More Fair Isle tools

I knit a lot in public, often at distracting concerts, and needed to simplify my process. When preparing for a long Fair Isle/stranded project, I start with pattern. I usually have charted in some software or graph paper, but after I settle on the chart, I move to excel. I make the color card and pattern bundle.

In excel, I chart by using very visible colors, not necessarily matching the yarns I will use. Then I break the chart down by inserting a blank row between each chart line. Glue these babies up to pre-cut cardstock, insert a banker's ring and off I go. I just flip to change the row. (Spinners will recognize yet another use of those wonderful black rubber bands.)

This is what excel looks like:

Notice that I add the color name and the count? The count has two forms, short and full. Short gets repeated across the row, counting right to left, just as you knit. Full give me the lead-in for a particular row. See row #25 on the second chart.

While I am not thrilled by the color choice on the top of the tam, this sequence doesn't come up in the sweater. The side of the tam has the XO pattern and is a fine gauge swatch. Of course, many of you recognize Mara.

Meanwhile, fiberguy has been very busy cutting away on a semi-secret quilt project. Huge amount of cutting, but he is very organized and chugging along. A nice block in the background is partially finished.

Awesome Gifts

6 weeks of flu left me weak and wobbly, but I do have energy enough to read. And just in time, some wonderful books have come into my life.

First from a friend:

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Ethnic Knitting Discovery and I love it. But I was surprised and delighted by the Priscilla Gibson-Roberts updates. I think that Knitting in the Old Way should be in every one’s library. And as a spindle spinner, I just loved Spinning in the Old Way. It was a thoughtful gift and I just love them.

The paperback of Victorian Lace Today came out finally and I am flipping through that too. I missed getting the hardback and then saw everyone’s nice projects and, well, was jealous. I wanted some nice lace too. The reprint is reasonably priced and fits perfectly on my shelf – two reasons why I didn’t select the hardback.


And lastly, out of the blue, a new and wonderful friend from SOAR sent me the best gift ever:

Isn’t it splendid? Oh, and it just sparkles in real life. The back is great too. I was mesmerized by this band. It is so precious that I am a bit afraid to use it. But it is so great that I will buck up. I feel like I have some museum quality piece in my hands and it was just a total surprise. Thank you so much, John Malarky.

Fiberguy has been busy too. Just look at these socks:

Gentleman’s Fancy Sock by Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks in Araucania Ranco

He is on his third pair of socks now and the first written pattern. There are some mistakes, but he has chosen to leave them in as part of the learning experience. He is working on them concurrently so no second sock syndrome for that boy.

I have much more knitting that I've been working on, but I will save that for some photos. I can write, but I can't take many pictures yet, still too tired. Now I think I will go nap.

Organization Rant

Well here at Chez Fibergal knitting interest has never been higher. Unfortunately, my shoulder is still not working for a while so this afforded me the chance to do some auxiliary work on the knitting front – that bad word – Organize. Specifically, the Shetland fingering yarns got a full cataloging with weights, all label info, etc. All while fiberguy knitted socks.

Of all my yarns, the ones most precious to me are my Shetland Jumper weight yarns. Classes in the 90’s with Alice Starmore at the Tomato Factory got me started on my mania. I have used them for so many projects. Nothing is as comforting on the needles or in a sweater than Shetland yarn for me. Of course, I get lots of leftovers, especially from my own designs. Many projects, like tams, require just a few yards of each color. And frankly, a new project can be so expensive by kit that it will be out of my range. Cataloging allows me to see just which yarns I have and which I need for my next project. I am leaning towards an oldie but goodie, the Mara vest. It is a little garish, it comes with a good story, it is almost a mindless knit and very nice with denim. Either that or some strange design of my own. And yes, I do spin a ton of Shetland. But I save it all. I hope to have a library of about 20 colors in jumper weight, several pounds each, and then start designing for that yarn. So everything I do with commercial Shetland is like practice, right?

The thing that has me in a snarl after all that cataloging is brand. I used to love the Jamieson & Smith. Especially after I couldn’t get the Scottish Campion. Now that a lot of my favorite colors were discontinued, I am making the transition to Jamieson. A wonderful yarn, but strictly speaking, not quite compatible ypp-wise. And then there are all those color translations. Geez, just getting a database that worked was tough. On my color cards, I have Russet 297. On my skein, the same yarn is Russett (2 t’s) with number 124. Half my skeins that still had labels didn’t show up on any color cards, purchased at the same time as the yarn. Ok, trying not to freak out, I turned to the net to get translation charts. There were so many mistakes on those that it almost wasn’t worth it. And lots of labels that I held in my hand were missing from all charts. Now with the discontinued colors it gets a bit worse. Most stores I have spoken to have switched from J&S to Jamieson yarns, so I have to figure them into my translation table. What I really need is a master list that has the full list of manufacturer’s numbers and NAMES and equivalents in other brands. For instance, FC43 in J&S is sometimes called Corn, sometimes Honey Beige, sometimes Tan. Well, crap, no wonder I follow my own patterns and not other people’s. How the hell am I supposed to figure out what color they are talking about anyway????
Ok, getting a little worked up there. That is what spending the weekend typing and not knitting does for me. The reason for it all, the reward that awaits me is some creation that has 30 colors with incredibly subtle shifts and all in wonderful heathers with 9 colors in each yarn. That dream is what makes all this listmaking, the massive database, worthwhile. You know how I know this? I made color cards of my own, well, am making color cards. The incredible shifts of color are so tricky, yet our eyes can distinguish all the differences.




On other fronts, a delightful treat came in the mail today. Why had I not used this all my life? If you are a snipper or shaver, I can't recommend this enough. Get a sweater stone and you will be set for life.


Lastly, I am off on the EZ Feb baby sweater on two needles. I am using Jamieson and changed it to be in one piece with the sleeves done after (on holding strings now). Knitting with Shetland has me all mellow and happy. It is just so fun.

Knitting all over the map

My new SNB group met on Tuesday and I started this sock. Finished Thursday. Boy are these fast and fun. Just a bit of left over dyed Top of the Lamb sport singles which will be hidden under the haze of the mohair after the first washing.


Fiberguy went too and worked on his sock. He has turned the corner and done with his decreases. He is fascinated and thrilled with the magic of heel turning. Ah, what a wise man.


My favorite IV nurse is leaving and I am thrilled for him and bummed for me. He was sure to be the most gentle of them all. So, I am thanking him the best way I can, with my needles. He gets a Marsan Watchcap. I added a stitches to make it 96 around since a lot of people mentioned it being a bit small. What do you give someone that never has to stick you more than once?


And lastly, I have been spinning the same old, same old. My light green blend of superwash merino. Do you think I will end up with two or ten sweater's worth of this stuff? I have 2 pounds spun of the dark green alone and it is only one of many colors. I was thinking a raglan tshirt in stranded knitting. Just how big do I think I am??? I did really get into the blending part and still have two partial mixes to go. It is fun, mindless spinning, a bit finer than DK, 3 ply, maybe a light sportweight. The socks of the same ilk have been into the washer and dryer a hundred times or so and still sweet. All the time I was carding, I kept thinking of my old Starmore yarns and the magical blends of so many colors.

Another holiday gift for you - adjustable width socks

You will find these in my sidebar as Quilted Leaf Socks.

You can adjust the sock's width by adding more or less stitches in the ribbed sections between the lace patterns. Visually, we don't usually notice whether a rib is one or two stitches wide. It is easy to stuff a few more in or just go down to one stitch each. Yet, since these are done in light worsted weight, those stitches can add up to a better fit. Download the pattern and see for yourself.

Enjoy your holiday present from all of us at fiberhouse.

And for those of you who are counting, fiberguy's socks are done and drying - more on them tomorrow.

First sock and no direction

What we have here is a first sock. Complete by fiberguy, toes and heels grafted. Second sock is up to row three to avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome. I am really proud of him.


I only wish I was doing that well. I have ripped out my shawl three times. Apparently I can't count OR read directions. I don't follow patterns often, usually glancing at them and use them as a general guideline. So when I actually try to follow directions, I can't seem to get it right. On page 111 of Knitting Around, I am told to cast on 20 and knit two rows (one ridge). Ok, got that. Then place markers at 2 and 19. Good so far. That would mean I have 18 sts between the markers, right -- or am I reading that wrong? Anyway, I YO on each side of the marked stitch every other row until I get 3 ridges, then YO, knit 1 across between the markers. It should be 18 + 2 + 2 (for each of the right side increase rows)=22 *2 (for each yo) = 44 between the markers. Ok, really off at this point. The pattern calls for 16 sts, increasing to 32. It only gets worse the further I go.

Now I don't really care about the garment as I am sure mine will turn out swell and be warm and wearable. But, clearly, I need help reading directions. I seem to be screwing up royally and just can't figure out where. I think I don't understand HOW to read directions anymore. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Or maybe it is just a match for me with these particular directions. Did any of you read this and get it right? Not the garment, but the count? Even if I moved the markers to 2 stitches in from the edge on each side, it would give me 16 for the first ridge, but 2 more on each of the next two ridges.

Brain bad. Brain no work.


At least my fingers know what to do. I needed Steeler socks BAD. So my perfect gold and some new black went into a toe-up mucking about with peerie patterns. This is not blocked at all. I just noodled around until it was long enough. I don't know if I will do the second one the same. It made me realize that no where in my stitch libraries do I have anything organized by stitch count. Most have row count. If you wanted to search for all the peerie patterns you have that would fit into 64, 32, 16, 8, 4 or 2, how would you search except to flip through. I don't think I know of any site that organized this way either. I know that I can look at Knitting Fool to get stitch counts for some lace and textured patterns. But is there a book out there that would give me a chapter of say 16 stitch repeat colorwork?

[Washed out color on my first sock.]

What was I thinking?

Complete denial. It will fit. Really. My heel is this pointy.


Thank goodness somebody's sock is going well. Fiberguy's blasting through his first pair of socks. He did the whole foot portion in one go. Afterthought heels are coming along well. Decreases, both left and right are all in line. I made a pair of socks out of the same yarn for him and frankly, it took longer. He is driven.

My birthday shawl has begun. The yarn is yummy baby alpaca and it was soothing during recent treatments. Nothing like 4 tries with an IV to make you grab your shawl. [Special note to Denny - I couldn't have done this last treatment without YOUR wonderful shawl. Thanks for wrapping me in love.] I think I will do the old fashioned all garter and not add lace. Sometimes garter is great.

Meanwhile, I had a ravelry thread going on what can you do with one ounce of really fine stuff? My answer for this one skein was the old feather and fan. I have only 1/2 oz but it was 290 yds. So that makes 9280 ypp, right? It was a lovely sample given to me by Rita Buchanan ages ago. Silk, cashmere, merino in Rose Quartz form Lambspun. Don't they have nice processing? It took two partial evenings to spin and will be much longer to knit. But the longer it gets, the more I want to keep it instead of my original idea of giving it away. Does that make me greedy? It is so soft and shiny and lovely and simple. And yes, my ballwinder for this project is electrical conduit. I cut a gazillion of these for a class I was teaching and they are so handy to have around. I prefer a pipe cutter instead of a saw since my edges remain nice and clean. Cheap smooth tools and soft shiny yarn. Can you tell I am having fun?

Any other suggestions for only an oz of fine stuff, usually laceweight or finer are gladly considered. I wind up with a lot of single oz skeins and am getting tired of multicolored lace shawls. I wish we could search on Ravelry by weight of finished item.

Fiberguy’s First

The magic of first knitting.
Buffalo Gals Yarn, garter ridge earwarmer, #10 needles.


This wonder taught him at SOAR.

For his next project, he selected socks, on a set of 5 #4 needles. First purling, first circular knitting, first time switching the yarn from front to back for the ribbing. It was going ok, lots of three stitches forward and two back for about 5 rounds. Counting to 4 was sometimes difficult.

We went over how to see the mistakes before I would fix anything, so he could ‘read’ his knitting. Then he had to fly out of town for work. He was obsessed with the knitting at that point. He took it with him and just had to figure out how to get around the circle without help. This is what he brought home!

Sure, there were a few mistakes early on, but he doesn’t seem to mind and left them be. He is not afraid to rip and has taken out 3 or 4 inches at a time – just pulls the needles out – fearless. Soon, about 5 rows from now we will deal with a heel.