How to be a better knitter
I have decided to become a better knitter. The first step: actually knitting swatches. I know I am supposed to knit swatches for every project, but I hate it. All that time and yarn that could be going towards the actual thing I want to make, I always think.
But no more: I have a solution. I am going to swatch my yarn, even if I don’t have a project in mind. I have a knitting journal, and in the back I am recording the swatch info: yarn, needles, measurement after knitting, measurement after handwashing and drying.
For my swatches, I cast on 20-30 stitches (depending on the yarn). I start off with four rows garter stitch, then two stitches garter stitch on either side of stockinette stitch for about three inches, then end with four more rows garter stitch, creating a nice flat border around my swatch. I measure my swatches for 2″, mostly because I have a nifty little gauge measuring device that I got with some “learn to knit” kit forever ago.
The benefits of this solution:
- I get to taste, play and otherwise experience the yarn before starting a project.
- I learn how the yarn will change when it’s washed.
- I actually knit the swatch.
- I will be a better knitter!
A good article for people who want to know more precisely about knitting a swatch can be found on Knitty.
Fall Craft Clean-up
Winter is on its way, and I, like perhaps many crafty people, am going to spend it indoors making all sorts of projects. But before that happens, I realized that I had to get better organized. My fabric was all unfolded and scattered in various cabinets, my yarn stash was one huge knot, and my project ideas were floating around in about 6 different notebooks, or just random pieces of paper thrown in a drawer!
So, yesterday I had an organizing frenzy. I put things where they needed to go, dug out my scissors from under the bed, put my knitting needles and crochet hooks all in one place, and sat down to my jumble of yarn. After a couple of hours, I had many neat and distinguishable balls of yarn, and about a billion ideas of things to do with them. I guess I haven’t spent that much time looking at my stash lately, (sometimes I would just rather ignore it) but taking that time to be absorbed in it sort-of re-acquainted me with what I had in there. I came to some pretty good conclusions about what I would probably use and what I wouldn’t, and just the tactile experience of unravelling got me really excited about using them in various projects.
The best part of getting organized was that I made my self a project notebook, which I entitled: A Craft Odyssey. I decorated the cover with a collage of magazine pictures that inspire me – whether project ideas or color combinations or patterns. The pictures were from pretty diverse sources such as National Geographic, 1988, and the current issue of Ready Made magazine. It was fun to do and now I have this beautiful 3-ring binder to hold my project ideas or patterns or instructions that I printed of the internet, or whatever. Organization can be fun, it turns out!
What I read in the bookstore: Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman & Mel Clarke
I was sitting in my local bookshop the other day, looking at craft books, and I came across Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clarke. Well, really, it is by Mel Clarke, with commentary by Tracey Ullman, which is fine. Clarke has some great patterns in this book, that look hard but probably aren’t and that is where Ullman comes in. She has been knitting for 3 years under Clarke’s tutelage at a yarn shop in Santa Monica, CA, and has stories of making all sorts of mistakes that she asked Clarke to help her fix. Ullman and Clarke seem like sort of an odd couple: Tracey’s writing is big and boisterous and excited and Clarke seems more reserved and steady — the difference in their personalities is noticeable even in the pictures. But it saves the book from being like other celebrity knitting books, full of patterns few people would actually wear. Ullman is sort of there to be like “If I can make this, anyone can make this,” and also to make sure that patterns she really wants to see get put in — like skirts, which Ullman says there aren’t enough of in knitting books, and I agree. Like all knitting books, there were some patterns I liked and some I thought were horrible ideas.
But my favorite, favorite thing in the book, that I absolutely can’t wait to make (I know, I have a lot of other projects going on) is the Gym Slip Dress and the knicker-style shorts that go with it. I don’t know what hellish New Zealand educational institution Clarke was in where she was forced to wear an uglier version of this, but I am grateful that it inspired this knitting pattern. I hope it was therapeutic for her as well. I would like it to be my next big project, even though I am going to have to buy a ton of yarn for it.
Easiest Craft Project of All Time: Leg Warmers
I want to share with everyone the easiest craft project ever: making legwarmers using a recycled sweater. Basically, you just cut the sleeves off and there you go! The sleeves turn into legwarmers!
It might sound a little crazy for the uniniated, but trust me. I have a friend who wears a pair of these all the time and they look so great on her!
The best way to do it is to find an old sweater that is a little too ugly to wear, but has some kitschy design on the sleeves. It is so much easier to wear those designs as an accent, like legwarmers, than as a focal point like, say, a sweater.
The sleeves can be cut off straight or diagonal (following the shoulder seam). You could finish the edge with a zigzag stitch, and may need to in order to keep it from unravelling. This method will work on pretty much any kind of sweater, but I recommend a heavy material like wool or acrylic.
Try it out! It’s a hip, diy fashion look!
What I read at the bookshop: Sew U by Wendy Mullin
Sew U by Wendy Mullin is a great book for anyone learning to sew and especially budding fashion designers. It is set up to teach the very basics of how to sew, how to use a sewing machine, measuring, understanding patterns and fabrics. I really liked the way that Wendy uses three basic patterns (which are included in the book) as a launching pad for personalizing and designing your wardrobe.
The three patterns are: the skirt, the button-down shirt, and pants. Basically those are all anyone needs to know how to make, because everything can be spun off from there. Wendy walks the reader through how to make subtle changes to the pattern to allow it to become the garment that the reader wants. She covers how to add pockets, embellishments, design changes and fitting.
Also, the book is really well written: not boring or dry or too complicated. I definitely recommend it for beginning sewers, or anyone who wants to learn how to personalize their wardrobe and the basics of clothing construction.
Gift Idea: Knitted Bracelets
This is what I am making for basically all of my friends right now: Knitted bracelets. They are really easy to make and to personalize, and a great way to use little bits of stash yarn. You can make them really thin or thick like a cuff, and use any knit stitch pattern you know.
You can make them any size you want with any amount of yarn. Some examples of ones I’ve made recently:
3 kinds of variegated yarn – 1 wool in purple, green and blue; 1 mohair in green, brown, and blue; and one metallic in silver, green, blue, and purple
size 6 needles
Cast on 5 stitches. Knit in St st for 5 rows. Then knit in Reverse St st (if you are on a purl side, knit it; if you are on a knit side, purl it). Repeat this pattern until it reaches desired length — my bracelet was about 25 rows. Bind off and sew ends together.
1 worsted weight yarn
size 4 needles.
Cast on 8 sts. Work in seed stitch (knit, purl, knit, purl across the row) until it reaches desired length. Bind off and sew ends together.
Recycling Yarn
Do you ever look at an old sweater or scarf you never wear and think about how beautiful the yarn is? I do, so that is why I learned how to reuse yarn. It takes a little patience and courage, but it is so great.
I spent about an hour or so today unravelling this shrug that I made last year out of this beautiful Takhi Stacey Charles green tweed yarn. I loved the yarn but I had got it on sale and it was the last 3 (or maybe 4, but I haven’t found the last ball yet) balls the store had. That isn’t enough yarn for a lot of things, so I made this shrug. But I’ve just decided to make these beautiful “Natalya Gauntlets” from Savanna Chik. I think they will look great for this yarn, but first I had to unravel the shrug.
The first step is just finding a place to cut. The shrug was made flat and then the sleeve sewn together, so I cut the seam. I had to look around for a bit to find the best end — It’s easiest to go from bind-off row up, because then you can just pull the yarn and it all comes out. Once you find the right piece to pull, it is actually pretty fun! I just unravelled the whole thing, putting the yarn straight into a big pot of hot water as I went. The yarn needs to sit in the water for a few hours (I’ll be leaving mine overnight).
The next step is to squeeze some of the water out with a towel and roll the yarn into skeins. I am going to wind the yarn around my hand and elbow, like an electrical cord, to keep it from getting tangled, but you can also wind it around a straightback chair.
Once it is wound, it needs to be hung to dry and straighten. I folded it over a hanger and then placed another hanger in the loops to weigh it down, and then left it overnight.
That is basically all there is to recycling yarn! It is a great thing to know how to do, it can save you a ton of money on buying yarn. You could just buy old sweaters from the thrift store and unravel them! It works best with wool, and with hand-knits, not machine knits. Keep in mind that you are going to lose a little bit of the yarn from cutting it, but not too much. If starting from a sweater, it is easier to disassemble all the pieces first.
I hope this is a helpful tip! Please let me know if you try it, or if you already recycle yarn.
DIY Silk Screening
I just recently learned how to silk-screen in a fun and easy DIY sort of way. Silk screening is an awesome way to decorate bags, clothes or to make patches, if you didn’t know. Here is one easy, low-tech way of doing it:
Materials:
1 wooden frame
a rectangle of silk-screen a little bigger than the frame
cardboard
paint
white glue (like elmer’s)
acrylic paint
an image to copy (something simple)
something to print on!
stapler or staple gun
water
paint brush
black marker
How: Take your silk screen and staple it on the frame, once on each side to start, (its easier to staple on the flat side of the frame). go around the whole frame pulling the silk and stapling until it is really taunt. Once it is really tight, draw your image using a marker. If you want to copy an image, you can put it under the silk screen and trace it. Remember you will be printing with the flat side of the frame up.
Once your drawing is done, take a bunch of white glue and mix it with a little water and a littler paint. It should be the consistency of paint, basically. The paint is so you can see where you have put the glue already. Using the paintbrush, paint all around your image — Paint everything EXCEPT where the marker is. Hold your screen up to the light so you can see if you have filled in all the holes. Then let it dry.
When your screen is dry, put it flat down on some fabric or paper or whatever you want to print on. Take some cardboard and fold it in half to make a little squeegee. Plop some paint down on one end of your screen using a paint brush and then use your squeegee to pull the paint over the whole screen. Only squeegee in one direction. Carefully lift your screen and see your image. Yeah! Now let it dry and use the screen to print on a whole bunch of stuff.
Your screen can be reused. Clean it by soaking it in water
