Loom Knitting–Creating in Double Knit
June 17th, 2008
This is a guest post by Pat Novak of KnittingBoard.com.
What is Double Knit? And why would we want to loom knit with a Knitting Board? Well, for me, it all started about 10 years ago. I had learned to knit at age 19 working with all size needles and all varieties of yarns. I became a ‘knitting junkie’ for many years. I still enjoy working with my needles when I want to create single knit. But when I want a nice thick, cozy double knit I use the Knitting Board.
So, what is the difference? And, what is the Knitting Board?
The Knitting Board is a knitting tool that creates double knit very easily and quickly. The process is simply, weave and hook. As I discovered, creating double knit can be an easy process, and is very easy on my hands and wrists. The Knitting Board creates a thick knit that is ideal for afghans, sweaters, shawls, scarves and footwear.
Why Double Knit?
Double knit is a two-sided knitted fabric with NO back side. That means that you can weave in different color designs without seeing the knots and connecting yarns on the back of the knitted piece. Think about this for afghans, shawls, bags, scarves, and anything that you want to be reversible. Your design will look exactly the same on the front of the knitted piece as it does on the back side. The connecting yarns and knots are completely hidden in between the layers of knit.
So, you may want to know, “Is this still hand-knitting?” Simply speaking, “Yes.” Just ask some of the thousands of knitting board and loom-knitters if they are still hand knitting. It’s a different art or craft from knitting with needles, and just a change of tool from needles to loom.
Right now, my current project is a baby blanket for my first grandbaby, Jaedyn. She is scheduled to join our family in September. Her mommy and daddy live in Florida, so I want to make my blanket and booties out of Babysoft and Lion Organic Cotton. My knitting board is set with a 1″ spacing between the boards so that the knit is open and airy and cool. I’m using several different stitches to create lots of texture. It will have little chickie designs of yellow and pink and green on a white base. I think I’ll do the booties in white with trim in pink and green. I’m really excited–can you tell? I know it will be beautiful because of the double knit with no back side. As soon as it’s completed, I’ll post it to the blog for all to see. I’ll even put the pattern up for free so you can knit up a Little Chickie baby blanket, if you have someone very special in your family.
Here’s the chick design I’ll be using, shown here in a sweater.
Next project? I have a new puppy too. Her name is Deshka and she needs a puppy sweater. That will be a great project for Fall. Perfect for the double knit on my knitting board.
Sock-Ease - For More than Just Socks
June 16th, 2008
If you’re a yarncrafter and you’re on the internet, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of people like to make socks. And if you listen to our YarnCraft podcast, you’ve heard me talk about socks an awful lot!
I mostly taught myself to knit while I was in design school. I wanted to take hand-knitting as an elective, but I was at the maximum number of allowed credits, so I grabbed a book and some needles and settled down to teach myself. For the first few months, I made a variety of scarves, but I was very eager to be a ‘real’ knitter – and to me, real knitting meant socks. All that shaping – and what was this business about turning the heel?
I made my first pair with leftover fingering-weight yarn from my mother-in-law, and I really haven’t stopped since! There are so many different ways to make socks, you can keep yourself endlessly entertained with new styles and techniques. And there are all sorts of other reasons why socks are so popular – they are fast to finish, they are portable projects, they make great gifts, and they are comfortable and cozy. But personally, I think it’s all about the sock yarn.
Sock-Ease, our newest yarn, is soft, colorful, and you only need one ball to make a pair of socks! It comes in 7 fun, multi-hue colorways. The design department has had a blast experimenting with Sock-Ease –- and not just for socks. Because of the way the random striping has been designed, you can get totally different stripe and color-block patterns by changing your gauge, stitch pattern or project. Try crocheting a granny square or floral motif, and watch how the colors rotate and swirl. Try a chevron or shell stitch to get wavy bands of color. Need a drawstring? Whip up some I-cord, or use a spool knitter, to make a cord with bold stripes. Add bright, multi-hue pompoms to embellish any project.
Sock-Ease is also great held together with another yarn. In a narrow piece like a scarf or amigurumi, it will make subtle stripes. Used in a wider piece like a sweater, you’ll get a great tweed effect. We are all loving baby and kid sweaters that mix Sock-Ease with Vanna’s Choice, Vanna’s Choice Baby, or Cotton-Ease.
Even more than the soft feel or fun colors, my favorite thing about Sock-Ease is its flexibility. It’s much more than a great sock yarn -– it’s a tool you can use to explore your own creativity in knitting and crochet.
Do It In Public This Saturday
June 13th, 2008
This Saturday is World Wide Knit In Public Day 2008. Go ahead and crochet too please. We know the difference but most people don’t. It wasn’t too long ago, in the late nineties, when there was a lot of talk on the internet about people having the unpleasant experience of being ridiculed when they knit in public. We’ve come a long way baby. . . .
Send us your comments on Monday and tell us where you did it!
A Peek Into the Design Process
June 12th, 2008
Swatching is an important part of the design process. Let’s say we decide to design a striped afghan knit with Vanna’s Choice. The variables are infinite! How many of the 49 colors do we want to include? How long should each stripe be? What colors should be placed next to each other?
When designing the afghan, we make all of these decisions, by experimenting with mini-versions of the ideas in the form of swatches so I can see how each possibility looks.
Color sequencing is very important and I’ll share with you the inner dialogue that I have as I knit. First I knit a few rows of one color. I started with Chocolate (bottom right of this swatch). It’s dark so I figure, “Let’s brighten it up a bit now.” So I try a stripe of Magenta. I like the way the two look together, but I think we need something at this point to give it some “pop” so I add just a little of the Pea Green color. Now I want to do something unexpected so I put in Cranberry, which doesn’t really “match” the Magenta but looks great just a little further on, in between the Mustard and the Silver Gray. Deciding when to shorten the stripe and when to lengthen it is part of the process and there is no formula. You think it through visually, execute it by trial and error, coming up with a combination that works.
We swatched up a number of other combinations that you can see below, but thought that the swatch above was the most successful one in terms of achieving the look we wanted.
It’s like making soup–start with a basic idea and start adding. “I think it would taste good with some onion. Carrots? Yes, but not too many–I don’t want carrot soup. The carrots add some color, body to the flavor of the broth, and a slight sweet undertone. Can I put in an unexpected spice like jalapeno pepper? Sure, but just a tad because, like the Pea Green color in our swatch, it’s meant to add a touch of excitement and could easily overpower the result.”
The way we do colorways is part of our mark and swatching is our form of research. When you try creating your own color combinations, you’ll discover a look that encompasses your favorite color combinations and expresses something unique to you.
Here’s why I like the swatch we went with for the afghan and the qualities that I believe make it a successful effort:
- It’s interesting and unexpected in the ways the colors sequence
- It has “personality.” It’s unique and interesting.
- It looks home-made (we call this “sign of the hand”) and is not seen in mass-produced knits. “Making it human” is particularly valuable in a high-tech, mass-produced world.
- It breaks the rules of matching by putting a red next to a yellow and then a magenta.
- It looks random, but it’s actually carefully planned out
I hope this gives you some ideas and the confidence to do your own experimenting with color. Remember, there is no right or wrong combination. It all depends on the look you want.
This swatch includes some new colors of Vanna’s Choice, which we will be presenting in an upcoming newsletter. Visit this blog on June 20th to see the afghan we designed based on this swatch experiment.
This is the first in a series of posts about swatching. I’ll be sharing our swatch experiments with you and showing you how to work with color, stitches and pattern to enhance your creativity with yarn.
When Knitting Takes Over the Dining Table
June 12th, 2008
Each year, Design Industries Foundation Fight AIDS (DIFFA) give select designers free reign to create lavish, amazing dining rooms for their signature “Dining by Design” fundraiser tour.
This year, the space by the Rockwell Group was a room knit from ceiling to floor. Check out these photos:
Send A Free Yarn E-Card
June 11th, 2008
For birthdays, anniversaries, housewarmings, weddings, or just to say, “I’m thinking of you,” we have a large selection of free e-cards that you can with a personalized message.
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Amigurumi Animals at Maker Faire on YarnCraft Episode #16
June 11th, 2008
In YarnCraft episode #16, we shared interviews from the Maker Faire, an INCREDIBLE event featuring all sorts of handmade things and the amazing people behind them. It was even featured in the New York Times.
Our episode features interviews with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the popular knitter/author/blogger also known as the Yarn Harlot), Becky and Natalie of the always interesting Craft Magazine, Corey Feldman (a performance artist who knits and drums at the same time!), Kathy Murillo-the Crafty Chica, and more. It was a lot of fun being at the event, and I’m glad that my co-host Liz and I could bring the event to you.
Not only did we teach over 200 people to knit and crochet over the course of the two-day event, we also showcased a selection of our adorable amigurumi animals.
Everyone who walked by our booth stopped to see them, touch them, and pick them up. The animals were SO popular that someone actually took our poor octopus home with them! Maybe we should make a “Missing Octopus” sign to distribute among knitters and crocheters…
You can find all of our amigurumi patterns on the Pattern Finder, but here are my top five picks (a tough feat, considering that they’re all so cute):
- Elephant - They never forget!
- Octopus - This is the poor guy that got pilfered!
- Chocolate Bunny - Sweet, but non-fattening.
- Turtle - How adorable is this one!
- Penguin - Who doesn’t love penguins?
For this and more YarnCraft episodes, visit the YarnCraft blog. New podcasts come out every other Tuesday and you can find how to subscribe on our blog.
Yarndorphins
June 6th, 2008
I’m Hilary the V.P. of Sales for Lion Brand. Lately I’ve realized that two of my passions—health and yarn are converging.
I’m fortunate in that my passion is my work and my work involves selling a wonderful product that encompasses fashion, color, design, and is affordable and beautiful. I take pleasure in the fact that the product I sell makes people happy and gives joy and purpose to their lives.
My other passion is to live a healthy lifestyle. I eat wisely, including dark chocolate and broccoli. I do water aerobics, yoga and lift weights. I am just starting a walking program, thanks to Ilana’s encouragement. I watch my blood work numbers and I’m committed to reducing stress, because most medical professional believe it is a major cause of illness.
So how do my two passions connect? The fact that knitting or crocheting can help reduce stress, has been noted by doctors and crafters alike. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee wrote about it too. The simple repetitive movement of yarn on needles or hook is like meditating. Whether you meditate, or knit or crochet every day, you allow that special space in your otherwise busy day to let your thoughts untangle and your mind be free of all the chatter, planning, and worrying.
I am overjoyed to see friends live better as a result of having a regular knitting “practice.” I’d love to see it become part of a healthy lifestyle routine; to take even 15 or 20 minutes a day to knit or crochet in order to create a peaceful space in which to rejuvenate.
I’d love to hear from anyone reading this about how knit or crochet works into your healthy living program.
Knitting Is the New Black
June 5th, 2008
I love this phrase, which I’m quoting from an article in TheStar.com by reporter Rita Zekas referring to how knitting has become a basic part of life, especially now that Julia Roberts will be producing and starring in the movie adaptation of the best-selling Friday Night Knitting Club.
Knit Flowers Supersized
June 5th, 2008
Sure there are a lot of knit and crochet flowers, but probably very few that are anatomically correct models like Tatyana Yanishevsky’s amazing creations. Part sculpture and part science model, her flowers have been featured at children’s museums, galleries, and more.
