Oh my! Why didn't anyone tell me that Interweave Knits has 2 PDF indexes of all their issues published from Fall 1996 through Spring 2004 available online FOR FREE?!
Have I mentioned how much I love this magazine? :)
Wish I had more knitting content to share, but what do you expect when it's 11:30pm and we've just now turned off the a/c? Back to the wet bandana...
Sunday, August 08, 2004
Monday, July 26, 2004
Fulling Day
After much delay, my French Market Bag has been fulled. (Yay!)
Let's recap, shall we?
Act I: Knitting Nest
I knit the bag somewhat along the lines of the pattern found on Knitty.com, though I used two strands of Brown Sheep Nature Spun rather than the yarn called for in the pattern. Progress reports here and here.
Intermission:
The bag was finished about a week after starting it, but sat for nearly a month waiting to be fulled. Since I have a front-loading washing machine (European standard-I do not live in the US), I opt to hand-full it.
Act II: The Internet
I spent some time looking for resources on hand-fulling on the Internet and came upon Beth Brown-Reinsel's instructions on her website. With instructions read, it's time to full. I don't have huge expectations for mega-fulling because of the already relatively tight gauge of the knit fabric.
Act III: The Utility Sink in my Laundry Room
Scene I: Since the bag was not overly large, my utility sink was quite sufficient to handle the job. The first bath was in hot water from the tap with a squirt of "Fairy" dishwashing liquid. Our solar water heater makes the water quite hot but there was little fiber intermeshing going on despite vigorous rubbing, mostly with my knuckles. Apparently "Fairy" is detergent and not soap.
Scene II: I drain the hot water out of the sink as well as squeezing the bag and immediately plunge it into cold water, again rubbing vigorously. At this point there is a bit of surface fiber coming away from the bag.
Scene III: Second hot water bath and more vigorous rubbing. More fiber coming away from the surface of the bag and this time a huge amount of black dye was released into the water. My arms are getting tired.
Scene IV: Second cold water bath and the fibers just start to bloom.
A Brief Intermission: At this point I figure I need real soap to change the pH in the water sufficiently to get those fibers to mesh. I run to our bathroom to find any bar of hotel soap I can find. I know these are the real McCoy because my skin feels drier than heck after using them. Unfortunately, hubby has used them all up at the shower at the swimming pool. Emergency! I pick up the slice of Lush handmade soap that my son brought back from London and which has been sitting in our "fancy" bowl of soaps ever since because it, too, dries my skin.
Scene V: Back at the Utility Sink filled with more hot water and armed with the bar of soap, I start soaping the water and add the bag. More vigorous rubbing and this time I can actually feel the fibers contracting. More rubbing and finally, voila! Fulling has occurred.
Scene VI: Final cold water rinse, more rubbing and the fiber continues to contract. Squeeze out the water and toss bag into folded towels. I jump on the towels to extract as much water as possible and lay it flat to dry on a sweater rack.
Epilogue: As I mentioned above, I didn't expect the bag to full much because it wasn't as loosely knit as the pattern directions gave. Nonetheless, the bottom of the bag where I used two strands of black has definitely fulled more than the area where I combined a natural color with the black.Final dimensions are 19" from the bottom of the bag to the top of the handles; 12" from the bottom of the bag to the point before the handles are added and roughly 16" from side to side. (As the bag is still damp, I don't want to try flattening it too much in order to measure.)
Pictures soon.
Let's recap, shall we?
Act I: Knitting Nest
I knit the bag somewhat along the lines of the pattern found on Knitty.com, though I used two strands of Brown Sheep Nature Spun rather than the yarn called for in the pattern. Progress reports here and here.
Intermission:
The bag was finished about a week after starting it, but sat for nearly a month waiting to be fulled. Since I have a front-loading washing machine (European standard-I do not live in the US), I opt to hand-full it.
Act II: The Internet
I spent some time looking for resources on hand-fulling on the Internet and came upon Beth Brown-Reinsel's instructions on her website. With instructions read, it's time to full. I don't have huge expectations for mega-fulling because of the already relatively tight gauge of the knit fabric.
Act III: The Utility Sink in my Laundry Room
Scene I: Since the bag was not overly large, my utility sink was quite sufficient to handle the job. The first bath was in hot water from the tap with a squirt of "Fairy" dishwashing liquid. Our solar water heater makes the water quite hot but there was little fiber intermeshing going on despite vigorous rubbing, mostly with my knuckles. Apparently "Fairy" is detergent and not soap.
Scene II: I drain the hot water out of the sink as well as squeezing the bag and immediately plunge it into cold water, again rubbing vigorously. At this point there is a bit of surface fiber coming away from the bag.
Scene III: Second hot water bath and more vigorous rubbing. More fiber coming away from the surface of the bag and this time a huge amount of black dye was released into the water. My arms are getting tired.
Scene IV: Second cold water bath and the fibers just start to bloom.
A Brief Intermission: At this point I figure I need real soap to change the pH in the water sufficiently to get those fibers to mesh. I run to our bathroom to find any bar of hotel soap I can find. I know these are the real McCoy because my skin feels drier than heck after using them. Unfortunately, hubby has used them all up at the shower at the swimming pool. Emergency! I pick up the slice of Lush handmade soap that my son brought back from London and which has been sitting in our "fancy" bowl of soaps ever since because it, too, dries my skin.
Scene V: Back at the Utility Sink filled with more hot water and armed with the bar of soap, I start soaping the water and add the bag. More vigorous rubbing and this time I can actually feel the fibers contracting. More rubbing and finally, voila! Fulling has occurred.
Scene VI: Final cold water rinse, more rubbing and the fiber continues to contract. Squeeze out the water and toss bag into folded towels. I jump on the towels to extract as much water as possible and lay it flat to dry on a sweater rack.
Epilogue: As I mentioned above, I didn't expect the bag to full much because it wasn't as loosely knit as the pattern directions gave. Nonetheless, the bottom of the bag where I used two strands of black has definitely fulled more than the area where I combined a natural color with the black.Final dimensions are 19" from the bottom of the bag to the top of the handles; 12" from the bottom of the bag to the point before the handles are added and roughly 16" from side to side. (As the bag is still damp, I don't want to try flattening it too much in order to measure.)
Pictures soon.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
summer heat, divine yarn, ribbon yarn and Noro yarn
It's extremely hot here in the desert...
but it's a dry heat! Or so, they say. Even so, I'm knitting scarves,
and sweaters...
and dogs..
Well, one can dream of cold weather, can't one? :)
I like to say that I'm not a yarn snob.
Okay, so I am. (wanna make something of it?)
However, I've fallen in love with Paton Divine! Divine is a lovely, fluffy, soft yarn and I just want to buy out the stock at Jo Ann's. hmmmm.... maybe I will. ;)
And now, a couple of questions for you all...
1.) Any tips for knitting with ribbon yarn? I'm knitting a sleeveless top with Collinette giotto. I love this yarn, but it twists a bit as I knit. Is this typical of ribbon yarns?
and...
2.) I adore Noro kureyon! I have four skeins - and will purchase more, if necessary (hey! it doesn't take much to get me to buy more yarn). Any ideas of what to knit with it, besides the ever-popular booga bag?
Happy Summer knitting!
but it's a dry heat! Or so, they say. Even so, I'm knitting scarves,
and sweaters...
and dogs..
Well, one can dream of cold weather, can't one? :)
I like to say that I'm not a yarn snob.
Okay, so I am. (wanna make something of it?)
However, I've fallen in love with Paton Divine! Divine is a lovely, fluffy, soft yarn and I just want to buy out the stock at Jo Ann's. hmmmm.... maybe I will. ;)
And now, a couple of questions for you all...
1.) Any tips for knitting with ribbon yarn? I'm knitting a sleeveless top with Collinette giotto. I love this yarn, but it twists a bit as I knit. Is this typical of ribbon yarns?
and...
2.) I adore Noro kureyon! I have four skeins - and will purchase more, if necessary (hey! it doesn't take much to get me to buy more yarn). Any ideas of what to knit with it, besides the ever-popular booga bag?
Happy Summer knitting!
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Summer!
Low to mid-nineties with eighty-five percent humidity and no A/C. I'm not knitting, not even cotton. The See-Saw socks look at me accusingly from their bag.
Summer is normally my planning season, when I flip through magazines and books and start thinking about what I want to knit once the weather gets cooler. Since I can't just pop down to the LYS and browse and no longer have any magazine subscriptions, this pretty much forces me to revisit my extensive knitting library and look for patterns over the net. (I'm still thinking if I really want to renew IK. It's the only subscription IMNSHO that is worth it, but the overseas' postage still makes it tres expensive.) I have also found this plan keeps me focused on what I have in my extensive stash. (Of course staying away from the online knitting lists and Elann has also helped!)
Of course, in spite of having at least two acknowledged UFO's (make that three really, but if I ever finish that one, it will be a time for much rejoicing), I do have the urge to start something new.
Summer is normally my planning season, when I flip through magazines and books and start thinking about what I want to knit once the weather gets cooler. Since I can't just pop down to the LYS and browse and no longer have any magazine subscriptions, this pretty much forces me to revisit my extensive knitting library and look for patterns over the net. (I'm still thinking if I really want to renew IK. It's the only subscription IMNSHO that is worth it, but the overseas' postage still makes it tres expensive.) I have also found this plan keeps me focused on what I have in my extensive stash. (Of course staying away from the online knitting lists and Elann has also helped!)
Of course, in spite of having at least two acknowledged UFO's (make that three really, but if I ever finish that one, it will be a time for much rejoicing), I do have the urge to start something new.
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