Category Archives: Knit Hack

Your Yarn Tension & Your Inner Life

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I’ve wanted to talk a bit about this subject for a while, and I feel like there’s no time like the present. Our inner life directly affects our outer life, even our knitting and crochet. If you’ve ever been in a place in your life where you were experiencing a lot of stress you may have noticed that your tension got tighter. This is especially noticeable when making socks … over the years I’ve seen many pairs of socks come out at mismatched sizes because they were made with different life factors. Like the title of Bessel van der Kolk’s excellent book, the body keeps the score … especially those very creative hands of ours.

Well, this particular door swings both ways … what can get tight when we are holding things in, can also get looser when we are letting things out. We emerged from a pandemic, just in time to slide into a period of massive changes on the planet. As my friend and spiritual teacher Katie Heldman said in January, the collective energy is going to resonate strongly with the revolutionary qualities of the late 1960’s. What that means is big stuff is coming up, big emotions are surfacing, maybe stuff we haven’t wanted to look at or couldn’t experience before … but it’s here for us to process now. If you’re noticing this shift, you may also be doing some things to help yourself through this change … things like meditating, going to therapy, exploring or deepening your spirituality, etc.

If you are connecting with yourself and going inward, and you’re letting go of old baggage you no longer need … well, first off, BRAVO brave soul, you’re amazing!!! But it can also affect your knitting & crochet tension. When I started meditating eight years ago I was bemused to find that my very consistent tension became looser. After about 6 months my body adjusted to my new normal and my knitting tension went back to baseline. Whatcha gonna do, right? ADAPT. Until your body gets used to it’s new mental landscape, you can do a few things to level the playing field” (and it goes without saying tha the following suggestions also apply if your life has gotten a lot more stressful and your tension:

Swatch

Swatching is going to be your friend for the next little while (not that it wasn’t your BFF before). Before you start a project, especially something that needs to fit properly (like a sweater) you should always swatch. Make a swatch that is at least 5″ x 5″, and block it by washing it and laying it flat to dry. For more information on swatching please see this VIDEO (it also includes instructions on how to swatch for something that is knit in the round). Designers do A LOT of swatching and really know the ins & outs of it and often share helpful information:

Go Down a Needle Size

When tension is measured over 4 inches/10cm, I’ve found that one needle size or 0.5mm accounts for 1 stitch. So if your pattern calls for 18 sts/4″ on 4.5mm/US7 needles, and you are getting 17sts/4″ on 4.5mm/US7 needles, you probably need to go down to a 4mm/US6 needle to get the correct tension. I say probably because this is more art than science, yarn wants what it wants, and nothing is written in stone.

Put in a Life-line

You can always add a lifeline to your work and leave it in. This might be useful if you’re picking up your project up after a period of time and you think your tension might be different now. A lifeline is a strand of scrap yarn on a darning or tapestry needle that you thread through the live stitches that are currently on the needle (here’s a video about lifelines and how to use them). You leave the scrap yarn hanging out in the stitches and if you need to rip your work back it’s all there, super safe and secure and easy-peasy to go back to go. You’ll be able to pick your stitches back up and change your needle size (see above). And if you don’t need to make any changes that’s no problem, just remove the lifeline when you’ve finished your project.

  • Some people like to use dental floss for lifelines, but I prefer something more sturdy and use a smooth cotton yarn that I can tie off and secure.
  • Always use a yarn that is finer or thinner than the one you are working with, otherwise, it can disrupt the tension of the stitches in that row and you may notice a slight difference.
  • I like to use a mercerized cotton because they don’t tend to shed fibres, which can get stuck in your knitting.
  • Choose a colour with a high contrast, so it’s easy to see the lifeline and pick-up the stitches.

Q & A Choosing a Size (Fit & Measurement)

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I received some really good questions this week after posting about Men’s sweaters, and since I love sharing I thought some of you might also want to hear the answer …

This would be my first time making a sweater and I am not sure how to measure the finished chest dimension?

1. Measuring

Great Question! We often understand how our own body relates to clothes and fit, but it’s harder with someone else, even when they are close to you. The most important place for a sweater to fit, especially for women, is in the shoulders. For women you can adjust the bust size, but you can’t change the shoulders. For men, the chest measurement is an anchor. Use a measuring tape and with a t-shirt on (or whatever the recipient will be wearing under their sweater) measure the circumference of the widest part of their chest, just under their underarms. Here is a short article about how to take a chest measurement:

Amy Herzog also has good little videos on how to measure:

If you really want to learn more about this, check out Amy Herzog’s Knit to Flatter class on Craftsy. FYI: Knitwear designers use the measurements from the charts from the Craft Yarn Council (picture below) – we’ll talk about those next.

Image: Craft Yarn Council: Standard Body Measurements/Sizing

2. Choosing a Size

Choosing the right size also involves ease. Ease is the amount of space between a sweater and the body it is on. Positive ease is extra space, so the more positive ease, the looser the garment will be. Negative ease is the lack of space between a body and the garment, so the how much the garment will be stretching around you. zero ease means the garment is the same size as the body. After measuring, you need to decide how much ease you want in your sweater; for example, in the size section a pattern might suggest the garment be worn with 2″ to 4″ of positive ease. Ease is the amount of space between a sweater and the body it is on.

You need to make an executive decision and decide how loose or tight a fit you want (see below for a Measurement Hack that can help with the decision making process). If you want a fitted look, make sure the size is around 2″ bigger than the body size you measured above. In this case, if you have a person with a 38″ chest then you may want to choose a size that’s in the 39 to 41″ range. If you want a looser fit you can choose a size with 4″ of ease. For your person above, you might go for a size in the 43 to 45″ range.

For more on ease and measuring you can go straight to the source, the Craft Yarn Council’s directives on Fit, Measurement and Size. They show you the basics of how to measure all the body parts, what different fits mean, and links to all the size charts are in the list on the right side of the screen (here’s a link to the men’s size chart).

There are a couple things to also keep in mind, that may throw a wrench in your plans

  • Different fibres behave differently, and some work better with less ease. Fibres like linen, silk, some cottons, alpaca, camel, cashmere, some superwash yarns, etc … they don’t have a lot of memory and do better with less ease. To make things more complicated, how a yarn will behave also depends on the spin and construction of the yarn.
  • The yarn you choose takes up physical space in the sweater; the thicker your yarn is, the more ease you need. 6″ of ease might be roomy with a worsted weight yarn knit on 4.5mm/US7 needles, but it’ll be closer to a classic fit with a Super-bulky weight yarn knit on 10mm/US15 needles. This is why the sizing might look a bit large in patterns designed with thick yarns.

If you’d like to read more from anothre author, check out this article from Tin Can Knits on Fit and Size and Measurement (they’re great designers, their patterns are very reliable, I recommend them frequently).

Babies & Kids Sizing Hack

By the way, the size charts from the Craft Yarn Council are EXTREMELY helpful when choosing a pattern size for babies and kids. Here’s the scenario: the child you’re knitting for is a ‘size 4’, but the pattern only gives sizes in chest measurements. So, you can check the children’s size chart, and under size 4 it lists the average chest size is 23″ (the charts give the average actual body measurements, not garment measurements). So you would want to choose a size that around 25″ to fit a size 4 child.

Measurement Hack

If you don’t have an actual body to measure, or you don’t know what kind of fit they like, try to find a sweater or sweatshirt that’s approximately the same thickness as your yarn (don’t use a thin cashmere sweater to measure for a thicker worsted weight yarn – your ease will be off). Lay the sweater out on a hard, flat surface (like a table or the floor, not the sofa), and take a measurement across the chest at the underarms. This gives you half of the full chest measurement you’ll be looking for in the pattern.

RESTOCKED Fleece Artist Woollen Thrum Mitten Kits

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Fleece Artist Woolen Thrum Mitten Kits

Thrumming is a very old technique that is seriously fun and functional. Small tufts of super soft merino roving (wool that hasn’t been spun into yarn yet) are knit into the garment creating a fuzzy warm layer on the inside and irresistible dots of colour the outside. As you wear them, the thrummed roving felts down, keeping your hands warm and cozy (take note dog owners, these are ideal winter dog walking mitts). The mittens will be the colour of the yarn and the thrums (roving) will peek through. Each kit is lovingly hand dyed in Nova Scotia Canada, no two will be exactly alike. (Kit does not include needles:  5.5mm/US4 double-pointed needles.)

Wonder Woolen Yarn

Wonder Woolen is a new-ish yarn from Fleece Artist. It is 100% regionally sourced wool (25 Micron, Woolen Spun). It is heartier and sturdier than the yarns they have used in the past for their thrum kits, and will wear harder, last longer, and keep you warmer. They are so happy with this new yarn at Fleece Artist that they have discontinued all of their other thrum kits. Wonder Woolen is also thicker than the previous yarns used, and knits up faster on larger 5.5mm/US9 needles. If you like the Saltwater Knits series of books by Legrow & Scott you’ll love this yarn!

last year’s pattern was a little weirdly, but it’s been fixed!

New & Improved Kits for 2020!

This year’s kits come with some positive updates ….

  1. Last year there was an error in the pattern which we didn’t catch until we knitted up a pair and made our store-sample (that’s why our sample above looks a bit weirdly). This error has been corrected, so your mitts won’t look weirdly (although we still love ours).
  2. The pattern is now written for ALL adult sizes (small, medium and large).
  3. This year’s colours are a little different too – all the yarn colours are semi-solid and the thrumming is variegated (multicoloured). This creates a mitten with a depth of colour and little random pops of contrasting colour where the thrumming peaks out. No more unpredictable, pooling colours, your mitts will be the colour of the yarn. I also tried to design the kits with colours that are easy to wear and match, and there’s lots for both men and women.
  4. We’ve included some hacks below to make your thrumming experience as smooth as possible!

Skill Level

If you’ve already made a pair of mittens or gloves (with or without fingers) you are ready for thrumming! The concept is the same, just throw in little tufts of roving every once in a while.

Kit Includes

  • Pattern & instructions for adult size Small, Medium & Large
  • Yarn: Fleece Artist Wonder Woolen, 113g (100% wool)
  • Merino Roving: 60g (100% merino wool) 
  • Love

Thrum Hacks!

Here’s a quick little hack to get you started on your thrumming adventure ….

  1. Prepare your thrums BEFORE you start knitting. I estimate for ONE mitten you’ll need about 105(115, 150) thrums for size S(M,L), but you might want to budget a few extras as a buffer (if you find you’ve got extra you can throw them in near the top of the mitt, but it’s better than being short).
  2. Divide your thrums into two piles, one pile for each mitten.
  3. Lay out each pile of thrums on a bandana or tea towel – you can get a general overview of the colour distribution.
  4. Roll up your tea-towel/bandana to keep your thrums safe and tidy. This also makes your thrums PORTABLE.

Sweater Lessons

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Have you ever had a project that felt more like a life-lesson than knitwear? That’s THIS sweater. I cast it on in the fall and ever since it’s been going sideways over and over and over again … and then again once more for good measure. It isn’t particularly complicated, I did my due diligence from the start, my swatching and mathemagics, but it just kept going off the rails. Naturally, I put it down and picked it up frequently … there’s only so much a person can take.

It wasn’t until I picked it up again a week or so ago that I started to really think about it. When I was in school I did some archaeology, and in the field the veterans used to have a saying: “One rock is a rock, two are a feature, and three are a wall.” After reworking the body at least twice and the sleeve cap and arm at least three times I started to look at this project a little differently – sometimes rocks aren’t just rocks, and sometimes a sweater isn’t just a sweater. I’ve picked up a few new hacks along the way, but this sweater is a different kind of learning …. it’s a metaphor for larger learning. The problem is, I don’t know what the lesson is. My intuition hasn’t been forthcoming in this department, and it’s driving me CRAZY. I’ve wanted to blog about it, but I didn’t have any answers. So I’m shifting my thinking and hoping that the process of writing and sharing it with you might be the solution …

The Narrative

So here’s the story …. despite the fact that they are my forever favourites, I’ve been thinking I’m in a bit of a rut with my Haley Special sweaters. This fall I decided I was going to try new things, even if I wasn’t as happy with them, because by not trying new things I may be shutting myself off from other things I might like just as much, if not better. So, I got this great new yarn in the store, I wanted to make a sweater, I look bad in raglans, I look good in set-in sleeves, I look bad in crew necks, I look good in wider necks, and I wasn’t in the mood to knit a sweater flat and seam it (it’s more about the knitting than the seaming). Of course, I couldn’t find anything that was exactly what I was looking for … nor did I really expect to.

I settled on hacking a pattern that is constructed from the top-down with short-row set-in sleeves. The tension wasn’t exactly the same, but I did my math. The pattern has cables and I didn’t want them, but I worked my math. My math was good, it was happy math, stable math, the kind of math you marry and have a family with.

The first time things wen’t awry was in the decreases in the body … I stopped using my head and followed the pattern blindly, which proved to be bad, because their sweater was cropped, and I was not making a cropped sweater. My bad, I own it.

LESSON 1: Always check in with yourself, don’t rely blindly on externals.

So that got ripped back and in a fit of spiritual exploration, I decided to see if I could knit the body shaping based exclusively on my intuition. Turns out I could, but it wasn’t necessarily going to fit.

LESSON 2: You can’t go through life relying entirely on your intuition, you need the combination of your knowledge, wisdom, AND intuition to get things done.

LESSON 3: There’s nothing wrong with testing the boundaries of the universe, but if you are going to do it through your knitting do it with a small project and on bulky yarn … less ripping back.

Finally I made it through the body, I wen’t back to the math, and it fit, but it was tight. WHATEVER – at this point I couldn’t deal with ripping it again, I’d just have to live with it. I forged forward and moved on to the first sleeve … I made the sleeve cap and half the sleeve before trying it on …. to find it WAYYYY too tight. The cap was tight, and the sleeve was tight. I had tried out new needles and they were definitely altering the tension. More ripping ….

LESSON 4: SLOW DOWN. Before you blaze forward, take a look at the landscape to avoid tripping. One of the points of making a sweater from the top-down is that you can try it on as you go. At each step I need to remind myself of this benefit.

At this point I was starting to get a little frustrated. The entire arm region was tight, I was not happy. What happened to my beautiful math?! My intuition spoke up (finally), said to block the sweater, and that actually worked out nicely! The tension loosened and it fit nicely. HALELUJAH! Back to the sleeves …

On the second iteration of the sleeve I tried going up a size in the pattern for the armhole …. that was a big NOPE, didn’t work. On the third I went back to the original size, and went up a needle size … that was also full of nope. On the fourth I went back to the original size and a third type of needle, and that got me a good tension. I even smartened up and tried it on as I went! When I got to the lower part of the arm I tried changing needles but the yarn was having none of that, the tension shifted dramatically, so I went back to what I was using originally and hoped for the best.

In the last go on the arm I tried on the sweater periodically and wondered if the arm might be a smidge too tight, but my intuition kept telling me it was good, to keep it, and I knew the tension loosened in the body after blocking, so I left it. I feel like I maybe should have blocked it after finishing the arm, just for good measure, but when my intuition reaches out and tells me something I have learned to listen (this is a lesson you learn the hard way), so I threw my lot in with the universe and started the second sleeve. I’ve tried it on, it seems to fit, so I’m moving forward with fingers crossed.

LESSON 5.1: You just have to trust life, and that the universe has your best interest at heart. Things can, and will go sideways, but they also right themselves too. Listen to your intuition, let go and lean into the flow … you never know what you’ll get out of it.

LESSON 5.2: Control is an illusion, struggling to get and maintain it is just a huge energy drain, and you don’t actually need it anyway. In retrospect, I feel kind of silly … but that’s ok, silly is a level of vulnerability that I’m very comfortable with.

Mini Lessons & Hacks

Block it before Ripping it

Even after knitting the body twice, it was still fitting a bit tight in the waist. I didn’t know why, since the math should have been good and there wasn’t any physical expansion on my part. Rather than tearing it out, I wet blocked it, and low and behold the tension loosened and it fits perfectly now. YAY!

Two Swatches May be Better than One

After all the tension issues, I think it may have been beneficial to work two separate swatches on the same size needle, but only block one. I’ve never done this before, but it would have given me more information, especially since the tension changed after blocking. Just having the two pieces of fabric to compare visually might have been helpful. I think next time I have tension issues while making a sweater I might stop and make a second swatch.

Steamers = Good

I found a new use for the handy little garment steamer I bought on Amazon … they are great for reconditioning yarn! As you may or may not know, after you rip back yarn it is usually all crinkly, and if it is it has to be reconditioned before you knit with it again. In the past I have always skeined it up, washed it and hung it to dry. I was all set to give my skein a bath, when the “Hey! I have a steamer!” moment came. I steamed the crimps out of my yarn and was knitting with it twenty minutes later – sweet!

Locking Stitch Markers = Good

If you’re wondering about all the locking stitch markers in my sweater, I use them to mark my increases and decreases, and keep track of my rows. You can read more about this knit hack HERE.

Project Details

The pattern I hacked is Chuck, the yarn is Fibre Co Cumbria in Coniston. My project notes are still mostly scribbled all over the pattern but will go into Ravelry soon.

Conclusions

Well, it seems like the problem with pinning down the larger lesson was that there were at least half a dozen of them …. too much information for a succinct answer. Fair enough. Thank you so much for being my sounding board and helping me with this. sometimes you just need your people.

LESSON 6: When you find yourself stuck, reach out to your people.

I’ve had a consistent meditation practice for two and a half years, and since she made her debut on Netlfix I go back to my girl Brene Brown when I’m blocked (and more recently a new bestie Tara Brach) …. but in the vein of Lesson 2 (above), no man is an island.

LESSON 7: You need to connect with yourself AND with your people.

I’ll let you know how the sweater turns out, I’m in the home stretch and determined to finish it and over on to my next sweater (which I’m super psyched for and have already stashed the yarn away).

PROJECT Brushed Alpaca Nuvem

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Nuvem

I just finished a third Nuvem and it was a total win! It’s light and airy as a cloud and cozy as hell. It’ll be an awesome spring/fall wrap, I just want to cocoon in it. I used Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk and 4.5mm/US7 needles, so it also didn’t take a super long time (I took about a month, but I totally dawdled because I wasn’t into any tv shows or audiobooks). Anyway, everyone who picks it up says they they feel compelled to make one – especially after I tell them the yarn only cost $36 (total).

Notes

The pattern isn’t very complicated, but it does involve a cast-on that some may not be familiar with: Judy’s Magic Cast-on. It’s isn’t hard, and I don’t think you should let it stop you from making this project. Judy’s Magic Cast-on is a very popular technique for making toe-up socks, and there are tons of videos and tutorials for it online, so if you have a hard time with one just skip to the next.

Nuvem Needle Hacks

  1. The last time I made a Nuvem I came up with an easy Knit Hack to help keep track of my needles on this project!
  2. This pattern is worked on two identical circular needles, which can get unwieldy. After I had been working for a while and my Nuvem had grown sufficiently I found that I was able to transfer all of my stitches to a single 60″ circular needle. My preferred type of needles for this project are interchangeables (I have a set of Addis, but Knitter’s Pride are also a great option, their extra cords and tips are affordable), because if I’m going to buy two identical needles of the same size, they might as well be interchangeable tips.

Size

I always wonder why shawls and wraps don’t come in sizes – people comes in different shapes and sizes, and a person with larger shoulders, back and/or bust will need a larger garment, right? Luckily, this pattern is extremely flexible, so it’s very easy to make this wrap smaller or larger. I cast on 143 stitches, which measured 37”/94cm in length after blocking (the end sections each measure about 17″/42cm). I feel like my wrap would fit up to a size large, but if I was an XL or larger I’d make it longer. If you want yours longer you can cast on more stitches (based on my tension, that’s about 3.85 stitches per inch, so if you wanted your wrap to be 4″/10cm longer I’d cast on an extra 15 stitches). If you want it wider you just have to knit extra rounds (or block it width-wise – I blocked mine length-wise).

  • Width (after blocking length-wise): 23”/58cm
  • Length (after blocking length-wise): 71”/180cm
  • Weight: 150g

You can get an idea about the finished size in the picture below. The mannequin is a size 6 and on the small size at that (no booty whatsoever), so I’d say that this is what it would look like on a small person.

Materials

Yarnsperiments & A Hack

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On our Last Date I promised to update you on my yarnsperiments, and I have lots to share! I originally played around with holding 2 strands of Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk together, and since then I moved on to see how it acted when I held it with a heavier yarn. The concept is to hold a light, airy yarn like a brushed alpaca or mohair with a heavier, more conventional yarn. The heavier yarn stabilizes the fabric, giving it body, and density. The airy yarn gives it a soft, all-over halo (please note: the fabric can only be as soft as the fibre. A downy alpaca will continue to be soft, and itchy mohair will still be scratchy).

And so, I offer up my experiments …. I’ve used the same 2 yarns throughout: Cascade 220 Superwash Sport and Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk. The Cascade is a sport-weight machine washable merino wool, it is super soft and comes in 50g/125m skeins (perfect for experimenting). The Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk is a worsted weight brushed alpaca that looks kind of like mohair but feels like happiness. It comes in 25g/140m skeins. Both yarns are 100% natural fibres.

On the C Train

My first foray into this combo was On the C Train, a pattern that was designed to be made with 2 strands of yarn held together. It’s made in a K1P1 rib (which I like to call ‘stupid stitch’, which while tedious to knit, makes for an elastic fabric that fits well. I ran short on my base yarn, the Cascade, so the size is a bit on the small side (slouchy on a 21″ head) – all of my modifications are in Our Ravelry Notes. 

The finished fabric almost looks felted, I think because of the colours:

  • The yarns were a dead-on colour match, there’s just about no distinction between the two when they were knitted up. Of course, dye lots can shift colours around, but this combo on this day for this project were twins.
  • Both yarns are solid colours. They are not heathered, so there isn’t any differentiation in the colour, it’s flat.
  • The colour is dark and doesn’t reflect much light. (Yes, yarn can reflect light, and it affects how you perceive the colour. The darker the colour is, the less depth and the flatter it’ll look). The halo of the alpaca also prevents light from being reflected off the merino.

Anyway, it looks really cool! It doesn’t feel remotely felted, it’s soft, extremely comfortable, and has an all-over lightly fuzzy texture. This hat could look really cool in a black on black combo.

Materials

Chunkeanie

Chunkeanie is a pattern we’ve made before, and I’ve always really liked the aesthetic. When I’m knitting it I feel really meh about it, but once it’s done it just looks amazing! It especially looks good on, which is important, since it’s a hat, not a tea cozy. One caveat, I feel like the pattern runs small, their size medium fits my 21″ head. The texture is still soft, and very comfortable. I like this particular yarn combo knitted on the 5mm/US8 needles, it blooms nicely, although I think the brim could be knitted on 4.5mm/US7 needles.

This colour combo with the light greys looks amazeballs! The light grey of the Cascade merino is a bit more of a cool colour, and the alpaca is warmer. They ended up working well together, with the fuzzy alpaca becoming the dominant colour. This is an interesting phenomenon that I hadn’t actually noticed until now. I’m glad I photographed the hats next to their constituent yarns, you can kind of see which colour is more dominant when they are neighbours. Cool! I just learned something new!

The fabric of this hat looks a lot less flat and more fuzzy than felted, probably for a few reasons:

  • Both of the yarns’ colours are heathered, which give it a bit more depth of colour.
  • In the purple alpaca yarn the silk and alpaca content are almost indistinguishable, the entire strand looks the same. In the light grey the silk (the carrier yarn or core) took the dye in a different way (silk does this, it’s fickle) and it is lighter than the alpaca (you can see the silk shining through in the picture below). This little hit of colour runs through the stitches, randomly creating little highlights. (One of the advantages of knitting holding 2 strands together is that the colour distribution is completely random. When the yarns are already pre-spun together you lose that added depth of colour.)
  • The value (the lightness or darkness of a colour) of the colours is much lighter than the purple hat. The dark value of the purple hat added to the flatness of the colour. With this hat, the lightness of the colour creates a greater depth of colour. I can still see details in the yarn, like the stitches and the plies. Even though our mind doesn’t tend to register those little lines, they create micro shadows which in turn creates contrast and adds more depth to the overall colour.

Anyway, this hat-speriment was definitely a win. It looks really good on me, and I think I’m going to have to make myself a second – otherwise I’ll swipe the store sample.

Materials

Chunkeanie

The grey hat worked out so well that I decided to try a different colour and make one for my mom. My mother has a little mini head, so I opted to try a smaller needle size and went down to a 4mm/US6 for the ribbing and 4.5mm/US7 for the crown. The tension was fine, but I definitely feel like the 5mm/US8 was a prettier tension.

The first hat (purple) was a dark colour, the second (grey) was a light colour, and this one was in between. It looks like the fuzzy yarn (the alpaca) is still coming out as the dominant colour in the fabric. The alpaca also seems to look patchier in this hat, which is an optical illusion because it is exactly the same as the other two hats. This is because of the special things going on with this particular colour combo:

  • The Cascade merino is a heathered colour, so it isn’t as flat as the purple. But the heathering is only one colour, white, and it isn’t as complex or have the depth of colour that is in the light grey, which has black and white in it. (You’ll have to take my word on this, my camera skills haven’t made it this far.)
  • The Cascade merino is a bit lighter than the alpaca, while in the other combos this was reversed. The base is showing through a lot more than the other hats, which look more uniform. Light colours project and pop out to the eye, while dark colours recede.
  • Like with the grey hat, the silk hasn’t taken the dye exactly the same as the alpaca and is peeking through, creating some small highlights.

Materials

Knit Hack: Alternate Cable Cast-On

The Chunkeanie pattern calls for an Alternate Cable Cast On, which you do not have to do to make this hat, but I like trying new things, seeing how they work, why the designer chose to use it, etc. The Alternate Cable Cast On is a great way to cast on for a ribbed edge of K1P1 or K2P2 and is a much, much, much easier alternative to a Tubular Cast On. Like, SO MUCH.

So if it’s so much easier, why does it need a hack? Good question. When you do this cast on you’re basically alternating making a knit stitch, then a purl stitch, a simple enough concept – in theory. In theory, my brain should be able to pay attention to knits and purls and knits and purls. In THEORY. In reality, I found myself having a nice little rendez-vous with my learning disabilities. I was constantly screwing up the sequence of the knits and purls and having to rip it out.

How I Mastered this Cast On

Stitch Markers. Get them, use them, they’re your little plastic friends! I placed a stitch marker after every 10 stitches, and before proceeding more than a few stitches past that I went back and checked to make sure the last 10 stitches were correct. Once I confirmed that I was on track, I moved on to the next 10.

Read the Stitches. The other thing I had to do was learn to read what the knit and purl stitches looked like. You can’t check to see if your stitches are correct if you don’t know what they are. The best way is to just practice casting them on and looking closely to see how the knit looks compared to the purl. To my eye, the knit is a long bar that sticks out and the purl is bead or a bump that recedes. I tried taing a picture and labelling it for you, but I don’t know if it’s super helpful – people all conceptualize things in different ways, so it’s best just to study your stitches closely and get familiar with them in your own terms.

Pay Attention to Your Join. This is where reading your stitches again comes in handy. Because the sequence of the stitches is what this cast-on is all about, I joined my stitches by threading the yarn tail on a darning needle and pulling it through the other side. I don’t know why, but I found that once joined my stitches had gotten turned around to the other side, and my round was starting with a purl. At this point I didn’t really care why or how this was happening, I just wanted to get on with it and make a hat, so I adapted and started my ribbing on a purl.

Conclusion

OMG, that was SO. MANY. WORDS. I’m sorry if it’s too many words, too much explanation. Please feel free to take it or leave it, or take some and leave the rest. My conclusions are thus:

  • The hats look really good!
  • I like the yarn combination, it worked out well.
  • The grey hat made me the happiest, but the purple was cool.
  • I now know more than I did before, and this exploration was definitely a worthwhile use of time and resources.

I’ve already moved on to my next project, I’m knitting a Nuvem with the Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk as a straight-up single stand. I think it’ll make for a super cosy wrap for spring, and so far it looks great – but more to follow!

PROJECT Snap

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Snap

I tried this pattern a few weeks ago, and I thought it would make a great post-holiday knit because it makes great use of bits ‘n bobs of stash yarn. It’s really nice to find a stash busting project that’s small and fast – so many are blankets! The pattern is Snap from Tin Can Knits, who are great designers (and are very reliable).

The colour variation and gradation are achieved by working with multiple strands of yarn held together and periodically changing them out. I used 4 strands of fingering weight yarn held together, although the pattern offers guidance for combinations with lace weight and sport/DK weight yarn. Working with multiple strands of yarn wasn’t hard, but if this is a new thing for you it’s just a good idea to take things slow and don’t rush your stitches.

All of the yarn I used was fingering weight from stash, and almost all of it was variegated. I worked the ribbing in a combination of 4 colours, and then I started changing out a single strand of yarn every 4 rounds, graduating from the darkest colours to the lightest. I think I used approximately 9 to 10 different colours/yarns in all. I started with the darkest greens and then transitioned up through the lighter or more yellowy greens, and then into the yellows.

I’ll be honest and tell you that while I was working on the hat I fussed in my head about which colour should go next, but I don’t think it was necessary. There was so much going on visually with 4 strands of variegated yarn, and I had so many colours that were somewhat close, that each individual change of yarn didn’t make a huge difference. The hat is knit on the knit side and then turned inside out after it is finished, and the colour changes are much more subtle on the purl side.

I made the size “adult S/M”, but after blocking it fits an adult M or 22″ head. If you are knitting for a smaller head (20.5 to 21″) I suggest going down a size. The fabric is heavy, a bit on the dense side (which makes sense, sock yarn doesn’t tend to be fluffy stuff).

Size

  • baby (toddler, child, adult SM, adult L)
  • fits head 16 (17.5, 19, 21, 23)” around

Materials

PROJECT Granny Slippers (and a Hack)

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Granny Slippers

A client came in last night who wanted to make some granny slippers, and it occurred to me that I’ve NEVER made a pair, and maybe I should step outside my box and try a pair. I’m happy to report that they were SUPER EASY, beginner friendly (like after scarves), fast, and don’t use a ton of yarn, and are super cosy and warm! I whipped up a pair in one evening, so they’re definitely doable for holiday gifts. They aren’t fancy, but they are definitely cosy, warm, and fast!

I decided I wanted a funkier pair and used one skein of hand dyed Fleece Artist Back Country, but another great (less pricey) yarn would be Berroco Vintage Chunky. The yarn was lovely (as always), soft and smooth. If you want a pair of fuzzy slippers you could hold together 1 strand of Cascade 220 Superwash and 1 strand of Drops Brushed Alpaca and Silk (1 ball of each should be enough. The pattern, Easy Steps by Drops, is a freebie, and was fairly easy to follow. Please read below for our modifications and notes. 

Modifications & Pattern Notes

A. I used 5mm/US8 needles, and it made the tension a bit tighter, 15 sts = 4″ (10cm). My feet are narrow, so this didn’t make a big difference in size, but if you are knitting for wider feet I would add a couple of stitches to the pattern.

B.  The pattern, which was not originally written in english, has one phrase that novices might find confusing. It says “K sts tog 2 by 2”. What they want you to do is K2tog across the row (so knit 2 stitches together, and keep doing this to the end of the row. For beginners, the pattern website also has a how-to video on how to knit 2 stitches together. 

C. For beginners who do not know how to seam (or for more experienced knitters who may not know how to do this particular seaming prettily), the pattern website offers some handy how-to videos to get you through the project. To make a tidy seam at the back of the foot (because it is a cast-on edge) this may be a helpful video. 

D. Please see our Hack below for suggestions on making sure the colour distribution of hand painted, variegated yarns is the same for both your slippers! If you’re using a solid, heathered or semi-solid yarn you don’t need to worry about this, but you might find it interesting and useful information for the future.

Materials

Knit Hack

And now for the hack! It’s a universal knitting truth that variegated yarns have a tendency for the colours to pool in ways we can’t anticipate. Sometimes it’s fun, funky, and enhances the project, and sometimes we don’t really care for it. It’s random, it happens, and we learn to accept it. You can usually play around with this effect by varying the needle size, the number of stitches you put on, and the stitch pattern you choose. But while knitting these slippers I found out something new – the place in the colourway that you cast on (where you place your slip knot or first stitch), can have an effect. 

Option A) Asymmetrical Pooling  Approximately half of the colourway in this particular skein is dark, and the other half was colourful (lets say it starts with the dark blue, the moves into a second part, the brighter warm colours). In the picture above, I made the slip knot around where the colour is changing between the two. The colours pooled kind of randomly, and I thought it worked with the skippers once they were seamed – they’re kinda funky.

Option B) Symmetrical Pooling  In this picture, I made the slip knot around the centre of the dark part of the colourway (so about 1/4 of the way through the colour repeat). The colours ended up pooling completely symmetrically! All the Blues stacked up on the right and the reds lined up on the left. It was super cool. It also didn’t suit my sensibilities for this project, although I kind of want to make a neckwarmer this way. 

Caveat Emptor: every skein of hand-dyed yarn is different, so this isn’t a rule. so much as a factor. Like I said at the start, the number of stitches, the tension and the stitch pattern also have an effect on the colour distribution. But if you are making your own slippers with hand-dyed, variegated yarn, be sure to cast on in the same place in the colourway to get a similar colour distribution. 

So there you go, you learn something new every day!  For more information on colour distribution in variegated yarns, I highly recommend the book Artful Color, Mindful Knits.

PROJECT World’s Simplest Mitts

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cascade 220 superwash wave mittens

World’s Simplest Mittens

My friend Rosie just finished a set of mitts made with Cascade 220 Superwash Wave and I think they’re really cool! She used one skein to make all three mitts with the World’s Simplest Mittens pattern (a freebie from the lovely ladies at Tin Can Knits, she made a size Women’s Medium). Why three? Why not?! There was more than enough yarn left to make a third, and you inevitably always misplace or lose one mitten. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool, having three mitts that match but aren’t exactly alike – it’s like having extra wardrobe options!

The pattern is excellent; a basic mitten knit in the round. It is very straightforward, well written, and the instructions (like all of the Tin Can Knits patterns) are easy to read and follow. It is written for sizes Toddler to Adult Large, and accommodates four different sizes of yarn (fingering, DK, worsted and chunky weight).

Alternatives to DPNs

If you don’t like making mitts because you don’t enjoy using double pointed needles, you might want to try using the new Addi Flexi-flip needles – they’re a great alternative to traditional double pointed needles (Rosie has been using hers since they first came out, and she’s become a convert, despite not having a huge issue with double points to begin with). You could also try using Chaigoo’s 9″ circular needles (you can get them as singles, or if you really like them invest in their interchangeable set) but you will still have to finish the thumb on double pointed needles.

Knit Hack: Matching the Thumbs

Sometimes matching the thumb to the rest of the mitten is tricky with yarns that change colours in stripes or as a gradient. This is because you knit the body of the mitten first, and then go back and do the thumb last – the colourway will have changed by the time you go back to do the thumb. You can see this in the centre mitten in the image above.

If you want your thumb to match the mitten better, wind off a little bit of yarn after you’ve put the thumb gusset on hold, and before proceeding with the body of the mitt. You won’t need a lot of yarn (maybe 5m of worsted weight yarn?), it doesn’t take much to knit a thumb. When you go back to finish the thumb you can use the yarn you wound off and your thumb will blend in beautifully.

Cascade 220 Superwash Wave 114 Spring BLOG

Materials

Shop Online Button Turquoise 250w

Cascade 220 SUperwash Wave mitts combo.jpg

 

PROJECT Welcome Relief

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blanket 1

Welcome Relief

I stumbled across this fun little stash-bustable blanket pattern and thought it was extremely shareable. It’s worked completely in garter stitch, which means it’s a great primer for anyone who’s up for learning short rows (intermediate beginner level) and knitting that’s easy on the grey matter. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash, which is great because it’s soft, easy to work with, washable, and it comes in a zillion different colours. yarn, you can also opt for Berroco Vintage. If you want a sturdier The pattern isn’t a freebie, but it’s very affordable and the proceeds of sales go to refugee relocation organizations (details are in the pattern notes, but there’s also some moving information on this subject in the comments).

Short Row Hack

Mark your short row turns by putting a Locking Stitch Marker or Calabash Pin in the turning stitch – it is SO MUCH EASIER to find that little stitch when there’s a plastic thingy hanging off it.

Size

40″ x 40″, but the size is completely and easily adaptable.

Materials

  • Cascade 220 Superwash or Berroco Vintage: 7(11, 16) for a blanket 40″ x 40″(50″ x 50″, 60″ x 60″)
  • 4mm/US6 – 32″ needles (or longer, depending on the desired size)
  • locking stitch markers
  • tapestry or darning needle
  • Pattern

Shop Online Button Turquoise 250w

balnket combo