GAUNTLET IS CAST
Two pairs, actually. Now winging their way cross country to the recipients:
Both are from patterns available on Ravelry. Left are Susie Roger’s Reading Mitts, and at right are Swirling Gauntlets by Susanna IC. Both are knit from Red Heart Shimmer, one skein of which (plus four evenings) was more than enough for both mini-projects.
I mailed these on Monday, but I’m posting this ahead so that the package has time to arrive without totally spoiling the surprise! Shh!
MORE MOTLEY, MUFFATTEES, MODIFICATION AND MUTT
Back from visiting Florida, my mom and sister (plus her family). We had a great time, feted like royalty on progress. Special thanks to all, especially my mom, and to Chef Terry who pulled out all the stops for the holiday meal.
Motley
Sitting and chatting with mom did allow Motley to grow. In order to keep color distribution even, I have been adding to both ends:
I’ve got some snippets of hers now in there, too. I’m about two thirds of the way through the center rectangle, and am very pleased at how it’s turning out.
Muffattees (Fingerless Mittens)
Also, while we were there my two nieces expressed a desire for fingerless mittens. I’m not quite sure why they’d need such a thing in Florida, but teenage fashion whims (when reasonable) can be indulged. Especially when they are a quick knit.
For the first pair, I’m using the Reading Mitts pattern from Susie Rogers, available on Ravelry:
I’m about a third of the way through the other mitt of this pair. I’m still looking for a slightly different but equally interesting design for pair #2. Although I love luxe yarns, I’m no materials snob. The yarn for this one quite humble. It’s a very soft Red Heart acrylic worsted with a subtle shiny mylar thread running through it. Called Shimmer, it does, just a tiny bit, and has a very pleasing almost cashmere-like softness, which will feel nice on the hands. I chose a washable yarn because even in black, mitts get dirty quickly. The yarn is a bit splitty, but I’m happy with the result.
For the pattern, I knit the smallest size. With this yarn on US #5s, it’s plenty big enough (the medium was too big for me and I’ve got gorilla paws). The only modification I did to the pattern was to use a provisional cast-on, then knit the cast on stitches along with the live stitches to fuse the picot hem, just before the decrease row that sets count for the cuff pattern. That ended up adding one row of width to the edging before the first purl row of the cuff. Not noticeable. Also users should note that the lace pattern is set up for an even number of stitches, but two of the three sizes as presented yield an odd number in circumference after the decrease row. Just ignore the extra stitch and work it plain – on this item no one will ever notice. Finally, the method for picking up the thumb benefits from casting on two rather than one stitch on the side facing the mitt’s body. Even so, I advise leaving a nice long tail when you join the yarn to make the thumb. The excess will come in handy to close up the rather large gap at the “thumb crotch”.
This pattern is a sweet little project for a last-minute gift. Mitt #1 took two evenings. Mitt #2 bodes to take less, in part because I don’t need to start, then rip back the medium size.
Modifications – Vintage Yarn Chart Rehab
I know that lots of folks who visit here are looking for my chart of vintage needle sizes, historical yarns as plotted against gauge and modern needle sizes (with a few modern yarn recommendations). That chart was ported over in the Great Blog Migration, but arrived in less than readable condition. I’ve ironed it out now. To minimize confusion, I’ve modded the original post from 2005, rather than reproduce it here. But I’m opening it up again for additions. If you run across a pre 1930s pattern that calls for a specific yarn and vintage needle size, and you have made a successful modern substitution, toss a comment onto that page listing the original needle size and yarn specified, plus your modern substitutions. I’ll add them to that chart.
Mutt
Apologies for calling my mom’s companion, Honeybun, a mutt. Mom would classify her as a “designer dog” – a mix of Maltese and Yorkshire Terrier, sometimes referred to as a Mookie. But I needed the alliteration, and as long as I toss the toy or scratch behind the ears, I don’t think Honeybun would mind:
She’s a cute little bundle of fluff, and a very good apartment pal.
MOTLEY ON THE ROAD
My bag of orts hardly reduced by my progress, here’s more Motley:
It’s rather chaotic, but I like it. For the record, I’m using US #8 needles, which are quite large for fingering weight. But the odds and ends I’m knitting with are not all of uniform thickness. Some are regulation fingering weight sock yarns, like Regia, or Fortissima. Some are heavier, like Koigu, or Dale Baby. But all fall into the 9-6.5 stitches per inch range. Since this is a throw and not something like a sock or mitten that needs a sturdy fabric, using these finer yarns on larger needles is minimizing the gauge difference among them all.
I’m about a third of the way through the center rectangle. When that’s done, I’ll probably fill in the little triangle bits at the top or bottom, then do a narrow mitered edge around using a solid color. After the unifying band is on, I’ll finish off the thing with some sort of edging, also done in haphazard small quantity multicolor.
There’s no guarantee however that the current “bottom” edge will remain so. I can add stripes to either end, so long as I maintain the joining rhythm, with raised join edges appearing on every other seam. The other “rule” I’ve hit upon is that unless the quantity left when I get to the end of a stripe is very small, or the yarn’s color variations are giant, I am beginning a new color for each new stripe. I do note that my color selections are consistent. There are reds, purples, yellows and greens in there (and the occasional snippet of turquoise), but most are variations of those tones that harmonize well with deep blues. For example, there aren’t any baby pastels or desert tones in the thing.
Working on this is bringing up memories of the various projects that fed my bag of leftovers. Socks and baby projects knit at particular places, for specific people come to mind as I address each tiny remnant. Although I hope I’ve got a way to go to the Madame Defarge stage, coding the names of the damned next to the guillotine, I do remember details of conference presentations and lectures I knit through as their sock leftovers come to hand.
And finally the explanation for the cryptic “on the road” designation, and for the uncharacteristic bright photo of the piece. I’m in Florida, visiting my mom, and took the photo here in her bright and cheery marble-floored apartment, rather than our darker New England home. Here we are enjoying the view off her balcony and being spoiled rotten. Not necessarily in that order.
MOTLEY!
Things being rather unsettled here right now, but still in need of stress abatement, I looked around to see what evening needlework distraction I could find. I don’t want to start a forever project with only a limited amount of time before The Big Displacement. I’ve sent the embroidery floor stand on ahead to India, so working on Big Green is problematic. I’ve been doodling up knit scarves and socks – giving most of it away. Additional inspiration for this one came from the Resident Male, who always bemused by my yarn hoarding habit, forwarded this.
I’ve got a big bag of little bits of fingering weight – mostly left over from sock projects. I’ve dipped into it every now and again to make booties or to supply a stripe or toe for later socks, but for the most part, the bag has grown steadily larger in the 18+ years I’ve been knitting socks.
So. Given the need for totally mindless knitting, very few needles in the house (also mostly sent on ahead), and the guilt-induced constraint to use my stash yarn remnants, what could I come up with?
Motley!
This is ultra simple – 12 stitches across (10 plus 2 slipped edge stitches), knit in garter stitch; 10 ridges with each right side row beginning with an increase and ending with a decrease; followed by 10 ridges with the wrong side rows beginning with an increase and ending with a decrease. After the first ripple is done, subsequent ones are joined to the established chain selvedge edge with a simple pick up/pass last stitch over move, followed by purling that stitch on the next row. The basic zig-zag concept is Frankie Brown’s Ten Stitch Zigzag, which I’ve played with a bit.
Using relatively giant US #7 needles (giant for sock yarn, that is) I’m reaching into the big bag of leftovers, pulling out whatever I find, and adding it on. Eventually I’ll add little triangles to square out the piece to make a center golden ratio rectangle. Then I’ll figure out some sort of similarly chroma-chaotic edging, so that I end up with a little lap throw.
It’s a quick knit, and totally without thought. What you see above is the the consumption of nine mini-balls of leftovers over the course of three evenings.
GIMP CHARTING TUTORIAL 108 – THE TEMPLATES
Inspired in part by Hastings Sanderson over at Is That an Apres?, who is thinking of embarking on an extensive graphed needlework project, I went out web-walking to see if others were using GIMP for needlework graphs.
In addition to my own set of tutorials on using it for line unit patterns (backstitch, double running, punto scritto, Holbein stitch, etc.) I note this tutorial on using GIMP to transform photos into cross stitch graphs, and a GIMP plug in for that purpose. I’ve also adapted my method for use with square unit graphs (cross stitch, needlepoint, lacis, burato, knitting), but it’s not as elegant as the commercial programs designed in specific for needlepoint or cross stitch.
However, in all cases, I find very few folk have successfully used GIMP for needlework charting. The most prominent feedback on my method is that few people have the time or patience to establish the base templates. So, to give others a leg up on creating their own charts, I offer up my base pages. These are 8.5 x 11 (US letter size) pages, each set up with the layers needed for graphing. They are intended to be used with the grid spacings and brush sizes specified in my tutorial. They are based on the ones I’m using right now for T2CM, the sequel to my New Carolingian Modelbook.
Because of WordPress limitations I can’t post the GIMP *.XCF files, so I’ve bundled both the line unit and square unit templates into one standard Windows *.ZIP:
Remember – after opening these templates go back and change your grid spacing and brush sizes to those specified in the GIMP series here. Then have fun!
HECTIC!
It’s been a hectic several weeks here at String Central, encompassing major transitions and a very small crumb of Hurricane Sandy.
First on the transitions – I’ve left my job to concentrate on our India migration preparations. I’ve not made a secret of being a professional proposal manager, but I’ve avoided naming my former employer here to date. I will miss my colleagues at iRobot, where I worked on the defense and safety side of the house. I supported robotics research; and the various robots used for bomb disposal, infantry support, and nuclear clean-up. It’s hard to beat the combo of brilliance, passion, and creativity at a place like that, or knowing that the work you were doing helped people save lives on a daily basis.
In the midst of emotional upheaval of leaving, the recent storm provided a reality check.
We had it nowhere near as bad here as folks further south in New York and New Jersey. Shout-outs of support and sympathy to those in my childhood neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn and Teaneck, NJ (Bergen County); to Long Time Needlework Pal Kathryn in New Jersey and to Mathilde, also near the landfall area; and to all others suffering the storm’s aftermath.
AN ASIDE:
Please join me in offering assistance to those in need by donating to the charity of your choice, or to the American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/
Unfortunately, times like this bring out lots of bottom feeders. I strongly suggest heeding the advice here before unlimbering your wallet.
We were without power until Thursday here – the result of a small but spectacular power line fire in front of our house, that occurred at the height of the storm. It took about 2.5 hours before the utility had a truck free to turn off the electricity. In the mean time, we had a leaping, sparking power line; and a spreading turf fire. Luckily the ground was wet, so the fire burned down into the lawn instead of spreading the short distance to the house and cars, but it was so intense that the copper itself burned (green flames) and the turf vitrified into solid, red-hot masses. When the power was safely out, the fire department came to dig out and extinguish the blaze. The only casualties ended up being a swathe of grass, our collective nerves, and some refrigerator perishables that didn’t survive the lingering power outage.
Thanks to the first responders who came to shepherd the hazard and stayed with it through the worst of the wind, and to the crews that dealt with the fire and its aftermath.
We still have no land line phone, but that’s just a minor annoyance.
Halloween did happen here, although with a dark street, only the most intrepid and candy-hungry kids came to our door. But we were ready:
(Sadly, the head sensor gizmo on Younger Daughter’s pumpkin Dalek did not survive the first wave of trick-or-treaters).
And finally, after all this blather – report on what needlework progress I was able to manage by candlelight:
The finish of the cotton Kombu Scarf:
And most of yet another Lattice Wingspan:
I plan to invest my new found daylight hours in additional post-storm clean-up, attending to India related preparations, fixing the vintage yarn chart/needle size chart for reposting here, studying Hindi, and working to get T2CM out the door. In more or less that order.
WHAT WOULD YOU PACK?
I have sent off our second shipment of household goods. With luck they’ll arrive at the apartment in Pune, India by the end of November. The flat is furnished, so there was no need to send furniture, but it’s a spare and barren space. The Resident Male is fixing that, but it will take time.
In shipment #1 we sent pots and pans, some linens, a TV, and other items of immediate need. This second shipment is mostly clothing for Younger Daughter and me, plus linens for more beds, some bits of kitchenware that we forgot before, and most important of all – Survival Boxes. Younger Daughter and I each got one.
What’s a Survival Box? It’s a box full of the hobby, reading, or idle time amusement things intended for maintaining familiarity and sanity far away from home, where supplies might be difficult to come by. That’s not to say that we wouldn’t be able to find hobby things at our destination, but I rather suspect that selection and proximity will both be limited.
Younger Daughter packed painting and sketching supplies, including paints, pens, and paper. Also some selected books, and crochet yarn and hooks, along with a book on intro amigurumi (Japanese inspired small soft toys, usually knitted or crocheted).
What was in my box? Really – you have to ask?
In all truth, packing the thing was the hardest move task to date. What to take and what to leave behind? On one hand, I want to have a variety of things to do because I work on stuff at whim. It’s hard to predict flights of whimsy for the 18 months to come. On the other hand, there’s no point bringing a ton of stuff because whatever I bring, I have to schlep back.
Here’s what I settled on:
1. My unfinished North Truro Counterpane. It’s about 40% done right now, destined to be queen bed size when completed:
The pattern is here, if you’re interested.
2. My giant green sampler. I packed the frame stand, but not the sampler and stretcher frame. I’m still working on (albeit slowly) and it will accompany me in person.
3. Lace yarn. I’ve got a huge hank of black merino lace yarn, plus a big spool of hunter green, some blue, and some accent threads that go well with the hunter. Not sure what I’ll do with them yet, but I am bringing my copy of the Sharon Miller Princess Shawl, just in case I want to attempt an impossible project in an unconventional color.
4. Extra ground cloth and threads. I rounded up my stashed bits of cotton and linen even weave. They range from 26 to 50 threads per inch. I’m bringing white and black DMC linen floss, plus a pile of red, black and green cotton floss. Just in case inspiration strikes. I don’t have a stash of silk floss and didn’t buy any because of everything that I use, that’s the most likely thing to be available in India.
5. Sock yarns. About four pairs worth. The best in my stash, including some hand-dyed, and a ball of (near) solid Zauberball in deep emerald.
6. Lots of knitting needles, holders, embroidery needles, a pair of sewing shears, a couple of hand-hoops, my magnet board folder (thanks Kathryn!), my swift and ball winder (absolute necessity with the lace yarns) and other notions.
7. The stitching kit I picked up at Winterthur, to make a reproduction of the Sarah Collins sampler. Still not sure if I’ll do this myself, but it’s a self-contained project and easy to transport. Compared to the stuff I usually do it doesn’t look like it will take very long to stitch up.
8. Selected reference books. I can’t bring my whole library, but I did pack a few big-bang-for-the-volume pieces – my Duchrow trilogy, a German knitting stitch treasury, and TNCM. Plus some others on a thumb drive.
With the exception of a couple of balls of sock yarn and the accent threads, this is all from my stash, accumulated over the years. Which is why we have these hoards in the first place. Right?
So.
Given a trip for up to two years away from home, to a place where distraction would be appreciated and supplies might be hard to get, what would YOU pack?
BLOCKING MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Compare.
This is the same scarf. At the left, it’s fresh off the needles. On the right, it’s been through this torture:
All lace benefits from a savage blocking. Is your Wingspan looking flabby? It’s probably not your knitting technique. Try blocking it and see.
For the record, I used my visually horrific checked sheet and damp-blocked my finished Lattice Wingspan. First I dampened the thing and squeezed it out gently (no wringing). I patted the center curve into shape and pinned it first. Then I used a minimal number of pins – just one at each point – to pull the points out from the center. Finally, I let it dry overnight.
The ends? I don’t darn in ends until after I’ve blocked. Especially on lace. Finishing off the end may introduce a small area that does not stretch like the rest of the piece. Better to let them hang, then deal with them after blocking is over.
STILL MORE WORDS FROM ANOTHER WORLD
Having sent off our household goods shipment in advance of our great migration, here’s another installment of words and usages from India that are new to me. Again – these are skewed to the sensational and seasonal because my main sources are all newspapers, which there like here tend to lead with grabbers on taxes, violence, scandal, tragedy, alongside gossip and pieces on communal celebrations.
Hoardings – Large scale printed media advertising, especially billboards, although the extra big, freestanding ones appear to be called “gantries.” Trucks whose body is a large sign rather than a cargo payload are “mobile hoardings.”
Tender Rate – Hard to tell from context, but this appears to be a tax rate or licensing fee. I found it in an article on government crackdown on illegal hoardings (above), in which a higher tender rate was recommended, coupled with increased enforcement, including removal of illegal (unpaid) displays.
Lakh and Crore – Indian currency (rupees) are individually quite small in value. At the time I write this, the exchange rate is roughly 1 rupee = 1.9 cents US. Therefore prices for big ticket items – cars, houses, jewelry – are expressed in very large numbers. One lakh = 100,000 rupees, or at today’s exchange rate, about US $1,886.79. One crore = 10,000,000, or US $188,679.00. It’s very common to see headlines like “Rs 1.5 lakh of jewelry stolen,” or “Rs 4.3 crore seized”. The abbreviations are lk and cr.
Names for cardinal numbers – Numbers in general in Hindi and Sanskrit (two of many languages there) are handled differently than in English. We have unique number words for numerals 1-12, then use a combo form to make the rest of the teens; then have a unique word for tens place numbers (20, 30, etc.) but form compound words for the numbers in between them (21, 33, 67). In India each number to 100 has a unique name.
Body offences – A broad legal class of crimes that appears to cover the equivalent of the US terms “Bodily harm,” and “aggravated assault” although the definition also includes armed robbery, extortion by threat of injury, poisoning, slavery, and kidnapping
Various common British usages – Thrash instead of beat (“Dacoits thrashed the victim with a stout rod”); shift instead of move (“I shifted the furniture, but I didn’t think you’d mind.”); dustbin instead of trash can; attach instead of confiscate (The Enforcement Directorate attached all remaining funds, after the embezzler was identified.”)
Ota – Earthen platform or raised mound. A temporary structure used as a platform for devotions, especially during religious celebrations.
Pandal – A structure or enclosure erected for religious purposes. These can be permanent, but at this time of year, festival season in India, many are temporary. The legal definition includes structures that serve business purposes, too, although newspaper citations I’ve seen have all been about temporary shrines erected for celebrations, where they are, or what provisions/fees are being levied for electrification, or other infrastructure and public safety support for them.
REINTRODUCTIONS
Welcome to the flood of folks directed here by the generosity of Mary Colbert, over at Needle ‘n Thread! She blogged about Ensamplario Atlantio, and the visitor count here ballooned from about 70 per day to over 5,000.
Given the large number of new folk, I thought I’d make a general re-introduction of myself and the site.
My name is Kim Brody Salazar. I’ve been knocking around the web since it first crawled up from the primordial pre-Internet seas. Professionally, I’m a proposal manager specializing in engineering and high-tech. I escape from project pursuit deadlines into needlework, SF, good cooking, and halfhearted attempts at domesticity. Past passions include the Society for Creative Anachronism. I rarely attend SCA events these days, but is still home to many of my closest friends; and Aikido. I am abetted in these efforts by Elder and Younger Daughters, and by The Resident Male, the husband whose programming ingenuity was responsible for the plumbing behind wiseNeedle. As a family we are currently preparing for an extended sojourn in India, where he is now working.
I’ve done many types of needlework, but my favorite stitching techniques remain the counted styles – especially from the great Modelbook Era (1520s-1650s). I adore blackwork in all its manifestations, and strapwork (the long strip patterns found on household and body linens).
I’ve also played with several forms of needle lace and crewel, but in the days that pre-dated photo blogs.
I am an avid though haphazard researcher, drafting up historical patterns from artifact and early book sources. I’ve put together several pamphlets of these designs. The most recent complete book was The New Carolingian Modelbook: Counted Designs from Before 1600. It was published for an SCA audience, but to my great surprise was discovered by the stitching community at large. I won’t go into the details, but TNCM is now out of print. I am working on a sequel, which I hope to have out soon via a print on demand or self-publication service. The Second Carolingian Modelbook: More Designs from Historical Sources will not duplicate the designs in my earlier book.
Along the way, just for fun and to refine the methods I wanted to use for T2CM, I drafted up Ensamplario Atlantio. It’s a collection of filling designs for inhabited blackwork, along with quite a few that have stand-alone or strip application. I’ve released it for free as a series of PDFs, along with other free embroidery patterns, here.
I also knit and crochet. I’ve done a bit of amateur design, and have had several of patterns published by Classic Elite, KnitNet, and Schaefer Yarns. I ran the wiseNeedle knitting info website (in various incarnations) from 1995 until just earlier this year. wiseNeedle featured an extensive needlework advice board, plus the glossary and patterns now here, along with a huge database of user-contributed non-sponsored yarn reviews. The yarn review database was salvaged by Nimblestix. Please feel free to consult to it and add to it over there. I also release knitting patterns for free here on String.
In terms of technique, I tend to favor texture knitting over stranded colorwork (although I like them both). I especially like lace knitting, and mining the 16th century sources and late 19th/early 20th century knitting publications for designs elements, which I toss into the creative Cuisinart.
That pretty much sums up my approach to all needle arts. I love the intricacy of many traditional styles, but I am not all that interested in producing stitch-literal reproductions. Instead I prefer to add to my design vocabulary to produce new works. Some of these I hope that – if they were to be TARDIS-transported back through time – would be accepted as just another piece in the target style, without being a dead-on copy of an extant artifact. Others are more playful, taking designs intended for one needlework medium and using it in another, or sneaking in incongruities just for fun. If you’re a needlework purist, I’m sure I’ll ruffle your feathers, and we’ll have lively debate. This is a good thing, because it will expand both our horizons.
I also do not believe the common line that modern needleworkers have no skill or patience for large, intricate projects. I find the dumbed-down tone of most mass market stitching, crochet and knitting books to be patronizing and demeaning. If passion and interest are there, no skill curve is too steep to climb, and there’s no reason to set the bar of attainment artificially low. Steps up are good, but too many instructors top out on the lower plateaus, never expecting their students to advance beyond threshold skills, or offering up the higher levels as anything other than impossible high bars that we today can never achieve.
Time can be found for whatever you want to do or whatever skill you want to perfect, even if (like me) it’s only 15 minutes here or there. Needlework is like music or the martial arts – practice is required, there are no instant skills or guaranteed outcome. But like any training pursuit, the act of committing to the training hones the mind and the character, and teaches far more than the mechanics of the skill itself. I encourage everyone to set high goals for themselves. It’s the reaching that makes it worthwhile, whether or not the goal is grasped. I may never reach mine, but I’m sure having fun on the journey up.
In any case – enough rambling. Welcome to my new readers and any long-lost friends!
String-Or-Nothing 
