Close Knitters

Now that the holidays are past and the weather has been calm, Happy Hour knitters can get happy again.

Scarves, a baby blanket, and a sweater were all in progress when Adrianne came in with these.

They’re medallions (or motifs, if you prefer the term from Crochet magazine) which will be put together into a stunning afghan. Adrienne brought them in because she’s afraid that she’s going to run out of yarn. She chose another color, a blue, to edge and fill in the spaces. The Happy Hour crew was impressed, and gave orders to her to bring in the final product on a Friday afternoon, so we can see it. It’s a wedding gift for a friend.

Happy Hour is Friday from 3 to 6. BYO Knitting or Crochet!

The holidays may be past, but the weather is still cold, and there are still hats to knit. Hats for the hardy souls who run outdoors in winter, hats for shovelers, and hats for dog walkers.

I’ve started a hat out of the sport weight Zauberball.

The Zauberballs great fun, with lots of color changes. They make great socks, since the yarn is a machine washable wool/nylon blend. I also thought it would be a nice hat. I wanted a very plain hat, so thought that a knit in hem would be a nice touch.

First I knit the inside of the hem, the part that will be inside. Two inches, which is how long I want the hem, a row of purl stitches, to create a turning line, then another two inches of stockinette. Now it’s time to knit the hem into place.

To knit the hem in place- the right hand needle goes through the stitch on the left needle, then through the cast on stitch. Grab yarn, and pull through both loops. Now the bottom edge (the cast on) is knit into place.

Now it’s straight stockinette for a while.

Happy Hour was snowed out last week, we hope to have happy hour knitting this week. Every Friday, 3 to 6 pm. BYO Knitting or crochet.

So, what do you do when you’ve knit something, but it has issues? Well, it depends on the issues. If it’s size, then rip and reknit larger or smaller. If it’s color, the fix may be in your kitchen.

Kool Aid is a great dye for wool. And if the item to be dyed is small, like a pair of socks, it’s a piece of cake. Wet the socks, toss in the microwave with Kool Aid and vinegar, zap for a minute, and voila! a whole new color.

Yes, the color is permanent. No, the wool doesn’t felt, because there is no agitation.

I knit these socks. They are my mother in law’s Christmas gift.

However, I didn’t like the striping. It’s the white, it really stands out. Not at all the thing to wear with black jeans and sneakers. So I gave them the Kool Aid treatment.

First I used grape. Very nice, and purply. But the socks were a little too short, so I had to reknit the toes. I had cherry Kool Aid, so I thought that red toes would be fun. So I dyed them again, in cherry.

Way better!

How do you do this?

Mix Kool Aid powder (use several packets for dark colors) with enough water to cover the items to be dyed. Add at least two tablespoons white vinegar. Heat dye in microwave for a minute. While it heats, get the item to be dyed wet. Put the wet item in the dye bath, make sure that it’s fully submerged. Microwave at high power for a minute. Stir the item, microwave for another minute. Take it out of the microwave, and use tongs to lift the item out. It will be hot, it’s just been microwaved! If the water isn’t clear, or nearly clear, put the item back in and let it sit for a few minutes. Rinse the item well with warm water, use a little soap if the fruity smell of the Kool Aid bothers you, and let dry.

You can dye wool before knitting it also, just put the loose skein in the dye bath. Also, Kool Aid will only dye fibers with animal protein in them, so it won’t dye cotton or rayon. It will dye alpaca, cashmere, and some wool blends.

Happy Hour starts again this Friday, from 3 to 6. BYO Knitting or Crochet, all welcome, no fee.

Kathy, one of the Monday morning knitters, came to Happy Hour on Friday.

She works in an elementary school, and found a little handmade card in her mailbox.

Now for the answer- remember, she works in an elementary school….

The joke was in a Weekly Reader type of publication that came to a teacher, she found a great way to share it!

The knitting that I used a backdrop for the photo is Kathy’s current project, a vest being knit out of a thick and thin hand dyed yarn she bought at the Fiber Fest last fall. It’s being knit in a simple, four row lace pattern.

The shop will be closed for the next two Fridays, December 24 and December 31, so the next Happy Hour will be Friday, January 7, from 3 to 6.

There’s a bit of lace in the shop window. It wouldn’t photograph well there, so Marilyn modeled.

It’s a stunning shawl that Inge knit out of Noro King. King is a new yarn from Noro. It’s got all the gorgeous colors of Noro in a fingering weight blend of wool, silk, mohair, nylon, and acrylic. Here’s another view.

Look at the detail along the edge. You have to see it in person to really appreciate it, especially the nupps. Nupps are similar to bobbles, and an essential part of Estonian knitting.

Inge admits, this is a fair amount of work. And it’s a beautiful way to use a fine yarn. The fine yarns create a light, airy fabric.

Janice knit this blue scarf out of one skein of Luna, a blend of mohair and silk with just a little glitz. She used the same pattern as we used for the Superior Scarf.

Superior is another fine yarn, mostly cashmere with silk. One skein makes a generous scarf.

It’s really hat season at Close Knit. Check out Carissa’s latest

One skein of Noro, on a circular needle. Once the pattern is established it moves along quickly. The same pattern will work with any worsted weight yarn.

Also made with one skein of Noro, this one is crocheted. All single crochet, easy for any crocheter. Work the flowers first, then crochet to the end of the skein.

Both hats are in the shop to see and try on, and both patterns are free with the purchase of yarn.

The weather is decidedly colder, so it’s mitten time. And with the holidays in sight, the gift knitting is starting to focus on smaller projects. Like mittens.

But not all mittens are as they appear.

Arlene is working on these for her grandson. A nice, cozy looking mitten, right?

It’s a flip top, so fingers can find keys or be generally useful.

And Phyllis finished this one

Yes, it’s a flip top, too. And a very specialized one.

This one has a hole in the thumb to make texting easier.

Not all mittens have tops

This fingerless mitt is the current project of another customer. She’s hoping to make a bunch by December 25.

Fingerless mitts get cast off when the knitter decides it’s big enough, usually covering the lower part of the fingers. The flip tops are the same, after it’s cast off pick up along the back of the mitt, cast on more stitches to go around, allow an extra inch in length, then finish the mitten.

The Happy Hour crew on Friday afternoons has been watching the progress of Phyllis’ red sweater.

Based on the Everyday Sweater in the Mason Dixon girls’ second book, Mason Dixon, Knitting Outside the Lines, it’s knit out of Cascade Sierra, at a gauge of 5.5 stitches to the inch. That’s a bit tighter than the suggested gauge for Sierra, so it’s a nice, dense fabric. The ribbing at the lower hem was a bit of a problem- the pattern calls for major increasing as you start the ribbing, so it will be heavy and not pull in. The goal is the look of ribbing, but no “enhancement” of the middle aged female figure that ribbing can give. The ribbing looked great, but when I cast off it rippled. So I tried again with fewer increases, it still rippled. A third time, less ripple, but still there. I figured I would do it without any increases, and hope that it wouldn’t pull in. As I started to rip out the ribbing I realized that off of the needle it lay flat. A eureka moment, the bind off was too tight! So I tried a different bind off- called a tubular bind off, it creates an edge that looks like the knit stitches in the ribbing continue across the bottom.

The Happy Hour ladies said, “How did you do that?”

The first step is to slip the stitches from the needle it was knit on to two separate needles, the knit stitches on one, the purls on the other.

Then weave them together, using Kitchener stitch.

This picture shows the tapestry needle doing Kitchener stitch, and completed edge.

It’s a nice stretchy edge, too, so I used it on the cuffs.

Other changes from the Mason Dixon pattern- instead of starting with the collar I did the collar last. It’s knit flat, so I could get the cable in, and make sure that it would lay flat against my neck.

Happy Hour is every Friday from 3 to 6, BYO Knitting!

Except Friday November 26, as the shop is closed for Thanksgiving weekend. We’re closed from Thursday through Saturday, reopen on Monday at 10.

We were wondering what was in these

The yarns from Feza are variegated, to put it mildly. The folks at Feza assemble a vast assortment of yarns, of all weights and textures, and wind them into skeins and balls. The latest versions are big balls, ready to knit from. The fluffy stuff attached is pre cut fringe, which lets you see the yarns inside the ball. We needed to see what it looked like, so Phyllis knit one up.

Look at the colors! Wow! This scarf will go with anything! It was great fun to see the colors evolve. It’s knit on size 17 needles, lengthwise, which means that each yarn is about one row of knitting.

We knew that the Feza yarns were fun, but this is a lot of fun!

Don’t forget, Happy Hour on Friday from 3 to 6. BYO knitting!

Lots of happy knitters this week at Happy Hour

And more knitters came a little later. Hats seemed to be the topic of the day

Marilyn brought two hats that she’s finished for the grandkids. Both have ear flaps, with braids hanging off the bottom of the flaps.

These both used Kaffe Fasset self striping yarn. Noro would be fun for the stripes, too.

Carissa is in hat mode, too.

Carissa’s hats are berets, or tams. One is cabled, the other a textured yarn. She said that the high school girls are wearing them during the day.

The berets floppy shape means that it can sit on the back of the head and be decorative, or pulled down to keep your ears warm when you go out in the cold.

Happy Hour is every Friday, from 3 to 6. No fee, just drop in and BYO Knitting (or crochet)