Saturday, March 10
Useful knitting
More of my family than my just husband is uninterested in handknits. DD#2 has always looked at what I knit with suspicion, wondering how the object would embarrass her. She's now an adult and in charge of what she wears and since every knitter's frustration is that a handknit gift would go unappreciated and stored in the closet, I don't knit for her.
So once again, surprised by the nonimpressionable, I cast-on for a special request.
Potholders.
Before:
Started and finished during our visit in Pittsburgh so this is DD#2's stove.
Started in Pittsburgh, knitted across PA, OH, and IN but finished in Chicago.
After about 9 washes:
Picture taken on our home stove but I would bet all grates are very similar in size. This potholder shrunk a little width but not much in length.
This one didn't shrink so much as condense into a nice square. Once it hit it's critical point of felting, the knitting felted to a very dense potholder.
Both together.
Universal Yarn, bought on our visit at Natural Stitches, a LYS I accidentally found when we took DD#2 shopping for a broom. Size 10 needle, double-stranded. I've read that felting projects should be made on even larger needles so there is space across the stitches for the yarn to agitate against itself at the structure level so if I make more potholders, I'll move up.
Natural Stitches has a really nice, wide range of wool but I went for the $6, made in Turkey stuff. I wonder if a more expensive yarn (Cascade 220, Brown Sheep) would have felted more easily. That seems counter intuitive. Pay a lot for yarn that turns out to have little tolerance for washing mistakes; spend less on yarn and have to keep beating it up to felt. Perpetuates the good fortune of the uninitiated.
As I am duty bound to contribute to the economic health of every LYS I visit, I also bought Addi Lace needles in size 4 and 6. Though I don't seem to have won the monthly drawing, boo.
I felt my projects in a load with regular laundry. Some loads might allow more churning than others; I haven't examined this detail, since there is always laundry to be done and my projects don't usually have a firm deadline. DD#2 has her current supply of dish towels to protect her hands from the hot pans until I get these in the mail.
So once again, surprised by the nonimpressionable, I cast-on for a special request.
Potholders.
Before:
Started and finished during our visit in Pittsburgh so this is DD#2's stove.
Started in Pittsburgh, knitted across PA, OH, and IN but finished in Chicago.
After about 9 washes:
Picture taken on our home stove but I would bet all grates are very similar in size. This potholder shrunk a little width but not much in length.
This one didn't shrink so much as condense into a nice square. Once it hit it's critical point of felting, the knitting felted to a very dense potholder.
Both together.
Universal Yarn, bought on our visit at Natural Stitches, a LYS I accidentally found when we took DD#2 shopping for a broom. Size 10 needle, double-stranded. I've read that felting projects should be made on even larger needles so there is space across the stitches for the yarn to agitate against itself at the structure level so if I make more potholders, I'll move up.
Natural Stitches has a really nice, wide range of wool but I went for the $6, made in Turkey stuff. I wonder if a more expensive yarn (Cascade 220, Brown Sheep) would have felted more easily. That seems counter intuitive. Pay a lot for yarn that turns out to have little tolerance for washing mistakes; spend less on yarn and have to keep beating it up to felt. Perpetuates the good fortune of the uninitiated.
As I am duty bound to contribute to the economic health of every LYS I visit, I also bought Addi Lace needles in size 4 and 6. Though I don't seem to have won the monthly drawing, boo.
I felt my projects in a load with regular laundry. Some loads might allow more churning than others; I haven't examined this detail, since there is always laundry to be done and my projects don't usually have a firm deadline. DD#2 has her current supply of dish towels to protect her hands from the hot pans until I get these in the mail.
// posted by Diane H @ 5:27 PM 
