The Same But Different: Sewn Bind-Off

Some of the very first things one learns as a new knitter is how to cast-on and how to bind-off. What you aren't told in those early days, as you struggle awkwardly to master the long-tail method, is that there are many, many different ways to do the very same things.

I, being just a teeny bit lazy, am inclined to stick with the standard. It's easy. I know how to do it without looking at instructions or a tutorial. I can cast-on stitches using long-tail in my sleep and I generally bind-off stitch over stitch. But, it is important to realize that different cast-on methods and different bind-off methods create different and potentially awesome results.

Last year I learned a sewn bind-off while knitting Romi Hill's Fairy Snow Cap. The sewn bind-off used in the pattern provides a wonderfully "finished" look that melts easily into the 1x1 ribbing of the hat. It stretches, it is substantial, and while subtle - it makes a difference in the overall look of the finished knit.

Recently, I needed a quick project to satisfy my need to finish something (Anything!) and so I started Clara Parkes Hill Country Hat. Let me say that to me a hank of slightly rustic, colorful, tweedy goodness is pretty darn irresistible. I have nothing but praise for the simple, classic hat pattern.

I made my Hill Country Hat slightly longer to create a slouchy effect that better suits my enormous 'noggin and I added a pom to use up the last of the 142yd skein of tweedy Rowanspun Chunky. The only other modification? Romi's sewn bind-off. Totally worth the extra effort of referencing the tutorial. Totally worth the extra time.

Here is a link to Romi's tutorial for the Sewn Kitchener Rib Bind Off in case you'd like to give it a go!

Aptly Named

I am getting ready to cast-on a new project!

Delicately slides an abandoned pile of in-progress projects out of sight.

A new-to-me designer, Cindy Garland, is having a KAL (knit-a-long) in her Ravelry group Wild Prairie Knits, for a beautiful two-color stole pattern called Vacillate.

I feel like the name has jinxed me. I have been sorting through my abundant stash for days trying to choose two colors with adequate yardage. Cast-on is September 1st, so I need to make a decision soon.

Vacillate [vas-uh-leyt]
verb (used without object), vacillated, vacillating

1. to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute:

Her tendency to vacillate was making yarn selection take a very long time.

 

Help me choose, will you?

Posh Yarn

 

Tinctured String

 

Jade Sapphire

Speed Shopping Stitches

Stitches Midwest was August 6-9, 2015. I didn't decide until the very last minute that I wanted to go. The family already had a jam-packed weekend of activities (read, something other than sitting on the patio spinning) and so I had to use some creative problem solving to fit my fibery fix into our family schedule.

Stitches Midwest is held at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL. Our other big agenda item for Saturday was taking The Tiny Dictator to see the Shaun the Sheep Movie. Lucky for me, Schaumburg is awash in malls, restaurants and movie theatres. I was able to negotiate an hour and 15 minutes at Stitches while Newfangled Dad took the kids to frolic amidst the wonders at Dicks Sporting Goods.

I made a plan to speed shop through the Stitches marketplace. I used my handy-dandy WEBS 50% off coupon to get in for $5 (I get very resentful when I have to pay to shop) and I made the most of my time. I was there just after the marketplace opened, but even just an hour and 15 minutes later as I left, it was much more crowded.

I made some lovely purchases.

 

I came out with two skeins of Verdant Gryphon Traveller, the brightest Canon Hand Dyes I could find (squeeeeee!) and a set of blueish grey gradient mini-skeins from a new-to-me-dyer A Hundred Ravens.

I Should Be Overcommited

I like to say yes to things.  Me please pops out of my mouth way too easily.  I am a joiner.  As of late I have committed to so many things that I should be committed - overcommited.

I have been signing up for test knits like a lunatic.  I have been promising handspun yarn to virtual strangers.  I still owe someone a knitted lace scarf.  Then... this:

A sample knit for Louet North America.  It's a nice shawl.  Now, for no other reason than I seem to commit at the worst possible times, I need to (get to?) knit it.  I do get to keep that lovely smokey grey GEMS you see in the photo as compensation though!

After I make it through this round of commitments I am committing to the commitments that count:
- Knitting for me.
- Spinning for me.
- And yes, NewFangledDad I will finish your sweater.  Finally.

Holy Fricke!

It is nearly a year since Yarn School.

Nearly a year that I have been using my Fricke Enterprises S-160-Double Treadle spinning wheel.  I luuurve it.  No really, I do.  Compared to many other spinning wheels the Fricke is a hardcore bargain.  Inexpensive as it may be (relatively speaking) it was still a huge investment for me.  As the single income amongst a four person family the manner in which money is spent counts a lot.  Did I need a spinning wheel?  No.  Did I want a spinning wheel.  Yeeeees. 

NewFangledDad and I have been talking a lot lately about making intentional life choices.  Spinning is a quiet focused pastime involving fiber (OMG, I LOVE ALL THE FIBER).  Doing artistic things pleases me immensely and makes me less likely to ship the children away to the first willing buyer or smother NewFangledDad in his sleep.  My spinning wheel is an intentional life choice to avoid prison.

I have recently been thinking about acquiring a second spinning wheel.  Something for travel.  Something small and portable.  My love for Bernice (oh yes, I named her) has not diminished in the slightest - but now I want more.  Others.  Additional.  I'll fight the good fight and hold out as long as I can.  But spinning wheels make this:

Yarn School

Cross-posted from my group blog www.busfullofyarn.wordpress.com

There is a school for yarn, I kid you not.  I have recently returned from my pilgrimage to The Harveyville Project Yarn School.

My efforts at Yarn School dye lab.

Imagine, if you will, a summer camp full of adults doing all the naughty things kids can only dream of…  Late nights, indulgent food, our favorite activities, all the friends at which a person could shake a drop spindle.  Cookies, cheese, booze and sheep.  You can’t swing a ball of yarn at Yarn School without hitting a small clutch of people laughing, talking and creating.

Yarn School is perhaps best described as a small spinning retreat hosted in the Harveyville, KS school-turned-residence-sometimes-camp owned and operated by Nikol Lohr. 

One of the "quirky" Harveyville Project bathrooms.

I went to a place for spinning and I don’t spin.  Much.  I certainly didn’t (erm, things might have changed when I fell, swiped my credit card and bought a Fricke) own a spinning wheel.  Yarn School for the uninitiated can be a bit intimidating.  There is a bit of a cult following here – people who have been to many, many previous Yarn School weekends.  When one walks into the old gymnasium there is a circle of spinning wheels whirring contentedly while their operators chat merrily.

I was at a loss.

That didn’t last.  Once I got over the chilly temps in the “Seven Dwarfs Room” where I was sleeping, once I acclimated to dinner at 10pm, once I let go and got okay with no schedule that was easily discernible I learned to LOVE Yarn School.  People cared.  They asked why I wasn’t spinning.  They offered to let me try their wheels.  They helped.  One lovely attendee even sang at me once I’d made my first yarn.  I had my own personal sound track and I loved it.

There was dyeing with Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn.  There were alpaca courtesy of Alpaca of Wildcat Hollow.  There were bunnies thanks to Little Angora House on the Prairie.  But really there was just a tiny fiber of life, plied tightly with people who had found their place and dyed with the experience of a lifetime.

*cough* So, in a couple of weeks you might be seeing a post on my new spinning wheel.  What can I say?  I’m a sheep.

The sheep of Cupcake Ranch (the Harveyville Project flock) are a delight!