As The Yarn Turns

Shapely Revisted

The beautiful weather we're having has inspired me to work on the Shapely Tank/Tee. Right now it is sunny and upper 60s and 70s during the day. At first, the Shapely was going to be a tank, then a tee, then a tank, and now I'm back to making it a tee. After all, this way I may actually have a chance to wear it before next summer. I finished up the neck and joined the other shoulder. Now all I have to do is knit the sleeves and seam up the sides. Oh yeah, weaving in the ends. I swear the ends are reproducing. It looks like I have a million of them. Slowly but surely I'm working off my projects in progress.

Bearfoot Details

Deb asked in the comments what needle size I was using with the Mountain Colors Bearfoot yarn and I realized I haven't given any of those details. I went with size 2 needles. It seemed thicker than my usual sock yarn but not quite as thick as sport weight yarn. Size 2 seems to be working out well. I also cast on 60 stitches for my size 7 foot. My try-ons so far indicate that's just about right, although I could have gone a bit smaller, maybe down to 56 stitches. It's turning into a very comfortable sock.

Right now, though, I think I'll go spin a bit. I carded up some wool I had dyed a while back and I'm anxious to spin it.

by Sydney  |

Yet Another Sock Picture

I confess. My knitting has been boring this week. About the only knitting I've done the past two days has been on my Mountain Colors Bearfoot sock, and I haven't done much of that. I've got other projects I can work on. I really should have finished my cotton top this week. It has been in the 80s F here this week. That's just not right for November. Right now, though, I'm in sock mode and I've finished turning the heel..

Jeanie asked me about the yarn I used for the Shetland Lace Scarf in my last entry. Well as I was packing up for our vacation, I decided that I needed something else to knit besides my sock. This was literally the night before we left. This forlorn skein of Lang Jawoll sock yarn that was bought for some other, long since abandoned purpose started calling me. It's now a scarf and it works okay as a scarf. It wouldn't be my first choice but I did this scarf mostly for practice. I may tack down the ends to keep them from sliding out but I haven't decided yet. Since it is a superwash sock yarn, I'm afraid they might eventually slip out. So far the ends seem fairly snug. I know from experience that this could change once I've snipped the ends.

Not much to talk about tonight so I'm off to work on my sock.

by Sydney  |

Blocking a Lace Scarf

I finally blocked the Shetland Lace Scarf this weekend. It turned out okay considering that I knit most of it while I was flying from place to place on our vacation. Here it is blocking on the beach towel.

For something with straight edges like this I use my blocking wires, aka tig welding wires. Several stores online that have blocking kits that include blocking wires, a blocking board, pins, and a yardstick. At the time I got these blocking wires though, I wanted blocking wires right now. So I went down to the local welding shop and got these. They were very cheap and have worked well.

If you're familiar with blocking lace, you can just skip this paragraph. I'm a wet blocker. Once I've finished my lace, I dunk the item in some warm soapy water, rinse it and get the excess water out. Sometimes I wrap it in a towel and walk on it to get the excess water out. Sometimes I put in the spin cycle of the washer. Then I thread the blocking wires through the stitches along the straight edges. Once I do that, it only takes a few pins to hold it in place rather than the hundreds I would normally need. If you've never blocked lace before, you want to stretch it out until it just won't stretch any more. This is where that shriveled up thing that looks like a prune becomes a beautiful piece of lace. If I block a lace item out the night before, it's usually dry by the next morning. Here's the finished scarf. I usually don't snip off the ends until after I've finished blocking since lace stretches quite a bit when you block it. I still haven't snipped the ends on this scarf, so just ignore any stray pieces of yarn.

Want some of these fancy blocking wires for yourself? Go down to your local welding shop. Some people have been able to find them at their Lowe's or Home Depot. That's never worked for me but it might for you. Go to the counter and ask for stainless steel tig welding wires. I bought two sizes, 1/16 inch and 1/8 inch diameter. The 1/16 inch wires are bendable, while the 1/8 inch are stiff. Once you get them home, take some rubbing alcohol and a paper towel and rub them well to get any oil off of them. They're ready to go.

I've also been working on my Mountain Colors Bearfoot socks.

I'm just about ready to start turning the heel on the first sock. These are going really fast. I think because I like the yarn so much. In fact, I think I'll go work on my sock right now.

by Sydney  |