Maureenie Makes Things

Knitting Techniques Worth Passing On

I love the why-didn't-I-think-of-that? feeling.  It kinda tickles.  Two lovely tips crossed my path recently.  

1.  Joining a new yarn with a double knot.   It's simple and quick and works really well when you're continuing with the same color yarn.  If you're doing stripes and need your change to occur at a particular spot, mmm, not so much.  Unless  maybe you're a sailor and have become expert at tying knots and making them land in just the right place?

2.  Joining a zipper to your knitted piece.  Using one of those doodads designed to fix snags on your sweaters, you create a chain or a row of live stitches, as you prefer, right on the zipper tape.  From there, you're all set to attach it to your garment in any number of ways.  I've done the hand sewing thing with zippers, and yes, it works fine, but this method is elegant.  The idea seems to have originated at TECHknitting blog. 

Here's a zipper set in with hand stitching.  It works fine, it's nice and neat and tidy, and I've worn the sweater for years without a problem.  But there's something about thread and yarn that doesn't quite feel right to me.  

Here's a zipper ready to be set in using yarn (from the link above):

Both ideas came by way of my LYS.  One directly, one by following a trail that started there.  Another reason to support your local yarn shop!  

Maureen

Produce as many ideas as possible. Try to produce unlikely ideas. (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

When a quilter knits … or, I love Scrap Knitting

I love scrap quilts.  Different fabrics from different sources collected over time.  When they come together, they're not perfectly matched.  Well chosen, though, the eye averages them and sees colors that might not even make an individual appearance.   Put the right ones next to each other and they sparkle.  The variations from the average, seeming mismatches, create interest and character.  

This delight in picking colors doesn't go away when I step away from my sewing machine and pick up my knitting needles.  I want to pick my own colors.  Yes,  handpainted yarns have lots of pretty colors in them, but why let somebody else have all the fun of choosing the colors for my project?  My yarn stash has mostly solids.  And my projects combine yarns from different lines. Yes, they have slightly different thicknesses and textures.  It's like mixing print fabrics, it just adds interest.   As long as it says worsted (or has a gauge from 4  to 5 stitches per inch), I put them together:

 

An experiment emerging from a pile of color.  Lamb's Pride, Peace Fleece, Cascade 220 and Greenland, Julia (sadly discontinued), Shepard's Wool, Berrocoo Ultra Alpaca, Valley Greenwich, Mirasol, Rowan Lima.  I'm sure I've missed something, but you get the point.  

The yarn world doesn't have a fat quarter equivalent.  One must buy in larger quantities.  I've decided that's okay.   By varying the number and/or proportion of colors in any given project, I can create very different looks out of the same stash.  So rather than buying by project, I buy according to what gets me excited.  A little excited, I buy one skein.  When my heart sings, I might buy three.  Julia yarn being discontinued?  As many as I can find.  Anybody know where I can get my hands on some Deep Blue Sea???

Maureen

Nothing is exciting if you know what the outcome is going to be.  Joseph Campbell