happy new decade!

It’s a new decade! What do we call it? - I’m going with ‘twenty ten’! We’ve come a long way and a lot has happened since Y2K. Did you notice we even have Paypal on the KNITWORDS website?
Knitting has come a long way from what the world thought of as something only grannies did to keep themselves busy - did you know there is an app for knitting that you can get for your iphone or ipod touch? It’s called ForgetMeKnit ($2.99, sites.google.com/site/kromsware) - I’d guess it’s actually for hand knitting, but I’m sure you could use it as a machine knitter as well - you can keep track of concurrent projects and save notes about each project. Of course, since I neither have a cell phone or even a plain ipod, I won’t be using it, but I have learned to never say never - who knows, I may even get on Ravelry one of these days!
We’ve wrapped up No 52 and got it sent off to print last night, so today’s a ‘clean up the office’ day - boy, I sure have a lot of jobs I don’t really like...stuffing envelopes for renewal notices is another biggie on the ‘do not like’ side...but somebody’s gotta do it.
Right after I get this done, I’m going to do something I do like - remake one of my favourite garments from No 52 - since you don’t know too much about what’s in there yet, you probably won’t be able to guess what it is, but I’ll give you a hint - it has ruffles, it’s a cardi and I made the original for Sue J at BT Yarns - I made sure to use a colour I’d never (there’s that word), trust me, ever wear - it was called ‘sour apple green’ and I think of it as wow, in-your-face-acid-green, but lots of people like it. Sue had it on sale and I was originally going to try and over-dye it, but when she said she liked it and would wear it, I made it for her and now I’m sorry, because I still want one, only not that colour, so...I do have a really pretty, my colour of green (olive, of course), WCD still on my shelf that I know I’ll get a lot of use from, so here goes.
I think I’ll break down and give you a little preview - I actually did 2 little cardi’s in WCD - that’s wool crepe deluxe in case you’re wondering - for No 52 following on the theme from No 50 when I had ‘Wild Side’ and ‘Flouncing Around’ (see ‘the same but different’ below) - then as now, I took the same basic shape, but changed up the bands and edges to show how it could be optioned to make it look quite different. One thing to note about these patterns, they are all interchangeable and you can take the size from one and make the other - for example, 'Peachy Keen' is sized for finished bust at 34.5 (38, 41, 44) inches and 'Frill Ride' is sized at 36 (39, 42.5) inches, which means there are 7 sizes for each
pattern, but I split them up so it would be easier to follow. So, in No 52 we have a fitted round-neck cardi, set-in sleeve with either plain bands and 1X1 rib for waist and sleeve edge or a very nice double bed hem with a chained edge that gives a more tailored look. Ruffles are all the rage right now, so, added bonus - two styles of ruffles that are hand sewn on the fronts so they can be removed later when everyone is tired of ruffles - or just plain don’t make them if you don’t like them - and you’ll still have a great little cardi that’s a true classic.
Hope you like!

unfinished business...

I wouldn’t want you to think I hadn’t finished up the remake of ‘Little Scrapper’ - in spite of running out of yarn and having other stuff to do... the yarn had come in early December, but I was kind of tied up by then knitting things for No 52 and other editorial chores, as well as trying to get a few presents made - I managed to get the fronts done and get it all put together on Boxing Day - I didn't have anything to box up and return ;~)!
We did a photoshoot for No 52 this morning and since both Nathan and Rhiana were modelling their new duds for Spring ‘10, I figured we’d finish up the shoot with a couple of shots of them in their matching - not exact - hoodies from No 51 for proof. Rhiana has her first big girl haircut and I think she's adorable!
Oh, and I have to admit, I didn’t quite get all my shopping bags done - I did get 12 finished and I lost my list of who they were for - I made a new list and came up with 20 and figured, what the heck? I’m obviously being way too generous - some of them can wait for the next occasion!!
In No 52, we have hoodies for almost everyone in the family, cardigans galore, ruffles every which way, buttonholes like you wouldn't believe and just lots of really good stuff!!
Happy New Year!

Christmas cleaning?

well, I don’t really want to give you the wrong impression and if you’re kinda squeamish about grunge, click off right now. Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you...the other day, I was swatching for a lace garment for the next issue and I was using my favourite machine, my standard gauge Silver Reed - I knit most of my stuff on this machine and if you’re actually counting, that’s at least 20 plus garments just in the past year. Now, lace can be a bit temperamental, I’ll admit, but once you get everything right, it’s a walk in the park.
So, with the lace carriage, if the same stitch/needle is dropping or hanging up over the gate peg, first thing to do is change the needle. Well, I had two stitches, same ones, that kept messing up on the swatch, so after taking the swatch off, I went to change the needles, even though they looked fine. So, pull out the sponge bar, pull the needle forward, close the latch, push down on the hook end of the needle to push the other end up through the needle slot and yank it out... there’s gunk (gunch? how the heck do you spell that word?) on the end of the needle, like fluff, but worse! yuk! oh, oh! (grimace)
I belong to the school that believes if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! if it still runs, run it, faster, even! You know, change the odd needle, add a drop of oil here and there; once in a blue moon, you might need a new sponge bar - but save the old one, just in case. So, I do know it’s been quite some time since my baby’s had what you call a deep cleaning where all the needles come out and it gets serious.
Now, coincidentally, I have one of those Dyson vacs that has the clear, see-through canister that you can see all the crud that you’re vacuuming - it’s quite fascinating in a disgusting sort of way at first - and I had (seriously, this is no joke) cleaned IT out, washed the canister and the filter last weekend after doing my weekly household chores - not that I do that on a regular basis, don’t get me wrong - I was probably trying to avoid doing something else requiring a little more brain concentration - and did it just because. The only reason I mention this is I brought the super-clean Dyson up to my knitter, thinking I could just give it a quick suck job and things would be cool - oh my, stuff started coming up, but I could see that it was stuck around the needles - no help for it but to pull them all, because no matter how powerful the suction, the crud is wedged under the needles. I even had to use the latch tool to dig in and hook stuff out... well, after all 200 needles were out and not a single scrap of lint left in the needle slots, I looked at the vacuum and couldn’t believe what came out of my poor machine...
is this what they call over-sharing?
Anyway, the purple lace cardi is done - it's beautiful, and me and my baby are happy!!

grinchy stuff...

I’m not exactly the grinch, but I have not liked Christmas for a long time - there always seems to be way more hype than it’s worth and all I really want is to spend time with my family. My kids and their SO’s are all grown and are financially stable and when they want something they buy it so it has become increasingly difficult and stressful for me to put together Christmas, between trying to think of something they’d like, finding the time to shop and all that (not to mention getting a magazine ready at the same time). I decided to simplify Christmas this year and, instead, sponsor a local family through Children’s Aid and be a Secret Santa – the money I would have spent on my family, who doesn’t need it, can be put toward a very needy family. One of the best things about it was when I told my boys and their wives, they were all enthused and asked if they could help too! So we sort of divided up the list of essentials and the secret family’s wish list - the top of the list was ‘food is highly needed’ - and it’s put a whole new meaning on Christmas this year.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Dana told me he was going to make shopping bags (Take an Old Bag Shopping, No 44) for everyone on his Christmas list, 20 in all - I thought, boy, that’s a big list and a lot of knitting, but, you know, I think it’s one of the best gifts I ever given - everyone I gave one to has just totally loved it and mentioned it several times, so what? - I’m in! I started making my list of people who would deserve, like, and appreciate one and before I knew it, I had 16 people...I rounded up all my part cones of Cannele and Bonita -some bags may end up striped - but I’ll have depleted a shelf and made room for new stuff! I can make a bag in 50 minutes (45 min. for a boy bag - no picots and usually a darker colour, brown or navy - I’m already out of black - and actually I’m favouring the boy bags myself) so I’ve made a pact with myself to either make one at the start of my knitting day or at the end - and if I don’t have time for the entire bag, I’ll make handles and stockpile them on garter bars - they have to be made before getting into the bag and by doing a bunch in a row, it makes it quicker....6 down, 10 to go...I’ll keep you posted!

I haven’t had a Christmas tree for the past 15 years and guess what? well, I didn’t actually put up a tree, but I went out and bought some fairy lights to decorate something, out on the deck in front of the patio doors. My little ones, Nate and Nana, will love it!

A new way to graft...

I was in San Francisco last month to teach a workshop - we all had a great time. I felt like a rock star - no, really - Betty rigged me up with a cordless headset microphone and it was wonderful. Usually at the end of 2 days of talking to a large group, my voice is stretched to the limit, but this was a piece of cake. Met some great people, had some great food, the weather was wonderful - a girl from Thunder Bay in the winter, can’t ask for much more than that!
We also did a one day hands-on ribber workshop, just making samples and learning cast-ons and stuff, finishing off with the making of my circular socks because it is a great way to learn a lot about your ribber. So in preparation for this, I had made a couple of pairs, to be ready to show the finishing, seaming the ribbed cuff and grafting the toe. Of course, in a one day workshop, things never get finished off anyway and I came home with 5 socks that needed grafting.
The sock is started off with 2X2 (2X1) ribbing that makes a nice stretchy, comfortable cuff. Then the stitches have to be re-hung for the circular portion of the heel and foot of the sock, ending with the toe being shaped with full fashioned decreases on each bed, to the point where 10 sts on each bed remain. This is taken off on waste yarn and hand grafted. The small opening and the multi-coloured sock yarn make it hard to find the edge stitches to begin the grating and I had missed the edge stitches on a couple, which you don’t see until the waste yarn is removed and leaves holes at the edges - not good... So after rehanging, fixing and reknitting a couple of times, I thought, there’s got to be a better way of doing this...so, I figured out how to do the grafting on the machine, without the waste yarn in the way to obscure the edge stitches. I think it works great - I wouldn’t want to do more that a small section like the toe, because usually hand grafting from waste yarn works well for me, but this method is foolproof, I think.
So, my sock pattern is in No 39 - try it out and then try this method of grafting:
Waste yarn, K16R. Release from machine. Sock will be right side out.
To graft on machine: turn sock inside out and bring tail of MC to this side. On main bed, hang one side and then hang second side on top of the other, right sides together, with tail of MC at right side. Remove the waste yarn.
Leaving sts on n’s, with tail of MC threaded in a darning needle, go through first front stitch (closest to you) from back to front.
Go though both sts on first needle back to front.
*Go front to back through front stitch on second needle and back stitch on first needle.
Then, back to front through both sts on second needle*.
Repeat * to * across, making each stitch snug but not too tight.
The spacing of the needles will help to keep sts even.
At left, go front to back on back stitch of last needle. Pull off and darn in end.
Ha! 2 Christmas presents down...

Wrath of the MK gods?

Well, I said I wasn’t superstitious...maybe I should be or maybe I spoke too soon. It’s probably just the machine knitting gods doing a little pay back. I haven’t said anything for a while, hoping it was just my imagination. BUT... now that No 51 arrived, safe and sound from the printers with no mixed up or missing pages, I can finally talk about it.
Not to alarm you, but it was touch and go for a while. Some things that were promised fell short at the last minute, but we had enough to fill the magazine, no sweat. Then it happened. Rick and I were in the middle of layout and we both had computer glitches - ohmigosh, talk about a little stress.
He had updated one of the programs we use for layout, to the latest and greatest. Everything was going tickety-boo and all of a sudden, the program kept shutting down. He decided to go back to the original program and I went home early. We re-convened the next night and I spent an hour watching his hunched shoulders and listening to ‘computer-speak’ as he vainly tried this and that to no avail. I went home early again, trying not to panic.
I had sent my desktop computer out the previous month to be tuned up. After getting it back it took a while for me to realize that although it was speeded up there were a few quirks, such as I was unable to burn a cd - it kept telling me that something was unhooked or missing...I had spent a bit of time trying to figure it out on my own to no avail. Needing to make some disks to go out in the mail the next day, I thought to use my newer laptop which had a cd burner but, the information was on the desktop machine. The cd drive on the desktop would read, just not burn with the program that was installed on it. I knew there was a drag-to-disc thing and attempted to use it. Having successfully loaded the stuff on a cd from the desktop, following instructions carefully, I took the new cd to my laptop, got the information installed on the laptop, and checked to see that it was there. Opened the cd record program, told it what to do and then went to eject the cd to put in a new, blank one - got a blue screen with a very scary message - I had heard other PC-ers describe this but never experienced it - the message said to shut down immediately, that everything was lost and if it failed on re-boot, oh well, too bad - or at least that’s what I thought it said. I tried to shut it down - nothing worked, just this awful blue screen with the same words over and over again. Because it was running on battery, I couldn’t even unplug the darn thing. I just left it bluescreening in the dark and went to bed.
Next morning, it was just sitting there, black. The battery had run out. I thought, okay, what’s the worst thing that can happen if I turn it on - it already told me it was done, so I had nothing to lose. I pressed ON and it booted up like nobody’s business and acted just like nothing happened. I burned my cd’s and went to the mail.
Meanwhile, back at Rick’s, he’d finally sorted out the problem and we were able to finish up No 51, leaving it a little tight at the printer’s end to meet our deadline. But all is well and we did it!!
Meanwhile, I realized I had made Nathan’s hoodie (Little Scrapper) too small - what was I thinking? - oh well,I’d make another - it was using leftovers so I didn’t even really think about it - Panama has great yardage, right? I did the back, the pockets, the sleeves and the hood and now, the fronts which are plain, are left and I’m down to the cone showing through and a swatch from his vest from No 49....this never happens to me!
You can see, the ‘happening’ (see below) made our front cover, renamed ‘Preppy’. Hope you like!

what I learned today...

Well, maybe it wasn’t all just today. I had Nathan over last Saturday - we were supposed to go to a local farm for their pumpkin fest but it was raining, so we spent the day indoors. Anyway, the point is - Nathan had on ‘Nathanware’ from No 39, Winter ‘06. Although it’s close to getting a wee bit short, it still looks nice and what impressed me most was the zipper still looks really good, lays nice and flat and it works fine - he can zip it up and down, and start it, no problem. He’s now 5 1/2 and No 39 was 3 full years ago. Got me thinking! I examined the zipper and saw that it was metal. Strange, mostly I use the plastic ones because somehow I thought they were sturdier and although they always seem to end up with lumps and bulges after the garment has been washed a few times, I took that as just a fact of life - heck, even bought garments are like that! So, when I took him home, I asked to look at the other ones I’ve made him. Sure enough, all the ones with plastic coil zippers had buckled - the only other one with a metal zipper was nice and flat like this one, even though I always wash the garment and the zipper before putting them in. I came home and checked my sweaters with zippers and same thing - only the metal ones stayed flat. I had even taken some out and restitched them in an attempt to make them flat, but it never seems to work after the next washing.
So, guess what I made for Nate for this next issue? Yep, a hoodie, with pockets and a zip front! He loves hoodies and he loves pockets and I thought, okay, I can come up with another one, a bit different from any of the others, can’t I? (I’ve made him 9 different hoodies since No 29.) I did and he likes it - but he’s such a nice little lad that he’d act like he liked it even if he didn’t.
I had just put the zipper in and by co-incidence, the only zipper I could find locally was a metal tooth one that was just a bit too long - well, truth be told, the metal ones are much easier to shorten...
Use a thin, flat blade screwdriver to pry/loosen the top stopper on each side and gently pull it off - be careful not to damage them - use needle nose pliers to pluck off the extra teeth on each side and then replace the stoppers at the new top on each side, using the pliers gently to squeeze them back on. Leave the tape long - I just sew it along inside the neckline - if you cut it, it frays and it’s hard to sew it neatly if folded under.
Pin the zipper in place, making sure to match each side. I always handstitch the zipper (the garment and the zipper have already been washed and dried same way as it will be later on), with a stab stitch and sewing thread - so the stitching is invisible from the outside - close to the zipper teeth and then whip stitch the edges of the tape to the inside of the garment to stop it rolling in.
Final step, with the sewing machine, stitch up and down through the band and the zipper at the bottom of the zipper - it’s usually too heavy or reinforced with something, to be able to hand stitch through. It helps to begin sewing toward the bottom so as not to pull up the knitting from the bottom edge of the zipper.

Here’s Nate in his new hoodie (Little Scrapper) - what was I thinking? It’s too small! oh well, I have plenty of yarn to make another and this one’s sort of unisex, so Rhiana can wear it! They’ll be matching.