Preparing Sweater for Its Second Life...

My nephew has a favourite sweater he's had for years.  My niece (his younger sister) has her eye on it for as soon as he outgrows it!  It is a beautiful Canada wool sweater with a fleece lining.

Unfortunately, the elbow on one of the arms snagged and caused a hole.  Knowing that its his favourite, and little sister wants it, my very smart sister-in-law considered different ways to fix this before the hole got bigger!

1) Sewing the hole shut.  My comment - it won't be invisible and I'd worry about the thread cutting the yarn faster over time.  Pilling of sweaters occurs from the fibers rubbing against each other, add in a nylon thread and it'll cut.

2) Elbow Patch.  This would be a cool feature, but probably not what the niece wants for 'style'

3) Patterned Darning.  This would be an equally cool feature, but probably not what the nephew wants for style.

4) Invisible Mending - and that is what I did.

1-Hole in sweater elbow, 2-after depilling area for clarity, 3-hole mended

A photo posted by Katherine Caughran (@stringandbeans) on Apr 13, 2016 at 12:10pm PDT

Now, with this being fleece lined, using existing yarn from the sweater (side seams) wasn't an easy task for such a small fix; however I did have a matching yarn in a slightly heavier weight.  Steps I took to fix it were:

• I thinned the new yarn a bit so it wouldn't create a thicker area in that spot; 
• shaved the pilling around the hole so I could see the stitches clearly, 
• sewed a 'grid' with white cotton sock yarn to guide me and 
• swiss darned the hole which was 3 rows by 2 stiches

Depilling helps renew the look of the sweater, and prevents future 'snags'.  Plus it gives the sweater new life...My photos don't do it justice!

Before and after depilling

A photo posted by Katherine Caughran (@stringandbeans) on Apr 13, 2016 at 12:04pm PDT

Nephew will be happy, but I'm sure my niece is going to drool over this renewal..."Hurry up and grow big brother!!!"

Sweater: 25 years & looking brand new!

As the weather warms up, it's actually the BEST time to care for our favourite sweaters so they are clean & moth-free for the summer storage.  My favourite sweater is over 25 years old (I can't quite recall when I got it, but I know it was a gift from my parents).  I wear this sweater to nearly every hockey game and hockey practice, so the sweater is well-worn!  It just doesn't need to look that way:

Any sweater with pills will snag more easily and collect dirt more easily - dirt also attracts moths...so any sweater going into 'storage' needs to be clean to avoid surprise moth holes in the fall.  In this case, first step is de-pill the sweater!  I did one side using a dull razor from my husband, it was quick, but with the amount of pilling, became far too dull before I could complete the sweater.

I purchased a small battery operated sweater shaver, which took me a total of 3 hours to completely clean off this sweater.  Had the pilling not been so bad, it wouldn't have taken as long, and its definitely better for preventative maintenance, but for something this drastic, the shaver kept snagging - yarn would spin in the middle and catch on the sweater:

You can see it sticking out on the shaver, as the shaver spun it would catch on the sweater and build up inside the shaver

I hope to try out another technique in the coming weeks as I order in some other de-pillers :)

But, sweater looks brand-new, and after a wash & dry, I'll store this one in my closet with some lavender - because I still love this sweater for nights when camping plus I'll be visiting arenas again in August.

Sock Fix: Swiss Darning

My mending pile now remains filled with MY items...always the last to be looked after...what is it they say about the cobbler's shoes?

My first pair of socks that I knit for myself are from 2007, and although its held up quite well, the heels were getting 'weak' so they needed some boosting before I actually created holes.  It's much easier to mend weak stitches than recreate something that is no longer there (ie mending a hole).

If you look up darning socks on Pinterest and the like, you'll see a number of methods of knitting or patching over top of the holes.  Reknitting or swiss darning are my preferred methods of mending knitwear.  My interpretation of swiss darning is basically doing a duplicate stitch over the weaker stitches.  I didn't think of taking better photos for the blog until after the socks were already fixed.  I had luckily taken photos of the before shot to show family members (read: my husband) when they should be providing me their knitwear for mending, not after they create a huge hole.  But I digress...

Sock fix: Swiss darning

A photo posted by Katherine Caughran (@stringandbeans) on Mar 31, 2016 at 11:56am PDT

I no longer had the matching yarn, but this is on the bottom of my foot, so I really didn't worry about matching the yarn, besides it's easier to show the mend when its a different colour :)

Sock Fix: Skinny legs, Long(er) Feet

To further my spring cleaning of the mending pile, I took a pair of Kman's outgrown navy socks (barely used) and ripped out the toes to make them longer.

Background:  Kman goes to a Montessori school and wears a uniform consisting of navy or white socks, navy pants and a white or red golf shirt.  He prefers navy socks and each year asks me to knit him a new pair of navy socks.  Last year his shoe size grew so FAST he hardly had a chance to wear the socks that I had knit him.  But his ankles and legs are still the same circumference.

So, rather than knit new socks, I thought I'd save some time and rip back the toes and reknit to lengthen.  I have lots of navy sock yarn purchased just for him!  After I reknit the first sock and had him try it on, he did say the band was a bit tight.  So in addition to lengthening the socks, I ripped out the top of the sock band and cast off using Jeny's Super Stretchy Cast Off. 

The photo might not show it  well enough, but you should see the original sock length on top of the new sock length - I added over an inch in length!

Spring Cleaning

Following up to my business idea of fixing sweaters, socks and the like...I had a pile of socks with wear that I needed to get caught up on...

The first, a sock I had knit for my dad, which was confiscated by my mother as her bed socks...unfortunately she caught the toe on something, and it needed major surgery...

I started with picking up the ladder with my crochet hook, to determine how much I may need to stitch, but that showed me that there were two different places the yarn was cut (not just one), so instead of doing swiss darning, I tore back the toe and reknit it using a russian join to reconnect the broken strands.
My mother is happy to have socks again (although had she given me both socks, I probably would have reknit both toes and resized the socks to her feet, since they were originally intended for my father)...

New Plan!

Before the holidays, I was asked to fix someone's sweater.  I looked high and low to find matching colours for the wool sweater.  It had 6 safety pins to hold various holes in place, and had previous iterations of patching done by the owner's mother.

It took me longer than I care to admit, but I finally found colours that could match as best they could, and fixed up the holes along with a number of weak spots that threatened to break with wear.  Lo and behold the sweater was wearable again...and the owner was ecstatic...because he's had this sweater for 35 years and its his favourite.

Which led me to my new plan - repairing favourite sweaters, socks, kilt hose...something that I enjoy and will keep handknits, cashmere sweaters, and the like still in circulation :)

Upside down and backwards

It's been years of me saying I'll knit myself a new christmas stocking, since mine is so much smaller than hubby & child's...(yes I'm glossng over the fact its been years since I last posted here).

Each year, I'm usually too busy with gift knits to get around to my stocking, so this year, I started the stocking after Christmas, so it'll be ready for next year.  I'm following this Falling Snowflake pattern and after starting off great, realized I needed my name added.

Now, when knitting a sweater or blanket, you just chart and go...but this stocking is in the round and top down...so I could chart my name using excel, but needed it to be upside down.

I tried a couple of things:

1) I searched Ravelry for upside down alphabet charts - didn't find one
2) I googled upside down alphabet charts - didn't get results I needed.
3) I charted name as per usual in Excel then knit it backwards from what I'd usually do with a chart.

• I set my column widths to .74cm so it would look like the graph chart in use by the stocking pattern
• I chose to have the letters in the same height as the 2nd snowflake band of the pattern so only 10 rows high
• My letters were 'narrow' but I still had to add an extra repeat of the snowflake pattern (ie cast on an extra 32 stitches) in order to fit my whole name.

And now I have my own 'larger' stocking, albeit still smaller than the other two

Happy New Year & SKM

Cartoon showing baby representing New Year 1905 chasing old man 1904 into history. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All the best to everyone in the New Year!

As is a 'new' tradition (new to me since 2012), apparently January is Selfish Knitting Month.  I did follow through on that last year, although it was very difficult to NOT give away the knitting :)  I have yarn & pattern selected for my 'gift' this month, however...

I have not finished the IOU gift yet.  For the 2nd year in a row, my brother takes one for the team, and is left with no gift but instead was given a bag with balls of yarn & a pattern for socks within it.  I've finished ONE sock so far, but life (read: novice hockey tournament) got in the way, and I've only just cast on the 2nd sock....

Yes, I can whip up a pair of lovely socks in a weekend (like the socks I finished in 2 days for my husband this year - finished by 11pm Christmas Eve).  But, these socks, are Socks for Soldiers, with specific instructions and 12 inch long legs....I might as well have knit my brother his kilt socks (which are still owing to him by the way)...

I will finish the socks by the weekend, then will cast-on my personal, selfish project....

In the meantime, I have already figured out 2 of next years knitmas gifts...and once I finish my selfish knitting...I'll start early on 2013 knitmas and avoid the IOU gifts.... (famous last words...)

How about you? Did you finish all the knitmas/handmade gifts you had originally planned?

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33 Knitting Days...

Holiday break (Photo credit: César Poyatos)

Holiday knitting is in full-swing: I have tons of projects on the needles, yarn strewn about the attic...

I will actually ramp up even further when the panic realization strikes that I don't have enough 'free time' to knit all the projects I have planned, let alone bake goodies, go shopping and prepare for the holidays...

So, to release any tension associated with the holiday knitting crunch, I hunted down the holiday tv specials:

Canadian Schedules:
CBC - http://www.cbc.ca/holiday/schedule.html
CTV - http://www.ctv.ca/2012HolidayProgrammingGuide/Schedule.aspx
YTV - not published yet

US Networks:
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/2012-holiday-tv-schedule-t47j74i-180227721.html

I enjoy knitting in front of my holiday favs...

Weaving Word Association: Selvedge...Temple

I've been sick the last week, so didn't get much further on the weaving, so no photos of progress to date :) However, the weaving is coming along.  I wasn't happy with my selvedge edges so Google'd "weaving selvedges" and had some links come up referring to "Temples".  After I checked a few sites out, ran across one that made their own, which led me to others (read: I was lost down the rabbit hole)...

...much later I was trying out a binder clip with yarn & a washer tied to it to hold the edges taught...worked like a charm!

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• Finally Warped, Two Years Later...

http://www.weavingtoday.com/forums/t/926.aspx

Finally Warped, Two Years Later...

I have a lovely used LeClerc table loom, purchased through usedvictoria.com about two years ago.  The woman I bought it from had never really touched it - told me the previous owner set it up for her, and started her with a couple of inches of weaving.

For the last two years, that is how the loom sat in my attic/craft room.  Periodically I would go up there and throw the shuttle back & forth a few times; my son would take a couple of tries; I'd read the "Learning to Weave" book and try a couple of things. I took the practice warp off, but couldn't figure out a way to put one back on without a warping board.

This past spring, I sent photos of various warpboard "how-to's" to my brother, and voila, had a warping board...it just took me 3+ months to actually use it... but that's not as bad as the fact it has taken me two years to warp my own loom!!


I'm following the book's instructions to do a sample piece, so I'm using sock yarn, hoping I can get a washable placemat for the lil guy to use at school.

Instructions called for 2 colours of 60 ends each, so I managed to use the warp board twice in one day!!!

I didn't have a sley hook for sleying the reed, but instead used a plastic stitch marker from my knitting kit it took me a good couple of hours to do this with 120 threads into teeny tiny spaces (Note to self: need to buy a sley hook)


Threading the heddle was just as tiresome (120 threads through moving targets) & I could not get comfortable (Note to self: bring kitchen stool upstairs next time!)

After a few inches of weaving, I'm thinking using this practice piece as a lunch placemat might embarrass the 7yr old, maybe it'll be a timeout or blackmail mat instead...

Issue Solved...tearing out too short Cast-On

As soon as I read today's About.com/Knitting article, I exclaimed "BRILLIANT"!


My favourite cast-on technique is the long-tail cast-on, but, as any knitter can attest, if you don't estimate your yardage correctly, you inevitably end up miscalculating and every so often have a too short tail and have to rip back and redo the caston to get the number of stitches you need...casting on 80 stitches on teeny tiny double point needles for socks, this can be rather frustrating.

So later today, I'm trying the long-tail with 2 strands (guess that means I need to cast on a pair of socks) :)

106 Knitting Days....

 (Photo credit: paparutzi)

I love Christmas.  I have been known to sing Jingle Bells year round.  My husband refers to me as a HOLIDORK. People complain "its too early to think about Christmas...But me, I think of old traditions, handmade gifts, people being consciously friendly for the season (when I really wish people would be consciously friendly year-round).

It also helped that I used to do craft shows and needed to have my Christmas items ready before August for judging and build up my inventory before the fall shows started!

For many years, I have a little competition with myself as to how many gifts I can make each year vs how little I buy.  I also build up a small inventory of knitted items for my son's school "Children's Craft Sale".  On Ravelry there's a group that shares the trials & tribulations of gift knitting: Some preplan a year in advance, while others leave it to the last minute to knit into the wee hours of Christmas morning...I've done both

I'm quite sure my sister-in-law will be 'peeking' but here's a sampling of what I'll be working on this fall:

1) The Hitchiker Scarf - This is great in a self-striping or variegated sock yarn to display more prominently than as socks on the feet!

2) The Bandana Cowl - Bulky yarn, quick knits are a must for holiday knitting!!! Plus, I may just knit this for myself..

3) The Baktus Scarf - do you sense a theme here??

4)  iPhone Sock - quick knit, leftover yarn, most people own one of these things, perfect for the school craft sale!

5) Dobby Booksock - what avid young reader wouldn't know what this is?? Again, quick knit, leftover yarn :)

I'll share more later...happy knitting!

The #yyjstitchers increasing momentum...

Image via CrunchBase

As of May 24th, 2012, the #yyjstitchers met as a group at the lovely Cabin 12.  We setup a Meetup group , notified knitters on Twitter (the reason for the #), as well as posting on Ravelry forums for Vancouver Island Fibre Lovers.

I'd like to say we are a non-denominational fibre loving group - we aren't just knitters, we have crocheters in the mix...something I have found lacking in many Stitch N Bitch groups in the area (might not be in other cities, but I find so few crocheters out to the groups).  Matter of fact, we even had 2 people drop spindling at our July meetup!

Some of the people came from Ravelry, some from Twitter, some through Meetup, and others from word of mouth...we are a community from various sources as well (again, the nondenominational theme).  We are now up to 64 Meetup members, and average 17 'stitchers' attending our monthly meetups.

We are now increasing the frequency of our meetings :)  The lovely people at Cabin12 have agreed to let us take over the world knit/crochet/spin peacefully in their lounge on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month at Cabin 12.  They have been great hosts for us and we not only get to take over a comfy space with couches, chairs, coffee tables, we also are 'yarnbombing' the place ;)

Hope to see you there!

Less than 24 hrs before MASS CAST ON!!

The Ravellenic 2012 Games are nearly upon us! 

From what *I* remember, this "knitting olympics" originally started as a winter only event in 2006 by YarnHarlot.  After Ravelry was born, they ran the Summer games in 2008, and again for winter 2010.

Personally, I've only participated in the 2010 Ravelympics (that WAS its name then - not any longer due to a nasty letter about us knitters denigrating the games...when in reality a nice 'please note Olympics is trademarked and you are infringing, please change your name' would have been fine). 
But I digress...

There are various teams, but again for 2012, I'll be competing with Team Canada.  It was great to share & chat online with fellow hockey fans ;), while we knitted & cheered.  This year Team Camada outdid themselves with compiling a list of Canadian Designers AND Canadian Yarns if you really want to challenge yourself.  We're also trying to have groups of knitters meet for the MASS CAST ON & post photos of their cities to share with other Team Canada Knitters.  We'll be knitting at Cabin 12, 1pm Pacific time :)

Not on Ravelry?  Get yourself signed up - knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners ALL have events.  Info is here if you have a sign in, otherwise here's a brief overview (get yourself signed up & Join Team Canada).

The Basic RULES

Pertinent bits of info as collated by the International Ravellenic Games Committee
Ravellenics 2012
Dates
July 27 - Aug 12, 2012
The One Rule To Rule Them All:
Challenge yourself by starting and finishing one or more projects during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
What will be a stretch for you? It could be a new technique, that first sweater or pair of socks, something massive, something delicate, or maybe finishing that monster in the closet. The goal of the Ravellenics is to support you in expanding your knitting/crocheting horizons.

---

When do we start?
We have a firm start time with a Mass Cast On during the Opening Ceremonies. When the Olympic games kick off in London (2100 BST) that’ll be your start time, whatever time that is in your timezone.
Events  There are 32 events this year. Some have firm rules, some are open to interpretation. You decide which event(s) you’d like to enter. Each event has a unique tag and each project must be tagged to get counted in the tallies. the tagging tool will launch closer to start of the Games

---

HOW TO COMPETE
Pick an event, create project page with special tags, and cast on with thousands to compete. That’s it in a nutshell.
 

 Just remember the one rule: Challenge yourself and have fun!
That’s it!

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• US Olympic Committee says sorry to knitters whom it claimed "denigrated" the games
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January Goal: Spinning on a Spindle

Happy Belated New Year everyone! Hope you are enjoying 2012 so far. I didn't get myself into any resolution-making, but every January I review the knitters' bucket list to see how many items I've "checked-off" - I'm still afraid to try steeking ;)

Over the month of December, we stayed close to home (hubby was recovering from surgery), and I spent a great deal of time in my 'studio' (aka our finished attic space). I inventoried the 'equipment' - 3+ knitting machines, table loom, cowichan spinner, & 2 spindles. I've decided that I should actually start learning the skills to use those items...

So, this month, I'm trying spinning on a spindle - motivated by the lovely conversation & photo sharing on twitter by a few spinners/spindle makers. I've moved from a "thick/thin bulky yarn" (photo at right) to a "inconsistent thread w a few small nubs". My goal is to spin on the spindle 15minutes per day (as per the instructions from Respect the Spindle")

I'll keep you posted - do you have Fibre-related goals this year? Please share them!

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Twin Rib Baby Cap

As mentioned, earlier today, I'm knitting purple baby caps (to see why look here). So, to add some variety, I came up with a pattern :)

I love the twin rib stitch pattern because it is very stretchy, yet looks wonderful even if the stretch isn't needed. The top crown is decreased to create a ribbed star pattern on the top but I'm still playing around with it to have it decrease 'in pattern' since I prefer a universal look to a hat, rather than a slanted or plain crown. I'm likely going to update the pattern with child sizes (skull caps)
NOTE: Aug 25, 2012 - edited to add Gauge/Finished size - oops! Sorry about forgetting that...



Yarn: Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly Baby Sport
Needles: size 3mm dpns
GAUGE: 30st to 4" in pattern flat - ie unstretched

Size for newborn
Finished size: 5" wide flat - ie unstretched by 5+" high

Twin Rib Pattern:
row 1: k3, p3 to end of row
row 2: k1, p1 to end of row

Abbreviations:
K = knit
p = purl
Sl2k = slip two stitches as if to knit together
Sl2p = slip two stitches purlwise
psso = pass slipped stitches over stitch just worked

Pattern:
Cast on 72 stitches
Join in round (careful not to twist!!)
K3, P3 for 6 rows

Follow Twin Rib Pattern for 4" (27 rows) ending with a row 1

Decreases for Crown:row 1: (K3, sl2p, p1, psso) repeat to end of round
row 2: k1, p1 to end of round
row 3: k3, p1 to end of round
row 4: (sl2k, k1, psso, p1) repeat to end of round
row 5: k1, p1 to end of round
row 6: (sl2k, k1, psso) to end of round

Break off yarn, thread through remaining stitches, draw to a close & weave in ends.

Purple baby hats

Our local children's bookstore (Tall Tales Books) hosted a Knit-In on Saturday for anyone to drop in, have tea, and knit or crochet purple newborn hats in support of Preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome - the Period of Purple Crying. In the month of November, babies born in BC hospitals will receive a purple baby hat in an annual campaign to educate new parents that babies will cry during this period...a lot...

There will be another Knit In on Saturday Oct 15th, but if you can't make the Knit-In, you can help by knitting (or crocheting) hats and dropping them off at the store anytime before Oct 19th. If you aren't in Victoria (or even in BC), there are other locations listed on the National website

I've already knit a few of these patterns below, including a pamphlet I received from the Welcome Wagon baby shower 6 years ago...

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-newborn-hat
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/little-cables-hat

Need more ideas?

Yeah, I got bored knitting the same hats over & over....so I came up with this - I'll post the pattern later this week

FInishing Thoughts

Image via WikipediaLast evening was the twitter #knitchat, and the topic was regarding Finishing - (You can see the topic questions here) Soon the list of tips will be posted by @cloudynatknits so watch for them :)

Being a 140 character chat in only one hour with a dozen or so knitters - we could venture off into any number of side topics, following thorugh on all the issues like weaving in ends, button holes, blocking, sewing, etc...but we did do a fair job of sharing tips with one another.

So to that end, I give you a couple of selected tips I've learned over the years that I teach in my beginners classes

1) Seams
There are various techniques for seaming, depending upon the location of the seam – invisible seams are best for hats. Shoulder seams need more ‘stability’ so are seamed differently (if not done as a three-needle bind-off – something for a different class!) The most recommended option I hear is Mattress Stitch, however, I do like the Bickford Seam if you want a less bulky seam.

2) Weaving in Ends
Weaving – on the wrong side of the item, put the thread through the backs of stitches – (generally purl bumps), you can go diagonally up and back or across a row

Duplicate stitch method - (my personal favourite) basically follow the path of the yarn with the needle so it’s almost ‘knitted’ into the item.

Knitting in – some people will knit the loose piece(s) when they are knitting through the back of the stitches to avoid weaving later – this sometimes shows ‘through’ the knitting but does save time later.

3) Joins
To avoid having to weave ends in later each time you add a ball of yarn, try an invisible join - my personal favourites are Spit Splicing (if using feltable wool), or the Russian Join.

4) Blocking
For Hats - use a dinner plate for berets; balloon or upside down planter (of correct size) for touques.
For larger items - I use my bed :) BUT, I find the children's foam floor puzzles are great for blocking boards, plus being puzzle pieces - you can create any size board you want without taking up valuable storage space.

Lots more tips to come in future - but these were the 'starter tips' I gave my budding new knitters :)

If you're on twitter - join us on Thursdays for #knitchat!

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I AM REGISTERED!

I did it, I registered for Sock Summit 2011 - and I'm feeling on top of the world. I may register for more classes (if any are still open later), but for now, I got the one I really, REALLY wanted - Kilt by Association as I'm dying to knit kilt hose - I even have a design or two in my head that I should get down onto paper so I can test knit them :)

Regardless, I just needed to do a 'happy dance' on the blog - I'm going to Sock Summit, I'm going to Sock Summit...