This Is For Candy...

I will do just about anything for dark chocolate, no not really, but I do have a real weakness for it. Some kind, diabolical person filled a gift box with Hershey miniature candy bars and left it on the group table at Wooly Wonders yarn shop, where I work, over the holidays. I did my part in trying to find all the dark chocolate minis. I have enough guilt that I probably should replenish the stash, of course that means there will be more chocolates to snack on during WOW (weaving on Wednesdays) and when I work. But I digress.

Candy was actually my art supervisor in my former life as a Clark Co. Middle School art teacher. We’ve since both moved on to other things but run into each other occasionally. We have found in each other a kindred spirit--someone who like to knit during football games. So for the past few years we have both brought our knitting to the same Super Bowl party.

This year I ran across Candy at a holiday party just before semester break. Sorry to say, I talked her ear off. I told her about some of the websites that I found in the holiday issue of Vogue Knitting that I mentioned in my last blog entry. I also mentioned a knitted scarf pattern that my son had found for me on a craft magazine website, craftzine.com. I promised to pass the pattern and the websites to Candy as she handed me her business card with her email address.

Don’t they say that “the way to Hell is paved with good intentions”? When we got back from Salt Lake City Dec. 31, after helping Carlee and Tom get settled, I noticed Candy’s business card laying on my computer desk! The great procrastinator had forgotten to send the promised items to Candy before we left for SLC. Yuck.

So to make amends I’m going to try describe the scarf and illustrate the stitches used in the scarf pattern I promised to send Candy. I found I didn’t know how to do the stitches and had to ask Joyce the owner of Wooly Wonders to show me how to do them.

So for the rest of the blog I’ll concentrate on the directions of the herringbone scarf, which is not difficult once you know the two basic stitches (where have you heard that before--but it’s really true.)

This is the blog entry that my son passed onto me via craftzine.com:
My So Called Scarf - October 26, 2004
I was wearing this scarf over the weekend while I was at the Knit Out in Boulder, and I got a number of comments and requests for the pattern. Here’s the story behind the scarf. A couple of years ago I was in San Francisco and happened on the yarn shop, Imagiknit. What a fun shop! The owners, Allison and Sara, are so personable and helpful. I would recommend stopping in if you are in the Bay area anytime soon! There were a ton of scarves knit up on a rack as samples, and that’s where I spied this lovely one. I had never seen Manos Del Uruguay before and fell in love with this colorway, it’s color 113 (they are calling it wildflowers). The scarf pattern came with the yarn, one of the shop girls had typed it up. Now, every time I wear it, someone comments on it and I’ve been asked so many times for the pattern that I finally called the store and asked if I could give it out. They just laughed and told me that they appreciated the call, but that it was just a stitch pattern out of a pattern book and that I could distribute it at will. Thanks Imagiknit ladies! So here it is:
Materials: 2 Skeins of Manos del Uruguay; US #11 Needles; Darning Needle
Glossary: psso=pass slipped stitch over; P2tog=purl 2 together
[CO=cast on; BO=bind off (I added these items]
Instructions:
-CO 30 Stitches.
-Row 1: K1, *sl 1, K1, psso but before dropping the slipped stitch from the left needle, knit into the back of it* repeat until there is one stitch left, K1.
-Row 2: *P2tog, do not slip stitches off the needle, purl the first stitch again, slip both stitches off needle*
-Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you run out of yarn.
-BO. *Weave in all ends. Wear proudly! Posted by Stacey at October 26, 2004
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I looked through a bunch of my knitting pattern books and the only one with this pattern was “365 Knitting Stitches a Year - Perpetual Calendar” (2002) by Martingale and Company on the October 30 page. The wording was slightly different, I’m sure to avoid copyright infringement, but the technique was the same. It’s called a horizontal herringbone stitch in this calendar.

I tried knitting the pattern with some Manos del Uruguay I had in my stash, but the colors were very dark and the variations in the thickness of the yarn were too much. Sometimes the strand was as thin as thread, and it was hard to keep track of the stitches, so I switched yarns. I’m now using Kaya by Crystal Palace Yarns 100% wool, color 0108. It’s a two ply, variegated yarn in a ball of 65 yards recommended for a 10.5 - 11 US needle. Since it’s not a thick ’n thin yarn I’ve been much happier knitting with it. My scarf measures on the needles between 6.5 and 7”, and I’m kind of a tight knitter especially with this pattern. A skein of Manos del Uruguay is about 138 yards, so “My So Called Scarf” takes about 276 yards, which is a generous amount for a scarf, partly because of the stitch which almost creates a double thickness with the crossover stitches.

Other chunky yarns which could be used with this pattern perhaps using a size #13 needle would be Berroco’s Hip Hop, 100% wool skein of 76 yards, and cast on 2-4 less stitches. Another yarn might be Nashua’s Painted Forest, 100% wool with 55 yards a ball. A third yarn you might use is Cascade Yarns’ Nikki which comes in some beautiful colorways. Like Manos del Uruguay and Hip Hop, it’s a thick ‘n thin yarn of 100% wool but the skeins are larger at 110 yards. I’d probably figure 250-275 yards at a #13 needle, so 4 skeins of Hip Hop and 5 balls of Nashua would probably work. Depending on how wide and how long you want your scarf you could get by with 2 or 3 skeins of Nikki.

Because the technique produces a tighter fabric, whichever yarn you decide to use I recommend going up two needle sizes to get a scarf fabric that isn’t stiff and too tight. The label on the Manos del Uruguay recommends needles US 8-10 and the yarn does look thinner than Hip Hop and Nashua.

Other Needle Sizes and Yarns
I’m also trying the pattern out with smaller needle sizes. Generally, to make changes to the scarf directions keep in mind the total stitches cast on must be an even number. For my own sanity I like to make the number of cast on stitches a round number as it’s easier to remember. A person could hand a tag on the cast on yarn tail with the number of cast on stitches on it. If you’re working on more than one project at a time a reminder helps. Or put two knots in the yarn tail to stand for twenty stitches, or three knots to stand for thirty stitches, etc. As a senior my “hard drive” sometimes reaches overload, so I try these tricks to cut down on my frustrations.

As I mentioned before when you pick a yarn, use knitting needles two sizes up from the size usually used with that yarn. The rest of your decisions are figuring how many stitches to cast on for the desired width, and how long to make the scarf.

Right now I’m using size #10 needles with Noro’s Silk Garden with 38 stitches which produced approximately a 7 ¼” wide scarf. I’m also working on #8 needles with Noro’s Silk Garden Sock Yarn with 40 stitches on a scarf that is about 6 ¼” wide. This one is only about an inch long as I tore it out to move up a needle size, so the width might not be too accurate.


The knitting needles I’ve been using are Serendipity Needles birch needles with polymer clay finials (ends). They’re a specialty item that we sell at Wooly Wonders that are great for gifts. I bought a pair to take on a cruise because they were so cute, but I really liked knitting with their sharp points. So I’ve gotten some more needles in other sizes.

It’s been kind of fun trying different yarns with different needle sizes to see what the pattern will look like after a couple of inches. Of course the larger the needles the faster the scarf develops and the lesser the amount of yarn used.
Next Post: How the stitches are worked.

Visiting LYS and Gathering Ads - Part 3

The last ad that I collected was from Gail Knit’s on 9012 W. Sahara Ave. This has been the shop’s new location for about a year, and is located right on Sahara between the major streets of Durango and Buffalo, about 8 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.

I don’t get to Gail Knit’s too often as it is close to 20 miles from my home, and it is usually an expensive trip when I go. This trip was no exception. I did have a nice visit with Gail, the owner. And she did renew her ad with the guild newsletter, which is always good news.

This visit to Gail Knit’s I took my completed woven vest, which I finished earlier this summer. I wanted to show it to Gail as I had bought some of the yarn for the fabric at her store. I combined Colinette Jitterbug, a variegated fingering weight yarn in greens and blue with a fleck of red and yellow with a dark aqua Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold. Below is a close up of the fabric.

In return Gail showed me a jacket she was knitting in black with a double seed stitch, edged in a red, rolled stockinet binding. The style of the jacket reminded me of Coco Chanel’s square cut designs. It was very striking.

Looking around the store you’ll see that Gail Knit’s has a large button collection, besides Trendsetter, Prism, Cascade, and Classic Elite yarns, among others. As you can see in this photo of my purchases, besides a knitting book I hadn’t seen before, "Skein for Skein" by Cheryl Potter published by Martingale and Co., I took home some Silky Alpaca Lace yarn by Classic Elite and more Colinette Jitterbug in two different color ways since the other yarn worked out so well in my vest. Visiting yarn shops to collect guild ads is really a nice past time, but it’s a good thing that it only come around once a year. Of course, having more self discipline wouldn’t hurt either.

Visiting LYS and Gathering Ads - Part 2

The second ad I collected for the guild newsletter was at Wooly Wonders, where I work and sometimes give weaving lessons. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t any trouble getting the ad renewed. Wooly Wonders has been at it’s present small shopping mall location for ten years. It’s located at 3421 E. Tropicana Ave. on the corner of Tropicana and Pecos, about 4 miles east of the Las Vegas Strip. Joyce has been the present owner for about seven years recently expanding its inventory to cover supplies for knitting, crocheting, weaving and spinning.


The one thing I like about being in a yarn store is the great variety of color and textures that hits you as soon as you enter the shop. Joyce has a new selection of T’ika cotton yarns from Mirasol yarns, and some interesting yarns from fibra natura. She also carries a large selection of Debbie Bliss, Berroco and Cascade yarns among several others.

The backroom of the shop has supplies for weavers and spinners. Besides several spinning wheels, dyes, cones of weaving yarn and carpet warp, there are shelves full of small bags of colored roving waiting for felters and spinners.

Groups meets on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings and Saturdays for open knitting and crocheting, while the WOW! Group meets Wednesday mornings for Weaving. Spinners meet the second and fourth Wednesday evenings for open spinning so the shop sees plenty of action during and after hours. Beginning weaving lessons on a 4 shaft loom will be starting Monday evening, October 20, as soon as the teacher gets back from a cruise. The teacher should be well rested.


For the past four years I’ve been teaching beginning weaving lessons on a frame loom, one I make for the students, and beginning weaving on the rigid heddle loom. But this fall I decided to take a sabbatical from teaching and do some other things for a change, some more weaving and sewing for instance. Here is a picture of the frame loom that I use in the beginning classes, taken a couple of years ago.

Because our WOW! Group meets here weekly for weaving get togethers on Wednesdays, I'll be frequently be updating what's going on at Wooly Wonders. If you're in town come join us.

Visiting LYS and Gathering Ads - Part 1

The past couple of weeks I’ve been visiting a few of our local yarn shops to sell ads for our fiber arts guild’s newsletter. The first shop I visited was the newest knitting shop in the LV valley, Knit Las Vegas. It’s located at 10740 S. Eastern Ave. in Henderson, NV 89052, on the corner of Eastern and Horizon Ridge.



Christine, the owner, is a friendly, vivacious woman that I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about in the future. She is a great supporter of the guild as she took out a half page ad in our newsletter for the year! She is a great advocate of crochet, although she does knit too and the shop is stocked with lots of yarns and threads to satisfy both types of crafter’s appetites.



Presently Christine is in the midst of creating garments that are a combination of crochet and knit for a forthcoming book. She had just finished a gorgeous piece that was on the mannequin in the store. Here is a sneak preview of the piece, front and rear views. The square motifs were crocheted out of Noro sock yarn and the knitted sections were done with Southwest Trading Company’s Jezebel. I found myself drooling over the various examples that Christine was showing me. Her use of crochet, combined with knit, was winning me over. It was really refreshing to see a new approach to crocheted garments that was appealing to my sense of touch. In the past crocheted fabric has always struck me as being too stiff, and drab.

Knit Las Vegas is the closest of all the shops to my house, so it wasn’t my first visit, so I had to cruise the yarn aisles. And, of course, I didn’t leave the store empty handed. There is a nice selection of Karabella yarns, Artyarns, Cascade yarns, among lots of others. I bought some Karabella Cable 5 to use as warp, they have such nice jewel tones. I also bought some Artyarn Regal Silk to knit a shawl pattern, my first.

The knitting of that shawl pattern is going pretty badly, and I think I’ll have to back off and try a simpler design. I hate to admit defeat on a pattern, that that’s the way it goes. I just don’t have the experience with shawl knitting yet, and I think I have to sit down and concentrate more. I’m too easily distracted, and it’s something you can’t do and try and watch TV at the same time. Besides the Regal Silk is too pricey to mess up with, I’d rather come back to it when I think I can handle the pattern.

We’ll have to keep Christine and her crochet/knit projects in the back of our minds and see what she comes up with next. She was working on a herringbone knitted piece that really looked like a basket weave. I like to see that piece when it’s further along.