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.