Snowed in With The Snow Queen: Fixing Nupps.

Here in New York we had another snow day...and it snowed. Although I had hoped for nonstop knitting, I was faced with some nonstop shoveling.
In fairness, I only helped dig out my car. My dear husband did the bulk of it, plus his car, plus the walk...yes, that is my car...
Where is that hot tub when you need it???
I want to discuss nupp repair. I am talking about those wayward loops that you notice 20 rows past. You know what I mean. As careful as you are, a loop or two somehow always gets missed. You will look down and that loop, just sticking out, will declare its self. Here is what I do. DO NOT PULL ON IT! Take a contrasting piece of yarn on a blunt needle, run it through the loop, bring it to the back of your work at the top of the nupp missing the loop and make a little bow. Your nupp from the front should look normal if you brought the loop to the back through the top of the nupp. Ignore it until you are finished.
Once you cast-off, but before you block, fix nupps. You need a snippers or scissors, a blunt needle and some of your project yarn.
My project yarn is a 2-ply. I untwisted about 9 inches of my yarn, so I had 1-ply. Do this patiently using the blunt needle to help the 2-ply untwist. Depending on your yarn this either will work well or be too frustrating. If it is the later, just use the yarn as it is.
Using the needle, remove that contrasting yarn and replace it with the 1-ply project yarn. Take at look at your work from the front. Can you see a problem with the nupp from the front? I bet not. Return to the back and weave the 1-ply ends in with care, following the stitch pattern. Weave 1 end in one directions and cross the 2nd end over the 1st, weaving in the other direction. If you do it with care you will never find the spot you just fixed from either side. Fix any wayward loops that you find. While you are at it, weave all your ends in. You can split the yarn as I did above, which will make it very hard to find your ends, but be careful not to break the yarn and end up with nothing to weave in, eh?

I will be back next week with an updated picture or two of Snow Queen! Until then, knit on...

The Snow Queen Technique Tutorial

This project uses some challenging lace knitting techniques. These include a center cast-on, making nupps, making complex Estonian style stitches and placing beads using a crochet hook. I will talk about each of these elements individually.
Techniques
The Center cast-on
There are many ways to start a piece at the center. I have an excellent blog post that covers several possible techniques:
http://badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/2007/12/circular-start-revisted.html
For this particular project I simply cast-on 9 stitches (3 to each of three double-pointed needles.) I joined, being careful not to twist and I knit one round plain using a fourth needle. With 9 stitches at the start it is not that difficult.

Nupps
There are two ways to make nupps. The common way is to knit into the stitch (leave original stitch on the left-hand needle) make a yarn-over, knit into the same stitch, make a yarn-over, knit into the same stitch, drop the original stitch from your left-hand needle and knit on. You just made five stitches from the one stitch. On the return row, you carefully purl the five stitches together. It is very easy to drop one of the yarn-overs, so be sure you count all five stitches before you complete the stitch. A much less common way to make nupps (because I might be the only person who likes to do this) is to slip the stitch as if to knit and return it to your left-hand needle with the back leg ready for action. Knit into the back leg of the stitch (leave original stitch on the left-hand needle) knit into the front leg of the stitch, knit into the back leg of the stitch, knit into the front leg of the stitch, knit into the back leg of the stitch. Drop the original stitch from the left-hand needle. On the return row, purl the five stitches together. Count that you have all five on your needles before you complete the stitch. My technique gives you a more firm nupp. Choose the technique that you prefer and stick with one, because they do look slightly different.

Nupps in the round present an interesting dilemma for me. My solution is to work the nupps by bringing the yarn over the top of the needle to knit and also to make the yarn-overs for each maneuver. When you do this your stitch flips so that it sits on the needle presenting the back lag of the stitch to knit. You can do this with either nupp technique for the same result. On the return row you can knit the group of five together with much greater ease.

Other stitch manipulations: -The “make 3 from 5” is worked like so: Knit five together and leave original stitches on left-hand needle. Make one yarn-over and knit the same five stitches together. Drop them from the left-hand needle. You will always be working a yarn-over before and after this stitch, so the stitch count will remain constant. If you knit in a European crossed-uncrossed way you will find this maneuver very easy, because your stitches will present themselves with the back leg forward and you can knit the five together through the back leg without twisting. You can also slip all five stitches (one at a time) as if to knit and return them to the left-hand needle so the back leg is “forward.” You work the “make 5 from 7” in the same way, but you knit 7 together and repeat the directions above until you have made 5 new stitches.

Placing Beads
I have already discussed beads in several places, and here is the link to some previous bead chats! The first two are bead posts and the second two have video clips of adding beads.
http://badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/2008/12/badcat-bead-primer.html
http://badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/2007/08/inserting-beads-with-crochet-hook.html
http://badcatdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/08/summer-squares-take-eight-dark-star.html
We will use all the techniques above for our project and discussion can proceed! I will be posting information for our swatch and materials Tuesday evening. Until then practice your nupps!

I made one of my very special technique videos to share with you today, shot by the lovely BadKitten, directly from my bedroom (I mean video studio...) I work a few nupps in three different ways. The first is the traditional way, best for use working back and forth. The second is my "less common" technique. This one works well for very fine yarn, when it get really easy to loose one of the yarn-overs on your return row. The resulting nupp is a bit more firm. The third technique I show is how I make nupps in the round, which leaves you with the five nupps stitches twisted on the needle and thus allows you to knit the five together through the back legs on your return row. The single stitch left over after you do this will be twisted, but it won't impact the look of your final nupp if you forget to flip it back.

Little Gifts...Plain and Fancy

With holidays coming fast, we all need a few small gifts that can fly quickly off the needles, use modest amounts of yarn and please a wide audience. Each of these project uses one skein of the specified yarn. As an added bonus, these project each involve more advanced techniques for lace knitters, and we could all buff our technique... The Green Spiral uses one skein of AllHemp 3 from Hemp for knitters. It has a center start, a simple spiral pattern and a knitted edging. Lots of good lace technique to practice on this one!

The finished Spiral is perfect on your table and looks great with my nice pots. It is equally as pretty as a wash cloth, and a crocheted loop is optional. This piece is about 15 inches across.

The Purple Square is also knit in the AllHemp 3, and is started at the center. This is another good piece for practicing that center start.

The finished Purple is 13 inches square and can be used as a table centerpiece or as a bath cloth. You can see the optional crocheted loop in this version.

The third project in the pattern is The Bronze Square. This one is knit in Marks and Kattens Linen (153 yards in 5o grams.) It is the simplest, and is a squares with a border pick-up and worked around. The techniques include using a provisional cast-on and and picking up a lace border.

The Bronze size is 11.5 inches square and it works as either a table center or a wash cloth. This piece and a fancy bar of soap are perfect as a hostess gift or stocking stuffer for the fussiest people on your gift list!

The pattern, which includes all three projects, is available now at my Ravelry Pattern Store. Knit on into the Holidays!

Summer Squares take eight: Dark Star

For those of you following my Summer Squares Project, today brings us to the final chart for the second project (The Blue Quartet.) I posted the Quartet Edging chart earlier today at the Summer Squares group. Today also brings us to the first chart for our third project! The third project is a stole called Dark Star. There are five squares, which are just knit one after another. Once the five squares are done, a border is picked up around the entire rectangle and knit in the round. Once the border is complete, an edging is added. This is the one project in The Summer Squares Suite that has (optional) beads. I am using EmmaLou yarn, from Land O Lace, in a fabulous color. There are several close shades of purple and the effect is almost like crushed velvet to me. You cannot appreciate it in this picture. I have a 1200 yard skein. The beads are Japanese 8/0 transparent light amethyst rainbow. I am using a US 1 needle. You can see more of the project in today's video. The picture is of the first square in this new project and is called Moonshine. You see it still on the needles, in a totally unblocked state. It will look a bit different blocked... I have also been playing with some fiber my friend Judith sent me, in preparation for a fun winter project a few of us will be doing. The colored skein is tencel and sw wool, but our project involves merino/silk fiber, which still has to be dyed. The small white skein is actually a sample of that fiber. It involves spinning, beads and lace. That is all I can say! The spindle is from Elizabeth, at Greensleeves. It is called a Vixen and has a Satine whorl, a Mahogany shaft, weights less than 1 ounce and spins wonderfully.

My video today is about a different technique you can use to add beads to your lace. Instead of using a crochet hook, I take a "dental floss threader" and a length of beading thread and use that to both store the beads and add one to my knitting when needed. For me this technique is slower, but it does avoid the possibility of dropping a tin of small beads! You can get beading thread at most shops that sell seed beads. You can get "floss threaders" at most large drug stores, and on line here. It costs US$3.29 for 25 of them, in a nice plastic case! You will have a lifetime supply for yourself and a few friends. I use them for adding beads, as you see in this video, but I also use them to string beads onto yarn when I knit with beads pre-strung. You might need some in you knitting bag...

I'll be back next week with the second square in the Dark Star project, and maybe a video of how I block this project. Until then, keep knitting!

Summer Squares Take Seven: Finishing the Quartet and A Survey of Estonian Books.

We are still moving along, over at The Summer Squares Group. Today I am posting the last chart for The Blue Quartet squares, plus the Blue Quartet border chart. I have more info on that to follow...but I thought I would add a small book review to my post today. Not a review, really, but more or a survey. I am now the lucky owner of three knitting books that came from Estonian. How cool is that! Thanks to Malle, I am lucky enough to have a copy of this amazing new lace book from Estonia. First, I want to say that this book is a hardcover, large format book with very high quality photography. My pictures of the book are pretty bad, because I turned my flash off to avoid glare. The book, on the other hand, has wonderful, clear pictures and equally good charts.

There is a large section on the history of this knitting style which I only wish I could read. It looks wonderful, but the pictures tell a great tale, even without the words. There is a brief English introduction and an English chart key.

There are photos of classic knitted pieces, and patterns and charts for all the components of each piece. There are also great technique photographs. This is not a pattern book for projects, as much as a history and technique book. Included is a very good collection of traditional Estonian lace stitches in photographs along with clear charts. Using the information they provide, you can knit yourself any of the classic pieces shown in the book, but you will have to do some figuring for yourself.

This is a gorgeous book, and if you are lucky enough to get yourself a copy you will enjoy it!

I have another lovely Estonian book, which was given to me by my daughter's friend. She picked it out for me while visiting relatives in Estonia! How nice is that? Very...

This is a book on knitting mittens and gloves. This one is actually a project book. Again, I can't read the content, but I think these are modern patterns based on traditional mittens and gloves. The technique photographs and the charts are excellent. I have not made any of these yet, but I won't have any trouble following the charts. These gloves are especially nice.

Finally, I do own a copy of this book, which is an amazing collection of Estonian stitches, with black and white photographs and charts that are very usable. The charts have some errors and are sometimes hard to read. This book has become hard to find, and when you can find it it costs too much. I hope the publisher see the overwhelming response to the new Estonian lace book, and considers re-printing this classic. It would be wonderful to see it re-done with better photos and charts, but honestly it is worth having it just as it is, so I vote that they re-print it however they can!

There is a section in the back of the book with photographs of finished garments that use the stitch patterns. The pictures are fun.

Along with "basic" stitch motifs, there are a few centers and edgings. Many wonderful things!

If I have another opportunity to get a knitting book from Estonia I will say yes without seeing the book. They know how to knit, they use good charts and I love the traditional work. There you have my opinion!

Now, back to the task at hand, today we have The Cello square and the Blue Quartet border, already posted at our Summer Squares Group.

Nice picture above and bad picture below!

I have no video for you today, but maybe we can block something for next week. Let's see how much knitting I get done. Just to remind you, next week I will have the Blue Quartet Edging and the 8th square posted at The Summer Squares Group. The 8th square is the first square in our third project! I better get back to my knitting...

The Summer Squares Take Six: Adding Beads...

Happy weekend! We are at the half-way point of our Summer Squares Project, and this week brings us to our 6th square and the 3rd square in The Blue Quartet. Our square this week? The Viola... What did you expect? Again, this is from the series of blocking photos, still wet and with ends hanging out. Don't mind the noise.

There is a technique video at the end of the post, but I though I would distract you first with some food. I made dinner last night for my parents, and (as almost never happens) it was just us adults! My mom had given us a cookbook last year which has some excellent ideas. The book is Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics. I highly recommend it. First course: Chilled Cucumber Soup with Shrimp. The recipe calls for dill but the dill I got tasted horrible, so I swapped it for mint from my garden. Really yum.
Next I made a salad. The Contessa has a similar idea using butternut squash, which I could not get. Instead I roasted some fancy carrots. The walnuts were soak in a maple sauce before I roast them. Double yum.

Again, a modified recipe from The Contessa for Roast Pork Loin. I added some mango juice to her marinade, because I had it in the fridge. As some of you know, we rarely eat meat because Bad Kitten is a vegetarian and I can only put one dinner on the table. When the Kitten is away...triple yum on a rare occasion!

Finally, I had some local pickle cukes so I made these fresh pickles using red onions, dill and cider vinegar. They filled out the meal perfectly.

Now that you are totally distracted by food, I give you my video for the week. As my usual camera Kitten is away, I had to impose on the local Tom Cat to help me out. Compound that by a cold and you have my video on adding beads using a crochet hook. We have not used any beads in our summer project to date, but that will change. I think you might imagine a little Brooklyn, but I am not totally sure. I was focusing on not dropping stitches while my camera guy was learning the ropes. Let me know if you can hear it...you know who you are.

The piece in the video is coming up in two weeks on The Summer Squares Project, in case you are wondering. I think you will like it. Before that, we have the last square in The Blue Quartet to get to next week (not to mention a border and an edging!) I told you I would keep you busy. Though we are at the half-way mark there is still time for you to join, so get all the details here and email me with questions.

Until next week, knit on!

Summer Squares Take Five: The Blue Quartet

This week finds us up to our fifth square, and the second square of The Blue Quartet. I took a few better photos of The Quartet, so you could get a better sense of the project. This is a small blanket or throw that uses four squares, has a contrasting frame, a border and an edging. The yarn is a cotton/silk heavy lace or fingering weight from Colourmart. You could knit the design in one color, but I think it looks best in two.

It would easily work well in a heavier yarn, for a larger and more substantial blanket. My version is very light and has lovely drape.

This week's square is shown below, still the wet (blocking) photo, but you get the idea! The chart will be posted at our Summer Squares group this weekend. The texture stitch on this one square is different!

My gratuitous summer photos follow...rigging the Sun Fish last weekend on Long Island's North Fork...

Large, nesting birds...

And our unedited video of the week! This week I illustrate how I attached the two panels for The Blue Quartet. Each panel is made of two squares (in blue) with a stripe of gray between the squares. I then knit the two panels together, as follows!

I regret to say that I filmed this video BEFORE Judith lovingly pointed out my lack of appropriate accent...and I fear that this one also lacks that accent. In future videos I will work to correct the issue.

I will be back with another square of The Quartet next week. The Summer Squares project is moving right along, and you are still welcome to join us. See the details at the link above! Until next week, knit on into the summer!

Summer Squares Take 3: Adding an Edging

Today takes us to week three of our Summer Squares project. There is still plenty of time to join us, as we will be going for 12 weeks. If you are interested, catch the details here. This week will bring us two new charts. The first will be the edging chart for The Golden Eye design, pictured above. If you scroll to the bottom of this post, you will find that my video this week covers starting this style of edging.
Our second chart this week is our new square. This one is called The Dulcimer. Both new charts will be posted at our Summer Squares group this weekend. Excuse the picture. I was running late with this square, so you see it wet and blocking!

As promised, I am adding a little food this week. I think food is almost as photogenic as fiber... This is a perfect summer dinner at my house. We get lovely beets with greens at the local farmer's market. As a busy woman, I need meals that can go from fridge to table in under one hour. This one is fast, healthy and very tasty! It will feed four people...

Shrimp with Lemon Grass (Thai Style)
-1 pound of large shrimp, peeled (with tail left on) and cleaned
-1 shallot, diced
-2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
-1 Scallion, trimmed and sliced
-1 length of lemon grass, woody part removed, cut into long, thin slivers
-1/3 of a can of unsweetened coconut milk
-1 teaspoon green curry paste (Thai)
-1/2 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste

-Rice (any type you like) made as per package directions.

Heat oil in heavy skillet over medium heat and sauté shallot until soft but not brown.
Add the ginger and stir for two minutes.
Add the curry paste and stir until combined.
Add the coconut milk and stir until combined.
Add the lemon grass, shrimp and tomatoes.
Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir after 2 minutes and check shrimp.
Do not over cook. Shrimp are done when they turn uniformly pink.
Remove cover and add scallions. Stir over heat for 1 minutes.

Prep time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: 20 minutes.
Serve over rice. It goes very well with a beer…

Beets and Greens Greek Style
-1 bunch fresh beets including greens
-1 tablespoon good olive oil
-Oregano
-Salt and pepper to taste
-1 lemon cut in wedges
-Some good feta cheese (optional)

Scrub the beets and wash and trim the greens. In a large pot, cover the beets with cold water, bring to a boil and boil gently for at least 25 minutes. Test with a fork to see if the beets are cooked through. Remove from the heat and run under water to cool slightly. Slice beets in quarters.

Steam greens in a steamer until wilted and soft, but still bright green. About 5-7 minutes steaming…

Arrange platter: Greens in center, beets around the sides. Drizzle with olive oil and season with oregano, salt and pepper. Serve with lemon wedges and good feta cheese.

Prep time: 15 minutes. Cooking time: about 25 minutes

Today's video is about starting a knit-on edging. Those of you who are working on The Summer Squares Suite Golden Eye design might be coming up to the edging right about now! The edging chart is posted to our Summer Squares group this weekend. The video below shows you how I begin this type of edging. Apologies, up front, if I make you dizzy. BadKitten tells me that I move my knitting around too much. I will keep trying...

I will be back next week with a fourth square, a second project and maybe some New York nature photography! Knitters working on my Summer Squares project might also have their versions of The Golden Eye done and ready to share, so we can look forward to a great post next week. Until then, knit on!

Summer Squares Take Two: Picking up along the edge

The second week of our Summer Squares Suite takes us to our second square! This square uses some textured stitches and is another "medallion" square. I call this square The Double Bass. It is one of a series of squares that are part of a small string orchestra, if you will. The chart will be posted on The Summer Squares Group tomorrow! We are also moving forward on the first square I posted (last week.) For those of you knitting squares for a blanket, you can hold tight with your first squares, and move on to the second square. For those of you working on the full Golden Eye pattern, the border chart will be posted on The Summer Squares group tomorrow! The Diamond Border is picked up around the square using a circular needle, and is worked out toward the edges, increasing as you go.

Today's low-tech video shows how I pick-up stitches around my square. I am suggesting that you pick-up the "bumps" and not the "bars" of the garter stitch edges of the square, and I will show you how I do it. There is nothing wrong with picking up the "bars" but the look is not the same. You will get the appearance of small eyelets if you pick-up the bars, and the pick-up along the sides will not match the top and bottom edges. Remember that at the top we have our live stitches, and at the bottom we have our provisional cast-on, so these will be clean lines without any eyelets.

Enjoy your week! I will be back next week with a third square, the edging for The Golden Eye pattern, and a technique video about edgings! I might have some pretty food too...

Until then, knit on!

The gift that gives twice!

My friend Sandra gave me a lovely gift for my recent birthday. She gave me some silver chain, a clasp, assorted head pins and assorted crystals. She had a necklace in mind and figured I would know what to do.

The chain was about twice as long as my favorite length, so I folded it in half, with one loop slightly longer than the other. I added the clasp to one side, using a head pin with a crystal to secure it. I added a ring to the other side the same way.

I put a crystal on each head pin and did my usual wire-wrap dangle, leaving the final closure of the loop and wrappings undone. Once I had all the crystal ready as above, I organized them in a way I liked and put the partially done wire-wrap on the chain, then completing the wire-wrap.

Here you can see my tools and the chain with some of the dangles already added. If you would like to see how I make the wire-wrap dangles, check out this tutorial! I not only get to wear this lovely necklace, but I got to be crafty too! What a perfect gift.

I'll be back next week with more fiber fun. Until then, knit on!

Workshop Announcements!

I will be doing a few workshops in February and March, and I thought I would share the information with all of you. If you go to the Knitting Nation website and click on the link for the Winter 2009 class schedule, you can scroll down to Workshops and see what there is to see. Under each of my workshops, there is a link to a PDF file with a flier. Check those out for details!

On Sunday February 8th, 2009, we are doing a Center Start Workshop, exploring different techniques to start a knit lace piece at the center. We will use the Little Flower doily pattern as our workshop project, and try different cast-ons. Everyone will leave with the confidence to finish the doily.
On Sunday March 8th, 2009, we will be doing a project based workshop called Burnish Gold Gauntlets. Techniques will include basic lace concepts and knitting lace on double-pointed needles. Adding beads to your lace will be an optional technique. The project is a pair of gorgeous lace mitts and picture are coming soon! This will be a fun class for beginners and experienced lace knitters alike.

The last workshop that is currently scheduled is a basic drop spinning workshop. Saturday February 22nd, 2009, BadKitten and I will be teaching Drop Spinning and if you want to learn how to spin or want to learn how to spin finer yarn, you will have a great time with us. See details on the flier (you have to scroll further down the workshop list to find the link.) We will supply all the materials for this workshop, so if you have always wanted to try spinning but never had an opportunity, this is it! Kids 13 and older with a serious interest in fiber-arts are welcome. Below is a selection of spindle-spun silk threads for embroidery, along with the spindle and fiber they were spun with. The scissors sheath is embroidered with similar hand-spun threads.

Aside with learning to use a top-whorl drop spindle, several types of spindles will be demonstrated and various yarns and projects will be available for inspection. We will discuss yarn structure and look critically at what yarn qualities work best in which projects. This promises to be an enjoyable afternoon.

On other topics:
Don't forget to cast your vote for our Valentine's Day project. As of right now, it is looking like a shawl. If that remains the case, as soon as this poll comes down I will be putting another up asking for you input on shawl shapes. If you have an opinion, please make it count!

I have another post coming soon which is very exciting to me. I have two new designs debuting at TNNA TODAY! I will post pictures and details of those projects tomorrow. Until then, keep knitting!