What a Difference the Yarn Makes

I enjoyed knitting the Hurricane boot cuffs so much so I decided to create another pair. The first set was knit in an appropriate gray colour allowing the simple purled moving swirl pattern to show through. The yarn used was worsted acrylic with an i-cord cast on and bind off. The end product is heavy weight making this pair suitable for seriously cold climates.

Hurricane boot cuff

The second pair was knit using variegated lighter weight sock yarn called Sassy Stripes by Moda Dea. I love the blend of browns, blues and whites. It is common knowledge that when one knits with variegated yarn any pattern within the fabric knit will more than likely will be lost. Of course, I decided to ignore that common knowledge and added the swirling purl to this new pair. Let me show you the results.

Second pair of Hurricane boot cuffs

This yarn has created with a lighter weight pair of cuffs making them perfect for a milder type of climate. And as can be expected the variegated yarn also creates a pattern of its own causing the purl swirls to be virtually invisible. I also changed the start and end of each cuff using a typical knitted cast on and a sewn bind off. Since the cuffs were lighter I wanted the edges to be lighter as well. (Since I like to have two knit items that make a pair match one another, I manipulated the yarn to make that happen as well.)

Take a look at the two finished products side by side.

What a difference the yarn makes

This photo illustrates what I love about knitting, each time one picks up a pair of needles with a certain type of yarn or wool one is able to make a completed product that is unique. Sometimes that end result is more pleasing than at other times, but nonetheless the differences are due to the yarn.

Comments

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

Search This Blog