Lindy's Knits & Laces General Comments Happy Easter

Happy Easter

April 12, 2009April 12, 2009| LindyLindy| 0 Comment | 4:42 am
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It’s spring! We’ve had a cool start to spring this year. But the bushes and the trees are now budding and the grass is beginning to turn green. The threat of snow has gone and now we only have rain and thunderstorms in our forecast. Daytime temperatures are now between 55 and 60.

I wish for everyone to have a Happy Easter this Sunday. I will be enjoying dinner with my family and giving a prayer of thanks for the blessing of being able to do so.

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My YouTube ChannelMy YouTube Channel

I am now a YouTuber. I have started making short videos on knitting techniques. My YouTube channel is Knitting with Linda. You can find it here: @knittingwithlinda_omaha

I recently started teaching classes for beginning knitters at my local yarn shop here in Omaha, Nebraska. So far, I have held two “Learn to Knit -Part 1: Getting Started” classes that covered the basics of casting on, the knit stitch, the purl stitch and the standard bind-off. To provide my learners with a visual set of references that they could access through YouTube, I created several video demonstrations of each of those basic techniques. I included videos on using the Continental Method and the English Method for knitting and purling. If you’d like to take a look at them, here’s a link to my “Learn to Knit” playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-PJ63Dj62PHglVIBZZpZ7X1xW8-x0Jut

If you find these videos useful, please give them a “Like”.

In January, I will be offering new sessions of “Learn to Knit – Part 2: Next Steps” which will cover two types of increases, two types of decreases, how to fix a dropped stitch and how to weave in ends. I will be adding videos on each of these topics to accompany the in-person class and these will then be available to anyone on YouTube. If you subscribe to my channel, you can receive notifications when they are available.

I plan to continue adding videos on various knitting techniques throughout the year. If you have a suggestion for a technique you’d like to have demonstrated, please leave me a comment. Thank you.

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Knitting Needle Sizes & ConfusionKnitting Needle Sizes & Confusion

Knitting Needles sizes are fairly straightforward in the sizes that one uses for DK, worsted weight and bulky yarns. (Size US 4 and up). But it is a much different story when it comes to small diameter needles used to knit fingering, lace and other finer weight yarns. This can be very confusing – I just discovered that there is a significant variation in the sizing labels for some of these needles.

Let’s start with the standard “US” sizing – which uses a numerical designation for knitting needles, from “0000” up to 35 – with the needle diameter increasing as the numerical designation increases. Seems like a fairly straightforward system – until you run across US size 1 & 2 needles that are different diameters. If you never use a knitting needle smaller than US size 4 (which has a diameter of 3.5 mm), this will not be a problem for you. IF, however, you get into knitting socks and lace using much smaller diameter needles – it may cause you to pull out your hair.

Fortunately, most knitting needles sold today also come with their diameter size stated as well as their US size. What I have currently in my assortment of circular knitting needles are as follows: US Size 0 (2.00 mm); US Size 1 (2.25 mm), US Size 1 (2.50 mm), US Size 2 (2.75 mm), US Size 2 (3.00 mm). These needles have all been purchased in the last 10 years. I have seen patterns referencing size 1.5 needles, so I am guessing that the size 2 (2.75 mm) needle may also be a 1.5, but it’s difficult to tell for certain. Just a word of caution to those using patterns calling for these US sizes of needles – make certain your metric diameter matches the pattern (if it’s stated) and BE SURE to check your gauge!

I found two websites that have charts comparing the US sizing to the metric diameter:
http://www.fibergypsy.com/common/needles.shtml
http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=97

Point to remember: Gauge is the measurement of the number of stitches per inch you get with a particular needle – this is more important than using the size of needle stated in a pattern. Always do a swatch for gauge!

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Combinations of Knit & Purl – Simplicity or Complexity?Combinations of Knit & Purl – Simplicity or Complexity?

The other day while waiting for my MIL at the beauty shop, I took out my baby blanket and sat knitting in the waiting area. One of the stylists came up to me and asked me what I was knitting. So I showed her. Then she said, “I could never knit anything like that – it’s too complex.” I replied that this pattern was actually very easy – it was just a three different combinations of knit and purl stitches, and I showed her the graph of the pattern square. She then told me that she had once knitted a sweater for her granddaughter that had a color pattern of a frog. So, I told her that if she had done that type of color knitting, this textured pattern would be easy for her to do. She replied that “maybe, she could do it – BUT she didn’t think she’d ever be able to master anything like cables”. So in spite of my gentle encouragement, I’m not certain this knitter will try to knit something with a variety of textures – which is too bad, because she will miss out on some wonderful knitting projects.

Have you ever limited your knitting by such thinking? I know I did many years ago – but after discovering Elizabeth Zimmerman’s approach to “unventing” things, my perspective has changed greatly. I’d like to encourage all my readers to think about this. There is a lot of freedom in being able to take a printed pattern and view it not as something that has to be followed exactly, but more as a place to start something uniquely yours. BTW – if you have never read Elizabeth Zimmerman’s books – you are missing an absolutely fun and enlightening experience!

As I spend time knitting my baby blanket, I find myself marveling at how those two basic stitches – the Knit Stitch and the Purl Stitch – can be combined in endless ways to make up fascinating textures. Consider the sheer simplicity of these two stitches. They are just opposites of each other. Yet these two stitches are knitting up nicely into teddy bear squares surrounded by seed stitch borders. And this project is rather simple. Then consider an Aran sweater pattern as an example of a far more complex combination of textured patterns – but again, the textures are made by the way one combines the basic knit and purl stitches and applies techniques such as cabling. Thus, knitting is both simple and complex and filled with unlimited possibilities of variation and combinations. No wonder we knitters love to knit!

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