As The Yarn Turns

The Cotton Treaty

The cotton yarn and I have finally reached an agreement. I use generous amounts of hand cream (actually Bag Balm) and the yarn will try to behave. So far, it seems to be working. Today with our local knitting group, the Shoals Knit Wits, it performed perfectly. It even behaved itself once we got home. It's now on its way to becoming a the White Lies Design Shapely Tank, or perhaps a Shapely Tee depending on my mood as I get closer to the finish.

After our rather hectic and strange week, Rick and I and a friend decided to go see Batman Begins. Our first stop after getting our tickets was the snack stand. Rick and I got our large popcorn, drinks, and gummy bears for me. (I have a slight gummy bear addiction.) Our friend wanted a small popcorn and a small drink and a Butterfinger Crisp. Nope, sorry. Even though they are right there with the other candy, you can only get it with one of their special snack packages that was WAY too large for my friend. So we tried to get it. Nope, sorry. We didn't have the right snack package either. By now my friend really really wanted that candy bar and only that candy bar. Enter a young boy who really wanted the extra large drink and popcorn but didn't have enough money to get it. Yes, you guessed it, a deal in the making. The young boy got enough money for the extra large drink and popcorn plus some extra money. My friend got her Butterfinger Crisp. Both were beaming about their success through the whole movie. Oh and we all enjoyed Batman Begins. It worth seeing.

by Sydney  |

One of Those Days

You've probably had one of those days, weeks, or months. One unexpected thing happens but you think, that's okay I can handle it. Then another unexpected thing happens and another. Pretty soon you are rapidly approaching the "I can't handle it" stage while you deal with all of these things. This is the long way of saying there has been almost no knitting the past few days. I won't go into details because each thing isn't worth mentioning. It's just that added together they take up time and get my life way out of control. (Not that I ever seem to get it under control on a normal day.) So if you want to see some knitting progress, you can look at the pictures in my last blog. Maybe the universe will take a break and allow me some time for fibery pursuits today.

by Sydney  |

Why Oh Why

Obviously something happens to my brain in winter. Maybe the cold freezes my brain or maybe it's the excitement of those first spring days. Whatever the cause, something happens to make me forget just how damned hard it is to knit something with cotton yarn. I get all excited to knit a summer top and forget just how bad it is. Getting even stitches is almost impossible and let's not talk about how large a stitch stretches when you have to tink back. I can see every spot where I had to tink back. My problem isn't that the yarn hurts my hands. The problem is that I can't seem to keep it in my hands. One year I made a top out of some cotton and silk yarn. Beautiful yarn but I felt that no matter how small I made it, the tank would stretch out to an infinitely large size. Of course, the nice thing is that when it's wet, you can stretch and scrunch and pat it into just about any shape you want. Not that it will necessarily stay there, but you can try. Then there's the cotton yarns with elastic. It's much easier to knit and the garments feel great when I'm wearing, but the yarn seems to have its own problems.

All of this is the long way of saying I made gauge swatches for my cotton summer top last night. That's when I remembered that I hate knitting with cotton. With any luck at all, maybe things will even out a bit when I actually start the top. I'm hoping that using a lot of hand lotion will keep the yarn from slipping out of my hands. If there's a time when I need sweaty hands, it's now.

Now the cotton socks I'm knitting aren't like my usual cotton knitting experience. It's not quite as nice as wool but not bad at all. It is a softer, less shiny cotton. Maybe it's the mercerized cotton that's more difficult to knit. The colors are coming out kind of interesting, with a pooling / not pooling effect. The pink and purple pools together. The white and green pools together and the blue and yellow pools together. Gives the pooling a kind of tweedy look. I haven't quite decided if I like it yet.

Now with any luck at all, the second sock will have a similar look. I plan to make them in ribbing all of the way down to the ankle and then ribbing on top of the foot since cotton isn't stretchy. I'll also probably make them a hair longer than my wool socks in case they shrink. One thing is for sure. All of this cotton knitting is giving me a better appreciation of the mohair that I've abandoned the past few days.

by Sydney  |