I made a Ravelry group!  Specifically, I started a group for Little Cotton Rabbits fans to discuss Julie Williams’ (aka bunnyknitter) patterns and designs.  Just this past week, she published patterns for her popular knitted bunnies.  I don’t normally jump on patterns as soon as they are released, but I had to have these ones!  I mean, the cutes!

Anyhow, hope you can join us!

Next, I’ll be casting on to make a girl bunny for my niece as a little surprise when she visits next week.  Can’t wait!

ETA: Image designed and posted by Julie Williams of Little Cotton Rabbits.  I only wish I had Julie’s talent!

Cushion No.1

Stripes are maybe a little boring, but seeing as my first cushion cover attempt with intarsia was a bust, I thought it better to keep it simple in case it turned into another frog-fest. This was more of a test run to make sure I had the sizing right and could successfully apply a zipper to a handknit.

I used a tool like this one to sew a chain stitch through the zipper tape and the edges of my cover.  This is a bit different than how TECHknitter uses a knit picker to apply a zipper but I wanted to use heavy duty sewing thread and not my rather bulky yarn to attach the zipper.  I think it worked out well,  but it was a little more labour intensive so I’ll probably explore using a sewing machine on the next cushion cover.

My knitting mojo has been MIA lately, so I forced myself to knit something small and commitment-free.  Or, viewed from a different perspective, this is me procrastinating.

(Source: ravelry.com)

Yarn unwinder thingamajigs: A Review

I have no idea what generic name to apply to these devices.  ”Yarn Susan” is trademarked, “yarn spinner” might be confused for something that spins fiber into yarn, and “yarn holder” fails to describe the action of the device.  I’m just going to use the highly unimaginative “yarn unwinder” for now.

Regardless of what they should be called, I’m going to discuss (at some length) two similar but different versions.  (Forget about how I ended up with both, and let’s just take the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison.)

But before we dive in, if you’re wondering why a knitter might need such a device, you might want to read about the perils of over-twisting, which is better explained by TECHknitter.  Last year, it finally dawned on me that some of the problems I have had with yarn kinking up while I knit and worst of all, with biasing of the knitted fabric had to do with the fact that I have always knit from center-pull balls.  I used to love a center-pull ball, yarn barf notwithstanding.  The ball stays put while you are knitting instead of rolling away from you across a dusty floor or requiring some restraining device like a bowl or a bag.  But, it can also cause your yarn to over-twist and this can (although not always) lead to kinked yarn or biasing fabrics or both. Curses!

Anyway, in frustration, I made this yarn unwinder out of K’nex and it worked great but ultimately, it had it’s limitations.  So I made this yarn box when I found the K’nex couldn’t support a Colourmart cone.  But even the box wasn’t exactly what I needed so I turned to the internets and found several people had designed just the sort of thing I was looking for.

A general description and comparison

Both versions I bought are from Etsy, the version seen in the top row of the photoset is made by Willysman Woodworks and the version in the second row is made by Craftiness.  Both are custom orders, but neither is very different from the standard models that each shop offered.  I had both made in walnut with a natural finish and I’m guessing that both Maurice from Willysman and Dave from Craftiness could customize your yarn unwinder to any specification you had.  Both guys were great to deal with and very happy to customize.  They cost very nearly the same (Willysman was a few dollars more for the basic model) but keep in mind that different types of wood have different pricing.

The main difference between these two models is that Maurice makes his with a lazy susan mechanism that is hidden between the base and the platform whereas Dave has a free-spinning platform with a hollow post resting on the base’s spindle.  I initially thought the ball-bearing system would have a significant advantage over the free-spin system in terms of smoothness and (lack of) friction, but I actually found that they were about equally smooth and both generated minimal tension on the yarn.

However, the ball-bearing system has this advantage: once you stop pulling on the yarn, the spindle stops turning much sooner.  This is unlike the free-spinning system, in which the momentum keeps the top turning and the yarn re-winds in the opposite direction.  I wouldn’t say it’s a problem with the design, just something you’d have to get used to happening every so often.

A side note about the ball-bearings: they aren’t silent.  Most people don’t knit fast enough to keep a yarn unwinder spinning constantly but even at the slow rate at which I knit, it’s still audible.  For me, this is not a problem but I can easily imagine there are other knitters out there that might feel otherwise or who have family members / co-habitators who might be driven to distraction by the sound of tiny metal balls rolling along a metal track.  The sound doesn’t bother me, but I don’t think I’d try to knit in a lecture hall or meeting with this thing, even if I was someone who would try to knit during a lecture or a meeting.

In the last row of the photoset above are two side-by-side comparison shots (Craftiness on the left, Willysman on the right).

Since both shops will do custom orders, this comparison is only useful in that you can see how their standard dimensions differ from each other.  As you can see, the free spin (from Craftiness) is wider across the base but has a shorter post (which is shorter than my 150g Colourmart cones), but still works quite comfortably with both cones or cakes.

In a nutshell…

Willysman Yarn Holder pros:

• Can be lifted by the post since all parts are affixed
• Post can be unscrewed from base for ease of storage and/or trasportation
• Stops spinning (soon) after you stop pulling, preventing any reverse winding
• Very light-weight
• Well made

Craftiness Yarn Spinner pros:

• Very quiet
• Spins very smoothly
• Fairly light-weight
• Beautiful craftsmanship
• Least expensive (depending on type of wood used)

My non-conclusion

I can’t really recommend one over the other since they both work exactly as I need them to and the workmanship is quite lovely for both.  But, if portability is crucial to you, the Willysman yarn unwinder can pack flat, unlike the model from Craftiness.  If, however, the very idea of the sound of metal ball-bearings rolling along makes you shudder, maybe go with a product from Craftiness.

Overall, I’m very happy with both. And now that a yarn unwinder, in whatever form, has become an essential knitting tool for me, I intend to make use of both of them. (I may take up a real Fair Isle project one day, right?)

Pattern: Eternity Cardigan by Brooklyn Tweed

I can’t seem to knit any patterns without making a bunch of modifications.  Sometimes it’s just a sizing issue but often times, it’s a design issue.  In this case, I should have recognized that I was knitting what was essentially a backward Snuggie and then I might not have finished knitting this entire sweater only to discover that it wouldn’t stay on my shoulders for more than five seconds unless I was curled up on a sofa.

So, knitting slogger that I am, I unravelled the collar down to the top of the armholes and re-knit it with a continuous decrease at the shoulder line.  I’m glad I did it because the sweater is now wearable whereas it was not before.

On the other hand, I kind of wish I hadn’t invested so much time into this project because my poor choice in yarn is probably going to bring this sweater to an early and tragic demise.  Sadly, the finished fabric feels like it won’t survive much wearing.  But I guess only time will tell.

(Source: ravelry.com)

Dear Christmas Gift-Knitting,

Why do I always leave you to the last minute?  It’s not like I haven’t been thinking about you since September, but that was then, when grander schemes still seemed possible.  Now, well, we’ve got precisely twenty days to pick a pattern, knit until our hands are numb, and then block and dry.  Would the few weeks of madness be worth what little could be made of them?

Maybe it’s time to just do my shopping online while I leisurely finish off the sweater I’ve been knitting for myself during the past month and spare myself the inevitable drama?

Or, is there still a chance that things might work out?  Please get back to me soon as time is running short.

Yours,

tausigma

P.S. I know you’ve been seeing other women, and probably a few men too, but no worries, I knew that was how it was going to be.

My quest to find the perfect knitting needle organizer is still on-going, but in the meantime, I thought I’d try out different possibilities.

Staples (US and Canada) carries a Martha Stewart home office line and I thought the 4-pocket, secure-top sheet protectors might just be the right size for circular knitting needles and cables for interchangeables.  Up until now, I had only seen protectors with pockets that were either too large or too small, but like Goldilocks says, “This one is just right!”

I printed up cards (4 on an 8½ x 11” sheet of card stock), cut them out, and slotted them in each pocket with the corresponding needle.  Most sizes fit pretty well into the pockets, but for fatter needles, especially with long cords, I think the 2-pocket version might work better.

This makes more sense to me than depositing all your needles of the same size but different lengths into one large pocket.  I mean the point of organizers is organization, no?

Sure, there are many pretty circular needle cases out there, both hand-made and mass produced, but I require versatility and ease of use.  I need to see things at a glance and more importantly, I need the ability to add and re-arrange as my collection changes.

The downside to these sheets is that they seem a little larger than your usual 3-ring binder insert and the edges stick out.  I assume the MS binders are the right size, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy that horrible faux shagreen finish or icky vinyl.  I’ve just gone with a recycled binder and I tried to class it up a little with the MS metal bookplates.

Unfortunately, this only covers the circular needle portion of my extensive collection and plastic sheets seem kind of cheese so this is only a temporary solution.  Stay tuned as I continue to whip my knitting needle collection into submission!

(Source: ravelry.com)

Knitting straight from a cone of yarn can pose a bit of a problem.  Do you rotate the cone as you knit or do you just pull the yarn off the top?  The first option is rather clumsy and time-consuming while the latter can lead to over-twisting.  Since I have a healthy fear of over-twisting yarn, I decided to find a way to stabilize the cone while I reeled off some yarn.  Sure, the obvious solution is to use a standing paper-towel holder, and yes, it does work well enough, but I happened to have this nifty box handy.

I recently made this yarn minder box for the purpose of knitting from the outside of multiple balls of yarn at the same time.  I called it the “yarn minder” as it minded the yarn so I wouldn’t have to lose my mind untangling all the strands.  It consists of no more than a narrow box, an old, sturdy 14” knitting needle and a needle tip protector.  I just drilled a hole in each end of the box, slid the needle through, and stuck a tip protector on the tip in case the needle had thoughts of making a run for it.

The yarn minder was the next step after I made my yarn unwinder, or, what I now refer to as a “yarn-about”.  Sadly, the cones turned out to be too heavy for the yarn-about to spin smoothly and I finally realized that the yarn minder, which I thought had already served its one purpose in life and was now sitting idly on my desk, could possibly work for my 150g cones of yarn—and it did.  I do love a multi-functional tool!

Unlike the iPad, the Nexus 7 tablet doesn’t have a whole lot of third-party accessories to choose from.  I needed a case or sleeve of some sort but the options out there were pretty dismal.  So, like any other DIYer, I got out my sewing machine, some wool felt, and leather and whipped up my own case.

And like most other DIYers, I found something via Pinterest and sort of copied it.  I made a few changes partly because I work on a domestic machine and the most sophisticated leather working tool I own is a punch awl, and partly because I just wanted to use those funny little buttons.

The beauty of felt and leather is that you don’t have to finish edges if you don’t want to.  I left all the edges raw and the seams exposed.  It really doesn’t get much easier than that!