knit1frog2

purling with your thumb

Due to technical difficulties, I haven't been able to post until now.  Darn the DHCP!!  But, at least it made me feel a little less guilty for going to SIFF instead of working on knitting projects.  (I've only seen 8 movies so far in 5 days, doesn't seem like very many really.  I only have 9 more to go so far unless something else jumps out at me.  There are no movies today though, and hence the time to post again!)

On Saturday, I met Zina, the thumb purler (sounds like a knitting warrior's name somehow, doesn't it?) at So Much Yarn to peruse the shelves and talk knitting.  She's a real sweetheart and I feel lucky to have had the chance to get to know her better.  We had some tasty treats at Macrina and after the coffee dude *finally* got our coffees done, we were on our way to lots of fun chatting and the like.  We were very good and didn't buy one unnecessary ball o' yarn!  Imagine that...me, leaving a yarn store, empty handed!  It's a first I tell ya!

So we finally ended up at Starbundt since we had to move our cars and Macrina isn't exactly friendly for sitting and hanging out.  We plopped down at a table where pictures were taken!  And now I know how to do the thumb purl, albeit clumsily with uneven tension and I did show her how to do the 2-handed, 2-color knitting! 

click here to see the technique

She is lightening quick with this technique...I feel like I was just born and trying to walk for the first time.  But, now I know how to do it, and you do too!

gryffindor sighting

Awhile back, I had posted about seeing some pretty spiffy socks in one of my knitting groups and how I had bought the yarn to make some for my nephew.  I finally found a way to contact Adrienne, the sock knitter and she's graciously allowed me to post pictures of them.  You ready?  They're quite awesome...

Adrienne's version of the Go Team sock!

But wait, there's more!!

check it out!  golden snitches on the heel flap!!

Isn't that just too much??!  Now, the challenge will be to fit the name on a smaller sock...where did I put that graph paper?

go figure

I had my continental knitting class tonight.  Traffic was amazingly bad this afternoon to get there too.  Was it really because everyone was looking at the cop car on the opposite side of the road on 520 who had pulled over someone?  annoying!  Just keep driving people...watch the road...not the sides of the road on the opposite shoulder!

I digress...so the class, that's right...it was at Acorn Street and I finally made it across the bridge.

Once we started, go figure, I could purl way easier than knit.  What is that??!  I still, however cannot seem to hold everything so close to the point end.  What exactly is happening there?  How are people doing this without having the stitches so incredibly tight that it's not impossible to slide the rest of the stitches easily up?  We worked on knitting every row and then we worked on knitting a row, purling the next, and I finally got the hang of it...sort of...I still don't have the tension right.

wow this looks bright.  where's
that digital camera manual?

At least my stitches were even I guess, even if they were tighter than I normally knit.

Then, we broke out into 2 handed, 2 color knitting!!  Now that was fun and weirder yet, I was able to knit just fine if I had my regular hand moving alternately.  What's THAT about??!!

fair isle, here I come!

I was amazed actually how easy it was to knit with 2 colors and both hands...I didn't want to stop!  I can see though, why when you do knit it, you go up a needle size while knitting it, and then back down to the pattern's regular size when knitting regular, plain stockinette. 

I'll be meeting Zina this coming up weekend where she's promised to show me her continental thumb move!  She uses her thumb to purl!  I did find out that it's apparently a German way of knitting...it's so interesting there are so many styles.  I'll try to take pictures, if she lets me.  ^_~

we have front

Well, I finished this last night, but was too tired to take a picture and make a post...I'm equally as tired today, but I couldn't let it go by today!

the yarn going up the front is my counter (10 rows)

Hooray for finishing the front and now it's time to start on the back.  I'm just about to turn the hem and knit it up, so off I go!

saturday's events...

oh yes.  Saturday came...and I thought I'd make some serious progress on my NBaT.  I was knitting away on the front...when it occured to me that I really should hold up the completed back to see how long it was on my frame...

do you see what I see in the background?

It was like a cape when I held it up to my back...so...

away we go...

And then I realized that I overcompensated on going larger.  Yes, it's true...and no, I don't wanna talk about it.  gah!

here I go again.

no knitting pics today...but...

I have no knitting pictures for you today, so this will have to suffice...

Zu getting a closer look at the LOo

I finished up the back of my NBaT with the Japanese short rows, and cast on and got a good 1/4 of the front done last night...I'll post pics soon.

Something I've been thinking and wondering about...

For the 2 socks on the 1 circular...I used a tail from each end of the skein after it was wound into a neat little yarn cake.  (mmmm cake)  What I'm wondering is...does that matter?  I know that yarn has a "direction" of nap.  Go ahead.  Feel it.  Run your fingers one way and then the other.  It will be rougher in one direction.  Does this matter?  Will it affect my socks?  Is the difference negligible?  Anyone?

magic loopiness

Look who's knitting socks on a circular needle...check me out!

socks on circular needles!

Sunday was my first Magic Loop class at So Much Yarn.  Isn't it great when you go to a class and just a couple of key things really make it all worthwhile?  Besides the fact that I learned to do a cross-over join (I usually cast on an extra stitch and move the last cast on stitch to the RH needle and then take the stitch with the working yarn and do a psso then tighten type of thing.) I learned to be able to knit w/o the annoying ladders on circs.

I never had a problem with ladders when using dpns, but I wanted to learn this other method because hey, knowledge is power.  I had fiddled with this way of knitting socks, but didn't really know how tight to pull the yarn when ready to knit the 'front' stitches.  If I didn't pull it tight enough, a ladder appeared!  Wha..?  If I pulled it too tight, the stitches at the end (and beginning) of the row were too tight and small.  And, I noticed a peak was starting to form (yodelayheehoo).  But how are you to gauge how tightly to pull when the needle is thicker than the cord that the back stitches are resting on?  It's so simple.  Just hold the 2 needles together.  Pinch 'em. 

ready to work the front sts

Put the needle into the first stitch and knit as usual...there's no need to pull excessively tight or anything!

...and...knit...!

Now wasn't that easy??  Just keep the 2 needles pinched together while knitting until the 3rd or 4th stitch and then you can separate them.

One more thing...in the next picture you'll see one right thing and one wrong thing.  See if you can determine which is which.

what's wrong here?

Did you get it? The right thing is that you always want to have the working yarn up and over the back needle before you pull the back needle forward and around to work the front stitches. Amazingly, this will help you to keep the yarn untangled (if you're knitting more than one sock at a time) and it will be in the correct position when you start to knit the front! The wrong thing is putting your finger between the two needles. This is what works against you and actually 'makes' ladders!  Keep that finger outta there!  That's not a pocket!

Oh, and no, the class didn't teach how to cast on for knitting two socks on one circular or knitting both socks at once.  But, being the over-achiever that I sometimes am, I wanted to see if I could do it, and more importantly wanted to make sure that both socks were done about the same time even though this thick-gauged yarn is knitting up quite quickly.  We're supposed to report back to class having the heel flap knitted so there's no question about getting that done!

so much yarn and pics to boot

I went to my Magic Loop class (more about this tomorrow!) at So Much Yarn today and it was fun to be in the yarn store before it was opened to the general public.  It was so quiet and the yarn was so neatly stacked.  I was able to take a few pictures before class started.  Take a look...

see what I mean?  SO pretty!

Isn't this yarn store fun to look at? Wanna see more? Take a look here.  Or here!  And these don't even encompass the entire store!

Oh yes, and they're having a sale from now until the end of May on select yarns.  Check out their website (link above) and it will take you to their homepage with a dropdown of yarns on sale.

p.s.  I saw one of Shug-D's friends at the Acorn Street sale...and well, I only know her as her nickname of Mamma.  Um, so when I saw her looking at yarn, I said..."...mamma??..."  hahahaha now I know her name is Amy!  It did my heart good to see her looking for yarn!

gummies are yummy

I don't know what it is, the shape?  the size?  the taste?  Not sure, but gummy bears are just so tasty...and useful!!

(hover over for a useful idea)

Okay okay, so I kid!  I don't really use the Haribo gold-bears on my knitting needle tips, but I did find these that you can use!

so cutie

I'm off to devour my newly found gummies, that and start on the coconut cupcakes for SAFF.

let the sales begin...

I went to Weaving Works today b/c it was the first day of their sale.  It was crowded...

what I saw when I first stepped through the door

Look at the woman with two bags full!!  And she's looking for more, I love it!  I got there about 10:30AM and it was pretty darn busy.  I could barely move around the circular needle rack.

I picked up some oh-so-soft cashmere/silk bundles of joy to make a neck cowl with.  Lots of time I wear my hair up, but my neck gets cold and I think this is the perfect thing for it.

wish you could feel how soft this is!
but please, not with your face.

As I was perusing the shelves and boxes and bins of yarn I caught a woman rubbing a skein of yarn on her face--really rubbed it all over her face and mouth.  Then the yarn was put back on the shelf.  Gross!!  I understand that it's nice to have a soft yarn against your skin, but the thought of purchasing a ball of yarn with someone else's face oils and leftover lunch on it really grossed me out.  I got in line to check out immediately afterward.  eep. 

I wonder what Acorn Street's sale will be like this weekend?  I'll have to check it out after my magic loop class...