Blocking wires

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

I’ve got another Spindrift Shawl completed. Well, except for the blocking.

Why so knit another one so soon? Well, I wasn’t all that pleased with the colors of first one. One of the visiting twin granddaughters loves the rainbows and unicorns so I offered it to her at Thanksgiving. Well, I can’t give one twin something without giving the other one so I had knit another Spindrift Shawl for her. Only we’re calling them neck wraps instead of shawls. Nine-year-olds don’t wear shawls.

I blocked the other Spindrift with pins. Fun? Not.

I don’t have blocking wires to help with that process but understand how useful they are. Blocking wires are thin wires threaded through an edge stitch and making it easier to keep the edges straight during blocking, and allowing for fewer pins to shape the item. Here is an excellent article explaining how and why this is done.

I have another shawl in my queue that I’ll talk about another time. I’m not sure if I’ll knit any others later but I decided that want a set of flexible wires as they would be easier to store. And blocking wires can be used on other knitted items, too.

So, when you block your knitted or crocheted items do you use pins, straight blocking wires or flexible wires?

I remember now

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

The Bacardi Cardigan sweater is knit on circular needles though knit flat. The reason is so the color changes don’t have to start and end on the same edge. If the color you need is on the other side, just turn the work over and start knitting/purling from that edge. It can get tricky but it saves from weaving in hundreds of ends when finished. And weaving in cotton yarn has challenges quite different from wool. It’s slippery, doesn’t like to stay put and has a mind of its own.

I remember now why I put my Bacardi Cardi in hibernation. Besides having six balls of yarn attached to the needles…

…the edges are wonky.

Some areas are nubby and the yarn doesn’t want to lay flat.

And the tension is too tight or too loose in places.

I think I must…

…rip it

and start over.

One plus is that I do have the correct gauge with US #5 needles even though I did knit a swatch earlier, it was good to know that the swatch didn’t lie.

I found a few videos on making a better selvage edge while carrying several colors of yarn that might be helpful. I would need to add another stitch to each side but if it helps with that unevenness and bulk, it will be worth it:

This one is a great technique and is right to the point of what I was looking for.
Way #5 in this video. This is the same technique as above and begins at 8:51 but watch the entire video if you want other to see other methods.

I also asked the designer, Barbara Gregory, for suggestions. Her reply:

One suggestion for the edges is to occasionally work the first stitch of a row (preferably a row of a single color) with one of the yarns that is being carried up the edge. This stitch will not show once seaming and bands are completed, but it will anchor the carried yarn and help you to maintain the desired tension along that vertical edge.

My other thought regarding the edges is to do seaming and picking up of stitches for the band more than a single stitch in from the edge if necessary to get a clean edge.

So I’m ready to try this again!

Challenge

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Ravelry: “Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration.”

So I decided to set up my Ravelry Challenge by completing 12 projects this year but I don’t really have any specific things in mind. Except to finish my Bacardi Cardi begun in 2014. (You can find me here.)

Using as much of my own yarn stash to complete those projects is also part of my challenge. Maybe if I added all the stashed yarn to my Ravelry account, I’d be able to see what I have and what it can become. But that time consuming detail will be left for another day.

At least “most” of it is corralled in five super-large bins.

I need to dig out that Bacardi Cardi…