half way there ...

mmmm yes, a mitten, half a pair, so half way there. Today there was near darkness as I went to work at 8:15 am, and darkness as I bussed home at 5:30 pm, so very limited opportunities for quality photos. I forget to pack the knitting to photograph in daylight at work. I've worked a little more on my alpaca cardigan, and spun a little more. I realise today I have both process and product knitting, usually my work is far more on the process, I know I can knit some ugly things just because they involve an interesting or challenging technique. At least I know that about my knitting.


So .... my mitten is done, finished early last night and worn and admired. I loooove this twined fabric, firm, thick, squishy in a firm way, elastic by again firm. I'm not so sure I love the actual knitting - but like any new technique it takes time to become proficient and for it to be easy.

I always post my videos on u-tube, and some one responded to the twined knitting video with the simple but puzzled query - 'why do you do twined knitting'. How on earth do you answer that? Its not as simple as 'because I can', but perhaps more along the lines of 'because I read about it and it sounded interesting'. Ok, we all know that puts me firmly in the world of the knitting geek. I freely admit to being a technique focussed knitter, and when shown a new technique - well I just want to give it a try, and possibly add it to my technique tool box.

But back to talking about the mitten, I decreased the end of the mitten and grafted the top, picked up the waiting thumb stitches and knit the thumb. I used a decrease for the thumb that matched that of the top of the mitten, decreased at the edges and grafted closed. Odd, as usually patterns I've used have a more round thumb decrease, but this works nicely.

So this is what the mitten looks like, all it needs now is a mate. We have had one slight frost so far, but no real sign of winter. The mornings are chilly, a message that winter is coming, and so I will knit another mitten to complete the pair, just so I can wear them.

and a closer view of the twined knitted fabric, see how the stitches lift a little on the left side? I think that is the result of the twisting pulling the right side of the stitch down snug. I can see how those who take such things seriously could feel stranding is not the same as twining.

and finally - some progress on my tangled yoke cardigan, slow progress as I'm knitting in finner yarn that that specified. Look - nearly 16 cm, of the 19 cm required! Nearly there, and then ..... stocking stitch ... flat! This is a real product knit, where it is the cardigan I want and the process is to be endured.

Our local knitters night has found itself a name - Take back the knit. Do you like it? Thats tomorrow night, and I've got the local guild monthly meeting Saturday, so time to knit a few more cm's on my rib. I do need to cast on for the second mitten - but that requires focused time, and is not a social activity.

Tvåändsstickning - holding those twisty yarns

Today - a quick short post, a video showing the more efficient hold for twined knitting. I developed this method based on a few photos in an article in an Threads book, Knitting around the world. The article is 'Swedish two-stranded knitting' by Linda D Y Sokalski. I inter-loaned a copy through my local library - then found several of my knitting group had copies.




and thanks for nice messages last post, its been a sad few days, and I expect there will be more sadness to come. My colleague is some one I first co-taught papers with 8 years ago, and who I watched as she completed her masters. She is some one with whom I have had many many process vs product discussions centered on student work. She has an arts background and I a science one, together we found that the same things were important in our students work.

Take care - I'm still twining away on my mittens, and I promise progress images next time.
Stella

Nope - dark chocolate can't fix this,

Some small things, and an incredibly sad thing. I'm back at work, after having a few days at home to rest and get better. No point coughing all over the students and fellow staff is there? And - yes I'm sad, some one is moving into a hospice, and its sad, no other word for it, to describe knowing a life ends soon. Sad. No its not family, but a colleague who I admire and who has such a healthy respectful human attitude to students and peers that I'll miss her already. Please excuse me while I feel a little dark and blue about the whole thing - Friday there is a small function (at her request) to say goodbye - and just between you me and a big box of tissues --- frankly, I'm gonna be a mess. There are a few things in this world I've found to my dismay that even the darkest of dark chocolate can't fix, and this my friends, appears to be one of them.

So I'll avoid the issue for now by talking about the knitting, my Salto sock project continues, I've worked the heel on sock two, and un-worked, or frogged the toe on sock one. Sock one is now just sitting and waiting for me to knit sock two to the same length, and then I'll finish the two together. Remember sock 1 ended up being a little to long and needed trimming? And there might be an issue of not enough yarn - but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.



And my twined mitt? Well I've knit up to the thumb and even managed to add a line of crook stitches to delineate the thumb/palm line. I was so proud of myself, early in the line if you look really close you can see where I messed up, before I learned to read the twine chain and predict if the row should be k1 p1 k1 or p1 k1 p1.



And the increases? Well twined increases are a doddle, is that a word unique to New Zealand or is it in common use world wide. Here is means easy-as, or not-difficult. So to increase in twined knitting, one knits into the stitch first with one strand, and then twists the other strand over and knits into the same stitch - an easy increase, 2 stitches where once there were one. I chose to work this mitten with all the increases on one side of the thumb gusset, why? Because I'd never seen that done before and it was one of the 4 thumb shaping options in the book. I like the result, especially the way the stitches angle away from the body of the mitten so sharply.


And for all of you who think my knitting is well nigh perfect, well its not and here is some of the proof, I have not mastered twining over the gap of the dpn needles. And some where in the muddle I think I goofed the aligning of the knits and purls, something is not right here, and its not the begining of the round so I can't blame that. Wanna know the worst part - its the center back of the mitten, and I could have shifted the gusset around to hide this on the palm - but I didn't think of that till afterwards. Still I'm thinking of this as my 'learning' mitten.



And I'll leave you with my progress so far. I'm trying something new, I've got the thumb stitches strung on a waste yarn just waiting. But this time I strung the 2 stitches either side of the stitches on hold as well - maybe it will stop those on the waste yarn pulling a little hole in my work? Of course with the twining - its so dense it probably won't form a hole anyway. Notice this knitting stands on its own!

Stella

My head is full of wool

Cotton wool, the kind that comes with a head cold, and snuffles, and husky voice. Now you would think a head full of wool would be ideal for a knitter and newbie spinner - but no, it isn't. and here it is winter, complete with hail, and snow, and ice and sleet. That all began Friday, and we were lucky to get out of Dunedin, two of the knitting campers didn't make it, they left late on Friday and were advised not to travel on the northern motorway due to ice-y conditions. But we left earlier in the day, and so Friday I went to knitting camp, with my box of tissues and knitting basket not knowing this was a real cold not just a case of the sniffles. Once I knew I tried my best not to contaminate any one. Don't worry, I was careful and didn't handle any body's food (I cleared plates into the dishwasher after they ate, I'm working on the principle the hot water and harsh chemical detergent kills all in its path), and I wasn't coughing at camp, that started after I returned home. And best of all, apparently I didn't snore (a great relief when room sharing - I don't think I snore, but with the cold and all - it is always a worry). Spouses can't always be relied on to answer that one truthfully.

So by end of day one, I had this little pile to show. First up was the orange and green swatch, 2mm needles - and I don't know how many stitches, but cast on number 1. White swatch, again 2mm needles and cast on number 2, a really cute little chain on the right side of the work. The larger grey swatch was my gauge swatch, as I worked out how many stitches for a mitten. I cast on 60, nope not gonna fit. This twining is not difficult, but is tricky and not as easy as ordinary knitting, so I wasn't intending to knit mittens that didn't fit and end up as gifts for someone who didn't recognise the amount of effort a twined mitten or two take. I switched ot 2.25mm needles, nope still not big enough, so I increased to 72 stitches and twined some more. About right - the Goldilocks principle, not to big, not to small. Some of these even measure 2.5 inches across!


Start of day two I cast on my mitten, and work the twined chain bands and the colour work section, latter that night at home I finished the colour work and today between coughing fits worked a little more on my mitten. This twining is slow knitting. It is knit with two yarns, usually the two ends from a center pull ball, and every stitch the yarn is twisted. The result is a smooth, elastic, firm, and quite squoooshy knit fabric that is very very dense. We discussed the reasons for twining, one book says it is more elastic than pure stranding, we also thought it was more cushion-y and would wear better. Any holes wouldn't ravel, with the yarns held firm with all the twining. We also discussed how in some European cultures brides had to knit many gloves and mittens as gifts for their in-laws. What an excuse not to say yes to a man you didn't like, "I can't marry you, I've not finished knitting my mittens yet" so much more polite than "I just don't fancy you", twining is time consuming - perhaps it was invented to delay the prospects of marriage?


And this is the inner side of my mitten, showing the twining. The reverse of the knitting really does look different. I started off twining the colour-work, but soon reverted to plain old stranding.

So I'm off to knit some more, maybe, and rest a little and have an early night. You take care.
Stella

Added after posting so a post script : my twining videos are here, here, and here, and I've worked out a smoother hold for the yarns so I'll do an update as soon as my camera bear allows, and a photo tutorial or two here.