Sunday, May 23, 2010

23 May 2010

Will I have enough yarn to finish my sweater? A question commonly asked at the shop. The answer is a simple one.

The back of a standard long-sleeve sweater takes one-third of the total amount of the yarn. If you have used more than one-third, for the back, you will be short. You need to see if you can buy more of the same dyelot pronto!

If there is no more of that dyelot, don't despair. You will just need to knit at least one whole sleeve out of another dyelot. The differing dyelot for the sleeve will not be apparent in most cases - especially if it is a commercially dyed yarn. With hand dyed yarn this can be a bit tricker.

The differing dyelots show very well when the change is from one row to the next. When another piece of a sweater is knit out of a differing dyelot, the difference is not as apparent.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

16 May 2010

Last weekend we had a great time in the Knitting Scraps class. I think that everyone was amazed at the potential of scraps and how the most unlikely colors actually worked together.

The hardest part was stopping folks from looking at what color the next piece of yarn was as they went to pull it out of the bundle of yarn in their lap. The temptation was great but the colors came quite randomly and worked perfectly. It took a lot of faith to believe it would work but as the knitting progressed "the proof was in the pudding."

Yarn studies were made and compared. Everyone was pleased with her results and all agreed that knitting a sweater out of scraps was not only going to be fun but would make a totally unique sweater - and quite possible to do. Their favorite pattern could be used but each time they used the pattern the resulting sweater would end up being completely different from the first. Not only in color but in texture too.

Friday, May 14, 2010

14 May 2010

I know that it has been a long time since my last blog but the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival took a lot of work and I am still trying to get things back to normal. Great show and a lot of fun. It was nice seeing some of you there.

So why shouldn't you use your favorite scissors to cut paper? Remember when you mother really got after you for using her "good" scissors?

Well, here's the answer and it comes from my optometrist. He warned me not to use bargain brand tissues to clean my glasses. I asked why. Here's the answer.

It would seem that the wood pulp process can be done so that no bark is involved in the paper making process - and that is good. In the less expensive papers (and tissues for cleaning your glasses) a lot of bark gets into the pulp.

Bark is bad for you glasses and scissors. The bark contains fine particles of dirt (grit) blown in by wind. These small particles act like sandpaper and sandpaper is not good for your glasses or your scissors. The grit puts very fine scratches in your plastic lenses and dulls the edges of your scissors.

It's not that your scissors won't dull over time, it is just that paper will hasten the dulling.

Friday, May 7, 2010

7 May 2010

You have probably all wondered if you have enough yarn to make it to the end of a row - or if you left enough to bind-off.

The way to tell is simple. You need at least three times (safer if it is four) the length of the row you are knitting. For example, if a scarf is 10" wide you would need at least 30" but 40" would be better, to bind-off or finish a row of knitting.

Simple! But, what a patience and time saver this is.