tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44633077980122709112024-03-07T03:48:53.221-05:00Fleegle's Blogfleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.comBlogger315125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-25253842226118074842013-09-05T12:22:00.001-05:002013-09-05T12:22:42.813-05:00And Even More Billions of BeadsWell, I see my faithful audience has finished all their scarves. I love that one...<i>points to a neon-orange number decorated with lime-green pom poms.</i><br />
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So,
as soon as you finish admiring this shawl, you can all go home and
get a hot meal. Sorry about the pretzels. I bought them from Skinflint
Airways and they assured me that the packages could be opened with the
appropriate sharp cutting tool. I guess they lied, huh? But look on the
bright side! I'll bet you never had pretzels fresh from a laser cutting
torch before. <br />
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I was going to show you a sweater (Old Town), but I still haven't gotten around to photographing it yet. In the meantime, I finished my second rendition of Melissa Simmons's ethereal <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nouveau-beaded-capelet">Nouveau Beaded Capelet</a>.<br />
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I cannot praise this pattern enough. Aside from the impeccable charts and written instructions, the pattern is truly original. You start by individually knitting the seven scallops, then joining them for the shawl body. Most delightfully, the shawl narrows to the neckline, so as you get tired of it, the rows become shorter and shorter.<br />
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On the down side, you need 6000 beads. The first time I knit the capelet, it took me two months. Thanks to my wonderful <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/107170981/08mm-fleegle-beader-please-read-the?">Fleegle Beader</a>, I completed the second one in three weeks.The shawl was knit with <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/54045273/ak47-grapeful-500-meters-laceweight-silk?ref=shop_home_active">my very own AK47</a> silk in a pretty dark blue and purple color.<i> </i>One of the advantages of owning a little lace knitting store is the abundance of goodies in the cellar, heh heh.<br />
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Because 6000 #8 beads weighs about four ounces, the shawl drapes beautifully and stays in place on your shoulders. It also produces charming clicky noises when you move around. <br />
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The beads themselves are from <a href="http://www.landofodds.com/">The Land of Odds</a> 8c-455 cut--an iridescent purple/blue/green/gold color that shimmers in even the faintest light.<br />
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So, Okay. You guys can go home now. <i>Unlocks auditorium doors</i>....Don't forget your scarves, and feel free to take as many bags of roasted pretzels as you wish! Come back soon!fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-50501609301518917212013-08-22T11:52:00.000-05:002013-08-22T11:55:47.584-05:00Owl HatsAh, another two months, another blog post.<br />
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<i>Fleegle surveys the totally empty virtual auditorium.</i><br />
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Hello? Anyone there?<br />
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<i>Pauses to listen to the thunderous silence.</i><br />
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<b>I have pounds and pounds of free cashmere yarn to give away to loyal readers....</b><br />
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<i>Smiles as hundreds of fan suddenly materialize, all of them staring wistfully at the bulging sack to the right of the podium.</i><br />
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Heh. Just kidding!<br />
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<i>Opens bag to display a welter of garish, no-dyelot acrylic worsted and gleefully tosses skeins to random readers.</i><br />
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But now that you're here....<br />
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...You can admire these silly hats that I made for a friend (green) and her two-year-old daughter (pink, of course).<br />
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The pattern is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chouette" target="_self" title="">Chouette</a>, by Ekaterina Blanchard. The hats are a quick and delightful knit. I used Malabrigo Chunky). The wiggly eyes were purchased at a local big-box craft store. Each hat took about two hours, start to finish. <br />
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I was not thrilled by the original tassels, so I ordered some <a href="https://www.etsy.com/transaction/134350084?ref=fb2_tnx_title">adorable owl stitch markers</a> from an Etsy store. They are heavy, but give the points a delightful droop. The markers can be removed for washing.<br />
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Having just finished a lovely sweater, it will only be a few days until the next post. I have to wait for a sunny day to do the photos. And, as it rains torrentially here every single day, who knows when that might be.<br />
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So, as long as you have gathered together in my comfy auditorium, <i>waves a tentacle at the door, which shuts with a shuddering squelch, </i>you might as well knit yourself something while waiting for me to take pictures of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/old-town">Old Town</a>.<br />
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<i>Passes out plastic #10 needles and a pattern for a garter-stitch scarf.</i><br />
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And I have pom-pom makers for those who want embellishment!fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-30560180802356769142013-06-24T13:01:00.001-05:002013-06-24T13:01:11.812-05:00Paradox-Absorbing Crumple ZonesYes, I know this is a knitting blog. But every so often I read something that causes my already overtaxed neurons to burst into flame. We all need to study the quote below. Please put down your drinkable before reading. <br />
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At a press conference to discuss the accusations, an N.S.A. spokesman surprised observers by announcing the spying charges against Mr. Snowden with a totally straight face.<br />
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<i>“These charges send a clear message,” the spokesman said. “In the United States, you can’t spy on people.”</i><br />
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Clearly, something happens to brains when they remain too long in the Washington area. They no longer recognize cognitive dissonance, rather, they accept this state of cogitation as the norm.<br />
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Next post, I promise to show you two adorable hats. Really!<br />
fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-81374820350539916892013-05-04T09:26:00.002-05:002013-05-04T12:01:17.746-05:00Constitutional Confetti (non-knitting)For the past umpity-ump years, I've started my day by fixing a cup of coffee, then flipping on my computer to peruse Google News. I then zipped over to my iGoogle page, which contained an embedded Google Reader widget. Last year, Google announced that they would be ceasing iGoogle in November of this year. I found this profoundly upsetting--part of my morning routine would need some rearrangement. I finally switched over to <a href="http://www.netvibes.com/">Netvibes</a>, a service that is fairly similar to iGoogle. In some ways, it's even better than iGoogle, but lacks the compact Reader widget that I have come to rely on to quickly peruse the news from the 200+ blogs to which I currently subscribe.<br />
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Thus, when Google announced a few months ago that they would cease Google Reader...well, I can tell you that those precious early-morning coffee-sipping moments had suddenly become a vacuum begging to be filled by something...anything...that worked as well as Reader. Since those early days of iGoogleness though, I've started flipping open my iPad more often than my laptop. I've found that <a href="http://www.flipboard.com/">Flipboard </a>(no pun intended) is a pleasant companion for my coffee, and <a href="http://newsify.co/">Newsify </a>is a reasonably good substitute for Reader.<br />
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All of this searching for substitutes got me thinking about Google in general. Like many services, it's become more social, proffering sites such as Google+ as a way to force interaction. Not being especially comfortable with this idea, I took a hard look at the Google apps on both my iPad and my laptop, and frankly, didn't like what I saw.<br />
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I had installed Chrome, the Google browser last year, but never use it, because the cookie controls are terrible. In Firefox, I can disallow cookies, allow them for a session, temporarily allow them for a site, and easily manage cookies globally or on a site-to-site basis. I am uncomfortable with sites that require cookies to do something as simple as browse their pages, and the inability to control these little bits of tracking crumbs turned me off of Chrome.<br />
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I became so uncomfortable with this tracking stuff that I installed a Firefox add-on called <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/donottrackplus/">DoNotTrackMe</a>. The icon sits quietly in the toolbar, and when you click on it, it tells you how many tracking attempts it has blocked. To my utter horror, after a few months of use, the information popup told me that the add-in had blocked 20,000 trackers. After a year of use, I've earned my second Platinum Medal--each one worth 50,000 trackers. If the idea of 100,000 stalkers doesn't bother you, well, you might as well stop reading this blog post now.<br />
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A few months ago Roy was wandering around the Web, looking for something, which he ended up not purchasing. The phone rings. There's a sales lady on the other end who said she saw him browsing their website but didn't buy anything. Can we ask why? Can we make an offer that you might be interested in? Roy replied that they didn't have the cheapest price...and some haggling then ensued. However, Roy was so creeped out that, even though the sales lady said she would price-match, he ended up not buying anything.<br />
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That episode was the final straw that led to my subscribing to a VPN--a virtual private network. In the simplest terms, a VPN is a network that tunnels through the Internet by using encryption and other security measures to hide you from peepers and stalkers.<br />
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When you hop onto the Internet, either by opening a browser or, these days, by turning on most any computer, your Internet provider assigns you an IP address, for example, 123.45.32.123. As you waltz from site to site, you can be uniquely identified by this address. When you use a VPN, your real IP address is cloaked by the address of the VPN server.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.hidemyass.com/">VPN service I signed up for</a> has servers in many countries, so I can log on to a server in Atlanta, or Chicago, or Tokyo, and to the salesperson watching me, I appear to be located in those places, but the IP address leads nowhere. Which means trackers on me lead nowhere. And good riddance.<br />
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After fooling around with the VPN for a while, I did what a lot of people do every day, I went to Google and searched for something. To my surprise, I received an error code: <b>We're sorry, but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. </b>A quick search on a computer not hooked up to the VPN revealed that you can't use Google Search if they can't track you. Needless to say, this little factoid caused me to switch over to the very good <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/">Duck Duck Go</a> and <a href="https://startpage.com/">Startpage </a>search engines, which do not track you at all.<br />
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All this was starting to remind me of Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell's classic <i>1984</i>. Winston found one corner of his living room where Big Brother couldn't track him via the ubiquitous two-way telescreens that monitored the private and public lives of the populace.<br />
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There's nothing inherently wrong with advertising, which is where all this cookie tracking stuff originated. After all, if nobody advertised their stuff, you would not know about the choices available to you. But it's a long, long way from presenting an advertisement to having marketing firms, law enforcement, and government agencies keeping track of the minutiae of your daily life. If you think by eschewing the Internet you're safe from all this, you probably skipped over all the articles on drones that grace the pages of your local newspaper.<br />
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The result of all this research has led me to excise all Googleware from the machines that I use daily. In the next few weeks, all the devices in this house will be behind the VPN. Fortunately, Google Blogger doesn't care if they can't track me here, but I am seriously eyeballing WordPress as an alternative. I am looking at a private mail service, as well. Gentlemen don't read other people's mail, and clearly, our government no longer contains anything resembling gentlemen.<br />
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While it's impossible to be anonymous on-line these days, it is possible, with a little exertion, to keep a low profile. And if you think that these measures are necessary for safety and security (of our children!), I urge you to read, or reread, <i>1984</i>. I've been around for almost seven decades, and I will escape what looks like this inevitable future. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">However,</span> you, or your children, may see a world similar to the one depicted in that book. </div>
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As a final thought, you should think about the fact that I was hesitant to publish this post at all, for fear of being placed on a government list.</div>
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<i>fleegle pats her tinfoil hat and signs off.</i><br />
<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-23273331028916322062013-04-21T12:30:00.003-05:002013-04-21T18:09:48.319-05:00The SharksuckerThis is a non-knitting post that will be most likely be totally uninteresting to anyone without an iPad. I felt obliged to blog about this cool little keyboard case because it's entirely obscure and deserves a little press. If you google Sharksucker, you'll be directed to (a) a Wikipedia article about remoras, (b) a bunch of websites that have no actual information about this keyboard case, or (c) a Chinese site written by the Sharksucker creators and translated into foggy English. What you will not find are any genuine reviews, comments, or even press releases about it anywhere else on the Internet besides the developers' own website.<br />
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Let me backtrack a bit here and say that when I bought my iPad last fall, I also purchased a Zagg keyboard case to go with it. In general, I like the case. It's solid and the keyboard itself is excellent. However, I was not in love with it for several reasons. First, once the iPad is inserted into the case, you can't get it out without a real struggle. That means that if you want to use portrait mode, charge the keyboard, or just grab the iPad to do a little bedtime reading, you're out of luck.<br />
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Second, the Zagg is limited to a single angle, and it's not a good angle for me--it's tilted too far back. This was a real problem for reading in bed, because I had to hold the iPad forward in an upright position with one hand. Third (and fourth), there's no wrist rest and the indicators are between the rear of the iPad and the case itself, so I had to poke my nose into the little space to see what the lights were showing. Finally, the Zagg case is heavy. I don't have the specs on me, but I would guess that it adds a half a pound of weight to an already zaftig device.<br />
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So I went on a hunt for another keyboard case that would address all these complaints. I watched more than a dozen videos and perused an equal number of "Best Keyboard Cases" reviews. Every case had a drawback, and I wasn't going to plop down another wad of cash for something that solved some, but not all, of my quibbles.<br />
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Thus, when I ran across <u>t</u>he YouTube video for the Sharksucker, I was entranced. The video itself is, um, well, you just have to watch it yourself. It somehow amalgamates a commercial for feminine hygiene products with a cheap cruise advertisement. That is to say, there's a flower-filled field, drinks with paper umbrellas, beautiful ladies, and a great deal of hyperbolic voice-over.<br />
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However, they keyboard case itself seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. Considering that the price started at $169, was marked down to $99, and then when I actually placed the order, the cost appeared as $69...how could I resist?<br />
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It took about a week to arrive, and I have to say that I am impressed with it after using it for two days. I first had to extricate my iPad from the Zagg, which took about five minutes of prying, tugging, and cursing, and I broke a fingernail, too. I then plugged the Sharksucker into my laptop to charge it, which took about an hour. As you can see from the photo, the Sharksucker (where the heck did that name come from anyway?) can prop the iPad in either the landscape and portrait position by just picking up the tablet and plopping it into the brackets in either orientation.<br />
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It has a wrist rest. Because the iPad snaps into the brackets magnetically, the entire unit is solidly mated, but it's somehow still easy to pluck the tablet out in the evenings for bedtime reading. The angle is much better for me, and it's somewhat adjustable, although it doesn't tilt back very far.<br />
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The case is handsome, lightweight milled aluminum and feels sturdy and well-made. The keyboard is easy to type on, the keys themselves feel crisp and not mushy, and there are Page Up/Down/Home/End keys, which are missing from the Zagg. I do a lot of word processing with my iPad, and I really missed those keys. The Zagg does have Cut/Copy/Paste keys, but I use keyboard shortcuts instead, so those were a waste of key functions for me.<br />
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The only complaint with the Sharksucker keyboard is that the right shift key is too small and too far to the right, but I will adjust to it. My pinkie needs the exercise, anyway. Here are the two keyboards, so you can see the differences. The Sharksucker is above, the Zagg below.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Finally, according to the documentation, one charge of the keyboard battery will last for six months at a rate of two hours of use a day. The battery itself can be used to charge either the iPad itself or another device by plugging them into one of the two USB ports on the side of the keyboard. And there are little rubber bumpers to prevent the iPad from resting on the keyboard keys when the assembly is closed. True, this case, unlike the Zagg, doesn't protect the back of the iPad, which means that the unit has to be inserted into a sleeve to protect it from scratches when transporting it. A bubble-wrap baggie works fine.</span><br />
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I have to say that the <a href="http://www.jsxltech.com/" target="_self" title="">JSXL Tech website</a><a href="http://www.jsxltech.com/"> </a>makes for plenty of giggle-reading. For example, here are a few highlights of the Sharksucker:<br />
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<li>The unique magnetic suction technical design can firmly suck Apple iPad.</li>
<li>Sharksucker adopts flip design,and then enables folding-closing.</li>
<li>Adopts high quality chocolate keyboard makes itself tidy and clean on vision.</li>
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The formatting on the website is pretty lame and the English is even lamer, but it contains a wealth of inexpensive Android tablets that actually are a good buy if you need a cheapo unit for the kids. There are also unlocked global smart phones and tons of keyboards, with or without a case, at very reasonable prices. And they actually respond to emails!fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-32347016641306042742013-04-08T13:01:00.001-05:002013-06-07T11:59:57.229-05:00Flat Rat PackI know, the posts are few and far between. But, as I stated a long time ago, I only post when I have something to say that I think my readers would want to hear. <i>Listens to the annoyed mumbles.</i> Well it's true. You don't want me to start posting recipes for beets, do you? <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span>I could do that, you know. And add some pictures of the grandkids at Disney World. <i>Looks offstage. </i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Well, they don't have to know we don't have grandkids. I won't tell them if you don't.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">==> Beet lovers, please, no emails, phone calls, or howlers.</span></span><br />
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I haven't been blogging lately mostly because I haven't been knitting very much. I did finish a Bohus sweater, though. Considering it was knit with a heavy laceweight yarn, it took me a couple of months to finish. That's my excuse, and I'm standing by it.<br />
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Well, back to the rats. Those of you who spin know Neal Brand, a maker of exquisite supported spindles and, incidentally, a math professor. For this past term's project, Neal had his calculus students design the perfect supported spindle. He then turned a sample of each project on a lathe. The results are diverse, imaginative, and of course, incredibly beautiful. They can be viewed by cruising Neal's thread in Spindle Candy, starting around <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/spindle-candy/1769360/2326-2350#2349" target="_self" title="Neal">here</a>. Neal kindly allowed me to choose one of the designs and made me my very own Flying Saucer of Awesomeness.<br />
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In return, I offered to spin some yarn with the FSoA spindle and make each of the students involved in the design process their very own Flat Rat Bookmark, an item which no one, especially calculus students, should be without.<br />
<br />
Note that if you have converted your entire library to eBooks, you can just drape your Rat over the top of your reader to keep it warm. (I notice that the pronoun "it" in the last sentence is ambiguous. The answer is yes, you can keep either the rat or the reader warm.)<br />
<br />
The original design, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/squashed-rat-knitted-bookmark" target="_self" title="">The Squashed Rat Bookmark</a>, is cute, but I wanted something, um, rattier. You know, with a pointier nose, fatter body, and beadier eyeballs. And thus, I spent some time with needles and crochet hook developing a pattern so all of you can make your very own Flat Rat. Mine were made with fingering-weight handspun Tasmanian Corriedale, which, oddly enough, is the stuff Malcolm Fielding's spindles come wrapped in. I dyed the finished yarn Rat Gray, of course.<br />
<br />
Here's a close-up of the completed Flat Rat. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8632411414_2e20570f39_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8110/8632411414_2e20570f39_c.jpg" width="640" /></a> <br />
And here's photo of the Flat Rats in action:<br />
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When not in use, these rats stack well.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<h2>
Head</h2>
Make a provisional crochet chain and pick up 18 stitches. Circularize on
two or more needles. I found the crochet provisional method the easiest
way to make the head. I made decreases on both sides of the head,
which produced a pointier nose than decreasing around a single stitch,
like you do for a sleeve.<br />
<br />
knit 4 rows<br />
knit 3, ssk, k8, k2tog, k3 <br />
k1 row <br />
k3, ssk, k6, k2tog, k3<br />
k1 row<br />
k3 ssk k4, k2tog, k3<br />
k1 row<br />
k2 ssk, k4, k2tog, k2<br />
k1 row<br />
k2, ssk, k2, k2tog, k2<br />
k1 row<br />
k1, ssk, k2, k2tog, k1<br />
k1 row<br />
3 st left on each needle.<br />
<br />
Join black yarn for the nose.<br />
k1, ssk, k2tog, k1<br />
knit 1 row<br />
<br />
Run black tail through stitches, run black through stitches again until nose is roundish--about three times. Pull all ends inside of the head.<br />
<br />
Stuff head.<br />
<br />
Turn the head around and pick up 18 stitches in such a way that the decreases fall on the sides of the head and aren't obtrusive. Put nine stitches on each of two needles.<br />
<br />
Do a 3-needle bind-off by knitting together one stitch from each of the two needles. That is, insert the third needle through a stitch on the front needle and a stitch on the back needle and knit both of them off. You now have 9 stitches. Or you should. If you have ten, well, just go with the flow. <br />
<h2>
Body</h2>
knit 2 rows <br />
k1 kfb (knit in the front and back of the stitch to increase), knit to the last two stitches, kfb, k1. <br />
k1 row<br />
Repeat increases 2 more times, to 15 st. That is, increase row, plain row, increase row.<br />
<br />
For the first leg, cast on 6 gray and 2 pink stitches by knitting on. Bind off two stitches in pink and the rest in gray.<br />
<br />
Knit to end of row, turn and repeat leg on other side.<br />
<br />
Resume increases 4 times until you have 23 st. After each increase row, knit a plain row.<br />
<br />
Knit 9 rows.<br />
<br />
Decrease back to 11 stitches via these two rows:<br />
k1, ssk...k2tog, k1.<br />
k1 row<br />
<br />
Do another set of legs.<br />
<br />
Repeat the two decrease rows three more times--you will have 5 stitches on the needle.<br />
Bind off.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Bits</h2>
Crochet a chain for the tail. Double yarn between bound-off stitches, chain 17. Knot the ends and trim. Or knit an I-cord. The chain is flatter, but you will probably have to wet and pin it to make it lie flat. Mine curled up into pigtails, which would have been terrific if I were making flat piglets.<br />
<br />
Knot pink paw ends together and weave in ends.<br />
<br />
Ears are crocheted directly to the head.<br />
SC in two stitches, ch1, turn, single SC, bind off, run ends through head. Or make any other teeny blob-shape using a needle, hook, loom, or potato peeler.<br />
<br />
I dampened my rats and pinned them out to make them flatter...I hope PETA doesn't see this picture....<br />
<br />
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<br />
You could just squish the rat in an unabridged dictionary or a Uline catalog for a while if this concept makes you squeamish.<br />
<br />
And finally, if you have no inclination to <i>knit </i>a flat rat, you could make one using this handy method:<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<h1>
BIG NOTE</h1>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969);">I want to remind everyone that I can't respond to comments without an email address, Ravelry name, or other means of contact. Too often these days there's just no way for me to thank you for your comment or answer your question. Along these lines, I notice fewer and fewer active Blogger profiles. That makes me sad, but as technology and social networking advance, sites such as Facebook and Ravelry have replaced blogging as a primary means of communication. And no, I don't have a Facebook or Twitter ID. I think Facebook and Twitter are creepy. However, you can always ping me on Ravelry if you don't want to leave a public comment.</span>fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-47806163627349259002013-01-28T10:56:00.001-05:002013-01-28T14:47:31.702-05:00Customer DisserviceOne of the drawbacks of having a retail store is complaints. Our little shop gets about five a year. Some of them have been vituperative, complete with four-letter words and personal threats. Others have been just plain silly--a person who, after eight months, decided the ebook was defective and wanted to return it. Regardless of the mental state of the customer, in all cases, we replace the item or issue a refund. We want everyone to be satisfied, and if for some reason, it's not within our ability to please, we refund the money and thank the customer for patronizing our store.<br />
<br />
A few months ago, I bought a $42 circular knitting needle...<i>smiles at the group gasp. </i>The day of the purchase, I had the unpleasant experience of having three sets of circulars needle tips separate from their respective cables as I was working on a top-down sweater. And I was sick and tired of picking up stitches. Thus, I decided to go for the Lamborghini, the Bentley, the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of knitting needles--a Signature.<br />
<br />
When it arrived, I reverently unwrapped it...to discover a slight burr on the tip. Oh well. It took five gentle swipes with 800-grit sandpaper to smooth the burr. I was in the middle of the sleeves at that point, so I put the needle aside until I was back at the underarms.<br />
<br />
I knit four inches of sweater...and then...one of the needle tips disengaged from the cable. I was flabbergasted.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Here's the letter I wrote to customer service:<br />
____________________________________________________________<br />
<br />
<i>Dear
Signature-<br /><br />I purchased this needle on
November 29, 2012, invoice #xxxx, Paypal Unique
Transaction ID #xxxx.<br /><br />It
arrived with a burr on the tip. You can see where I sanded it off. I
knit four inches of a sweater with this needle. This
morning, one of the tips separated from the cable and rolled
underneath the refrigerator. I am not moving the
refrigerator to find it. I am an old woman with a bad
back.<br />Notice that if you run your finger up
the remaining join from the cable to the needle, there is a
sharp edge on the metal. I was wondering why I was seeing
frayed yarn bits as I was knitting. As I paid $42 for this needle,
it never occurred to me that the join was responsible.
Instead, I was blaming the yarn vendor for the fact that I
kept having to unknit areas and join in new yarn. Silly
me.<br /><br />I expect you to replace this needle
with one that actually works as advertised. That is, the
joins remained joined and doesn't shred the
yarn.</i><br />
<br />
And here's their reply:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span></i></span><br />
<div align="left" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Dear
Susan,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div align="left" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Thank you for your note.
You stated you received your order in November 2012 and at that
time you noticed a burr on the needle however you did not contact us
regarding the burr. Our warranty/guarantee policy states you have
21-days from the day you receive your order to contact us regarding any
manufacturing flaw or defect. You also stated that you sanded the tip of
your needle. As stated in our warranty/guarantee policy: "The warranty is void
if any changes, modifications, or additions are made to the needles after
purchase." I have included a link from our website detailing our
warranty/guarantee policy. Unfortunately by sanding the tip of your needle you
voided that warranty/guarantee. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div align="left" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I am sorry but at this
time we cannot replace your needle. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<br />
<div align="left" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><a href="http://www.signatureneedlearts.com/our_guarantee/" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>signatureneedlearts.com/our_<wbr></wbr>guarantee/</a> </span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">
</span></i></span>
<br />
<div align="left" dir="ltr">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">
</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"></span></i></span>
<div align="left" dir="ltr">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">____________________________________________________________</span></span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">
</span></i></span><br />
<br />
Now, I don't know about you,<i> </i>but I infinitely prefer the treatment I've received from KnitPicks when their needle tips go walkabout. They replace them. No fuss, no muss, at least for the four that I have called them about. And I give you three guesses as to which needles I will be purchasing in the future. And which company I will never again patronize nor recommend.<br />
<br />
ETA: Less than an hour after this blog post appeared, this email dropped into my mailbox. Yay Internet!<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dear Susan,</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I have consulted with our
quality control department. They would like to inspect your needle for any
manufacturing flaws or defects regarding the rough join/separation issue you
encountered with your needle. I have attached a return merchandise authorization
form for you to complete and include with your needle. Please use RMA# XXXXXXXXX. Which needle from your Nov. 2012 order did the cable separate
from; the size 01-5"-32" or size 03-4"-20"? Please tell me which size
needle separated and I will send you a replacement needle.
</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Please let me know if you have any other questions.<br /><br />Thank
you,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And finally... </span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Good Afternoon Susan, </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I wanted to thank you for contacting us this weekend and let
you know I have come across your blog post this afternoon and reviewed the
customer service practices on how your email was handled. We strive for
100% customer satisfaction and I am never happy to see that a customer does not
receive the highest quality attention to their concerns. </span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">I see that the information and policy was sent based on the
burr being sanded, but as you have addressed in your blog this should not have
mattered. The breaking of the cable from the needle is 100% a
manufacturing defect and per our normal policy, you should have been asked for
a photo of the needle and a replacement should have been sent out immediately
this afternoon no questions asked. Again I do apologize that
your inquiry was handled in this manner and that you did not receive the level
of customer service that we strive for. We aim to produce the highest
quality products as well as always provide our customers with service to match.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Please let me know if you have additional questions or
concerns and again I apologize for the reply you received.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thank you,</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Daniella Rosenthal</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Vice President</span></div>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-73615316673816408312012-11-04T15:34:00.000-05:002012-11-05T06:22:06.413-05:00An Odd Useful Invention: The Fleegle JoinWarning: This is a long, rambling post! <br />
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I enjoy knitting socks, but even the sturdiest socks eventually wear out. Roy's socks always wear through in the same spot--underneath the heel. I've tried reinforcement, but that just delays the inevitable. The sock yarn disappears, leaving a little network of reinforcement yarn. I do own a sock darner, but the results are always a little lumpy. And ugly. And I hate darning socks.<br />
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So, when Roy hands me a sad pair of holey handmades, my process goes something like this. I pick up the stitches on the top end and the foot end:<br />
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I cut between the needle sets to produce two halves...<br />
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...and then ravel the yarn back to the needles:<br />
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<i>Snarky Aside: Notice the fresh and brilliant colors on these socks. That's because the Socks That Rock yarn gave out after about twenty wearings and washings. The faded sock you'll see later in this post was worn and washed for seven years before the lovely Fleece Artist yarn needed repair.</i><br />
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After knitting a new gusset and heel, I used Kitchener Stitch (KS) to connect the two halves together. It takes more time to KS than to re-knit the entire midsection, and frankly, Kitchener Stitch is not my favorite thing to do. No matter how careful I am, one or two of 60-odd stitches is always wrong. <span style="font-size: x-small;">No, I am not showing you any pictures of that.</span><br />
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So today I started fiddling around with an odd idea. For some time, I have been longing to make the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-yoke-pullover">Paton's Cable Yoke</a> sweater. The lovely example shown below was knitted by Tanis of Tanis Fiber Arts (photo used with permission).<br />
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The sweater is constructed by first knitting the strip of cable for the yoke, which is then grafted together to form a circle. The upper and lower parts of the sweater are picked up from the edges of the cable strip.<br />
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My thought process then drifted over to the idea of knitted-on lace edgings. For those of you who have never done this, you basically turn your work 90 degrees and cast on for the edging. You knit to the end of the edging, turn, and knit back towards the shawl body. Then you knit the last stitch of the edging together with a stitch on the shawl. Repeat a million times until all the stitches are gone or you have stuffed the thing into the deepest, darkest closet you own, hoping the shawl will dissolve so you don't have to knit any more edging.<br />
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So, I thought to myself...what if I started knitting the Paton's sweater from the neck and knit down to the yoke, leaving the live stitches on the needle? Then do a provisional cast-on for the lower body and finish that section. I will have two sets of live stitches that I can join at each edge of the cable strip, which is knitted sideways<i>.</i><br />
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This process would be essentially the same as joining two sock halves with a knitted band instead of Kitchener Stitch. <br />
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I found an old sock that needed repair to experiment. After I finished the gusset and heel section, I turned it 90 degrees and cast on four stitches using the <a href="http://knitting-crochet.wonderhowto.com/how-to/cast-with-work-progress-when-knitting-250835/">Knitted Cast On</a>. Because I had to turn the work to the wrong side to cast on, I actually used the Purled Cast On, which consisted of making a purl stitch in the last stitch on the needle, putting the stitch on the needle, then purling in that stitch, and so on. I purled (through the back loops) the final cast-on stitch with one stitch from the upper sock half, which made a tight join.<br />
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I turned the work and slipped the first stitch, knit the two stitches in the center of the strip, then knit one stitch of the strip with one stitch of the heel half <i>through the back loops</i>. Continue turning and working, or do as I do and knit backwards to save time and trouble. Always slip the first stitch, which is the decrease from the previous row. And pull that slipped stitch tight to prevent a hole.<br />
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When I got to the end, I picked up four stitches from the beginning and Kitchenered them together with the four left on the needle. If I had been picky, I could have done a provisional cast on at the start, but for such a small number of stitches, it wasn't worth the trouble. Fours stitches of KS is a lot better than 60. <br />
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I used four stitches so I could observe the process better, but it seemed to me that the extra two stitches in the center weren't necessary for the sock join.*<br />
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In the next example, I cast two stitches onto the right needle by knitting on backwards, slipped the final stitch to the left needle and knit it together with one stitch from the ribbing half of the sock. Then I slipped that stitch, and knit the next stitch together with one stitch from the heel half. I continued in this way, slipping the first stitch and knitting (or purling) the last stitch of the heel half together with one stitch on the top half. The result is a pretty little braided effect that's smooth on the inside:<br />
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I only had to KS two stitches at the end--even better!<br />
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This technique can be used to join any set of live stitches, for example, afghan squares, and will hopefully inspire some interesting designs using pretty insertions. The join can be used to replace the bulky and inflexible three-needle bind-off too. The result is very stretchy, but because it stretches perpendicularly to the joined pieces, you don't have to worry about sagging if you are using a heavy yarn. Finally, the join can be as wide as you like and pretty much any stitch can be used for the join, for example, purls, garter stitch, lace, or fancy braided cables. <br />
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* I know. Some of you are wondering why I bothered to reknit the gusset and heel on that sad, washed-out sock. It's because the sock yarn has cashmere in it and these little treasures are indefinably soft and sqooshy. You can see how the color has faded over the last seven years, but now they are ready to go for another seven, just like me! Too bad I can't just unravel my failing bits and re-knit them, sigh.fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-79951403170584074522012-10-12T14:03:00.000-05:002012-10-12T18:38:37.190-05:00VostokAbout five years ago, I bought some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiviut">qiviut </a>yarn from a now-forgotten vendor. I hated it. It wasn't anywhere near as soft as advertised, had as much stretch as garden twine, and somehow still warped out of shape after knitting. For the price, I could have bought some cheap acrylic and gotten the same amount of satisfaction.<br />
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While I was writing <i>Fleegle Spins Supported</i>, I purchased some unspun qiviut roving from <a href="http://cottagecraftangora.com/#/qiviut-roving/4531016110">Cottage Craft Angora</a>...and boy, did my opinion of this stuff skid into a complete, 180-degree turnaround. The roving is a dream to spin, dyes beautifully, and knits up into a delicate, luxurious fabric that is difficult to stop touching.<br />
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Here's the roving, the spun yarn on a supported <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/trindleman">Trindle</a>, and the final yarn, dyed a rich, dark purple. <br />
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From the admittedly costly and indulgent two ounces I purchased, I ended up with 900 yards of laceweight two-ply, and decided to knit <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vostok">Vostok</a>, an exquisite design by Beth Kling. I used a size 3 needle, and had about 150 yards left over. <br />
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As you can see, the shawl consists of bands of ethereal lace, all of which are patterned on both sides.<br />
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I like semi-circular shawls, because they don't slide off your shoulders like triangular ones do. I was, however, bothered by the neck area, which seemed insubstantial. The shawl hangs from the cast-on edge, and that made me uneasy. And when I tried on the shawl, the neck just looked unfinished.<br />
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After consulting my library of crochet patterns, I decided to add a small collar. You can see it in the first photo--it's the odd thingie sticking up at the top of the shawl.<br />
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And here's what it looks like when worn:<br />
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And from the back:<br />
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I hadn't crocheted lace in a long time, but it didn't take long and I think the result is visually pleasing. I will be adding a similar collar to my Nouveau Beaded Capelet to give the neck a bit of body. That's a heavy shawl and a little collar will add strength, as well as a bit of interest to the neck area. fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-57452727199032788302012-09-03T15:32:00.001-05:002012-09-03T15:54:00.470-05:00Echobellinaria<br />
My Echobellinaria shawl started out innocently enough as Melissa Lemmon's lovely <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/silver-bells-and-cockle-shells">Silver Bells and Cockleshells.</a> I had a ball of handspun laceweight--1400 yards--and the requisite 1000 beads for the border and figured I would just mindlessly zone out through the tedious number of small motifs in the top section. It would, I told myself, be worth it to endure a bit of boredom because of that truly stunning border.<br />
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I cast on on with size 4 needles and knit the
setup…realized that was too big a needle, switched to size 3, knit the
setup…too big, cast on a with size 2. That looked nice, but after two repeats of the pattern, I tossed down the needles with a huge sigh. There was no way I was going to knit miles of those little diamond thingies and Harry had scuttled away after watching me play musical needles for an hour.<br />
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I perused my Ravelry Favorites, and decided to work a pretty little mashup composed of several patterns. I would knit some repeats of <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring08/PATTlaminaria.html">Laminaria</a>, then some repeats of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/echo-flower-shawl">Echo Flowers</a>, and finish up with the lovely border on Silver Bells. For the most part, the stitch counts in the three sections were perfectly compatible and required very little fudging to make it work.<br />
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My Post-It note, which detailed the concept, read:<br />
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Laminaria star chart and transition chart <br />
Echo Flowers chart <br />
Silver Bells and Cockleshells edging<br />
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I cast on with a size 2 and knit the Laminaria setup…hmm, too small a needle. Tried
again on a size 3, and again on a size 4, and yet again on a size 5.
That looks nice. By this time, my herd of knitting needles was cautiously edging away from me. You could hear them mumbling about people who couldn't make up their minds and piled up rejects without regard to order, decorum, or dignity.<br />
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Off we go. Knit the first repeat. Holy Merlin! That was the UGLIEST center stitch
I have ever seen! Ripped it out and tried a few things for the center
stitch…until I realized that a plain knit just continued the pattern and
didn’t leave much of a backbone.<br />
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I figured five repeats would be enough, but it looked a bit mingy, so I knit two more repeats before proceeded onto the transition chart, and then the Echo Flowers pattern. Plenty of yarn left, so I did seven repeats of this pattern, too.<br />
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The Echo Flowers repeat is 12 stitches and the Silver Bells edging repeat is
24 stitches, but I had to flim-flam away 12 extra stitches to make the border pattern
work out correctly. On the outer edge, I decreased away 3 stitches on the first row. At the center, I omitted the increases until the stitch count caught up to the pattern.<br />
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As I was blithely knitting away, popping on beads with abandon, I turned to the final pattern page and noticed that there were a slew of 1 to 16 stitches increases on the last part of the border. The double set of crocheted loops was really going eat up the yarn, too. I needed to spin more yarn. A lot more.<br />
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After I found some matching fiber, I eyeballed my diminishing bead supply. As I mentioned in my last blog post, every single tube of beads I own has a stock number and supplier neatly printed on a small label...except the ones I was using. It took me two weeks to figure out where I had gotten them, then I called the store and had them send me two more tubes.<br />
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By the time I arrived at the truly lovely edging, my pretty little shawl had mutated into a blanket/car cover...I mean, I should have had some idea that things were getting out of hand when I used up the 1400 yards in the original ball about a third of the way into the border.<br />
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Be that as it may, the final piece measures 96" across the top and 54 inches deep...sufficient to keep any two people or a station wagon warm on a cold day.<br />
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The lovely color gradient isn't apparent when the shawl is lying flat, but you can see it in this photo:<br />
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If I were going to knit it again (fat chance), I would go with five repeats each of Laminaria and Echo Flowers. It would still be a large undertaking, but I probably could have completed it with the original yarn and beads. <br />
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fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-46859792997333869942012-08-25T09:55:00.000-05:002012-08-25T12:40:13.265-05:00Two TweaksMy latest project, Echobellinaria, is an fascinating mashup of <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/laminaria">Laminaria</a>, <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/echo-flower-shawl">Echo Flowers Shawl</a>, and <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/silver-bells-and-cockle-shells">Silver Bells and Cockleshells,</a> knitted with handspun merino silk. Alas, the ubiquitous, obnoxious Murphy showed up in my kitchen while I was on the home stretch. I ran out of both yarn and beads twenty rows from the end. I spun more yarn, but have had the darnedest time trying to find matching beads. All of my bead tubes sport labels with both the company name and bead number, except<i>, </i>of course, the tubes I decided to use for this shawl. <br />
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I finally remembered where I purchased them, and called the store yesterday. I'm hoping against hope that they are a good match, because the other three tubes I ordered from various web stores weren't.<br />
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<i>fleegle hands Murphy a cup of coffee laced with the Draught of Living Death and gleefully watches him drink it down.</i>...<br />
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In the meantime, I thought I would post two quick tweaks for improving efficiency. If you don't spin or bead, well, stay tuned for the next post, which will hopefully be replete with Echobellinaria eye candy.<br />
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<b>Spindle Shafts </b><br />
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I have small fingers, and find twirling spindles with thick shafts very difficult and tiring. If you are experiencing the same problem, try sanding down the top of the shaft. For me, reducing the shaft diameter from the one shown on the left to more svelte version on the right makes for a miraculous improvement in spindle efficiency. Give it a whirl, as it were. <br />
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Use a piece of 220 grit sandpaper about 2 inches wide to quickly reduce the diameter of the upper two inches or so. When you get close to the final diameter, go down to 600 grit, using a piece about 1 inch wide.<br />
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<i> Be careful to revolve the spindle as you sand so the shaft remains round and true</i>.<br />
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For the final polish, use 800 grit, about 1 inch wide. Some people might want to wax the sanded area or use wood polish, but I haven't found it necessary.<br />
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<b>Beader Tweak</b><br />
I was hesitant to post this, but figured someone might be adventurous
and try it. The other day I was fitting the caps onto my beaders, and I
accidentally bent the tip on one of the 0.8mm beaders about five
degrees. I couldn't sell it, so I set it aside for me. I used it this
morning, and found it to be a huge improvement. The slight bend forced
the yarn to slide right into the slot. Here's a photo:<b> </b><br />
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I grabbed another beader and used the cap to bend it VERY GENTLY...and it worked splendidly. <br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-15635749319616321172012-07-11T10:46:00.000-05:002012-07-11T11:58:28.826-05:00A Billion Beads, ReduxHarry returned home a few weeks ago from his wild and wacky vacation at the <a href="http://www.lookaway.net/en/webcam/shqiperia/tirana/tirana/bowling-blur-tirana.html">Blur Bowling Ally</a> in Tirana, Albania. If you click the link and watch the live webcam, look for his condo--a black box at about 1:00. Note the little stage at the top, where he entertained the bowlers with his newest gig--Gangsta Rap Noh, a tasteful blend of contemporary stylistic repartee and traditional Japanese dance. Frankly, I think a bowling alley is the perfect spot for his performance...the crash of falling pins is a lovely accompaniment to his, um, singing. <br />
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While he was resting, Harry spent his time working for my Etsy shop, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGossamerWeb?ref=si_shop">The Gossamer Web</a>. From a passing bowler, Harry managed to obtain some spring steel, a couple of files, and enough goat cheese to stock his pantry. The result: <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/103990194/fleegle-beader-please-read-the">The Fleegle Beader</a>, our answer to the crochet hook-floss threader-wire methods of adding beads to your knitting. (Sorry, Harry ate the goat cheese.)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">After considerable debate, we decided to name it The Fleegle Beader, because I pointed out that The Harry Beader sounded ridiculous. However, Harry does star, along with other members of his extensive family, in the Ravelry ad. It took most of the day to get everyone lined up on the supersized beader handle, but we thought the ad turned out pretty well.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">These beaders are available in two sizes.</span><br />
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The 0.8mm size is for designed #8 and #11 seed beads. It will hold about 60 #8 or 90 #11 beads. The picture below shows a mixture of #8 and 6mm faceted Czech glass beads with teeny, tiny holes. I like to use these beads as nupp replacements.<br />
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The 1.0mm size is designed for #6 or #8 beads with large holes, such as Delicas. It will hold about 60 #8 Delicas--my favorite bead for knitting.<br />
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The tip has a hook that will work with yarn as thick as heavy fingering weight.<br />
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The bottom of the beader is bent so you can use it with a bead spinner. Comes with a tip protector and two stoppers for the bottom, because you might lose one and I don't want you to be unhappy. <br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-41014361356065371672012-06-06T10:04:00.004-05:002012-06-06T16:54:47.036-05:00Bear with Me...Life Lesson # 4545: Beware of anyone bearing a large, orange Home Depot pail and a really big grin. Although he ostensibly went for a walk in the woods, somehow Roy returned home with about two pounds of, um, grizzly bear fur.<br />
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His story (verbatim):<br />
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<i>I was walking in the forest, when all of a sudden, a huge, ferocious, mean, nasty, scary grizzly bear leapt out of the trees, intent on stealing my fruit bar. We wrestled for a while, and after a few right hooks and an uppercut to his snout, I forced him onto the ground and held him down in a hammerlock. Knowing how much you love exotic fiber, I whipped out my trusty comb, ran it through his/her pelt, and collected the fur in this handy orange pail that I always take camping, because you never know when you'll need one.</i><br />
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The real story, needless to say, revolved around the nearby bear park, a kind manager, and the same orange pail...<br />
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Never having gotten close enough to a bear to run my fingers through its fur, I was prepared for just about anything. My sense, from looking at bears from a respectfully healthy distance, is that the fur would be rather coarse. And I was right.<br />
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Not surprisingly, bears shed in the summer months. The fur is a mixture of long hairs and a reasonably soft undercoat. We washed it gently in a bit of detergent, the rinsed it and let it dry in a mesh bag overnight.<br />
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<b>Raw grizzly bear fiber</b></div>
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I spent an hour with a fine-toothed comb and removed the outer hairs, leaving a handful of springy short fur that felt quite like Shetland wool. And like wool, bear fur is well lubricated, containing a healthy amount of, um, bear oil? <br />
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<b>Dehaired grizzly bear fiber</b></div>
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I didn't think that spinning the undiluted fur would be rewarding, so I grabbed a bit of merino/silk, and carded it with the bear fiber. The ratio was about 30% grizzly, 70% merino/silk.<br />
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G<b>rizzly bear fiber carded with merino/silk</b></div>
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<b>Grizzly bear fiber and merino/silk rolag</b></div>
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Then I grabbed a Tibetan supported spindle and spun it into a single, two plies of which will make a fingering weight yarn.<br />
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<b>Grizzly bear fiber and merino/silk, spun on a supported spindle
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This stuff is surprisingly pleasant to spin--springy and not the least bit slippery, thanks to the natural oils. It was easy to pluck out the remaining coarse hairs, producing a lively yarn which, while not luxuriously soft, would make interesting outerwear. And Roy, after his death-defying escapade, certainly deserves an ear warmer made from handspun merino/silk/grizzly bear.<br />
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The fur was donated by Mikie, a Rocky Mountain Grizzy, ten feet tall, weighing in at a svelte 1000 pounds. Mikie's day job is acting; he starred in Budwiser commercials in 1997 and 1998. No, I don't know what he was doing with the beer. Probably eating the cans whole.<br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-12855729866183339072012-05-27T15:31:00.001-05:002012-05-27T20:34:51.896-05:00A Billion More Beads...A while back, <a href="http://fleeglesblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/dremel-guy-strikes-again.html">I wrote a post</a> about making a more efficient beading crochet hook by gently applying a Dremel to the shaft of a crochet hook:<br />
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I was happier with the edited hook...but not ecstatic....6000 divided by 12 beads per load is (<i>scribble scribble</i>) 500 bead loads. The hook is heavy, so it can't be parked on the knitting itself. Worse, the only place to put it while knitting non-beaded stitches is in my mouth (tastes, um, beady?) or on the table (rolls around, beads slide off the hook). It was a better solution than a regular crochet hook, but not the ultimate one.<br />
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With my usual impeccable sense of timing, I started thinking seriously about more efficient beading methods <i>after </i>finishing the capelet. I have gathered here all the tools and techniques I could find, and present you with the options, complete with photos and <strike>snarky</strike> pithy commentary.<br />
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<b>Crochet Hook</b><br />
The tiny crochet hook is probably the most common method of adding beads to your knitting. You put a bead on the hook, snag the stitch, and pop on the bead:<br />
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An ordinary crochet hook can hold about four or five beads, which means you have to reload fairly often. Sanding down the shaft can increase your, um, bead magazine to about a dozen or so, but for something like the capelet, the crochet hook is wildly inefficient.<br />
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Also, the nature of a hook means that it's a bit bulky, so you have to use a tiny size (US #11-14 or so) to ensure that the hook can fit through the bead hole. A miniscule hook can often present an unhappy experience with heavier laceweight yarn by grabbing part of the yarn, separating plies, and can also inadvertently break fibers.<br />
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Crochet hooks are easy to find, though, and you can also use them to crochet and fish tiny objects out of crevices. <br />
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<b>Dental Floss Threaders</b><br />
The concept is excellent. There's a stiff end for threading and a foamy section on which the beads rest comfortably without sliding. You can string a lot of beads onto these and use the extras to floss your teeth or tie up tomato plants. Threaders are cheap and readily available at any store that carries dentalware.<br />
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You insert the stiffened tip through the stitch, pinch the threader closed, and slide the bead over the tip and the yarn thusly:<br />
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I don't like using floss threaders, because the tip isn't very stiff, so pinching it closed feels awkward for me. Adding beads can be tedious, too, as it can't be used with a bead spinner. The tip is straight, so it can't be easily parked on the knitting.<br />
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On the plus side, threaders are lightweight and can be flopped over your arm or around your glasses.Or you can floss and leave it between your teeth until you reach another beading stitch. Your dentist will be so proud of your sparkly clean molars!<br />
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<b>Beading Wire</b><br />
I read about this technique on <a href="http://mlemmonsdesigns.com/2012/03/01/beading-trick/">Melissa Lemon's blog</a> (she's the Nouveau Capelet designer). It's the same concept as the floss threader, but uses nylon-coated, .015″/.38mm Tiger Tail, which is a flexible, braided stainless
steel, nylon-coated wire. It's very cheap and available in almost every bead store. <br />
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Just cut the wire to the desired length and tie a bead on the non-working end or make a knot to prevent the beads from sliding off. Then make a hook on the working end by folding about a inch of the wire back on itself. <br />
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To use the wire, hook the folded section into the stitch, pinch it together with the main section, and slide the bead onto the stitch:<br />
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Beading wire is lightweight and has a hook section that can be parked directly on your knitting. You can thread a zillion beads onto the wire, although be warned, cats think a string of beads is a really fun thing to play with. It wiggles and makes a nice clicky sound when whapped with a paw.<br />
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On the downside, the wire isn't stiff enough to use with a bead spinner, and its flexibility makes it it difficult to pinch the hook. Any re-bends you make never straighten out, so eventually, you end up with a wiggly hook...<br />
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You can cut off the messy ends to make a clean fold, which eventually leads to a short piece of wire capable of holding a single bead...so you have to make another one.<br />
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<b>Lacis Verna Beadle Needle</b><br />
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I saw this on <a href="http://www.lacis.com/catalog/data/AD_Needles.html">Lacis's website</a> and had to have one. The description made it sound like the ultimate, perfect, beaded knitting solution. The Beadle is billed as an eight-inch length of tempered steel with two rubber stoppers, a hook on one end, and a bent section on the other to allow it to be used with a bead spinner. There are several sizes; the one I purchased can hold about 100 beads:<br />
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Alas, the description is misleading. There's no hook. Instead, there's kind of a notch:<br />
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The notch on the first one I received was so shallow that the yarn just slid right off of it. I used a file to deepen the notch, which made it work well with cobweb weight, but heavier standard laceweight didn't catch in the notch. Jules kindly send me a replacement, which was a little better, but it tends to grab one ply of the yarn and shred it if I forced the issue. <br />
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My replacement lacked the bend at the other end for the bead spinner, but it was easy to make a gentle curve with my fingers. However, I found the Beadle too long to be comfortable, and it can only be parked on a table or in your mouth. You have to use the rubber stoppers to prevent the beads from sliding off both ends. No big deal, but the second thing I did after I unpacked the little guy was lose one of the stoppers. They are small, round, and black, so they cheerfully roll under refrigerators and/or hide invisibly in the shadows around your floorspace.<br />
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The beadle is also expensive--about $15 without Lacis's, um, handling fee. It's a clever idea and with a little work on the notch/hook, the Beadle could be a pleasantly viable beading solution. <br />
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<b>Guitar Wire</b><br />
I read about using guitar wire instead of a floss threader years ago, but the recommended wire was a size 30, which is actually a wrapped core. I tried using this, but the finer wire wrapping invariably started unwrapping...<br />
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And it was too thick and and difficult to bend, at least for my beads and fingers.<br />
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Not to be discouraged, I revisited the guitar wire concept, and found that size 14, a thin, springy, wire, works much better for me. It's thin enough to accommodate every bead size, resilient enough to resist bending, pleasantly lightweight, and won't roll away.<br />
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I cut off a comfortable section and used a bead spinner to whirl a bunch of beads onto the non-hook end. No need to make a bend in the wire--it's springy and conforms comfortably to the spinner bowl.<br />
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I took a pair of pliers and bent the end into a hook thusly:<br />
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Notice that the hook is bent quite far, but from the side, it's open enough to slide in the yarn:<br />
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It's quite easy to close the gap by bending the main wire towards the hook--no need to pinch it closed. Furthermore, the guitar wire has several advantages over the other methods. First of all, like the beading wire, the guitar string can be hooked directly onto your knitting:<br />
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Because there's a slight bulge at the hook end, beads won't fall off that end:<br />
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Making stoppers for the other end is simple. Use a sharp matte knife, cut a few slices from an eraser stick. Then poke a hole through each one with a thickish sewing needle and just slide it onto the wire:<br />
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Both the Beadle and this thing (the Fleeger? The Bleeger? The Bleegle? The FleegleBeadle? The Guitar-Wire-with-Hook-and-Stopper? ) store nicely in thick plastic straws. <br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-62910158781271959562012-04-09T11:34:00.001-05:002012-04-09T11:34:48.004-05:00A Billion BeadsOkay, so it was only 6000 beads, not counting the ones that dropped on the floor, zoomed into my toothpaste tube, and bounced their way into cracks too small to be seen with the naked eye. I also found two of them inside the Marriage Fern, eleven huddled in fright near the vacuum cleaner, and one adventurous little guy swimming around in my coffee cup.<br />
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Disregarding the excessive beadiferousness this shawl entailed, the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nouveau-beaded-capelet">Nouveau Beaded Capelet</a> is a fabulous knit. The pattern is flawless, original, clever, and just plain stunning when completed, as you can see.<br />
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The shawl begins with a tassel on each of the seven scallops, which are knitted individually and then placed side by side on a long circular so the remainder of the shawl can be worked. Because the rows become shorter and shorter as you work towards the top, it never became boring; I had a difficult time putting it down to do other things.<br />
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Almost every yarnover has a bead, which creates graceful lines of glitter up the shawl. <br />
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The yarn, a green 50/50 merino/silk blend, will remain nameless. I found it in my stash and thought it would be perfect for this elegant project. I continued to think so, right up until I ran into the first of 14 knots in the 1250-yard skein. Worse, something--a cat perhaps--had clawed at parts of it, so there were lots of sections that were fuzzy or sported a broken ply. By this time, I had finished the scallops, so I just gritted my teeth and Russian-joined every thirty yards or so. <br />
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There were several further unpleasant surprises waiting at the finale though. The yarn was dyed in such a way that it produced hideous striping in dark and light green. The poor thing wasn't off the needles for ten minutes before it found itself floating in a pre-soak so I could overdye it. And--wait for it--the dyer hadn't bothered to fix the color, so her greens bled copiously into the presoak water. No amount of rinsing would remove the excess dye, which had the temerity to turn my fingernails green when I flipped the shawl over. <br />
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Gritting more teeth, I arranged the shawl in such a way that the scallops would soak in a dark turquoise dyebath for several hours, so the bottom of the shawl would be darker than the top. Then I flopped the upper section into the dyebath and cranked up the heat.<br />
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Aside from the fact that the color is now a pretty peacock green and the pattern itself is graceful, it feels incredible when worn--the weight of the beads makes it drape beautifully and it seems to be more a piece of jewelry than a garment.<br />
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I'm sure I'll be picking up beads for months, but the result is worth it. <br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-80346551946304566782012-03-13T07:24:00.000-05:002012-03-13T07:51:01.819-05:00OwlieI love owls, so when I saw <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owlie-owl-cowl">this cowl confection</a> by Betsy Farquhar, I immediately plunked down $5 and dropped it into my queue. After studying the pattern, I realized that, as written, the pattern was large enough for me to use as a tube top. Besides being too wide, it was long enough to not only cover my neck, but would extend over the top of my head, as well. I live in Georgia and our winters are too mild for face masks. Besides, I would have to add eyeholes (too much work) and it was too memorable to use in a bank robbery. <br />
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A little pattern editing was in order. I reduced the number of owls from five to four and eliminated the chevron patterns above and below the main event. I found a pretty skein of peach and green Lisa Souza sock yarn and dyed half of it black.<br />
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When I had finished knitting the owls, I decided that the tube would make a lovely hat, should I not want to actually wear a cowl. Waving my magic knitting wand (patent pending), I worked a row of K2tog, K8, YO to make some holes, through which I threaded a tasseled cord after knitting a final inch and binding off. <br />
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No, I didn't make an i-cord. Instead, I tightly twisted eight strands together, folded the result in half, and knotted the ends, which produced a twisted cord in about one-tenth the time it would have taken me to knit an i-cord, assuming I could be compelled to do so (not in this lifetime).<br />
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The end result is a howl...tighten the cord and it's a hat; loosen the cord and it's a cowl. The concept, which I am sure is not my invention, is clever, requires almost no extra work, and can be adapted to any hat or cowl to produce a hybrid howl. <br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-57757059925937642962012-01-20T09:22:00.000-05:002013-09-11T07:55:12.961-05:00Fleegle Spins Supported--The Book!<br />
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<i><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"> </span></i><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"> </span><a href="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6019/6298738332_e543429f46_z.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6019/6298738332_e543429f46_z.jpg" width="452" /></a><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>
<br />
<b>From the back cover...</b><br />
<br />
The greatest book ever written about supported spinning!<i> Looks offstage.</i> Yes. I know this is the only book ever written about supported spinning, but I have to write something for the back cover copy ...<i>glances offstage again</i> ...because the guy who printed the books told me blank covers look, well, suspicious. <i>Turns toward the stage wing</i>... I am not going to rant about that on the back cover... <i>faces front..</i>. OK, so this book is just full to the brim with over 400 pages describing everything you need to know about spinning with a supported spindle. Included with the erudite, entertaining text and stunning photographs are 25 videos taken by total non-professionals who had some trouble figuring out which buttons to press on the camera, but all in all, we think they came out pretty well!<br />
<br />
<b>A few sample pages to whet your appetite...</b><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">Probably the first-ever interactive PDF to ship on a flash drive! It might actually be the first, but we don't want to get sued, so we inserted a waffle word. Heh.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6727632615_ca2e5b3e33_z.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6727632615_ca2e5b3e33_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/162352250/fleegle-spins-supported-ebook-with-25?"><span style="color: red;"><b>Click here to order the ebook version. $31.50, plus shipping</b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" />
<input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="HXN24PSSQSJLS" />
</form>
<b>Interactive PDF with embedded video, shipped on a USB 2.0 flash drive </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>400+ full-color pages, suitable for any computer or tablet</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>Requires Adobe Acrobat 9 or later to take advantage of the <br />interactive features and software capable of playing .MP4 video files</b></i></div>
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<b><br /></b>
<img height="400" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6019/6298738332_e543429f46_z.jpg" width="284" />
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<span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<strike><span style="color: red;"><b>Click here to order the hardbound paper book. $100, plus shipping</b></span></strike></div>
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<b>SOLD OUT</b></div>
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A new printing might be available in 2013, depending on demand.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Please message me on Ravelry (fleegle) and we will add you to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the list for another printing. <br />
<b>400+ full-color pages, suitable for any coffee table</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Includes the ebook flash drive version</b></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><b></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Testimonials!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We couldn't find anyone to write glowing praise, mainly because the book was just published, so we made stuff up! </div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Alexander the Great would have said...</b><br />
If I had had this book while I was facing Darius III of Persia, I might not have actually won the battle, because I would have been fiddling with fiber.<br />
<br />
<b>Cleopatra would have said...</b><br />
I could have done some real damage to those asps with a pointy spindle.<br />
<br />
<b>Shakespeare would have said...</b><br />
To spin or not to spin, that is the question. But after reading this book, I feel that spinning is the answer, not the question. Anne really liked the book, too.<br />
<br />
<b>Einstein would have said...</b><br />
S-twist or Z-twist, it's all relative.<br />
<br />
Feel free to submit your own testimonials and if they are as positive as the ones above, we'll use them! Just think, you get to replace Alexander the Great's or Einstein's verbiage with some of your own! <br />
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fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-81944037773555882732011-12-15T16:04:00.003-05:002012-03-13T07:25:05.266-05:00Copyright for the 21st CenturyReaders of my blog know that I occasionally poke fun, or wickedly sharp needles, at some of the actions taken in the name copyright and trademark. For example, I went to purchase a circular knitting needle a few weeks ago, and noticed that underneath the KnitPicks logo, was the following statement:<br />
<br />
The color purple is a trademark of Crafts Americana Group, Inc.<br />
<br />
I sent this information off to TechDirt, inquiring how anyone could trademark a color, especially a color as ambiguous as "purple." A l<a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111107/01412516653/color-purple-trademarked.shtml">ively discussion ensued</a>. A week or so later, someone else pointed out that Cadbury has also trademarked the color purple. <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111118/04123516814/color-purple-trademarked-again.shtml">Another lively discussion</a> ensued. It doesn't matter whether the companies involved in this silliness were granted trademarks or even applied for them (no and yes), the point is, trademarking colors can be considered a form of restraint of trade, even if it only applies to a candy wrapper, which is apparently how the British Courts ruled for Cadbury.<br />
<br />
As far as I know, there are only, what, six main colors, generally known as red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and violet. Let's throw black and white in there and make it eight colors. That means, if candy Company A trademarks red, and Company B trademarks orange, and so on, then Company I has no color they can make their candy wrapper. What do they do? Sell the stuff in a transparent wrapper? Then sure as I am typing here, someone will trademark see-through candy bar wrappers, and then Company J will have to sell their candy naked. Or spend millions of dollars and years in court arguing that Peach isn't Orange. <br />
<br />
<br />
I could go on and on about the actual color, as KnitPicks needle cables are technically red-violet, not purple. Suppose I want to market knitting needles with lavender cables? Is this purple or pale violet? KnitPicks didn't limit their color trademark to knitting needles either, the way Cadbury did for candy bars. So purple yarn is a trademark violation? Is Barney the Purple Dinosaur going to present a legal hassle for his owner?<br />
<br />
And if KnitPicks trademarked the color purple, should Alice Walker, the author of the book, <i>The Color Purple</i>, take legal action? Book titles cannot be copyrighted--there are only so many ways you can say<i> Introduction to Biochemistry</i>, and that's been through the courts. But what if she wants to take out a trademark on, say, purple toothpicks with that slogan engraved on them? <br />
<br />
In sum, the entire grabby mentality that pervades business these days is disheartening, not to mention stifling. This is not to say that you shouldn't take appropriate measures to protect your intellectual property, but it seems that companies are spending most of their time and money litigating instead of innovating. And we all know what happens when laws become too stringent--people just ignore them. Or they stage a revolt.<br />
<br />
So, when I turned my attention to the front matter of my book, having tired of investigating the spinability of cow hair, I took some volumes off the shelf and looked at their copyright pages. No, no, and more no. I am not going to wander those narrow little roads. Instead, I wrote my own copyright statement, which I hope will provide a broad avenue for everyone who might wish to take a stroll through my book. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span class="Bold">Human Copyright for the 21st Century</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
With the exception of a few pictures that are in the
public domain, almost everything in this book is under copyright. When
something is copyrighted, it means that it belongs to someone else. In this
instance, unless specifically acknowledged otherwise, all the words and images
are under copyright by me, the author. However, it’s my firm belief that
information is meant to be shared, not bound by legal stricture. I really
resent blanket copyright declarations that forbid the readers from using or
reformatting the knowledge in any meaningful way. Thus, I’ve devised my very
own copyright permission page that spells out what you, the reader, may do with
the contents herein.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<div class="MsoBodyText">
You may scan, print, copy, or otherwise convert the
contents to other formats in any way you wish, as long as your purpose is
entirely personal. You can, for example, make backup copies of the DVD; output
the contents to your printer; transfer the DVD to your hard drive; or paint
excerpts on the back of your pet gerbil. You need no permission from me to do
so. These permissions do not extend to making copies of this work, or any substantial part
thereof, for your friends. If you are wondering about the word “substantial,” and how
it might apply to what you want to do, please contact me directly and we’ll
discuss it.</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
You may share an excerpt for non-commercial purposes, for
example, to help a friend; incorporate into a blog post; or contribute to a
private group; without my express permission. Please do assign credit, however.
The credit line should read: <span class="Italic">Photo/text/video courtesy of
Susan Stevens, used with permission.</span> In the cases where the photos or
text are the property of someone else, you will need to contact them directly
to arrange permissions. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
You may not share any part of this book for commercial
purposes without permission and remuneration. This does not mean you many not
share the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">information</i> in the book. It
does mean that, if you are teaching a class and printing copies of the
contents, I expect some form of payment as well as credit, because in these
instances, I am the teacher standing behind you as you instruct the class. A
Starbuck gift card, an Amazon credit, or a small donation to Paypal is not too
much to ask, considering the time that I’ve spent assembling this missive.
Again, in the cases where the photos or text are the property of someone else,
you will need to contact them directly to arrange terms. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
If you are an ongoing commercial enterprise, for example,
a magazine, other arrangements will have to be made. In these cases, I expect
fair payment commensurate with your other contributors. Please pm my Ravelry name, fleegle, or email
me at xxx to discuss
terms and conditions. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
There are no reserved foreign rights. We are all of one
world, thanks to the Internet. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
I have made arrangements for this book to be put into the
public domain after my death for use by anyone and everyone under all
circumstances. I refuse to sequester the information in the name of copyright
when I am no longer around to benefit from it. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Although this copyright page is copyrighted (<i><span class="Italic">see</span> </i>Department of Redundancy Department), I herein give
express permission for it to be reused in any format by anyone who shares the
same information philosophy I do. If you intend to use this page as an example
of How Not to Write a Copyright Statement, the reprint and excerpt fee is One
Million US Dollars. And I will pursue you legally if I find out about it.</div>
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-79520200240448000652011-11-27T14:07:00.001-05:002011-11-27T14:26:46.565-05:00Eco-JunkAt the beginning of the year, I promised you guys that I would write a book. After casting about for a subject, I finally decided to write about supported spindling--a topic that is often ignored or relegated to a footnote in most descriptions of hand spinning. It's coming along nicely. So far I have almost 200 text pages and suspect that after adding in all the images, the page count will balloon to 350 or so.<br />
<br />
It will be first be published as an ebook PDF with embedded videos, all on a DVD. Those who wish printed copies will have to sign up for a subscription. It's a full-color book, and printing will be very expensive--about $30, plus the cost of the DVDs, shipping, and so on. A subscription with a down-payment will allow me to actually pay for the printing.<br />
<br />
Right now, it looks like I will be finished with the text by the end of the year. Then it has to be tech-edited, copy-edited, laid out, proofed, and the videos created. I am aiming for publication somewhere between April and June.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, I know that many readers don't spin, but half the book talks about various fibers. And so, here's is the first of several excerpts that I will be putting on this blog. All the images and spinning info have been removed here due to length considerations, but I hope you enjoy this brief tour of.....<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Eco-Junk</h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to me (it's my book, after all), A Green Object is one in which the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">entire</i> process, from start to finish, involves methodology safe to
living beings—plants or animals. Sustainability doesn't make something
Eco-Friendly, as anyone who has lived—and died young—near a paper mill could
tell you if they were still alive to give an opinion. Furthermore, biodegradablity
does not make something Eco-Friendly. Some nerve gas agents degrade naturally
after a few days, mammoth bones survive for thousands of years. Draw your own
conclusions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With that definition in mind, let’s take a tour of
supposedly Eco-Friendly fibers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Bamboo</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bamboo is frankly my least favorite fiber. Aside from its
lack of elasticity, it has an unpleasant scritchy feeling while being spun that
is reminiscent of squealing chalk-on-a-blackboard. It’s also an ecological
disaster. Like most rayons, bamboo is a regenerated cellulosic fiber. The most
common production method, called the Viscose Process, incorporates corrosive
chemicals such as carbon disulfide, sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid. Aside
from the direct effects on workers, successful disposal of these chemicals
poses yet another set of knotty problems. And do think about the fact that most
of this stuff is made in countries that have a less enlightened view of worker
and environmental safety than we do. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A second method, the Lyocell process, is touted as being
more ecologically friendly. This process, which is also used to make Tencel®,
uses N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) as a solvent to dissolve the bamboo
cellulose into a viscose solution. This chemical is a hazardous irritant for
skin contact and has some corrosive potential, as well. Inhalation is not a
good idea either, as the chemical produces severe irritation of the respiratory
tract. Repeated or prolonged exposure can damage organs. And so on. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally, there is actually an eco-friendly enzymatic process
that produces a yarn known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bamboo
linen</i>. It involves crushing the woody parts of the bamboo plant and using
natural enzymes to break the bamboo walls into a mush that can be mechanically
combed out and spun into yarn. This is essentially the same process used to
produce linen from flax and other bast fibers. Very little bamboo linen is
actually manufactured, because the process is very labor intensive and costly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bamboo is often touted as having antimicrobial properties.
Untreated bamboo fabric actually <a href="http://www.cahs.colostate.edu/news/item/?id=550">doesn’t have any such
effect</a>, but inventing this feature makes for a good marketing. Go <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt160.pdf">here</a> to
read all about it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given all these factors, why has bamboo become a standard
addition to batts and tops? Well, it is shiny, and is thus considered a cheap
substitute for silk. There is no substitute for silk, whose glorious properties
I have already discussed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Avoid it, and whine to battmeisters who toss the stuff into
a perfect good batch of merino. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Soy Fiber<span style="color: blue;"></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those who know me well also know how much I dislike tofu—a
squishy flavorless food with all the gustatory charm of wallpaper paste. I
spent years avoiding it in Japan,
and trust me, that’s like trying to avoid grits in North
Georgia. Come to think of it, grits rate about the same in my
culinary book.I do love
soybeans themselves, though. Delicious! Adorable! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soybean fiber is made from tofu manufacturing leftovers.
Proteins are extracted from the residual oils, which is turned into a liquid
goo, cooked, wet-spun, stabilized by acetylating, curled, thermoformed, and cut
into three- to four-inch staple lengths. Several sites cheerfully describe the
process this way: “the soy protein is liquefied then extruded into fiber in a
chemical free process.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aside from having an abysmal understanding of punctuation,
the person who wrote this clearly slept through high school chemistry; acetylation
is a chemical process. A few of the non-chemicals used include acetic
anhydride, acetic acid, and sulfuric acid, the same chemical-free chemicals
that bamboo rayon manufacturers insist are Green! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We can skip over the acids, because everyone has a good idea
of what these do to animate and inanimate objects, so let’s investigate acetic
anhydride. According to the CDC’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0003.html">NIOSH<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span>Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards</a></i>, exposure to this
stuff causes:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">conjunctivitis,
lacrimation (discharge of tears), corneal edema, opacity, photophobia (abnormal
visual intolerance to light); nasal, pharyngeal irritation; cough, dyspnea
(breathing difficulty), bronchitis; skin burns, vesiculation, and sensitization
dermatitis</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to the eco-crap I
found on various sites, it supposedly possesses the softness of cashmere, and
has the moisture absorption of cotton with better diffusion, making it
“comfortable and sanitary.” In actual fact, it looks, feels, and spins just like bamboo rayon with the same annoying scritchy texture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Corn Fiber</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sigh. Another Green Fiber made from a non-chemical chemical process.
This one was a toughie, because the vague description of the manufacturing
process made it difficult to figure out how it’s really manufactured. The
primary consumer fiber, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ingeo</i>, is the trademark name for NatureWorks
LLC's synthetic fiber made from corn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The site has a really pretty biocycle diagram showing
sunshine, corn plants, and some chemical marbles on sticks. Reading between the
lines and referring to some rather esoteric organic chemistry websites (But Ha!
I have a BS in Physical Chemistry), I tweezed out the following explanation: Corn
fiber is a bioplastic spun from lactic acid generated by bacterial fermentation
of corn sugars. That’s certainly <i>sounds </i>green. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now we get to the good part: The lactic acid molecules link
together to form rings called lactic monomers, which, in turn, open and link
together to form long chains of polylactide polymers, which are then made into
a plastic. Notice they don’t tell you how this part is actually performed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next, I chased down polylactides--polyesters derived from
corn, sugarcane, and tapioca. Ah. Good old polyesters, which, among other
things, use concentrated sulfuric acid or dry<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span><span style="color: black;">hydrogen chloride gas for the
esterification process. BLAAAATTTT. Not Green. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Milk Fiber</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The active ingredient of milk fiber is casein, a protein
that’s been around since ancient times. It’s been found on various ancient
Chinese and Egyptian artifacts and those who live in New England will be familiar with antiques coated in milk paint. Milk fiber was developed in the 1930’s and was
used as a wool substitute during WWII. It’s basically casein that has been
dissolved in an alkali bath, then processed in such a way that it can be blown
out of spinnerets—plates with zillions of tiny holes—where the liquid casein
then solidifies into fiber with the help of such friendly chemicals as strong
acids and formaldehyde. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After the war, the explosion of synthetics caused milk fiber
to fall out of favor. Thanks to the Eco-Junk movement, it’s experiencing a
minor renaissance. The newer process uses acrylonitrile, a human carcinogen,
which is bound to the casein, to produce a non-carcinogenic fiber. Among other
things, acrylonitrile is the primary ingredient of acrylic fiber, which will
not, under any circumstances, be discussed further in this book.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In any case, those who point to milk fiber as green and
eco-friendly should go take a good look at the eco-chemical properties of <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0014.html">acrylonitrile</a> and get
back to me. </div>
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So, milk fiber is sort of like rayon, which we have already
decided is liquefied plant goo shot through spinnerets. However, milk, being an
animal product, produces a fiber that dyes like wool and spins something like
silk. </div>
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<h3>
Crab(Chitosan )<span style="color: blue;"></span></h3>
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Another fiber touted as eco-friendly and antibacterial,
chitosan is derived from shellfish carapaces and, oddly enough, mushrooms.
According to various websites, chitosan
has “s<span lang="EN-GB">cientifically proved biocompatibility,” and is “an absolutely safe
material.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Chitosan itself is not useful to spinners, but let’s
look at <a href="http://www.crabyon.it/">Crabyon©</a>, a blend of chitosan and
viscose, which should tip you off immediately about the chemicals used to
manufacture it. Refer to the Section on Bamboo for a complete
rundown of viscose rayon. </span></div>
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I am so sorry to disappoint seafood fans, but I was unable
to obtain a sample of this stuff. However, that won’t stop me from including it
in this section. I remember handling a skein of it a few years ago and thought
it felt like cotton with an odd squeaky texture. </div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I understand that people with shellfish allergies sometimes
have a reaction to the yarn, which makes it not “absolutely safe.” </span>I
haven’t seen it around in a while, so perhaps the manufacturer rethought the
concept. </div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">On the bright side, chitosan might <a href="http://www.nutrimart.com/chitosan.htm">fight fat</a>, supposedly by
reducing lipid absorption, which means that if you manage to find crab fiber,
you can eat it and lose weight if you decide you don’t like to spin it.</span></div>
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-27045450025734962552011-11-15T17:31:00.001-05:002011-11-17T17:57:10.900-05:00A Long Story<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/semele-2">Semele </a>is a terrific design for which I specially spun the yarn. I wanted the ends of the shawl to be dark blue, fading to white in the center, which is why the balls are wound the way they are. The lovely merino batts were made byLeilani Sue, and I bought the batts from her Etsy store, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeavenlyFiber">Heavenly Fiber</a>. As you can see from the picture, I added plenty of Angelina for sparkle. <br />
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I heartily recommend the pattern, which had not a single error and
left nothing to the imagination. It's worth knitting for the clever beginning leaf, from which the rest of the pattern flows without a hitch.<br />
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I was so careful after spinning. I measured and weighed the skein twice to be absolutely sure that I had two identical halves. But clearly Harry put his legs on the scale when my back was turned, because when I got to the last three leaves, I ran out of yarn.<br />
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<br />
I frantically emailed Leilani Sue, who was in the process of moving and thus had everything neatly packed in boxes. I whimpered. I whined. I sniffled. And dear Leilani Sue unpacked some boxes and found what she thought was the right color. Um, it wasn't. So I sent her a little sample of the spun yarn, and she unpacked more boxes and finally found a precious ounce of the dark blue.<br />
<br />
So, after a month of squirming in anticipation, the merino arrived and I spun it up. The next day, Semele was finished and I gleefully started pinning it out. And pinning it out. And pinning it out some more... <br />
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The length was my fault, because I kept knitting the center repeat until I had used up all the white, at which point the design faded back to blue. As I never bothered to measure it on the hoof, as it were, I got a long surprise when I blocked it.<br />
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Well, it will certainly wrap around me a whole lot of times...<br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-40411778227057294012011-10-23T11:55:00.001-05:002011-10-23T11:55:15.856-05:00Yarn Guides<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The very first sweater I ever made was a multi-colored
Norwegian, at the tender age of eight years old. It still fits!</div>
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My mother ordered a kit from Norway, because
in those long-ago days, yarn selection was limited, and the color range was
even worse. Knitters of a certain age will recall, and not fondly, that odd brick red and the peculiar pea-soup green that were all the rage back in the Fifties...</div>
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I remember being entranced when the package arrived—what lovely shades
of clear blue! The yarns were a somewhat harsh worsted weight and the
directions copious—lots of diagrams, pictures, charts, arrows, and paragraphs
of explanation. Too bad they were all in Norwegian. </div>
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Fortunately, a neighboring couple hailed from the
Old Country. I used to spend many afternoons in their kitchen appraising
traditional Norwegian cookies (Delicious!) and avoiding traditional Norwegian
Lutefisk (Not Delicious!). Made from dried whitefish and lye, Lutefisk has a repulsive
gelatinous texture and an indescribable odor. The only substance that can
approach Lutefisk is a dried Japanese fish called Aji, whose aroma is so, um,
ghastly that as soon as I saw the depressing little flatfish being removed from
the freezer where we lived in Japan,
I slunk out to the bus stop and had dinner in town.</div>
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Anyway, my mother and I hiked down to the Jensens’ with the
pattern and yarn, and Mrs. Jensen explained, partly in Norwegian with lots of gestures, how to make
the sweater. Following the directions included learning Norwegian purling and knitting with one
yarn in the right hand. I found it
awkward and annoying, but persevered, and after a while, the sweater was
finished and I had a working knowledge of knitting English-style. I never did
figure out how to purl that way. </div>
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Over the years, when confronted with multiple colors, I
defaulted to the two-handed method. I still found it awkward and annoying, so a
few weeks ago, I decided it was time to master the one-handed technique, that
is, knitting with two colors in my left hand. </div>
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I dutifully watched all the
YouTube videos, and was amazed at how easy it looked. However, to my great annoyance, the actual trick of winding the yarns onto the fingers for
tensioning was always performed at The Speed of Light, or the camera was
focused on the knitting instead of the hands, or someone smeared Vaseline on
the camera lens as soon as it moved over to record the tensioning trick. </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NOTE: If a Two-Color-Left-Hand
video knitter is reading this, please repost the video with a slo-mo of the
tensioning step. Yeah! Thanks!</i></div>
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I spent a week tangling the yarn around various fingers. At
one point, I somehow wrapped the yarns in such a way that I created one of
those Chinese Finger Trap toy thingies. Harry snickered, Laptop rolled her eyes, Rambo flipped her ears, and I said things that cannot be written in this blog because it’s G-Rated and I am not supposed to know those words, anyway. Roy was out of the house,
so I was at least spared his chortling. </div>
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After snipping the yarns off my fingers, I threw in the
metaphorical towel and went hunting for The Knitting Accessory of Shame,
purchased years ago and never actually used beyond a brief, and unsuccessful, trial period. I finally
located the thing in a cigar box full of straws (don’t ask), placed it on the
index finger of my left hand, and, after a few minutes of practice, discovered
that it actually worked quite well. It’s liberating! </div>
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For comparison, I bought the KnitPicks version—it’s a
plastic ring with dividers—lightweight and rather cleverly designed.</div>
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The trick to using these yarn guides is to practice with a
single yarn first, before adding the second one. Each guide has a sweet spot on
your finger—you’ll have to experiment and find the position that suits you
best. For example, the metal guide’s picture always shows it sitting straight
up, with the yarns coming off the top. For me, turning the rings so that they
face front worked much better. I also found that putting the yarns on the floor
was a great help—the slight gravitational pull prevented the yarns from
tangling.</div>
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The KnitPick’s guide is very tight and the plastic edge a
bit sharp. I’m probably going to give it a coating of nail polish to smooth it
out and hope that using it loosens the band a little. People with large fingers
may have to pre-stretch it on something—a wooden dowel, for example-- before it
fits comfortably.</div>
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I realize that Real Knitters don’t use yarn guides and that
yarn guides cannot be taken to S&B’s because everyone will laugh at you or
give you that pitying, condescending look implying you also use training wheels
on your bike and sometimes knit with acrylic. So, the answer is to take one-color
knitting to the S&B and in the privacy of your home, create lovely Fair
Isle, Scandinavian, Estonian, and Bohus colorwork with perfectly even tension
at a speed only slightly slower than a single color.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6117/6273236578_97da567948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6117/6273236578_97da567948.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pink Sago Palm Bohus from <a href="http://www.solsilke.se/">http://www.solsilke.se/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger2/6463/544837377687044/1600/238676/blue-sweater-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-82853040642587625772011-08-19T18:30:00.000-05:002011-08-19T18:30:13.086-05:00May Queen Mystery ShawlA sweet knit from <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/designers/tiziana-sammuri">Tiziana</a>, the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-may-queen-shawl">May Queen</a> started out as a mystery shawl from one of my favorite designers. The pattern is quite easy, so I thought I would experiment with <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGossamerWeb?section_id=6425433">my very own Firebird yarn </a>and some colored bead sequences. Unfortunately, the #8 beads were really too small to show off my clever gradients and could hardly even be seen at normal viewing distance. But the beads were an adventure, and rather than writing about the perils of using ten different colors of teeny, tiny, round, bouncy, exuberant objects, I shameless quote <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/kath1996">kath1996</a>'s description (with her kind permission) of her own interaction with the little rascals. The experience closely mirror my own except that she used a single color, so you can multiply this scary scenario tenfold:<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #274e13;">
First you open the container with the <span class="match">beads</span>, then you pick up the ten or so <span class="match">beads</span>
that always drop out of the container while you are trying to carefully
open it…then you spill a small amount out into another dish or
container so as not to have the whole container open in case the cats
knock it over, then you hit the new dish of <span class="match">beads</span>
with your elbow and knock them all to the floor (where they roll under
everything and cause you to grab a flashlight and crawl around with your
nose almost dragging on the floor while you search every place for the
blankity blank little suckers), then you get back on your feet, set the
dish down with satisfaction, certain that you have every bead back in the
dish, and tip over the original container scattering the <span class="match">beads</span> everywhere. Now these <span class="match">beads</span>
can fly…so they make it into every room in your house (except for those
ten over there that somehow managed to get through the window and are
now outside). I would tell you not to worry about them, except that I can
tell you for sure that you will be exactly ten <span class="match">beads</span> short on the project…(and no matter how hard you look you will never find those <span class="match">beads</span> again). At this point you could try the old tried-and-not-true method of vacuuming up the <span class="match">beads</span>…but this only sounds good on paper…your vacuum will only further scatter the <span class="match">beads</span> making it impossible to ever find them again. Ooooh, look over there, isn’t that the cat eating the <span class="match">beads</span>? Yep…and she seems to be turning a bit blue….off to the vet.</div>
<br />
Laptop is a little too finicky to eat beads, but that did not deter her from Getting In The Way from the beginning to the end of this shawl. I can't figure out the attraction--Firebird is odorless, the color is not red (which she finds attractive), and it doesn't resemble either a hamster or the ugly brown scarf thing she enjoys cuddling. I couldn't get her off my lap for the entire project, and, as you can see, once the project was completed, she claimed complete possession, beads and all.<br />
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Attempts to remove her were met with The Look:<br />
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And she followed up The Look with The Snooze:<br />
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A few hours later, I filled her food bowl--a guaranteed draw--and snapped a few Laptop-less photos:<br />
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Well, almost...<br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-53247951242585855402011-08-02T15:01:00.002-05:002011-08-02T15:03:44.590-05:00Batt Editing--Part 2Readers of this blog probably know how much I love glitz, but many battmeisters eschew such additives for a variety of reasons. Anna of Corgi Hill decided against working with <a href="http://www.texturatrading.com/angelina.html">Angelina </a>fiber after a bag of it exploded and left her, well, rather sparkly. Others feel that Firestar (trilobal nylon) and Angelina are scratchy. And some feel glittery yarn is somehow undignified.<br />
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Not me! I love to spin with glitz, I love to knit with glitz, and search out batts containing glitz, preferably in high concentrations. So it should come as no surprise that I figured out a simple way to add sparkle to batts that lack what I consider an essential ingredient.<br />
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If you paid attention to my first <a href="http://fleeglesblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/batt-editing.html">Batt Editing post</a>, you might recall that I showed you how to split a batt into two layers. But if not, let me show you again.<br />
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Here we have a perfectly lovely example of a glitz-less batt from the immensely talented <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/Zauberzeug" title="Check out Zauberzeug's store">Zauberzeug
</a>:<br />
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I carefully peel the two layers apart...<br />
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...and sprinkle the bottom layer with Angelina:<br />
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Just flop the top layer back on the bottom layer:<br />
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And roll it back up:<br />
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Needless to say, you can use this technique to add anything you might want to spin--strands of silk, Firestar, exotic fibers of which you only have a tiny bit, <strike>or slices of pepperoni</strike>, and so on. <br />
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On another note, I promised you some killer tomatoes, so I would be remiss if I didn't include a photo, taken several weeks ago. At that time, the plants were approaching 11 feet in height, and had outgrown our double stack of tomato cages by a wide margin.<br />
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Roy, who was an Eagle Scout and knows how to do things like assemble tripods, crafted several out of our very own bamboo and is seen in the above photo tying one of the plants, fondly named Terminator One, onto the supports. I should add that the plants are now over 14 feet tall, although we are training them <i>down </i>the supports, because we don't have a taller stepladder and would feel idiotic trying to harvest our crop by tossing rocks at the fruit. <br />
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Last year we planted four plants, three of which promptly died. The survivor barely attained a meter in height and spent the entire summer generating six puny tomatoes. This year, we figure to harvest about 200 pounds of fruit from the four plants that were really cute when we plopped them into the soil but now consume a cow a day and we'd better be on time with the feeding....<br />
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<br />fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-21821933990365064862011-07-18T15:51:00.002-05:002011-07-18T18:13:03.449-05:00Knitting with the iPad<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5951473890_28250cd492_z.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br />
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I mostly love my iPad, but I wish someone would write the perfect knitting app. The iTunes store has quite a large handful--counters, project managers, books--but none of them is The Killer Knitting App. Recently, a new program appeared that would seem, from reading the PR, to fulfill my KKA requirements. Errrgh. It was expensive and clumsy to use, and a regrettable expenditure. I won't mention the name, lest I generate hate mail or lawsuits, so instead of whining about The-App-That-May-Not Be-Named, I'm going to show you how to use a program called iAnnotate to work with knitting patterns on an iPad.<br />
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Basically, iAnnotate lets you download, read, annotate, organize, and send PDF files. I think it's more flexible for PDFs than GoodReader, but it's also twice the price--$10 vs. $5. GoodReader's advantage is its ability to read multiple formats, so it can handle Word and Excel docs, as well as PDFs. GoodReader's tool set isn't as robust as iAnnotate's, though, so I prefer the latter to the former.<br />
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First of all, let's go get a PDF. iAnnotate has a built-in web browser that let's you:<br />
<ul><li>Convert a web page to a PDF and download it--useful for grabbing Knitty patterns</li>
<li> Get patterns from DropBox</li>
<li> Navigate to a PDF in your Ravelry library and download it directly</li>
<li> Download patterns directly from your Ravelry library via WebDav (a protocol that allows collaboration between users and websites for editing and managing documents and files)</li>
</ul>In the image below, I've navigated, via iAnnotate's built-in browser, to Mawelucky's gorgeous Gail (aka Nightsongs) shawl (Free!) that's stored in my Ravelry PDF library.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6142/5951484516_88afcacc27.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" id="blogsy-1311014363849.2212" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6142/5951484516_88afcacc27.jpg" style="height: 502px; width: 668px;" /></a></div><br />
I clicked on the download link...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/5950927883_1cb36c5c50.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" id="blogsy-1311014363844.4478" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/5950927883_1cb36c5c50.jpg" style="height: 483px; width: 642px;" /></a></div><br />
...closed the browser, and opened the file via iAnnotate's File Organizer screen.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/5951483828_0909fab212.jpg" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" id="blogsy-1311014363888.9363" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/5951483828_0909fab212.jpg" style="height: 475px; width: 631px;" /></a></div><br />
iAnnotate supports multiple tabs, and more importantly, let's you duplicate tabs, so let's play with these. Click on the tab and you'll see a little bar underneath that shows buttons for tab management--Close, Navigator, Share, Duplicate, and so on.<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6013/5951482712_f598292db0_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6013/5951482712_f598292db0_z.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 480px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 640px;" /></a><br />
This pattern only has four pages and three charts, so I set up four tabs. The first tab is the intro text; the other three pages hold the charts. There were no surprises in the pattern's Stitch Key, so I didn't bother giving it a separate tab.<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5951098845_88ed2fec2c_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5951098845_88ed2fec2c_b.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 466px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 623px;" /></a><br />
As you can see, there's a handy thumbnail panel on the left that can be collapsed when not needed. You can use the panel to whip through your document by page, bookmark, annotation, or outline, or use the toolbar buttons to navigate bookmarks and pages.<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/5950926923_511e34c801_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="149" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/5950926923_511e34c801_b.jpg" style="display: block; height: 505px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 675px;" width="200" /></a><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6017/5951098845_88ed2fec2c_b.jpg"><br />
</a>Given the name of the app. it's no surprise that there are lots of tools for annotation-- pen, highlighter, typewriter, stamps, notes, straight line, underline, strikethrough, photos, voice recording, and date stamp.You can easily customize your tools, for example, create a set of custom highlighters, import your own stamps (such as a signature), set a custom typewriter color and font, and convert an annotation into a stamp. The only thing missing is a rectangle; GoodReader has one and it's useful. Oh well.<br />
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One of the nicest features of iAnnotate is the configurable toolbars. the app has a rather overwhelming number of features, so I made a Knitting toolbar (shown at the bottom of the previous picture) that holds commands I use frequently: Note, Line, Stamp, Typewriter, Bookmark, and so on.You can easily drag and drop what you need into your toolbar, which can then be repositioned and resized as you see fit. You can have multiple toolbars on the page, for example, a set of navigation tools at the top and some highlighters on the bottom. <br />
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For some odd reason, you can only highlight text, not images. I like to use charts, so I made a highlighter line to pinpoint my place in the chart. I used the Line tool to draw a long line...<br />
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...then made it thicker and partially transparent.<br />
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You can make the annotation into a stamp if you like, but stamps can only be resized and rotated once in the library. Adjusting the highlight is easy--just tap and slide it to move it up and down.<br />
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You can also add a text annotation to the highlight drawing. Notice the annotation can stay open and pinned to a specific place on the page.<br />
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Similarly, you can highlight text, and add notes, sound recordings, or images as annotations. The latter is particularly useful if you need to refer to a knitted sample or suggested yarn.<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5951473890_28250cd492_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5951473890_28250cd492_z.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 480px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 640px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6003/5951472746_3864e2c4b9_z.jpg"><br />
</a>Photos may also be emailed right from iAnnotate...<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/5950915853_e5a958b586_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/5950915853_e5a958b586_z.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 480px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 640px;" /></a><br />
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...or you can send the Photo to another program, such as DropBox.<br />
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There are several options for hopping around the PDF. I like the temporary Mark--it's a quick bookmark that holds only a single location. It's very useful for flipping back to a specific place, such as a text description, while you are studying a chart in another tab.<br />
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You can also set as many permanent bookmarks as you like, and these can be color-coded to indicate various sections of the pattern (or various testers):<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6135/5951475394_68151690df_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6135/5951475394_68151690df_z.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 480px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 640px;" /></a><br />
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I have Next/Previous Bookmark tools in my toolbar, but if there are a lot of them, open the side panel and tap the desired bookmark.<br />
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Your notes, annotations, and drawings may be sent along with the file via email--convenient for test knitters who need to send information back to the designer:<br />
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And if you're working on a KAL or test-driving a pattern, you can clip out a problem area of the PDF and send just that section:<br />
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As for stitch counters...well, there are a few things you can do to keep track:<br />
<ul><li>You can double-click click out of iAnnotate and switch to your counter app in the bottom tray...ugly, but workable.</li>
<li>Use iAnnotate's Typewriter tool to type in numbers and the text editor to mark them in meaningful way.</li>
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<ul><li>Use one of the number stamps.</li>
</ul><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5950913623_9fca41fc98_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5950913623_9fca41fc98_z.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 453px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 604px;" /></a><br />
<ul><li>Mark repeats on your hand with an indelible marker.</li>
<li>Line up M&Ms in some predefined increment and eat one at the end of a row. </li>
</ul>Until Apple allows dual panes so we can have a counter in one window and the chart in another, we're stuck with workarounds (or buying the expensive App-That-May-Not Be-Named, which sort of works...don't get me started on that thing).<br />
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There are lots of other features in iAnnotate, not the least of which is the ability to rotate pages, add blank pages, and delete pages you don't need.<br />
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Printing from iAnnotate, like any other iPad app, depends on your accoutrements and pocketbook. There are any number of printing apps in the iTunes store--they run between $5 and $10. If you have an AirPrint-enabled printer (currently implemented on some HP printers), you can use that feature. Rather than invest money in a separate printing app, I just email the document to myself and print it from my laptop.<br />
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iAnnotate has a few silly quirks that I hope will be fixed in an update. You can only highlight text, and all knitting charts are images--the workaround is the Stamp--but it would be nice to be able to directly mark a stitch or row with a finger swipe. You can lock a page horizontally but not vertically. It's awfully easy to inadvertently tap the display and slide to another page. No biggie, but it would be helpful to be able to freeze the page.<br />
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Next time: The Attack of The Killer Tomatoes, right here in fleegleland!fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4463307798012270911.post-42998403760809233692011-07-11T19:22:00.001-05:002011-07-11T19:25:22.762-05:00Batt EditingAlthough Harry is perfect, the rest of the world generally needs a little tweaking to rival his flawless stature. It's rare that I spin a batt right out of the bag--I usually add or subtract something, especially if I have a specific project in mind. <br />
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Harry thought it might be instructional for me to show his faithful readers how I edit a batt. According to him, I don't have any faithful readers, which instigated a shouting match (<span style="color: red;">MORONIC BIPED</span>! <span style="color: blue;">HAIRY MIDGET OCTOPUS!, <span style="color: black;">and so on</span></span>). While we were hurling epithets at each other, Rambo kindly loaded the text and images into the blog and then proceeded to clean out the vegetable bin because nobody was paying any attention, and the lettuce was going to wilt soon, anyway. <br />
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Onwards to batts.<br />
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Let's take this lovely item from <a class="shopname wrap" href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lampyridae">Lampyridae</a>, euphoniously named Sarah Bejeweled. It's an eclectic mixture of milk, bfl, silk, soy, merino, alpaca, and sari silk. but is very smooth, if a bit mussy. Notice the colors after the greens are kinda folded under...you can't see them in this picture.<br />
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If you've ever fooled around with batts, you've probably discovered that most of them are layered, and it's easy to separate the layers by gently pulling them apart. The blue and purple are peeking out on the bottom layer in this image:<br />
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<a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5927074661_0006c00ca4_z.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="605" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5927074661_0006c00ca4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Here are two two layers, side by side. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/5927075753_0954744050_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6130/5927076811_74ee97c11a_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/5927075753_0954744050_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><br />
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Now to strip the batt into bite-sized pieces. I started on the left, coaxing each color transition into a little swathe.<br />
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I took a bit of the next color, pink, into the second strip, and a little more pink in the third one--mixing the colors this way makes for smoother transitions. <br />
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Sometimes, when pulling off a strip, the wrong color crawls over....<br />
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It's easy to just peel it off and put it back where it belongs.<br />
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Here's what the deconstructed batt looks like now. <br />
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The next step is to do a little drafting. Although the batt is smooth, it has a fair amount of fibery locks lying on the surface. When you try to spin it them in, the loose bits can fall down or become folded over, creating a snarl. If you're spinning thick yarn, this fluffiness isn't a big problem, but for fine spinning, it's better to try and incorporate the little rogues into the main wad of fiber. And because I will be spinning fairly fine on a supported spindle, I want to loosen up the fiber, as well. Both of these tasks are done simply by gently pulling sections of the strip like this:<br />
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And here's the first attenuated strip. Notice there's some white fiber that refused to play nicely with the rest of the strip. I just inserted a few twists to keep it from running away.<br />
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Here and there, I found some bits of fiber that didn't belong, as well as a few nepps that would simply make a blob while spinning. I just picked them off.<br />
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And we're almost finished. Notice the adorable cat toy...Laptop couldn't be with us today, due to a prior engagement, but she left a clownfish proxy for Harry's faithful readers to admire.<br />
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The transitions looks pretty good, but the sequence is a bit lacking in blues and purples. Dipping into my batt stash, I found colors that would work, and added a few extra strips.<br />
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To keep everything neat and tidy, I rolled up the strips, one after the other, into a squooshy ball...<br />
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And put it into a plastic bag. It's ready to go.<br />
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On another note, I report that over the course of the last few months, the occupants of the fleegle household endured three eye operations and two root canals, thus triggering our favorite floating holiday: Celebrate Something Random Day. To commemorate such occasions, we always have a cake, decorated especially for the occasion being celebrated. And so I present to you the Infamous Fleegle Eyeball and Teeth Cake of 2011. It was delicious!<br />
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And before you ask, Nancy, it's from the Country Bakery on 75 between Ingles and White County Jail. :)<br />
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</a></div>fleeglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06348327363198905898noreply@blogger.com32