KnitCore at Thin Ice!

The next time you're on Elmwood, swing by Thin Ice and check out my hand dyed yarns for sale!

In the same basket are some really gorgeous hand spun yarns by Judith of Knox Farm. And, of course, Thin Ice is full of beautiful locally made handcrafts; jewelry, pottery, woodwork and so much more. It's a great place to look for a gift and support the local economy.

What to Knit With and What Not

I recently purchased two different yarns from Knit Picks to make some things for new babies in my life. Since one baby is in Florida and the other in Oklahoma, I went for cottons. The first one I tried is their Simply Cotton Worsted. It’s a worsted weight organic cotton (the dyes aren’t organic, but the cotton itself is) that comes in a whole bunch of lovely bright yummy heathered colours that look way better in person than online (and they look pretty cute online.)

It currently sells for $4.49-$5.99 for 164yard/100 gram balls. I decided to make an entrelac baby blanket out of this yarn. I was worried about how my fingers would handle working on such a big project. We’ve all been there: the skin rubbed sore, unyielding, stiff cotton that sticks to the needles (stiff, that is, until you wash it when it suddenly turns to jelly and grows three sizes!) But this was not the case. As anyone who has ever bought an organic cotton garment knows, organic cotton is sooooo soft. And it gets softer the more you wash it. This yarn is soft! And not only is it soft, but it’s actually nice to knit with. It’s smoother than most other cottons I’ve knit with, there was almost no pilling or fuzzing (again, pretty unusual with a plied, unmercerized cotton like this!) and it gets really nice stitch definition. I thing cables would look great with this yarn. I hand washed and blocked my blanket. It might have grown a bit. I’m not entirely sure since I didn’t really measure or do a gauge. It’s a blanket. It’s blanket sized. But I can tell you that it didn’t do the giant stretchy thing cotton sometimes does. It held up its shape pretty well. Here is the finished product, after it was washed and blocked (and folded.)

Take into consideration, though, that I did entrelac. It tends to add structure to the fabric, just by the way you knit it. If I was doing a sweater with this yarn (which I really want to do. I am in LOVE with the golden heather colour in the picture!) I would definitely wash and dry my swatches carefully before knitting, but we should all be doing this anyway. I haven’t put it in the dryer yet, but based on how little it fuzzed when I was knitting it and lugging it around and kicking my cat off of it, I think it would do well. Don’t dry it on high and I think it would be fine. To sum up, I think it’s a great value for the money, it’s soft but strong, has great stitch definition, it comes in scrumptious colours, and seems to wash with almost no pilling, which makes me think it’s durable, too. I think it’s perfect as an alternate to wool, soft against baby’s skin (or mine!) and since it’s organic, it’s a more eco-friendly choice. I will use it again (I’m actually working on a second blanket out of different colours!), and I think Knit Picks should expand this yarn into other weights. I’d like to see it in DK at the least. I give this yarn 4.5 out of 5 (if the dyes were low eco impact I might give it 5!) The second yarn was Shine Worsted, which is 60% pima cotton and 40% modal, which is a fibre made from beech wood.

This yarn was more expensive than Simply Cotton, running at $2.99 for a 75yard/100 gram ball so I expected a bit more of it. At first touch it was very soft. Softer than the Simply cotton. It had a nice sheen to it and the colour was rich and bright. But it didn’t give that same feeling of strength and durability that the other yarn did. I wanted to make a strawberry sleep sack out of this yarn, but when I started knitting, I noticed very quickly that this yarn was going to be a bit difficult. It was splitty, it fuzzed and pilled like crazy, it didn’t have much give. I felt like it was working against me, not with me. Having to tink back was a nightmare and when I realized the project and the yarn were not going to work well together and frogged the whole thing, I was very disappointed at how worn and fuzzy the yarn looked. I didn’t want to reuse the yarn I had frogged so when I decided to turn it into a hat, I started with new yarn. I finished the simple baby hat just fine (it's pretty cute, huh?)

but I wouldn’t use this yarn for anything I wanted to last for a long time. This yarn is definitely hand wash only, and have your sweater razor ready, you will need it. I recommend keeping a lint brush with you when you knit, since I was covered in red fuzz the whole time. I honestly did not like this yarn at all and will never knit with it again. It is not worth the money, in my opinion. I’m considering returning the unused skeins. I could buy more Simply Cotton to make myself a sweater! I give it a 1. Have you used either of these yarns? What did you think? Do you agree with my reviews or have other opinions? I'm curious to hear what you think!

Baby Knits

My best friend's daughter should be born sometime today or tomorrow. They are inducing the birth mother this evening. As much as I wish I could wrap this woman is soft hand knit love, it will be a closed adoption. Since I can't knit a gift to thank the woman who is giving my friend and her husband their 12 year wish of starting a family, the least I can do is make sure this baby is the best dressed baby in town. To that end, I knit her a pair of socks and a matching hat in Luscious by Kollage to keep her warm in the hospital:

And then I knit her a little cotton dress in Cascade Pima so she has something pretty to wear when they finally get to take her home.

Of course I have more things planned, but at least I have a few things ready to get her started off on a lifetime of hand knits! Welcome, baby Sera! I can't wait to meet you!

Naughty Skew!

Look what my Skew socks did to the inside of my sneakers!

This is AFTER the socks have been washed several times! I find it amusing that you can see the stripes.

Washcloth Fever!

Every once in a while, I get bit by the washcloth knitting bug. All I can think about is knitting washcloths. All I want to do is knit washcloths. I have a fever, and the only cure is more washcloths...you get the idea.

I also love to stash bust and find new ways to use up every last scrap of yarn. In that vein, I started knitting these fun stash busting washcloths that use up your leftover bits and always end up looking fun and funky. I knit two this week, and I thought I'd share with you my methodology so you can try your hand at them, if you want.

One of my favourite stitches to use for a washcloth is the Linen Stitch.

You get an interesting woven look. The front is flat, which is great for both washing your face or your dinner plates. The back is bumpy, which is perfect when you (or your frying pan) need a good scrub.

And the slipped stitches really blend the different colours together.

So, first, dig down deep into the bottom of your stash and find three coordinating bits of kitchen cotton. They don't have to be enough for a whole washcloth. You just have to like how they look together.

I like to have at least one solid colour.

Then, add in a few more complimentary colours until you know you have enough for a whole washcloth.

Now you are ready to begin!

Pick out your first three colours. We will call them A, B and C.

With yarn A, cast on an even number of stitches. In the example above, I cast on 50.
Attach colour B
Row 1: K1, s1 wyif-repeat to end.
Attach colour C
Row 2: P1, s1 wyib-repeat to end

Repeat these two rows rotating through the three colours until washcloth is as long as it is wide, then bind off. When you run out of a colour, simply attach a new one and keep going.

If you stop and pick it up again, you always start on the side with the two strands of yarn and you always pick up the strand on the bottom.

And voila! You've used up some yarn scraps and have a fun new washcloth all in one go.

Another stitch I like is the Woven Stitch.

It is similar to the Linen Stitch, with a flat front and a scrubby back and has a nice slipped stitch pattern that works well to blend multiple yarns.

Using the same method as the Linen Stitch, cast an an odd number of stitches with colour A.
Attach colour B
Row 1: K1, s1 wyif-repeat to last 2 stitches, k2.
Attach colour C
Row 2: purl
Pick up colour A
Row 3: k2, [s1 wyif, k1]-repeat to end.
Pick up colour B
Row 4: Purl

Repeat until the washcloth is as long as it is wide. Bind off!

TADA!

If you do try one of these, or if you have other favourite patterns for stashbusting washcloths, I would love to see them!!

Lady in Red

My newest colourway: Padma!

Just in Time for St. Patrick's Day!

Wore them out today, too! They fit great.

Did you have any green knitwear on for St. Patrick's Day?