Yarn in my Pocket

87b) Giveaway results - congrats @knitcowboy!

This week's winner is Christopher Bahls, aka @knitcowboy!

Again, I wish I had loads of copies to give away here; but sadly, no.  But!  I do have other book for Saturday Giveaway - perhaps next time?!

87) Saturday giveaway: Jaeger handknits for men (JB28)

The second in my Saturday Giveaway series! (Perhaps this will be a fortnightly thing...)

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED - Please come back next Saturday (or perhaps the one after) for round 3!

This is a randomly-drawn blog contest.  To enter, leave a comment on THIS post.  (If you're not interested in winning the book but still wish to comment, feel free to say so!)  I will select a winner by means of a super-sekrit process, and announce the result by Tuesday night at the latest.  This draw is open to readers from all over the world, so please, join in!

What is today's giveaway?
Today, I'm giving away a single copy of Jaeger Handknits pattern booklet, JB28:

I bought this book from my LYS a few years ago, and I've browsed it a few times, but it's not ever really been used.  It's in bookstore-shelf condition - pretty mint.

What is it?
This softback book contains 16 knitting patterns for men's sweaters.  The designs, all by Rowan star Martin Storey, range from the simple and classic to the slightly odd.  part from that, there's not a lot to say - it's a pattern booklet from the Rowan stables, you know what to expect.  (Also, Rav link here).

What do I like best?
This book contains some classic men's sweater and cardigan patterns.  My fave is probably 'Bowie', pictured above, but I'm also quite taken with the 'Jethro' cardigan (a sweater version is also included):

As a whole, the patterns in this book make great use of texture, and some man-appropriate colour, too.  I particularly like the use of purl lines instead of the extra yarn colour in this take on the classic Argyle:

All the patterns in this book use DK or 4-ply weight yarns, which (in my experience) is great for knitting for men - the ones in my life don't seem interested in chunky sweaters.

What do I like least?
Um.

Personal taste, I know.  There's also a V-neck sleeveless sweater with an intarsia Union Jack on it.I'll spare you the photo.

Also, one of the cabled patterns in the book is just a wee bit too intricate and fussy for most men, I think:

Why am I giving this book away?
I've realised that these designs are not much use to the men in my life.  Even in 4 ply, most of these designs are too heavy for my other half.  Also, he's six foot two, with long arms; I think he'll be getting machine knit sweaters from now on.

84) And the winner is...

Robocass!! - who was commenter number 2 of those who actually wanted to be in the draw. (Thanks go to random.org for being my selection mechanism on this occasion.) Congratulations; I'll be emailing you right away to ask for your postal address.

In the meantime, if you're not Robocass, don't despair; I've got plenty more books and other goodies to review and give away.  This has been so much fun; I'm definitely going to do it again.  Thank you all for your lovely comments - I've had a blast!

I'd also like to thank Dot for commenting to say that Tekapo yarns *are* available in the UK.  I'm sorry if anyone thought I meant that they weren't available at all; that wasn't my intent.  I just haven't, personally, seen them!

I'll be listing another Saturday giveaway this week - though I haven't decided what.  Yet!!

 

83) Saturday Giveaway: Weaving for Knitters

Welcome to what I hope will be the first in a series of Saturday Giveaway posts!

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED - Please come back next Saturday for round 2!

In a recent round of redecoration, I realised that I have more books than I can store.  Also, I have some books that I am no longer going to use, or (in one or two cases) are duplicates.  I'm planning to do a quick, honest review of each in turn, and pass them on to new homes.  [Note: These are not paid reviews. No-one has asked me to do this, or sent me free copies for review.  I just thought it would be a fun way to redistribute some of my excess acquisitions!]

To enter, leave a comment on THIS post.  (If you're not interested in winning the book but still wish to comment, feel free to say so!)  I will select a winner by means of a super-sekrit process, and announce the result by Tuesday night at the latest.  This draw is open to readers from all over the world, so please, join in!

What is today's giveaway?
Today, I'm giving away a single copy of The Ashford Book of Weaving for Knitters:

My copy of this book was bought several years ago, but it is in as-new, unmarked condition, and would be perfect as a gift.

What is it?
This softback book contains 25 scarf projects, suitable for a beginning weaver using a rigid heddle loom, such as the Ashford Knitter's Loom.  It was written as a companion to the knitter's loom, and is designed to inspire knitters to use the yarns they already know (and possibly own!) in weaving.

The book is squarely aimed at knitters who want to have a go with a loom: the projects use knitting yarns, and are presented in a 'recipe' style format that will be familiar to people who are used to following a knitting pattern.  All the patterns use plain (tabby) weave, which is exactly what a rigid heddle produces (unless you use two heddles, of course!).

The patterns range from the slightly crazy to the rather elegant.  Because the weave structure is the same for all the scarves, the yarns themselves are the focus of each design.

What do I like best?
This book does a great job of showing how some very different knitting yarns can be used in weaving, and would definitely be inspiring to a new weaver!  From full-on colour to texture-only (I think the white-on-white scarf, demonstrating a subtle use of eyelash yarn in the warp is my favourite in the book), there is probably a style to suit everyone here.

Various different ways to design around a yarn are introduced, including warp stripes, weft stripes, some colour-and-weave effects and using self-patterning sock yarn to create it's own 'faux ikat' effect.

Finishing and fringing techniques are also covered in the beginning of the book, as well as useful information on topics like warping with two colours, how to fix a broken warp thread, and weaving with a sticky warp.  I'm particularly delighted these last two are included, as these are both things that could have a new weaver with no teacher or mentor crying tears of frustration and cutting a perfectly good project off the loom.

What do I like least?
I always feel slightly awkward when a book promotes a brand heavily, and that's definitely the case here.  The book doesn't make it clear enough, in my mind, that any rigid heddle loom could be used to weave these designs, and it also promotes Ashford's own Tekapo yarn (which I've never seen in a shop outside New Zealand) very strongly.

It's also a shame that no warping instructions are given with this book.  However, the loom does come with its own how-to instructions, and other looms are subtly different, so maybe that's not a big flaw. 

It would have been nice to have one or two scarves which used a technique other than plain weave throughout.  Pickup would have been an ideal choice to include, with its potential for placing a pattern or a name on the end of a scarf.

Finally, a lot of the designs in the book have a 'young and funky' feel.  That's a great audience to be aiming at for new knitters, but a bit more elegance and restraint would be welcome too, I feel.

Why am I giving this book away?
I am confident enough in my weaving design skills not to need this book any more.  It teaches more about combining yarns than about weaving itself, and I love the thought of it going to a new home where it can make a novice knitter's eyes light up at all that lovely potential.

20) Really?! Only two entries?!

Oh, now, come on, knitters!

Maybe I should have known better than to launch a competition the same day that the Ravelympics began.  Maybe I shouldn't have been quite so stringent in my requirements.  But only two people have pattern suggestions for my poor, lonely two-ply?  Two entries, in a competition with two prizes??

Yeesh.  Well, I said Saturday evening, and I can't really extend the deadline after the fact, so...

• Mary gets the 'fave suggestion' prize for getting me to think seriously about rectangle shawls.
• And my Random Number Generator (ahem) says that Toni is the other lucky winner.  Toni, I'm so sorry.  I know you're trying to reduce your stash.  ;)

I'll be in touch with both of you.

At this point, I should probably also say that I'm not going with *any* of the competition entry suggestions.  I *am*, however going rectangular (hence Mary's win of the first prize).  I think - for now - that I will be knitting the Scotch Thistle Lace Stole, from Heartstrings Fiber Arts (Ravelry link). 

Please do check out the links to the pattern; I'd love to post photos, but obviously, I can't because I don't have the copyright!

I hadn't even heard of this pattern before now, but lots of elements 'click' for me.  It's a simple, yet varied and elegant, pattern, with the kind of directionality I was looking for.  The colours of the yarn have a certain 'heath and moorland' type quality to them.  And there is a nice resonance, in my mind at least, that comes from pairing Shetland yarn with a pattern called 'Scotch Thistle'.  I think we have a winner.

17) Dark, rich and mysterious laceweight WLTM sophisticated and interesting shawl pattern for serious committment

Last night, I stayed up past my bedtime¹ to finish plying and skeining the first lot of Sweet Georgia Shetland laceweight.

This is, roughly, 515m of yarn and my guess is that it weighs around 60-70 grams (forgot to weigh it this morning).That means that I should end up with somewhere around 700 to 800m of laceweight yarn, with long, slow colour changes, to play with when I'm done.

I want to knit a lace shawl with this, but generally dislike strong colour contrasts in lace fabric.  I could do a simple triangle with garter ridges, eyelets and a deep feather-and-fan edging, which would definitely play to the strengths of the colour, but some part of me would rather like to be a bit more adventurous. 

Competition!

So!  I'm seeking pattern recommendations.  Here is the sort of thing I'm looking for:

• Triangular or rectangular lace shawl.  I adore circular shawls, but the "Bull's Eye" look is not what I'm going for here.  Semi-circular would be OK, I guess.  But not hexagonal.
• No knitted-on edgings or other multi-directional construction.  I don't  think it'd play nicely with the stripes (but triangular shawls with that 'V' pattern are fine).
• Stitch patterns or shapes which are strongly directional (like feather-and-fan or chevron stitch), which will be accentuated by the slightly Noro-esque quality of the colours.  What I *don't* want is a gorgeous lace pattern that will be 'cut across' by the colours.
• Not Revontuli.  I love it, but I did one (albeit a mini-one) last year.
• Uses most of the yarn that I will have (c. 800m - tbc!). It would be a shame to have loads left over.

Please leave any and all (polite!) suggestions in the comments!  Whether or not I end up inventing a pattern or not, my favourite suggestion to arrive by the evening of Saturday 20th, GMT, will win a yarnscape voucher. (only the blog is currently live, sorry!). And, to sweeten the pot further, everyone else who makes a suggestion will be entered into a random draw for another voucher.

Please, guys, I need a pattern for this awesome yarn!

---

¹ But not too far past.  I wouldn't like you to think I was skimping on my sleep. ;)

Please vote! And prize draw

OK - after much wracking of the Internet, I think I've come up with an alternative sweater for my Dad's Christmas gift.  This one, from Drops:

It's very much his style, the gauge matches the Soft Shetland (or close enough, anyway) and there are enough colours involved that I will definitely have enough yarn to complete it.  One catch - I have no black, and no grey.  Perhaps that's two catches.  So I need a new colourway.

I have lots of brown/orange/yellow colours, plus a selection of colours from the blue/purple side of the colourwheel and a hard, biting red available.  My Dad will wear browns, definitely - probably more than the original, and definitely more than a generally blue colour scheme - but I think we need a colour for the 'red triangles' in the original design that will provide a bit of contrast, a bit of 'zip' to the overall colourway.  So, thanks to the magic of Excel, we have the following five options:

Orange:
I think this keeps the colourway too much in the 'all-brown' arena.  It's nice to look at, but I'm not feeling the love.

Yellow:



Eww.  Not keen on this at all.

Red:



Surprisingly workable.  Despite being another 'warm' colour, I think the harshness of the red is sufficiently removed from the earthiness of the browns to give a bit of bite to the overall look.  Or is it?

Purple:



I can't make up my mind about this one.  Sometimes I think it's the best of the lot; others I think the value of the purple is too close to that of the darker brown.  Overall, I don't think there's enough contrast for the design to work, though the colours in the skein all look very pretty together.

Blue:



Quite a powdery blue, the contrast is definitely there, but I can't help feeling that a girly, almost baby, blue is a bit out of place, overall.

For comparison, here's the chart worked up in the original colourway:

I have to say, I really like the original, but again, I ain't buying yarn for this project.  I only just have enough storage room as it is (and that's not counting Rod, Jane and Freddy, who are currently residing in the garage.  Mostly.)

So, please, leave a comment and let me know your views.  Let me know which of the above you prefer; offer alternate pattern suggestions if you wish, or tell me what a dreadful, ingrate daughter I am to insist on knitting from stash for the dear man's Christmas gift.

Each person who comments (in a relevant fashion!  Thanks, Simon!) will be entered into a prize draw; I have something deliciously fibrey up my sleeve as a prize, and alternatives for any non-fibrey types who win.

I will be swatching in the meantime, and of course, reserve all rights not to go with the majority vote if whimsy takes me that way - but please, opinions!

Competition results!

The correct answer, listed top to bottom in the photograph, was:

1. Combed sliver
2. Carded, woollen
3. From the lock
4. Carded, semi worsted

Congratulations Mary de B!  You are the winner of the Bowmont competition, getting all four correct!  Drop me an email to remind me of your address (I know I had it before, but I lost it - sorry!) and I'll send you your prize.  Leigh, you were so close I think you deserve a prize too, so again, I'll be after your postal address so I can send it.  Anyone who is interested in seeing more Bowmont photos *must* check out Leigh's blog, by the way.  She has been spinning it *incredibly* fine (singles at 66wpi, anyone?!?) and has some lovely photos of wool staples, comparing Bowmont  with Shetland and merino (the two breeds used to create the Bowmont sheep).  You can see the wonderful, fine, regular crimp of the wool in those photos, too (something I forgot to record before washing my allocated fibre).

The Big Reveal!

No-one came remotely close to guessing what was in my mystery package; rather more than a little assembly was required (which was more than a little frustrating, but then I do keep buying from Ashford, so I should be used to it by now!)

So, what was it, I hear you cry??

A loom!

This is actually my Yule present from J; I've spent months deliberating over what, if any, loom I should buy - or should I just go on a weaving course?  I attempted to join a weaving course, actually, but they cancelled it because I was the only one that signed up.  :(

This is a rigid heddle loom - less complicated, expensive and versatile than the harness looms we see certain others work magic with, but still capable of producing loads of yummy fabric, and, I hope, a good place to start learning about this complex craft.

I've finally managed to spend a day playing with it - after sanding it, waxing it, waiting for it to dry and assembling it - and I've learned a few things:

• weaving is fun!
• weaving uses up yarn lots faster than knitting it
• weaving is fun!!
• I can make fabric!
• Hey, this is fun!!!

There will be a full photo story of my day's adventures later - but since no-one guessed loom, or even anything remotely to do with weaving, we'll go to the tie-breaker.  I was born just after 6pm - just in time for dinner, and nothing's ever changed since - so the prize goes to Lisa at Hand Over the Wool! - Lisa, send me your postal address (mail to chinnilass [at} yahoo [dot] com) and I'll send you your prize!

Guess!

What is in this package??

There will be small yarny prize (or alternative prize if the winner isn't yarny) for the correct guess, or the closest guess!

If more than two people guess correctly, we have a tie-breaker questions:  It's my birthday coming up soon.  At what time was I born?

UPDATE:  I'll be closing the entries at 12 midnight on the 28th.  And a hint: that package is just under a metre long!