Month: May 2018

I’m on a 4-day stretch working at Eliza’s Buttons and Yarns in Barrie, ON. I generally work one day a week and then cover whenever Elizabeth is away. As you might expect being here for several days in a row does bring out the urge to splurge.

You might think that one day a week in a yarn store would mean I would blow every paycheque. Yes, I’d love that and that and that. The paycheque did disappear and I was happy, happy, happy. But after some time I started thinking “if it’s still there next week I’ll get it”. Then one week became another week and another week.

Longer stretches in the store are different. They make me want to buy what I want because I want it. You know what that’s like. I’ll find a great project for it later. I just really need to have it. This is pinky/red with black, happiness in a ball.

The more I know about yarn though, the more discerning I am about what I buy. Is this the best yarn for this project? Since I knit adult-sized sweaters this is not an idle thought. Any larger project needs more thought. You’re going to be working with this yarn for quite some time.

Here’s a blog by Jillian Moreno about how the number of plies in your yarn affect your project. I was amazed. Even more information to take into consideration when you walk into the yarn store.

The Why of Ply by Jillian Moreno on the Mason-Dixon Knitting blog. One of my next projects is a cabled shawl so I need a 3-ply. Hmm, now to the shop.

Thanks for reading,

Deb

ANY GAUGE and GAUGE-FREE patterns by Deb

Cabin Fever Patterns on Ravelry

Deb on instagram

 

Last Wednesday I gave a “Make It Fit” workshop and talk at the Beacock Library in London, Ontario. The morning was spent working on specific techniques. In the afternoon we discussed why and where you might need these techniques. Because we all come in different shapes and sizes …… the person who has to make your sweater fit is you. I know that puts a lot of knitters off knitting sweaters and I’m hoping that my talk convinced a couple more knitters to knit a sweater for themselves.

One of the questions asked was how to get a size in between the specified sizes on the pattern.  This is quite easy to do for a Top Down raglan sweater.

Continue reading “Work in between sizes for Top Down sweater”

The What If … Diamonds has grown up. I’m now knitting the Kid’s Diamond Pullover for big kids like you and me.  The Diamond neckline is formed by moving the standard raglan markers to be equidistant which forms a V in the front and back. Is this the easiest way to make a V-neck or what?

Continue reading “Diamonds for big kids”