Category Archives: FYI

Be Nice to Your Hands

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It’s winter, which means that every ounce of fluid has been sucked out of my body and my skin is actively turning into beef jerky.  Every year, it’s the same, but every year it still surprises me.  My knuckles crack, my skin is itchy and tight and I cultivate hangnails the way farmers grow corn.  It’s pretty much the worst.  It’s uncomfortable and painful and it’s making knitting no fun at all!

I don’t know if you have any tips and tricks for fixing my hands, but I’d love to hear them.  I know I’m not the only one with this problem.

So far, the best thing I’ve found is Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream.

300It’s about three bucks, and you can find it in almost all drug stores.  It’s unscented and super heavy-duty, but it really works, at least more than other lotion I’ve used.  And, it doesn’t irritate my cracked and dry skin.  (Neutrogena didn’t ask me to shill for them, but if they wanted to send me some money, or maybe a crate of hand cream, I wouldn’t stop them.)

Basically, these are my hands without the hand cream*:

themeparty-halloween-pair-hands-witch[1]And these are my hands with the hand cream**:

20101116-hand-perfection[1]*Not my actual hands.

**Also not my actual hands.

It’s Just Christmas, Don’t Kill Yourself

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Christmas is in two days.  If you’re like me, then you probably have about 72 hours worth of knitting left to cram into the next 48 hours.  I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be OK.  I promise.  Do what you can, but don’t kill yourself over it.  Don’t stay up until three in the morning trying to finish that sweater.  Don’t forgo eating to work on those socks.  Don’t skip your friend’s Christmas party to stay home and felt that pair of slippers.

And if (or when) Christmas comes around and you’re still not done knitting your gifts, you’ve got two options:

1.  Write them a really nice note about the project you’re working on.  Maybe include a sketch of the finished project, or a photo from the pattern.  Here’s a vintage card you can print out:

antique xmas cards12.  Wrap up that sucker anyway.  There’s no shame in gifting someone a sweater still on the needles, or one and a half socks.  They’ll be able to ooh and ahh at the softness of  the yarn, the beautiful colors and the pretty pattern, but then you get to take the project back home with you at the end of the party to finish up later.

And Tied Up With a Bow

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You’ve spent way too much time, effort and money on your Christmas gifts this year (isn’t that always the way?), so, let’s do something quick, easy and super cheap for the wrapping.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m using brown wrapping paper, the kind you get in a roll to use for shipping packages.  It’s super cheap and sturdy, so if you’re traveling with your gifts they won’t end up all scuffed and torn by the time you make it over the river and through the woods.  But, if you wanted to go even cheaper, you could use old (clean) paper bags from the grocery store for a similar look.  (I suppose if you don’t like the recipient of the gift, they don’t have to be clean, but that’s a little passive-aggressive, even for me.)

And, instead of going to the store and buying fancy-pants ribbons, I’m using leftover yarn that I have in my stash.  I picked out five shades of blue, but you can do whatever you like.  Bright rainbow colors might be fun for a kid, or maybe a birthday present.  Red and green are always classic Christmas colors.  White and silver would make a really classy winter-y present.

Idea one:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAJust wrap a few colors of yarn around your gift.  You can make the yarn neat and tidy or you could go all willy-nilly, just keep going until you like how it looks.  Tie off in a square knot at the back of the package and trim the ends short.

Idea two:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMake a pompom.  Because Pompoms make everything more fun.  Tie it to the top of the package instead of one of those stick-on bows.

Idea three:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHold a bunch of yarn in a bundle (I’m using five different shades of blue) and wrap the yarn around the package the same way you would if you were using ribbon.  Finish off with a pretty bow.

The possibilities are pretty much endless.  What new ways of wrapping can you come up with?

Knifty Kits for Knew Knitters

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“Allison, help me!  My niece has been bugging me to teach her how to knit.  What should I get her?  Also, I hate teaching, and don’t know what to do?”

Remember The nOOb Hat?  Print that puppy out and give it to your niece along with:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA-1 skein of worsted weight yarn in her favorite color (I like wool, but acrylic will do.  Plant fibers like cotton and linen aren’t recommended, since they’ll sag and make the hat a little sad after a while)

-1 pair of size 8 needles

-1 tapestry needle (or 1 pack, if you can’t find them sold singly)

-1 pair of tiny scissors (you can skip this if you think your niece already has scissors)

-1 project bag (if you sew, might I recommend the Fat Quarter Project Bag?)

In theory, that’s enough to get her going on a knitting adventure of her own, but be ready to answer questions.  Sometimes photos and written instructions aren’t enough to learn something.  Anyway, knitting the n00b hat together will give you a chance to hang out with your super-cool niece.  Win-win.

What to Buy the Knitter Who Has Everything…

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I get this question all the time:  “I don’t knit, but my buddy does.  What does he want for Christmas?”

My usual response is: “Well, what does he like to make?”

And their answer is usually: “I donno.”

Super.  Really helpful.

Obviously, if you know the kind of project that your knitting friend likes to make, get them a gift that speaks to that interest (sock yarn for a sock knitter, lace weight yarn for a lace knitter… this isn’t rocket science).

But, if you really don’t know, here’s my standard answer, because every knitter can find a use for it:

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-2 or 3 skeins of NICE medium weight yarn in the recipient’s favorite color, or a color that they wear a lot.  (Go to a fancy, independent yarn store, if there’s one in your area.  Spend 10 or more dollars per skein.  Pick out something pretty and soft. Bonus points if the label says “mohair,” “cashmere,” or “merino”)

And then, if you have extra money burning a hole in your pocket, pick one or more of the following:

-Fancy knitting needles (get the size that is recommended on the yarn’s label)

-Buttons (6 or more in a coordinating color to go with the yarn, no smaller than a half inch, no bigger than an inch and a half.  Tiny and gigantic buttons are harder to find a use for.)

-A project bag (These are usually draw-string or zippered fabric bags about the size of a piece of printer paper, and they’re used to carry around half-finished projects.  I’ve yet to meet a knitter who has enough project bags, me included) If you sew, might I recommend the Fat Quarter Project Bag?

-A pattern printout or flier that uses the yarn you picked out (but make sure you buy enough yarn to complete the project, if you do this.)  Or, a knitting book.  Take a few minutes to look through the knitting section at the book store, and pick out one that has patterns that your knitter friend might wear.

-Other fancy notions (decorative stitch markers, fancy scissors, a cute measuring tape, etc.  Knitters love pretty things.  We’re like magpies.)

Wrap up everything you bought, and be the king (or queen) of Christmas!

A Super Exciting Post About Yardage and Budgets

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Yarn does not grow on trees (if only… that would be amazing.  Scientists: get on that).    And there are only so many hours in the day.  It’s still relatively early in December, but you are probably starting to feel the pinch.  Obviously, knitting big projects takes more time than knitting little projects (because… duh), so banging out a sweater in two weeks (while that would be amazing) is probably not going to happen.

When I want to make someone a knitted gift, my usual go-tos are knitted accessories: hats, mittens/gloves, and scarves.  Accessories are always useful, appreciated, don’t usually need to be washed (and potentially ruined), and are small enough that you can finish a project in the time it takes to watch a Sunday marathon of Law & Order.

I’ve undertaken a semi-scientific* study of some of the knitted accessories I have sitting in a box in my closet.  I wanted to see about how much yarn I used in each project, but I didn’t want to unravel everything and measure it out (because I’m not a masochist).  Instead, I broke out the kitchen scale and weighed each item, which will let me estimate of how much yarn each type of project requires.

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After much data collection and number crunching**, here’s what I found out:

A hat uses approximately the same amount of yarn as a pair of mittens. ***

A scarf uses about 2 to 3 times as much yarn as a hat or a pair of mittens.

So, if you’re trying to save money, time, and yarn, try making a gift hat.  If you’re feeling generous, how about a nice long scarf?

*Not at all scientific.

**I measured three of each item all knit with worsted-ish yarn (three pairs of mittens, three scarves, three hats) and averaged the weights.

***Note: my mittens were knit at a slightly finer gauge than my hats and scarves.  So while they may weighed the same, the mittens used more yardage, and probably took more time to knit up.

Mashed Potato Crafting

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I heard one of my friends talking the other day, and she used a term I had never heard before, but totally understood the moment she used it.  She was talking about how, when she had a crummy day, she would “watch Monk or Psych or something… you know, one of my mashed potato shows” and immediately feel better.  I thought that was a great way to put it.  Mashed potatoes are tasty, comforting and easy to digest.  They might not be as fancy as a gourmet meal, or as trendy as sushi, or as luxurious as lobster, but they totally will make you feel better after a long day.

mashed-potatoes-su-1673101-l“OK,” you’re thinking, “so the girl has a thing for potatoes.  What does that have to do with knitting?”  After all, you’re here for the crafting, not to hear me natter on about food.  My answer to you is: “It has nothing to do with Knitting!”  Ha! Fooled you, didn’t I?

Actually, I wanted to give a shout out to my favorite mashed potato craft, counted cross stitch.  When I’m stressed, or blue or just feeling lazy, and don’t want to do math, plan a new project, or dig out the right pair of knitting needles, I love to do some counted cross stitch.  There’s something comforting about it.  It serves no purpose, it doesn’t challenge my brain, and it is so totally easy.  It’s like coloring in a coloring book or doing a paint-by-numbers, but with thread.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m especially a fan of those little kits you’ll find in the bargain bin at Jo-Ann’s.  They’re always dumb stuff, like butterflies, or hearts, or little cutesy sayings, but they’re still fun and silly to make.  They give you everything you need (except scissors, because for some reason scissors are never included in kits), so you really and truly don’t have to think.  It’s the perfect mashed potato craft.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat is your mashed potato craft?

An Amazing Surprise

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A friend of mine, Heather, has been threatening to give me “a bag of knitting junk” for a really long time.  Apparently a friend of her mother’s had been about to donate all her knitting things to Goodwill, when my Heather’s mom took the bag to give to her daughter, who is an occasional knitter.  Unfortunately, Heather lives in a tiny apartment with a dog and two cats, and thus, did not really want the big bag of “knitting junk.”  So, she decided to give it to me.  (Woo.)

I tried not to take it, since these sorts of situations usually result in me having to pretend to ooh and aah over a half-dozen skeins of fun fur and three mismatched knitting needles.  But, Heather was persistent and last Thursday she brought along the big trash bag  full of craft supplies to our evening practice.  I tried to appear appreciative as I opened up the bag. 

When I actually looked inside, I was totally floored.  More than a dozen almost-full balls of crochet cotton, about 20 pairs of antique knitting needles, and the best gift I have received in a really long time:  The Bantam Step-by-Step book of Needlecraft by Julie Brittain.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s an amazing all-encompassing needlecraft book with pictures that are awesomely eighties, but instructions that are totally timeless.  It’s got knitting, crochet, embroidery, tatting… everything.  It covers the history of needlework, as well as including patterns and techniques.

And best of all (this is actually  making me tear up a little), it’s the same book that my mom had when I was a kid.  I spent hours and hours (probably days… maybe even weeks) pouring over this book.  I taught myself so much from its pages.  It’s the reason that I know what Turkish Crochet is, how to do the Bobble stitch, and the recipe for my favorite mittens.  It was simply amazing to receive something so dear to my heart, and that I had totally forgotten about for years.  I’m pretty sure the rest of my team thought that I was a little crazy, the way I was carrying on.

But, you knitters understand!  Here are some of the fantastic knitting contents of this book:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAwesome eighties sweaters!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADelightful lace patterns!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAClassic mitten and glove recipes!

Do you have a pattern or book that is particularly close to your heart?

She’s got the World on Her Shoulders

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Let’s talk about shoulders.

80s-Shoulder-PadNot those shoulders (although they are impressive).  Sweater shoulders!

I’ve been thinking about shoulders lately (because that’s what I do).  They’ve been on my mind especially since I’ve been wrestling with the Sweater-Formerly-Known-As-Peggy-Sue.

It’s important to know the types of shoulders when you’re planning out a sweater, since they totally change the look of a sweater.  Different sleeves/shoulders flatter different people.  I know that I have narrow (ish) shoulders, so raglan sweaters aren’t the best look on me (so why I chose to make a raglan-sleeve sweater, I’ll never know).   But my husband looks great in raglan-sleeves.  Go figure.

Anyway, here are some of the different types of sweater sleeves that you’ll come across in the wild, illustrated by yours truly (so forgive the lopsided-ness).

Set-in Sleeves

sweater set-inThese are your typical shoulders, they’re made to resemble the shoulders of a dress shirt.  They are a bit futzy to make, since you usually have to knit your sweater flat, then sew all the pieces of sweater together, but they end up looking really nice.  If you don’t like seaming, these might not be the way to go.

Raglan Sleeves

sweater raglanYou’ve probably seen shoulders like these on baseball t-shirts, and some hoodie sweatshirts.  They’re fun to make in a seamless sweater (although it is possible to make raglan sleeves on a pieced sweater, too).  For a seamless raglan sweater, you simply stack your increases or decreases (depending on if you are doing a top-down or bottom-up sweater) at the four points in front of and behind both shoulders.  They’re super easy.

Drop Shoulders

sweater dropThese are even easier than raglan shoulders.  Drop shoulders are the kind of shoulders you get if you make a sweater out of nothing but squares.  These are super good if you’re a new knitter, or if you want a cozy, slouchy sweater.  But, if you’re worried about looking sleek or sophisticated, drop shoulders probably wouldn’t be the way to go.

Yoke Shoulders

sweater yokeA yoke makes it look like your whole sweater is one single piece, with no obvious increases/decreases or seaming.  They’re really nice if you want to have a cool pattern or something wrapped around your shoulders (think about beautiful fair-isle sweaters).  However, they can look a little janky as you work them up, so make sure you block the sweater when you’re done to make sure it looks its best after all your hard work.

Of course, there are about as many variations of sleeves/shoulders as there are knitting patterns, but most sweaters you’ll find will fit into one of these categories, at least a little bit.  And, now you will be able to identify sweater shoulders when you see them in the wild.

Going with the Flow

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Peggy Sue is dead.  (Not the person, the cardigan.)  I tried to fix it.  I wanted the pattern to work so much!  But, alas, it was not meant to be.  I started off with the wrong gauge (I knew this was going to happen.  I took a swatch and everything.  I’m just dumb.), and didn’t compensate accordingly.  My sweater was turning out much too small.  I got all the way to the armpits (it’s a top-down sweater) before I realized the error of my ways.

I ripped it out, and tried again on bigger needles, but the fabric just didn’t look right.  This time I only got halfway through the shoulders (thank goodness). I ripped it out again.

Then I got pissed and threw it in a corner of my craft closet.  It sat there for a while gathering dust while I sulked.

Now, I’m knitting up my pretty blue yarn again.  It’s still going to be a girly blue cardigan, but this time I’m sort of making my own pattern.  I’m using my new favorite sweater book, the Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters.  It’s a Seamless Yoke Cardigan, based in part on her Feather and Fan Flare sweater.  It’s at a nice fine gauge (or at least fine compared to sweaters I’ve made before).  I like to make my sweaters with chunky yarn and big needles, but I wanted this sweater to turn out a little fancier and girlier than my usual projects).  But, instead of the fussy little cables on Peggy Sue, I’m using decorative increases and garter ridges around the yoke, hem and cuffs.  And, since it’s a yoke sweater, not a raglan, I think it will be more flattering on me.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe funny thing is, though, that now that I’ve got it growing on my needles, I really like the contrast between the red yarn of my provisional cast-on and the pale aqua blue.  It’s making me think that I want to use red or maroon buttons on the sweater.  Which is ridiculous, since the whole point of making this sweater in the first place was to use my pretty blue buttons.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut, I suppose that takes me back to my original point: It’s important to stay flexible when you’re knitting.  It’s so easy to get bogged down in the details, and keep slogging through a project that you no longer love, or something that you figure out won’t work for you.  And, it’s so hard to abandon a project that you’ve poured hours and hours of your life into. But, it’s so much more satisfying (and fun!) to make something that you love than to slave away, determined to finish the project as you planned in the beginning.  Just because you start on a project, doesn’t mean that it’s the one you have to finish.

How have you had to be flexible when you work on a project?