Simple Knitting Tips: Lighting

Today's simple knitting tip is about lighting, but it is also about SEEING.

You've all seen it: the homespun illustration depicting Ma knitting by firelight in a log cabin, or maybe a little house on a prairie.  I have always wondered how she managed.  I would have been the pioneer mom who did her chores by firelight and her knitting in the open doorway with the chickens underfoot.  I just need good light to see my stitches.

I like to knit using as much natural light as possible.  There are some who have had success with products like the Ott light, but I've not tried them myself. 

The darker the yarn (and my boys like their yarns dark and conservative-looking), the more light I need.  My solutions are two-fold:

1. Knit by a window during the day.
2. Knit something bright during the evening, while sitting next to a lamp.

Why is this not more earth-shattering?  Because:

1. I do not have an Ott Light
2. These are Simple Knitting Tips, as opposed to complicated ones.

So much of the stress in my own life comes from over-complicating things (just ask my kids!) and when I can manage to slow-down, take a deep breath, and think clearly about something, very often the solution really is that simple.  Do I feel a tad guilty when choosing the simple solution when all around me are people who are crazily spinning their wheels making life more complicated than it has to be?  Yes, a little.  I figure we are all on a journey and everyone is at different places and probably most of them will work it out that they could relax more and enjoy life. (Certainly if they read my blog they will get tips that will help them, but wisdom comes from acting on the knowledge we have gained...)

My point is--buy special lighting if you need to, sit by a sunny window if you can, and remember to consider all your options, even the ones that seem too easy.  As Red Green always says, "Remember, I'm pulling for ya! We're all in this together!"

Simple Knitting Tips: Knit for Others

Found these cute labels at Nice & Knit

If you're new to knitting, you may be a little unsure of the suitability of your finished product as a gift to another.  Let me dispel this doubt.  Give!  It is an incredible feeling to knit a scarf and give it to someone and actually see them wearing it. (This is the *only* reason I stare at my children when they are wearing knitted items I made.  Honest.)

Here, in random order, are some reasons why it is so important to give your knitting away:

1. It gives you an excuse to knit more, just in case you feel like you need one.
2. It wraps that person in a tangible expression of love.
3. It can often motivate the recipient to purchase more yarn for you. (!!)
4. It prevents the dreaded I Own Too Many Scarves Syndrome. Once you have given half of what you've knit away, you own Just Enough Scarves.
5. Knitted items make great gifts.
6. Knitting for charity is always in style, but that's a whole 'nuther blog post!

I love getting gifts that were made by hand--all that time spent, making something for ME!  It makes me feel appreciated and special.  I never look at a handmade gift and think, "Wow, they haven't quite mastered that skill, have they?"  Maybe I'm just unusually nice, but I'm guessing that MOST people don't think badly of the skills of the crafter when that crafter gives them a handmade gift. 

So, go ahead, give scarves this year for Christmas.  Or dishcloths. Or whatever you have learned to knit. Be proud of your accomplishments and then go start a new project!  I'm fond of green, in case I happen to be one of the lucky ones on your list...

Needles matter: Why I'm switching

For years I have been a tried and true Bamboo Girl.  I used them, I recommended them, I hated having to use anything else.  I even contemplated planting bamboo in my backyard so I could make my own needles, until my best friend from childhood warned me against it.  ("Remember when we were younger?  There was an actual yard behind my house.  Now, bamboo. Everywhere!  Don't do it!!!")

Then on a recent trip I borrowed a set of size 9 circular needles.  They were metal, but I was desperate. I used them for a day on a scarf, then transferred the stitches to a holder to return the needles, knowing I would be much happier when I got home to my bamboo needles and could finish the project with them. 

Imagine my shock when I was not happier.  The difference in the stitch gauge and tension was freaky.  It was flat out ugly, which, in a project using high quality luxury yarn*, you reallllyyyy don't want to see.

Can you see the bit in the middle, where it's not as smooth and lovely?  Sadly, knit with my bamboo needles.

I have heard over the years that knitters who prefer to knit fast use metal needles of some kind, almost exclusively.  As I've told my kids since they were small, though, it's not a race--at least not for me.  I knit for enjoyment (even when I knit for business) and if I take all the fun out of it by racing against the clock or some other knitter, then I may as well take up Nascar (not. ever. happening.). 

The warmth of bamboo and the feel of something from nature have always been more important to me than speed or even cost.   It turns out that the thing that trumps all the other issues is how good (or bad) your garter or stockinette stitch looks. 

All of this means that I broke down and bought a set of circular needles--the Options Interchangeable Nickel Plated ones from KnitPicks.  I love how my knitting looks when I use them (which is all the time now) and I also love how the tips will stay sharp (bamboo has a tendency to lose some pointy-ness over time).

At the same time, however, I also purchased a set of the Nickel Plated sock double points.  I tried so hard to make them work.  The combination of them being double-pointed and so darn slippery made for some tight gripping in sock knitting.  This, my friends, simply will not do.  Having heard rave reviews about KnitPicks' exchange/return policy, I sent them back and ordered the Sunstruck Wood set instead.  I love them. They are smoother than the bamboo needles I've used for years and the points are just sharp enough without feeling like a dangerous weapon. OK, slightly dangerous.  A little danger is exciting. But I digress...

My point (heh, heh) is that sometimes it helps to try new things and to be open to change.  I think I may drive my family a tiny bit crazy, always trying to improve things and make things better/cleaner/more organized/more cost effective/more efficient.  (Don't ask them about how I tried to re-invent Christmas last year.  They aren't really ready to talk about it yet.  It's still too fresh.)  Some improvements work out though, and those are the ones that give me hope.  I love how my knitting is looking with both my new Nickel Plated and my new Sunstruck Wood.  I'm no longer strictly a Bamboo Girl.  And I'm ok with that.

*high quality luxury yarn = LYDIA Yarn. It's wonderful!

Summer Knitting: knitting vs. the doldrums

Designing knitting patterns is tough sometimes. Sometimes it feels like "trial and error" is all error. Combine that with summer days that are either scorching hot or raining cats, dogs and assorted farm animals, and you've got doldrums, big time.

Even if you aren't trying to turn out the next big spectacular knitwear design, you may find yourself listless and lacking the motivation to deal with knitting projects that are misbehaving.  If this happens to you, please don't give up on knitting altogether.  What is that saying about not making snap decisions when it's too humid?  OK, maybe there isn't such a saying, but there ought to be. 

My solution, which of course I HIGHLY recommend, is to knit a dishcloth.  It doesn't even have to be complicated. (It also doesn't need to be visible from space, but I figure, why not??)

I'm almost finished with this doldrums dishcloth--the Moderne Log Cabin from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

If you find yourself in the doldrums this summer, I want you to know two things:

1. You're not alone.

2. Summer is halfway over, so hang on!

If you happen upon a knitting friend in the next few weeks who has a glazed look, a sheen of perspiration across his or her forehead, and a rebellious, obnoxious, knitting-pattern-gone-bad on the needles, hand him or her a ball of cotton and some size 6 needles and reassure them that everything's going to be alright.  Bonus tip: take your friend out for ice cream, too.