Knitting at Bloomingdale Farm

Battenburg lace for sale

2011-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Special offer: You get 5 yards of this delightful, 100% cotton Battenburg lace for $15 plus shipping from 43952

Angora Yarn

2008-11-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

People unfamiliar with 100 % pure angora yarn often ask me why angora yarn is my best seller. Usually, I just present them with a snippet of angora so that they can "get a feel" of what makes it so special. However, if asked to describe the advantages of angora over other kinds of yarn, I would like to list the following:

1. Angora is a hollow fiber. This is why it is lightweight, yet warm. Air is trapped inside the fiber, and when you are warm, the air Even if your angora yarn starts out rather smooth, as mine does, over time the ends of the fiber will begin to peek out, or "bloom" in your garment, forming a lovely soft halo.

Knitting leg warmers

2008-10-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time last spring trying to find the best pattern for leg warmers, and trying out various ideas. Here are some of the things I learned:

1. Leg warmers done in stockinette stitch can get rather baggy when you wear them, especially if they go above the knee. They will tend especially to bag at the knee. Stockinette isn't that strong or resilient under duress.

2. You have to take care in binding off your leg warmers, because as you know, the bind-off stitch can be rather tight. Use bigger needles (by at least a couple of sizes) when binding off so that you don't find out your foot can't squeeze through your leg warmer. Bind off stitches must be loose enough to stretch a little bit.

More discoveries next time. Signing off for now.

how to determine fiber content of yarn

2008-10-01T18:31:00.001-07:00

Do you have some unlabeled yarn, and are wondering how to tell what it is made of? Some of the new synthetic yarns are so good, that you simply can't tell if they are wool by feel or by sight. You might try the "match test" or trial by burning to determine the fiber content of your yarn.

Here's what Beth Drake explained to me. She said:

"You can always tell animal fiber vs synthetic or vegetable. Synthetic will melt, vegetable will burn, and animal fiber (wool) will smell like burning hair. That way you know what it is. Wool does not burn it just turns to ash and stops. If it is a blend you might have a little melt but primarily it will turn to ash."

You can see her cool stuff at:

http://www.elizabethdrakedesigns.ecrater.com/

Mohair ready for mittens

2008-04-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have a good pattern that I use for knitting mittens using two needles. I will try to post it here tomorrow. One thing I learned about two needle mittens is that you should definitely make both mittens at the same time!! I learned this after making a stack of mittens separately, no two of which matched.

However, if you are using four needles, you can only make one at a time. That's what we're doing now, using mohair. The satisfying thing about four needles is that you don't have to sew up the seams of the mittens after you're done. They are three dimensional. I love their shape.

Anyway, here is a picture of some mohair that I dyed for a pair of mittens I plan to knit next.

2008-04-01T19:06:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favorite patterns. I don't know where it came from, but I think there are a lot of variations out there. It works best using my angora yarn and a US9 pair of knitting needles. This is easy to make, but looks sophisticated when you are done. 1. Cast on 24 stitches however you are used to doing it. 2. Knit five or six rows. 3. knit three stitches, then place a marker, purl to last three stitches, place another marker and knit the last three stitches (so both sides of your scarf will be the same.) 4. Next row: knit three sts, K 2 together, three times, yo knit 1 (6) times, K2 together, three times, K3. 5. Next row: knit across entire row 6. next row: knit across entire row 7. next row: knit three stitches, purl to marker, knit last three stitches. This pattern consists of steps 3 through 7. Repeat until scarf is as long as you want it. End with "knit across entire row." and do about four more garter rows (all knit). Bind off. The scarf is about 6 inches wide.