A Twist in My Plan

I'm working on writing up the pattern for Countess Cathleen, my hooded cabled cloak. But of course I need a project on the needles, so I started on my next design, Cherish the Ladies. This will be a large cable and twisted stitch patterned wrap with knit-as-you-go fringe and bead accents. 

The easiest way to work twisted stitch patterns is in the round. I don't know about you, but I find cabling on wrong side rows a complete PitA. My solution is to add a steek section, which will be unraveled after it's cut to create the fringe (ta da!) allows me all the ease of knitting in the round and still end up with a flat wrap. 

There is one problem with adding a steek section and knitting in the round: the dreaded "join, being careful not to twist" with such a large number of stitches. I won't lie: to get the design just how I wanted it, plus the steek section, resulted in a cast-on of 631 stitches.

That's not a typo. 631 stitches in sport weight wool on a 3.5mm/US 4 circular needle. 

(Did I happen to mention this is my Year of Going For It? 😂 Just wait! I have more to come!)

Anyway, I got it cast-on...

and all was going well... until somewhere along in round 4 when I straightened out a lot of the knitting and discovered The Twist:

Fiber friends, I could've cried. I actually had to walk away from it for a few days, and work on some personal projects instead.

I'm in the midst of casting on again, using a trick I found online somewhere. While casting on, weave a piece of ribbon into the cast-on every so many stitches; I like using 20 but 10 or whatever number fits your pattern repeat is also good.

How does this help? It makes seeing the twist easier because the ribbon contrasts with the stitches, where the stitches against more stitches of the same color is harder to find. Especially for those of us whose eyes are a little older 😉

So that's where things at KDRD headquarters (ie the couch in my living room) are right now. Hopefully I'll have in progress pictures to share with you soon.

What are you working on, fiber friends?

Yours in yarn, and one very long cast-on,

Síle

Beginnings & Endings

To begin: I'm nearly over, and very much done with, a nasty sinus cold that invaded my ne'er-do-well head cavities last Monday. Thankfully it wasn't anything worse, but as someone whose colds tend to turn into sinusitis it was bad enough.

And of course nearly over means I have some lingering bits of it. Like the cough that woke me up far too early on a Sunday. I really dislike waking up feeling like I'm choking. Add in that it's Sunday is insult on top of misery. 

Once awake, it can be hard for me to return to sleep, especially if pre-sleep I was pondering some interesting little yarny puzzle or another. Thankfully there is yarn in my room. Sadly, at the moment the only free needles I had to hand were the 6.0mm (US 10) monstrosities I bought a few years ago to knit a quick blanket for an erstwhile relative. I learned that bulky yarn and thick needles make my hands throb and turn interesting shades of red; I don't recommend the experience!

I digress. 

With the plastic vampire stakes and a ball of unlabelled but seemingly worsted weight, maybe heavier, yarn I casted on enough stitches to try what I had been pondering. I give you the first 9 rows:

The cables are doing what I expected. I don't care for the fuzziness of the yarn but it was the best option with these needles. What I don't like is that weird canyon between the cast-on and the rest of the piece. Luckily this is just a "try it with what's on hand" thing that I planned on frogging anyway.

Of course that canyon put me in mind of how we begin a project. I mean quite literally. The cast-on. 

Chances are you, like me and the seemingly majority of knitters, go with your first learned cast-on as your default. For me that's the cable cast-on; how appropriate is that for someone who loves to knit cables? And it works pretty well for me other than times that the needles are too big for the yarn, and I'm not really as awake as I should be when casting on. Like this morning! 

But as I worked on this little bit that might become part of something larger, I began to ponder cast-ons, and how a large number of us stick to a few, most notably the first one we learned. Do you rely on the same tried-and-true cast-on for most times you need to start something? When do you change it up and go with your second choice option? 

I find it interesting to think of such things when the cats are snoring and everything is only semi-light and I find myself knitting in bed without my glasses on.

Cast-ons turned my mind to cast-offs. It's always exciting to finish a project, isn't it? The mystery knit-along of my Practice Makes Perfect🔗 (link stays on this site) scarf is nearing its cast-off! I'll be releasing the final Step on Tuesday (November 1st), and the intrepid knitters have until November 15th to post photos of their completed scarves to be eligible for the prize draw. I'll be random generating a winner of the prize pack I put together this summer on November 16th.

What's in the prize pack? Some lovely goodies! Take a look:

What do I have for the lucky knitter? First off, a hank of Windswept Fibres' Best Kind BFL Sock yarn (75% superwash BFL wool/25% nylon; 425 yards/400 metres = 100g) in their Limited Edition colorway "Come Home 2022". I just love the bright colors sun n this so much! And Windswept Fibres is from right here on the island of Newfoundland too. A little piece of my home going to the winner.

I'm sure you can tell the two other parts of the prize are stitch markers but you'd probably like to see them a bit better. I'll go left to right. So here's the first set:

These I ordered via the Etsy store of The Knitting Bag PEI🔗 (link goes to Etsy); an Atlantic Canadian neighbor! I wanted to find something to tie knitting and Irish dance together. I didn't quite get the dance part but I definitely got the knitting and Irish in! I like that this set isn't all matchy-matchy and comes with a lobster-claw progress keeper along with the 5 standard ring markers.

And these are just cute, and once again from close by:

What are they? Newfoundland mummers! This adorable set of 4 markers features little figures dressed in their plaid flannel-look pajamas, with yellow or green mittens on their feet, and pillowcases with eyeholes cut out over their heads! And no, they're not for Halloween. Mummering is an old Yuletide tradition from the bays and outport communities of this wondrous island. Let me link the video for Simani's (pronounced sim an eye) "The Mummers Song"🔗 (link goes to Youtube) for you to get a feel for what mummering in Newfoundland is about. These cuties were made by Dawn's Creations, and if I'm remembering right she's from near St. John's. I ordered them through Cast On! Cast Off! just before the yarn store relocated from St. John's to Triton, Newfoundland. COCO is also where I ordered the hank of Windswept Fibres yarn from. You can find at COCO at their website here🔗.

So that's the little package the winner of the random draw of finished scarves will get in their mailbox. Oh, and a card with a local scene, and a quick congratulatory note from me. I can't send a parcel without a note! I think that'll bring my little mystery knit along to a close nicely. 

Speaking of endings, October is done tomorrow! Where has this year gone?! Before you know it, it'll be New Year's Eve!

But wait, there's a little beginning before we get to that ending. You've heard me mention the Fasten Off Yarn A Long before. And I'm happy to say the gang is back together for 2022! 

We're already gathering ideas and going over last year's feedback to put on year 3 of the little craft along that could. I can tell you things will kick off on November 25th, and run through every conceivable hour of December 31st. If you took part in last year's New Year's Eve Boonanza, you know I mean that quite literally! Designer signups will be coming soon, so if you want all the details be sure you're signed up for the emails; you can do that at this link🔗.

I have one other beginning that's sort of an ending. My Hornpipe Bag pattern is just awaiting photos before its November release. Yes, really! Between a wedding, birthdays, illness, musicals, and bad weather, it seems everything has been set upon hampering the photography of this one! But we (that is, me and my trusty photographer) shall prevail! And I have a self-imposed deadline: the pattern will be out before designer sign-ups for FOYAL start. Watch this space for the exact date! That will bring my year's new releases to a close.

Want to know what else is starting to close? My eyes. I think I'll end this to post, and begin a morning nap 😉

Yours in yarn and a warm fleece blanket with two cats,

Síle

P.S. I wasn't kidding about the fleece blanket, or the cats:

August & Hockey: does not compute

This year is definitely one for the history books. Saturday night, August the 1st mind you, I watched a hockey game. A pro, NHL, game. In August. If that's not a sign that things are off kilter, I really don't what is.

It's 27℃, 32℃ with the humidity factored in, and I'm pondering my next cast ons. I want to restart my next design, the Hornpipe Bag, and I'm debating a top for myself. Debating between two patterns and color palettes that is. One is a gorgeous summer top but the only yarn I have in the right weight and quantity is a bright red. Bright red and my already tomato-esque cheeks lead to no where flattering. The other is a sweater, written with ¾ length sleeves that I will be making shorter, with (for my size) four textured bands of different colors, that I've chosen from teal and green shades of stash, at the yoke and then a very straightforward plain body. I have a really nice (neutral! No one faint!) charcoal shade for the main color.

You can tell which one I'm leaning towards, can't you?

You're more interested in the Hornpipe Bag? Of course I'd love to tell you about it!

I'm not sure if you know this, but the most common time signature for hornpipes is 2/4. Another odd one! So I decided that since the slip jig pattern became lace to denote its difference from the "normal" jigs, the hornpipe design could definitely be something other than cables too. 2/4? 2/4? What if the 2 were two colors? I confess, I'm not very good at stranded colorwork. But I am fairly competent at double-knitting (see my pattern Rínce Fada; it even has cables!). And more importantly, I really enjoy it. 

I had decided fairly early on the hornpipe design would be a bag. I got the idea of a bag for one's ghillies, or perhaps small projects, into my head. A drawstring bag seemed the right thing. How to make it though? Knit in the round, insert eyelets near the top to thread the drawstrings through, seam the bottom, done? Or some way else? You'll have to wait and see! I can tell you, I'm constructing it in such a way that it will be completely reversible in keeping with the double-knitting.

And there will be at least one new technique for you to learn! I'll be including a photo tutorial section at the end of the pattern to guide you through three techniques I use, two that you've probably come across before but the other I sort of unvented and then looked to see if anyone else had used it. I didn't find it anywhere. So I'm fairly sure you won't have seen it/tried it before. 

I hope this Monday is treating you well. Are you starting the week off with a new project? Getting close to finishing one? I'd love to hear about your project(s).

Yours in yarn and trebles,

Síle

Crochet Cast-on: not just provisional

Most often used as a provisional cast-on, I use the crochet cast-on a lot with any garter stitch based patterns I knit. I like how it matches the standard cast off and also how it fits nicely with the fabric. I've specifically used it for a few of my own patterns, in particular Slip Jig Scarf (released February 2019), as well as the upcoming Slip Jig Shawl, and Hornpipe Bag.

To give it a try you'll need the following:

• about 5-10 yds of single colored yarn

• appropriate needles for your yarn weight

• a crochet hook at least one size smaller than your knitting needles

I'm using a worsted weight yarn with a 4.5mm/US 7 circular needle and a 4.0mm/US 6/E crochet hook in the photos.

1 Make a slip knot and place it on the crochet hook. Hold the crochet hook in front of the knitting needle and the yarn behind the needle. Sort of a knitting needle sandwich.

2 Wrap the yarn around the hook and pull it down through the slip knot.

That's one stitch on the needle.

3 Continue adding sts in this manner. That is: hook in front of the needle and yarn behind the needle, wrap the yarn around the hook and pull down through the loop on the hook.

Here you see 7 stitches on the needle, the 8th about to be added. Continue until you have 1 less stitch than needed for your cast on. In my example, I needed 23 stitches total, so I continued until I had 22 stitches on the needle.

4 Transfer the loop from the hook to the needle…

5 And voila! Your cast-on is complete.

To continue your project, start knitting at the first row of your pattern.

As you can see, the cast-on blends nicely with the garter stitch fabric. 

This cast-on can be used with any pattern that doesn't call for a specific cast-on.

I hope this photo tutorial was helpful to you. If you have any questions or comments, please enter them below or I can be reached through the contact form in the sidebar.