Yarn, Ho!
My yarn order arrived, and you can see that I was pretty lucky with the colors.
This is Telemark, the new sport yarn from Knit Picks. The representative skeins are posing with their related fabrics for #2 daughter’s and my SWAPs.
The delivery was quick and accurate, which has been my experience with Knit Picks in the past as well.
As soon as I complete Jasmine, I will swatch with this and give you a report. But, just from examining the yarn in its skein form, it appears to be a hard-finish, smooth yarn. This is what you want for color and texture stitches, and this stuff is destined 
for Fair Isle.
I continue to be a bit nervous about how it will wear; the Knit Picks yarns are so inexpensive that you just have to feel like some corners were cut somewhere. I have sweaters that my grandmother knit 20 or 30 years ago which still look great, and I would like to have the same experience myself.
But I like being able to knit a sweater for under $20, too. As I say, I’ll report.
I am now distinctly in the position of having both WIPs and a stash. Still, it is all part of the SWAP, and not a random collection, so I am not feeling too bad about it.
There has been no further sewing, but there has been a further addition to the SWAP cupboard.
Hancock Fabrics has McCall’s patterns at 99 cents, so I took my pocket change to pick up a couple. #2 daughter and I had bought a sensible selection of basic wardrobe elements at the last 99 cent sale, but I wanted something for the August SewRetro challenge, and perhaps something trendy for #2 daughter.
The new patterns were in, and it was tough to decide. Something a little bit a la mode would be good to liven up #2’s SWAP, but which one? The piratical jacket? a slip top? the new generation of trumpet skirt? a corset-style vest, or one with a hint of androgyny? It was at this point that I made a bit of a discovery. The experienced seamstresses will probably already know this, but I did not.
While the newest and trendiest looks are in the single-item patterns, the modified versions are in the new “wardrobe” patterns. One of the wardrobe patterns has the flared skirt, the shaped jacket, the slip-style top, and a pair of classic pants, too.
The individual skirt pattern had a slim tweed skirt with lace godets and one with a ruffle at the knee. You could wear one of those exactly twice before people started talking about “that really unusual skirt you have” and by spring it would be completely dated, but the skirt in this pattern is just enough to be fresh-looking without screaming “Fall 2006!”
A bit more perusal confirmed the pattern. Cropped jacket with 6 inches of lace at the hem and the sleeve: individual pattern. Shaped jacket with pleated pockets: wardrobe pattern. I picked up a couple.
I think we are now completely set for the SWAP. Apart from the fact that we now live in two different states and will have to rely on marathon sewing weekends, I suppose. And apart from the fact that I am still too uncertain of my skills actually to cut the fabric for the more complicated garments I have planned. I did ask at Hancock’s about classes in the fall, but they haven’t scheduled any yet. Maybe I can swap teaching a knitting class for taking a tailoring class. Or at least learn how to make buttonholes on the machine.
It is possible for the nervous neophyte knitter in our community to show up at the LYS on Monday nights and hang out with more experienced knitters and ask questions. This is what I need for my sewing. I still have complete failures with about 10% of my sewing projects.
#2 daughter is expected at the weekend. We have a lot planned, and a sewing marathon is not one of the things on the list, but I may suggest that we fit in a little bit of cutting. #2 daughter’s accuracy level is much higher than mine.
My first book for this (9th? 10th? I’ve lost track) week of the Summer Reading Challenge was God is My Broker by Christopher Buckley. It is a spoof of self-help books, and was well done as all of his books are, but the plot suffered a bit from its attempt to follow the model of self-help books. I am currently reading Evan Blessed, the latest in paper from Rhys Bowen’s series featuring Constable Evan Evans. This is a good traditional mystery series, set in rural Wales. If you like a straightforward detective story which follows all the rules, you should like these.
The traveling sleepover was here last night. There was a poker game going on when I went to bed last night (the boys had gotten back from rock climbing), the noise of a video game at 3:30 a.m., and the detritus of popcorn and egg rolls all over the kitchen this morning, so I guess they had fun.#1 son and I looked at old photo albums before he went out, and he was back in time to join the poker and egg rolls episode. Today I have errands and the gym before work, and gardening and Jasmine in the evening.
And I hope to hear from #2 daughter that she is settled into her new apartment.
I too wonder about the quality of the Knitpicks yarn. That said….I have been making double stranded mittens with Cascade 220 and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes. Having now made three pairs of mittens like this, I must say the yarns are nearly identical, they look the same, they feel the same. The only thing I noticed is that *maybe* the Knitpicks yarn is twisted slightly looser….but I wonder if I had a blind comparison test if I’d notice or if am I biased about the “cheap” yarn? Of course it isn’t mitten season yet, so I can’t report in on the actual performance of the yarn after wearing and washing.
I also knit a baby dress out of some Knitpicks cotton blend yarn. I will ask the mom how the yarn has been holding up. I did recommend handwashing…but the question really is will it pill or be naughty in normal wearing.
Just because yarn doesn’t have as much plying twist doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with it. If the expensive wool feels like the KnitPicks wool, then it’s probably the same quality.
Do you know why handspun feels so much better than commercial yarn? I’ll tell you the main reason: handspinners consistently pick yarn that has been PROCESSED LESS! So it’s less expensive, but hasn’t been ruined by some of the processing.
Anyway, what I started to say was that I started sewing in 1952, and have done some tailoring, so if you run into any snags, maybe I can help. I seem to see the simple way to do things, and can usually teach that. Plus, I know which things are important, and which things you can let slide a bit.
I’ve watched my grandmother (a skilled craftswoman of the yarn arts) knit, and it boggles my mind. Because if you think about it, knitters make things (sweaters, blankets, hats, socks, etc.) from one or two fibers of yarn that they simply somehow interlace together to form a solid object. That’s amazing! Keep it copasetic.
Aaah. I begin to see the problem.
The third dimension.
I made a few things from patterns when I was a kid, but then I started to alter them, and then I made my own patterns for my own designs.
I’ve always seen things in three dimensions and thought in three dimensions.
In mechanical drawing, we were given flat patterns for a cone and a cylinder. We traced the pattern, and then had to figure out where to cut two holes, plus the size and shape of the holes so that when assembled, the cylinder would be pierced by the cone. We also had to mark a line on the cone to show where the cylinder would touch it. Then we had to assemble the two pieces, and the cylinder holes had to touch the cone without any gaps right on the pre-marked line on the cone.
The teacher said that in the 40 years he’d been teaching, I was the first one to get it perfect.
All I can suggest is to let me know if you run into trouble, and I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to help.
Actually, thinking in three dimensions is one of my best talents, but it’s more than that. I can see disrelated flat patterns, and move them into the correct spatial relationships in my mind’s eye and see a three dimensional object.
But I prefer to start with a three dimensional image and just construct it that way, like knitting a sock. Or like my wimple pattern. Which is why some people have trouble grasping what they’re supposed to do to make it, although the actual knitting is simple.
If you want a real mind-bender to knit, though, track down a copy of the pattern for Elizaberh Zimmerman’s baby surprise jacket.
I have to make one of those someday.
Is time moving faster over there than over here? I don’t remember missing my daily read of your stories yesterday. I must be losing track of time again…
Don’t know where you are going to find the time to both knit and sew. Remember a little bit of laziness is good for you
Those colors are beautiful! Must go order my yarn.
I love those wardrobe patterns.