Stories in the Making

Jo brought in her version of the Goats of Inversaid hat by Kate Davies Liz brought in her Cropped Raglan Pullover by Maikanh Nguyen in Estelle Alpaca Merino Chunky #223 Ashlee brought in her Happy Go Lucky Shawlette by Jennifer Dickerson in Caron Cakes Sue brought in her Deepdale shawl by Gudrun Johnston that she made as part of Gudrun's MKAL this year. Alfie brought in a recently finished original design from her A.B. Originals line of knitwear. Above is one of Alfie's previous designs. Karen was asking for guidance on re-blocking her Lake Effects cardigan because it has become...

~ or ~ The Best Way to Block Your Fibre Projects and Why You Should There are as many ways to block as there are fibre types.  And maybe that sentence, right there, is why so many people eschew the process altogether.  Because there is no quick answer to the question "How do I block this?"  Add to that the fact that most patterns end with the truly illuminating "To finish, weave in ends and block," and you're left with a sense that this "blocking" thing is only for those in-the-know. Well, allow me to initiate you. Almost everything I've read...

This month at Yarn Club we talked about our favourite finishing techniques, and I demonstrated a few with my MacGyver'd projection camera so people could see what my hands were doing projected on the wall. How you weave in your ends and seam up a project can make or break all your hard work.  It's rarely a yarnista's favourite part of the project, but it's worth knowing how to do it well: think of seams as the frame for your work. If they are sloppy or misshapen they will detract from your beautiful stitches. I've gathered some resources here from around...

Kris brought in this beautiful shawl. The pattern is Eiki by Janel Laidman. The yarn is by Rohrspatz & Wollmeise. Bogna brought in her striking black & white shawl. The pattern is Pure Joy by Joji Locatelli. The yarn is Yough Sock by Youghiogeny Yarns. Valerie brought in her first (amazing!) double knitting project. The pattern is the Traffic Scarf by Alexis Hoy (ahem), and the yarn is Estelle Yarns Worsted.

I was well into my knitting obsession before I heard someone refer to ripping something out as "frogging." I was even further into it when I realized that "rip-it, rip-it" wasn't the only way to go back and fix something, and boy was that a revelation.  And to be honest, a bit annoying - here I was learning all the myriad and impressively plastic ways I could manipulate my yarn and needles, and it never occurred to me that there were equally creative ways to get myself out of a jam without just undoing hours of work. The knitting time I...