Knitting

Headbands

I have a new to me bulky knitting machine that has an issue with the carriage arm. I tried to straighten it out and it will work for a little while then it is back to bending the needle latches, not a good thing. I suspect that the carriage was maybe dropped or the arm stepped on because the steel is slightly bent in the centre and will not hold onto its revised shape when straightened out.

The machine was a great bargain so I got what I paid for. This is the situation where the Queen of Clearance has to step up and fix the problem. I had another carriage arm that fit and worked so I know that the issue is with that piece. Got to love ebay; another is on its way to me right now and the machine was still a great deal even with the added expense.

And now I finally come to the topic of today’s blog post. Since I had to test each time I worked on the carriage arm, I decided to make the yarn do something other than random swatches. Headbands with a twisted front seem to be a trend so I jumped on the wagon and made up a few.

They are very easy to make and, on the machine, very fast as well. I whipped up the pink one on Wednesday and the other four yesterday. The sewing up took longer than the knitting but it usually does with machine knits.

These would be very quick to hand knit as well and are a great way to use up those part skeins of worsted weight. You know the bag in the bottom of your closet where you put all of the bits that you can’t bear to throw out. Stripes are another way to use the smaller pieces. There are many patterns for these in both knit and crochet made in all weights and types of yarn. I think that something fuzzy knit or crocheted on a large needle or hook would be very appealing and warm with a built in cozy factor.

Thanks for looking and have a crafty cozy February week. Remember to pass the kindness along every chance that you get.

Knitting

Sock Blanks For Dying

I am a little late in posting this week as I didn’t have anything to show you until I spent some time on a bulky knitting machine yesterday. I think that I was able to accomplish so much more when I was employed!

As I have mentioned in the past, I am very interested in hand dying yarn. I posted a few photos of yarn that Robyn and I had dyed while we were experimenting with the process. I really love gradient yarn and wanted to see if I could dye some of my own that was truly gradient and not just striped in a gradient way.

I did a little research and it seems that sock blanks are the way to go. Before everything got so busy personally, I had machine knit up some blanks with merino and nylon sock yarn and one with dk wool. The top one is the sock and bottom dk. This is a great way to find any knots that you missed when winding by the way says she as the knitting hits the floor. I have since refined my winding technique!

Next question for me to figure out was how I could create gradients in multiple cakes that were very similar. I know all hand dyed yarn varies in colour but I wanted to be as close as possible. I had an aha moment and broke out my new to me bulky machine and played with knitting double or triple blanks.

All dyed at once in the same colours and spit up to rewind should work. Well the triple, see photo, was a little tough going but the double blank turned out really well.  Only one caveat on this; they are enormous!

Next time I hope to show you how my experiment turned out. Until then, happy week ahead and remember to be kind.