MOL knitters

Mtierney, I get the 2 and 2.5 gallon ziplocs at the ShopRite in Livingston, the one that's tucked between Livingston Ave. and Northfield. We're in West Orange, so it's close for us. You have to do a bit of searching through the zillions of choices, but they are there.

Knitting accomplishment of the day: I learned how to hand wind a center-pull ball. Not rocket science, for sure, so I guess it's about time. Leave a sizable tail and wind the whole thing around your thumb. Am I the last to learn this?

Well, I might have learned that if I hadn't broken down VERY early in my knitting history and bought a nice oak yarn swift on eBay and a manual ball winder.

zucca said:

Am I the last to learn this?

No! I think I must be.

Just cast on my first Woolly Wormhead hat, j r. Love them all! Zuccatween picked Meret. It's fine, but I'm looking forward to trying the more organic-looking ones. She snagged the yarn my sister-in-law sent me to try sock knitting. My sister-in-law is convinced I need to start knitting socks --size 5 needles, magic loop, worsted weight yarn--but I can't imagine thinking such a fat hand-knit sock would be comfortable. Thoughts? I think I did it once years ago and the socks hurt my feet, but it was probably inferior yarn.

zucca said:

Knitting accomplishment of the day: I learned how to hand wind a center-pull ball. Not rocket science, for sure, so I guess it's about time. Leave a sizable tail and wind the whole thing around your thumb. Am I the last to learn this?

I've never even attempted this after many years of knitting. In the beginning, I knitted straight from the skeins (what a bad idea). I then bought a ball winder and, shortly thereafter, a swift. Never looked back!

I do knit directly from skeins, but not hanks. This was a hank of Malabrigo. Great idea to buy your own ball winder, but I haven't, and this ball I wound is so pretty. Even "cake"-like. It nearly looks like it came off a winder.

zucca said:

I do knit directly from skeins, but not hanks. This was a hank of Malabrigo. Great idea to buy your own ball winder, but I haven't, and this ball I wound is so pretty. Even "cake"-like. It nearly looks like it came off a winder.

Hanks, that's what I meant. I'm going on a 2-year 'break' from knitting so things are a bit rusty.

And it was a hank of malabrigo that I knitted from, resulting in a horrible knotted disaster that had to be cut free.

lynnb said:

zucca said:

Knitting accomplishment of the day: I learned how to hand wind a center-pull ball. Not rocket science, for sure, so I guess it's about time. Leave a sizable tail and wind the whole thing around your thumb. Am I the last to learn this?

I've never even attempted this after many years of knitting. In the beginning, I knitted straight from the skeins (what a bad idea). I then bought a ball winder and, shortly thereafter, a swift. Never looked back!

Curious, why do you think knitting straight from the skeins is a bad idea? When I start with the center of the skein, rather than the easy to grab yarn on the outside, I don't have a problem. That said, I usually wind the yarn into a ball to avoid tangling with the other free end (on the outside) while knitting. Perhaps that was your point on the "bad idea."

I did find 2 gallon ziplocs at a ShopRite. Thanks for the advice!

I'm a sock enthusiast, but I use double-pointed needles. The magic loop method always seemed kind of fiddly to me, although the construction methods in Cat Bordhi's books are pretty eye-opening.

At any rate, I think knitting a sock for the first time with worsted weight yarn on size 5 needles is a decent idea, but will not result in a pair of socks that you or anyone else will want to wear. So I'd skip doing the second one. Or just dive in with a cheap ball of sock yarn and size 1's, see how you do. I have a bunch of good books that you are welcome to borrow -- and some orphan sock yarn, for that matter.

I can't stand double-pointed needles, but that may be because mine are all very slippery--left over from the ice age. Not sure about magic loop, but two circulars have served me well. You confirm my suspicions, j r. I am not wasting my learning on a sock no one will wear. I made my daughter a pretty nice pair of scrunchy hand warmers with sock yarn and tiny needles, so I think I'll skip straight to the big time, when I do it. A mutual friend of ours actually gave me a couple of sock books, so I think I'm good--thanks. What I won't do is use the Noro left over from the scrappy scarf. I'll use something that els good.

Zucca, you should try bamboo DPNs, they are not very slippery. If you are not knitting loosely, they shouldn't give you any trouble. If I can do it, you can.

I love the Harmony double-pointeds from Knit Picks: http://www.knitpicks.com/needles/5_Harmony_Wood_Double_Pointed_Knitting_Needles__DKPdpn5WD.html

They have some give and aren't too slippery or too grabby.

Thanks for the recommendation. Those look nice.

We freeze grain products for a spell when they come home, so I suppose it should work for wool, too.

Good thought, Toadlily. I have a full set of the Harmony wood interchangeable circulars, and I love them. Very nice needles.

Old thread, but this seemed the appropriate place for it.

My mother actually had a good friend when she was growing up who would taker her knitting to the movies. I hope it wasn't lace.

Hey, does anybody have a smart trick for measuring yarn? I have a full skein of a fingering-weight alpaca, but I have lost the tag that came with it. I don't have a yarn meter, either. I might just put it on the swift, measure one round, then count the number of "loops" on the swift, but if someone has a better idea, I'm all ears.

If you know the name of the yarn, can you look it up on line to determine the yardage?

I wish I did! I have a ton of yarn, and although I usually keep the tags on my yarns, this one got away. And I have no idea any more what it was.

Peggy, here are some suggestions: http://www.knitchat.com/2008/04/22/how-tos-day-how-to-measure-your-mystery-yarn/

Her 'wrap method' is pretty similar to your thought on counting loops on the swift...

Or, if you have a small scale, you could work from this chart: http://www.spinningdaily.com/forums/t/692.aspx

I figured you would have a plan, Mergele! That chart from spinning daily is exactly what I was trying to find online yesterday, but I couldn't locate it.

Oo, and this looks clever and easy, from one of the responses to the knitchat.com thread... "I use a small digital scale. It was about $25 and is meant to be used for determining weight for postage. I measure out five or ten yards of yarn and weigh that. Then I divide to get the weight per yard. Then I weigh my ball of yarn and divide by the weight per yard."

I actually do have a kitchen scale!

I might try a couple of these methods and see if they come up with the same number, to be on the safe side. I'd love to make a simple bias scarf with this yarn, but I'd hate to get three feet into it at a certain width and find I don't have enough to finish the way I'd like!

I use my kitchen scale all the time for yarn (it rarely gets used in the kitchen). My family thinks it's hilarious (there mom goes weighing her yarn again). If you don't have enough of the yarn for a decent length scarf, you might try alternating it with another. I once made my daughter a simple bias scarf alternating two yarns every two rows. It was a great way to use a fuzzy yarn but not have the scarf be too fuzzy.

Now I'm using the scale because I'm making squares for a knit quilt ("Barn Raising Quilt," finally), and I'm trying to sense how much scrap yarn I need per square.

Yep, I already have an alternative plan if I don't have enough yarn. It's a fingerweight alpaca, I'm pretty sure, and I want to make a nice, airy scarf using larger needles at about a size 8, maybe even 10. The yarn is lovely colors ranging from a chestnut to rust to burgundy, and I happen to have a lot of Kidsilk Aura hanging around in a pretty chestnut color. The contrast could be interesting if I do it in stripes of the chestnut silk mohair and the self-striping alpaca. I could try a swatch and see how it goes.

That sounds perfect for fall. If you want to brighten it, I have a ton of orange Kidsilk Haze that I've just knit enough of already. (I'd happily trade some for decent-size bits of pretty sock yarn for this quilt.) I'll warn you, though, I knit a scarf out of the Kidsilk Haze and it's pretty itchy. I hope the Aura is better, or your neck isn't as sensitive.

Argh, itchy-ness is definitely a consideration. I haven't made a scarf out of Kidsilk anything yet, so I'd better try it around my neck before I finish a project with it!

You're welcome to come try mine. Let me know and I'll PM you the address and leave it on the porch for you. Maybe it won't bother you.

Well, I do have my own that I can try first, but thank you for the offer. I'll keep it in mind if it turns out the itchy factor isn't an issue for me.

I meant, if you wanted to try an actual scarf.