Page 63 – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Trying out a new technique: Magic Loop

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

For what ever reason, in part because I like using DPNs but also because I can be something of a slacker about exploring new techniques, I have managed to avoid learning how to knit using magic loop up until now.

I was doing some cleanup in my studio this weekend and rediscovered Bev Galeskas’ booklet explaining how to use magic loop. Magic Loop lets you use a 40 inch circular needle, to completely avoid the need to have a variety of circular sizes and the need for DPNs when the knitting gets too small for the circumference of your circular.

The Bella Mitten pattern, which I wanted to start work on this week, is written using Magic Loop. When I first noticed this in the pattern, I decided I would avoid learning the new technique and just use my trusty DPNs. But finding Bev’s pamphlet in my knitting materials seemed like too much serendipity to put off learning Magic Loop any longer.

The bottom line is this: I wonder why I went so far out of my way to avoid learning how to Magic Loop. The pamphlet is clear. The technique is easy. And the results are really nice. It took about five minutes to master the process using the easy-to-follow drawings and directions.

I’m swatching the mittens’ cable pattern to get used to Magic Loop and preparing to knit the mittens. If you’ve been putting this off, delay no longer. You’ll be happy you invested the time in figuring out this simple but very approach to knitting in the round.

Works in Progress: Olympic Knitting Update

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

So far, I've really enjoyed the Ravellenic games, which celebrate knitting during the winter Olympics in Soochi. Two of my three knitting projects are complete. I've also frogged two projects that weren't working out, and have shared that yarn with other knitters in the Torch Passing project.

My first finished project is a Bray hat, which I knit with the Brooklyn Tweed Shelter yarn I raved about last week. Other knitters have complained that it breaks easily, but I found it to be very pleasant to knit with and the color is gorgeous.

The second project is the Little Shells Shawlette, which I knit in Fleece Artist Woolie Silk 3-ply that I dyed into a lovely, variagated pale, pale pink colorway. If you haven't knit with this yarn, you should. It was a joy. And the finished product is really awesome.

I ran into a problem with the shawlette. I took the directions very literally when they said to cast off loosely. And I did. If you look closely at the picture above you can see that although the points are long and lovely, the cast off in between them is a sort of nasty, too-loose affair that wasn't very attractive.

With the help of Jaime at In the Making, Birmingham's best yarn shop, I managed to frog the cast off and get the stitches back on the needles. There was a bad moment last night around 1 am where I realized two stitches weren't where they needed to be, but the pattern is so well written I was able to figure out where they belonged and do some careful laddering to get everything in place. Another cast off — this time not particularly loose — and everything looks much better as it blocks.

I'm wildly ecstatic to have finished both of these projects in just over a week! It feels like some pretty good Olympic knitting.

I haven't finished, actually haven't made much progress, on my third project, Adrian Bizilla's Flocked Mittens. I finally had to admit to myself that I don't know how to knit continental, I can't fake it, and I need to spend some time learning how to do it, so I can properly knit with both hands and do justice to the color work in this pattern. I don't expect to finish these anytime soon and certainly not during the Olympics, but I'm in love with the picot edge and braided trim, so in and of itself, this has been a great learning experience so far.

Lace and Remembering About Yarn Overs

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I've been knitting a little bit of lace lately, and the yarn overs can get a bit confusing, especially late at night when you convince yourself you can make it through one last row of 200-plus stitches before you nod off. The yarn overs are easy enough when you are knitting all of your stitches, but where I need a bit of a reminder is when I have a yarn over in between a knit and a purl stitch.

There was a lot of that in Little Shells, which I've just finished knitting, but as you can see, haven't blocked yet.

I made it all the way through the pattern with only one small instance of having to unknit a few stitches to get back to a mistake by using one simple device. I made up a rhyme to help me remember the yarn overs. It goes like this:

Knit to Purl, you swirl.

Purl to Knit, that's it.

What I mean by that is easy to decipher. When you have a yarn over in between a knit stitch and a purl stitch, you have to bring the yarn from the back to the front and then wrap it around the needle completely again, i.e., you "swirl" it. Going from a purl to a knit, your yarn is already in front of the needle and you need do nothing between the stitches, your yarn over is automatic. In other words, "that's it."

As silly as it seems, this little device made my knitting so much easier, that I wanted to share it. I'm looking forward to showing you this shawlette in all of its glory once its blocked!

Knitting Progress: Cables, Cables, Everywhere

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I love knitting Jared Flood’s patterns. The Bray Hat is no exception. Knit in four sections of 30 stitches each, the hat features a 12 step central cable flanked by columns of lace and smaller cables on each outer edge.

This pattern makes me feel like I am knitting beyond my capabilities and it’s because of the clear directions and internal logic of the pattern.

Adventures in Knitting: Braided Trim

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

I'm knitting Adrian Bizilia's Flocked Mittens as my gateway project into colorwork, or stranded, knitting. I'm not entirely certain this was the best choice for a beginner, but it's a beautiful pattern and after swatching, I think I can pull this off, although it may take me some time.

I originally swatched in navy blue and white, using Quince & Co. Lark (the skein of Tern is for the lining), but decided to knit the project in a pale pink colorway called Petal and an off white contrast skein.

These mittens have a picot edge, and just above it, a braided trim.

I hadn't encountered braided trim before, but the pattern instructions are clear and I included a blue version in my swatch to make sure I could do it. No problem. I also found a Craftsy Class, featuring the wonderful Sunne Meyer, on knitting stranded mittens. It is an awesome class — my first on Craftsy — and I highly recommend it because of her focus on many of the details of mitten knitting. She has a segment on braided trim and her comments helped me find a way to keep the yarn from tangling, which was worth the price of the entire class.

Although the pattern calls for a one color braided trim, I decided to do it using both of the mitten colors, and I'm really glad I did. I like it so much, that I'm afraid braided trim is going to start finding its way into everything I knit. The history of the trim comes from Nordic knitting, so it seems entirely appropriate to have learned this technique during the winter Olympics.

One of my goals this year is to be a more fearless knitter — to assume that the fact that I've never done something before means that I absolutely can do it now. So far, that has paid off with my 198 Yards of Heaven Shawlette and the start of color work. What are you doing to create adventures in knitting for yourself this year?

Elliebelly: The Missing Years

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

2012 and 2013 were knitting dead zones for me. Between work, kids, and moving my Mom across country to live down the street from us, there wasn't a lot of knitting. And there never seemed to be any time to blog about the knitting that did go on.

I'll do a few "missing years" posts this month to catch you up on what I knit while I was away from the blog. Since there isn't a lot of it, it shouldn't take long. But some of these projects are items I'm really happy about and want to share with y'all.

There isn't a lot to talk about from 2012, although I did get a number of squares knit for the Barnraising Quilt I'm knitting as a long term project. It doesn't need to be finished for another three years, but it's making slow, steady progress. The stand out project from 2012 is my Burberry Inspired Cowl, knit in Juniper Moon Farm Wool that I dyed in the Elliebelly Purple Fig Colorway.

By contrast, 2013 was a far better year for knitting, beginning in the summer, when I picked up a project that had been lingering for a couple of years — a baby blanket knit in Blue Sky Alpaca Cotton — so that I could finish it for a friend who was having a baby.

I was so happy I hadn't finished the blanket any earlier! I enjoyed knitting it so much and it was just the right present after it was lined with this happy Japanese print fabric.

I finished the blanket while on a trip to the Gulf Coast, and got a lot of funny looks from people at the pool as I cast off.

After I finished knitting the blanket, I started a light weight infinity scarf for fall in The Fibre Company's Terra Yarn. The yarn is beautiful, although pool side knitting doesn't necessarily make for the best pictures.

The scarf finished up nicely. Perhaps too nicely, since I haven't been able to get it back from my daughter for some time now.

The summer beach trip really jump started my knitting again. Fairhope, Alabama has a beautiful little yarn shop called The Yarn Cottage, that has a really nice selection of yarns. One of the store samples caught my eye. It was a pattern called Summit, by Mandie Harrington. It's an old Knitty pattern I hadn't seen before, and the circle construction was intriguing. The store sample was knit in Blue Heron Rayon Metallic and it was so irresistable, that I grabbed a couple of skeins. I worked on this rather complicated pattern a bit, but after getting a few repeats in, put it aside to get my Christmas knitting (more on that in a future post) done. I'll pick it back up again this spring, but for now, here it is in progress.

Knitting Olympics: The Aerial Unwind Event

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Joyce Makes Art

Today I'm using my first-ever video on the blog to show you my aerial unwind event for the Ravellenic Games in progress.

The reclaimed yarn is going to another Raveler through the Aerial Unwind Torch Passing Event in the true Olympic spirit of collaboration and friendship. I'm looking forward to watching her make something beautiful with the yarn from my unsuccesful project.

The aerial unwind lets you take a project that just isn't working out — in my case a sweater pattern I really liked and a yarn I love, which together weren't working — and frog (rip out) the project so the yarn can be reclaimed. Whether you're participating on a Ravellenic Team or not, if you're interested in joining us for the Torch Passing Event, please check out the thread here. It's a fun and easy way to participate in the games, even if you don't have time for a project during the Olympics.