Today’s Tip:
Working with lace weight yarn
I recently completed a project using HABU
Stainless Steel yarn, a lace-weight yarn with a core of actual stainless
steel. I’ll address the steel aspect in a future post, but for now I’ll just talk
about working with lace-weight. It was my first time using yarn barely as wide as a hair, and here’s what I have found.
Needles: I used
my favorite, size 5 Signature
needles, which come in blue. Oh-oh, the yarn was blue and I literally COULD
NOT SEE IT. I had to switch to another set of needles for this project.
Also, if
your yarn is the slippery kind, try bamboo or other wood needles or some metal ones that
are not too slick. You don’t want to lose your stitches!
Surface: Knitting
with dark blue yarn while wearing (blue) jeans is just harder than it needs to
be! Place a light colored pillow, pillow case, towel, or cloth napkin on your
lap – makes a huge difference! If your yarn is a light color, try a dark
colored towel or cloth.
Lighting: If you
can knit during the daylight hours, hallelujah! If you do your knitting in the evening,
please, save your eyesight and get good lighting in the room. If a good work
light isn’t possible – say if you’re watching TV with the family and they
object to lights bright enough to film a Hollywood movie with, try a portable light such
as the Stitch Light
from Buffy Ann Designs.
Yes, it’s kind of dorky, hanging around your neck, but
it really works, and it has saved my eyes!
Markers: Since it
can be hard to read your knitting, use removable markers where you can – either
the plastic kind, or pieces of contrasting yarn. Any time you need to “increase
every 6th row” or anything like that, use a marker to help you keep
track. Use them for lace repeats as well.
Yarn Handling: If
your yarn has a tendency to tangle, just pull a little off the ball at a time. My
yarn comes on cardboard cones and I actually created a spool for my yarn, as
follows.
Take an empty shoebox. Run a skewer or straight knitting needle (at
last, a use for my old skinny metal straights!) through one side and out the
other to make holes. Now withdraw the needle from the second hole (it’s still
sticking through the first one) and push it through your cone or ball or cake,
then through the second hole. Now the yarn will spool off the skewer or needle
without tangles. I was working with the yarn held double so I used 2 skewers.
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| copyright Brenda Castiel |
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New Designs
It’s been a while since I blogged, so there is a lot that’s
new!
I’m really proud of the Richmond Mitts.
These pretty fingerless mitts use an unusual zigzag rib combined with a single
cable on the top of the hand. The palm is subtly decorated with two sets of
zigzag stitches with a stockinette stitch background. They come in two sizes for
a perfect fit.
The test knitters thought the zigzag stitch was great fun!
The yarn is the wonderful Luxe
Sock yarn from Dana at the Unwind Yarn
Company – hand dyed and soft and luscious!
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| Richmond Mitts - copyright Brenda Castiel |
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| Luxe Sock Yarn - copyright Brenda Castiel |
The next one is the Intarsia Cowl published in Knit
Noro 1 2 3 by Sixth and Spring Books. The book is full of lovely designs
using Noro yarn. It will be published in June 2014.
This attractive cowl is comprised of 2 rectangles, each
bisected into two triangles. It uses intarsia to create the design. Increases
and decreases keep the intarsia border straight and even. A ribbed edge
provides a neat finish.
There is short-row shaping so that the lower edge is wider than the top edge.
Choose two pretty colors and cast on!
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| Intarsia Cowl by Brenda Castiel from Knit Noro 1 2 3 Skeins, published by Sixth&Spring Books. Photography by Rose Callahan - copyright © 2014 by Sixth&Spring Books. Used by permission. |
Discounts
Yes we have discounts! Just because it’s spring.
When I lived in Canada, spring was my favorite season. The
winters were so long, and it was such a relief to stop wearing coats, boots, and
hats. Even now I dislike wearing boots. Can’t see the point of wearing them for
fashion when I had to wear them out of necessity ;-) But I digress.
