorption. This past christmas my mother-in-law was lucky enough to receive one of his creations - a Tea Cosy. He added insulating fabric on the inside and nearly 1 inch thick felt. Tea stays hot for an hour.
in Fleece Artist Merino Sliver, Mugs by Laura McLean
Cross section with interior
I'm envious. hint, hint. (Valentines day is coming up and I don't need any chocolates, honey)
My husband makes felt by layering wool sliver in a grid. This piece had a core of cheese cloth in the middle with 4 layers on each side in a plaid pattern. Then he rolls it up in a piece of non-felting fabric and sprays it with very hot soapy water.
Then the fun begins, the part that 10 year old boys get a kick out of. He beats the crap out of it - first rolling it gently and by the end thumping it heartily. Every so often he unrolls and changes the direction of the log, adding more hot soapy water.
After a loose fabric has been formed, he carefully places the piece in an old fashion washing machine and runs a load. It's important that an older style washer is used as the fancy new HE washers don't agitate the same way.
Voila! - inch thick, indestructible felt.
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I've never quite gotten into the swing of knitting machines. Mind you, I've never had a really great, professional style one, so my attempts have been frustrating. It does seems to be a great way of actually using up some of the stash to create a useful item. Sweaters, blankets, felted items all easy to finish in record time on a knitting machine. When friends and family hint that they would actually like to receive something, it can be a real drag to give away that lace shawl you spent months slaving over. And actually getting to wear something new is always a treat and much easier to whip up with a machine.
But on the other hand, it kind of defeats the delight of the process of knitting. For many of us, that is what it is all about. Tactile meditation. Prayer almost.
So Knitting Machine - Friend or Foe?
Adrienne from Perl Grey says friend. While machine knitting does look different from hand knitting, it has a place. She has had great success using machines for large felted rugs, something where the machine knit look doesn't show up anyway.
This post was prompted by a shawl by Jo, owner of Crafty Cottage in the UK. Look at what she made on her knitting machine.
She writes:
"I made this scarf/shawl yesterday on the knitting machine – it would have taken forever doing it by hand and I wanted to get it done for today as it’s a present for my mum – so I did 111 stitches and 480 rows with 2 hanks of Sea Silk in Paris. Then undid every 11 stitch et voila (I got that idea from the Clapotis scarf on Knitty). It took an hour and a half from start to finish, no idea how long by hand (I started and finished it on tension 6 and then moved up to tension 10 for the rest, so it would be similar to 3mm needles). "
ahh. It kinda seems pointless to do anything like this by hand doesn't it? I've just never had much luck getting these machines to run smoothly. I'll get a couple of rows done, then it skips some stitches well, you get the picture. I always end up feeling that it would be less of a pain to just knit it by hand, even though I know it will take far longer.
Maybe I just tame my knitting machine, stroke it and get to know it a bit better? hum.
From Kati Hill. Bronze ZigZag Scarf in Great Big Sea Silk. Casually Elegant.
She writes:
"I have long been a fan of your yarns, and wanted to send a photo of a simple project that turned out beautifully. It is a simple mistake rib scarf made out of one skein of Great Big Sea. I always get lovely comments on it, so thank you for your efforts in making such beautiful material."
why thanks. This is a fine example of totally wearable fiber art. Doesn't this scarf show that sometimes simple is best, especially when working with hand dyed yarns? Let the yarn speak for itself.
So further to my comments about the "hand dyed sweet spot" - when the colour in a hand dyed skein of yarn pools or stripes or patterns in just the right way, there also comes the opposite situation. Sometimes we have an "ugly" pool which just looks like a funny stain on your project. I usually avoid this by using two or more balls at a time, often using circulars or dp needles. if I am knitting with one ball, I can usually tell pretty early that a pool is forming and then I either rip it out, or quickly start another ball. This is when a center pull ball is your friend as I quickly find the other end for a new ball, or if I'm feeling like throwing caution to the wind, I knit from both ends and hope that things don't get tangled up. oh - but they do get tangled sometimes. Especially silk. Be warned.
Haley from Knitomatic in Toronto sent me this link to a toque that she knit up. She was having an "ugly" problem and this pattern, knit out of 4ply cashmere, solved the problem. Thanks Haley for the link. She heard that I get a bit of a kick seeing my little yarn babies all grown up into things that people actually wear. oh I do, I do.
