Month: July 2006

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DIY needle binder

Ring_binder_parts_1My new KnitPicks needles are working out great. Now I just have to keep them organized.

My other circular needles are in one of those large soft-sided fishing tackle cases.  It works well but has been bulging at the seams for some time now. It’s way too bulky to take to classes and I’m not so crazy about the fishing logo on the front. Clearly these new needles need another home.

I like the binder idea that KnitPicks uses for their case but didn’t buy the cover. I was hoping that I could just buy some of the needle pockets to use with my old day planner.  Turns out that the needle pockets are much smaller than my old day planner and have six oddly spaced holes. After visiting an office supply store and comparing the needle pockets with other planners I soon found that the hole configuration will fit binder mechanisms with six rings but that planners using these types of rings are not wide enough to hold the needle pockets.

Not daunted by this, I headed over to a local thrift shop and sifted through the mounds of unwanted planners and binders. After a few minutes I found one with rings in good shape and the right price – $.69. When I got home I tore the binder mechanism out of the planner and started thinking about how to make a cover and secure the mechanism to the cover.

I quickly recalled finding a nifty binders called Rebinder that is made so that the cover can be easily replaced. Hoping to use this same idea to fasten my binder mechanism to a cover, I looked closely at the parts and headed over to the hardware store.  Bolts

Here’s what I found. The nuts are called t-nuts, tee nuts or blind  nuts. They either have prongs that will dig into the item being secured or without prongs but with small holes for brads. My Rebinder has the one with the prongs which dig into the cardboard cover to hold it securely.  These t-nuts come in various sizes. The ones that fit into the holes on my binder mechanism are 6-32. The screws that fit into the holes of the t-nuts are 6-32 x 3/8 machine screws with an oval head for Phillips screw drivers.

Now that I have binder rings and a way to fasten it to a cover, I just have to design and make the cover. Not sure what I’ll do. There are so many possibilities.

In the mean time, I’m still working on Firebirds.

Body2repeats

Progress is a bit slow since I’m trying to make sure all my stitches are even. Parts of the chart have long gaps between color changes, which I think makes it harder to be consistent. I’m trying to remember to weave in unused yarn when knitting through such gaps, hoping this will help.

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It’s 89 degrees and still knitting

Body_one_repeat

Got one repeat finished this week. I’m coping with the heat by mostly working on Firebirds in the evening and morning when it’s cool. Otherwise, I can’t concentrate and end up ripping out all that I knit.

To get out of the heat, this afternoon, I went over to Fusion Beads thinking I might pick up some beads to make some of those fancy stitch markers.

For this project, I’ve been using one to mark the back of the sweater so I don’t forget to flip the repeat (birds on the right side face right and ones on the left face left). I have no trouble keeping track of the front because the steeks are very noticeable. So, no stitch marker for the front.

Anyways, the stitch marker that I’m using came in the goodie bag give out at the  NwRA conference . Ordinarily I wouldn’t purchase such things but I work on this project I’ve grown fond of the one I have and like the feel of a metal marker. The colors even match the sweater.

So, as I was sifting through the packages of crystal beads at the store, I realized it was all quickly getting out of hand; I don’t need another hobby.  I leave the store with only a few plain sterling silver jump rings  that will work well with my new needles.

By the way, I noticed some excellent tutorials on Fusion Beads’ website, including this one on wire wrapping.

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Firebirds started

Lowerbandneedles After a week of crunching numbers I finally got enough confidence to cast on. Figuring out how wide the body should be wasn’t a problem but I wasn’t sure about adjustments to the neckline. Luckily I got some help from a fellow knitter/blogger whose already tackled this pattern.

When I looked through my supply of 3.5mm circular needles I only found two 24″ and one 47″. I tried using the longer needle but quickly found it was way too large. I then tried using both 24″ needles but found the needle tips a bit troublesome to work around. I was about ready to make a trip to the yarn store for a new 40″ circular when my Knit Picks needles arrived.

A couple of weeks ago after reading all the positive comments about these needles on Knitter’s Review I decided to give them a try. I placed an order for some of the Classic Circular needles and one set of the Options Line needle tips and cords. Apparently, these needles are so popular that Knit Picks is having a hard time keeping up with orders.

So what do I think? After working several rows, I can say they’re much better than my Addi Turbo needles. The cables are wonderfully flexible and the tips are a bit sharper which makes two color knitting easier for me. I’m currently knitting with one of the needles with removable tips and so far haven’t had any trouble with them coming loose. Kudos to Knit Picks for taking knitting needle design one step further. By the way, Clara from KR has an excellent detailed review of these needles.

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Done!

Fair Isle SocksThese socks sat around waiting to be bound off. I finally did it this week using the elastic bind-off from page 47 of “A Treasury of Magical Knitting” by Cat Bordhi.

The border designs came from Alice Starmore’s Book of Fair Isle knitting. The repeats for each band fit within the total number of stitches so there are no partial repeats. Here’s a picture of the back of the leg
where each round began.

OK, I’ll admit it – I love looking at these socks. Here’s a another picture from the front.

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Better second time around

Firebirds_swatch3 I’m calling it good.

I increased needle size from 3.25 mm to 3.5 mm and also worked in the round, just as the sweater will be knitted.

Cast on is around the corner once I figure out how large to make the cardigan.

For those who aren’t familiar with patterns from VY, this specific pattern was originally printed in child sizes and the adult size comes as an addendum in the size ordered. I ordered an XL to make sure I have enough yarn but requested the addendum for a large. Now after pondering sizes and measuring all my sweaters, I think I should have asked for a medium.

This week I’ve been looking through every Fair Isle knitting book under the sun trying to get a handle on how to adjust this sweater to fit me.  Adjustments can be pretty vexing when one has a big difference between chest size and hip size. Since Fair Isle sweaters are just big boxes with no shaping for a feminine waist, there actually not that great for women with my type of body shape. While I know this, I still want to go forge ahead and knit this beautiful sweater.

Traditionally the motifs should line up around the body, centered on the back and front and matching at the shoulders. Keeping this in mind, I think the best plan of action is to shorten body by several inches so the bottom edge hits above instead of below my hips. This way, the total circumference will be closer to my chest size and I won’t have to worry about it fitting over my hips.