Yarn Opinions

There are a lot of the yarn opinions that exist out there on the web.  There are arguments over to use acrylic yarns or not to use acrylic yarns.  There seem to be those who only knit with wool.  Some crafters only buy at craft stores while others must go to a yarn shop.  I tend to be more moderate.  I love wool, but I grew up in Texas and I understand when wool is just too warm.  There are acrylic yarns that feel like you are knitting with plastic, and then there are acrylic yarns that are soft and cuddly.  I have bought $40/ skein yarn and I've bought 99 cent yarn.

My principle opinion is that a yarn should be fit to the project and the receiver.  I like to use superwash wool or cotton acrylic (I like Lion Brand Cottonease) yarn for baby projects because these can be good yarns to knit with, they are soft to the skin, and they are washable.  Baby projects made with non-washable yarn don't get used.

I love alpaca for its softness, and I have used it for a sweater and a scarf.  I have about 200 yards of 100% alpaca left, and I'm thinking of making a cowl with it.  It feels soft and buttery against my neck, and it will definitely keep out the cold.  It is very stretchy, and the sweater I have is a wool-alpaca blend, otherwise I would be concerned that it would pull out of shape.  The wool definitely helps the fabric hold its shape.

I am knitting charity baby blankets using donated yarn from a local assisted living center, and the newer acrylics are much softer than the older acrylics.  Some of those older acrylics hurt my hands after a knitting for awhile although I do like to use the yarn versus throwing it away.  I was raised in a frugal family and I live in a frugal community -- which is a greener way of living so it is so much better to put the yarn to good use.  The softer acrylics can be a great option for those with allergies, and some of them have fuzzy halos that I use to replace rabbit fur (I'm allergic to rabbit fur).

What do you like to knit with?

Looking Forward to 2011 - Happy New Year's !

Although I would like to post 3 times a week, this has been impossible for 2010, but I hope you'll bear with me.  There has been a lot for me to process this past year, and sometimes that processing gets the best of me.  I've had 3 surgical procedures, my mom has leukemia, and a close uncle suddenly passed away.  I have plans for this blog, but either my emotions or my physical healing seems to get in the way.  I will continue, even if it is at a slower pace than I originally planned.  I'm hoping 2011 will be less eventful.

I have had a lull in knitting ideas, but I think they are starting to roll around in my head again so I hope to share more.  I have made several cowls, and they are so much fun to design (playing with stitch patterns), make (knitting in the round) and wear (no scarf to come undone).

I have 2 more to take pictures of, and I have one still on the needles and I have another one in my head.  I've seen several cowls in catalogs and on television.  Do you think they'll still be around next winter?

Once these are finished, I've plans for 2011 involving at least a couple of cardigans, and the Missoni Inspired Chevron Blanket.  What yarnin plans are you making for 2011?

Splurged on Yarn This Week

Had to have new yarn this week!  I've been using a lot of my stash so I don't feel too guilty. 

A new yarn/quilt shop opened up in Lima, Ohio, and I wanted to check it out.  I stopped by after my dental check up (everything's all good - such a relief after a year and a half of dentist visits to fix my teeth after a bicycle ride that ended in a face plant).

Heavenly Stitches is in an old church on the corner of Greely Chapel & E Hanthorn.  It is really lovely with large windows and wooden floors.  Half of the store is quilting supplies, and the other half is yarn.  My only suggestion would be to add an area to sit and try the yarn out, but there is a good size room in the back for classes.  I bought 2 yarns:  Sublime luxurious woolly merino in a teal and Mirasol Akapana in a deep purple tweed.  The Sublime is a boucle yarn while the Mirasol is a thick and thin yarn.  Both are very luxurious and soft.

I also purchased some Lion Brand yarn Hometown USA.  This yarn is the biggest yarn I've ever used.  It is definitely super bulky.  It is definitely super bulky, and I'm using Size 11 needles because I'm a loose knitter.  The label recommends a Size 13.  

I'm making cowls out of all three of these yarns.  

Look at what I've been up to!

This is what I've been doing all summer long!

Ruffled Baby Girl Hat

 

Oh my, I just don't know where the time has gone lately. 

This is a little baby hat I made out of the left over yarn from the basket weave blanket. I used this pattern, and then added the little I-cord piece at the top of the hat.

Adding a hat to a baby blanket makes a very nice and useful gift.  I love to knit booties, and I do give them as gifts, but I'm not really sure that they are used all that much.  I see babies wearing hats and using blankets all the time so I know my gift will be useful.  

Of course as I write this, I think of my own children.  My daughter loves yarn, and has always had a knitted or crocheted blanket.  When I wash her blanket, she goes and gets one of our living room throws.  She will tell me that she loves the smell of yarn.  My son, on the other hand, won't have anything to do with hand knitted and crocheted blankets.  He likes those really fine gauge machine knit cotton blankets.  His blankets have to be super smooth and soft while she likes the texture of a hand knitted blanket.  So I guess I try to give something functional and beautiful with the understanding that I can't always suit the tastes of the receiver, but no matter what I make, they know that my love and care (and sometimes my blood, sweat, and tears) went into the gift.  Perhaps that is all that is important.

Basketweave Baby Blanket

I knit this cute blanket with Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash in Fruit Smoothie. The yarn was very easy to work with and Superwash wool is great for baby projects. Superwash can be washed although I usually don't put it in the dryer. Also, wool is naturally flame retardant which is a great feature.


I looked at several basketweave patterns and then decided to make my own using the features that I preferred.


Any worsted weight, smooth yarn would work for this pattern.  I'm in the process of knitting this same  blanket using Caron Simply Soft. Size 7 needles produced the fabric that I wanted, but I didn't measure it before I gave it away so I'm not sure of the gauge or size of the end product.  In general, I go down a needle size or two as I tend to knit on the loose side.


Cast on 139 stitches using the long-tail method.


Row 1-6: Knit 1 TBL, Knit 1,Purl 1 across row until 2 st remain then K1, YF, Slip 1 Purlwise
These 6 rows are a seed stitch border.


Row 7: K1tbl, (K1,P1) 3 times; PM, (K5,P5) across row, ending with K5 followed by PM, then (P1,K1)3 times, YF, Sl1P
* The first and last 6 stitched are form the seed stitch border.*
Row 8: K1tbl, (K1,P1) 3 times; (P5,K5) across row, ending with P5 followed by (P1,K1)3 times, YF, Sl1P
Row 9: Repeat Row 7.
Row 10: Repeat Row 8.
Row 11: Repeat Row 7.


Repeat Rows 7-11 until blanket is about an inch shorter than you would like.


Repeat Rows 1-6 and bind off loosely.

Aqua Endless Scarf

I love this scarf. It is exactly like a cozy necklace wrapped around my neck. It makes a rainy spring day cheerful. This is a great pattern called Endless Sunrise Scarf that I would do again and again. I used some yarn from another project that is a wool-cotton blend in a dk weight.

Wool cotton blends are my favorites to work with because they are light enough to wear in fall and spring, but they still have all the wonderful properties of wool.  Wool has elasticity that cotton does not.  This means that wool retains its shape while a cotton tends to stretch further and further from where I'd like it to be.   Cotton alone can be stiff to knit with, but the wool is much easier on my hands.  Together they make a great yarn that will take off the chill, but won't over-heat.  Hope you like it as much as I did.

Blue & Yellow Hanging Towel

Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines describes this pattern as the beauty of simplicity and usefulness.

That is so true and I love giving gifts that are not only beautiful but useful.  I made this particular dish cloth as a part of a new home welcoming gift.  I later visited my friend and there it was hanging on her oven door, which is exactly where mine often hang.  The cotton easily dries wet hands, and it washes and dries well in the machine.  

White Lattice Dishcloth

I've bought so much cotton on sale that I've been trying out various dishcloth patterns.  Here is one of them from a stitch dictionary.  

Tip:  To make the last corner look more even and finished, when you have 2 stitches left to bind off, knit them together and then bind off.  This helps all of your corners to match.

Yarn Indulgence

This yummy yarn and pattern was my yarn indulgence over the holidays.  My mom bought me the beautiful scarf pin.  The yarn, pattern & pin were all bought at Yarn Birds in Raleigh, NC.

The yarn is Punta Yarns Meritwist Hand Paint in Colorway HP 60.  It is bulky weight and I used a US 11 / 8 mm size needles.  I love this color because it looks so good with brown.  Chocolate brown is a core color in my wardrobe.

The pattern has a seed stitch border with the large cable  down the middle.  I especially like the way the edges look finished by slipping stitches.  In fact, I've started finishing most of my scarves and even dishcloths by knitting the first stitch through the back loop and when you have one stitch left, pull the yarn to the front and slip it as if to purl.

Rose ZigZag Scarf

I teach a knitting class for an assisted living center.  All of the ladies love Lion Brand Yarn's Homespun. I was out shopping to see what colors of Homespun are carried locally when I came across this lovely Rose.  It reminded me of my friend's rosy cheeks so I made her this cozy scarf.  I found the pattern at Lion Brand Yarn's website.  It was easy to make and it would be fairly easy to adapt to be wider, if so desired.  

Even though it was for Christmas, I wasn't able to get with my friend until last weekend.  She did love it and commented on how soft and warm it was.  

Spring Pullover Scarf

I had some leftover yarn from my Spring Pullover to make a little something extra. So I picked out this out of 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. It is the Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf by Marci Richardson. I modified it slightly; instead of increasing to 32 stitches, I increased to 22 stitches.

Spring Pullover

Although I made this in the spring, I plan on wearing this as the weather cools off. In the spirit of school starting, I thought I would post my "school clothes."  This is the Split Neck T shirt for Women #257 by Diane Soucy from Knitting Pure & Simple.  I made it out of Universal Yarn's Vanessa.  Vanessa is a synthetic yarn that drapes so lovely.

I made a medium size, but my gauge was slightly less stitches per inch than the pattern so it turned out slightly bigger and not as fitted as the pattern.

Did I tell you how much I love green?

Cabbage Dishcloth

I love knitting and crocheting dishcloths.  They are small and the various patterns give lots of variety. Also, a few handmade dishcloths can really add something special to a gift.  I love functional gifts, and dishcloths can be both pretty and functional. This particular dishcloth is the Cabbage Patch Knitted Dishcloth by Tomato Lady and I made it in a KAL on Ravelry. I have used this cloth in the kitchen and I have washed and dried it several times. It is holding up great, and I love the way it feels. I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn.

Lacy Ribbed Tee

This is the Lacy Ribbed Tee by Kristin Omdahl found in Creative Knitting Magazine, July 2009.  The yarn is Schulana Sojabama.  It is a bamboo blend and the yarn is very stretchy.  I started by making a medium according to the pattern, but after I made the armhole, I tried it on. The neck opening barely went over my head. So I've casted on (using a tubular cast on) 104 stitches on a US Size 7 needle, and then switched to the size 6 needle after the set up rounds.  I didn't increase in the set up rounds so I've been following the directions for a medium.

I tried it on after these changes, and it seems to be going well. I've stopped doing swatches (horrors!)  because I never knit the same gauge over a swatch that I do in the project.  So I've resigned myself to knitting a project a couple of times before it turns out how I like it. This works out well because I enjoy the process of knitting, and it is very important that a garment fits well.  I think this means that I'm am both a process and a product knitter.

The armholes made as instructed in the pattern turned out too big so I only cast on 5 stitches instead of 23.  This made the armholes just great.  Also since I have a shorter torso, I only made the center section 8 inches instead of 10. I really like how the tee fits and yarn is soft and slinky.  

After I took this picture, somehow this tee ended up in the washing machine with a black tee shirt and miracle of miracles, it over-dyed evenly.  The tee still fits and looks good, but it is a deeper, more muted color which works well in my wardrobe.  

Multidirectional Dishcloth

This is another dishcloth I made for a friend's birthday. It is a great pattern to use up stash. I must say that knitting dishcloths is a great way to learn new stitches and great for summer knitting (light and portable). They also make great gifts because everyone needs them, and they make mundane chores at least a little more aesthetic. Cotton is a hardworking and easy care fiber. You can wash and dry it, and the texture of the dishcloths helps with washing dishes.

I found this pattern on Ravelry here.

Circle Cloth

Here is the next dishcloth that I made for my friend. I found the pattern on Ravelry here. It was a free download, and I just thought the effect was really cool. The blue yarn is cotton, but I'm not sure of the brand. The natural yarn is Peaches & Cream cotton.

Simple Knitting

Lately, I've been drawn to simple, meditative knitting. I was in a bicycle accident in early March. Right now I'm struggling from postconcussive syndrome and weak wrist. I can knit simple things, but crochet makes my wrist ache. I'm getting better, but not as fast as I would like! I have been working on a shawl, but I can't seem to figure out the edging. I hope my brain heals from all of this trauma. I've made dishcloths. The simple pattern soothes my spirit, and this is as close to meditation as I can get.

Here is the age-old simple dishcloth pattern although I've used this same pattern to make shawls and baby blankets:

Cast on 3 stitches.

Knit 1, Yarn Over, Knit remaining stitches.

Continue 2nd line until you reach desired size. (45-50 stitches for dishcloth with worsted weight yarn) (Bind off here for triangle shaped shawl.)

Knit 1, Yarn Over, Knit 2 together, Knit until 3 stitches remain, K2Tog, Knit 1

Continue last line until 3 stitches remain, then bind off.

Such a simple, practical, and even meditative pattern ...

A Man's Winter Hat

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino in Rich Red
Pattern: Waffle Hat found on Ravelry.com

This was a great pattern. It only took me a couple of days, and it fits wonderful. My hubby loves it.

Baby Blanket Blues

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, various shades of White and Blue

Pattern: Moderne Baby Blanket found in Mason Dixon Knitting

I made this blanket for a dear friend and her baby. It was fun to make, and it just looks so beautiful. I'm very happy with the way it looks. Towards the end of the blanket, I did get a little tired of knitting row after row.

The edging is called arch and it is from Crocheting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein. It was simple, but I liked the way it completed the blanket. Since this blanket is for a boy, I didn't want the edging to be too feminine. Also, I don't like baby blankets to have too many holes where tiny fingers can get caught.


Also, I've been knitting through a bit of stash that consisted of Caron Simply Soft. I do like Caron Simply Soft because it is soft, washable, and inexpensive. It is sturdy and makes a blanket that can be used!


On the other hand, I have some beautiful yarns that I have waiting for me to make some lovely sweaters for myself. I've started to get a bit antsy to start knitting that yarn. I'm so looking forward to making myself something after months of knitting for everyone else. I love making things for the people I love, especially the ones who appreciate it. Since the cold weather has descended, I just don't have enough sweaters to keep me warm. The Malabrigo is calling my name.