Simple Knitting Tips: Knit for Others

Found these cute labels at Nice & Knit

If you're new to knitting, you may be a little unsure of the suitability of your finished product as a gift to another.  Let me dispel this doubt.  Give!  It is an incredible feeling to knit a scarf and give it to someone and actually see them wearing it. (This is the *only* reason I stare at my children when they are wearing knitted items I made.  Honest.)

Here, in random order, are some reasons why it is so important to give your knitting away:

1. It gives you an excuse to knit more, just in case you feel like you need one.
2. It wraps that person in a tangible expression of love.
3. It can often motivate the recipient to purchase more yarn for you. (!!)
4. It prevents the dreaded I Own Too Many Scarves Syndrome. Once you have given half of what you've knit away, you own Just Enough Scarves.
5. Knitted items make great gifts.
6. Knitting for charity is always in style, but that's a whole 'nuther blog post!

I love getting gifts that were made by hand--all that time spent, making something for ME!  It makes me feel appreciated and special.  I never look at a handmade gift and think, "Wow, they haven't quite mastered that skill, have they?"  Maybe I'm just unusually nice, but I'm guessing that MOST people don't think badly of the skills of the crafter when that crafter gives them a handmade gift. 

So, go ahead, give scarves this year for Christmas.  Or dishcloths. Or whatever you have learned to knit. Be proud of your accomplishments and then go start a new project!  I'm fond of green, in case I happen to be one of the lucky ones on your list...

Remembering WWI and its Knitters

Before I was a knitter, I was an amateur historian.  It's a wonderful thing to be able to combine knitting and history, and to feel connected to knitters from previous eras.

World War I began one hundred years ago this week, when events occurred to ignite the smoldering aggressions between Baltic nations and spread that flame around the globe, claiming the lives of over 9 million soldiers within four years of battle.

Because there were so many fighting, the demand for warm clothes for both soldiers and refugees became hard to meet.  Knitters in America, especially, took up needles to help offset the need and turned out heroic quantities of socks, scarves, shawls, sweaters and more to be sent overseas.

Some say that a certain heavily mustachioed Lord Kitchener developed a special technique for grafting the stitches on a sock to prevent the seam rubbing the toes within army boots.  Whether this is true or not has yet to proven, but I like the story just the same.

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener

No matter how we knit socks or whether we Kitchener the stitches at the toe, we would be wise to remember with gratitude the men, women and children who knit in the face of a global conflict (and a wool shortage, as supplies were apportioned for military use first and Red Cross yarn second).  The intangible importance of doing what seems like an insignificant thing cannot be overstated.   The morale boost that WWI fighting men received with each handknitted item, combined with the sense of accomplishment felt by those on the Home Front as they worked row up on row, remind us to keep doing good things, no matter how small.

If you, too are a history buff who happens to knit, I highly recommend Knitting America by Susan M. Strawn.

Carousel Hat: Free Knitting Pattern

I like milestones.  I'm not as good at remembering every anniversary (baby's first haircut? no clue!) but thanks to the Happiness Project I keep a diary, and I remember things I would not normally be able to readily recall.

For example, one year ago, on July 25, 2013, I sketched out 8 designs to take to the upcoming TKGA event in Oct 2013. I was able to knit up samples for 5 of them and 2 were purchased by Coats & Clark (you might know them through their yarn brand, Red Heart).  By February of this year I had completed the samples to send to Red Heart, along with the patterns.  And so the waiting began.  I admit, I am not a terribly patient person. Every few weeks I would go into the craft store and check the labels of the Red Heart With Love yarns to see if either of my patterns had shown up, knowing full well that the turnaround time for such things is many months.

On Saturday, I got a message from my friend Pat, who shared with me her friend Julie's new pattern on Red Heart (oh, my, goodness!  This sweater!!!) and I thought, let me check the new releases.  As I had done many times since Feb, I chose the yarn type and "knitting" on the free patterns page and scrolled through, but this time I stopped when I saw this:

The Carousel Hat as shown on the Red Heart website. Can you handle the cuteness?

This is my hat!!  And they found the most adorable model to show it off! 

I would say my patience paid off, but, like I said, I wasn't very patient!  Regardless, it's up on the site now and I'm very pleased.  I think it's kind of nice that the publication of the pattern is almost a year to the day since it was first just a sketch in my notebook.  Quite a milestone!

Now I'm off to go check and see if they've published the shawl pattern yet.........

Needles matter: Why I'm switching

For years I have been a tried and true Bamboo Girl.  I used them, I recommended them, I hated having to use anything else.  I even contemplated planting bamboo in my backyard so I could make my own needles, until my best friend from childhood warned me against it.  ("Remember when we were younger?  There was an actual yard behind my house.  Now, bamboo. Everywhere!  Don't do it!!!")

Then on a recent trip I borrowed a set of size 9 circular needles.  They were metal, but I was desperate. I used them for a day on a scarf, then transferred the stitches to a holder to return the needles, knowing I would be much happier when I got home to my bamboo needles and could finish the project with them. 

Imagine my shock when I was not happier.  The difference in the stitch gauge and tension was freaky.  It was flat out ugly, which, in a project using high quality luxury yarn*, you reallllyyyy don't want to see.

Can you see the bit in the middle, where it's not as smooth and lovely?  Sadly, knit with my bamboo needles.

I have heard over the years that knitters who prefer to knit fast use metal needles of some kind, almost exclusively.  As I've told my kids since they were small, though, it's not a race--at least not for me.  I knit for enjoyment (even when I knit for business) and if I take all the fun out of it by racing against the clock or some other knitter, then I may as well take up Nascar (not. ever. happening.). 

The warmth of bamboo and the feel of something from nature have always been more important to me than speed or even cost.   It turns out that the thing that trumps all the other issues is how good (or bad) your garter or stockinette stitch looks. 

All of this means that I broke down and bought a set of circular needles--the Options Interchangeable Nickel Plated ones from KnitPicks.  I love how my knitting looks when I use them (which is all the time now) and I also love how the tips will stay sharp (bamboo has a tendency to lose some pointy-ness over time).

At the same time, however, I also purchased a set of the Nickel Plated sock double points.  I tried so hard to make them work.  The combination of them being double-pointed and so darn slippery made for some tight gripping in sock knitting.  This, my friends, simply will not do.  Having heard rave reviews about KnitPicks' exchange/return policy, I sent them back and ordered the Sunstruck Wood set instead.  I love them. They are smoother than the bamboo needles I've used for years and the points are just sharp enough without feeling like a dangerous weapon. OK, slightly dangerous.  A little danger is exciting. But I digress...

My point (heh, heh) is that sometimes it helps to try new things and to be open to change.  I think I may drive my family a tiny bit crazy, always trying to improve things and make things better/cleaner/more organized/more cost effective/more efficient.  (Don't ask them about how I tried to re-invent Christmas last year.  They aren't really ready to talk about it yet.  It's still too fresh.)  Some improvements work out though, and those are the ones that give me hope.  I love how my knitting is looking with both my new Nickel Plated and my new Sunstruck Wood.  I'm no longer strictly a Bamboo Girl.  And I'm ok with that.

*high quality luxury yarn = LYDIA Yarn. It's wonderful!