The Sweaty Knitter, Weaver and Devotee of Other Fiber Arts

Knitting By Example

Posted on May 19, 2013 by sweatyknitter

I have childhood memories of sitting on my dad’s lap and “teaching him” how to knit. I remember he would half smile as he watched me, 5 years old, knitting so seriously. While I do not recall that he ever actually held a needle, I demonstrated the process to him often.

Now Thor’s quite different. After regularly seeing my needles click away most days, a bag of knitting accompanying us on any trip, and my excitement at finding a new yarn store, he asked me to teach him how to knit. (He didn’t have to ask me twice!)

I went on a hunt to find the “perfect” fiber. I didn’t want to give him a skein out of my (considerable) stash; he is one of the poor people truly allergic to all protein fibers except silk. (And yes, I made sure by all sorts of fiber contents touched his skein. His allergy to angora almost took us to the hospital. Oops.)

I bought a couple of balls of Aimeé (Louisa Harding). Aimeé is a soft blend of cotton and silk (90%/10%, 50g=145m/158y). The yarn is a 5-ply so a stitch definition would show up well. (Of course, stitch definition is not always a welcome sight to new knitters as that will also show up gauge/tension changes and dropped or added stitches.)

Using the Continental method, a size 5 circular needle, and the cream yarn (easier than the blue to see stitches), I taught Thor how to cast on (he quickly picked up the long-tail cast on), the knit stitch (ditto) and purl stitch (a little more challenging).

He steadily knit a hat! He was about half way through when, one night, I finished a project on the needles but was itching to keep knitting. I didn’t have any new projects planned out and no simple project I could just pick up and knit and was starting to feel rather fidgety. Then my eyes fell on the bowl holding his half-finished hat by the side of the bed. I picked it up (with his permission, of course), and finished the hat by bed time.

I washed and blocked it the next day. Interestingly, the change in the sizes of his stitches (normal for new knitters) looked like an interesting pattern in the cream yarn!

Thor’s father turns 90 years old soon, and this will be one of his birthday presents. I love useful presents. A hat like this is the perfect garment for an older person to wear to protect against chill from an air conditioner or draft.

While people always make a big do when they see a picture of a man (particularly a famous man such as a future U.S. president) with needles in his hand, Thor actually cast on (88), ribbed (1 in.) and knit! (Note that Franklin Roosevelt is only holding the needles, having given Eleanor his cocktail glass.)

By the way, has anyone heard the song “Eleanor’s Knitting” by folksingers Talis Kimberley, Chantelle Smith and Simon Fairbourn.

Thor liked the yarn so much (as did I), that I will make a two color hat for him from an old Norwegian pattern I have long-admired. I will need only one ball of each color, which of course leaves two more balls of Aimee for Thor to use to knit another hat or two!

Posted in Knitting | Tagged Chantelle Smith, Simon Fairbourn, Talis Kimberly | 10 Comments

Big Heads

Posted on May 15, 2013 by sweatyknitter

I have always despised the knit and crochet hat patterns that boldly assert they fit the “average sized head.” What is “average” and for whom? In statistical language, an average is the central tendency of data, and the three most common measures of central tendency are the mean, mode and median. So saying “average” is, frankly, sloppy.

I come from a family chock full of big-headed folks – on my American father’s side. I guarantee you that our “average” adult head size is far above the U.S. median.

To the right is a picture of me in San Francisco at 6 months. Clearly I am my father’s daughter. The size of my 6-month head gives a hint at the size my head would be as an adult!

The picture of me below was taken in Norway about 2 years later. (I must have had a very strong neck.)

Also note there seems to be quite a space between my eyes and my hair-line (which is above the end of the razor-edged bangs I sport in this picture).

Now many a mother would artfully arrange her daughter’s bangs in an effort to diminish the size of girl’s forehead. Not my mother.

This picture to the right not only shows off the size of my head but my mother’s hair skill in styling bangs!

(My younger sister was lucky in this picture; she had no bangs for our mother to trim.)

We lived briefly in Hawaii while my father was stationed at Pearl Harbor. My mother hated the tropical humidity and, thinking our hair would mildew, nearly shaved our heads.

Thankfully we returned to Norway where my grandmother put a stop to our nearly-shorn heads. In the picture to the left, my hair had grown out. <shudder> My mother, however, who had once long, beautiful blonde hair, never again grew her hair long (though we never returned to live in Hawaii – or any other tropical place).

So, when writing out hat patterns, remember to be more specific than “small, medium and large” sizes. Specify inches and centimeters!

Posted in Crocheting, Knitting | 16 Comments

For Mother’s Day: Mrs. M’s Mandelbread

Posted on May 12, 2013 by sweatyknitter

I have always thought Thor lucky to have a mother who both loved being a mother and enjoyed cooking for her family. He has always been especially fond of her mandelbread. When I learned that it was a favorite of Thor’s, I decided to try to make it.

When I served Thor my first attempt, he took a bite and said (kindly), that it didn’t taste like his mother’s. There was not a trace of judgment in his voice – merely an honest comment. He telephoned his mom to ask for the recipe for me, which she gladly shared.

Since then I have made mandelbread countless times. My grandchildren adore it, and whenever I watch them ask if they can make mandelbread with me. My daughter and her husband drool when they detect the scent of mandelbread. I’ve brought mandelbread to the grandchildren’s various school events and watched as parents walked around with pieces held high, shouting to ask who made it and whether they could have the recipe. When the grandchildren’s friends know I’m coming to visit, they now clamor for mandelbread. Two of my daughter’s friends have even invited me to their homes to demonstrate how to make mandelbread. And just the other day standing in line in a grocery store, granddaughter F excitedly asked if we could make mandelbread together. The lady behind us, seeing F’s excitement, asked us about mandelbread, and I sent her this recipe that night.

So in honor of Thor’s mother and with her permission, I share the recipe with you.

Mrs. M’s Mandelbread

Preheat your oven to 350 F/177 C.
Line a baking pan or sheet with parchment paper.
Have a wire cooling tray ready.

Mix (wet ingredients):
1/4 c. of vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 c. sugar (if you have a sweet tooth, you can add more sugar; as I use a lot of chocolate and/or dried fruit, I think 1/4 c. is fine)
1 t. vanilla (or your preferred flavoring)
any combination of: chocolate chips (Thor and I prefer dark, the grandchildren prefer milk, and my daughter and her husband prefer semi-sweet), raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, lemon zest (you get the idea)

Mix (dry ingredients):
2 cups of white flour
2 t. baking powder

Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed. The dough will be a bit stiff.

Now scoop the mixture out of the bowl onto the parchment paper-lined baking pan or sheet and shape into a rough oblong. (When I make a single batch, I form it into a single long loaf; if I make a double batch, I form it into three smaller loaves.)

Wet your hands so the dough won’t stick and shape the oblong(s) about 2 in/5 cm high, smoothing out the surface.

Here is granddaughter F shaping and smoothing the mandelbread last night.

(At the far left is a bowl with water; F dips her palms in from time to time to keep them moist.)

Bake the mandelbread 20 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges. (I generally have to bake them about 5 minutes more.)

After you’ve removed the tray of mandelbread from the oven, slide the parchment paper with the mandelbread onto the cooling rack. Then insert a wide spatula under the mandelbread and remove from the parchment paper.

Next, take a knife (a serrated bread knife works well), and slice the oblong from end to end (lengthwise).

Now slice diagonally width-wise approximately 1 in/2.5 cm slices.

Separate the pieces so they cool more easily.

Let cool, and then enjoy! My grandchildren wait only until they don’t burn their fingers on the mandelbread.

Thank you and happy Mother’s Day,
Mrs. M.

Posted in Cooking | 12 Comments

Tackling the Poorly Written Pattern

Posted on May 9, 2013 by sweatyknitter

The pattern I tried to follow for the garment my granddaughter F wants (the gilet pictured to the right) drove me batty.

My friend Naomi – the queen of color -gave me this button. The yarn is Verde Collection Seedling Hand Paint organic cotton in Aloha, 50g/1.75 oz = 110 y/100.5m.

On the first day, I had to rip out my knitting, deconstruct the instructions for the first section and type them out in row-by-row instructions. Then back to the needles

The second day, accompanied by teeth gnashing and, shall we say, colorful exclamations, I again unraveled my knitting. This time I went farther and drew out the pattern for the first couple of sets of instructions. This allowed me to see where the pattern instructions were missing an instruction or two (or more).

Ultimately, I realized the whole pattern was a mess. In order to avoid the frustration associated with continually ripping out sections, I created the triumvirate of patterns: (1) I graphed out the whole garment; (2) I wrote new line-by-line instructions; and (3) I set out the pattern in the sort of table-column format of the old Norwegian patterns my grandmother used. (Yes, this is probably a bit of overkill.)

Here it is. You can probably see that the garment – all garter stitch – is shaped by a series of short rows. It should have been a quick knit, but, because of the instructions with the pattern instructions, this little garter stitch gilet took me about two weeks.

I added a buttonhole. Oddly the pattern – perhaps the designers thought it would be easier – has no buttonhole but calls for some sort of silly press-on button/snap device.

I knew the size 6 would be too wide for granddaughter F. (The children in our family tend to be long and thin.) I employed some of the tricks of our knitting foremothers so the garment can be worn longer. In this case, after I finished the gilet, I “took it in” by making a double seam at the sides and by adding a false seam down the back. Next year I will simply take out the false and secondary seams.

I had enough yarn to knit (top down) a skirt knit to match (with in an enclosed 3/4 inch elastic in the waistband). I still had almost a full 50 grams of yarn leftover. When the time comes that granddaughter F needs more length, I only have to remove the cast off row at the bottom one inch row of garter stitch, pick up the loops and knit several more rows.

I wrote Bergère de France (listed as pattern designer), both to inform the company the pattern was poorly written and ask if I had permission to post my re-writes. l knew, of course, that the answer to the posting question would be no – and I wasn’t wrong. Here’s the rest of its response: I’m sorry to read your feelings about our instructions. However, please be assured that we take great care when writing the instructions, and they are translated and rewritten by English-speaking knitters.

Bergère de France missed the point: Being a bilingual knitter does not mean the person can construct good pattern instructions – as the gilet pattern so amply proves. Sadly.

Posted in Knitting, Miscellany | Tagged Bergere de France, The Knitting Collection | 8 Comments

On the Heels of “Anatomy of a Pattern”

Posted on May 5, 2013 by sweatyknitter

I recently and for the first time had the opportunity to read The Knitting Collection ): “From the publishers of Yarn Forward (Knit) magazine. The Knitting Collection, 56 Stunning Patterns Inside!” It is curious (providential?) that I was given this journal on the heels of my series of posts on pattern construction and writing. What a great example this provides!

The journal is chock full with an array of knit projects – for toys, accessories, children, women and men. I like the eclectic nature of the patterns; Claire Garland’s “Tortellini Tortoise” is particularly captivating! The pictures are also good. I am surprised that many of the patterns included a note that reads, “For help with this pattern EMAIL …”

The journal has few pages containing drawings of basic knitting techniques, a chart of comparative needle size, and a chart of knitting abbreviations. I found only one page with an ad (Manos) and two pages of “Things We Like.” (I liked what the editors liked too!) It was easy to lose myself in the pictures of everything knit.

I had a certain level of (keen) discomfort (disappointment?) with the pattern construction, however. While the editors provided both charts and written instructions, charts – unless fairly critical (e.g., large intarsia patterns or lace) – were not used as often as I thought they should have been.

Further, the pattern content could have been more consistent. For example, one of the sweaters utilized a “Fisherman’s Rib” but no where did the pattern either contain a chart for the knit design or indicate what exactly is a Fisherman’s Rib.

Another example of sloppy pattern writing is found in the Sleeveless Gilet pattern (cover page picture). For instance:

It calls for “Double Knitting weight yarn, such as Lanaknit Hemps.” As capitalized, “Double Knitting” is a proper noun, but I am guessing it wasn’t intended to be the name of an actual yarn.
I googled “Lanaknits Hemp” and found more than one yarn with that name. Complicating this is the stated tension (gauge): 15 stitches on a 5.5 mm needles over 4 inches/10 centimeters. Double knitting yarn is thinner than worsted, and the gauge given is more appropriate for a worsted weight yarn rather than a double knitting.
The instructions are, hmmm, shall we say confusing.

My hunch is that the editors were more concerned with including as many pictures as possible at the cost of quality instructions. The projects photographed all looked great, and there were multiple pictures of each project. But, if the focus is on pictures of finished knitting projects, the magazine should not be advertised by “56 Stunning Patterns Inside.” It is misleading. While many of the finished projects might be stunning, their patterns are anything but.

Posted in Knitting | Tagged Claire Garland, Sleeveless Gilet, The Knitting Collection | 33 Comments

Needles & Hooks, Part 1: Sources

Posted on May 2, 2013 by sweatyknitter

Knitting needles have certainly evolved over the years. I remember a couple of pairs of circular knitting needles of my mother’s where the cords were actually a thin braided or twisted wires. They had an awful tendency to snag the yarn — even skin if I wasn’t careful.

I am fairly certain modern knitters would eschew these for the modern circulars with flexible, synthetic cables! (Pic source and source)

Hooks seem to have allowed their creators a little more leeway. See, for example, some of the hooks shown on Nancy Nehring’s blog, Lace Buttons. In a word, wow! (Did you notice the one mounted on a porcupine quill?!)

Needles and hooks have been crafted from an array of materials, including bone, steel, wood, tortoiseshell, ivory and walrus tusks. (It is a safe bet that the more “exotic” the source, the less likely they were used by the “common folks!”)

The “right” needle or hook is the one you feel most comfortable with AND get the correct gauge with. Brand of needle can affect your gauge. Further, your choice of hook or needle material may vary with your project. For instance, I like Bryspun’s flexible double point needles for knitting socks, gloves and the like, but they only go down to a US 2. For anything smaller, I use carbon fiber needles. For all other knitting, my favorite go-to needle has long been Addi Turbos – though I have needles from an array of manufacturers. When crocheting, I prefer aluminum hooks. I have an old set of Susan Bates crochet hooks that I have used for years. Your preference may also change over time – as you acquire either new skills or injuries.

So, what have been and are needles and hooks made from and what difference does it make?

Plastic: A synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, and the like. Plastic needles and hooks are light and more flexible than the wood or metal needles. Many people with hand and wrist issues (e.g., arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome), prefer these. See, e.g., Bryspun’s flexible needles .
Casein: A main protein present in milk and (in coagulated form) in cheese; used in processed foods and in adhesives and paints. Like plastic needles, these are lighter and more flexible than their wood or metal counterparts. See, e.g., Australia’s Swallow casein needles.
Wooden: Though undoubtedly knitters of yore past crafted needles and hooks from wood, they became repopularized within the last few decades. I remember when Brittany’s wooden (birch) needles and hooks (made in California), became available; LYSs had trouble keeping their shelves stocked with them. Knitters and crocheters love the warmth of the wood and the muted sounds of the clicking needles. Many crafters prefer these needles and hooks because the stitches do not slip so easily, yet that frustrates other knitters and crocheters.
Aluminum: These needles are smooth and fast. Boye (est. 1906) was the first U.S. manufacturer of needles and hooks and has long made aluminum needles. Newer to the scene (est. 2007) is Signature (pic at right from its website) which makes needles from aircraft grade aluminum. Their needles have become very popular. They are also rather pricey – three and four times the cost of their Boye counterparts.
Bamboo: Lighter and more flexible than their metal counterparts, bamboo needles and hooks acquire a nice patina from use over time. Clover Takumi’s bamboo needles are easily found in craft shops such as Michael’s and Jo Anne’s. I saw a set of “my” Susan Bates hooks, though they are no longer made in the U.S.
Glass: I am not sure who decided to make glass needles and hooks, but I don’t find them comfortable. (I imagine they would make handy weapons, though thankfully I haven’t had occasion to use them as such.) My theory is non-knitters buy them as gifts for their crafting friends. At least that’s how I came to have some. (Pic source)
Carbon fiber: Basically very thin strands of carbon (thinner than human hair); they can be twisted together, like yarn; they can be woven together, like cloth; to make it take on a permanent shape, can be laid over a mold, then coated with a stiff resin or plastic. Carbon fiber needles are strong as steel needles but more flexible. Blackthorn was the first manufacturer of these needles.
Celluloid: A transparent flammable plastic made in sheets from camphor and nitrocellulose. It was developed in the mid 19th century but discontinued from for making needles and hooks before World War II. Look for them on eBay.
Bakelite: A thermosettin phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from an elimination reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. Developed early 20th century, it was used to make plastic needles and hooks that you can now find on eBay.

I would encourage you to try as many needles and/or hooks as you have the opportunity to try. Changing to a new type of needle or hook may seem strange at first, but give them more than just a cursory try out. You may end up having a new favorite! As to which are the right ones for you … well, that’s a very individual and personal choice dependent on your both your skills and preferences.

Posted in Crocheting, Knitting, Miscellany | 18 Comments

Holding the Attention of My Impatient Knitter

Posted on April 28, 2013 by sweatyknitter

In my last post, I described the first part of my approach to capturing the interest of my impatient granddaughter F whom I hope will succumb to the knitting bug. The second approach is through books.

As a bookish child who read her way through a thick tome of the classics carefully selected by my father, I read of knitters in many of the books. There’s Mrs. Fairfax in Jane Eyre (C. Brontë); Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens – pic source); The Courtship of Miles Standish where Longfellow raises untangling yarn to new heights of eroticism; House Taken Over (Cortazar), where sister Irene knits with wool bought by her brother; a village full of knitting ladies in Gaskell’s Cranford; and let me not forget the most industrious (and sainted) mother of lovelorn John Ridd in Lorna Doone (Blackmore).

Lorna Doone was my favorite book in 4^th grade. From time to time I snuck in books by Agatha Christie and there was Miss Marple, knitting industriously. While Christie wasn’t on my father’s approved list of reading, I escaped his attention by climbing our Gravenstein apple tree and reading books far off the ground while happily munching on apples.

I suspect I could not get either of my grandchildren to read through my father’s list of “children’s” required literature by the time I was 13. I found, however, many books for my grandchildren that include knitting that seem more “fun” for young children than, say, Dickens or Blackmore. (I also found several whose stories revolved around weaving or spinning.)

F already has Knitting Nell (Julie Jersild Roth), which currently is one of her favorite books (in anticipation of her learning to knit, I think – hope?!) Here are my favorite knitting-centered stories for children granddaughter F’s age (pictures from Amazon):