Remember VHS tapes? I used to hate rewinding... When I was a kid, we even had one of those super speed rewinders so we didnt have to wait for the VCR to do it--but I still hated it. My well-worn copies of WarGames and The Last Starfighter were never at the beginning when I wanted to watch one of them.

However..the rewind comment was more about yarn than anything. Do you rewind your yarn balls? As in wind them from the swift to the ball winder then wind again from the center pull ball? You should...you'd be amazed at the difference.

The ball on the left has been wound twice. The ball on the right is straight from its first wind. See the difference? The one on the left is huge by comparison. What difference does it make you say? Winding is certainly not the most enjoyable part of starting a new project...

There are really two reasons to rewind:

1. No annoying yarn barfing. You know when you go to tug at that center pull ball and a big wad of yarn comes out? Thats because its wound to tightly. Rewinding gives you the opportunity to prevent those tangles--or at least gives you an opportunity to deal with them before you've knit 1/2 inch of ribbing on a sock.

2. Minimize change in gauge. Try as you might to wind carefully, the force required to turn the swift by the ball winder does put extra tension in the yarn. You might end up with a bit of extra trouble on your hands when you wash the garment for the first time. The yarn knit from the center of the ball was "stretched" before you even knit with it. When that yarn hits the water, it will want to return to its natural unstretched state--changing your gauge! Yikes!

It does take a little time but rewinding is certainly worth it--try it once and you'll be amazed at the difference in the size of your yarn ball.

I am extra wary of tension with these balls of sock yarn because of my pattern choice:

La Digitessa by Yarnissima. I knit her Firestarter pattern a few months back and loved it! I downloaded several of her new patterns and this is the first one up at bat. It is certainly a challenging little sock--cabling twisted stitches on every row makes for some tense knitting! I'm enjoying it though and I can't wait to see how the gusset detail looks when its finished!

Posted by fruitychick at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I usually don't get much knitting done over the weekend and this past weekend was certainly no exception... I'm usually pretty amazed at how much I get done during a weekday even though I spend a good amount of time playing with and chasing the munchkin but weekends are a black hole of knitting. I think I got one row done on the Dove Shawl.

Its coming along..but its at that really unphotographable stage so, instead of the crappy picture I took of it today that doesnt show any detail whatsoever, I'll show you a cute picture of the Munch I took during today's walk around the neighborhood:

awww!!!

Back to the Shawl...I think I'm 12 repeats out of 17 in at this point and its still a really enjoyable knit, despite being the same two rows repeated over and over. This enjoyableness, however, has not helped me meet my goal of having it off the needles by the time my first Year of Lace kit arrives later this week. (the site seems to be unavailable at the moment but I'm sure it will be up again soon.) There may still be a small portion of myself laboring under the delusion I can finish a shawl in a day and a half but it was smacked around by the portion of me that sat and read an entire book yesterday instead of knitting. Maybe I can speed knit the rest of today and tomorrow.

Speaking of shape*, I signed up for Sock Wars III. It will be my first time but I figure with my (usually) ample knitting time during the day, I might be able to make a serious go at it. I certainly have enough sock yarn stash to be able to find something to use for whatever gauge the pattern is... I think my only drawback is that I have quite small feet--so I'll be at a real disadvantage if I am assigned Shaq. (I'm not sure he's signed up yet though...)

* Does that line in the craftmatic adjustable bed commercial annoy the piss out of anyone else? Its, quite possibly, the worst transition in all of recorded history--and I'm including all of John Madden's Monday Night Football commentary in there. Despite my hatred of that line (or, more likely, because of it), I do use the phrase a lot...

Posted by fruitychick at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Visiting my family is always fun--this time especially so since I spent a good amount of time watching the munch play with her cousin. They were a riot together but, wow, can they seriously wear me and my parents out. I got home yesterday and spent the majority of the day letting munchkin watch cartoons while I sat in a vaguely comatose state.

I didnt even knit. Thats some serious tired.

I did manage to squeak out one last project before I went to my sister's baby shower--an adorable pair of Saartje's Booties (Ravelry Link) in some KPPPM I had lying around from my ugly pink socks.

The yarn looks totally cuter as a pair of newborn booties:

The Specs:
Pattern: Saartje's Booties
Yarn: KPPPM--maybe 1/3 of a ball? I didnt measure.
Size: Small
Needles: Knitpicks 2 circulars
Buttons: a total score--clearance at Hobby Lobby
Mods: none, though I may try the seamless version next.
Time to Knit: about two hours (with munchkin's distractions) to knit, seam and sew on buttons.
Verdict: I am totally smitten with this pattern. It was fast and easy to work--perfect to knit while watching the distracting The Unbeatable Banzuke--my new TV obsession. I have a lot of sock yarn leftovers that have been sitting around waiting for small projects and I see many more pairs of Booties in my future.

They were the hit of the shower and everyone was amazed at how cute they were. It certainly goes to show how the muggles see handknits. The blanket was well received but didn't get nearly as many oohs and ahhs as the booties. I bet I spent 25 times more hours on the blanket than the booties... oh well. :)

Posted by fruitychick at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Man...that was a rough few days. Do you ever get one of those viruses that hits you all of the sudden and when you finally emerge from the bathroom 36 hours later (and seven pounds lighter, I might add), you feel like youve been beaten by a large bear? Yeah...that was my last few days. I'm nearly back to normal now though and am in full wip swing!

I finally finished my neices blanket--did I mention? Probably. I'm going to mention it again because, darn, I love it.

Pattern: Center from A Gatherin of Lace (the feather and fan circular shawl) I knitted for a while in stockinette instead of feather and fan then added a simple garter stitch ruffle around the edge.
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine in Orchid
Needles: Pesky size 5's, I believe. I can knit with tiny needles and big needles but for some reason, those size fives make my hands cramp.
Size: Kind of smallish--about 29 inches across. My niece is due in late May/early June, so I didnt want anything to heavy--I'm envisioning this being used in the car seat or to cover her while she sleeps away in her swing.
Verdict: Totally love it. This was the same yarn I used to make Munch's coming home blankie and it was so perfectly soft (and machine washable), I knew it was perfect for my new niece. I still have enough left over to make one more blankie and if I have another girl at some point, I'll happily use this yarn again.

I am leaving to visit my parents and attend my sisters baby shower on Friday and in the pre-trip haze, I've cast on a few new projects. I knew I needed something to work on during the trip and just couldnt decide so it looks like I will have several things to chose from:

the Dove Shawl by Sharon Miller.

I know, it seems crazy to knit a lace project while traveling, right? I was thinking it would be minimal yarn packing though and, besides, this pattern just can't be beat for simplicity. The whole shawl? Its basically the same row, over and over again with a few increases worked in every once in a while. And kidsilk haze? I've had a ton of it sitting in my stash for a while and I just couldnt ignore it any longer...and...as if I needed another reason: the color. Its impossible to photograph but it is that perfect spring green color--a color I am so anxious to see around this time of year.

The Simple Knitted Bodice is also in contention to go as a traveling companion:

Its not exactly small but stockinette in the round? Perfect for late nights chatting with the folks...

I wont be back here until next wednesday night, so you probably won't hear from me until late next week. In the meantime, go obsessively plan your gardens like I am! I have all my seed orders out at seedsavers and have all my beds planned out--when I get back from my trip, I'll be starting seeds and getting everything all ready! yay spring!

Posted by fruitychick at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm done with my "must do" knitting and I'm now free to do whatever my knitting whimsy dictates. I have a few things fresh on the needles but I'll save that for once I get some proper pictres taken.

I've also been doing some spinning lately. I've been working on an idea I've been tossing around for a while...making gradient yarn. I love gradients of color--to white, to black, to another color...whatever. I think its a lovely way to explore a single color you love and since it is a simple colorway, it would leave lots of design options open for knitting. I did a lot of experimenting and finally, it hit me how to do it.

Heres the first attempt, spun up into a single about 14ish WPI:

I am totally in love. I want to get a little wider spectrum in there since there is still a lot of solid color/solid white on either side of the gradient but, my heart be still, I am enthralled. I've already carded up another set of batts and am spinning them up into some three ply sock yarn--I can't wait to get a pair knitted up to see how they look. I've got a ton more ideas like this one, which is the real reason I started up my little etsy shop--Fruity Fiber Co. There isnt much in there at the moment but once I finish spinning up the Red-White Gradient sock yarn, I'll be filling the store with more gradient batts like this one in Teal-White:

So for you spinners out there--how would you prefer to buy fiber? in 1 oz batts that you can just order as many as you need for your project or several batts together in a lot? 4 oz? 6 oz?

Posted by fruitychick at 12:55 PM | Permalink