some knitting notes

I have had a couple of queries lately about knitting with recycled yarn. May I begin by saying that I cannot recommend this practice enough - you can get great yarn (cashmere, silk, angora, camel, merino, you name it) that no-one else is knitting with, knit an entire garment for under $10, keep garments out of landfill, recycle and get a completely unique knitted item.

There are several excellent resources on-line regarding re-/up-cycling yarn. I started with the tutorial over at Neauveau Fiber Arts and have written up some notes of my own. I also highly recommend the UnRavelers group on Ravelry for information, support, sharing and inspiration.









There are a few common concerns about knitting with recycled yarn, one of which is the kinkiness of it, that is, the kinks in the unravelled yarn. I have rarely found this to be a problem. Usually I just unravel from the garment straight onto my ball winder, perhaps winding it twice, keeping the tension pretty tight. And then knit with it and that's fine. On occasion I have found that the residual kinks have affected the knit-ability of the yarn (namely with the yarn that I used for my Sunrise Circle Jacket and the Columbia Beret). With that I did go to the trouble of winding it into a hank, soaking the hank for a while in warm water, then letting it dry. I'm the first to concede that this is laborious but I find rarely necessary.















And of course one of the major bonuses of knitting with recycled yarn is that you can often knit an entire garment piece - sleeve, even the back - all with one strand of yarn. Yes, that's right, many less ends to weave in!

molly

The vital statistics

Pattern: Molly by Debbie Bliss from Junior Knits.
Size: the smallest size which is 3-4 years.
Yarn: 60 per cent silk 40 per cent cotton recycled from a Boden cardigan that I bought at, where else, Value Village.
Needles: 4.5mm and 5mm.
Start to finish: 21 February 2009 to 2 March 2009
Comments: The pattern calls for an Aran/worsted (10ply) weight yarn knit at a gauge of 18 stitches per 10cm.

Verdict: This is a pattern that I have been meaning to knit for a long time. Debbie Bliss' Junior Knits was one of the first pattern books that I looked at when I stated knitting as there was a copy at the St Kilda library. It's lovely to realise something from so early in my knitting career.
























It is still a bit large for baby bear - I guess that a brooch or pin to keep it together would be helpful but no, not on a two-year old. The pattern was reasonably straightforward. There is some short row shaping in the collar but no directions for wrapping and turning at the end of the short row or for then picking up the wraps. I did wrap the stitches at the end of the short rows but didn't bother to pick up the wraps as it was in the rib and they wouldn't be too noticeable. It was a nice break to work on some stretches of stocking stitch after having done so many lacey projects lately that required me for the most part to work from a chart. As there were no armhole seams the finishing was pretty easy too - just two long seams (side/underarm/sleeve) and the ends. Ah the ends, they never end but then, neither does the knitting!

too practical?

Is it indeed possible to be too practical? It is certainly possible to do too much practical knitting, if only that other endeavours in the sock and project categories get sorely neglected.

Since I instituted my 'knit list' in November last year, all that I have managed to cast on and complete are practical knits (and crochets) - fourteen of them! My sock and project knitting at the time, Baudelaire and the Swallowtail shawl respectively, are still on the needles. This is not, per se, a bad thing. The whole point of the knit list was to restrict the number of projects on the go at any one time and to prevent a proliferation of barely-more-than-cast-on lace shawls, under the mental weight of which I would surely have suffered a nervous collapse.

So there has been some success there at least with being disciplined. I cannot cast on for another pair of socks until I finish my Baudelaire pair. Which means facing them again. Way back on 10 December I discovered two dropped stitches and have barely looked at them since. Until today. I just decided that it was time. Thankfully the two dropped stitches had miraculously been repaired (by me, I guess - I've blocked it out). And like many things that you put off and put off because they seem too dreadful, once I actually started again it was a real pleasure. I'm using a lovely Addi Lace 2.25mm circular and how different it feels in my hands to my current practical project. The change in needle, the change in yarn weight, the change in fabric - going from one project to another. I am in love with these socks again.

And because I do always like to include a photo, here is my current practical project. It is Molly from Debbie Bliss' Junior Knits. This is something that I have wanted to knit since ... well, before baby bear was born I think and here I am knitting the 3-4 year size. I'm using some yarn that I recycled from a Boden cardigan, it's 60 per cent silk 40 per cent cotton and the project is knitting along at a good pace. It is always a bit of a gamble to substitute yarns, particularly fibre content, so I hope that the pattern will hold up in the silk/cotton blend.