New toys for yarn management!

 So I had just a tiny bit of spare change and bought a small digital kitchen scale to at least try and divvy up balls equally for doing two socks. With tax and free shipping from Amazon, only about $10 and change. Back lit display, can change to whatever weight measure you want, yada yada so handy dandy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First test was a success with the Tofutsies in the blue/black/turquoise which I am going to name 'Deep Blue Sea'. Had started to roll it on my thumb already about halfway and when the scale got here I weighed both parts on the scale and (much like a 2x4 is no longer that dimension) it was only 96 gr. Ball band of course said 100. I then weighed just the one I had already wound, it was only off by about 4 gr. I then wound a little more, and a little more until it got to the halfway point, cut and then wound the second one since my other toys hadn't arrived yet.

Ball winder and swift again from Amazon not as cheap but on the cheap side and it came with 12 balls of 'wool'(chunky weight). No description, nothing on the tags, it is soft and squishy so therefore will assume it is acrylic or polyester. According to the reviews it was mostly favorable but one person complained that the instructions were not very good. I'm sorry, I had no problems figuring out either of them. If you've put together anything from Ikea, this was a cinch. The real problem is finding sufficient space and surface to attach both of them.

I started with the worst possible yarn, that turquoise slippery yarn I had used on a hat for Katie years ago. It was horrid. As the ball got bigger it would slide off the top or the bottom and not stay on the ball. I had to go really slow and then finally just pulled it off and wound the rest by hand. Bleh. Oh and leaving a tail for a center pull, totally did not work because the yarn kept slipping and obscured the hole and even the tail I had held out. The next test was the blue/gold sock yarn that I had started a sock and decided to not. That was at least in a ball and so I taped the end onto the base of the spool and wound it. Again, the winder is not consistent even with me providing intermediate tension. Finally got to the break on that, tied the ends together and continued but it was a chore that was more difficult than it should have been.

Alrighty, on to the big test, an actual skein of yarn. I chose the red white and blue sparkly that turned out to be another disaster.

 The set up I was able to achieve, it will do, there's enough space between the bed and the cubbies to stand and manage the yarn. Just can't leave it up.

Unfortunately, I had messed with the skein previously so it was not a nice neat skein fresh off the shelf. I had already cut some of the strings holding it together (mistake two) and then cut the final one and somehow I ended up with four ends including the one connected to the ball I was winding. I started winding anyway, cautiously and carefully, with one notable problem. There isn't enough friction or drag on the swift so if you start winding fast it runs faster and you end up with slack. I had to use the back of my arm as a clutch of sorts so it didn't go spinning out of control. This causes an issue with the ball on the winder.... and I had to rewind a few passes. I even used the ball band wrapped around the spindle with the end of the yarn taped to it for security.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How it ended. There was a tangle of yarn on the swift with the working yarn I had getting caught on what looked like some runs that were doubled back. No choice but to cut it loose and try to untangle.

There is approximately 70 gr of yarn in the ball. Should be more than enough to do a pair of summer socks at least. I tried and tried to untangle this but gave up when my hands started hurting. Another frustration was my hands were dry and had bits of skin catching on the yarn. The remaining mess is now balled up in one of my boxes of other yarn. Just not in a mood to deal with it tonight.

So that's my excitement for today in Yarn Adventures. And yes, I am starting another pair of socks because....just because it's pretty!

 

Much happenings, socks are finished!

 The weather is good, nice springtime weather and perfect for sitting on a front porch or out under a tree to knit. Neither of which I have so I do it inside when my cat is doing something else and not wanting to sit in my lap. I finished the orange socks from hell!

Sweet peas are blooming like crazy so for Mother's Day I gifted my daughter a bouquet and gave her the finished orange socks (that is the worst pair I have ever done!). One is shorter than the other both above and on the foot. I cautioned my daughter about that and she said they fit fine (I know she lied but it's fine). So at least I know her sock size, somewhere between those two.

Another skill unlocked! I learned how to ball a skein of yarn without benefit of winder or swift! First up was the Sheepicorn from Lazer Sheep yarns. A bit more of a flat ball than tall but it works. 

I think I tackled the Happy Valley first then Sheepicorn and then Eliot. I re-rolled the Happy Valley because that was just a mess (worse than the picture). So I have three new balls of yarn where there were three skeins, Huzzah! 

I pulled the blue/gold frankensock off my needles because it just wasn't feeling right. I frogged the 'red scarf' I was going to gift a friend and sadly, I found out that she died in a horrid car/truck accident three weeks ago. I now have two small balls of the comfy fingering in red, have no idea what to do with them. 

 

I wish I had my photo box set up permanently to get better pictures. Had to close the blinds to get a better coloring on the multi and the Eliot. Yellow light coming in from the window shifts the colors really bad but this is close to what they are. I am discovering that knitting two socks from inside and outside of a ball is.... mildly frustrating when the yarns get twisted. those are coming along nicely though and really happy with the idea that they will be identically sized and finished at the same time. 

The Eliot and Happy Valley I really wanted to use together and as a thank you to my loving son for helping me out I wanted to do a hat. If I had those colors in a worsted weight or even DK, finding a hat pattern would have been easy. But nooooo I have fingering weight and there are very very few patterned hats for fingering weight yarn. Why? Because tiny yarn makes tiny stitches and for lonnng time knitting something. God bless the people that make adult pullover sweaters in sock yarn.

I had the brainstorm of trying to make a hat with the green being trees and the purple being background/sky. No such luck, sure I could try and work the details out myself and being reluctant to do colorwork, options were extremely limited. I saw a pattern that had alternating color ribbing to start and for whatever reason I have no idea where I saw it. Was going to use that as a start and then figure something out for the body of the hat.

I decided on doing a knit below stitch combined with a twisted rib (knit through the back loop) stitch brim. Despite starting on 16" cable, since this is fingering weight it was still too long so I switched to a 32" and magic loop. The colors really suck in that picture, like I said very hard to get accurate coloring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also picked up two more knitting books from the library after returning the previous one, 250 Japanese Knitting Stitches (really crazy all over amazing stuff) and Sock Yarn Studio which had again, limited hat choices for adults that was anything but normal every day patterns. I actually have the Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible in storage and thought that's what this was. Both books are more for inspiration than an actual pattern to use.

I realized after looking through the Japanese stitches and then looking at the hat brim I ahve, they incorporate a LOT of knit through the back loop for their raised 'rib' stitches. It creates a clean and neat line where the standard k1p1 rib is a bit more rounded. It's an interesting effect and at some point when I use some worsted or dk weight yarn will have to give it a try.

I found tons and tons of patterns for brioche hats that are gorgeous in two colors but honestly... brioche is still intimidating for me so will see what I end up with. I still have four more inches of the hat brim to go before I consider the body pattern.

I may just start on another pair of socks in that Sheepicorn for my daughter or her oldest offspring. Or maybe the blue and purple Tofutsies that I wanted to do as well. So many options!

It's good and it's frustrating having so many options because I have so many projects that could also be finished waiting in plastic bags.