My grandma wrote down on her pattern how long it took her to knit a row on the blanket. She recorded one time for a back row, which is just knit and purl stitches, and a second time for the front row, which takes longer because of the cables.
So I timed myself doing a back row, and was pleasantly surprised that I did it in 10 minutes. Perhaps my knitting is not as abysmally slow as I feared. Or Grandma did her times on a larger blanket. Hm.
When I was learning to knit and crochet, I was taught to roll up extra yarn into a ball. Generally, you started with a small nest of yarn and wrapped more yarn around, changing directions every so often so it came out more or less round. Inevitably, I would drop the ball, it would roll across the floor, the cat might help its progress, and I would have to wind it up again. When I was older, I obtained a “new wool winder” which winds yarn from a hank into a cake-like structure, but was wonderful because the cake sat still and yarn could be pulled from the center. It did not work so well with small amounts of yarn, and I had to go and find the machine and a place to secure it to use it. Fast forward many years (better just skip, because there is quite a lot of time from then to now), and I was learning about spinning on a dealgan (a Scottish type of drop spindle), and the presenter in the video said the newly made yarn was wrapped around the spindle in the same way as for a nostepinne. What? The resulting cop of yarn could come directly off the spindle and the yarn could be pulled from the center. Hm. New rabbit hole. Nostepinne is a word for a fancy stick. I used a 1” dowel, which worked just fine the first time, but you really don’t even need a stick. A rolled up piece of paper will also work (especially if the cat is comfy on your lap and you can’t reach your stick, but there is a handy piece of paper).
Here is a video: https://youtu.be/Fk6PVyzV6BY
I’m sharing because I really found this way of winding to be life changing. And it is so simple.
On a separate note, Adobe Premier now will make captions from my audio automatically. So that saves me a bit of typing. It still needed editing because “nostepinne” is not in its transcription vocabulary. Shocking. The video isn’t fancy because I’m still learning the software.
I’m ready to add in a new skein on Grandma’s blanket. I actually made it through the skein she was working on, which bodes well for the project! Grandma did not let the yarn run out willy nilly, but gauged if she had enough for a new row, and did her joins at the edges with an overhand knot. I’m guessing that she addressed the ends when she added the border.
I can appreciate this method because making joins in the middle of a row can leave unsightly lumps. There are many methods of joining (that might be another post), but leaving them on the edge is a sure fire way of avoiding seeing them in the field of work. Now I’m really hoping Grandma added the yarn waste into her yardage calculations.
I don’t like metal knitting needles. The are so slick I feel like I’m going to drop them, and if you don’t notice them coming unscrewed from the cable, you have an extreme panic moment when you suddenly have loose stitches at the end of the needle. The nylon cable has also taken on a permanent twist, which makes it fight the needle movement.
My Grandma used metal replaceable needle tips on her interchangeable circular needles. Although I want to finish her project, it won’t be with her needles if I want to retain what sanity I have left. I understand that at the time they were the latest thing and better than what came before, but there are now even better options. I ordered some Prym circular needles in the same size Grandma used, but with a fixed multi-strand steel cable, which is strong and flexible. These needles are easier on my hands as I knit because I don’t have a death grip on slippery slidey needles that have a mind of their own.
I do not get a kick back from Prym, in case you are wondering, I just really enjoy the thought and engineering that went into their design.
Could it be? Have I found a knitting technique I really enjoy? Maybe! This is another thing that looks complicated on paper, but in practice is not bad at all. I rather like sliding the double pointed needle from one side to the other to start the next row; it is satisfying. In fact, I like knitting it to the edge, rather than sewing on an i-cord, not only because it is a nice finish, but it also hides the edge inside the cord. Neat! There are all sorts of instructions out there, and I admit I did resort to watching a video, so I won’t spell out the steps here. So I remember for next time, though, I used a four stitch i-cord, and used the slip one, knit two together in the back method for decreases at the beginning of a row.
I think the i-cord coordinates well with the cables as well. (Well, there is a sentence that flows strangely. I’ll leave you to ponder the depths.)
Critters and Craft 