A Few Of My Favorite Things–Lotus Yarn and Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders

I might have mentioned that I love silk. I mean, really LOVE silk! I love how it feels and how it looks. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when we were able to start carrying Interlacement Yarns Lotus 100% silk. It’s shimmery and shiny and oh, so smooth!

And, of course, I just HAD to knit with it. All for you, my dear customers. All for you. The sacrifices I make for this business. But, someone must do it . . .

What pattern, though? I found the perfect one in Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders: Blossom Silk SeaCell Shawl. Of course, I used Lotus instead of the SeaSilk, but it was a perfect substitution. Lotus is a super-fine weight yarn with over 450 yards per 100 grams. The pattern is easy to follow and is written in both words and a chart. It is a rather simple pattern with only one chart to follow and no special stitches.

I highly recommend the Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonder book. It has many projects that are quick to work up and that only take one skein or even part of a skein. They’re perfect for that leftover yarn that’s in your stash or when you need a quick knit when you’re on a trip. While they’re written for luxury yarns, you can almost always find another yarn to substitute that will also give very nice results. But, hey, there’s always silk . . .

Oh, you want to know how the Blossom Shawl turned out? Well, beautifully! Of course, when it was finished, it looked like a big mess of knotted silk. I used lace wires while blocking which helped ensure that the edges that were supposed to be straight actually turned out straight. And the final product is gorgeous!!

 

So, get thee to The Knitting Nest to buy some of this gorgeous Lotus yarn! And we’ll help you find the perfect pattern for your needs – maybe even from Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders!

 

Knittin’ Large!!

What’s the largest size set of knitting needles you’ve used? I’ve been rather adventurous and used some size 21s to knit strips of blue jeans into an area rug and some 19s to knit T-shirt strips into another area rug.

That is nothing compared to what Patrick has been knitting recently, though! He has been making a “flag” using PVC pipe and strips of felt.

Here’s how it happened:

We bought bolts of red, white, and blue felt, and Patrick cut it into strips and then rolled the strips into balls.

Patrick made a gauge swatch (of course)

He then knit the flag from the bottom to the top in garter stitch.

 

The phrase “turn your work” took on new significance when the work became 20+ pounds of felt!

When he reached the section where the blue started, he used intarsia technique.

When he needed to join more “yarn”, he used a high tech knitting device – aka, a stapler!

Each night, he would hang the “flag” in the window so people could see how much progress he had made.

 

Finally, it was finished and he could bind off!

And this is the final appearance of the display window!!

What is the biggest size needle or most unusual fiber with which you’ve knit? How did your project turn out?

Why We Knit

I’ve written before about how knitting and other needlearts are about so much more than the crafts themselves. Let me tell you another story today.

One of our customers came in a few weeks ago looking for yarn and a pattern to make a hat for a dear friend who was about to undergo chemotherapy and likely to lose her hair. She loved the Delilah hat and wanted to make it for her friend, but she wanted to make it more appropriate for wearing indoors and to personalize it.

This customer made the hat using the Delilah pattern using Luscious yarn, just like our shop model. However, she chose to make the brim much smaller, making it a hat that’s easier to wear indoors.

What I really love about this hat, though, is the buttons. They are white heart-shaped buttons on which our customer wrote the names of people praying for her friend. In fact, she had to write on the backs of some of the buttons because there are more people praying than she had room for buttons! The buttons were then sewn on the base of the brim of the hat.

Knitting and crochet are fun crafts, but they can be so much more. When we put them in service of love and friendship, they are powerful tools for human connection.

 

Fiber Facts - Silk

When I was a beginning knitter and starting a new project, I generally used the yarn that was called for in the pattern and got good results. Being adventurous, though, I started pretty quickly to venture off the pattern and try using different yarns than what was recommended. Sometimes these experiments produced great results and other times, well, let's just say that a poncho that goes down to your feet makes a great blanket! During these experiments, I learned the importance of gauge - making sure that the yarn is the same size as what is called for in the pattern. I also learned the importance of choosing the right fiber. Some fibers are washable, others require a more gentle touch; Some fibers drape very well but other fibers tend to form a firmer fabric - you get the idea. I want to pass on some of the basics about fibers that can help you make good yarn choices.


Today we are going to talk about my favorite fiber: silk! It drapes beautifully, refracts the light in amazing ways, and just feels good on the skin. What else should you know about this fiber?


1. Silk fiber is harvested from the cocoons of the mulberry moth pupa (silkworms). The cocoons are cultivated to a certain stage of development, at which time they are treated with a combination of boiling and soapy water to help loosen the silk from the other material. The silk fibers are then unraveled by hand and processed to make fabric or yarn. Peace Silk, in which the pupa are not killed, is available, but at a significantly higher cost.


2. China is the highest producer of silk in the world today and is where the production of silk began.


3. Silk is shimmery because the fibers are a triangular shape, allowing the light to refract at different angles.


4. Silk has a strong tensile strength when dry, but it loses up to 20% of this strength when it become wet. This means that you have to be very careful when washing and blocking silk.

5. Silk is also not very elastic. When it stretches, it tends to stay stretched out.

6. Because silk is absorbent and light, it is a good warm-weather fiber. It is also good to wear close to the skin in cold weather because its low conductivity keeps warm air trapped.

7. Silk blends quite well with other fibers, particularly wool.

8. Silk drapes wonderfully. It is one of my favorite fibers for shawls.

9. Silk feels soft and smooth against the skin - again because of the smoothness of the fibers.

Enjoy your next adventure into the world of fiber! Now you have a little more information to help you make some good choice on that journey!



 

A Few of My Favorite Things–Now That’s a Market Bag

When summer comes, knitters sometimes put away the needles until fall, thinking that there’s not much fun to knit when it’s too hot for wool. Perish the thought! Summer is a great time to knit with cotton and it’s a great time for knitting accessories, particularly things like bags that can be used to tote things to and from the lake, cabin, or your favorite getaway.

This summer, I tried my hand at “Now That’s a Market Bag” from Knot Your Mama’s Knitting Patterns in Universal’s Cotton Supreme (100% cotton) Brown. The pattern is well-written and easy to follow. The most difficult thing to handle is the provisional cast-on at the beginning, but the explanation given in the pattern is very clear.

This was my first time using Universal’s Cotton Supreme and I was pleasantly surprised by how soft a hand it has. In fact, I think this yarn is probably better suited to garments than I had expected. Nonetheless, it made a lovely market bag.

 

Lagniappe–June 17, 2012

I am originally from the South. My extended family is from Mississippi and Louisiana, but I grew up in Florida, which explains why I don’t have a Southern accent. Nonetheless, I have a few Southernisms – I refuse to give up the word “ya’ll” (it’s incredibly useful) and I love the word “lagniappe” which I picked up during my years in Baton Rouge at LSU and New Orleans at Tulane Med School. Lagniappe means “a little extra” or “a bonus”. That’s what today’s post is – some lagniappe, little extras for you.

• Patrick and I met with the rep from Interlacement Yarns yesterday morning. Oh. My. Goodness. So many beautiful yarns!! Right now, we’re going to start with the Lotus, a 100% silk lace weight yarn that comes in a 500 yard skein, which is perfect for that warm weather shawl project. That yarn should be in the shop in a week or so!

• I have become a hat fiend! I agreed to make a couple of hats for a couple of friends of a friend who are both undergoing chemotherapy and I loved them so much that I’m working on another by the same designer. The first two were Inishmore by Cheryl Andrews (see earlier blog post) and my current work in progress is Picadilly, also by Cheryl Andrews. She has several other hat patterns that I love, so I may end up making even more hats! In any case, you can purchase the patterns at The Knitting Nest through Ravelry In-Store pattern sales and we can help you find the perfect yarn.

• Yarn bowls! Check out our Facebook page for pictures of some of our yarn bowls. We have two potters currently making yarn bowls for our shop. I have one at home that I’m using and I LOVE it!

• Knitting needles and shawl pins! Patrick is getting really good at turning these on the lathe. Again, pictures are on the Facebook page and Patrick updates these pretty regularly. Some needles have glass beads that are made by a local glass artist at Blessings Glassworks!

• On a personal note, I’m getting Botox tomorrow for my migraines. So, for the next three months, I won’t be able to raise my eyebrows or wiggle my ears. Actually, I can’t wiggle my ears right now, so that’s a moot point. But, when I had Botox 6 or 7 years ago, my kids had a blast with the fact that I couldn’t raise my eyebrows. Stop in the shop sometime and say something outrageous and get a laugh out of the fact that I can’t raise my eyebrows at you! Or not. You can just stop by and check out the new merchandise and sit and knit a spell (there’s those Southern roots coming out!)!

 

A Few of My Favorite Things - English Driving Cap

I just finished my second English Driving Cap using the pattern Inishmore by Cheryl Andrews of Wooly Bear Knits. I chose this pattern because these hats are for some ladies who need chemo caps and they wanted this style of hat. I liked also that this design doesn’t require anything in the brim for extra stabilization.

The first hat is made from Universal Cotton Supreme (100% cotton) in Ecru. The second is out of Cascade Sierra (80% cotton, 20% wool) in Plum. The pattern says that it is for experienced knitters because it is challenging. I would have to agree. There are no difficult stitches, but keeping up with the short rows as well as knitting such an “architectural” item requires experience in reading patterns and close attention. Even with that, I had to “tink” and “frog” sections at times. I don’t want to discourage you from trying it, though! It is quite rewarding when you are done! And now that I’ve made two of them and I’m about to make a third (for myself), I’m happy to help if you get stuck.

Both the yarn and the pattern (as well as needles and notions) can be purchased from The Knitting Nest in Weyauwega. Stop in and check us out!