The second Knitting Chatters was even more fun than the first. We passed around cookies and coffee along with some spring water (all virtual, of course!) and talked about many things. If you can clear an hour of a Thursday evening, come and join us!
I had asked about those pesky left-leaning decreases. I can’t get them to look even and neat like the right-leaning decreases, not with an SSK or a Sl1-K1-psso.
One suggestion was to K2tog through the back loop. Another was to work the SSK normally, except when slipping the stitches, slip the first one purl-wise and the second one knit-wise. I will try both these options and report back to you on Monday :)
Monday, Monday...
Oops! Sorry - got stuck in a time warp there for a minute :)
I also got a note this week from someone who was confused by the pick-up-and-purl direction in the entrelac tutorial. The pick-up-and-whatever instruction confused me for a long time too so I’ll also be doing a tutorial on that in the near future. I also have a non-standard (you’re shocked, right?) method that makes this picking up business a lot easier to manage - even kind of fun :)
Finally - another question :)
For years now, I’ve kept my straight needles in a tall, plastic coffee mug. It’s worked just fine up until last week when it got knocked over three times! I haven’t figured out quite what the problem is - and it doesn’t really matter. Obviously the situation has changed somehow and the needles are no longer entirely safe in the old arrangement.
So where, how and in what do you keep your needles? Does it work well for you? Convenient? Stable? What would you change, if anything? Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this matter.
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Hi Robbyn: sorry I missed knitting chatters last night. I am really looking forward to your nvestigation on the decreases. I am working on an Aran afghan just now that gives me the same problem. Obviously I can’t switch in the middle, but it would be nice to know for future projects.
My straights and crochet hooks and dpns, along with the odd needle gauge, contrast loop and safety pin, all reside in a cardboard and metal container from Dufftown Glenlivet Scotch. The top was lost years ago. Ir resides on the floor in my knitting corner. The cats can knock it over and, due to the height, needles don’t come out. Taped to the side is a card prepared by my lys showing the equivalents for Canada, U.S. and metric hooks and needles. For public use, I also have sets of hooks and knitting straights in matching tapestry cases, gifts from my mom years ago. How do you store the circs? I have never solved that one.
Have a great weekend!
amaryllis
I don’t have many straight needles, but the ones I do have live in a bud vase. The kind with a large, wide bottom, but a very tapered opening. The wide bottom keeps it stable, and the narrow opening keeps them all grouped together. Plush, I don’t have the occassion to use vases very often, so this makes a vase useful. :)
Well, to add to the alcohol theme, hee hee. I keep my straights in a picnic basket that’s designed to hold wine bottles. It has two tall round sections (for the bottles, or needles, whichever) and a lidded section (for the picnic food or in my case yarn scraps).
No worries Amaryllis - it was great to chat with you last week and wil be great to char with you when you come again :)
The Scotch container is an interesting idea; I’ve seen wine bottle continers that I wondered about for needle holders. Definitely something to look into.
I hang my head and admit that I keep my curculars in a gallon zip-lock bag. And yes, I do have to size them when I’m looking for a particular one. That allows me to keep them under the coffee table - convenient, but tucked away. Inelegant but functional :)
Colleen - Now that’s an attractive option because it would be similar to the dad-blasted mug in that every thing is right there - immediately available. And I suppose the shape of the mug is part of the problem as the sides are straight and not tapered out as the sides of your vase are and it’s plastic - not glass or crystal, both of which would be havier and more stable.
Laura - That’s clever use of a picnic basket! Do you ever like, take it to an actual picnic?
i think making a successful left leaning decrease is one of the vague mysteries of the universe- i usually favor the slip 1st stitch as if to knit, slip 2nd stitch as if to purl, knit technique and hope for the best- i’ve also noticed that differing yarns react differently to the varying techniques- ha, is that called ‘wiggling out’ of a real answer?
for years my collection of hooks and needles resided in empty oatmeal containers with the dpns held together in sets by those coated ponytail holders (we’re nothing but classy here)- finally i got some pretty cut glass vases in various sizes and have all the hooks and straights in those- i have cup holders attached inside a closet in my office to hang the circs on- i have several of the needle holders that roll up and hold them together neatly but never use those- obviously neatness and organization are not in my vocabulary!
stay happy-
I keep some of my staights in a heavy bottomed square crystal vase, but that is just for asthetics. I protect the points by putting a paper towel on the bottom and then some beans or brown rice. The rest I rubber band together pairs and keep in a rattan drawer in fabric needle cases or in their original plastic sleeve. My circs I keep in ziplocs. My hooks I keep in a plastic m&m container, not all of them fit, some are too long. The longer ones I keep in a leather pencil case.
Nope, don’t have a single useful suggestion. Mine lived in a tall vase-shaped basket and were knocked off the work table on a daily basis. But I haven’t used a straight needle, other than dpns, in so long mine now live, um, gee, where are they, oh yeah, wrapped in a rubber band on a shelf.
I totally forgot to log on last night! Oh well, I was pretty engrossed in finishing my socks. :) I’ll have to write myself a reminder next week and stick it on my computer.
Robbyn: I did away with my straights (gave them away at a snb swap afternoon) and purchased a Denise kit as I couldn’t find proper storage and I was tired of rifling through my straights looking for a match. I keep my crochet hooks together with a hook measuring device with built-in ruler and scissors in a pencil case and I love it.
It was nice “conversing” with you yesterday. I look forward to next Thursday...have a great weekend!
awww, I forgot about last night. Drat! I keep my few straights and many dbl pts in this wooden wall thing that a friend of mine gave me ages ago. I think it’s supposed to hold a plant if you had an outside in which to hang it.
Hi robbyn, sorry i missed last night too. I made a needle holder with material each pair of needles has it’s own sleeve-slot, divided by a seam, which keeps them separated. There is also slots for measuring tape small scissors, hooks, cable needles DPN and even circular needles etc. Sooner or later i will need to make another as my inventory builds. I can send you a picture if you like. I modeled it after some i’ve seen in stores. I just fold it in thirds and tied it up with a big ribbon that is also sewn on.
I had to laugh at your comment to Laura. I too have a picnic basket, not divided like hers, but mine own. In summer it goes to picnics. In the off season it holds stash.
Ellie, that’s terrific. I once made something like that for an artist friend of my daughter—a brush roll. I did it in tiers so there could be three rows of brushes across. The most popular feature of it was a small zippered pocket I installed for “random small objects”—in her case a palettte knife, gum erasers, etc. She loved it. As she worked in oils, I made sure the zipper was metal. I have seen similar rolls done for chefs knives, woodworkers chisels, and so on. One more pointer: makes sure there’s a foldover flap at the top, to keep all those small round things inside if it gets turned upside down.
Best of the weekend all!
amaryllis
Here’s one more thing that helps me when doing left leaning decreaases in a row like on a sock.
I ssk (sl 1 as to purl, sl 1 as to k, knit them together) Then when I come to the ssk on the next row I knit into the back of that stitch. makes it lie flatter like a K2tog. However this only works when knitting in the round. (Where you are knitting every row.)
I haven’t tried a solution when purling the next row. Perhaps purling it as in combination knitting?
Barb - An oatmeal box isn’t a bad idea at all and I’ve got a big one that’s about to be empty :) Maybe I could slap a little wallpaper or wrapping paper on it to pretty it up?
Pamela - Wow - you’ve got it all worked out! I bow at your well-organized feet :) I have hooks and double-points in tool cases but that’s about as organized as I can be without breaking into hives :)
Rob - That’s okay; I needed to hear from the non-straight-needle contingent too :) If I ever have the money for all the Addis I want, I probably won’t bother with straights either :)
Natalie - Think nothing of it. No big deal, though it would be great fun if you decided to drop in!
Cheryl - Yep, that’s one way to do it - very practical. I can be practical but it’s not usujally the way I lean :)
I’m so glad you stopped by the chat and I hope you join us all again!
Toni - Way cool; another example of needles as art the idea of which is quite intriguing :)
No worries about the chat - we’ll see you next time!
Ellie - That sounds like a very practical way of handling things. I have seen them for artists’ brushes and my father once had something very similar in concept for his wrenches. Definitely something to think about!
Bliss - That’s a very intriguing possibility there and I will incorporate it into my experiments with the LLDs. I understand the knitting through the back loop when knitting in the round. Would you purl through the back loop when knitting flat? GUess I’ll have to try that too and see what happens. Thanks for making me think!
Bliss, I’m going to try that on my socks. I’ve always wanted to to know a way that both sides of the heel lie flat.
Robbyn - about your SSKs: have you tried an SKP - slip the first stitch as if to purl, knit the next stitch, then pass the slipped stitch over. I prefer the way that looks in my knitting when symmetry is important. Maybe it will work for you. Regards.
I think someone else might have posted this but my ssk is usually a slip the 1st as to knit and the 2nd as to purl and then knit both in the back of the stitches. It works for me quite well. Hope this helps. :o)
Jo Ellyn - When I have tried that technique, I usually slipped the first stitch as if to knit. I’ll give your method a shot and see what it looks like! Thanks :)
Kimberly - You know I can’t visualize this. I think this is the way I usually work an SSK, but I’ll have to try it to see. Thanks for the tip :)
