Techniques
My Cinnabar scarf is coming along much slower than I’d hoped. At this stage it’s going to be summer before it’s done! I haven’t knit much the last few days because I was exhausted (going back to work after a week off sick is tiring!) and I was also working on a job application. Job application is now complete and submitted so I can go back to knitting in the evenings instead of tweaking my CV and writing a covering letter and fretting that it’s not conveying the right information.
One thing that is irking me with the Cinnabar scarf are the double decreases on the left mock cable. The decrease is a slip 1, knit 2 together, pass slipped stitch over k2. I don’t know why these are coming out so wonky looking. I’ve looked at knittinghelp.com to see if there was another method I could use that might be neater, but couldn’t really see one. It seems to straighten out a bit as I move up the cable, but I don’t think all of this wonkiness is going to be taken care of during blocking. I mean look at that mess. Why are those stitches so messy?!
Not related to the scarf, but something else is the toes of socks. Now I’ve only knit three socks, but I didn’t like how square the toes came out. These were all cuff down socks (vs toe up) so I don’t know if that makes the difference or if there is a technique out there to help make the toes more round. I see lots of knitters with these nicely rounded toes, but I haven’t been able to find any tips on how to do this myself. I’ll search a bit harder when I get to my next socks.
And today I got a wool winder. I bought it used on eBay. It smelt a bit funky - sort of like moth balls and dust. I think it was put away and forgotten about. There aren’t any instructions and as I’ve never seen one doing it’s thing, I haven’t the foggiest idea on how to use it. A quick search only yielded lots of other people asking for instructions on how to use their wool winders… Another search to be continued.
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Comments
With regards to the wool winder - post a pic and I might be able to help. I have one from my mum, and a swift to go with it now :D Must remember to post pics of that…
As for the socks, you might be getting a case of ‘donkey ears’ on the toes when you graft together, or it might be to do with the decreases and shaping you use. There are some other nice ways of decreasing if you think it might be the latter.
If you think you might have donkey ears this site is good - http://www.socknitters.com/2circs/lessonfour.htm
If you want to try a different way of decreasing for the toe, I recommend Nancy Bush Knitting Vintage Socks, as she does a good summary of the different types with instructions for each. Toe up socks can help eliminate that nasty shape though, especially if you learn figure 8 cast on - I love the way that looks once the stitches are pulled tight (you will need to do that once you’ve worked some of the sock), but for now, see if you can get Nancy Bush. If not, I can probably help you out anyway :D
Posted by: Bryony | January 11th, 2007 19:09
I posted about my winder on a knitting community and got some instructions. The first ball came out okay (it was usable) - some practice needed yet. I tried to win a really cool swift on eBay, even though I don’t *really* need it, but apparently some other people *really* wanted it ’cause they doubled my bid.
I will have to read those instructions the next time I make a sock and see what’s different. A quick glance makes it look like it’s pretty much what I’ve done, but maybe it is something w/ the grafting. I am going to try a toe up sock - two at once even!
Posted by: Shannon | January 12th, 2007 15:16
I found with my winder that I got some pretty loose balls (this all sounds very rude!), but with the swift, they wound up beautifully firm and solid :D If you buy a lot of hanks, go for a swift - soooo much quicker and better :D
Good luck with the 2 socks at once - I’ve still not had the guts to try that yet, but I hear it is really quick :D
Posted by: Bryony | January 12th, 2007 18:21