Author Archives: JC
Blocking my Swirl swatches revealed something odd. Going Green calls for 24 stitches per 4" using 3.75 mm needles. With the Mirasol Nuna swatch, using 3.75 mm needles gave me 22 stitches per 4". Going down to 3.5 mm needles for the String Theory Selku swatch got me a little closer: 23 stitches per 4". […]
A few days ago, the shawl reached the point where it needs to be contained – not so much to keep floppiness in check, as with some other projects I’ve done, but to keep the bottom edge of the shawl from getting ratty. Simply keeping the lower portion of the shawl contained is protecting it […]
sigh
By JC | November 11, 2011
The Estonian shawl remains at the top of my knitting basket, but I’m still finding bits of time here and there to swatch for my next Swirl. So far, the swatching has been fun mindless knitting, a nice counterpoint to paying close attention to the Estonian lace. Here’s the rub: it seems I’m not quite […]
Overdue
By JC | November 10, 2011
Today I finally got around to something that I arguably should’ve done weeks ago: estimating to what length I can knit my Estonian shawl, given the amount of yarn that I have. Really, I should’ve made my estimates after completing my swatches but before casting on for the shawl itself. I should’ve weighed and measured […]
An idea
By JC | November 9, 2011
Sheri’s most recent blog post got me thinking. For the past few months, I’ve had a series of Fiesta sampler skeins marinating in my stash: They’ve been marinating because I’ve been stymied: what do you do with four sampler skeins, all in the same gorgeous colorway but each with its own seductive texture? Swatching them […]
You’ve heard of Patternfish, right? It’s a top-notch source of patterns, nearly 10,000 of them. Which pattern gets the honor of being the 10,000th? You get to decide! The folks at Patternfish have narrowed the field to 11 contenders, and you get to vote for one of them. I’m thrilled to say one of my […]
Astute readers of last Tuesday’s post might have noticed a thin green line running through my WIP: That’s a lifeline, a bit of waste yarn run through every stitch on a single row. If I make a disastrous goof, I can unravel back to that row, slip the stitches from the waste yarn back to […]
Well, it seems Joan and I won’t be attending the Beyond Toes trunk show at Twisted today. Joan picked up a cold at Interweave Knitting Lab and is staying home to avoid giving it to anyone else, and I’m too lazy to drive up to Portland by myself. (Carpooling with Joan, we could’ve had fun […]
I just realized I’ve been utterly remiss in not mentioning Beyond Toes, Judy Becker’s new book. (Sorry, Judy!) As the subtitle says, it’s a series of Knitting Adventures with Judy’s Magic Cast-on. Tied in many knitters’ minds with toe-up socks, I’ve long known the JMCO was magic because it could be used in many other […]
Have you listened to the latest Knitcircus podcast? I have; I was the one nodding my head vigorously as Amy blasted open the myth that you can give a long-tail cast-on more “give” by working it over a larger needle, or over two needles held together. Oh, not so, dear reader. Lemme show you why. […]