So recently I was contemplating spinning some sock yarn. I have this:

or maybe this:

which has pretty colors:

Much discussion between myself and the other members of my totally awesome spinning guild about how to figure out what size single to spin to get a specific size plied yarn. Shane did some research and found a formula to use. The size of the singles is equal to the square root of the number of plies times the wpi of the finished yarn.

Yikes!

To make it simpler for you, I’ve created a little online calculator

Spinning WPI Calculator

You’ll also notice that link is now in a “tools” section on my sidebar. I found a commercial yarn that has around 13 WPI, and I want to make a 3 ply yarn. Now I know what size to spin the singles yarn (go use the calculator to find out) :) Enjoy!

Mainly I’m putting this here to remember it, as I don’t know how accurate it is. But it looks like good info. Given that I’m starting to buy Japanese stitch dictionaries, this info should come in handy.

http://www.tata-tatao.to/knit/graphchart/e-index.html

There’s a new book out and there’s a free chapter for the new book:
http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/15/04719738/0471973815.pdf

So you can see what you’re getting into. It’s a great chapter that covers the basics of crochet.

I know. I know. You’re saying, “But I’m a knitter!”.

When was the last time you had to do a bit of finishing work in crochet?

Get yer butt over there and read it!

Besides, Crochet isn’t evil - only granny squares are evil.

I have pictures to post - but woefully little time to post them.  I did run across a blog today that had some great looking entries on lace knitting. Fabulous pictures. The lessons start here:
http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/03/majoring_in_lace_introduction_1.html

ANd for a fab pattern that this person created, knit and wrote up, check this out:
http://www.eunnyjang.com/images/knit/0511joycesscarf/stole_print_o_the_wave.pdf

Gorgeous. Just gorgeous.

I fell prey to the cuteness that is the Harry Potter bookscarf. Given how small it is, I figured it wouldn’t take long to make.  Plus, I use pearl cotton as stitch holders, and for provisional cast ons.  The shiny slipperyness is perfect for both tasks.   

The pearl cotton comes in skiens, which if you try and work from them directly, usually ends up a in a large pile of knotty yarn.  I decided to not torture myself, and wind each skein into a ball.

My regular ball winder is about the size of a toilet paper tube, about 1" or so in diameter. The ball of pearl cotton would collapse on itself the minute I took it off, defeating the whole purpose.   I first tried my real Notstepinne (fancy word for long smooth stick); but the inner diameter of the ball was still too large.   Inspriation hit:

The most important part of a proper Nostepinne, is that it be very slick and not-bumpy so you can slide the finished ball of yarn off easily.  Anything the yarn will catch on will ruin the center part of the ball. (I always hate it when my commerically made balls give up a wad of tangled yarn. I affectionately call that "Yarn Vomit").  A secondary consideration in a good nostepinne, for me, is a place to hold down the yarn tail that comes from the inside of the ball.  You don’t want it to catch as you’re making the ball, but you want it held firmly out of the way without having to think about it.

A ball point pen filled both of these requirements easily.  A quick winding of the first tail around the cap and away I went.  I did find it was easier and less trauma to the ball to unscrew the end cap holding the ink in before taking the ball off.  I now have three great balls of yarn ready to make into my Harry Potter bookscarf. (I’m on book 2. Just started tonite. The big question is - which will I finish first, the book or the bookscarf?)

I was looking for graph paper; and didn’t have any. I know there a million sites you can download it from, so I googled, and came up with this: http://www.mathematicshelpcentral.com/graph_paper.htm

Go down to the very bottom, and download the Graph Paper Printer. You can print almost any kind of graph paper, and knitter’s paper as well by just tweaking a few settings.

I love simple tools like this.

A friend of mine who lives in a different city has a friend who wants to learn how to knit. We’ve been perusing patterns to see what might qualify under the interesting category, but still not be too difficult for a beginner to accomplish.

We’ve also been talking about online resources that show different knitting techniques. I thought I would list some of them here.

Videos on more ‘advanced’ techniques like using DPNs: http://www.knittingatknoon.com/demos.html

Videos on some basic techniques like casting on, knitting/purling etc: http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/

(disclaimer: I have not actually viewed all of the videos at these sites)

The pattern wemost recently looked at to have friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) make: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/PATTponcho.html

Here are some resources on using charts: http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/beginners_guide.html

To get some knitter’s graph paper free, download and print this: http://www.brownfox.com/PDF/knitgraf.pdf

This site has not only knitter’s graph paper, but hex paper, and lots of other cool graph-type paper: http://www.incompetech.com/beta/plainGraphPaper/

Today I found this video showing how to do two color knitting and wrapping yarns as you go (without twisting the balls of yarn all up).

I rechecked my gauge on my sleeve. It’s quite a wide variety. Down towards the color pattern, it is 6 st/in (as it should be). As I get more towards the newly knit stitches, it’s 5.5 or 5.25 st/inch. AIGH! This means I have to use a smaller needle (and rip). Will this solve my ballooning sleeve problem? Would i have had this problem if I wasn’t switching ^&*($#^ needles every 2 inches in length? After I rip it out, and go down a needle size (which is really just .25mm total) will I then tighten up too much and get too many stitches per inch? Let’s hope not!