Needles & hooks

Twisted Magic Loop

I’m back to working on the sock yarn gloves again and yesterday was sunny, so I was able to take a few photos to illustrate my magic loop technique.

When you do normal magic loop, the loops that come out of the ends of your knitting are open. The tendency of the circular cable to open up puts a strain on those stitches at the end. See the area in the red circle:

When I do magic loop, I put a twist in the ends before I start working the next side. This twist reduces the stress from the circular cable and keeps the stitches at the end close together. Again, see the red circle:

The twist is accomplished by crossing the needle end over the circular cable before starting to knit with it. In this next photo, the red arrow points where the needle goes over the cable. My right hand (which is taking the photo) would pick up the needle and begin to knit with it.

This next photo shows the state after a few stitches have been worked. The needle is still crossed over the cable and the twist this achieves will remain.

Finally, a wider shot. In the circle on the left, you see the end that I’m knitting toward. The twist is there at the end of my stitches. At the right, the arrow points out where the right hand needle is, still crossing over the cable as seen in the photo above.

You may have noticed that I’m working all the fingers at one time. It’s going very quickly, but the one thing that I didn’t realize is that the way have I have done it leaves big gaps in the fourchettes between my fingers. The pattern I was following calls for you to pick up stitches from the fourchette of the previous finger. However, in my case, this is not possible, because the stitches are all only one row deep when I make the fourchettes. I’ll have to sew them closed after I finish them and figure out a new technique for future gloves. Maybe I’ll play with it when I work on the other glove. But here’s a shot of what the gaps look like close-up:

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Finest in Ferret Fashion

I got some photos of the Ferret Tam being modelled. This tam just makes me smile whenever I see it. Seeing it in use is even better.

Here is Imoen as a bass player:

As for my February progress….
1) I updated a few project notes pages.
2) I knit 4 rounds on Zig Zag (waiting for my husband to relinquish the TV tables so I could…)
3) Work on the third graft for Squiggles. I’ve got about 2-3 inches left to kitchener. I’m going to be so, so very glad when this is finished.

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Questions and Answers

No knitting last night because I spent 2 hours at the vet (no crises, but traffic made us late so our appointment got bumped). There are a number of things that people have asked me recently and I thought I’d answer:

Heather: I use Addi Turbo circular needles. Love them.

Laura: No, don’t worry, you didn’t take too much yarn. I’m glad to have the space back! (and Emma, you thought my stash was big, but it’s really pretty small because I’m not much of a hoarder)

Leesa: Hints for 2-at-a-time Magic Loop…Casting on is the trickiest part. Don’t be afraid to cast on for one, work a couple of rows, and then move it to holders. Repeat cast-on for 2nd sock and a couple of rows. Then transfer the first sock back to the needles and work them both. Just make sure to switch balls of yarn between socks or you’ll end up with conjoined socks. I’ve also worked out a magic loop improvement, where I cross the loop before working with the next row. It’s hard to explain, so I’ll try to take a few photos soon. But it reduces the stress on the stitches that abut the loop.

Renee: I’m using Rowan’s Wool Cotton for Zig Zag. I’m not doubling it.

BeanMama: For Zaftig, I decided that increasing on the purl side was silly, so I didn’t. I don’t have it near me to check, but I probably increased on rows 5, 9, etc instead. I also didn’t like the way that the short row shaping caused the cup to bulge out too close to the strap. So I didn’t work the first set, and I only worked half the 2nd set. But this might not be an issue if you’re using the pattern yarn with the elastic content. My yarn wasn’t very giving.

Anyone else got any questions?

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February Fix-it?

I think it should rather be “February Finish-it”.

I hearby resolve not to start any new projects this month. And I’ll finish more than one. What’s languishing in my knitting drawers?

• The Squiggles Sweater

  This is in the middle of the Great Graft Expansion. I’ve finished knitting expansion section #3 and need to graft it back together. Then there’s one more expansion & graft. Then I can actually add the squiggles and sew on the sleeves.

• Marcel’s Sweater

  This needs the whole back frogged and re-knit at the proper gauge. Then I can assemble and finish it.

• Sock gloves

  These gloves were made from a pattern formula in IK. And the formula for dividing for the fingers didn’t translate well to any normal hand. So my index finger was too big and my pinky far too small. I’ve frogged one of them back to the palm and need to recalculate the fingers. Then I need to knit them. And repeat for the other hand.

• Master Knitting Level 1

  Last I left this, I decided to re-knit all the swatches. I have to go back through the ones I haven’t frogged and decide whether to keep them. And then knit the rest.

• Zig Zag Sweater

  Can’t say this is “languishing” because it’s my active project right now and I only started it two weeks ago. But it is an unfinished item in my pile. However, if I do finish it this month, I don’t think it should count toward my month goal.

• Blog Move

  I’ve moved most of the main content over to this new site, but the Project Notes section needs a lot of work and updates. The goal of the move was to make it easier to edit this section, because my new host has a nice web interface for editing HTML and I don’t need to download or upload files to make small changes. So now I need to do it. But I’m also still finding little issues that need fixing, like how my archives didn’t work until just a minute ago!

What’s my reward for finishing at least 2 projects? I get to start another and I get to play with Temari. Wish me luck.

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