Flagel Knitting Files

Jargon, jargon, jargon.  Knowing what is being said helps separate an expert from a novice.  In knitting we are fond of our jargon and in fact we like to flaunt it by creating abbreviations for the jargon as well.  Or we like to drop names that are important to us, but generally mean nothing to non-knitters.  We can be like that at times. This however is not a lesson on deciphering abbreviations or people's names.  Today I want to focus on only the words used to describe the way yarn is bundled, either by hand or commercially.  Terms like skein, ball, hank and cake are thrown around by knitters and we know what we're talking about.  But perhaps you'd like to know specifically what they mean.  So take 1.5 minutes to watch this video by Very Pink .  You'll never, ever wonder about these terms again. A Skein of Yarn, commercially wound  Hand Wound Ball of Yarn - Stock Photo Commercially wound Doughnut Ball of Yarn - Image from Cascade Yarns Hanks

Ok, I just made up that name because the pattern I used is called  Paprika Seed Cowl by Heather Hill and it looks like this: Photo credit:  Universal Yarns One might argue the colours look like paprika.  To say I followed a pattern is a misnomer.   Only 21 stitches were used in my version.  I thought the yarn was a DK weight and it was at the start, but as I moved into the ball of yarn it became worsted, aran and then chunky and then total combinations of all those weights.  My size US 5/3.75 mm needles were tough to knit with as the size of the yarn grew.  Such is life knitting with my hand spun. I think the colours in my polwarth/silk roving look more like figs, both fresh and dried, what with the purple, gold and green so I call this my Figgy Cowl.  Stock photo It is much shorter because the hand spun was only 97 yards.  This is the yarn crowed about during a recent post ; the one where I bragged about the yarn being consistent and fine.  It turns out in the knit

On October 25 there will be only two months before Xmas and all knitters know that is a time when most of their knitting will become Xmas gifts.  So how do you go about posting information about your knitting on social media without giving away the fact you are knitting a gift? Kerry Bogert, Editor of Interweave , gave those of us concerned about this a few tricks to keep in mind. Mind what you say when commenting or creating a caption about your gift.  Do not start by saying something like:  "Just had to show you progress on this gift I am knitting."  Instead say nothing about it being a gift and no one will be the wiser.  This isn't exactly a bold suggestion, but some people forget to keep their own secret.. Stick a cat on it.  A good way to disguise a gift is to make a cat the main feature of the photo.     Above is old Mike photo bombing an attempt to get a good look at a Gramp's sweater.  Should you not have a cat available, try plants, childr

Last week our spinning instructor gave each of us a 2 ounce/57 grams of corriedale (another breed of sheep) roving.  Mine was red and black with the colours running the length of the roving.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before I started to spin.  The picture below is reasonably close to what I was working with from the start only my colours were different.  You can see blocks of brown, tan and blue in this sample.  My blocks of colour were red, black and then a red/black combo. Photo from WoolieBullie The instructor asked us to take it home and spin it up separating the roving in a few different ways to experiment to see the results.  There are choices to make:  1) running the variegated roving straight through the spinning wheel which will keep the colourway generally as they are found in the roving, or 2) manipulating the roving to see what comes of it. (More about all the decisions one most make about colour in spinning in the future as I learn more.) I

Ah, I love it when something creative comes together totally the way it was imagined.  This spinning project was one of those rare occasions when that magic really happened. This makes me pleased, very pleased. Above is a sample I just knit up this morning so I can see how the yarn I chain plied last evening in class will look when it is knit.  And I love it!  But I have gotten ahead of myself. In the beginning This started out as a roving dyed by BJS Fiber Creations from Bellingham, Washington in the States.  The roving is made up of 85% polwarth (a breed of sheep) and 15% tussah silk, and although it lacks the fuzzy, fluffy feel of merino wool, the polwarth is sturdy, non-scratchy, has a long staple and is affordable (all the qualities a beginning spinner needs).  As you can see above, the roving was dyed with long stretches of colour.  Those stretches show up on the bobbin as blocks of colour.  There are 4 ounces or 113 grams of this wool/silk blend to spin.  It is one-h

Ideas for posts generally come to me by my direct work or looking around.  There are times when others promote a topic.  This one comes from my oldest son, the one with a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics.  He forwarded to me a photo of a temperature blanket.  I had never heard of such a thing so I became motivated to see what it is. This happens to be crocheted for the weather in Grand Rapids Michigan One version of a temperature blanket takes the highs of each day of the year and corresponds it to a colour.  Here's one particular colour chart taken from crochetcrowd.com. Each day of the year a row is added to complete the blanket.  It is quite a good idea, IMHO.  The photo my son sent me showed the average temperature of earth over the last couple of centuries.  The woman who created it used it to support her lecture that indeed the world is warming.  (I can't show you the picture because it wasn't sent in a format I could duplicate.  Trust me it was beautiful as well as

It has been busy around here what with knitting and spinning and stash busting.  Let me show you what I am talking about. Remember Close to You by Justyna Lorkowska?  I said I would show it to you after it dried. Ta-da! Here it is outside wrapped around a chair with the Jul button pin closing it.  The colour is right on this pic. And a close up of that simple lace edging; the colour is washed out due to the bright sun!  As I mentioned before I don't mind having finished with this yarn.  It was so easy to split because the strands of yarn had not been plied.  It was made up of three threads just hanging out together and while knitting one of the three generally ended up longer than the other two making it loopy.  Or was it making me loopy?   Either way it is done now and I do like the size and look despite the troublesome yarn.  The Jul leather button pin works nicely colourwise and otherwise to close it too. Then there was Tall, Dark and Handsome by Tin Can Knit

I spent yesterday spinning.  A lovely pink/purple wool roving was purchased at Knit City and it was calling out to be spun.  This particular combination was selected because both colours are Miss M's favorites. We had a beautiful sunny morning Here's a photo of a wisp of the roving and some of the single ply showing off the colours and much to my satisfaction, a pretty darn consistent spin as well.  I know I only purchased 100 g of roving, which if spun finely could make a couple hundred yards of yarn, but I was going for a worsted weight.  That means I will only get about 150 or so yards of yarn, about the perfect amount to make a toque for an almost four year old. There has been lurking in my stash for over a decade a wool/mohair Berroco yarn called Memoirs.  (I purchased it on one of the first trips to North Carolina to see my girlfriend, Karen.  The shop, Anglewing Needle Arts, remains in business yet today!)  This Berroco yarn varies in consistency much more than m

As I am admittedly obsessed with knitting, a large amount of my time is spent combing through media I get on my iPad.  Information can come from yarn companies, yarn shops near and far, YouTube subscriptions, from Facebook groups I have chosen and Pinterest, but by far the best information source for me in Ravelry.  If you don't hear from me for hours at a time it is because I have been sucked into the Ravelry vortex of lovely patterns. It is because of this looking on Ravelry I have found designers like Norah Gaughan.  Norah lives in New Hampshire in the States and her takes on knitted designs suit my tastes.  I have followed her as she worked for Berroco yarns, Vogue Knitting and Brooklyn Tweed.  Since 2006 she has moved out on her own expanding on her over 1,000 designs. Recently on a yarn run with Pam and Tena I found one of the collections Norah Gaughan had done for Berroco called  Volume 15: Maritime Journey.   The booklet contains 14 designs and as I perused it I realize

What a difference a day makes.  Yesterday, Thanksgiving here in the Lower Mainland, was comfortably warm, sunny and the perfect day to have the oven on for hours.  Today it is overcast, gloomy and perhaps a better day to have the oven on for hours.  At any rate, yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner was a hit.  Jami makes a wonderful autumnal salad with pumpkin seeds, cooked squash, apples, greens and a tasty homemade dressing.  My turkey, gravy, dressing, green beans and mashed potatoes passed muster.  And the souffled yams Tena brought were prefect.  My maternal grandma's cranberry dish (cranberries and an entire orange whirred up in a food processor with sugar added to taste) was also a hit.   But the biggest winner of the meal was the Cranberry Gingerbread Upside-down Cake I made using Anna Olson's recipe. Photo credit - Food Network.ca Even though I didn't take this picture, mine looked the same, sans the caramel sauce on the side.  The cake didn't need it, IM

First, Happy Thanksgiving, Canada.  I love the way Canada beats the rush of the upcoming Holiday Season and celebrates with a three-day weekend the second week of October.  Eating heavily that early gives one plenty of time to work off all the calories before Christmas!  Way to plan ahead, Canada.  I am spending the day with a few of my besties eating a 15 pound/7 kilogram turkey Paul purchased for the occasion plus there will be all the fixings.  So as I need to prep that meal today I will keep this post short. A silvalume is a knitting repair tool I was introduced to by taking Laura Nelkin's, Save our Stitches: Fixing Lace Knitting Mistakes from Craftsy.  It looks like this: Image from Joanne's Online Shop I can hear you saying, but this looks like a crochet hook only it also has a pointy end; and it is true, it does.  In fact when I saw Laura Nelkin use it I thought the same thing.  I own crochet hooks, why not just use one of them to fix mistakes. Here's a fe

I am back in spinning class working to improve my technique and thus improve the end product.  The class started shortly after my return to British Columbia and it seems this attempt is doing just what I hoped it would.  The single ply yarn I have made so far is getting finer and my consistency is improving. Nearly consistent yarn with this black Corriedale roving The first time through the class two years ago there was so much to take in and like most in-person craft classes, unless you take copious notes things can easily be missed.  I found this to be the case for me and so a refresher course became necessary. One of the surprises was that the owner of my LYS, Helen, is also taking the class.  I have been acquainted with her for years, but spinning together has given us an opportunity to really get to know one another.  She has her own spinning wheel as do I so we often sit together for the 2.5 hour class. Another classmate is very anxious to be able to spin her dog hair.