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Did you miss anything from October?

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Wow, this month has gone by fast!  It seems like only a week ago Michael and I had just gotten back from our honeymoon, and now it’s going to be Halloween tomorrow!

I had 2 patterns release this month!  Interweave Crochet’s Plaited Hat and One Salt Sea.  Check them out.  Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

Good?  Aren’t they great?

darning socks, cats, stitch markers, knitting, crochet, duct tape dress form, finishing, hairpin lace, yarn weights, apple, apple water
A Collection of October’s Pictures

In case you missed it the first time, the most popular posts from this month:
Government Shutdown and The Fiberarts Industry
How Has the Shutdown Affected the Fiberarts in Metro DC?
So You Want to Work For Yourself, Now What?
Intellectual Risk, Davidson College, and Running a Business
Bleeding Socks: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Benefits of Doing Something Yourself

Over at Jordana’s:
Yarn Weights: What You Need to Know When Choosing Yarn
Crochet and Fashion Week

Things I pinned.

What were your highlights from October?

Bleeding Socks: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

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Sock Siblings.

I have a pair of socks I made out of Blue Ridge Yarn’s Dragon’s Breath.  They’re… interesting socks to say in the least.  They are siblings – resembling each other in coloring, but in features very different… I was trying out two different ideas for sock patterns, both of which I was not quite happy with.  One of them I still am working on, the other pattern idea I trashed.

I knew they were going to bleed.  When I was working with them, they would leave a line of red on my finger where the yarn slid over my hand.  So, knowing this, I took them into the shower and used them as washcloths for a month, and each time I used them the red dye would go down the drain.  Finally, they seemed to be running clear, so I decided to dry them out and wear them.

Four Color catchers, arranged as they got lighter each soak.

I often have to double up on socks – I have poor circulation and my hands and feet are always cold.  The under-layer wicks moisture from my foot, the outer layer is wool, which keeps things warm.  It has an added benefit of mitigating the wear on my socks.

I wore my white under-layer socks with my Dragon’s Breath socks… and my under layer promptly got stained red.

Back into the shower the socks went.  This time, I also began soaking them in a bucket of hot water with a few Shout color catchers.  They’ve worked wonders, and after using a few of them, my socks haven’t bled since.  You can see that they took up quite a bit of dye – imagine if I had washed them with other things.

Well, coming off of the positive experience with the color catchers, I had a second pair of socks, these ones Crayon Box by Schaefer Yarns on Nichole.  Unfortunately, they are no longer selling yarns wholesale, though I hear a rumor that she is running a small outlet.  You can see a picture of me working on the yarn on a Train in India.  It’s bright and rainbow-like, and it filled me with delight as I was working with it.

You can see the pretty rainbow sock peeking out of my bag in the lower left corner.

It no longer is that bright.

Six color catchers, and they are all about the same color –
no tapering off as the dye gets out.

I had an inkling that the yarn might bleed a bit – I had gotten my knitting bag a bit wet and some of the blue from a strand of yarn transferred to a piece of paper.  But Schaefer has a really good reputation, so I figured that the yarn would only bleed a little bit.  I decided I could put a few color catchers in a bucket, like I did with the last socks, and that would be the end of the issue.  Presto!  Beautiful rainbow socks.

Not so much.

The blue has traveled quite a bit into the other colors.  Interestingly, when I soak them, the water comes out reddish, but when I wash them, the water comes out blueish.  So we’ve got several different colors that are bleeding.

So last night, feeling pretty frustrated, I put them into the bucket for another soak (I’d given up on the color catchers).  But just before I put them in, it occured to me – what if the bleed isn’t from excess dye?  What if it’s because the colors didn’t really fix in this pot?  What if there just wasn’t enough acid to do the work?

I added a generous slug of vinegar to the water (enough Michael smelled it two rooms over), and put the socks in – not really expecting much.

This is the socks this morning.

Can it be?  The water is clear?

See the water?  It’s clear.

Let me show you again.

Completely clear water.

Completely clear.

I am tentatively hopeful.  I’m going to give them a wear later this week as soon as they are dry, and see how they do.

Waiting on them to dry.  Still pretty, in their own way, but not really a rainbow.

I love the Northeast – and soon I’ll be there Teaching at The New England Fiber Festival!

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I was talking with my sister, Rosemary, the other day.  Rosemary and I are six years apart, and in many ways that is no time at all, but when it comes to childhood memories factors in quite a bit.  She had few memories of the years we lived in Leominster, MA, or Vincent, OH.  Since the time she was five or six, we’ve lived in New York, just outside of Albany, and for her, she will always have come from New York.

Either a function of being the oldest, or just having a better memory, I have many more memories of my time living in Massachusetts.  And even after we moved away, I considered myself from there, as each year I’d go to camp in the summer in the Berkshires.  In many ways, my heart still is that of a New England-er, and each year about this time, when I know that the hills of the Berkshires are on fire with the leaves.  Now, Maryland has some decent trees that turn color, but it isn’t the same.  The varieties of apples available are a different breed, and the air just feels different.

Hairpin Lace Scarf we’ll be working on!

I guess everyone has to have something they are crotchety about.

It’s for that reason I’m so excited that, in two short weeks, I’ll be teaching at the New England Fiber Festival.  It is almost like returning home.  I’ll be a stone’s throw away from one of the first LYS’s I was ever exposed to, Webs and Northampton Wool, and a couple of miles away from my grandmother and my cousins.  I’ll be teaching 2 classes: “Hairpin Lace Scarf in a Day” and “Crazy Mixed-Up Slipped Stitches.”

I am SO excited.

If you are from the area, I hope to see you there.  And if you aren’t, share the news with someone you know!  The more the merrier!

4 Warning Signs Your Handmade Afghan is Falling Apart

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My business has many arms – my teaching, pattern writing, and more recently, finishing.  Normally finishing involves piecing together sweaters or blocking shawls, but sometimes I get another type of request.  Sometimes I get requests to do repairs on well loved a
fghans and blankets that are lovingly knitted or crochet.  Many times I’m able to fix things before they get too bad, but sometimes I have to be the person saying, “I’m sorry, but there is no way to fix your family heirloom.”  This is a terrible thing to say, and so I have a list of things to look for to know when your afghan is in need of repair, before it gets irreparable.

  • At the First Sign of Trouble, seek help.  There’s an old adage that says, “A stitch in time saves 9.”  And it is so true – making repairs before they happen is the best way to prevent tears, rips and holes.  Look for weak spots in your knitting or crochet – where the thread is getting thin or wispy.  These are places where holes will form.  Find someone to help you retrace the stitches and reinforce the work.
  • Pulls or loose threads.  Sometimes yarn that has been carefully woven in works its way loose, or gets caught and creates a pull or snag.  Don’t panic! If the thread is not broken, just stretched and out of the weave of the fabric, carefully pull it in different directions, and see if you can ease it back into place.  If not, see if you can find someone (like a finisher or a more experienced knitter or crocheter, that can help you work the yarn back into the stitch.

  • Seams coming undone. So many crochet (and even knit) afghans have their seams come undone.  One of my very first repairs to a blanket was my father’s well-loved afghan, made in long strips of knitting and seamed together.  If a seam comes undone, don’t panic.  Take a bit of matching yarn or thread, and carefully seam the edges back together, using a ladder stitch or running stitch.
  • The center of motifs are a common place I see in need of repair.  Either because the original creator didn’t secure the ends enough, or just because of stress, this can be a common cause for problems.  If you can, try to pick up as many of the loose loops and put them on a stitch older or locking stitch marker, to prevent further unraveling. This is one repair I’d say, if you can, to get a professional to do, as it takes a deft touch and a good understanding of how stitches work to get it back to matching the others.
The key to all of these problems is if they are caught early, they can be fairly painless repairs.  If you let the problem go, the worse things get, and the more likely that the afghan will need to be reconstructed or have more extensive repairs.Have you ever had to repair a project?  Tell me about it on twitter or facebook.  Looking to have your own repaired?  Get in touch with me through my finishing form!

I had some Stitch Markers Come in the Mail

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I go through stitch markers like other’s go through toilet paper.  In addition to simply loosing stitch markers or having the cats stealing them, I forever am finding that I give them away – to students, friends or others who might need one.

About a week and a half ago I passed by an opportunity I couldn’t miss – about 500 locking stitch markers, in rainbow colors.

Right up my alley.

They were in my mailbox when I went to pick up my mail late last evening.

Naturally, my first impulse was to sort them by color.

Aren’t they all so pretty?  I can’t wait to start using them.

Yarn Stores in India

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As always on my travels, I keep my eyes out for yarns stores.  Normally, if I’m traveling to the US (or even Europe or Canada), I can look up on the internet the location of Local Yarn Stores, or at least whatever form they take in different countries.  For India, I really didn’t have the capabilities to look up local yarn stores, both because of the language difference, but also because directions can be rather uncertain in India, with none of the streets being labeled in any way that I noticed.

Still, I lucked out one particular time in Shimla, when we were wandering one of the Bazars.  I came across a yarn store.  Well, actually Michael saw the yarn store and pointed it out to me.

Inside was one of the most interesting yarn stores I’ve ever been into.  It was just wide enough that my hips passed between the shelves in places, and contained two rooms: A front room where yarn was on the shelf, and a back room that you entered by passing through a narrow opening crowned by a clock.
There were just bags and bags of yarn lying around.
As for content, the yarn was mostly acrylic and acrylic blends – much more on par with what you’d find in a big box store like Michael’s rather than a Local Yarn Store.  Not bad stuff, just rather lacking in things that weren’t acrylic, nylon and rayon.
Once I got back home I did some digging to see if I could find out more about Vardhman.  They’re an Indian Textile company that does a little bit of everything.  They mostly cater to India, but they do export yarn to Japan and thread to the United States, among other things.  They’ve got a whole listing of their yarns here.
What struck me the most about the store (and the fabric stores I went to)?  Yarn stores have just yarn.  Fabric stores have just fabric.  No tools.  Now, it might be that it was just the stores I went to, but could you imagine going to a yarn store and picking out your yarn, only to have to go to another store to get your needles?

Encountering India’s Textiles

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India has a strong textile history, and is currently the second largest producer of fibre in the world.  So it’s no surprise that it was one of the major reasons I wanted to go to India.

Perhaps it’s a little bit of a bias, and it’s definitely perpetuated by movies and media, but Indian fashion seems to always have some of the brightest colors, and daring color combinations.  I wanted to walk into a fabric store, and immerse myself in the colors and sights.

What happened in regards to finding Textiles in India was both what I expected, and much richer and different than my expectations.  To frame the story, I have some pictures to help me organize my thoughts.  Most of the textiles we encountered were cotton, silk, and wool.

In Delhi our driver (Raj, who was amazing) brought us to this great and wonderful store.  It had different rooms with different vendors, and Michael and I thought it was going to be a brief stop, only to find we emerged 4 hour later.  First, we were brought into a room filled with rugs.  We were invited to sit on a couch, And given chai.

Then, this most amazing salesman (and I mean that as a compliment, not the way I mean it when people complain about car salesmen) and educated us about India made rugs (the knotting style, colors, patterns, everything).  Then, his helper began rolling out the rugs, and this is where it gets magical.  The room was perhaps 18 ft by 18 ft, and wood floors.  The assistant knew exactly where he had to stand in the room so that when he rolled out the rug, he could flick the edge with his wrist, and the rug would unravel, ending just at our feet.  Real showmanship at work.  Though we had talked about buying a rug, we weren’t planning to take one home with us that day.  Despite that?  We came home with TWO rugs.
It was worth it.
We did other textile shopping while we were in India, of course, but one of the other standout experiences was when we got to see a silk weaving factory.  You can see below that the looms they used, the mechanized ones, still used punch-cards, really long punch-cards,  to dictate the pattern.

While it was really cool to see the the weaving and the results of the weaving, and see the vibrant colors and how the textile industry employs so many people, it bothered me a bit about the level of noise in the factories.  It was deafening, and there wasn’t much in the way of ear protection.  
Still, the colors and weaves of the silks were gorgeous.
And between everything?  I was knitting on my own.

Knitting as a Language

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One of the highlights of Michael’s and my trip to India might not have happened if Michael’s phone hadn’t died when we arrived in the country.  You see, We had been planning on using internet access and Michael’s phone to make most of our travel arrangements, as it was turned on to function internationally.  But inexplicably when we arrived in country it didn’t work, which meant that we needed to use an Indian Travel agent to book out travel.

Which turned out to be a very good thing, aside from the fact that he mentioned that there was a “toy train” that went to Shimla.  Now, at this point you all know that Michael Loves Trains.  The chance to see a small gauge train in action, winding it’s way through the Himalayas?  We couldn’t miss it.

So shortly after we arrived in India, we were taking off from Delhi to Shimla, first taking a regular train, and then switching to a small gauge train.  The small gauge train in India is an experience.  With no AC, all the windows are open (something hard to come by in the US), and so are the doors in and out of the train.  It’s switches are operated manually, and it functions with a manual system to keep trains from running into each other (which involves the passing off of symbolic keys).
 Like the days of old, the trains connect together with a pin system, which means there are people that have to get between each car and drop a pin into the latching mechanism in order to connect them.  Very dangerous.  And because it’s a narrow gauge train, it can make tighter turns and and climb steeper hills than an normal train.  So you occasionally got glimpses outside your window that looked like this:

Our Train to Shimla.

Michael was beside himself with excitement, and spent the whole time with the camera in the train door, looking at everything. Now don’t get me wrong, seeing Michael happy is a lot of fun, but not being quite the train affectionado that he is?  It got a little boring.

Michael looking out the window.

So I pulled out my knitting.

And very slowly I became aware of this wave of… awareness that was focused on me.  I saw a woman who was looking at what I was doing very intently.  So I smiled and gestured her over.  Very soon, with very little words between us, we were talking knitting.

Talking Knitting.

Pretty soon, another woman had joined it (the mother of the seatmate across from me in the picture above), who had a little more English than the first woman.

I was told that they didn’t realize that people from America knit.  I got advice on how to wear a Saree, which I had attempted to wear that day and was falling off of me by 2 pm in the afternoon (I was so close to a serious wardrobe malfunction).  I got teased about my husband, shared Indian cake, and attempted to explain American copyright (in relation to my work).  It was amazing fun.
Having fun with my knitting friends.

And the amazing part was?  We were coming together over a common handicraft.  We had very little language between us, but we had the language of stitches, of knits and purls and yarnovers and decreases.

Glimpses of My Life, Lately

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Things have been rather chaotic lately, so some pictures to hold you over until I can create a more content-worthy post.

On National Train Day, Michael and I dressed up a little old-timey and rode the train to Baltimore, where we proceeded to spend the entire day at the Baltimore and Ohio Train Museum.

We were mistaken three times as was figurines – we’d be standing with each other looking at an exhibit, go to move to the next one, and scare the living daylights out of somebody.  I think it was the hats.

Summer has truly settled in, and I’ve been kept jumping to land on things to keep Sweetness and Light entertained.  They’ve done so much growing lately.

I’ve been teaching a bevvy of classes at both Woolwinders and Fibre Space.  I love getting to teach new classes – and I have a bunch of new classes that I’m getting ready to roll out in the Fall!

I got a DSLR Camera, and I’ve been having way too much fun figuring out its capabilities.  Michael and I went to the farm this last weekend, and I had a bunch of fun with my tripod and setting long exposures.  Naturally, after a few shots of the stars, I couldn’t help but play with flashlights.

5 Ways to completely Mess up your Knitting or Crochet

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The other day I was giving a private lesson, and my student mentioned she couldn’t wait for the day when she stopped making mistakes in her knitting.  I laughed.  When I stopped, she asked me what was so funny.  I told her, “You never stop making mistakes.  You just figure out how to make worse ones.”

Fixing mistakes kit.
Today’s been one of those weeks where mistakes just keep happening.  I finally had to put my work down, but I can say with confidence here are 5 really good ways to make mistakes with your knitting or crochet:
  1. Watch something entertaining while stitching.  It’ll get you every time.
  2. Knit or crochet while in a dimly lit pub with friends.  Bring your lace work, with lots of yarn overs.
  3. Bring the project where you need to repeat each row to yourself as you make it to sit and stitch.  Start talking about whatever with your friends.  Look down. Realize you started working your last repeat halfway through the row.
  4. Pull the wrong DPN completely out of your sock. Neglect to pick up one of your stitches.
  5. Decide that you don’t really need a lifeline.  Mess up and have to pull back completely to the beginning.
What are some of the best ways you’ve made a mistake with your work?  Share, so other people can learn!

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