Cable hell
30 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
I think I hate cables…
I don’t know what cable knitting is like for needle knitters, I imagine that moving the stitches might be easier as stitches held on needles have some flexibility in movement and position compared to the loom where each stitch is held static on it’s own stationary peg. Trying to move stitches an inch to the right really tests the elasticity of the wool! Needle knitters feel free to correct me!
Technically, I’ve got the hang of cables now, I understand the concept of them, I can see how the purl stitches at the side make the cable pattern pop out even more and I’ve even mostly memorised the sequence of steps that create the cable (though I still wouldn’t trust myself to knit away without the instructions glued to my knee!) but I don’t like it… it’s not easy to knit, it’s very easy to mess up…. it’s uncomfortable to knit as I struggle with the wool not quite reaching the peg I want it to.
I thought I’d found a trick when using the KK flower loom which has removable pegs… instead of taking the wool to the peg I took the peg to the wool, knitted the final loop with the peg out of the base still, then put it back in it’s hole having gained more slack with the extra stitch. It was still tricky, but I didn’t think I was going to break my yarn each time… but alas it seemed to leave it’s mark in the final pattern and I could tell the cable crosses where I’d moved the peg rather than just the wool. *sigh*
For my test project I’ve been using this pattern: http://gettinitpegged.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/cabled-mug-hug.pdf
It’s a cabled mug hug, although I’m making it to be a headband. Uses small amounts of wool – fab for using up those odds and ends. Can be made different sizes (you just change the number of cable repeats). Uses only 10 pegs and depending on what wool you use, you can use different looms. As I have the large gauge looms, I’m using quite a thick slightly fluffy wool.
It’s a fabulous pattern, although it doesn’t in itself explain cables. For that I bought the Isela Phelps book from Amazon which explains cables well and contains a few patterns to try them out. Isela also has all the videos in the world to help you with tricky things on youtube, so if like me you can find written instructions tricky and it’s easier to watch someone and copy them, I’d seek her out.
This morning, my first day back at work this year (for various boring and complicated reasons), I took my cable headband in progress on the train with me so my mind could focus on that rather than the anxiety. Sadly, on the very first right cross that I attempted, I snapped the loop.
This is the end of cables for me for the moment. I had got quite far with the headband but not far enough that it’s actually useful for anything. I will try again at some point with a yarn that feels more stretchy but at the moment, trying to knit cables is extraordinarily stressful no matter how pretty they look! I will eventually be persisting with cables and hopefully they will get easier. For the moment however, for the sake of my sanity, I shall be putting them to one side and concentrating on the large project that has morphed from being a christmas present to a birthday present as I couldn’t get it finished in time – I’m still wondering if I’ll manage to get it done by the end of April!
Kindle Screensavers
20 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Photography
Following the reassurances of a good friend (who understands how much my shiny toys mean to me), I went down the road of jailbreaking my Kindle in order to get screensavers that I liked rather than the staring eyes of Emily Dickinson!
I’m not going to put details or links of how to jailbreak on here because if I’m honest my friend did the finding and applying of the relevant files and I doubt I’d be able to answer any questions anyone had on the process. I’d also feel terrible if some bad info or link I’d given caused harm to a Kindle. Finally, I’m aware it’s in a mucky legal grey area (although amazon have seemed to turn a blind eye to it) and I corrupt enough minds as it is!
So, if you’ve not done that and want to, there is a wiki page on the subject that is very good, but I hope you understand that I ask you to find it yourself.
After a while of looking through pics that other people had converted/made/found, I decided to have a look through my photos and see if there were any that I wanted to make into greyscale screensavers. There ended up being a few… I decided to publish them here and make them available to anyone who wanted them. If you do use any of them, I’d appreciate knowing which ones.
To make kindle screensavers from your own photos – crop them to 600×800, make them greyscale, and save as PNG files. JPG also works, I’ve been told that PNG works better though. Some images work and some don’t in greyscale, give it a go with your own photos and see what happens! I had a bit of trouble with getting some of them the right size. If it’s too small, the kindle centres them on the screen.
Don’t forget to put the new images in the right folder (the wiki explains all if you’ve found it), and don’t forget to restart your Kindle (Home, Menu, Settings, Menu, Restart) otherwise you won’t see the new images. I did that and panicked for a moment!
roundup notes part two!
10 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
Mum and my sister Esme showing off their crafted gifts!
Mum got an entire set of matching hat, gloves and scarf because she’s my Mum! 
I was so happy with how they turned out, the wool was two different colours of the same type of wool, a red and a beige and they blended perfectly together. Esme received a pair of slippers and a scarf with a middle section of the same wool. I had originally planned (and started knitting) slippers in the darker plum at the ends of the scarf, but I ran out of wool with just 5 rows left to do and no chance of getting extra wool!
Scarves I was never happy making as I started off with stick woven scarves in August 2010 and figured giving the sae item two years running was a bit naff, but finding a pattern where you missed out pegs meant for an interesting braided pattern and a much faster knit, and it was nice to make sets with the gloves. I much prefer the pattern and texture made by missing pegs out. I can’t stop planning ahead, so I’ll note that I have plans to imitate cables with this design.
Mum was the only person to receive a hat from me, for some reason I had a little block about knitting hats – I think because they are on show and therefore have to be nice looking in order to be worn!
A lot of people received fingerless gloves from me this year. Two reasons – one is that they are useful items that most people will be happy to use, the second less altruistic reason is that they are a quick and easy knit!
Slippers – After my slipper fail early last year it was a pattern I’d dropped, but I picked it back up for Xmas and made a few pairs for people to go with other items. With the right wool, it’s a quick and easy pattern and a nice item. The wool does have to be superthick though, and if using several strands of thinner wool, it can get awfully tight and hard to knit.
Roundup of 2011
10 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
For this and the following posts I have to thank all you lovely people who sent me photos
It’s lovely to see the items I made being worn and I sincerely hope that they are useful accessories, there’s no point making these things if they don’t get used! I’ve always been a function over form kinda gal!
My digital camera appears to be dying (the memory card needs almost constant formatting meaning I keep losing photos and the battery runs out of charge like an asthmatic poodle trying to climb an escalator) – I would like to say this was the reason I didn’t take photos, but that wouldn’t be true! I just never got around to taking photos of my xmas crafting before gifting them, so I’ve collected photos from their recipients
I estimate that I crafted over 20 items for Christmas presents (and a couple of birthdays that were in Nov/Dec). No wonder I haven’t picked up a loom since I finished them (and some were being knitting on Boxing Day to finish them off!).
First we have the Neck-Hugs – a short scarf, just big enough to go over your head (otherwise it’s fairly useless!!) and sewn together at one end with buttons or accessories to suit.
This one was done in camo colours, as I always associated lovely earthy colours with Liz. The wool was quite wide and flat which made for a lovely texture. It was a braided pattern which basically means you miss out pegs while looming it. The basic pattern was found here, although this is my adaptation of it – I knit with a regular loom tool, not my fingers, I wrap single pegs rather than wrapping round two pegs at a time (which makes it easier if you’re knitting with fingers) and I made up my own pattern of wrapped and missed pegs. With the long looms you can remove the pegs you’re missing out entirely to make it easier). The bind off with this missed peg pattern is a little tricky, I found I needed to start thinking about the bind off when knitting the final row to ensure there was enough slack in the stitches so that both ends matched. Took a little trial and error to get it right.
Two pointy oval gold buttons were sewn on one end to complete it.
This is a good project for small stashes of wool that might not make a full length scarf and offer an option in case you suddenly find you’ve run out of wool!
Thank you for being my model Liz, and I’m glad you like the neckhug!
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