Category Archives: Overview of Yarns

Yarns and what they do.

Book of Wool – the finale!

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Designing, Essays - knit & crochet, Overview of Yarns, Pullovers, Uncategorized
Book_Wool_cvr

The Knitter’s Book of Wool

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally done with Clara Parkes wonderful book. Before you even ask – it’s a keeper.

In this blog, I’m going to discuss Chapter 4 – blended fibers and Chapter 5 – patterns along with a bit about the end material.

Cptr4_open

Chapter 4 – Plays Well With Others

Mixing wool with fibers such as silk, mohair, alpaca, cashmere and angora bring the best of all worlds. Clara talks about blending wool for different effects. The results are wonderful for knitters.

Cptr4_angora

Chapter 4 – blending with angora, alpaca, cashmere

Cptr5_open

Chapter 5 – Patterns

Now that we know so much about wool, having patterns to use the yarn is a “no brainer”.

Cptr5_socks

Chapter 5 – socks

Wool is a natural for socks. It’s warm, it wicks and it lasts with wear.

Cptr5_pattern

Chapter 5 – Instructions

I’m always looking for clear instructions, charts and schematics. This book doesn’t disappoint.

Cptr5_charts

Chapter 5 – Charts

wash_wool

Washing Wool

How do you wash wool? Hand washing is outlined step-by-step. Good advice. The next page covers keeping moths at bay. More good advice.

resource_list

Resource List

The resources plus processors on the next spread are a great follow up to the book. The book ends with abbreviations, a glossary, recommended reading and info on the pattern designers. What a way to end the book!

wrister

Sweet Fern Mitts

My mitts are above. Notice that the one of the left is a disaster. The cables are wrong and I really wanted a few more rows between the cables (decided part way into the mitt. The right mitt is much better. I need to make another pair now that I’ve corrected my mistakes!

 

 

Book of Wool – Chapter 3

Posted on by under Essays - knit & crochet, Historial knitting books, How-to info, Knit and Purl Stitches, Overview of Yarns, Uncategorized
Book_Wool_cvr

The Knitter’s Book of Wool

The whole chapter today is on breeds of sheep broken down into five categories.

cptr3_breeds

Meet the Breeds

By the time I got from page 38 to page 78, I was introduced to more breeds of sheep than I ever imagined existed. Clara has broken them down from the finest fleece to the most course.

cptr3_categories

Breed Categories

The chart on page 40 gives a good overview of all the breeds covered in the following pages. There are 37 types of sheep. Many were breed from combos of other sheep to refine the best qualities of the bred sheep. Lots of history throughout these pages.

cptr3_mitts

Sweet Fern Mitts

When I first started writing this blog several years ago, I thought I would make a project from each book I covered. Silly me! That lasted for one book – The Book of Yarn. When I saw these mitts – I said – why not? I’ll post a pic of my work-in-progress soon.

cptr3_additional_reading

Finewool breeds

This is an example of a spread from the finewools section. Each breed is discussed, a chart covers the facts and the chart is followed by a lock of fleece and finished skein of the yarn. This reference section makes it worth keeping the book on my bookshelf!

cptr3_longwools

Longwools

cptr3_down_wools

Down wools

The final page of Chapter 3 features a list by month of various fiber festivals around the United States. There you will see many different sheep breeds.

cptr3_festivals

Fleece Friendly Fiber Festivals

http://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Book-Wool-Ultimate-Understanding-ebook/dp/B004IK8PYG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453411911&sr=1-1&keywords=book+of+wool

 

 

 

Book of Wool – Chapter 2

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Overview of Yarns
Book_Wool_cvr

The Knitter’s Book of Wool

Today I’m going to cover Chapter 2 and tell you a little bit about what I’ve learned.

cptr2_opener

Turning Wool into Yarn

The chapter begins with getting wool fleece off the back of the sheep and I found out that there are many steps in the journey. Big ah-ha moment – using a skilled shearer makes all the difference. They need to get the whole fleece off at one swoop to avoid getting “twice-cut” fibers that are shorter than the first cut fibers. A real no-no. Who knew how much was involved?

cptr2_breaks

Scouring and Lanolin

Before the fleece can be processed it goes through a washing process called scouring. Depending on the processing some or all of the lanolin is removed. Sometimes less processed yarns  from smaller mills leave some of the lanolin in the fleece.

cptr2_worsted

Worsted and Woolen spinning

Clara gives a good explanation of the difference between the woolen (oldest and easiest way to make yarn) and worsted (produces smoother, stronger yarn).

She then goes into the various ways that yarns are dyed – as fleece, as fibers, as skeins.

Spoiler alert – Chapter 3 covers breeds and their differences. It’s 40 pages long so it will take me a while to read.

Meanwhile, I’m off to Vogue Knitting this weekend. Maybe I’ll even get to rub shoulders with Clara Parkes or at least say hi to her! Lots of knitting and yarn – yes, yes, yes!

The Knitter’s Book of Wool

Book of Wool

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Overview of Yarns, Uncategorized
Book_Wool_cvr

The Knitter’s Book of Wool

A new year and a new long book! One of the first books I reviewed when I started my blog was Clara Parkes’ Book of Yarn. I read and reviewed it over a number of blog posts as it was full of information and text. It was a perfect book to cover for my “away from home in Florida” time of year. So here we go with Chapter 1 of The Knitter’s Book of Wool.

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The Knitter’s Book of Wool – back cover

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Book of Wool – Preface

What better way to begin a book about wool than with a photo of a flock of sheep!

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Chapter 1 – What is Wool?

The first chapter begins with the fibers and their make-up. Did you know that wool is a resilient fiber than can be stretched to 30 percent of it’s length and return to it’s original size? I sure didn’t.

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Book of Wool – sidebar boxes

This book (besides being full of insightful info) has wonderful called-out sidebars with extra tidbits.

cptr1_scales_felt

Chapter 1 – Scales and Felt

As you can see by this spread, there is lots of text to read. This will be a slow blogging book for me!

What did I learn from Chapter 1? Wool from different animals is wildly different and result in very different types of the end product – yarn.

More to come…

http://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Book-Wool-Ultimate-Understanding/dp/030735217X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451937652&sr=8-1&keywords=book+of+wool

 

 

 

Designing Knitwear – Chapter 3

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Designing, Jackets, Overview of Yarns, Stitch Patterns, Sweaters, Vests
Designing Knitwear - Chapter 3

Designing Knitwear – Chapter 3

Ah, Chapter 3. This chapter almost killed my blog writing. I didn’t think I’d get through it. Don’t get me wrong – good info – amazing info as a matter of fact. The problem for me was that there was so much text. In this blog I’m glossing over lots of stuff about ease, fit, armholes, sleeve types, but I didn’t want to loss the reader. It was all covered in this chapter.

Chapter 3 - a spread of text

Chapter 3 – a spread of text

OK! You get the idea about the text. It made me appreciate Deborah Newton so much more. What a mind that could put this all down on paper. Although there were charts and illustrations, I wish that some of the explanations would have been a bit more point-by-point or in more charts.

Chapter 3 - Necklines

Chapter 3 – Necklines

The neckline chart is well-done. As you can see, I took to underlining various sections that I thought were important. It helped to get through this information.

Chapter 3 - Skeleton Chart

Chapter 3 – Skeleton Chart

The Skeleton Chart was brilliant. Graphing actual body measurements and then graphing the actual sweater over the skeleton makes a visual to help you see how the sweater will fit on a knitted sweater.

Chapter 3 - Calculating all the essential points

Chapter 3 – Calculating all the essential points

This page boils down the 30 + pages of the chapter to the essential. What you learn is how to design or alter your own sweater.

Chapter 3 - body measurements

Chapter 3 – body measurements

Learning to take and record body measurements is essential to designing a sweater. Deborah gives good advice about taking these measurements. Notice that I’ve underlined the cross shoulder measurement. I must admit that I never knew where this was found on the body.

Onward to Chapter 4 that focuses on designing with Knit & Purl Stitches. I know that this will certainly be easier and I promise gather steam and not to fade into the woodwork!

http://www.amazon.com/Threads-Book-Designing-Knitwear/dp/B000N5YJW2/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431981478&sr=1-7&keywords=designing+knitwear

Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton – Part 1

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Colorwork patterns, Essays - knit & crochet, How-to info, Overview of Yarns, Stitch Patterns
Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton

Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton

Instead of more simple books I’ve done lately, I thought I’d tackle a more “meaty” book. This one I realize will have to be done in a few parts. Love, Love Deborah with all her wonderful words of wisdom, but her book is what I like to call “text heavy”.

Designing Knitwear - back cover

Designing Knitwear – back cover

I love this wonderful photo of a vintage Deborah. Her smile is infectious and one of the many things I love about her. Designing Knitwear was published by Taunton Press in 1992. They are best known for the magazine Threads.

Designing Knitwear - autograph by Deborah

Designing Knitwear – autograph by Deborah

Thumbs up or down – This page seals it! I could never get rid of this book with Deborah’s wonderful autograph. Note her quirky illustrations. They are a signature look of all Deborah’s design submissions and often used in various knitting publications.

Chapter 1 - Learning to See

Chapter 1 – Learning to See

The first chapter is devoted to learning to use visual details to begin to create your own designs. Deborah talks about her design process and how to use the book. A good way to understand designing.

Chapter 2 - Designing With Yarn

Chapter 2 – Designing With Yarn

All designs begin with the most essential part of the design – yarn choice and swatching. She covers all the basic animal and vegetable fibers as well as synthetic and novelty yarns. Deborah also goes over various yarn weights. I wish there were a chart included, but the Craft Yarn Council Standards on Yarn Weights came out after this book was published. This packed chapter also covers basic stitches such as garter stitch and stockinette and also how to estimate yarn amounts.

Designing Knitwear - sketching and swatching

Designing Knitwear – sketching and swatching

Learning how to work with swatches to create designs is an important beginning.

Schematics and What If...?

Schematics and What If…?

Good charts and alternate ideas make this book a keeper. The Three-Part Shawl seems a bit outdated, but having other ideas of what to do with squares is very helpful.

I’ll continue with Chapter 3 with Fit & Silhouette for the next part. It covers 36 fully-packed pages!

By the way, I’m off for a knitting trip with Behind the Scenes Adventures on April 24th http://btsadventures.com/argentina-uruguay-for-knitters/. It looks like this book will take me most of May to complete!

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Knitwear-Paperback-Deborah-Newton/dp/B00BWDQHNI/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429223380&sr=1-7&keywords=designing+knitwear

 

The Knitter’s Bible – Knitted Accessories

Posted on by under Accessory projects, How-to info, Overview of Yarns
The Knitter's Bible - Knitted Accessories by Claire Crompton

The Knitter’s Bible – Knitted Accessories by Claire Crompton

Today I’m doing an easier book. By easy I mean that I could read and review in one sitting – 128 pages and I could skim through it pretty easily.

The important info: The Knitter’s Bible – Knitted Accessories by Claire Crompton (published in 2006 first in the UK).

Thumbs up or down: I’m having a hard time deciding on this one. I like a couple of projects, but I hated the English (UK) slant in language and instructions. To be fair, it was really designed to be published in the UK and doesn’t seem to have been Americanized.

Knitted Accessories - Back Cover

Knitted Accessories – Back Cover

I’m going to begin on a positive note. I did love the back flap with a ruler and abbreviations. Very clever and helpful for the knitter, although some of the abbreviations are not ones commonly used in the US.

Back Flap with abbreviations and ruler

Back Flap with abbreviations and ruler

two-needle mittens

two-needle mittens

I usually love books of accessories. They always make good gifts or are good charity projects. I admit that I really hate mittens, gloves and wrist warmers that are made on two needles that require seaming when complete. This book seems to have only the two-needle type of accessories. I’m assuming that the author must have thought this would be easier for a novice knitter. Overall a beginner knitter might have problems following this book. There is a lot of info on combining yarns to change the weight, but the explanation is not too clear for a knitter who doesn’t know about various types of yarns. Also, the “how-to” info (while very well done) is way in the back of the book. The author’s explanations of fibre (UK spelling), combining yarns, weight and texture of yarns is a bit stiff and would be a bit confusing for someone just coming into the knitting world.

How-to Illustrations

How-to Illustrations

A couple of the projects I did like that make me want to consider this book a keeper.

Cabled Wristwarmers

Cabled Wristwarmers

Mitered Square Scarf

Mitered Square Scarf

I did like the author’s addition of a page of flowers that could be used to attach to hats or scarves or as pins.

Knit Flower Illustrations

Knit Flower Illustrations

As a recap, I’d say that as an American knitter, the biggest gripe I have with this book is it’s non-American slant in writing, abbreviations and spelling. Otherwise a handy resource for making accessories.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Knitters-Bible-Knitted-Accessories/dp/0715326007/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426704084&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Knitter%27s+Bible+Knitted+Accessories

Knitting Books – What was I thinking duo?

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Overview of Yarns, Stitch Patterns, Sweaters, Texture & Cable Stitches, Vests
Ocean Breeze - Silk Knits

Ocean Breeze – Silk Knits

I was going to do each of these books separately, but a quick review of each made me realize that these are just a couple of books of patterns. I’m disposed to dislike books that are just patterns put together in some form to create a book. I have lots of magazines that full of patterns, but lets not go there. Once I get a handle on my books, magazines might be next.

Are these books staying on my shelf? Thumbs Down.

Let’s start with Ocean Breezes – Knitted Scarves inspired by the Sea by Sheryl Thies (published in 2007 by Martingale).

scarf_bc

 

The premise is nice and scarves photographed in nature as still-life images is interesting. The scarves are OK. I like the cover scarf – mostly the edging. I also like these two scarves. Does this make keeping this book worthwhile – nah!

cable_scarf leaf_scarf

Moving on to Silk Knits – 20 Designs in Fabulous Fibers by Elaine Eskesen (published in 2007 by Martingale).  This book has a bit more meat. It includes info on working with silk, the types of silk and a history of silk. The big “but” is that as I looked over the patterns, I couldn’t really find patterns that I found very interesting. The chapters of the patterns is broken down by season – spring, summer, fall, winter. Below is the one pattern that I do like, but not sure I’d make it or have a place to wear it.

Silk Knits back cover

Silk Knits back cover

knit circle vest

knit circle vest

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Breezes-Knitted-Scarves-Inspired-ebook/dp/B00HANSOOE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409084658&sr=1-1&keywords=ocean+breezes+knitted+scarves+inspired+by+the+sea

http://www.amazon.com/Silk-Knits-Designs-Fabulous-Fibers-ebook/dp/B00I0GHKP4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409084725&sr=1-1&keywords=silk+knits+20+designs+in+fabulous+fibers

Officially done with Book of Yarn

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Essays - knit & crochet, Overview of Yarns

BookofYarn_End

AtKnitsEnd

Well, I’m almost done!  It’s only been a couple of months with this one book. I do admit that I still have to finish my 2nd Princess Mitt so I’m still hanging on to a few pages for awhile.

By the way, I thought I was done with the book and then I got to the last section called “Putting It All Together”. Wow! That could be a whole book. How to care for knits, abbreviations, a comprehensive glossary, recommended reading, etc, etc. Clara Parkes sure did her homework!

I’ve decided that while I’m on this journey, I’m going to add a little thumbs up, thumbs down or as I like to say: keeper or ebay fodder.

Book of Yarn: Definitely a keeper!

Next book: At Knit’s End, Meditations of Women who Knit too much by The Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl McPhee.

I’ve cheated a little and am on page 68. It’s a laugh a page or sometimes a “yeah, I get that” moment. It’s nice to be actually reading and not trying to absorb much about yarn/knitting. This is a pleasant diversion.

Oh, and by the way, I’m not sure that I can give this one up. It’s personally signed to me by Stephanie. Got to keep the autographed books forever…

Got books!

Posted on by under Accessory projects, Overview of Yarns

bookself

So I’m back in my office with ALL my knitting books. Well, not really all of them, but let me say MOST of them.

What to read next. That is the question. Clara Parkes‘ book was so technical, so I think I’ll go for something a little lighter.

Truthfully I’m not quite done with Book of Yarn. I’ve promised myself that by next blog, I’ll be finished. Ok, almost finished. Still have to knit the 2nd Princess Mitt!