Fridays are for Podcasts
On The Writing Cast I talk about the dangers of over-writing.
Add comment July 3rd, 2009
Fridays are for podcasts and project photos
On Knit Spirit I pick our poetry contest winner.
Lots of project photos to share this week. Here is a crochet hat. This was a stash buster to use up yarn from the summer of swapping.
And a crochet shawl. 200 grams of yarn in a project that called for 100 grams, so I’m glad I had a lot in stash.
A simple crochet scarf. This was also a stash buster from the yarn swapping.
1 comment June 26th, 2009
Book Review: Hooked For Life
I just finished reading Hooked for Life: Adventures of a Crochet Zealot
There are just four points I’d like to debate.
First, she seems to think that knitters look down on crocheters. I’ve heard this many times, and I’m bewildered where it comes from. Yes, there was that one yarn store in Florida where the owner could not accept that I both knit and crochet, but that’s Florida. I can count the number of times anything I’ve ever encountered in Florida made sense on one finger or less.
When I hung out with the group at St. Francis, the knitters and the crochets sat together, and the conversation sounded like:
“That’s a pretty color?”
“What are you making?”
“I haven’t seen your daughter in a while. How is she?”
When I was with the craft group at Lunacon the conversation sounded like:
“That’s a pretty color?”
“What are you making?”
“Did you catch the panel on zombie preparedness?”
The photos of the group over at Trinity Church has knitters and crochets sitting together, hanging out, seeming to be chatting amiably.
I think part of this stems from the fact that knitters always try to teach crochets how to knit. It’s nothing against crochet; we try to teach everyone how to knit. Pretty much, if you’re breathing, you’re fair game. Crocheters are easier targets because A- they probably have a decent yarn stash already. B- they already understand things like gauge and dye lot and how to tension the yarn. C- They’re not going to gripe about how they have no time, then stare blankly out the bus window for 45 minutes.
Second, she claims that crochet is better than knitting for community projects, because crochets can make rectangles to sew together, while knitters have to pass the project around to let everyone do a few rows. I think she was kidding. For anyone who wants to try to either knit or crochet rectangles to sew together for a blanket, Warm Up America has rectangle patterns. Shh. Don’t tell the Crochet Liberation Front, but many groups sew the knit and the crocheted rectangles together in one blanket.
Third, she claims that, aside from a few pamphlets, hers is the only crochet book. Hooked for Life was published in April 2009. Prior to that we saw Debbie Stoller’s, Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker
There is even a series of crochet mysteries, the first of which is Hooked on Murder
Forth, she raised the point to dispute a myth that crocheters are cheap. Honestly, that’s not a myth I heard about crochet until the crocheters complained about it. These are the ones I know, and I think some of them are true.
Crochet takes more yarn than knitting. This only holds if the pattern and drape are similar. Knitted cables will take more yarn than crocheted lace. You can easily demonstrate the knitting takes a lot more yarn than crochet if you make two items the same size, one crochet with a size N hook and the other knit with size 0000 needles.
Crochet is faster than knitting. This also holds if the pattern and drape are similar. Knitting with size 35 needles will go much faster than crocheting with a size 14 steel hook.
As a side note, what is it with crochet hook sizes? Aluminum hooks go up in number as they get larger, and steel hooks go up in number as they get smaller. So a size 7 aluminum doesn’t fall between a size 0 and a size 14; it’s bigger than both. And why do we insist on calling the hooks used for yarn “aluminum” when many of them are made of bamboo or other woods? Seriously, crochet needs some help with the naming systems. Let’s just standardize what we mean by “double crochet” first, though. Right now, it’s a very different stitch depending on whom you ask.
Moving on to the third “myth”, all crochet stitches are balanced. This means that, unlike some knit patterns like stockinette, there are no crochet patterns that roll. The stitch pulls evenly in all directions. While it is true to my experience that all crochet stitches are balanced, I can’t really say the same for all crocheters, myself included.
Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5.
1 comment June 24th, 2009
Felting for the apartment dweller
Felting is weird. You make something way too big, then shrink it down to a form. This work with almost all animal fibers–wool being the easiest to felt. Silk doesn’t felt at all, and the camelid fibers (alpaca, llama, camel) felt slower than wool. To my knowledge qiviut doesn’t felt, but I’m not about to test that.
To felt an item, all you really need it hot water and agitation. This is why you can scrub a fleece to your heart’s content in ice water and not felt it, but when you put it in hot water to break up the grease, you can’t move it around much at all. Felting can also happen through shocking the fiber–plunging it first in hot water, then in cold. This is something dyers need to keep in mind when taking the skein out of the near boiling dye pot and rinsing out the residual dye.
Felting the swatch gives you an approximate idea of how the final project will felt. It’s not an exact science. Water temperature can vary. The amount of agitation can vary.
Felting should be done with a top loading machine, and the item being felted should be checked regularly to see how it’s doing. This isn’t possible for an apartment dweller in NYC. We don’t have a washing machine. We use a laundry service, and if I wanted to do this at a laundromat I’d still have my choice of a small front loader machine, a medium front loader machine or a large front loader machine. Front loaders don’t open midway through to let you check the item. So I send out the item and hope for the best. It’s a game of chance. I had no idea how it would come out, and no way to reverse the process. I could felt it further, but if it felted too much, I couldn’t undo that. Yes, I know I can felt it in my kitchen sink, but honestly, I don’t have the patience to swirl a hat in hot water for half an hour.
This week, two felting projects fell into my lap. This beret is a stash buster project–more of the yarn from the swapping season. It was knit, then felted.
This purse was crocheted and then felted.
I sewed the button on after the felting. This is the first of the Annie’s Hook and Needle Club projects.
One advantage of felted projects is that, after they are completely felted–if they are to be completely felted–they are machine washable. There is only so far wool can shrink. The hat is felted as far as possible. It has the warmth of a good wool. It’s waterproof. It’s safe to put in the machine.
Another advantage of felting is that it locks down the fibers. The yarn used in the bag had a lot of long, stiff fibers poking out. Clearly it was from a long staple sheep, or a mix of long staple breeds. It was not comfortable next to the skin–draped over an exposed shoulder for example. Felting pins those fibers down, so they don’t scratch or itch anymore. Now it’s comfortable to wear. It could felt a little more, but I’m not going to do that. I like it as it is.
Felting gives an item like a bag stability and strength. There is very little stretch left in that bag, and that’s as it should be. The hat holds its shape as a beret should.
I generally don’t seek out felting projects. I like stitch definition. But, like blocking lace, it’s an interesting sort of knitting magic.
Add comment June 23rd, 2009
Fridays are for Podcasts
I have a treat for you on this week’s Knit Spirit. The Unique Sheep has provided a fabulous prize for a yarn contest. Listen and enter.
Add comment June 12th, 2009
Making with the hook
This is my first completed crochet project after a long hiatus. It’s supposed to be a double layer pot holder with a little chain stitch loop to hang over a hook. It took almost two full balls of Peaches and Cream kitchen cotton, but I think that’s less a factor of it being crochet or of it being double layer as of it being 15 inches square. I know some projects are considered gaugeless. They don’t size precisely, so gauge doesn’t much batter. Given this project, and how large the scarf I’m working on is turning out, I think I should swatch anyway.
The strange thing is, I am normally thought of as a tight crocheter. I knit medium to loose, but I crochet tightly. This has a lot to do with the fact that I hold the yarn in my right hand, same as the hook. People keep supposing I learned to knit first, but that’s not the case. I learned to crochet years before even trying knitting for the first time. I think it’s because I learned to crochet from a woman who either learned to knit first, and passed on those habits, or who in turn learned from a woman who either… well, you get the idea. Track it back as far as you like.
In any event, this does count as a stash busting project. This was traded for yarn. This is a nice refresher in single crochet (double crochet for the European crowd).
3 comments June 1st, 2009
Fridays are for podcasts
On The Writing Cast I got to interview Matthew Wayne Selznik. On Knit Spirit I talk about various guided tours of Hell.
1 comment May 29th, 2009
Ah Crochet
This will be a rather sizable potholder.
It starts by working sc (or dc depending on your nomenclature–crochet is odd that way) down one side of the chain, then work 3 on the edge and go up the other side. I’ve done this for baby booties many times–it’s what taught me how to properly enter a chain stitch (you get a weird gap if you just pick up one side of the V). This time I found it a bit tricky, which means my skills have gone a bit rusty, but I’m in love. True and unreasonable crochet love.
Sharron was Very Sad until I assured her it is possible to crochet socks.
Add comment May 28th, 2009
Yarn Craft Politics
This is a simple cowl (winter wear in late May, I know, weird) done in a single skein of Malabrigo worsted.
I picked up a pile of crochet hooks yesterday, and cast on–er chained on?–started a washcloth. It’ll take a bit for me to get the terminology down again. There are far fewer crochet projects than knitting projects on Ravelry, and some of the crochet projects are really out there. Who needs a crochetted ear? There are a lot fewer crochet yarn clubs (which should be a good thing, except clubs tend to be great for learning).
We may see a reversal in that soon. You know how they say that skirt lines go up when a Democrat is in the White House and down when it’s a Republican? Well that type of phenomenon (or coincidence if you prefer) applies to two other areas as well.
When a Dem0crat is in power, Science Fiction and Fantasy ascend as genres. When a Republican is in power, Mystery and Horror ascend as genres.
When a Democrat is in power, crochet gains popularity. When a Republican is in power, knitting takes the top craft spot.
What were we doing when Jimmy Carter was in power? Crochet and watching Star Wars. With Reagan in the White House we knit to A Nightmare on Elm Street. Sure there are exceptions. We had the whole Harry Potter craze during Bush II and John Grisham rode a tide of popularity through Clinton’s years.
I think it’s just coincidence, but if it is a logical predictor, here’s one idea of why it works. When society wants to lean traditional or stately, the trends edge to more grounded genres like mysteries, the older craft of knitting, the less-revealing clothing, and the Republicans.
When society wants to party till dawn, they go for the out there magic and raw possibility of SF, the whimsy of crochet, the racier outfits, and the Democrats.
Add comment May 27th, 2009
Remember that yarn swapping?
I was rather obsessed with swapping yarn last summer. It was interesting. It was fun. I learned a lot about dyeing and spinning my own yarn for trade. It resulted in a kind of wonky stash situation where I have small amounts of this or that yarn with no destined project. I’ve decided it’s time to rectify that. I’m going through that swapped yarn, finding a suitable project, and knitting it up.
Two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky became these delicious slippers.
I’ve wanted a nice pair of hand knit slippers for a while, but haven’t been able to talk myself into casting them on. The pattern is February Slippers (ravelry link), and they’re very simple, with a bit of a crochet border.
I haven’t done any crochet in what seems like forever, and it felt kind of nice to get back to it, so I might dust off my hooks and try my hand at something crochetted soon. Maybe socks. I’m curious about how crochetted socks would turn out.
Of course, since this is, in effect, an attempt at stash busting, and since stash busting is typically done heaviest yarn first (the slippers are bulky) because those yarns work up fastest, you might see some winter stuff here in June.
2 comments May 26th, 2009
