Ply and Burl

Several years ago, I taught myself to knit Continental style (I had done English up to that point). Early on, the tension on my knits and purls was about equal, probably due to my lack of dexterity and thus the extra-tight grip I kept on the knitting. However, while I knit quickly and easily in Continental style, my purl stitches seem to be getting really loose. Substantially looser than the knit stitches to be sure. I’m not sure why this is — I’ve tried correcting it by using an extra wrap around my fingers to increase tension, but it only helps marginally. Thoughts? Ideas?

As you may recall from the post that made me famous (ha), I have a thing for data. Not Data, although his pale visage and robotic affect always gave me a tingle, but data, that deep well of information that if coaxed and cajoled (with scruples and skepticism) can produce exciting insights into almost any question.

This data-love would explain the lost half hour I spent playing with Google Trends this morning, a tool from Google Labs that allows you to compare the frequency of different search terms over the course of several years and in various geographic regions. Considering my recent dilemma, can you image what I searched?

You guessed it! It was a Data Showdown: Knit vs. Crochet.

I expected knit to roundly trounce crochet — my intuition about web trends just said it would be so. But behold:

Crochet pretty much won that round. Who’d have guessed, perhaps my dirty little secret is not dirty at all!

Now, here’s where the skepticism comes in, and where the beauty of thinking subtly shows itself (I do know that this is a weak example of subtle thinking, but consider it an homage to greater minds). Change the word “Knit” to “Knitting” and BAM! Sudden data morph! Behold, Knitting vs. Crochet.

Knitting wins that round! Maybe I need to put my crochet secret back in my pocket?

In the end, crochet wins one round and knitting the other. Though Bangladeshis have absolutely no interest in crochet, and South Africans are mad for it, most countries come out somewhere close to 50/50. Does this mean there’s really no show-down in the end? I can have them both? Needles and Hooks united? The gang wars are over! They must be — the data says so. (He he. Go ahead, smack me for saying that. I was asking for it).

People on the web claim time and again that Addi Turbos do not kink. This intrepid reporter is here to tell you that Addi Turbos do kink. Behold, my once smooth and supple Addis, after innocuously hanging from my circular needle holder for several months:

These buggers were kinked from here to Toledo! I tried knitting with them, thinking they might soften up again as they changed position. No dice. Knitting with them was a total drag.

Luckily, steaming them over boiling water helped a little, and dipping them in the hot water helped a lot. Still, after using the Knit Picks Options needles, these cables feel stiffer than they used to. But that’s another story for another day.

For now, my debunking work is done.

Gentle grannies with lace lap blankets in rocking chairs, quietly mending all of life’s rips and bruises with just a thread and needle? Have you had that little daydream? That’s the one that has kept me fascinated with darning socks for years.

One summer, I searched garage sales high and low for a darning egg — and, remarkably, I did find one! However, since then, I haven’t done a thing with it. Back then, there wasn’t much on the old internet about darning. But my how things have changed.

So, here I present you with my semi-periodic “list of useful links on one topic that also lead you to other cool discoveries” (for back issues, see here and here). Maybe I need to come up with a better name for this burgeoning tradition! Anyway, drum roll please:

How to Darn Socks So They Look Reknit

I found lots of sites with instructions for a simple woven darning technique, but I omitted them because, well, that technique is ugly! And we won’t have it!

Once Upon a Pattern has fantastic diagrams accompanying an explanation of “stocking web darning.” A lot of sites I found claimed to know how to darn, but were really just tossing some yarn in the hole. This site’s darning method is full of tecnique and details — it’s got class and panache! (Thanks to The Blue Blog for the link.)

HJ Studio has the most attractive looking final darning patch photographs that I found. She uses the technique shown in Once Upon a Pattern and it comes out beautifully!

And that’s all! All the rest were, like I said, pretty ugly.

A few fun related discoveries:

Theresa had some luck with both methods, and posted a bunch of links to other darning explanations.

Vintage Sewing has got to be the coolest site I’ve come across in a while. They offer “free online access to public domain sewing books.” The darning page is from a book called “American Dressmaking Step by Step” published in 1917! The darning info is generally about woven fabrics, though, so this didn’t make the main list.

Kell’s Craft is another site publishing books in the public domain where I found this totally uninstructive but beautifully illustrated story called The Darning Needle.

Finally, here is a sweet little poem about darning that totally confirms the my granny daydream can. be. real.

Charm Woven Labels let’s you leave a little mark on the items you’ve knitted in swanky retro style. (from Knits and Pieces)

Longing to express your religious fervor through your needles? Go forth and knit your devotion with Lucia’s knitting pattern of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Sherry’s knitting pattern of the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Let the knitted noodlyness uplift you, Ramen!

UPDATE: More knit FSM goodness!

• Flying Spaghetti Monster Knit Hat
• Flying Spaghetti Monster Knitted Halloween Costume
• Very yarny Flying Spaghetti Monster

What better to lift your spirits than bedsprings? (via Kottke)

At $15 a pop, it’s getting a little hard to stomach buying my new favorite needles, the Addi Turbos (though going to my favorite LYS and hanging around all the lovely yarn and knitters does make it hurt a little less.) So it was pretty exciting to see that Knitpicks has come out with nickel-plated hollow-core brass needles (just like Addis) but with interchangeable cords of varying lengths.

Part of me is skeptical of course. Will the cord be as flexible as the Addis? With the needle cord threshold be as smooth? But at just $3.99 for a pair of tips, and $3.99 for a cord, I plan to give them a go on my next project.

Stay tuned for a personal apprisal, but in the meantime, here’s the lowdown from Knitters Review.

Wahoo! One week exactly until I leave for a two-week trip to Italy. Presently, I’m acting like a part spaz part neurotic part insomniac part space-cadet trying to squish a ton of work in before I leave, but I have managed to make a list of things that I’d like to do while there, one of which is to do some serious train knitting, and to pop into a few yarn stores.

I’ve done a bit of web surfing and found the following places, but If you know of anymore good knitting stores or related sights in Rome, Venice, Siena or Florence, please let me know!

Italy Yarn Spots (so far):

Florence

Beatrice Galli Yarn Shop
Borgo San Iacopo, 24/r
Firenze

Campolmi Roberto Filati
Via Pratese, 18 int.
Firenze

Venice

Lellabella
30124 Venezia
San Marco 3718
Calle della Mandola (della Cortesia)
041 522 51 52
lellabellavenezia@libero.it

Rome

Filatura di Crosa
via Bergamo, Roma

I also found this list from the year 2000 but according to Heidi it’s very out of date.

Finding a good knitting bag has been an epic task, with little success. I had one made by a seamstress (in a trade). It’s made of Japanese fabrics and lovely to behold. However, it lacked structure and compartments, making my knitting stuff a giant jumbled, flopped-over mess.

But now I think I’m on to something — The Closer-to-Perfect Knitting Bag. It’s the XS Zip-top Tote from Mountainsmith.

I have an enormous and ongoing crush on this bag. Tall enough to hold a pattern, several balls of yarn and a few pieces of your sweater project (and your sock project besides). Rubber bottom that makes the bag stand up on its own and stay up! It has an open front pocket and open inside pocket for temporary storage, and then a zipped inside pocket for other notions. But my favorite part so far? A top panel, that zips to close the bag and has a semi-transparent zipped pocket in it. Perfect for travel — your tickets, passport, wallet in the top pocket, knitting and notions inside, nothing lost.

Semi-transparent top panel.

My junk inside.

Click on the images to see bigger photos with comments!