Knitting With Granny LJ

Good morning:

Knitting is filled with all sorts of very necessary abbreviations.  Some include:  K2tog  aka knit two stitchs  together;  YO aka yarn over; P aka purl and the list goes on and on.  But I think that most crafts have their own special terminology.  I know that a rock-hound uncle of mine introduced me to a rock called leaverite.  I was very interested in finding some leaverite until I realized I was walking on leaverite and that most of the river’s rock bed was composed of leaverite. For those who are not rock hounds leaverite is the rock you leave right where you find it. 

As noted above, knitting has its own incredible abbreviations.  One that still has me kind of bewildered is the SSK.  Am still looking at pictures in the back of magazines trying to figure that one out. I can do an SK just fine.  That is the stitch where you slip one stitch from the left needle to the right needle, knit the next stitch and then slip the first stitch back over the knitted stitch.   But that SSK still  has me bafffled.

Two really important knitting abbreviations that you will probably never find in a knitting magazine or knitting instruction book are:  WIP and UKO.

The WIP is the easiest to grasp.  It is the project that is on your needles or the Work in Progress.  Now a lot of knitters, I know, have only one WIP.  The table on the left side of my work chair is my WIP table.  At this precise moment, I have a WIP table reaching close to the height of Mt Everest.  This is because I have several sets of circular needles and have a cap cast on to all of them  most of the time.  Along with the projects are the directions for the various WIPs.  And along with the WIPs and the directions for them are the latest additions to my yarn stash, like the beautiful rainbow colored yarn I got at the Winterfest Market last weekend.  That yarn is so gorgeous that I just want to keep looking at it.  Eventually, I will find the right pattern for it.  The colorway of the yarn is pretty busy with all the color changes.  But I think I will probably make it up in a busy pattern that keeps the eyes  bouncing. 

At any rate, that is WIP. 

The next abbreviations necessary to a lot of knitters — myself in particular — is UKO.  Translated out of knitting and into English is Unidentified Knitted Object.  I have not a clue how many knitters have UKOs.  I have a lot.  I created one last weekend when I was  at the market.  Thought I had an idea for using some left over yarn and worked hard on it all day Saturday and Sunday.  Yesterday, I took it out of my little project  bag and pulled the needles out and cast on something else.   It was just that the longer I worked on the UKO the worse it got.  Eventually,  I’ll take out the stitches, rewind the yarn and let it rest and then cast it on in another cap.  The one I worked on so diligently all weekend was just too ugly for words  — the only thing reasonable to do with it was UKO the thing. 

Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

This is going to be a rather exciting week.  Karen and I are getting ready for the first show of the new year – this coming weekend. We set up on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and show all day Saturday and Sunday at the Commons in Yachats. 

When we went into Newport yesterday, we talked about the market and made a list of things we needed to do to get ready.  All of a sudden,  a no-brainer thing like getting set up took on a whole new perspective.  It is the first time we have done Winterfest and so we will not be in the same space as we have for Crafts on the Coast.  So we have to figure out how to make the best use of the space and make sure we have all bases covered like:  lunches made and taken along, money totes, projects to work on, change.  You name it.

Also this morning I downloaded an application and a copy of the regulations for the 40th Annual Yachats Original Arts and Crafts Fair.  We did it several years ago during that year when we were working every weekend at a show or a market.  To my great excitement, Karen has decided to work more on her art work and develop that aspect of her creativity.  So I will fill out the application for the show today and get it ready to drive down to the Yachats Chamber of Commerce this week.

I am looking foward to the markets and shows and I can hardly sit still.  Which is a problem, since what I do for the markets and shows requires sitting — a lot of it — and it is difficult to knit while hopping around like a little kid just before Christmas vacation.

I have been waking  up before my alarm lately, so I have decided to make good use of the time.  I have been working on a lace cap.  It is a pretty easy pattern and requires only Yarn Over, SK, and K2tog to create the lace.  The pattern is only an 11 stitch repeat.  I have had to tink it once because I was not paying attention to the pattern or the stitch count or something and ended up after the second row of the pattern with only 10 stitches where I should have had 11.  But it is now going along very well, and I have about 1 inch of the pattern done. 

Actually, lace is not as hard as I envisioned it and the result is an eye-feast when the cap is done.  I have decided to learn one kind of a lace stitch at a time.  I can do an SK without any difficulty, but am still stymied by the SSK process.  Will work on it later. 

Hope you have a great 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.

Had errands to run the last couple of days.  But getting out in this weather is wonderful.  It is a bit  breezy and there is some chilliness, but the sun is out and things warm up toward the end of the day.  This is such a great place to live.

I worked on the contest cap both days, when I was not running around.  I decided that I could not carry the thing in my little hip pouch otherwise I would be tinking and tinking and would never get the cap finished. 

The Noro yarn I chose to do the cap in is a much thinner weight than the Lamb’s Pride I did the prototype in.  I got about 4 inches done of the body of the cap and the design was fading into the colors.  I was using size 6 needles, which is what I use for most of the caps I make.  So I took it all out again  (this must be about the 5th or 6th time) and cast it onto size 4 needles.  Now I have about 3 inches done and the pattern is more distinct than when I was using the size 6 needles.  The pattern is not as intense as I would like it, but I am pleased with the outcome so far.

I will be doing the top off on this cap like  the one I did on the prototype cap.  Usually, I do a simple 7-point top off.  Just stop  the pattern and switch to all knitting on my double point needles.  With the prototype, I marked  the 7 points and just continued the pattern through the top of the cap and  doing the K2tog at each point.  It is a good top in the prototype.  Very visually interesting.  I hope that the top off will be as good on the Noro cap.  Will have to wait and see, I guess.

Well, I have a day at home today, and I want  to get knitting on the contest cap, and make up for lost time.  There is a market in Yachats this weekend.  I opted to not do it for a lot of reasons, but right now I am glad that I can sit here and knit the contest cap.  Am anxious to see how it turns out. 

Have a great day.  Happy knitting.  Granny LJ

Good morning.

Well, I got myself to the doctor the first of the week and this pesky head cold is on its way to where ever head colds go after a goodly dose of antibiotics.  As long as it is out of my head, I don’t care where it has gone, actually.

And the timing on the head cold going away perfectly coincides with the beginning of a new year.  That is a good sign, I  think. 

Unfortunately, the knitting had to go on a back burner while the cold raged.  I have, in the past, tried to knit when I was not feeling well — and have  made record tinkings as a result.  So I have learned to just put the yarns and needles away until I am better and can concentrate.

Worked on the white EB yesterday.  Got the length done and then did a normal cast off.  The cast off end is about half again as wide as the cast on end.  I  thought about it over breakfast and I think what I will do is take it out and reknit it and then at the cast off end, I will see how it works if I k2tog on all the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.  Then on the opposite side do the k2tog on the knit stitches again.  Then on the 3rd  end row just go ahead and cast off the rest of the stitches. 

I think that will probably take care of the bloom-effect of the cast off end.  I hope so, at any  rate.  Will also be rummaging the work table and seeing what caps need what done to them.  I  hoped to have about 4 or 5 caps a month to take down to Shorebirds, but this month the new cap supply is a little lean.  So will get out the bin of finished caps and see what can be taken to Shorebirds  and reshown for the new month.

A new year always has so many possibilities.   I hope your year succeeds in fulfilling all the good things you envision for it.  Keep knitting and have a great new year.

Happy knitting,  Granny LJ