Knitting With Granny LJ

Good morning.

Had a great week last week.  The weather has been almost balmy — and is balmy, compared to what is happing in Des Moines (where my eldest son and his family live) and New York City (where my second son and his wife live).  We have had sun shine, not much wind, and tides that are so low, it feels like you could walk to China.  As a result, Karen and I have been getting Parker and Red out for very long wonderful walks. 

I have been knitting my fingers to the quick, though, after the walks.  Karen and I found out that we are juried into a show in March.  This one is in Yachats, at the Commons, and it is over 40 years old.  The organizers have taken trouble to keep the show pretty exclusive.  We sent out the application on a kind of a dare without much hope of getting in to it.  We got notification last week that we are in it.  What a morale boost.

Enough news.  I was recently asked how I make a cap with eyelash yarn.  I do them as inside-out (IO) caps because of the peculiar way I knit.   The IO caps started out as a bit of an accident.  I was working a varigated brown Splash yarn with a coordinating brown Galway.  I had tried to do a cap out of only the Splash and it was pretty floppy and not very good for beach walking.  So with this cap I put it with the sturdier yarn and was knitting away.  Because of the goofy way I knit (I’m self taught, remember?) all the Splash yarn was on the inside of the cap. 

Needless to say, I was pretty grumpy because I thought I would  have to pull all the fibers of the Splash back through to the outside of the cap with a crochet hook.  I had done that on a couple of earlier caps and pretty much resented the time it took to get all those fibers back to the outside.  Well, the brown Splash and Galway cap got  topped.  I put it in the basket of “to be finished” work, and went to work on a new cap. 

When I finally got to doing the finish work, I grabbed up the brown Galway and Splash cap and turned it inside-out  to start working in the ends.  And I had one of those “No DUH!”  moments.  I did not have to pull all the ends of the Splash through.  I just had to finish the cap as if the inside were the outside.  And the 7-point top-off really worked well inside out.  And thus the Inside-Out cap was born.

If you are interested in doing a cap with an eyelash yarn, I would suggest that you do a simple watch cap alternating 2 rows of the eyelash with 2 rows of the base yarn.  The two rows of the base yarn give the cap a sturdiness that the eyelash lacks and the eyelash essentially covers the 2 rows of the base yarn. 

When the cap is knit and topped, do the finish work  on whichever side of the cap has the most eyelash yarn showing. 

I have also found that  making a chemo cap this way is better, too.  When I started chemo caps, I was just making them out of the Chinchilla, a Berroco yarn.   This method  gave them a floppy, almost too soft feel.  Once I discovered the IO cap method, I started using a base yarn for chemo caps, too.  And I am more satisfied with the outcome of the chemo caps with this method, too. 

Try it. I am sure you will like it. 

Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

I have recently been asked about making a watch cap.  They are very easy caps to make.  When I first started knitting caps, I was so excited about the possibilities of caps and color and design, that I really quit making watch caps.   I had made one out of Lamb’s Pride (Brown Sheep Company) for my son, Ian, several years ago when he was still in Bend.  But I did it in the same dimensions as I did the women’s caps in.  It was too small and he ended up giving it away.  After he moved to Nashville, I did another with the same result — it was too small and he  gave it away.  (I always have been somewhat of a slow learner.)

Then I got a commission to do 5 guy caps for a gift shop in Yachats.  I thought about the two I had done for Ian and decided that I needed more stitches.  I put the cap on 100 stitches and made the ribbing and  the body appropriately deeper. 

So how does one make a watch cap (which I also call a guy cap)? 

I use circular needles size 6. I use the smaller needle because the smaller the stitch the less wind blows through the stitches.  So  my directions will be based on size 6 circular needles.

A Watch Cap aka Guy Cap.

The yarn can be any good wool or wool blend yarn, about 200 yards. I like both the Lamb’s Pride and Galway for doing watch caps.  The Lamb’s Pride is a wool and mohair blend and feels good against the skin.  The Galway is a 100% wool with the scratch taken out.  The yarns feel different in the skein — the mohair makes the wool feel a little more soft, but both make up into great guy caps.

So you have your needles, size 6 circular — many knitters like working caps on a 16 inch circular needle.  I prefer 20 inch needles.  I tried the 16 and everything was so crunched together that I really could not figure out what I was doing.  So I have 20 inch needles. 

Cast on 100 stitches with 1 extra so you can knit the first cast on stitch and the last one together, making a unified circle.

Next comes the ribbing.  I do a K2, P2 ribbing instead of the more usual K1, P1 ribbing.  Why?  I like it better.  Whatever ribbing works for you, use it.  The ribbing should be about 2 inches deep.

Then knit the body.  And that is easy because you knit around and around and around.  It is a great project to carry along, because once you start the body you  knit and that is all.  Do 6 to 7 inches of the  body.  Depth, of course, depends on if you are making a general sort of a watch cap or one for a specific head. If you are working for a specific head, take measurements of the head and adjust the cap body  to the head.

Once the body is done, I do a 7-point top off.   Count the stitches and divide by 7.  You may need to add or decrease a few stitches to get a number that can be divided by 7.  As noted in earlier blogs I do the 7-point top off because I like it, but there are literally dozens of potential top offs.  Be sure to switch to double pointed needles for the  top off, though.

When the top off is done, it is time for finish work.  Get all the loose ends worked in.  A yarn bobble at the top of the cap is optional.  I do not like the bobbles so don’t put them on any of my caps.  If you like them, do one and attach it to the top. 

Well, that is all there is to a watch cap/guy cap.  It is good as a beginner’s project or something for an experienced knitter to take along when traveling or for a change of pace. 

Hope you have a great day.  Good knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

Well, we survived Thanksgiving.  Karen and I eat at the Moose Lodge and she shoots photos of the gathering and makes the pictures into a wonderful memory book for the lodge.  The food was good and so was the company.  Also, eating at the lodge means NO leftovers to tempt me. However, I did eat a piece of pumpkin pie with canned whipped cream on it.  Weight Watchers is tomorrow and I get to see then what damage that piece of pie did to my weight numbers.

Speaking of numbers, I have, this week, been struggling with numbers.  I was told by someone that what I do is a hobby.  I really thought of myself as a person who makes and sells quality hand knit beach walking caps.  So I called a friend and talked to her about her “cap business.”  She assured me that Uncle does not count a home business as a “business”  until you have an income of more than $10,000 a year.  Anything under $10,000 is considered a hobby. 

Well, I worked on the numbers of my  knitting and this is what I found out:

1. I can do 4 or 5 caps a month, if I work a half-time day of 4 hours.  That is just knitting and does not count bookkeeping efforts, finish work, tagging and other assorted tasks to get the caps ready for sale.  Or the time at the sale, showing and selling my work.
2. At that rate of creation, I make between 48 and 60 caps a year. 
3. If I sold all the caps in a year, I would make about  $1600 to $1900 a year. 

Those numbers are hardly princely.  And I guess the case could be made that I am doing a hobby and why bother with dealing with the numbers. 

Why bother doing the caps, at all?  Good question.  It is clear that I am not going to get very rich making these caps.  But making money is not the only perk in what I do. 

I love buying the yarn and envisioning what the yarn will look like made up into a really good beach walk cap. I am excited when I try a new pattern for a cap or a new stitch, or make an  old stitch look different somehow.  I love watching the cap grow in my hands.  I love running next door and showing Karen how a certain cap turned out.  And most of all, I love seeing a cap I created on the head of another person. 

No, I am not doing anything great like making the world safe for democracy or spending a couple of years in the Peace Corps or any mega-gifts to the world like that.  But I really think that what I do has value to me and to the head that wears it. 

So now that I have crunched some numbers and learned that what I do is a hobby and not a business, I think I will go spend the rest of the day knitting on a pale, olive green cap that is all ripply with a knit and purl pattern and looks a lot like sea weed in a tide pool. 

Have a good day.  Happy numbers crunching.  But most of all happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning:

The outside market is drawing to a close.  Next week will be my last outdoor market.  Then beginning in the middle of October we move into the Senior Center  and to Saturdays.  I have opted to make the last Wednesday of September my last outdoor market.

I have done that for a couple of reasons.  One is the weather beginning in September gets rather iffy.  And the second is that while I have not sold a lot of caps, between the market and Shorebirds, my inventory is pretty limited right now. 

Also, the musician and I had a discussion about the cap I made for him and the changes that need to be done.  So I will be casting on a black tam again.  I really want to get this cap right, because I want him to look good while he is on stage and because I really want to unlock the secrets of the tam.  All the patterns I have seen for tams make the body of the tam very shallow.  And what it looks like in the pictures is a decorated plate on the head.  I cannot imagine a true Scot wearing that kind of thing on his head.  Actually, I cannot imagine anyone wearing that kind of a cap — for any reason.  Will keep  you posted on the tam news as it develops. 

Started another rolled brim cap at market this week.  It is a lovely color-way in light blues, lavenders and purple.  One of the other vendors at the market came over to my space on Wednesday and saw me working on it.  She loves purples.  I think she may want to get it when it is done. 

I plan to spend the break time between markets getting the finish work done on the pile of caps I have waiting.  There are 4 that need finish work and 3 that need tops.  I also have a couple that need to be taken out.  And an IO cap that needs some serious unknotting.  That one I was working in a black wool with a dark red eyelash.  And the eyelash has snarled so badly that I have had to cut it several times just to be able to keep knitting.  I am leaning toward taking that one out.  I really love working, occasionally, in an eyelash yarn, but I usually rewind the skein on a toilet paper roll before I start knitting with it.  As you can guess, I  did not do that this time.  Won’t make the same decision next time.

Well, that is about all the news from here for now.  Have a great day and happy knitting.

Granny LJ

Good morning.

I was rooting aound in my stash the other day and found  of two  partial skeins of varigated blue.  They are different brands and different make up, but I gave them the sunshine test and the blues are a dead on match.  Neither partial skein was enough to do a a complete cap. Together, however, they will make a  complete and interesting looking cap.

I am sometimes chided about not getting rid of my leftover yarns after I get a cap topped off.  I warehouse the leftover yarns in a couple of big baskets in my work area and keeping them seems, to nonknitters, like a waste of yarn.  I have tried to come up with an idea of something to do with  leftover yarn.  I have tried making EBs and even scarves.   But none of those efforts have really  excited the knitter in me, because both involving working on straight needles, and I have come to really dislike going back and forth and back and forth. 

But since I found these two partial skeins of blues that work so well together, I am going to root around in my leftover baskets and see if I can’t find more leftover yarns that would work well in a hodgepodge type of a cap. 

Right now, I have a side table that has several caps that need to be topped off, and several more caps that need to have the finish work done so I can get them out to either Shorebirds or the Wednesday market. 

That being the case, I had better get going on both of those tasks. 

Have a good day.  Happy knitting.   Granny LJ

Good morning,

I recently was asked how to top off a cap.  I guess I have not written about topping off a cap because I have not really considered the question in a long time.

My method of knitting a cap has evolved over the years so that much I do does not require alot of thinking or decision making.  And like most knitters I have developed my own way to do things, with a little help from outside sources. 

Since I have been knitting the caps, I have gotten acquainted with assorted knitting magazines and books and pamphlets telling me how to make a cap.  For topping off, I have to thank Interweave Knits magazine.  In the spring 2002 issue there was an article by Priscilla-Gibson-Roberts on the creation of tams.  She included a section on topping off the tam, including top-to-bottom as well as bottom-to-top.  Additionally, she included directions for concentric circle topping, and a swirl pattern.  I tried all the top offs she had listed and opted for what I call a 7-point top-off. 

When the body of the cap is deep enough, I count all the stitches (I may have added stitches at the bottom) and then divide by 7.  That gives me a base number for each decrease.  If I come up with a number  of stitches that does not divide evenly by 7,  I either add stitches or decrease stitches until I have the number of stitches that CAN be divided by 7.

Then out come the double point needles.  A set of 4.

Now, you have to be careful with double point needles.  They don’t always obey like they should and I have had several caps ruined because the stitches would not stay on the double points.  What I have done about this is to put those little plastic rubbery gizmos on the ends of each needle.   Otherwise, I discovered much to my chagrin that the stitches fall off the ends. 

I am using bamboo double points.  The yarn does not slip as much as on the metal or plastic needles, but I still use the stitch guard gizmos. 

Ok.  Now all the math is done.  I knit, using the double points, to the stitch of the first decrease and set a marker.  Then go to the next decrease and set another marker.  For markers I use loops of yarn. I discovered that the manufactured stitch markers irritate my focus so I  started using the yarn loops.  I make them out of left over yarn and use them both for knitting with several colors, as well as topping off.

I put 2 sets of top off sites on one double point, then block the needle end so that the stitches cannot slip off — that is 1 gizmo at each end of the needle.  Then the same on the second needle.  On the third needle I put 3 sets of top off sites.  So now there are 3 needles each with top off sites. 

Then I start kntting around.  When I come to the marker or the end of the stitches on the needle, I K2tog.  And the repeat until there are 2 stitches on two of the needles and 3 on the other needle.  I work those stitches into an I-cord and when the I-cord is about 4 stitches long I cut the yarn and pull the tail through the stitches of the I-cord with a crochet hook.  And voila!!! the cap is topped and ready for finish work.

There is one problem to watch out for.  If you are not careful, the area where the yarn changes needles can end up looking a lot floppier then the others and for sure a lot floppier than you want it to look.  So when you work the first stitch on the new needle — make sure the yarn  is pulled pretty tight and closes  the seam.

For more detailed information, I recommend the article on tams in Interweave Knits Spring 2002.  Also, Ann Budd has written a series of books for Interweave Knits on this sort of detail for knitters who want to do  other projects besides caps. 

Now then — all of the above is the way I top off caps.  There are as many ways to do it as there are knitters and yarns and needles.  If you want to do a cap, do it and top it off however YOU, as the knitter,  want to top it off.  Make the cap one that is distinctively yours. 

Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning:

We had a huge storm blow through yesterday.  The wind was bending the trees to about a 25 to 30 degree angle all day.  And the rain came down in buckets.  Red does not seem to mind the rain.  But Parker thinks that having to go outside in a storm is the worst possible thing that could happen. 

At any rate, despite the weather, and harrassing Parker to get out in it and take care of personal business, I got quite a bit of knitting done.  I got the dark green GC topped and and ready for finish work.  I have 2 more caps to get onto double pointed needles today.  The weather is not supposed to be as windy as yesterday, but will still be a good day to hunker down in my chair and do topping and some finish work.

One month from today, May 13, the market opens here in Waldport.  Am really looking forward to it.  I will be showing from the back of Karen’s car.  The space rent  is less expensive for a parking space rather than a tent space.  And I really do not have  even the remotest desire to bother with a tent ever again, unless someone does all the set up and take down work.  But  am excited to get going on the market.

I am also going to be showing some of Karen’s art work in the space.  She is a gifted artist and does scratch board.   She was part of a show for scratch board artists in Chicago last month.  It would make me nuts to do that kind of work,  it is so tiny and precise.  I guess that is why I am a knitter.  Not so tiny and the precision has a bit of elbow room, too. 

Will start showing the Contest Cap this month at Shorebirds. I will  get it  tagged and ready to go today.  Am glad I did the contest.  It was a bit of a stretch for me, but a good one.  I may just enter the county fair this year.  Will have to see, though.  We may not have a county fair this year.  It seems that some of the planners got mad at some of the other planners and walked out of a meeting to protest something or other.  So am not sure if we will have the fair, but if we do, I am pretty sure that I will show a cap there, this year.

Well, that is about all the nattering I have for this morning.  Waldport is sitting right under a very intense squall of the storm that has promised lightening and thunder for today.  Glad I am here in my  comfy chair with my yarns and knitting projects. 

Have a great day.  Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning:

Today is going to be a day that is pretty much all business. 

I have 5 caps that are topped and ready for finish work.  Once the finish work is done, they get tags and are listed in the inventory notebook.  I have to admit that I am a procrastinator.  I really prefer starting caps to finishing them.  Yesterday was such a day.  I had fully intended to get the finish work done and the caps tagged and recorded and ready to go to Shorebirds.  But then I looked at my work table and saw the gorgeous red-orange cap that I had almost finished the ribbing on.  So I thought —  why not, just a few minutes to complete the ribbing and then on to the finish work. 

Well, by the end of the day, I had the ribbing done on the cap, and about 4 inches of the body done.  So much for the finish work. 

But today I really have to be a good kid and get to that finish work. 

I have a thing about the finish work.  All the things I should have or could have or why didn’t I do this or, worse, why did I do it this way  surface.  And before the long ends are all worked in, I am sure that no body in their right mind would want the cap, so maybe I should keep it for myself. 

The fact that I have the space at Shorebirds and the first organizational meeting for the summer market is tomorrow will  help keep me focused, though.  I really need to have something new for the shop.  And I really need to have something  to show at the market. 

So I am going to get things moving and tackle the finish work first and THEN go to the lovely red-orange cap and some other works in progress that I have on my work table. 

Have a good day.  Good knitting, Granny LJ

Good morning:

Well, here it is April 1 and we are still having March showers, which according to the old rhyme means May flowers.  But it is a great day to sit inside and watch old movies and knit.

A week or so ago, I started a cap out of the other Kureyon yarn I got the last time I was in Lincoln City at Nestucca Bay Yarns.  It is a simple beram style cap.  As with the other  Noro  yarrns it is too busy a cap to do a pattern along with the incredible colorways Noro uses.  At any rate, I spent a large part of yesterday working on this cap.  The colors are a rainbow of colors, but mostly reds and red oranges. 

I decided to power down on the green GC and work on this beram for a while.  I have enough done to get it onto double point needles this morning and start topping it off.  It is going to be a lovely cap.  I knit it on size #5 double points so the body of the cap is, obviously, more dense than the ones done on size #6 needles.  But I think I like the density better on this cap than the ones done on #6 needles.  I am convinced that the rain and wind will not be getting through to ears of its wearer.  Will cast on a Silk Garden cap on #5 needles after I get this one on double points, and see if I like that yarn on the smaller needles as well.  Will keep you informed.

The other thing I need to get cracking on is the finish work for the caps that need to go down to Shorebirds this week for the switch out.  I have 5 or 6 caps ready for finish work, and need to get going on those, too. 

So it will be a very busy day.  Saturday there is a meeting of the vendors for the summer market. It  will be held  at the Senior Center.  So I will get the caps topped and the finish work done by then and be able to deal with 2 tasks and only one trip to town. 

Well, I need to get up and get myself ready and  get going on the tasks at hand.

Happy knitting to you all.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

My brother, Steve, brought me the first season shows of NCIS, when he visited a week ago,  and I have been glued to the series. So I have neglected a few things.  I have been knitting, however, and have two guy caps done this week.  One is topped and ready for finish work.  The other will be going onto double points today.

On Saturday, I was doing some errands down town and in the health food store and I saw a lady with a lovely Noro yarn cap on.  I asked her about it.  And she let me hold it and look at it.  It was just a very simple rolled brim cap and the color way was gorgeous reds and blacks.  It felt like it was made from Kureyon.  I usually work in Silk Garden because I like the feel of the wool and silk mixture both while I am knitting and while I am wearing the cap.

We talked about the cap a little bit and,  come to find out, she was at the market at the Senior Center last fall and Christmas time.  One thing she did tell me was that she would not buy anything from one of the other vendors selling yarn items because her work smelled of cigarette smoke.  That is the second time, lately, I have heard about cigarette smoke getting into yarn. 

I do worry about the scent of my work.  A number of years ago I had an operation on my head and among other things my sense of smell is gone.  Because of that and because  I know it is so easy for things to become beachy-smelling here, I have been careful. For a while I packed my caps in plastic bins with pillowcases that had about 4 or 5 spots of lavender oil on them.  Then one of the local ladies said that dryer sheets would work, too.  So I switched to the dyer sheets. 

As far as I know, though I probably should ask Karen, the dryer sheets are working as well as the lavender did.  So,  If there is a smoker or some other something that emits smells which can give your yarn work odor problems, try the dryer sheets. 

Good knitting.  Granny LJ