Row Counter

It has been a very long time that I wrote anything here.  Not that I haven't had anything to write about - I have been doing so many different things - but I am lazy.  This entry is motivated from some questions some folks had about the row counter I use when knitting.


Liz Upitis in her book about Latvian mittens talks about using a loop of yarn that is tied into subloops.  Each time you knit a round, you slip your needle into the next loop down.  Say you need to cross a cable every 8 rows.  You create an 8 loop counter.  After going through all 8 loops, you do the cable cross and start over.  Recently I saw a blog post that shows doing the same thing with locking stitch markers.

As a forester I often had to lay out boundary and cruising plot lines using a handcompass and pacing.  To keep track of my paces I used either a clicker (much like the clickers knitters use) or pacing beads. Pacing beads consist of two cords linked together on a loop or carabiner.  One cord carries 9 or 10 beads and the other usually about 5 beads.  You slide one of ten beads to the end of the cord each time you have paced a certain distance (every 20 meters, every 50 meters - whatever).  After counting ten of these, you slide one of the five bead set to the end of these cords.  Then you start over with the 10 count.  That way you can count at least 50 - technically 60 - such distances.

The Upitis method got me to thinking that I could make a mini pacing bead set and accomplish the same thing. Additionally you could use them to count 2 different things - like decreasing every 3 round while cabling every 8 rounds, etc.

I use a split ring that works with the needle size.  Cotton crochet thread doubled works well with the small beads - they slide only when you want them to.  Split rings also work well as stitch makers.  They are thinner than standard stitch markers and don't mess with your gauge as I have found the fat plastic ones do.

Anyway, try it and let me know if you like it!

Darning by Knitting

I changed the name of my blog, because I think it better reflects where I have been going these past few years: from almost exclusively quilting to all sorts of fiber fun.  I still quilt, but knitting, spinning and weaving take bigger chunks of my creative time.  I still climb, but much more modestly, and so I felt Quilting Climber was inaccurate and maybe pretentious.  I hoped to blog more because of the name change, but I obviously haven’t been.  However, this topic came up in a forum on Ravelry and rather than clutter up a thread, I thought I’d post this technique here.

This isn’t necessarily new but certainly doesn’t show up in any of my resources.  I first started doing this, because a young friend of mine ripped the heck out of a sweater.  He guides hunting trips in Montana, when he isn’t a backcountry wilderness ranger.  He got jumped by a grizzly while gutting an elk and ripped one of his sweater sleeves in several places during his hasty exit through the brush.  It’s a his favorite sweater and after some thinking, I decided it would be best to flat out knit the patches and graft them into the knitting as I went.  The results were excellent and I have used it on some other items, including socks with good results.  It’s fast, easy and I think better than anything else I have tried.

Before I explain this technique, I want to share my thoughts on darning socks.  Socks tend to get holes where you also tend to get blisters. The rubbing action that wears out socks also is hard on your skin.  A patch will only aggravate that area, possibly causing worse blisters.  And there’s nothing so miserable than having to work all day (I was a field forester) or hike out of the backcountry with blistered feet.  I relegate mended socks to knocking around town or to in the house status where I am not likely to walk enough to get blisters.  In the field, I wear good, perfect socks to protect my feet.

Here are the steps to a knitted patch:

You will need:

• At least 2 dp’s – preferably slightly smaller than what was used to create the item.  This makes picking up the stitches easier and the patch denser and durable.
• Yarn identical to the item, or of a thickness equal or possibly thinner than the item.  You don’t want the patch to be too bulky.  I try to save a small ball of all items I have knitted for this purpose.  Not that I can find it when needed…  You might add a strand of wooley nylon or the like if this is a high wear area.
• A tapestry needle for grafting and weaving in the ends.

 The procedure:

• About 2 rows below the lowest extent of the hole, pick up the right hand leg of each knit stitch, starting 2 columns left and ending 2 columns right of the hole’s width.

Picking up initial stitches.

•  Knit that needle and turn the work, and knit back, using the stitches that match the item.
• Pick up a stitch in the column above with your right needle.  Knit the first stitch from the left needle and pass the picked up stitch over it.  Finish that row.  And turn your work.
• Repeat the step above each way until the knitted patch extends two rows above the highest point of the hole.  End with a RIGHT SIDE row.
• Cut the yarn, leaving a tail 3 times the work width plus a bit.
• With the free DP, pick up the stitches 2 rows above the hole and of equal number as in the patch.
• Holding this needle in front and the patch behind, graft the patch to the picked up stitches.

Getting ready to graft.  See that the edges barely show the passed over picked up stitch.

•  Bring the starting and ending yarn ends to the wrong side and weave in.

Finished patch.  The orange is a patch done by Swiss darning and it looks awful.

The cool part, besides looking nice, is that you can maintain the stitch pattern or even the stranding pattern in the patch as should have been in the item there, creating a very seamless repair.

Afterthought Thumbs (and Heels)

I often hear knitters lament that the scrap yarn approach to afterthought thumbs or heels is cool, but that pulling out the yarn while picking up the live stitches is tedious as best.  However, with the addition of lifelines, this process is easy.  The other way is to put the stitches on a holder (or yarn) and then cast on the same number of stitches.  When you get ready to come back to do the thumb, you pick up the needed stitches along the cast on edge plus use the live stitches from the holder.  I find this isn’t always very seamless as the other way.  There are several sites out there that show using the life lines, but I felt that I might be able to add some insights.

I will demo this with a swatch of worsted weight yarn I knit with 5mm double points.  This method works for any type of circular knitting.  I usually knit with magic loop myself.

While I am referring to a thumb, the same process would be used for a sock heel.

1) Knit to the first of the stitches that will become the thumb.

2) Run a thin and smooth thread of contrasting color (I used sock yarn here, but cotton crochet yarn works well) through the stitches that will be the used for the thumb.  Tie this loosely into a circle with a square knot.

3) Knit these stitches onto a piece of waste yarn.  It’s best if it is of a contrasting color and of the same weight the project is being knitted with.

4) Transfer these stitches back to the left needle and knit these stitches with your project yarn.

5) Run a life line through these new stitches and tie into a loop.

6) Continue knitting your project.

Sorry this is a bit blurry.

7) When you are ready to knit the thumb, pull out the waste yarn.  The life lines will keep the live stitches from going anywhere.  I can actually pull the original waste yarn at any time, which is helpful if I need to try on the item during the knitting of the main part.

8) Pick up the live stitches onto the needles.  Most instructions call for picking up a new stitch at each side, but I usually pick up whatever is instructed plus 2 more. On the next round, I knit the extra stitch on each side together with a main stitch.  I find this reduces the possibility of holes and it creates a little give at the thumb base.

9) I can pull the life lines at any time, but I usually tend to wait until I am sure I like how the thumb is developing.  That way I can always frog this back to the beginning, if needed.

In Praise of Swatches

It seems that among knitters “I never swatch” is some sort of badge of honor.  Admittedly, I also rarely knitted a swatch when I was younger – I was impatient to get my project started.  However, I often ended up having to rip out what I had started – which lowered the probability I would ever finish – or live with the results or give my hard work away.

Quilting made me realize that you need to try things out and practice a bit before committing expensive materials and hard won free time to a project.  I almost always make a practice block, especially if it is a pattern I have not done before.  Sometimes I discover easier, more accurate ways to make the block or realize I don’t like it (and therefore will not waste my time with it) or I discover where I have to be careful, if it is to come out right.

I always first quilt a sandwiched practice block or larger practice quilt sandwich. I check the thread tension, audition threads, practice the pattern I think I want to use and get warmed up.  Way less frustrating than ripping out threads!

So when I started to knit again, I realized that swatches were very important.  You practice the pattern (maybe it’s too big of a pain or doesn’t look like you thought it would), you determine the correct needles to make gauge or realize you’ll have to change the pattern a bit, you see if you like how the yarn knits and if it will look good for your project.  Since knitted swatches need to be washed and blocked, you also get an idea of the kind of care the finished project will need.

When I swatch, I tag the little block and write down everything I think is pertinent as well as staple the skein sleeve to the tag.  I feel comfortable not swatching, if I make a similar project with the same yarn (albeit, a different color) and needles.  So I use my building collection of swatches as a sort of reference library.  In the long run, this will save time and money.

Swatch from commercial yarn

Since I started spinning (more about this soon), swatching has become even more important.  In this case, I first spin and ply about 12 to 15 meters of yarn (about 6 to 10 grams of unspun fiber).  I save samples of the singles, the yarn after plying, several meters of untouched yarn and knit a swatch. Normally I cast on 24 to 30 stitches and go from there. I determine the needle size to use by doubling the yarn and seeing which hole in my needle gauge is just covered.  Afterwards I know if I will probably need to go smaller (usually) or larger for a project.  I record the length of yarn used for the swatch, the squares inches of swatch and weigh it.  From this I can determine about how many meters I will need to spin and how much roving I will need to start with.  I build in about 10% slop to ensure I have and make enough.  This swatch also tells me how the yarn will look knitted and whether I want to make changes.    I record all the info, including which spindle I used, on a tag.  This should help me stay consistent throughout the production of the yarn as well as serve as a library for future work.  What doesn’t work is as important to know and record as what does.

Swatch from a project I have just started.

Especially when I am blending colors, this swatch tells me if this is what I want. 

Another current spinning project using 3 different colors blended by carding.

If you have avoided swatching in the past, I would recommend you give it a try – you will find it worth the effort!

Blocking Socks

I started this topic last time, but want to follow up with my final results.  I made 2 large sock blockers from foam board that I already had.  It is cheap, easily available and sturdy enough for the task.  The paper layer seems to be water resistant.  I made blockers for medium and for small socks.  I have used the medium size to block several sets of  my socks and the blockers show no detrimental effects of the damp.  One sheet (18 by 24) will easily make blockers in the three adult sizes with enough left over for a child’s size.  

In making the blockers, a few things to keep in mind:

• You are not trying to stretch the sock to size, so the blocker should be ever so slightly smaller than the final size.
• If you extend the top of the pattern out (see previous blog entry for pattern link), the cuff will get wider, which you don’t want it to do – make sure the cuff part of the blocker maintains an even width.
• Once you cut out the first blocker, use it to trace the second on, so that the 2 are alike.
•  There’s a lot of leeway in this – so the blockers don’t have to be perfect.
•  Use a knitting needle to poke a hole through the middle of the top.

I didn’t like the yarn and hook arrangement to hang them and so came up with a single hanger, shown below.  It takes about 10” to 12”of heavy gauge wire (like 18 or 16).  It is bent in the center and then out – that part fits over my clothesline – and then 2 hooks facing inwards to hold the blockers.  I made the arms of my hangers rounded – more of an artifact of the wire having been on a roll – but that’s not necessary. It hangs like a mobile.  The middle loop could be modified to hang over a dowel or hook or shower curtain rod, depending where you need to hand them up. Or you could fashion a separate hook that fits over larger rods and then hang the hanger from it.  The hanger would work well with commercial blockers.  

Hanger

Hangers with loaded blockers attached.

The blocking process is simple:  soak the socks in tepid water with a few drops of good wool soap.  Squish the water through the socks, but do not agitate.  Then squish out the excess water, rinse, squish them out again.  Lay them on a bath towel and roll this up like a jelly roll.  Place on the floor and stomp on it.  Turn the roll 90 degrees and stomp on it again.  The socks will be just barely damp.  Now pull the socks gently over the blocker and adjust.  Don’t try to stretch the sock out – you are just trying to even up the stitches and give the sock and nice flat shape.

I looked at the foam sheets that were recommended at another site.  Most of it is too flimsy and the stuff that was thicker only came in 9” by 12”sheets, which are too small.  

 I also tried to make a wire frame blocker from plastic coated wire I had.  The 18 gauge was too weak – I had to make cross braces and then tape all the connections and wire ends – while it worked, it was hard to pull the socks on and off without snagging.  However, the socks dried quicker.  I will look for heavier wire and try again.  It does have to be coated, because you don’t want the metal to rust or tarnish and discolor the sock.

Bottom line – the socks come out looking great and adds that extra professional looking touch to them.