July 22, 2012
Another Pause
Work has taken over my life right now. I'll be back when it's over, which is hopefully sooner than later but I don't have any control over it, unfortunately.
June 25, 2012
June is Finished
To start, I'll stop being evasive. The reason I took a break from this blog was because I moved again. I only moved across town, but as I wasn't planning on moving and I had time constraints, it was a little more stressful. Funnily enough I didn't have any of the more common reasons for moving; my roommates were good and I was happy enough with my room to stay for a bit. However, our landlord had different plans. He decided not to renew the lease (ours and the other two apartments in the building) so he could renovate. My roommates and I found out two months before we had to get out. What fun.
The good thing out of all of this is not only did I managed to stay in the same neighborhood (because I like it here and didn't want to switch neighborhoods after five months anyway), I now have my own apartment.
But that's over. I still need some things for the apartment and I'm going to have no yarn budget until August at least, but things have calmed down for now.
However, despite everything that has happened in the past three months I managed to get every project I needed to get done for June finished. Before June, I may add. I'm pretty impressed with myself.
Of course, there were some compromises. For example, the baby sweater I've been designing...well, the sweater's done:
But I didn't get the last steps written down. You know, the hard steps where you pick up for the snap band, add the collar, and sew on the snaps. Which means I currently have half a baby sweater pattern for a sweater that came out a little big and off proportion. That, I, of course, changed most of my plans on anyway. But it is done, it was done before the baby was born, which is an accomplishment.
Anyway, I don't know how thrilled I am with the pattern itself. Everyone that's seen it in person says they like it, but it still bugs me for some reason. I don't know why. In some ways, I'm impressed on how some of the things I did came out. But still...
I guess what I'm saying is don't expect a pattern for it any time soon, if ever. Maybe I'll change my mind and write it up as a free 'if you really want it' pattern. I have to think about it.
Speaking of baby sweaters, I finally got around to sewing on the buttons for the other sweater:
I think it came out pretty nice.
As well, I got my brother's kippah done. It took me several times of ripping it out and re-starting, but it got done:
Once again, I kind of BS-ed the pattern here. I actually started from Purl Soho's kippah pattern, but changed the ratio of increase rounds to straight rounds so it would still curve at the right rate. I did this several times, because my prototype worked with one ratio (which took a couple of times to figure out on its own), but once I started using multiple colors I had to change it again. It's still not perfect; the top is still a little too pointy for my taste (can't tell in the picture because I blocked it dented in here), but there was no way I was pulling it back out again.
The swirly pattern on the kippah is supposed to be something getting sucked into the black hole on the top, but for simplicity purposes when making it, I ended up doing a galaxy spiral with way too many arms around it instead (spiral galaxies have only two arms; the multiple arms you see are branches off from the main two. My first idea was to map out a spiral galaxy for the color work pattern. It got too complicated, so I went 'screw it'. I then tried the black hole idea, that got too complicated, so I went with the above because I didn't actually have to plan and follow a chart that way. Yes, I'm lazy sometimes). So it's not technically right from an astronomical standpoint. This may only be important to me. For some reason I still named it the Galaxy Kippah.
Also, working with up to four threads of yarn for the color-work was a pain in the ass. I wasn't that great with it either. I, having of course done no research on how to do stranded crochet color work, carried the yarn by crocheting the stitches around the other threads so that they lived between the back and the front of the stitch. Unfortunately, this means there's a few places where you can see a bit of the other color peaking out. And I still haven't done in research on crochet color work.
On the other hand, my brother loved it. So I have that going for me.
And I think that's all of my June projects. Now I just have to actually work on Crazy Cable Blanket:
Preferably with huge box-mix cookies that I decided to bake instead of blogging earlier this evening, and some tea:
Ah, the joys of having your own space.
The good thing out of all of this is not only did I managed to stay in the same neighborhood (because I like it here and didn't want to switch neighborhoods after five months anyway), I now have my own apartment.
But that's over. I still need some things for the apartment and I'm going to have no yarn budget until August at least, but things have calmed down for now.
However, despite everything that has happened in the past three months I managed to get every project I needed to get done for June finished. Before June, I may add. I'm pretty impressed with myself.
Of course, there were some compromises. For example, the baby sweater I've been designing...well, the sweater's done:
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Anyway, I don't know how thrilled I am with the pattern itself. Everyone that's seen it in person says they like it, but it still bugs me for some reason. I don't know why. In some ways, I'm impressed on how some of the things I did came out. But still...
I guess what I'm saying is don't expect a pattern for it any time soon, if ever. Maybe I'll change my mind and write it up as a free 'if you really want it' pattern. I have to think about it.
Speaking of baby sweaters, I finally got around to sewing on the buttons for the other sweater:
I think it came out pretty nice.
As well, I got my brother's kippah done. It took me several times of ripping it out and re-starting, but it got done:
Once again, I kind of BS-ed the pattern here. I actually started from Purl Soho's kippah pattern, but changed the ratio of increase rounds to straight rounds so it would still curve at the right rate. I did this several times, because my prototype worked with one ratio (which took a couple of times to figure out on its own), but once I started using multiple colors I had to change it again. It's still not perfect; the top is still a little too pointy for my taste (can't tell in the picture because I blocked it dented in here), but there was no way I was pulling it back out again.
The swirly pattern on the kippah is supposed to be something getting sucked into the black hole on the top, but for simplicity purposes when making it, I ended up doing a galaxy spiral with way too many arms around it instead (spiral galaxies have only two arms; the multiple arms you see are branches off from the main two. My first idea was to map out a spiral galaxy for the color work pattern. It got too complicated, so I went 'screw it'. I then tried the black hole idea, that got too complicated, so I went with the above because I didn't actually have to plan and follow a chart that way. Yes, I'm lazy sometimes). So it's not technically right from an astronomical standpoint. This may only be important to me. For some reason I still named it the Galaxy Kippah.
Also, working with up to four threads of yarn for the color-work was a pain in the ass. I wasn't that great with it either. I, having of course done no research on how to do stranded crochet color work, carried the yarn by crocheting the stitches around the other threads so that they lived between the back and the front of the stitch. Unfortunately, this means there's a few places where you can see a bit of the other color peaking out. And I still haven't done in research on crochet color work.
On the other hand, my brother loved it. So I have that going for me.
And I think that's all of my June projects. Now I just have to actually work on Crazy Cable Blanket:
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| Shitty picture is shitty but I don't want to get out my real camera. |
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| Yes, those are Portal 2 Coasters. They were a gift. |
June 14, 2012
Will Be Back Soon
Just want to note that I haven't abandoned this (yet); I've just been dealing with real life recently. However, I should be settling down soon, given a couple of things happen or don't happen, and so will be able to get a post or two in later this month.
Because a lot has happened. Some of it actually good. But it's bed time now.
Because a lot has happened. Some of it actually good. But it's bed time now.
April 13, 2012
Radio Silence and More Knitting with Tolstoy
Yes, I know, I haven't been updating this thing. There's a reason, and unfortunately, this reason will continue for at least two more weeks (damn the real world getting in the way). I am working on things (slowly), but I haven't had time to take pictures, nor the inspiration to write about them here. Maybe next month I'll update on my June project progress.
So this isn't an excuse post, I do have an update on the book quote thing from my last random post. You see, I finished War and Peace...oh, about a month ago? It took me a month to read, I know that. Not bad, but that's another write-up entirely.
No, what really caught my fancy was two more knitting-related quotes that really stood out from the numerous references to yarn craft that Tolstoy throws in his books. The first one is a good 80% into the book, and oddly, has an unusual character praising the activity of knitting (note, still have the Project Gutenburg version of this book on Kindle):
The second is one of the last chapters of the first epilogue (the one that ends the story, not the essays):
There are other quotes I bookmarked, but they're all standard 'so and so was knitting x'. These two were a lot more thought provoking. Who know that I could (or would) read War and Peace and geek out on the knitting references?
Anyway, as I need to get some sleep (have to get up early on a Saturday, *sigh*, though it's my own fault), I will sign off. Hopefully my life will be put back in order by the middle of next month, but I can't make a promise on that. Until then I most likely won't get around to posting.
So this isn't an excuse post, I do have an update on the book quote thing from my last random post. You see, I finished War and Peace...oh, about a month ago? It took me a month to read, I know that. Not bad, but that's another write-up entirely.
No, what really caught my fancy was two more knitting-related quotes that really stood out from the numerous references to yarn craft that Tolstoy throws in his books. The first one is a good 80% into the book, and oddly, has an unusual character praising the activity of knitting (note, still have the Project Gutenburg version of this book on Kindle):
"She [Natasha] was sitting in an armchair placed sideways, screening the light of the candle from him, and was knitting a stocking. She had learned to knit stockings since Prince Andrew had casually mentioned that no one nursed the sick so well as old nurses who knit stockings, and that there is something soothing in the knitting of stockings" (loc. 21291).I think most of us who do yarn crafts can attest that doing such crafts is soothing...well, when you don't want to throw it across the room, at least. And I can imagine a more relaxed person is a better caretaker (do note that these books take place around 1812, and were written in the same century; hence the assumption that caretakers are female. The sexism is a product of the author's time, though I find that Tolstoy handles the characterization of women very well for a man writing in the 19th century). Anyway, given the next line mentions clicking needles, I presume that Prince Andrew had ulterior motives for this suggestion to Natasha. I think he found watching and listening to someone else knit relaxing, more than suggesting that Natasha would find it relaxing. If you know the context of this scene...well, the request and Natasha's compliance are quite understandable.
The second is one of the last chapters of the first epilogue (the one that ends the story, not the essays):
"'Two, two!' they [the children] shouted. This meant two stockings, which by a secret process know only to herself Anna Makarovna used to knit at the same time on the same needles, and which, when they were ready, she always triumphantly drew, one out of the other, in the children's presence" (loc. 21857).What I really want to know is 1) what process is being described here, because I haven't got around to knitting socks yet, and therefore don't know the techniques or the history enough to be able to guess it, and 2) how the hell Tolstoy knew that some weird way to knit two socks at a time existed back then. It's not like he could just Google it. Maybe he knew how to knit? Or maybe his wife? I don't know much about the author, so I can't say.
There are other quotes I bookmarked, but they're all standard 'so and so was knitting x'. These two were a lot more thought provoking. Who know that I could (or would) read War and Peace and geek out on the knitting references?
Anyway, as I need to get some sleep (have to get up early on a Saturday, *sigh*, though it's my own fault), I will sign off. Hopefully my life will be put back in order by the middle of next month, but I can't make a promise on that. Until then I most likely won't get around to posting.
March 24, 2012
Knitting vs Crochet, Part 2: Does Crochet Really Take More Yarn? (Part 2)
Better late than never. Click here for Part 1.
Changes
Since I overestimated by ability to keep the swatch size the same, I'm normalizing the height and width measurements by using square inches instead. So, I'll get the amount of yarn used per square inch. Easier that way anyway.
Also, since I'm not going by pure measurement, I didn't take pictures of all the swatches. I did take this one to prove I did them though:
My gauges didn't come out the same either, though not very far off. Again, since I'm using gauge to calculate the stitch width and height to get me the dimension of the stitch in square inches (I know, it's weird, but it lets me do the amount comparison) in order to get amount used per stitch, the gauge isn't a problem. I was hoping for a more direct comparison, but oh well.
I did do the garter stitch and double crochet swatches (which is why it took me so long).
Also, to state, I'm doing everything in inches. Not standard, but that's what I did because I'm a stupid American who just realized her tape measure has centimeters on it. Measurements are to 1/16 of an inch.
Results
My raw results are in this chart (sorry for the size...no real way to post this without it running off the page. However, for integrity, I want to put my raw data here):
To give my formulas:
There's a couple of things here I noticed right away. The least apparent thing may be easier to see in this graph:
Can't see it? I've added lines between the 4.25mm data points for on stitch and the 5mm for the next stitch:
Hm. There's a relationship here. If you order the stitches from least to most yarn used, it shows that you can go to the next stitch, and the only thing you need to do is increase the needle/hook diameter to the next up size and you'll use around the same amount of yarn. And the stitch order staggers between knitting and crochet. This itself is a nail in the coffin for the whole '3 times more yarn' myth. I wonder if this trend holds out if you added more diameter sizes. I really don't want to make up more swatches to find out, though.
On the other hand, to maybe, possibly, give some credence to those who say crochet takes up more yarn, look at the table for per stitch. Yes, it turns out that both knitting stitches I looked at use less yarn per stitch than both crochet stitches. But then look at this table:
Using the same order of stitches as the second table above, I created one with the stitches size in square inches. So, yes, the knitting stitches take less yarn. They also cover less area, which is what I figured. But this still doesn't settle why, when you look at square inches and not stitches, the order changes. My guess is that the ratio of the area gained in the square inch to the amount of yarn used is not the same for each stitch, and that it would work out to be that the stitch that used the least yarn while covering the most area would be the one to use the least amount of yarn in a square inch. I don't feel like doing that comparison. It's not that important to this myth.
Anyway, to get back on track, we get to the final conclusion as seen in the first table (Yarn Used per Square Inch). So, how much yarn does each craft take against the other? It depends on the stitch you're using. Using the same tool size:
Table is read down, then across (so pick a stitch on the left hand side, then find the stitch to compare it to at the top, then find where they meet to find the percentage more of yarn the first took against the other. If it's negative, it took less.
None of these are anywhere close to 3 times the amount.
There's one more thing I do want to explore here, though. Those saying that 'crochet takes more yarn' could claim is that, in reality, if a knitter and a crocheter were doing similar projects, they would pick completely different tool sizes. And, most likely, the knitter would use a bigger tool than the crocheter (my guess based on my experience...if you can prove me wrong, let me know). This is what I was trying to test with the 'same gauge' thing. The problem is that the gauges aren't all that compatible between knitting and crocheting. Should have known that.
However, the data I do have shows that this argument doesn't work either. Look at the first table again. If, say, a knitter wanted to crochet something that would normally be in garter stitch and still use a similar amount of yarn, just change it to double crochet. Going from garter to double crochet results in less yarn being used, and if you go down a tool size or two (which you would), it'll use close to the same amount of yarn. Once again, it comes down to what you're doing in that craft. The knitter could use less yarn and therefore get more out of the same yardage, but the crocheter could do so too.
Conclusion
Therefore...myth BUSTED. Crocheters aren't using up all your yarn. Actually, you may be using more yarn than a crocheter, since it all depends on stitch and tool size chosen. And even if the crocheter is using more yarn, they're NOT using anywhere close to 3 times as much. So stop repeating this myth.
Changes
Since I overestimated by ability to keep the swatch size the same, I'm normalizing the height and width measurements by using square inches instead. So, I'll get the amount of yarn used per square inch. Easier that way anyway.
Also, since I'm not going by pure measurement, I didn't take pictures of all the swatches. I did take this one to prove I did them though:
My gauges didn't come out the same either, though not very far off. Again, since I'm using gauge to calculate the stitch width and height to get me the dimension of the stitch in square inches (I know, it's weird, but it lets me do the amount comparison) in order to get amount used per stitch, the gauge isn't a problem. I was hoping for a more direct comparison, but oh well.
I did do the garter stitch and double crochet swatches (which is why it took me so long).
Also, to state, I'm doing everything in inches. Not standard, but that's what I did because I'm a stupid American who just realized her tape measure has centimeters on it. Measurements are to 1/16 of an inch.
Results
My raw results are in this chart (sorry for the size...no real way to post this without it running off the page. However, for integrity, I want to put my raw data here):
| Stitch Used | Tool Diameter | Width (in) | Height (in) | Swatch Size (sq in) | Stitch Gauge (/in) | Row Gauge (/in) | Stitch Width (in) | Stitch Height (in) | Stitch Size (sq in) | # of Stitches in Sq. In. | Length of Yarn Used (in) | Amount of Yarn Used per Sq. In. (in) | Yarn Used per Stitch (in) |
| DC | 4.25mm | 3.7500 | 2.2500 | 8.4375 | 4.5 | 3.0 | 0.2222 | 0.3333 | 0.0741 | 13.5000 | 312.3125 | 37.0148 | 2.7418 |
| Garter | 4.25mm | 4.3750 | 2.0000 | 8.7500 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 0.2000 | 0.1000 | 0.0200 | 50.0000 | 341.6875 | 39.0500 | 0.7810 |
| SC | 4.25mm | 3.7500 | 2.1875 | 8.2031 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 0.2222 | 0.1667 | 0.0370 | 27.0000 | 355.5625 | 43.3448 | 1.6054 |
| St St | 4.25mm | 3.8125 | 2.3750 | 9.0547 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 0.1818 | 0.1333 | 0.0242 | 41.2500 | 297.2500 | 32.8283 | 0.7958 |
| DC | 5mm | 3.8125 | 2.1250 | 8.1016 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 0.2500 | 0.4000 | 0.1000 | 10.0000 | 264.3750 | 32.6326 | 3.2633 |
| Garter | 5mm | 4.2500 | 2.0000 | 8.5000 | 4.5 | 10.0 | 0.2222 | 0.1000 | 0.0222 | 45.0000 | 316.5000 | 37.2353 | 0.8275 |
| SC | 5mm | 3.6875 | 2.1250 | 7.8359 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0.2500 | 0.2000 | 0.0500 | 20.0000 | 306.0625 | 39.0588 | 1.9529 |
| St St | 5mm | 3.7500 | 2.3750 | 8.9063 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 0.2000 | 0.1538 | 0.0308 | 32.5000 | 250.6250 | 28.1404 | 0.8659 |
To give my formulas:
- Square Inches = W * H
- Amount of yarn used per sq. in = [yarn used in whole swatch (in)]/[square inches of area used]
- Stitch height/width = 1/[row gauge (for height)] or [1/stitch gauge (for width)]. This is because my gauges are all per 1 inch (if you, say, used 4 in for your gauge, it would be 4/[gauge measurement]...or, more explicitly: [gauge measurement]/[# in. for swatch] = 1 st / [x in] -> x = [# in. for swatch]/[gauge measurement])
- Amount of yarn used per stitch = [amount of yarn used per square inch] / [the number of stitches in a square inch] (which is 1/[size of a stitch in square inches]).
| Amount of Yarn Used per Sq. In. (in) | Tool Diameter | |
| Stitch Used | 4.25mm | 5mm |
| Stockinette Stitch | 32.8283 | 28.1404 |
| Double Crochet | 37.0148 | 32.6326 |
| Garter | 39.0500 | 37.2353 |
| Single Crochet | 43.3448 | 39.0588 |
| Yarn Used per Stitch (in) | Tool Diameter | |
| Stitch Used | 4.25mm | 5mm |
| Garter | 0.7810 | 0.8275 |
| Stockinette Stitch | 0.7958 | 0.8659 |
| Single Crochet | 1.6054 | 1.9529 |
| Double Crochet | 2.7418 | 3.2633 |
There's a couple of things here I noticed right away. The least apparent thing may be easier to see in this graph:
Can't see it? I've added lines between the 4.25mm data points for on stitch and the 5mm for the next stitch:
On the other hand, to maybe, possibly, give some credence to those who say crochet takes up more yarn, look at the table for per stitch. Yes, it turns out that both knitting stitches I looked at use less yarn per stitch than both crochet stitches. But then look at this table:
| Stitch Size | Tool Diameter | |
| Stitch Used | 4.25mm | 5mm |
| Garter | 0.0200 | 0.0222 |
| Stockinette Stitch | 0.0242 | 0.0308 |
| Single Crochet | 0.0370 | 0.0500 |
| Double Crochet | 0.0741 | 0.1000 |
Using the same order of stitches as the second table above, I created one with the stitches size in square inches. So, yes, the knitting stitches take less yarn. They also cover less area, which is what I figured. But this still doesn't settle why, when you look at square inches and not stitches, the order changes. My guess is that the ratio of the area gained in the square inch to the amount of yarn used is not the same for each stitch, and that it would work out to be that the stitch that used the least yarn while covering the most area would be the one to use the least amount of yarn in a square inch. I don't feel like doing that comparison. It's not that important to this myth.
Anyway, to get back on track, we get to the final conclusion as seen in the first table (Yarn Used per Square Inch). So, how much yarn does each craft take against the other? It depends on the stitch you're using. Using the same tool size:
| Percentage of Yarn Used | ||||
| Stitch Used | Garter | Stockinette | Single Crochet | Double Crochet |
| Garter | 0.0000% | 0.0016% | -0.0011% | 0.0005% |
| Stockinette Stitch | -0.0019% | 0.0000% | -0.0032% | -0.0013% |
| Single Crochet | 0.0010% | 0.0024% | 0.0000% | 0.0015% |
| Double Crochet | -0.0005% | 0.0011% | -0.0017% | 0.0000% |
Table is read down, then across (so pick a stitch on the left hand side, then find the stitch to compare it to at the top, then find where they meet to find the percentage more of yarn the first took against the other. If it's negative, it took less.
None of these are anywhere close to 3 times the amount.
There's one more thing I do want to explore here, though. Those saying that 'crochet takes more yarn' could claim is that, in reality, if a knitter and a crocheter were doing similar projects, they would pick completely different tool sizes. And, most likely, the knitter would use a bigger tool than the crocheter (my guess based on my experience...if you can prove me wrong, let me know). This is what I was trying to test with the 'same gauge' thing. The problem is that the gauges aren't all that compatible between knitting and crocheting. Should have known that.
However, the data I do have shows that this argument doesn't work either. Look at the first table again. If, say, a knitter wanted to crochet something that would normally be in garter stitch and still use a similar amount of yarn, just change it to double crochet. Going from garter to double crochet results in less yarn being used, and if you go down a tool size or two (which you would), it'll use close to the same amount of yarn. Once again, it comes down to what you're doing in that craft. The knitter could use less yarn and therefore get more out of the same yardage, but the crocheter could do so too.
Conclusion
Therefore...myth BUSTED. Crocheters aren't using up all your yarn. Actually, you may be using more yarn than a crocheter, since it all depends on stitch and tool size chosen. And even if the crocheter is using more yarn, they're NOT using anywhere close to 3 times as much. So stop repeating this myth.
March 7, 2012
In Which I, Once Again, Didn't Do My Research First
...Because if I had, I would have found out that several other people have tested the 'crochet takes more yarn' myth, some years before I thought about it. Oye. And the first one even referenced the same Yarn Harlot quote as me (and she has a page number, if you need it).
Sorry to say, I found all this as I was finishing the last swatch. Now, I just have to take pictures and do the measurements for what I have. One good thing, though...given the results above, I may do a garter stitch swatch in both needles sizes as well, as it seems that other testers have found single crochet and garter to be similar, instead of my assumption that stockinette would be the similar stitch. On the other hand, I then should do two double crochet swatches for the hell of it. That should cover all the basic stitches in both crafts.
So I may do four more swatches before posting my results. Or I may tally up my results for what I have, post that, formalize the rest of the test, and then do another post when I have all the results. We'll see.
I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. Testing things is all about the repetition from other people, in order to counteract your own test flaws and biases. So, let's see if I get the same results!
Sorry to say, I found all this as I was finishing the last swatch. Now, I just have to take pictures and do the measurements for what I have. One good thing, though...given the results above, I may do a garter stitch swatch in both needles sizes as well, as it seems that other testers have found single crochet and garter to be similar, instead of my assumption that stockinette would be the similar stitch. On the other hand, I then should do two double crochet swatches for the hell of it. That should cover all the basic stitches in both crafts.
So I may do four more swatches before posting my results. Or I may tally up my results for what I have, post that, formalize the rest of the test, and then do another post when I have all the results. We'll see.
I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. Testing things is all about the repetition from other people, in order to counteract your own test flaws and biases. So, let's see if I get the same results!
March 3, 2012
Distractions and Old Obsessions
I figured that my next post would be the results of the test. Didn't happen. I still got one more swatch to do, and then I got to record everything. I should be done next week.
And why am I not done? Couple of reasons. One, I hate swatching, so I'm procrastinating. Two, I got distracted by a thousand other things. This post is about those projects.
First off, I spent my week 1)starting the baby sweater (having done all the math for the body of the sweater, at least), 2)realizing my choice of increase sucked and therefore frogging the sweater, 3)restarting it with a new increase, 4)noticing that it looked a little big, measuring it, realizing that it was in fact an inch too big, re-measuring the gauge, realizing that I had had a gauge accident, and therefore frogging the sweater again.
This was followed by an investigation as to why I had had a gauge accident, which was found to be due to my own stupidity. My swatch didn't lie, in fact the first swatch I did for the baby sweater was at the same gauge I was getting for the sweater itself. The problem was that I measured it wrong the first time, and therefore every bit of math and planning I did for this pattern was 100% wrong for the size I wanted. Yeah. Ripping out 11 rows and having to re-do all the pattern math was not what I was aiming to do this week.
Anyway, having done that, I did get it started again:
And it is in fact the right size this time. I checked three times.
As well, as I was knitting a garter stitch square, I was thinking about how I really shouldn't be knitting a square for my Log Cabin Afghan, and should really switch the needles back to the Crazy Cable Blanket so I could get some of that done. Except then another train of thoughts went through my head. You see, the baby sweater needs to be done by June (as well as the one that still needs buttons. I haven't had any luck with that). Also, I want to knit up a small shawl using my other skein of Merino Light, and that will also need to be done by June, as I wish to wear it to my brother's bar mitzvah. Surfing for patterns for that, I realized that I need to get my brother a present. But what to get him...hm...what did I get for my sisters...oh, shit, I made them crocheted kippot.
This needs some back story. You see, I originally got interested in pattern design for one reason. When I was in high school and actually not only considered myself Jewish but was a constant participant in one of the youth groups, I wanted to make myself a kippah. I tried finding a pattern online, but that didn't net me much back in the early 2000's. I had a vision, and I wanted that. So, I spent most of my high school years making and trying to come up with a pattern for the perfect kippah. Two of my best efforts of this ended up going to my sisters for their bat mitzvahs, one of them actually being very good. Unfortunately, I crocheted it as I was watching the Columbia disaster unfold on TV and therefore didn't write down what I did, and never managed to recreate it. I, after making a bunch of failed efforts, gave up when I went to college. This left me with a shit-ton of crochet thread that I've, for some reason, always kept around but have not done anything else with.
So guess what made a reappearance recently:
Yay stash. Anyway, in my time on Raverly, I've noticed that they had a whole category for kippot, so I went and clicked it. Lots of free, basic knitted and crochet patterns for kippot. Only one problem. None of them are for crochet thread. So, guess what I've been doing today?
I'm once again trying to create a kippah pattern so I can also make my brother a kippah for his bar mitzvah. In June. Oye.
Of course you may look at the start of that effort and go, 'wait, doesn't that look a little feminine for a boy?' and you would be right. That's because after my third time starting (and after buying three different sizes of steel crochet hooks...no wonder I sucked at making kippot last time, I didn't even have the right size hook for the yarn!), I got the ripple effect that I had achieved on my only good effort last time I did this. So I started writing down what I was doing and went with it. Not that this little side effort hasn't given me an idea of how to make a more standard kippah, but yeah, this isn't for my brother. Don't know what I'm going to do with it, assuming I get something out of it. Maybe give it to my mother, since I've never made her one either (when she had her (adult) bat mitzvah, I bought her a kippah).
Now I've started something else, this leave me with four projects in progress (where did my rules go? Threw them out when I moved, it looks like), two active which need to be done by June, and one that needs to be done by next December (given this is Crazy Cable Blanket, this isn't a sure thing. I have to get rows done every week to potentially make that deadline). I also have another project that isn't started that I would like to be done by June (but honestly, if I don't get my shawl it's not the end of the world). And yarn I just bought for a hat I was hoping on making before winter ended. And eight done squares and one in progress for a blanket I don't need, but since it's a mindless project, it gets worked on more often than Crazy Cable Blanket does. Oh, and that swatch for my test. Do you think I've bit off more than I can chew here?
And why am I not done? Couple of reasons. One, I hate swatching, so I'm procrastinating. Two, I got distracted by a thousand other things. This post is about those projects.
First off, I spent my week 1)starting the baby sweater (having done all the math for the body of the sweater, at least), 2)realizing my choice of increase sucked and therefore frogging the sweater, 3)restarting it with a new increase, 4)noticing that it looked a little big, measuring it, realizing that it was in fact an inch too big, re-measuring the gauge, realizing that I had had a gauge accident, and therefore frogging the sweater again.
This was followed by an investigation as to why I had had a gauge accident, which was found to be due to my own stupidity. My swatch didn't lie, in fact the first swatch I did for the baby sweater was at the same gauge I was getting for the sweater itself. The problem was that I measured it wrong the first time, and therefore every bit of math and planning I did for this pattern was 100% wrong for the size I wanted. Yeah. Ripping out 11 rows and having to re-do all the pattern math was not what I was aiming to do this week.
Anyway, having done that, I did get it started again:
 |
As well, as I was knitting a garter stitch square, I was thinking about how I really shouldn't be knitting a square for my Log Cabin Afghan, and should really switch the needles back to the Crazy Cable Blanket so I could get some of that done. Except then another train of thoughts went through my head. You see, the baby sweater needs to be done by June (as well as the one that still needs buttons. I haven't had any luck with that). Also, I want to knit up a small shawl using my other skein of Merino Light, and that will also need to be done by June, as I wish to wear it to my brother's bar mitzvah. Surfing for patterns for that, I realized that I need to get my brother a present. But what to get him...hm...what did I get for my sisters...oh, shit, I made them crocheted kippot.
This needs some back story. You see, I originally got interested in pattern design for one reason. When I was in high school and actually not only considered myself Jewish but was a constant participant in one of the youth groups, I wanted to make myself a kippah. I tried finding a pattern online, but that didn't net me much back in the early 2000's. I had a vision, and I wanted that. So, I spent most of my high school years making and trying to come up with a pattern for the perfect kippah. Two of my best efforts of this ended up going to my sisters for their bat mitzvahs, one of them actually being very good. Unfortunately, I crocheted it as I was watching the Columbia disaster unfold on TV and therefore didn't write down what I did, and never managed to recreate it. I, after making a bunch of failed efforts, gave up when I went to college. This left me with a shit-ton of crochet thread that I've, for some reason, always kept around but have not done anything else with.
So guess what made a reappearance recently:
Yay stash. Anyway, in my time on Raverly, I've noticed that they had a whole category for kippot, so I went and clicked it. Lots of free, basic knitted and crochet patterns for kippot. Only one problem. None of them are for crochet thread. So, guess what I've been doing today?
I'm once again trying to create a kippah pattern so I can also make my brother a kippah for his bar mitzvah. In June. Oye.
Of course you may look at the start of that effort and go, 'wait, doesn't that look a little feminine for a boy?' and you would be right. That's because after my third time starting (and after buying three different sizes of steel crochet hooks...no wonder I sucked at making kippot last time, I didn't even have the right size hook for the yarn!), I got the ripple effect that I had achieved on my only good effort last time I did this. So I started writing down what I was doing and went with it. Not that this little side effort hasn't given me an idea of how to make a more standard kippah, but yeah, this isn't for my brother. Don't know what I'm going to do with it, assuming I get something out of it. Maybe give it to my mother, since I've never made her one either (when she had her (adult) bat mitzvah, I bought her a kippah).
Now I've started something else, this leave me with four projects in progress (where did my rules go? Threw them out when I moved, it looks like), two active which need to be done by June, and one that needs to be done by next December (given this is Crazy Cable Blanket, this isn't a sure thing. I have to get rows done every week to potentially make that deadline). I also have another project that isn't started that I would like to be done by June (but honestly, if I don't get my shawl it's not the end of the world). And yarn I just bought for a hat I was hoping on making before winter ended. And eight done squares and one in progress for a blanket I don't need, but since it's a mindless project, it gets worked on more often than Crazy Cable Blanket does. Oh, and that swatch for my test. Do you think I've bit off more than I can chew here?
February 26, 2012
Knitting vs Crochet, Part 2: Does Crochet Really Use More Yarn? (Part 1)
I hear this one a lot. I hear it in my craft group, I read it on Ravelry forms, I read jokes about it in knitting books. In the craft world, it seems that it's common knowledge that crochet uses more yarn.
As a crocheter, knitter, and a wannabe skeptic, my first reaction to all of this is 'is it really true, or is it one of those non-facts that take a life of their own? Does crochet really take more yarn, or is it a perception issue?' The good news is that this can be tested, and that is exactly what I'm going to do.
Background
The first concrete quote of this fact that comes to my mind can be found in the knitting humor book Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, where she claims:
(On a unrelated note, she's the only knitting blogger I check every day. There's a reason for that. Go read some of her stuff. Really.)
Unfortunately, you'll have to go with my word on the rest, as they were spoken or I can't find them again. I did Google 'crochet yarn amount' and found a quote on a blog that repeated a variation of the above. So it's out there. From somewhere.
What I'm Testing and Method
So, what this comes down to is, does crochet really use more yarn? But this is a trickier question than it looks. By what do you mean 'crochet takes up more yarn'? The quote above mentions that crochet should take three times as more yarn as knitting for the same area, that is, the same swatch size. However, that doesn't take into account gauge. I could knit a 6st to the inch swatch and crochet one with 3st to the inch, and I wouldn't be surprised when the knitting swatch takes up more yarn. I could knit the same 3st to the inch, and maybe use less yarn. I also may create a fabric with a shit-ton of holes as well.
Another way of looking at it is by calculating how much yarn each stitch in both knitting and crocheting take up. I suspect this is where the 'fact' comes from: my guess is that a single crochet, done on the same diameter tool and in the same yarn as a knit/purl stitch would take up more yarn. The crochet stitch would also be bigger. But that's the thing, you use more yarn but get a bigger stitch, and therefore you cover more area. So the first way is the better way to look at it, if we standardize for gauge, though I'll do this for kicks to see if my guess has merit.
A third is by stitch type. Single crochet will take less yarn than double crochet stitch wise, but more row wise. Stockinette...well, I don't know enough about knitting to guesstimate it. And once you start looking at shells or cables or any of the multitudes of ways one can manipulate yarn it gets crazy real quick. I think this highlights the simplicity of this question (after all, if I compared my crazy cable blanket to that baby blanket I did...it'd be meaningless, actually. One is tons of cables, the other is shells and clusters. How do you compare the usage of yarn between them, even standardizing for size and yarn weight?). How much yarn you're using depends on what stitches you're doing, and a simpler stitch is going to take less yarn than a crazy clusterfuck of stitchery, but it may or may not gain you more row height. However, for the purpose of this test I will assume that what is meant is the simplest level, and by that I mean the stockinette stitch for knit and the single crochet for crochet. Now, I know there are simpler (garter and slip stitch, to be exact), but stockinette and single crochet are the 'standard' gauge measurement stitches. They also make my life easier.
So, my official plan is:
I'm using this yarn:
Which is a part skein of some Bernet Softee Baby. I picked it because it's a standard, acrylic yarn that's a light color (for visibility).
My rough swatches have determined that a size G hook (4.25mm) and a size 8 needle (5mm) get roughly about 5 stitches per inch with this yarn. The same diameter needle size to the G hook is a US 6. The same diameter hook size to the US 8 is an H hook:
As you can see, I'm using all the same manufacturer as well.
Results
...Are to come, since I got to make all the swatches! I have one done:
But I got to do the rest. I do need to make sure that it's just barely 4", as my first swatch is a little on the short side. Hence the ruler to prove that all the swatches are as close to the same size.
UPDATE: The results are in! Click here to go to Part 2.
As a crocheter, knitter, and a wannabe skeptic, my first reaction to all of this is 'is it really true, or is it one of those non-facts that take a life of their own? Does crochet really take more yarn, or is it a perception issue?' The good news is that this can be tested, and that is exactly what I'm going to do.
Background
The first concrete quote of this fact that comes to my mind can be found in the knitting humor book Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, where she claims:
"Another bad thing about crochet: It uses three times more yarn than knitting to cover the same area" (Kindle location 1372; chapter 3, part 6, para. 7).This is also the only quote I've read so far that gives an amount. Three times as much? I find that a little hard to believe, even if crochet does take up more yarn than knitting. This also give me a starting point for my method, but I'll get to that later.
(On a unrelated note, she's the only knitting blogger I check every day. There's a reason for that. Go read some of her stuff. Really.)
Unfortunately, you'll have to go with my word on the rest, as they were spoken or I can't find them again. I did Google 'crochet yarn amount' and found a quote on a blog that repeated a variation of the above. So it's out there. From somewhere.
What I'm Testing and Method
So, what this comes down to is, does crochet really use more yarn? But this is a trickier question than it looks. By what do you mean 'crochet takes up more yarn'? The quote above mentions that crochet should take three times as more yarn as knitting for the same area, that is, the same swatch size. However, that doesn't take into account gauge. I could knit a 6st to the inch swatch and crochet one with 3st to the inch, and I wouldn't be surprised when the knitting swatch takes up more yarn. I could knit the same 3st to the inch, and maybe use less yarn. I also may create a fabric with a shit-ton of holes as well.
Another way of looking at it is by calculating how much yarn each stitch in both knitting and crocheting take up. I suspect this is where the 'fact' comes from: my guess is that a single crochet, done on the same diameter tool and in the same yarn as a knit/purl stitch would take up more yarn. The crochet stitch would also be bigger. But that's the thing, you use more yarn but get a bigger stitch, and therefore you cover more area. So the first way is the better way to look at it, if we standardize for gauge, though I'll do this for kicks to see if my guess has merit.
A third is by stitch type. Single crochet will take less yarn than double crochet stitch wise, but more row wise. Stockinette...well, I don't know enough about knitting to guesstimate it. And once you start looking at shells or cables or any of the multitudes of ways one can manipulate yarn it gets crazy real quick. I think this highlights the simplicity of this question (after all, if I compared my crazy cable blanket to that baby blanket I did...it'd be meaningless, actually. One is tons of cables, the other is shells and clusters. How do you compare the usage of yarn between them, even standardizing for size and yarn weight?). How much yarn you're using depends on what stitches you're doing, and a simpler stitch is going to take less yarn than a crazy clusterfuck of stitchery, but it may or may not gain you more row height. However, for the purpose of this test I will assume that what is meant is the simplest level, and by that I mean the stockinette stitch for knit and the single crochet for crochet. Now, I know there are simpler (garter and slip stitch, to be exact), but stockinette and single crochet are the 'standard' gauge measurement stitches. They also make my life easier.
So, my official plan is:
- Pick a yarn for the test.
- Find out what hook size and what needle size will get me the SAME stitches per inch for both the knit and the crochet.
- I'll crochet with one and knit with the other using the needle sizes determined above, making a swatch about 4" by 2", including COs and BOs and Chain 1's. I'll knit in stockinette stitch and crochet in single crochet. I'll mark where the tails end, so that when I pull it out, I won't count the tails in the amount of yarn (as they are too variable).
- I'll then, taking the same yarn, swap out the hook size for the needle size and vise versa and knit and crochet two more swatches. This will give me two knit swatches and two crochet swatches that can be compared two different ways: one set will be the same gauge. The other two will be the two crafts at the same diameter size but not at the same gauge (for stitch sizes).
- I'll record the gauge size, and the size of one stitch for each swatch. I'll then rip it back out and measure how much yarn I used (not including any tails of yarn).
I'm using this yarn:
Which is a part skein of some Bernet Softee Baby. I picked it because it's a standard, acrylic yarn that's a light color (for visibility).
My rough swatches have determined that a size G hook (4.25mm) and a size 8 needle (5mm) get roughly about 5 stitches per inch with this yarn. The same diameter needle size to the G hook is a US 6. The same diameter hook size to the US 8 is an H hook:
As you can see, I'm using all the same manufacturer as well.
Results
...Are to come, since I got to make all the swatches! I have one done:
But I got to do the rest. I do need to make sure that it's just barely 4", as my first swatch is a little on the short side. Hence the ruler to prove that all the swatches are as close to the same size.
UPDATE: The results are in! Click here to go to Part 2.
February 20, 2012
Yarn Craft in Literature, or In Which I've Been Reading Tolstoy Instead of Coming Up with Good Blog Posts
Because I have nothing right now other than some pattern math and a couple of semi-defunct swatches for a certain baby sweater:
...rather expensive yarn I bought because I walked into a new yarn shop looking for buttons, couldn't find buttons I liked, and then felt bad:
....a story on how I managed to screw up the order of colors on one of my afghan squares because I didn't bother writing it down before going out and attending a knitting meetup, as well as my main idea of ordering these squares, which would mean I need to keep color orders the same:
...and very little actual knitting done, I'm going to instead mention that I've also been on a Tolstoy kick in books recently. Being that I'm supposed to be saving money and own a Kindle (and have yet to claim the library card that got sent to my parent's house by mistake), I've been hunting around Project Gutenberg for free books to read. If you don't know what Project Gutenberg is, click that link right now. You don't even need to own a e-reader to read these books; you can read them straight on the computer (this presumes, of course, that you can deal reading a book on a backlit screen. Personally, I can't stand reading long books and certain other things on a backlit screen, hence I was a semi-early adapter for an e-reader).
Anyway, to get back on point, I finished Anna Karenina recently (in two weeks. Yes, I can read fast when I actually decide to sit down and read). I'm now reading War and Peace (because I'm nuts).
I really, really, recommend reading Anna Karenina. It has a surprisingly addicting series of plots, despite the fact that they all meander. Maybe has something to do with the fact that it's like reading a train wreck; you'll be horrified by all the characters' actions, but you just can't look away. However, I will admit that I've never minded long wandering books as long as the wandering parts are interesting, well-written, and establish character, while I know others who hate any meandering. Tolstoy was the definition for the former on this site, so you have been warned. War and Peace, on the other hand, I haven't read enough of it to pass opinion yet. So far, while it has very little semblance of plot line, the characters and their antics have been amusing me.
You may be wondering what this has to do with yarn craft. Well, one of the many details that pop up in these books is characters doing yarn crafts. I found this more amusing than I should have. After all, these books do take place in 19-century Russia, so of course people are crafting. But it's how it's presented, and sometimes even who Tolstoy bothers to mention is doing such a thing, that makes it interesting. That, and I know next to nothing on historical yarn craft, so all these references are interesting from that standpoint. Anyway, I will provide quotes (though not page numbers since this is on a Kindle, sorry. I'll give location numbers for any other Kindle users out there, though note, however, that 1) I own the first version of the Kindle 2 (though if you have the newer Kindle Keyboard, the screen size is the same...and holy shit, you can now get it for less than $100. Can you believe I paid $320 for mine?), and 2) the version of Anna Karenina I have is the free Amazon download, but the version of War and Peace is this Project Gutenberg version. There is a Project Gutenberg version of Anna Karenina as well).
First, you have your standard women knitting stuff, along with a case of a man not getting it. However, I'll mention here that I think the male character not getting it is more due to the type of character he was. If you know Anna Karenina, the following quotes come from the part where preparations are being made for Kitty's and Levin's first baby, for which Kitty and her relations work and Levin doesn't want to get it. So, yep, baby knitting:
Beyond baby knitting, you also have a governess of Anna Karenina's doing some pretty standard knitting:
...rather expensive yarn I bought because I walked into a new yarn shop looking for buttons, couldn't find buttons I liked, and then felt bad:
....a story on how I managed to screw up the order of colors on one of my afghan squares because I didn't bother writing it down before going out and attending a knitting meetup, as well as my main idea of ordering these squares, which would mean I need to keep color orders the same:
...and very little actual knitting done, I'm going to instead mention that I've also been on a Tolstoy kick in books recently. Being that I'm supposed to be saving money and own a Kindle (and have yet to claim the library card that got sent to my parent's house by mistake), I've been hunting around Project Gutenberg for free books to read. If you don't know what Project Gutenberg is, click that link right now. You don't even need to own a e-reader to read these books; you can read them straight on the computer (this presumes, of course, that you can deal reading a book on a backlit screen. Personally, I can't stand reading long books and certain other things on a backlit screen, hence I was a semi-early adapter for an e-reader).
Anyway, to get back on point, I finished Anna Karenina recently (in two weeks. Yes, I can read fast when I actually decide to sit down and read). I'm now reading War and Peace (because I'm nuts).
I really, really, recommend reading Anna Karenina. It has a surprisingly addicting series of plots, despite the fact that they all meander. Maybe has something to do with the fact that it's like reading a train wreck; you'll be horrified by all the characters' actions, but you just can't look away. However, I will admit that I've never minded long wandering books as long as the wandering parts are interesting, well-written, and establish character, while I know others who hate any meandering. Tolstoy was the definition for the former on this site, so you have been warned. War and Peace, on the other hand, I haven't read enough of it to pass opinion yet. So far, while it has very little semblance of plot line, the characters and their antics have been amusing me.
You may be wondering what this has to do with yarn craft. Well, one of the many details that pop up in these books is characters doing yarn crafts. I found this more amusing than I should have. After all, these books do take place in 19-century Russia, so of course people are crafting. But it's how it's presented, and sometimes even who Tolstoy bothers to mention is doing such a thing, that makes it interesting. That, and I know next to nothing on historical yarn craft, so all these references are interesting from that standpoint. Anyway, I will provide quotes (though not page numbers since this is on a Kindle, sorry. I'll give location numbers for any other Kindle users out there, though note, however, that 1) I own the first version of the Kindle 2 (though if you have the newer Kindle Keyboard, the screen size is the same...and holy shit, you can now get it for less than $100. Can you believe I paid $320 for mine?), and 2) the version of Anna Karenina I have is the free Amazon download, but the version of War and Peace is this Project Gutenberg version. There is a Project Gutenberg version of Anna Karenina as well).
First, you have your standard women knitting stuff, along with a case of a man not getting it. However, I'll mention here that I think the male character not getting it is more due to the type of character he was. If you know Anna Karenina, the following quotes come from the part where preparations are being made for Kitty's and Levin's first baby, for which Kitty and her relations work and Levin doesn't want to get it. So, yep, baby knitting:
"On the terrace were assembled all the ladies of the party. They always liked sitting there, after dinner, and that day they had work to do there too. Beside the sewing and knitting of baby clothes, with which all of them were busy..." (8996).
"He [Levin]...tried to turn away and avoid seeing the mysterious, endless strips of knitting..."(9702).
"She [Kitty] was sitting up in bed, holding some knitting, which she had been busy upon during the last few days." (11434)
"Kitty was walking about knitting rapidly and giving directions" (11453).I should note that the last two come from the part where Kitty is going into labor, no less. Guess the knitting relaxes her, as this is the first time in the book Tolstoy mentions Kitty knitting directly. Before this, she was always working on a type of lacework.
Beyond baby knitting, you also have a governess of Anna Karenina's doing some pretty standard knitting:
"The English governess...was sitting near the boy knitting a shawl" (6858)As well as a main character (Dolly) consolidating herself with some knitting early in the novel:
"...she [Dolly] took up here work, a coverlet she had long been making. She always set to work on it at depressed moments, and now she knitted at it nervously, twitching her fingers and counting the stitches" (1052).However, they're not the only people knitting in Tolstoy's works. In War and Peace, you have a man (granted, he was a servant) knitting:
"An old man...sat in a corner knitting a stocking" (1978).Also, this isn't limited to knitting. Turns out, Anna Karenina crochets:
"...and taking up the crochet work that was lying on the table, she [Anna] began drawing the hook out of it..."(5855).Though I have yet to quite get what Anna is doing here with it (for background, this is the same crochet work as the above quote):
"...pulled the hook at last out of the crochet work, and rapidly, with the help of her forefinger, began working loop after loop of the wool that was dazzling white in the lamplight, while the slender wrist moved swiftly, nervously in the embroidered cuff" (5885).So, now that I'm done whoring out literary references, I'll go back to this baby sweater now.
February 7, 2012
How Not to Wind a Hank, with Some Reflections on Designing
So, this weekend, I didn't get much knitting stuff done. Did a couple of rows on Crazy Cable Blanket, worked on a couple of squares (partly while waiting in a waiting room; partly during the Super Bowl, though I didn't get nearly as much done during the Super Bowl as I thought I would. Something about being at a party and being from NY, that kind of thing). Oh, and decided I was going to swatch for this baby sweater/shirt/whatever that I can't really decide what I want it to look like, let alone actually sit down and do the math. But anyway, that little side journey was thrawted by one of the hanks of cotton. You see, I had these hanks:
And one, once a swift and ball winder were utalized, quickly became this:
However, the second hank quickly became this:
Yep. A big, steaming pile of yarn mess. Why did it become such a mess? Well, whoever wound the hank up did a shitty job. Both ends of the hank were tangled up with the other strands of the hank, making winding off a swift impossible. I tried. For awhile, I was weaving the ball winder in and out of the hank on the swift when needed. Then, I got to a point where the space the yarn went through was not and could never be big enough for the ball winder to go through. So, I took the partial cake of yarn off the winder, tried winding it by hand off the hank, watched the partial cake start to disintegrate while the hank tangles became more numerous, and therefore got frustrated and took the hank off the swift. Which meant that it disintegrated into the mess in the picture above. And that's after I spent an hour attempting to untangle it.
Ug, how hard it is to wind a hank, people? Big circle of yarn. Really now. The last time I had this issue was also a hank of cotton, too. Different company though.
I finally did get it untangled and wound up into a non-disintegrating yarn cake, though it took me at least two hours to do it, split across two days. Which meant I got no swatching done. Oye.
Of course, the whole swatching and knitting of this yarn is another issue. I want to create the pattern for this baby sweater/cardigan/whatever myself and write it down. I have some ideas, and some constraints (needs to be short-sleeved, gender-neutral, and I only have one hank of each color plus some black cotton from another FO), and no idea how the variegated yarn knits up, which is a problem I need to fix. But what this also means is that I have to sit down, do the math for whatever I design (which will probably be way too complicated and will therefore have to be toned down), knit it, hack it, fix my math, and then figure out how to size it. I've never done a sweater pattern before (well, I tried once, but while I did get a FO out of it, I did not get anything I liked or useful to write a pattern up with). I have 'till June for the FO.
Which brings me to another mistake of mine that I realized somewhat recently. You see, when I first started writing my patterns down (back when I just crocheted), I thought that designers usually designed while knitting/crocheting, wrote down what they did, and then released it into the world. So that's what I did, both successfully and not. I BS'ed a pattern while I created it, tried to keep track of what I was doing and not do anything too crazy, made it pretty and posted it.
Well, except that's not how it works in the real world. Most designers write the whole pattern first, or at least most of it. And, there are designers out there that never make the patterns they write. They write the pattern, and then send it off to be tested by other knitters/crocheters. This blew my mind. Really? You can design something before you make it? How do you know it's going to work, or what it's going to look like?
Then I actually thought about it, and realized that I'm an idiot. Of course you can write a pattern before you make it. It's like writing pseudo-code or planning out a program to the function level. If you know what you're working in and what it's supposed to do, you should know what's possible or not, and therefore write fine code or patterns without ever executing it or making the pattern. Theory and thought will show you what will work or not.
Of course...I also plan a lot of my programs partly on the fly. It's just the way I think; I need to see it working to really say 'yeah, this works'. Now, don't get me wrong, I do plan the logic flow, gather requirements, do mockups of screens, and all the other fun planning steps that come with coding. But I tend to plan the actual structure and/or some details of the program itself by just coding it and getting it up and running. So is it really surprising that, knowing no designers or anything about the process, that's how I was designing as well?
Except that, why I don't mind coding this way (to a point), on-the-fly planning in yarn craft is way more annoying. See, to change something in code can be very simple (well, I should say in the environments and languages I currently work in). You go, you figure out what you want, you write it (or copy and paste it), and you run it. All the rest of the code you've written and tested is still there. To change something while making it in yarn usually ends up requiring scrapping part of the project. Or the whole project. Or even the yarn you bought for the project. You can't reuse stitches you knitted after the change, at least not usually. And a different construction? You can't just copy and paste what you want and piece it back together, you know.
Hence, I'm planning on writing down most of this baby sweater/cardigan/whatever pattern before I attempt to knit it. I'll swatch to see what color and stitch combinations look good, I'll do the math and write down everything. Sure, something will change after I start it. But I won't be doing half-assed math calculations that lead to a too-wide neckline like my last sweater project. Or a too-loose gauge that just didn't work, that I didn't bother pulling out because that meant losing everything I'd done before.
Famous last words, I know.
And one, once a swift and ball winder were utalized, quickly became this:
However, the second hank quickly became this:
 |
| (Yes, that wooden thing is a swift. It's an Amish-style swift, verses the more common umbrella type) |
Ug, how hard it is to wind a hank, people? Big circle of yarn. Really now. The last time I had this issue was also a hank of cotton, too. Different company though.
I finally did get it untangled and wound up into a non-disintegrating yarn cake, though it took me at least two hours to do it, split across two days. Which meant I got no swatching done. Oye.
Of course, the whole swatching and knitting of this yarn is another issue. I want to create the pattern for this baby sweater/cardigan/whatever myself and write it down. I have some ideas, and some constraints (needs to be short-sleeved, gender-neutral, and I only have one hank of each color plus some black cotton from another FO), and no idea how the variegated yarn knits up, which is a problem I need to fix. But what this also means is that I have to sit down, do the math for whatever I design (which will probably be way too complicated and will therefore have to be toned down), knit it, hack it, fix my math, and then figure out how to size it. I've never done a sweater pattern before (well, I tried once, but while I did get a FO out of it, I did not get anything I liked or useful to write a pattern up with). I have 'till June for the FO.
Which brings me to another mistake of mine that I realized somewhat recently. You see, when I first started writing my patterns down (back when I just crocheted), I thought that designers usually designed while knitting/crocheting, wrote down what they did, and then released it into the world. So that's what I did, both successfully and not. I BS'ed a pattern while I created it, tried to keep track of what I was doing and not do anything too crazy, made it pretty and posted it.
Well, except that's not how it works in the real world. Most designers write the whole pattern first, or at least most of it. And, there are designers out there that never make the patterns they write. They write the pattern, and then send it off to be tested by other knitters/crocheters. This blew my mind. Really? You can design something before you make it? How do you know it's going to work, or what it's going to look like?
Then I actually thought about it, and realized that I'm an idiot. Of course you can write a pattern before you make it. It's like writing pseudo-code or planning out a program to the function level. If you know what you're working in and what it's supposed to do, you should know what's possible or not, and therefore write fine code or patterns without ever executing it or making the pattern. Theory and thought will show you what will work or not.
Of course...I also plan a lot of my programs partly on the fly. It's just the way I think; I need to see it working to really say 'yeah, this works'. Now, don't get me wrong, I do plan the logic flow, gather requirements, do mockups of screens, and all the other fun planning steps that come with coding. But I tend to plan the actual structure and/or some details of the program itself by just coding it and getting it up and running. So is it really surprising that, knowing no designers or anything about the process, that's how I was designing as well?
Except that, why I don't mind coding this way (to a point), on-the-fly planning in yarn craft is way more annoying. See, to change something in code can be very simple (well, I should say in the environments and languages I currently work in). You go, you figure out what you want, you write it (or copy and paste it), and you run it. All the rest of the code you've written and tested is still there. To change something while making it in yarn usually ends up requiring scrapping part of the project. Or the whole project. Or even the yarn you bought for the project. You can't reuse stitches you knitted after the change, at least not usually. And a different construction? You can't just copy and paste what you want and piece it back together, you know.
Hence, I'm planning on writing down most of this baby sweater/cardigan/whatever pattern before I attempt to knit it. I'll swatch to see what color and stitch combinations look good, I'll do the math and write down everything. Sure, something will change after I start it. But I won't be doing half-assed math calculations that lead to a too-wide neckline like my last sweater project. Or a too-loose gauge that just didn't work, that I didn't bother pulling out because that meant losing everything I'd done before.
Famous last words, I know.
January 29, 2012
In Which I Learn the Importance of Researching Before Pattern Writing, and Get Addicted to Garter Stitch
So, my plans once again get made, and the fall into the dust. I should be working on either the baby sweater to be made with my new yarn, or the crazy cable blanket, but I'm not. Actually, I've managed to start another project in the meantime:
This is from a pattern in 60 Quick Baby Knits called "Log Cabin Afghan", except that I'm altering it. The square is actually supposed to have two more blocks of color going around it, but I decided I didn't want to do that and stopped early (yes, I know that means more squares will have to be done. But it also balances out color usage). That, and since I'm using whatever yarn I have right now, which is mainly Caron Simply Soft with some Berocco Vintage for the middle square, the squares aren't all going to be the same color (though I haven't decided what to repeat or not yet, still thinking about it. Also, I do not kid myself that at some point, more yarn will have to be bought to finish this). As well, despite the pattern source, I doubt it's going to any baby. My color scheme of worsted weight yarn in my stash isn't exactly baby friendly. Thirdly, I really should learn to read patterns carefully before starting them. You see the pile of center squares? That's because I didn't realize that you didn't bind off on the first square, but kept knitting, and then turned. I'm having to undo the bind off and then continue for all those squares because someone didn't follow instructions.
You would think I would have been driven mad by all the garter stitch done in those squares (and hell, I'm not even a big fan of garter stitch as a look), but I'm oddly addicted to it right now. I guess my mind just needs something not complicated. I've had better weeks. At least it'll be a better project to work on during the Super Bowl.
In other news, I was pretty much done with the baby hat pattern I posted just now last week, except that then I actually bothered Googling 'Mistake Rib'. You see, I learned a 1x1 version of mistake rib that wasn't reversible, leading me to decide to make a 'brim up' and a 'brim down' version of the pattern. Then I found out that proper mistake rib is a reversible pattern. Oops. I could have saved my ass from having to do two hats (though doing the second hat reveled some other math-related mistakes in my pattern, so it still wasn't a waste of time). However, changing it now would dictate a completely different pattern, as the math doesn't work out with my current stitch count. So I apologize for that. I could have made it easier, and I didn't. I really should do my research before embarking on pattern writing wild goose chases. It's because of this that I almost didn't post the pattern, thinking that it shows that I'm a bit of an idiot. But I put a descent amount of work into it, so I decided to post it anyway.
However, between the pattern below, the squares, and some idea sketching for the baby sweater (which I'm most likely not going to use, but anyway), I haven't had time to do much else. It's odd. I've gotten a lot done, yet it seems like I haven't done anything. Oye.
Depressing post is depressing. Will have to post later when I'm in a better mood.
This is from a pattern in 60 Quick Baby Knits called "Log Cabin Afghan", except that I'm altering it. The square is actually supposed to have two more blocks of color going around it, but I decided I didn't want to do that and stopped early (yes, I know that means more squares will have to be done. But it also balances out color usage). That, and since I'm using whatever yarn I have right now, which is mainly Caron Simply Soft with some Berocco Vintage for the middle square, the squares aren't all going to be the same color (though I haven't decided what to repeat or not yet, still thinking about it. Also, I do not kid myself that at some point, more yarn will have to be bought to finish this). As well, despite the pattern source, I doubt it's going to any baby. My color scheme of worsted weight yarn in my stash isn't exactly baby friendly. Thirdly, I really should learn to read patterns carefully before starting them. You see the pile of center squares? That's because I didn't realize that you didn't bind off on the first square, but kept knitting, and then turned. I'm having to undo the bind off and then continue for all those squares because someone didn't follow instructions.
You would think I would have been driven mad by all the garter stitch done in those squares (and hell, I'm not even a big fan of garter stitch as a look), but I'm oddly addicted to it right now. I guess my mind just needs something not complicated. I've had better weeks. At least it'll be a better project to work on during the Super Bowl.
In other news, I was pretty much done with the baby hat pattern I posted just now last week, except that then I actually bothered Googling 'Mistake Rib'. You see, I learned a 1x1 version of mistake rib that wasn't reversible, leading me to decide to make a 'brim up' and a 'brim down' version of the pattern. Then I found out that proper mistake rib is a reversible pattern. Oops. I could have saved my ass from having to do two hats (though doing the second hat reveled some other math-related mistakes in my pattern, so it still wasn't a waste of time). However, changing it now would dictate a completely different pattern, as the math doesn't work out with my current stitch count. So I apologize for that. I could have made it easier, and I didn't. I really should do my research before embarking on pattern writing wild goose chases. It's because of this that I almost didn't post the pattern, thinking that it shows that I'm a bit of an idiot. But I put a descent amount of work into it, so I decided to post it anyway.
However, between the pattern below, the squares, and some idea sketching for the baby sweater (which I'm most likely not going to use, but anyway), I haven't had time to do much else. It's odd. I've gotten a lot done, yet it seems like I haven't done anything. Oye.
Depressing post is depressing. Will have to post later when I'm in a better mood.
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