Book Review: Yarn to Go

I recently had the opportunity to read a not-yet-released book called Yarn to Go, by Betty Hechtman. Reading something before the masses is always exciting for a bookworm like me. I admit I was a little nervous about this one, because I’ve read some really driveling knit-themed fiction before. After a bit of a slow start with a character I wasn’t really warming up to (and she wasn’t even a knitter!) I was even more worried.

I have to admit it though, Ms. Hechtman sucked me in. The main character grew a lot more human and likable soon enough, and actually her portrayal of the little North Pacific resort town might be what really hooked me. I love feeling like I’ve been someplace new after a book, and she definitely does a good job of making me feel like I’ve seen the Monterey Peninsula.

While I had a couple of “main suspects” throughout the murder-mystery, and one of them was indeed the killer, I genuinely didn’t know which one it would be until the big reveal. Maybe I’m just not as experienced a mystery reader as some. It certainly made sense in the end though! She does a good job of tying the knitting into the mystery/whole story as well, rather than plopping it down arbitrarily on top of the storyline. Hechtman does seem to be writing a knitting novel for non-knitters though, and over-explained a tad much for my taste.

Yarn to Go also comes with a knitting pattern and a recipe in the back of the book. I skipped the pattern, as it is also designed for non-knitters. It is a good pattern for a total beginner, but less appealing to me. I did try the recipe though. I have to say they’re the richest, most chocolatey cupcakes muffins I’ve ever had. Definitely good served warm with a tall glass of milk.

All in all, a worthwhile read!

Swatching

Hubby was out of town again this weekend, so I had plenty of time to play with yarn and stitch dictionaries, and no reason to feel guilty when my fiber “nest” spread out to take over both couches, the coffee table, and most of the floor space around my feet. Ahem.

I started out with stitch I thought I loved and cast on for two sections of it – one with clear beads and one with purple. After one repeat I could already tell which one I liked better.

Here are the purple beads.

Here are the clear beads.

The clear beads just don’t show up enough to be worth it to me. The beads themselves are shiny, but not flat-out sparkly, so I decided to go with color. That solved the bead question. To my surprise though, I didn’t like the lace pattern as much once I was knitting it. I still like it, but not for the beginning of this particular shawl. I may work it in later, or may just put it away for a different project. We’ll see.

I swatched again with a different stitch pattern, and liked this one better:

Lace Take 2

Like most stitch dictionaries, this one doesn’t have any suggestions for what to do with beads, so I picked spots arbitrarily. I liked the way this one looked with the beads this way, but it felt heavy and sounded clacky and I was worried about the yarn holding up if I beaded like this. So, time to swatch again.

Swatch #3

This is the same lace pattern with fewer beads. Ding ding ding, I think we have a winner! It doesn’t look like much here, but it larger amounts (and blocked) it looks pretty awesome.

I measured my swatch to see what my gauge was, then did some quick calculations to see how many stitches I’d need to get the width I wanted. I nudged that number around a little until I got to the closest multiple of 16 (the size of the repeat for this particular stitch) and cast on! Now comes a nice stretch of nothing but knitting.

It Came!

The yarn for my new shawl design arrived! Since I’ve talked so much about it already, I’m going to experiment with sharing the whole design process with you guys. It’ll be self-published if it turns out well, so there’s nothing forcing me to secrecy. Might as well try something different!

 

The Gloss is not noticeably shiny in the skein; definitely more grey than silver. It does have a nice…I dunno, liveliness… to it that is clearly the result of the silk though. It also feels every bit as squishy and delicious as the heavier weight version. I can’t wait to start swatching with it. The next big decision is beads.

 

Purple to match the main wedding color? Yellow to make the other yellow accents (like our flowers) pop? Clear to really bling out the silver and make it just plain sparkle? I’m going to swatch with each color to see what I like best, but I’d love to hear your thoughts too!

Messy Hockey

This is why playoff hockey and lace knitting don’t mix.

      Before…

…After

Twice. Sigh.

3-Needle Bind Off

The 3-needle bind off is one of my favorites for shoulder seams – it works well with short row shoulders and produces a sturdy seam without too much bulk. It’s also really simple! To begin, you’ll need live stitches on your two working needles, plus a third, larger needle. The larger size is important to keep your bind off from getting tight and puckering.

Step 1

To begin, you’ll need an even number of stitches on each working needle. Hold the needles together with the wrong sides facing outward.

Step 2

Insert your needle through both stitches as if to knit.

Step 3

Wrap your yarn as for a normal knit stitch and pull it through. You will have one stitch on the right needle. Repeat steps 2 and 3, so you have two stitches on the needle.

 

Step 4

Using one of the needles with live stitches, pull the second stitch over the first – just like a normal bind off.

Repeat steps 2 through 4 until you have one stitch left, then finish as normal. Easy!

Discovering Polyvore

Last week Stefanie posted suggestions on how to wear her patterns with examples from Polyvore.  I was intrigued not just by her sets but by the idea. I bit the bullet and set up a Polyvore account myself. I’m feelgoodknits on there too, if you’re a member!

I haven’t done a whole lot with it yet (not sure I know how to make best use of it, to be honest), but I have had fun putting together things like this:

 

April Showers by feelgoodknits 

A Few Realizations

I am not participating in this year’s Knit/Crochet Blog Week, but reading all my friends’ posts has lead me to realize a few things about myself:

1. My favorite overall crafting tool is boring – it’s my spreadsheet program. It really does save me SO much time when designing though. Also, does yarn count as a tool? Because then I’m significantly less boring.

I mean seriously. Yum.

2. I am probably going to break down and by a spinning wheel soon. Thanks a lot, All She Wants to Do is Knit.

3. My stash listing on Rav is seriously out of date.

4. I knit a whole lot of different colors, but almost all of the garments I knit are either blue or green.

…or both

5. My projects list is shockingly lacking in colorwork.

Invisibility Mode

I have done so much knitting in the last couple weeks, and done so much designing, and I can’t share any of it with you guys!! It is super frustrating. There’s a lot going on in my personal and professional life (lives?) right now too that’s also “up in the air” and not shareable. So for now, a poll. I am making a beaded shawl to wear at my friend’s September wedding and we’ve narrowed down the choices some, but I still need help making a decision! I will be wearing royal purple with silver jewelry/shoes, and yellow flowers.

Spring Fever

It’s been crazy-pants around here lately, but of a productive variety. I’ve put together 4 different swatches since Friday, and have managed not to neglect the current WIP (not listed on Rav) too terribly either. I’ve also put in an embarrassing number of extra hours at work and fulfilled a bunch of family obligations as well. I can only blame it on Spring Fever. Mother Nature is so busy getting stuff done; I can’t help but try to get stuff done too. Look what all this gorgeous weather has gotten me:

Strawberry blossoms!!!

Quick Fix: Missed Decreases

Last night, mid-hockey game, I realized I’d forgotten to decrease on the previous row of a WIP. Being way too lazy to rip back an entire row of a seamless cardigan, I simply “unknit” the relevant stitches and fixed them in the current row. I’ll let you in on how if you promise not to tell the Knitting Police!

Observe:

Should have done an ssk on the previous row!

Here is the first mistake – a missing ssk. I am also missing a k2tog on the other side of the marker.

Pull it out!

I dropped the 2 stitches that should have been knit together, and pulled loose the little bit of yarn I used in the previous row to knit those 2 stitches.

Ssk those stitches!

Then I slipped both stitches onto the right needle like a normal ssk and used the bit of yarn I’d pulled loose to knit them together. This stitch will be a little looser than it would have been if I’d done it correctly the first time, but as long as you’re not doing it too often, the difference is slight enough that it won’t be noticeable at all after blocking.