TWINED KNITTING



I'm greatly enjoying reading Twined Knitting: A Swedish Folkcraft Technique by Birgitta Dandanell and Ulla Danielsson. I checked the book out of our wonderful library and wish I could find a decently priced used copy.



Twined knitting is also called Tvaandstickning or two-end knitting and essentially means working with two yarns of the same color (although the book briefly mentions working with 2 colors) and alternating the yarns every stitch. It is traditionally done with both ends of the same skein of yarn but I've seen others recommend against this as you can't untwist the yarns as easily. I tried a small sample and I needed to let the knitting hang from the needles and untwist quite frequently. The back of the work looks interesting - purl rows alternate between twined rows but the front also looks different. Stockinette stitch in twined knitting has a different look - the left half of the knit stitch stands out more because of all the twisting going on.



The purling is interesting in twined knitting. If you're just purling one stitch you leave both yarns in the back of the work. If you're purling the entire row of stitches you leave both yarns in front of the work and twist each stitch (which is what I do with two colors for an easy braid look). But where twined knitting really shines is when you do a crook stitch - K1, P1, K1. For this one you leave one yarn in front for purling and the yarn in back is used for knitting. To do a chain path - you do two rows of crook stitch offset by one stitch. So on the second row of crook stitch you knit the purl stitches and purl the knit stitches. You get a really pretty loopy-looking O stitch.



And here's my black Satin rabbit Flip contemplating a piece of kale as large as he is. It is tough to get a good photo of him but you can kind of see how shiny his fur is.

Noel Stockings

There is a discussion on the Knitlist about adapting another type of needlework such as embroidery or crochet to knitting. A while back I purchased some inexpensive Dover counted cross stitch books of various designs. I use the Christmas one to chart out letters - here's a sock using Kroy sock yarn and a design from Katherine Pence's A Time to Knit Stockings. I added the Noel on top. (BTW, I really hated the Kroy yarn. It pilled a lot and actually shrunk in the laundry even though it is supposedly superwash.)




One of the best examples I've ever seen of using non-knitting designs for knitting is Catherine Devine's Sock page. Her Celtic socks are terribly inspiring and I already have the Celtic Charted Designs book she got the designs from. I need to get out my graph paper and colored pencils and make some charts for future mittens. The Harald mittens from Viking Patterns for Knitting in Tahki Sable wool/angora will be finished today and will go in my knitting box waiting for someone to fall in love with them.

This weekend I hope to do some tvaandstickning and report back here on my experiences. I'm sure you will all be holding your breath!

Here's how I microwave dye with Kool Aid and Easter egg dye. It isn't scientific by any means and like I said, I rarely get the results I was going for. But it is quite fun - here are some handspun KA dyed skeins.







First of all, soak your yarn or fiber (protein fibers only) several hours or overnight in lots of water with a bit of mild dish soap. I was told the dish soap helps the fiber soak up water better.



To get one solid color, put the soaked fiber or yarn in a large microwave-safe casserole dish. Then dissolve Kool Aid (unsweetened kind only obviously) or Easter egg dye in a small amount of water (say 1/4 cup) in a small glass container (don't put any of this in plastic). For about 2 large skeins or 8 oz of fiber I use approximately 4 packets of Kool Aid or 4 little dots of Easter egg dye. I add several Tbsp of white vinegar to the dye and gently mix it with the soaked fiber or yarn. Then I add just enough water to cover. Cover the microwave-safe casserole dish and microwave for 20 minutes on HIGH. Check the fiber or yarn carefully - if the water is clear, it is done. If not, you may want to microwave it for a few more minutes. Let cool and rinse the fiber or yarn well.



There are several ways to do rainbow dyeing. You can carefully place the fiber or yarn tightly coiled in a hank in the casserole dish so it spirals. Then pour the dyes in rainbow order (i.e., yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, green) in stripes on the fiber or yarn. Do not pour the dyes so they touch each other - leave about an inch between each color. The colors will expand to meet each other in the microwave.



You can also do this on plastic wrap. Cover your work surface well with newspaper and then large quantities of plastic wrap. Place your wet yarn or fiber on the plastic wrap and add rainbow stripes. Carefully add a piece of plastic wrap to the top and roll the whole mess up. I put this in a casserole dish and zap for 20 minutes. You can also use a spoon in each color dye and lightly shake it over the fiber for spots of different colors using the plastic wrap method.



I generally only get reds and oranges and yellows with Kool Aid dyes. There was one flavor that gave you a bright light blue but it was hard to find. Grape Kool Aid gives me kind of an ugly brown-red. I can get a wider range of colors with Easter egg dyes but they are more pastel. I've never tried using Wilton cake decorating pastes but those are next on the agenda.



One last note - do this on a warm day so you can keep the windows open. Unless you like your whole house smelling strongly of wet wool, vinegar, and Kool Aid.

Cabled Vest

Mare of the wonderful Knitted Wings blog has kindly made me a button for my blog. Thank you Mare for your kindness!

I finished the cabled ribbing on the front piece of St. Enda. I can now use the needle to make another Spontaneous Scarf. It is a needle from my Denise interchangeable set and I needed it to make a nice long circular for the scarf. I'm about halfway up the cabled cuff of the second mitten from Viking Patterns for Knitters. And I finished the ribbing for the second sleeve of Trondheim.

I'm a bona fide wool snob and it has been years since I've knit with acrylic but here is a photo demonstrating the long-lasting qualities of acrylic. I'm not sure how old this acrylic vest of DH's is but it is around 10-15 years old and still looks just the same.

Easter Egg Toe Up Socks

Here's a photo of a toe-up sock done in merino top I rainbow dyed with Easter egg dye, then spun, then plied willy nilly. I notice a lot of the socks in the Twister Sister's Sock Workbook are done this way rather than trying to ply the singles so the colors match up.






I thought I'd get a lot of knitting done during the Academy Awards but I didn't. I'm at a point in all my projects where I need to concentrate. I tried to do some of the cabled ribbing on the front piece of St. Enda but it was slow-going when I kept looking up to see how all the celebrities were dressed. I am doing the cables without a cable needle - kind of a pain at first but much faster than using a cable needle once you get the rhythm. I don't know if I'll continue without a cable needle above the ribbing though.

The weather was gorgeous this weekend and I got a lot accomplished dyeing with Easter egg dyes - both fiber and yarn. I seem to have better luck with Easter egg dye than Kool-Aid. I am not a good dyer because everything I do is always a huge surprise but that's part of the fun for me. I did dyeing on plastic wrap a la Twister Sister's Sock Workbook and then steamed it all in the microwave. I did some rainbow striping and some spot dyeing which was fun. I even did two skeins of wool in all the colors combined. I thought I'd end up with a sort of teal color but didn't cook it long enough and ended up with a gorgeous dusty rose. There is definitely a rose-colored Spontaneous Scarf in my future.

Travelling Socks

Here are Lucy Neatby's Travelling Socks from the XRX Socks, Socks, Socks book done in various fingering weight yarns. I love all Lucy Neatby's designs.

I've recently tried to stop knitting specifically for others. What I do lately is make the projects I want, even if I have no clue who will like it, and then keep them all in my knitting box. When friends come over I'll let them paw through the knitting box and keep anything they like. I'm at the point in my knitting where I really like to try new things - knitting a plain sock for someone would just drive me nuts.

However, there are times I do knit for others. If a child asks me to make him/her something or if it is a really really quick project, or if the request is from a long-distance friend who asks for something and can't do the knitting box trick, etc. Obviously knitting for others is an emotional issue. A while back someone I really really REALLY do not like repeatedly asked me to knit something. I finally did it but the whole time was muttering to myself and vowing never to do anything like that again.

Certainly I've given knitted gifts that were unappreciated and unloved. I've also had the opposite experience. My friend Brad wears everything I give him to death. The guy is a wool-a-holic. I mended some wool ski gloves I made for him about 3 times until they finally just bit the dust. I always feel a little weird giving him knitted stuff knowing it is going to be in shreds soon. I now give him only hats because I figure it is harder to destroy a hat.

The Dale of Norway Trondheim sweater I'm making for Brad is the first sweater I've ever made for a non-family member. Brad has singlehandedly helped us move twice in the past six months. The first time he had to fly down here and then take the moving truck himself in hot weather because the closing on our house was delayed five times. When we thank him for this enormous feat he has the nerve to act like it was no big deal. He definitely deserves a sweater! I can't vouch for how long it will stay in one piece though.

Here's a sillly photo of Bosco the cat and Flip the rabbit goofing off.



I'm greatly enjoying the Harald mittens. I have to remember that I enjoy texture work as much as colorwork and try to keep some sort of texture project going at all times. I do think there is a mistake in the pattern though - if you look at Viking Patterns for Knitting you'll see that both the sock and mitten have the same number of cast on stitches along with the same yarn and needle size. In the photos the sock cuff is obviously larger. Anyway, size 3 needles seem to be working out well. The yarn is a gorgeous color and I really have to get photos taken tomorrow.



Those of you who aren't on a "Lenten no-knitting-supply fast" immediately get yourselves over to Interweave's annual Clearance Sale ASAP. This is where I bought Aran Knitting for $19 last year. There are some excellent bargains on knitting books and old issues of Interweave Knits for $2.98. And while you all shop I'll sit here and pout.

Tiit's Socks

These are the Tiit's socks from Folk Knitting in Estonia done in Wildfoote.

Another FO - my second Spontaneous Scarf (pattern in current issue of Spin-Off) done in neutral colors. Now I'm starting on the Harald's mittens in Tahki Sable (wool/angora blend) from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting (I love this book!). I don't know what weight the suggested Lord of Aran yarn is but it seems for most yarn weights 56 stitches on size 6 needles would make some seriously huge mittens. For the listed gauge that would be almost 12 inches around. Actually the mittens the guy in the photo is wearing look a bit big. I'm using size 3 needles which should be about right. I haven't decided yet but I may double the chart repeat on the cabled part to make them more like gauntlet mittens.

The main reason I'm doing these mittens is to get some of the leftover Sable for my next Spontaneous Scarf. The yarn color is a very nice soft green and it is so soft and perfect for my Spontaneous Scarf done in various shades of green. There is a warning by Charlene Andersen-Shea, the author of the Spontaneous Scarf article that you'll start making them to reduce your stash but in the end you'll be buying more odd skeins of yarn and spinning odd bits of fiber just to use for the scarves. They really are addicting!

Nordasno Mittens

These are the Nordasno mittens from Nordic Fiber Arts in Rauma Istra I believe. I could tell that the mittens were going to be way too long so I chopped off the pattern repeat on the top and just started decreasing. They fit the recipient perfectly although they do look a bit weird.

Although my self-imposed Lenten yarn and knitting book "fast" has been difficult, I do believe I'm going to extend it past Easter. I do like the idea of having less yarn and the credit card balance will appreciate it also.

I have often worried about running out of yarn which is silly because I have enough yarn to last me several years. Even stranger, I sometimes worry that not buying new yarn and patterns will make me lose my interest in knitting. It is good to challenge these erroneous beliefs. One thing that has helped is to keep a list of future projects to refer to when I wonder what to make next. I started putting future projects (yarn and pattern) in a drawer in our armoire to keep me motivated with new ideas.

I finished the first Trondheim sleeve and am working on a Spontaneous Scarf in these yarns (except the yellows). I'm about 1/4 done.











I really enjoy this mindless project because you get to use so many different yarns. The red one turned out really nicely. I do the fringe as I go along. As soon as I get four ends on either side, I tie them together. Once I'm done I'll trim off the fringe so it is even. I also have a purple one and a green one in the works.

Mock Argyle Socks

I finished the back piece of St. Enda this weekend. I'm enjoying this sweater tremendously and will be sad when I'm done. I've been looking through my Alice Starmore books to determine my next project. I may make one of the wraps in Aran Knitting or In the Hebrides. I'd love the Henry the VII pillow kit from Virtual Yarns but it is just too expensive. I will get started on my kit for the Celtic Keynot pillow soon. I really would like
to make a ton of pillows for the living room.



Here is the Mock Argyle sock from Katherine Pence's A Time to Knit Stockings done in Stahl Baby Merino. These were for my childhood friend Cindy in Baltimore who always has cold feet. She has been requesting more socks but lately I just can't get in the mood to knit socks. I guess I made too many for a while and burnt out. If I do manage to make the Spring
Fever socks I'll send them to her.

Here's my beloved Navajo spindle. I purchased it from the Sheep Shearing Day at La Plata Farms in Hesperus Colorado. They weren't shearing sheep because it was too rainy but there were cute lambs to pet and the Ramseys have a neat building on their acreage with all sorts of spinning supplies for sale. They do have a mail-order catalog and a regular booth at Taos Wool Festival. Anyway Doug Ramsey made this oak Navajo spindle and I really liked the detail work on the whorl. It has a 36" shaft which is tapered at the top end and has a 5 3/4" whorl. The whole thing weighs 11 1/2 ounces.







If you're looking for a wide variety of wonderful spindles, you can't go wrong with the huge selection at the Woolery. And my favorite book on spindle spinning is Connie Delaney's Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert. With this book I taught myself to Navajo ply, to wind a center-pull ball on my hand, and to use the Peruvian long arm to get more length.



The red Spontaneous Scarf is finished and I absolutely love it. There are definitely more of these in my future. I'm not sure what to start on next but I will get back to Trondheim first.

I do have the flu but it is a bit better today. I don't have the concentration abilities to do any fancy knitting though and the house is a disaster. I'll take any excuse not to clean! I should be done with the Spontaneous Scarf soon. I've abandoned the Regia fingerless mittens since DH tried a finished one on and didn't like it. I'd like to start the Spring Fever socks in Socks, Socks, Socks but think I may see what it feels like to only have 3 WIPs for awhile.









Here is my absolute favorite spindle which I bought 2 years ago at Taos Wool Festival from the spindle maker himself, Tracy Eicheim of Woolly Designs. The photo isn't great but it has carved out overlaid scenes of jumping rabbits on the whorl. This baby spins like a dream and I adore the slightly bent hook. Tracy is not currently producing spindles but once he is back I'm buying more.



I taught myself to spin after watching a demo about 4 years ago at the Taos Wool Festival. A woman in the Fire Ant Ranch booth was spindle spinning and I immediately bought a kit with a fun Fimo clay/dowel spindle (still one of my favorites) and some colored wool and rayon strands to add to make the yarn glitzy. I also used the book Hands On Spinning by Lee Raven to learn more.







In this blurry photo you can kind of see my Fimo spindle, my brass Tahkli for spinning cotton, my purpleheart Bosworth, my David Reed Smith Judi which has the largest whorl and the rounded featherweight Kokovoko spindle. The one other spindle I'd like to try is a Hatchtown - I did get to spin on a Hatchtown bottom whorl spindle at a pet rescue fair in Albuquerque once.

Here are the Snowflake fingerless gloves from Carol Rasmussen Noble's Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves done in some old Alice Starmore Campion from the stash. I think I went up to size 1 needles because they were turning out a big tight. I didn't realize until I took the photos that the ribbing is longer on one glove but no worries - they are for me to wear while knitting on cold nights. I'm quite fond of the book and plan to make many more of her designs. I think I'm getting the flu so I'm off to sleep.

I was reading Chris' blog about her experiments with stranding and weaving while knitting with colors and her Easter sweater. I am a strander - generally any float 5 stitches or more gets stranded. I've never done the Philosopher's Wool method of weaving each color with each stitch but I did receive some socks done with this method in an exchange. They were quite sturdy - the fabric is more like woven fabric than knitted fabric - and the second color does occasionally peek through to the front side.



I still sometimes have tension problems - check this out.









This is the bunnies and carrots hat from Naked Sheep done in Nature Spun worsted. You can see that between each bunny there is a tension problem and no amount of blocking would fix it. I learned that if I have to do really long floats I'm better off not weaving them in at all and then going back and tacking the floats down on the back of the work with a needle and thread. Learning how to knit with both hands really helped improve my tension as well as my knitting speed.

Sirdal Cardigan

Here's the finished Sirdal with the braid finally sewn on. The pattern specifies large and small buttons and braids (the small is only for the split buttoned cuff) but I'm glad I went with the small buttons and braids for the whole sweater.



And here is a close-up:



I think the Regia Jacquard gloves are going to be fingerless. I'm not sure who they are for yet.

I haven't worked on Trondheim in a few days. Here's a photo of the beginning of the sleeve so you can see the blue and green Emu Superwash DK I chose.









I've also given up chocolate along with the moratorium on buying anything knitting-related. I am a severe chocoholic and I figure if I go without for 40 days it will help replenish the world's supply. Lent is always a valuable time for me as I am impatient and want everything now.



I'm starting to see why folks like self-patterning yarns as I am working on the Regia gloves. (Thanks for the yarn Jeanette!) It is easy to use the color changes as a way to measure your progress. And they are going quite quickly in size 2 needles.



My friend Joelle will be over Friday night. I've been meaning to knit her a pair of mittens for horseback riding and even have some red and black alpaca yarn chosen for the project. I briefly considered trying to go wild and finish them in less than 2 days but decided that was just plain nuts. I probably would have gone for it if I had an extra day.

I was using Rauma Gammelserie for the Norwegian gloves and was not enjoying the process. I'm sure they would wear like steel but it felt like knitting with steel unfortunately. Anyway, the Norwegian gloves are now history although they'll come back with a softer yarn at a later date.



Instead I've cast on the Regia self-patterning Jacquard yarn to make a pair of basic gloves as I seem to need a more mindless pattern these days. I'm going to be a good girl and stick to a maximum of four projects on the needles at all times.





I am FINALLY on the last pattern repeat for the back piece of St. Enda. This sweater is going to be huge! Perfect for outerwear for me or DH for playing in the snow.



Speaking of snow, here are some cross-country ski socks I made for DH out of naturally colored handspun wool yarn purchased on Ebay. I made up the pattern as I went - using patterns from an Elizabeth Zimmerman book and decreasing down the back of each leg.

I've decided to go on a knitting fast (i.e., no more purchasing knitting supplies) for Lent and probably longer. I'd been meaning to try to reduce my stash. I've always secretly wondered just how low I can get my stash before I start shaking violently and speaking incoherently so maybe this is my big opportunity. Actually patterns, magazines, and books are my weakness but I'm pretty well caught up on all the current books I want.



Besides my four current WIPs (Norwegian gloves, stash Spontaneous Scarf, St. Enda, Trondheim) I have the yarn for some projects waiting in the wings including the Hebridean yarn for the Alice Starmore Celtic Keynot Cushion.







And here is some merino I dyed with Kool Aid then spun and plyed. I'm going to add some undyed merino and make the Spin-Off Entrelac socks.











I'm also thinking of making the Nova Scotia or Cape Cod sweater from Alice Starmore's Fishermen's Sweaters in dark green Nylamb from the stash and if I ever spin up all this alpaca I should have enough for an afghan. I have the Tiur to make the Dale of Norway Kashmir sweater and I have enough colors of Wildfoote to make the Spring socks with all the embroidery from Socks, Socks, Socks. I have some red and black alpaca for some mittens for my friend Joelle and I also plan some fast and easy gloves in Regia fair isle yarn. I have already separated oddball skeins of yarn to make about 3 or 4 more Spontaneous Scarves.

Peruvian Hat

This is the Peruvian hat from the little Vogue Knitting hat book done in stash yarn - mainly old Lamb's Pride. I sent it to Afghans for Afghans.

Ever since I joined Productive Spinners I've been thinking about ways to accomplish more. I read Wendy's blog daily and wish I had the knitting stamina she has. I imagine my closet stuffed with billions of beautiful sweaters the way hers must look.

I can really get off-track and have to figure out how to stick with something. I've noticed that I am not alone in this problem on the Productive Spinners list. Others also like to start new projects and ignore their three listed projects. But having to list my progress to the list every two weeks usually helps get me back on track. Since I've joined I think I've done much more than usual.

Today I'm hoping to finish the first Trondheim sleeve. I'm enjoying the Emu yarn less and less (it is starting to pill) and am rethinking my desire to add more to my stash. I've started to daydream about working on the Dale Kashmir sweater in Tiur yarn. I've heard others rave about working with Tiur (a shiny wool/mohair blend) and can't wait. I have to finish either Trondheim or St. Enda first because more than 2 sweaters on the needles is too many for me.

I cancelled my order for the Addi Natura and bamboo circular needles because I ordered them three weeks ago and hadn't heard anything back from the vendor. After my cancellation the online needle vendor emailed and said they're swamped with orders. I may just stick with Addi Turbos anyway.