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Sometimes all the craft stuff just happens to arrive at once. Yesterday was a striking example of this; I took delivery of a) a 2-volume encyclopaedia of embroidery stitches, b) a book on mediaeval finger braiding, c) a pair of beechwood drop spindles, and d) a cheapo circular knitting machine. I was wondering what to do first... but didn't do much of it at all in the end, though I have been reading the book on finger braiding to get the general idea and familiarise myself with the terminology and the diagrams. I'm a bit woolly-headed at the moment as I have something which is doing its best to become a cold, as have a few other people round here (including my pastor). I think I'm shaking it off, though.
Anyone who knows me is going to be a bit puzzled by that knitting machine. They're going to wonder what on earth I want it for. I'm already an expert hand knitter, specialising in cables; one of my finest achievements is the Penrith Hat, a heavily cabled beanie which is knitted in the round and I defy anyone to find the jog. Once I've darned in the initial end, I can't find it myself. So why would I go buying a circular knitting machine which, all right, will handle colourwork (which I don't often do by hand), but mostly just does stocking stitch, though you can also rib on it to some extent?
Well, there are two reasons. One is that my winter boots are just a pair of wellies, which is all right up to a point, but when it gets really cold I want something else inside them. The knitting machine will be able to run up super-fast leg warmers for that purpose, which don't need any fancy embellishment because nobody is going to see more than the tops (which will be ribbed whatever else I do). But the main reason is yarn dyeing.
Adelle, over at Vegan Yarns, is a stonking good yarn-dyer. I've been admiring her yarns for quite a while now, and I've knitted several pairs of excellent socks from them. And, being me, I want to do a bit of that myself. I am very much one for the old-fashioned random yarns rather than the more modern self-striping varieties (in fact, Adelle said she did some self-striping because someone asked her to, and then found she had trouble selling it, so that's not just me); and random yarns aren't the easiest things to dye. I had quite a chat with Adelle about it by e-mail, and she said she often used sock blanks. In fact, she even sells the sock blanks as-is once they've been dyed, which saves a bit of winding.
A sock blank is just a plain piece of knitting which you can dye in various ways; you then unravel it and re-knit it into the socks, giving interesting random dye effects. Adelle's blanks are rectangular, but there's nothing to say they have to be, and when I saw this machine I realised that that was a very quick way of knitting yarn up into tubes... which make ideal dyeing blanks, because you can hang them in the dye at different angles to get different effects, rather than having to rely on where the edges are. I have some undyed Tencel blend sock yarn, which is best knitted up double into a blank so that both socks are more or less the same. I also have, believe it or not, undyed seaweed fibre yarn (I didn't even know that was possible, but if it's a vegan yarn of any sort Adelle probably has it); that is thicker, and destined at some point for a summer top. I had not been looking forward to knitting up dyeing blanks, so that machine is going to be extremely useful.
First of all, though, I need to start getting into the finger braiding in time for Yule Ball at the beginning of December. The reason is that finger braiding is not only suitably mediaeval, but also (at times) a collaborative craft; some of the braids can be made by one person, while others require two working as a team. If I can get a good grounding in the single-person braids, I can bring the book along to Yule Ball and see if I can find an interested party to draft in to assist. There's almost certainly someone else who does it already and would be delighted, and if there isn't there will be someone who wants to learn.
The spinning will just have to wait!
Anyone who knows me is going to be a bit puzzled by that knitting machine. They're going to wonder what on earth I want it for. I'm already an expert hand knitter, specialising in cables; one of my finest achievements is the Penrith Hat, a heavily cabled beanie which is knitted in the round and I defy anyone to find the jog. Once I've darned in the initial end, I can't find it myself. So why would I go buying a circular knitting machine which, all right, will handle colourwork (which I don't often do by hand), but mostly just does stocking stitch, though you can also rib on it to some extent?
Well, there are two reasons. One is that my winter boots are just a pair of wellies, which is all right up to a point, but when it gets really cold I want something else inside them. The knitting machine will be able to run up super-fast leg warmers for that purpose, which don't need any fancy embellishment because nobody is going to see more than the tops (which will be ribbed whatever else I do). But the main reason is yarn dyeing.
Adelle, over at Vegan Yarns, is a stonking good yarn-dyer. I've been admiring her yarns for quite a while now, and I've knitted several pairs of excellent socks from them. And, being me, I want to do a bit of that myself. I am very much one for the old-fashioned random yarns rather than the more modern self-striping varieties (in fact, Adelle said she did some self-striping because someone asked her to, and then found she had trouble selling it, so that's not just me); and random yarns aren't the easiest things to dye. I had quite a chat with Adelle about it by e-mail, and she said she often used sock blanks. In fact, she even sells the sock blanks as-is once they've been dyed, which saves a bit of winding.
A sock blank is just a plain piece of knitting which you can dye in various ways; you then unravel it and re-knit it into the socks, giving interesting random dye effects. Adelle's blanks are rectangular, but there's nothing to say they have to be, and when I saw this machine I realised that that was a very quick way of knitting yarn up into tubes... which make ideal dyeing blanks, because you can hang them in the dye at different angles to get different effects, rather than having to rely on where the edges are. I have some undyed Tencel blend sock yarn, which is best knitted up double into a blank so that both socks are more or less the same. I also have, believe it or not, undyed seaweed fibre yarn (I didn't even know that was possible, but if it's a vegan yarn of any sort Adelle probably has it); that is thicker, and destined at some point for a summer top. I had not been looking forward to knitting up dyeing blanks, so that machine is going to be extremely useful.
First of all, though, I need to start getting into the finger braiding in time for Yule Ball at the beginning of December. The reason is that finger braiding is not only suitably mediaeval, but also (at times) a collaborative craft; some of the braids can be made by one person, while others require two working as a team. If I can get a good grounding in the single-person braids, I can bring the book along to Yule Ball and see if I can find an interested party to draft in to assist. There's almost certainly someone else who does it already and would be delighted, and if there isn't there will be someone who wants to learn.
The spinning will just have to wait!
