cabling without a cable needle video

this is a quick demo video - it's no frills, nothing glamorous. the explanation below assumes you have an understanding on the way cables are formed.


eta:i uploaded the video directly to blogger many times but it ate it!  hence, a vimeo link instead


and here's how i do it!
please excuse the chippy polish ;)
 

this is a 'hold stitches to the front'/ left leaning cable twist. i find it easiest to insert the corresponding needle into whatever stitches are on the back first, then insert the other needle into the stitches on the front. for this left leaning that's right needle into back stitches, then left needle into front stitches. the reverse right leaning cable: left needle into back stitches then right needle into front stitches. (for a right leaning twist you hold the stitches to the back.)

yarn dust?!

me winding some Wollmeise 100%, gettin' dusty

after a hundred or so yards more

yes that is a chunk of yarn dust right there

i believe the correct response is something like "wtf?" accompanied by a headscratch

avoiding ladders while knititng in the round

make sure the tip of the new needle is touching the butt of the last needle worked before making that first stitch. i do this with circs and with dpns. doesn’t matter.

i flipped the work around so it should look as if the work is in front of you.
this was fiddly so work with me here.

click photos for full view

the new needle (2) inserted in to first stitch on working needle (in the front door)


wrap the yarn around and pull taught (grab your scarf) . the new needle (2) will touch old needle (3)

keeping this tension complete the stitch (out the window, off jumps jack) as you do this new needle and old needle will join with and rub up against waiting needle (1)it will be a ladderless party!

January 5

Check it out, i knit this much sock today:

so far...
plus i did like 6 rows on my Multnomah since yesterday.
it took me most of the day to decide on this stitch pattern for the sock. i originally wound this up and had a go at charade. it was a fail .way to tight after the heel . you remember me and heels not getting along right? i have to get through at least one more pair before i am truly truly convinced i have it down. since i have cast on like a dozen socks over the past year, me and toe-up goes know each other pretty well. i like to start them with circs but as you can see i am knitting the foot of these here with dpns.


what you see: a toe-up sock with lozenge stitch pattern in Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! differential Grashopper. acquired at SS09. Signature 2.5 mm Double-Pointed needles. i go around with 5

the early part of the eyar has seen me spinning just a bit. i mean i had to play with my Kuchulu. it came with a sample piece of Finn wool and i have been taking my sweet time with it. also came with som esuper silky silky. it's like floaty cotton candy threads. i can't mess with that.
i'd better go log in a few more rounds...

unicorn found

i could always do short rows. i mean, i can follow pattern instructions. no problem. it's that there would always be something aesthetically bothersome about the heel once i completed it. holes, asymmetry, ill fit. i had tried every kind of technique, wrapping, double wraps, hiding the wraps, no wrap, double stitching German, Japanese, crazy YOs. you name it. if i asked for help and someone said "try this heel" i would do it with an open mind. over 3 dozen individual socks hells and that doesn't count the frog and repeats. than. last night. blammo. i unvented my own. NO HOLES. symmetrical as a mirror reflection, no wraps. just magical. the unicorn of short-row heels. it took me a year but i have earned my sock knitter badge !

Bugga! Madness

The Sanguine Gryphon booth at Sock Summit. Thursday August 6th 2009. Market opening preview for students only. i wish i would have recorded the part when i said to Gryphon " you had to expect this!?" and she was all surprise and shock and was like "nope". then popped right on top of a bin of yarn in her medieval frock and snapped a shot for herself. good times they was. yea, good times!

Autumn, the New Year for knitters.

well Fall has been here for a bit but this chilly day has really made me take notice of the season change. and it it friggin' October!

i have planned myself a bigger task list this month than i ever have. (mainly knitting, but some other projects too.) Mostly because i have not really been a planner. not in this way. i see things and i am all "oooh i wanna make that" and each mental picture goes in to pile and i pick them out randomly. so this planing ahead for stuff is way weird. and yet, fun. i don't want to get discouraged by acknowledging that i haven't been this productive in such a small amount of time before. ever. and chances are this list will be the same come November. no way. i just wanna be a glass-half-full kinda gal for a minute okay?

my first foray into a KAL was, well, i won't call it "unsuccessful". i didn't finish the project at all let alone on time. but it's still on the needles and once i gain the skill badge i was missing for it to be a complete success, i will revisit it. That said, i am trying new things! throwing caution to the lions, i joined not just a KAL, but a mystery one. not just a mystery KAL, but a lace one. i know. i am nuts! BUT don't give up on me yet. i have actually wound the yarn (1700+ yards. yes, a daunting task) AND i knit the swatch. all on the official day one of the KAL. so not bad right?

(click to embiggen)

yea, i messed up towards the end. skipped a row i think . i wasn't paying close enough attention. first time trying lace with patterning on both sides. i should be more scared, but well, i'm not.

mystic embers kal 2009
Sept 30 -Oct 31

yarn, wm lace in spice market, 4mm addi lace needles. the swatch is not properly blocked.
ravelry Project page

i did complete a Swallowtail shawl [interweave knits, fall 06]. it is a small shawl as far a shawls go. as many before me have stated. it went alot smoother than Ishbel. surprisingly. i was a little scared of it but had to dive in after seeing so many beautiful ones on shoulders at Sock Summit. (i know, i owe you some posts on my adventures there. procrastinated but not forgotten!) particularly Glenna's sea silk version. Her Ravelry project page. a real glistening beauty tat shawl. and even after touching it i didn't buy any seasilk in the SS09 market. Go restraint!
Here's mine

not the best pic ever.

yarn wm twin in maus jung 4mm addi lace needles
ravelry project page

you may or may not know the drama i have been experiencing with socks. one successful pair, three successful lonely abandoned singles, five ill-fitting single toe-up socks,and two frogged attempts at cuff down. int hat order. pretty much.

well...

i said i wasn't giving up!
i am up to the heel flap on the second one and trudging along steadily.
i want these to be finished! my feet are cold!

pattern is summer sox socks by Cookie A. cuff down with a hell flap *gasp* i know. not my preferred method. but i am open minded and tried it and it fits so there.
wm twin in wasabi 2.25 mm harmony dpns (woulda been better in 2.75 mm but still fits!
ravelry project page

Than there is the Gothsocks groupies KAL. i have mental plans for this.
also, been thinking about Multnomah since it first came out. that's a simple one i just can't decide on a yarn. i had single skeins of Bugga! but wanted it bigger since i already have two shawlettes- and like i said- i'm cold! i keep wanting squishy warm knits! i nabbed two skeins of Skinny Bugga! for this. but i have been wavering back and forth between the two ideas. if i knit it in the SB, i can make it bigger but. that means i will have to knit it bigger! kwim?

and then Damson caught my eye. i dunno how many shawlettes one girl needs, but so far the two i have made have been successful-at least in the end- and interesting to knit. they don't have to fit the way godforsaken socks do! it's really pretty. i dunno how much opportunity i will get to wear it. the girly prettiness of it limits it's versatility for me. but whatevs.

and i have to stop ignoring my February Lady. it would be nice to have it done for Rhinebeck. what!? it's possible! i just have to count my stitches and start the Gull Lace. it's totally doable. if i would just power through and stop dilly dally-ing. and maybe not knit anything else until it's finished... yea right.

hmm i think that's it. well, besides the fact that i have discovered hoop dancing and am madly in love. i guess i like being a beginner becase i keep trying new things. of course that means i now have to make my own own hoop. add that to the craft repertoire. i am starting to take my photography more seriously. not really for my craft photos (as is plain to see) but for other things.

i have slowed down on stashing. specifically Wollmeise. yes, because i have run out of room. (pictures soon!) but also, because the ratio of knitting to acquisition was unbalanced in a way that finally pushed me to do so. at first it was difficult, but i have been enjoying the extra sleep quite nicely. having opened my palette to other dyers at the summit i am shifting my attention in differnt directions. and having fun wiht other weights colors and textures. oh. and i'm broked. tee hee.

i'll try to visit more often!

eta: oh! and how could i forget! the dexterous Laris is hosting a KAL on Wollmeiseholics Anonymous for -what else but- gloves! sign ups are until OCT 4 and then i guess she'll email the pattern shortly after that. i am eager to get started on those. hmmm but in which colorway...

no good way to knit a sock?

for my first sock i started the way i think most knitters do, on double-pointed needles. i later learned about Magic Loop and socks on two circulars. i have made a couple single socks using dpns, cuff down i might add, then learned how to magic loop (out of necessity for the legs on Mochimochiland's reindeer pattern and bob pattern -such tiny circumferences!) to complete my first complete pair of socks my tootsie, toe-up. i have used 8 and 12 inch circluars ( clover plastic mini circs) for legwarmers and arm warmers and i like those alot. also good for sleeves.

after that pair of socks i realized that MLing wasn't really any faster than dpns, because the time you save from switching from needle to needle is eaten up by guiding the yarn around that 32" circ. and if you knit tight, or have a needle with a bit of fight in the join (i have to meet ANY needle that has NO fight in the join whatsoever. though i acknowledge that some are better than others) than that adds to the seconds it make take for you to push the stitches across. it was this revelation that led me to think i might indeed be better off going back to DPNs.

having become a touch of a yarn snob over time, and having increased my experiences with different brands and materials of needles i am finding diffiulty getting in a groove with ANY method knitting a sock at all. basically i have used Knitpicks both harmony and and metal, Addis and Addi lace, Clover bamboo, KA and though i don't own them i have knit a fair few rows on Signatures. after ML ing on Addi lace and even the Harmonies i find the Clover DPNs just unsuitable for knitting a sock on. sticky. and i'd still have to magic loop the toe. because i don't think i will be switching away from Judy's Magic cast on or toe-up anytime soon.

i would love to be able to label myself "a sock knitter". to complete many pairs and each in a fair amount of time. to use of this coveted mountain of sock yarn (mostly the illustrious wollmeise) i have amassed since the beginning of 2009. i mean, i went across the country to Sock Summit for Bob's sake! but i can't seem to pump another sock of these needles. any of them. and let's not even bring up the heel troubles i have having!

my latest attempt are these 9" Clover bamboo circs. they are new to the market i think. and i thought them the answer to my DPN vs ML problem (two circs was never an option for me, buyin two of every needle? nah. plus i find the process the same as ML). ack! if they were 8" they would be just that. but they are not. they are 9". shit. and so even though i don't have to "set off an alarm" as Cat Bordhi says, in the round i have to struggle a strain to get all the stitches across the needle . because i don't quite have 9 inches worth of sttches on there. oy vey.

what on earth to do? is there no good way to knit a sock?

oh, this? it's nothing, you should see the other guy.

me and the Ish, we go back and forth. it's a love/hate relationship. i give as good as i get though!

as you can see here the Ishbel is picking a fight! chellenging me by leaping, no hurling several stitches off the needles in defiance!

HAHAA!! i win! Don't try that again Ishy!

ish revisited

i have become calm enough to string a lifeline in my Ish after letting it sit sit sit. chart A took alot outta me! i am about to begin chart B which hopefully won't be as tormenting. cover me. i'm going in...

the summer of Wollmeise

it's a Wollmeise summer! the fabled unicorn yarn is in more demand now than ever. with all the new colors that just keep coming, the mystical lace fairy fart yarn that only appears once in a wm moon, and inappropriately sexy baby Molly (the new worsted) the frenzy continues.


i was lucky to snag up a sweater's worth of molly the update that it launched. it all went faster than my previous successful updates so i grabbed Fliederbusch not knowing how i would like it when it arrived. silly me! it's wm and it's purple - how could i even think i wouldn't love it to pieces.


i have swatched the hell out of my first skein. i paced myself with the task wanting to swatch properly. no lazy tricks! by. the. book. trial and error. four swatches. finally at gauge.


and gauge for what? for february lady! i am giving it a proper shot. i have attempted to attempt a few sweaters over the years. i am determined to see this one through! meaning, the flieder molly WILL become a wearable garment. i can't promise FLS will be a success. but i will keep this yarn on the needles until i can put it on my body. for reals.

i chose FLS for its forgiving fit on ladies with the 3 b's. i still think it needs customization, modification, and alteration. i have cast on for the 37.5 size and somehow have to knit the back to that size and the front to the 49.5 size. that means short-rows have to go in there somewhere... i dunno where or how but it hope i can figure it out. all suggestions are welcome of course!

in the meantime i have ishy sill lingering. that lace scares me lemme tell ya. that thing kicked my butt so hard- but i will finish it. i am not a monogamous knitter. i need variety! plus i can't really travel with ish. it requires full concentration. the garter of fls can go with me everywhere.

of course that ishybel is being knit up in wollmeise 100%. if i haven't said that already. in petit poison light.

since i keep buying the stuff i am trying hard to knit it up! i have no desire to buy any other yarn. so sad. especially now that there is worsted weight. well, i did order some handfarts... that is part of a co-op deal. it is being shipped, quite literally, on a boat and is taking a looooong time to get here.

there is also the Pn5 stockinette sock that has been lingering and lingering on the needles forever. i put leyburn down because of the heel issue and i had the instep too tight on the Pn5 sock as well. that was frustrating. i started over with the other end of the cake with a different stitch count. the fabric looks better that way as well. the first one looked a little pooly and this one is more stripy. my fingers needed a break from those tiny needles. it's been tiny needles/socks from the beginning of the year. now that i have the worsted (and a reason to use those super expensive addi clicks i bought!) i can have a break.

i haven't had the heart to rip the first one yet. i left it there just in case the second one was worse than the first some how. i will probably end up frogging the whole thing and starting super fresh. i dunno. the attachment to the time spent working on it dissipates as i let it sit. so, maybe.

one of the obstacles that keeps me from knitting up the wm, besides Ravelry which keeps me from all knitting in general, and besides it fairy fart status, is the winding. the hank is a smidgen too big for my swift. oy. that is a tragedy. really. i was tempted to buy a new one but that's just crazy. (thanks Kata for talking me outta that one.) plus, it always seems to tangle some how. the molly is breeze to wind, really. no worries there. but somehow i can't get through 575 yards of sock with out some problem. i had to cut PP when i wound her up! what a tragedy. a knot-less skein that had to be hacked in two. and i will have to weave that end into LACE! oy. what a nightmare. i'll cross that bridge when i come to it...

now let's see if i can get some decent pics to add to this post...

kick ish in the shins

persistence! the ish got tired and i persevered! chart A of the lacey part is successfully complete! a small victory? perhaps. but it's mine and you can't take it away! now i have to rest up and rehydrate in preparation for... you guessed it...chart b...

Ishbel is trying to kill me

some people cast on for Ishbel (rav link) and have no troubles. they fly through it and make 3 more the first one was so "quick and easy". i cannot get past the first lace chart! and i am not the only one. i am not alone in my misery.

i have knit and tinked the first 8 rows, only four of them lace, no less than 9 times. seriously. i don't want to give up. but i may not win this one. i am knitting with the wollmeise in Petit Poison. and if i could finish this it would be one heck of an FO. it would get much use. but that length of thread that i have frogged and reknit and frogged again is beginning to look tired. and i am too. so tired. i am a process knitter and therefore don't complete as much as i start. but this process!... i am scared of this thing, really. ( pssst...i think it's trying to kill me!)

the asymmetry of it all!

winding molly

i threw all caution to the wind and i am winding up a skein o'molly to see how she flows.

nice

the knit kit

in my Lys today this lady was sitting, knitting, and she had the knit kit out. she let me have a fondle of it.
at first glance it was sure alot bigger than i had pictured. palm-sized. which makes sense if i had thought about it. but just seeing it in tiny web pics it just thought it was smaller. i was pretty 'meh' about it. it was plasticy. and the white would look dirty after a while. the scissors were pretty interesting but i could see me cutting myself trying to get them open or shut. i dunno, i would use it if someone gifted it or probably buy one if my lys stats selling them but i am not crazy over it.

Leyburn ponderings...

So. I have come to the point where it is time to start paying attention to turning the heel. Deciding just where to do it and such. I am glad i realized that because with this pattern stitch it is suggested to increase a bit on the instep before turning the heel. If I had missed that instruction: frustration.

I like the way it's coming along. The sock. It's a nice snug foot. More fitted than my other endeavors. I seem to prefer this so far as it shows I am improving at getting a good fit. Toe up construction just seems to make sense. I dunno why the standard is the opposite. I hope to become good enough at reversing pattern directions that I might be able to modify to get a good, custom, ideal fit. In socks and everything else.

The yarn I am using was originally purchased with the designation to become a clapotis. Two skeins at about 360 yards each. As a single skein is intended to provide for a complete pair of socks (of the average persuasion with regards to foot length and cuff length variances) the question arises: how long to make these leyburns?..

I could stop after turning the heel on this first sock, place it aside as i begin and complete the heel on the second sock, see how much yarn I have left, split it evenly between the two, and make a basic pair of socks.

Or I could complete the first sock an make the second to match with no regards to having leftover yarn.

Or I could keep knitting until the first skein gone. Letting the yardage determine the length and using the entire second skein for the next sock.

The issues with each option respectively:

What would I do with the other skein of korrppi after completing leyburns of average length? sure that's an issue of stash and therefore not an issue. but would i really make another pair of socks in the same colorway? and having only one skein limits my non-sock options for the yarn. just a bit.

The second option might leave me with half a skein of yarn left. or force me to wind the second skein for just a few yards in order to finish up. This option throws all caution to the wind and let's the project decide. hmmm. i don't really like that.

The third option, using an entire skein for each sock, seems the most appealing. but would require bit of design, math and time extension (into the "long-term projects" category. working on shaping and calf increase and such. i would really want to take my time and invest my energy properly into such an endeavor. those could be just knee-high or there might be enough yarn in those skeins to accomplish thigh-high or above the knee socks. i am not so good with the estimating due to lack of sock knitting experience and most of my projects going, thus far, unfinished.

Then there are issues with regards to wearability.

what can i wear them with in terms of footwear, and outfitting?

do i intend to be able to fit these into my work wardrobe? because if not, i might never get very much opportunity to wear them...

and so, when i wear them do i intend for them to be seen?

and a million more ponderings.

thoughts?...

The first socks

one of my first projects in the beginning days was a sock. i made a knee sock with striping , a heel flap and all. Pippi Kneestockings from stitch n'bitch.

but i only made one.

more of an exercise in technique. i put it down and picked it up and frustratingly persevered through that project for like 6 months.

i got involved in the CPaA swap group in December. this yarn was up for grabs and i was "meh" about it. someone posted a pic of it knit up and it was these cute footsie socks. froot loops. it's a knitty pattern i had seen before and was meh about that too. i was all anti-patterned sock.

"why all that work?, it's going in a shoe anyway, that's gotta be uncomfortable, etc..."

just stockinette socks for me.

but i saw what this raveler had done to the pattern. and the crazy yarn was very froot-loopy indeed. since they were ankle socks i could maybe even finish them! one ball, that's all. being December i was cold, cold, cold and i couldn't find cashmere socks or cozy warm woolie socks any where any how. my tootsies needed these footsies!

and some how, some how i finished them.

cast on dec 28th cast off feb 9

and they are cozy indeed! i heard all the smack talk about how fab woolly socks are. specially the hand-knit variety. i know there are the peeps out there that are flipping mad about there sock knitting. the sock knitters. i never considered my self a sock knitter. even though i had made three halves of pairs of socks. cause all the patterns people are queueing on rav, i was all meh about. these opened my eyes.

i dunno if i consider myself one or not but leyburn is hanging on my needles now. i could attribute that to the virus though. once the yarnharlot showed those puppies queue rates went through the chart. i resisted but hey, a girls gotta use up stash some how.

yarn porn

the wollmeise

the poison

petit poison light,red hot chili med, red hot chili light, rhubaber med, mitternacht dark

wollmeise calling...

the Wollmeise.

i first heard of her on the podcast knitters uncensored. they are in Deutschland! Claudia was on in an interview.

i was intrigued by the whole scenario. one of the many discussions they had was over the names of the colorways. in hearing about the Poison #5 i was distinctly reminded of that movie with sandra bullock that comes on TBS every now and again. a funny little number and of course the signature song--- love potion #9. relation? i dunno. misinterpretation? maybe...

through ravelry i slowly learned about the phenomenon. this gentle hand painter of yarns was indeed highly revered and her product obsessively sought after. skeins on ebay selling for 3- 5 times the original price. madness. over sock yarn.

i can be drawn in to these epidemics. things that are limited edition, nearly impossible to get your hands on. those things push my button and set me on a frenzy.

i was proud that i resisted the wollmeise. it was pretty easy since everything in her shop (online) is always sold out. the madness hadn't infected me. i chose to be indifferent. having never seen the yarn in-the-fiber, it wasn't that difficult. i even had the opportunity to get a skein in a ravelry destash and just clicked right by it. (i may have added my name to some sort of WM swap list at some point but i wasn't expecting to get that yarn anytime soon. especially since the WM announced that she was no longer going to announce her shop updates ahead of time. now it was officially impossible to get this yarn. i'll by some BMFA instead).

and last night i couldn't sleep. i lay there staring at the ceiling and i remember hearing somewhere the best thing to do when you can't sleep is just get outta the bed. do something. so i figured i would try to cast on my shetland triangle. queued for months, if not longer. yarn sitting in stash. brand new addi clicks waiting to be used....

"but first i must ravel a bit... then i work on that cast on..."

"hmmm. it's the middle of the night. isn't this the time when the wollmeise would update her shop... it doesn't hurt to look. "

"what!?! what is this... . what is this little green light i have never seen here before...stuff is in stock? impossible!"

the madness. took me over. i couldn't believe i was experiencing a wollmeise update. and i clicked fast. and i clicked to win. and i ordered that yarn.

was the wollmeise calling to me in my insomnia? does karma really exist? is it just a fortunate coincidence? pure luck? i guess we'll never know....

new york sheep and wool festival 2008

the festival was sat and sunday and Robert assured me it was not that far and would be a fun day trip. with his convincing we went on our merry way in the not too early morning hours and had a fabulous time. there were sheep, of course and goats of the cashmere variety and llamas and alpacas of which i do not think i can tell the difference...isn't it pretty!

i am so glad we went. i didn't end up spending too much money. i was glad there was not bags and skeins and wheels and things that i was dying to go broke for. with stitches coming up it is best that this was more a less just a day out. especially since i have been feeling like crap lately and work life was leaking all over my personal life it was nice to be reminded that my stupid job is not everything. i expected the food to be icky carnival food but it was surprisingly like the best thing i had eaten all month. we ate chicken sandwiches at the cajun hole in the wall and it was not greasy, nicely seasoned and fresh. that was a pleasant surprise. i would drive up there now to get one of those. but i can't drive.

and how cool is this guy!? he totally posed for this one!

i took alots of pics you can see them in my picasa

i bought:

a set of felting needles

a needle gauge pendant
heal my hands salve
a gnome kit from off the beaded path
and i couldn’t resist getting a drop spindle and some roving to try my hand at spinning.

my SO even started his very own stash…