What's New?

The 'Psychedelic Mennonite' and other caps, that's what's new.

There are large Mennonite, Amish and other Anabaptist communities in south central Wisconsin. The farm land is rich and so makes the minimally mechanized life-style possible. While I don't envy them their hard work or "simple" attire or strict religious practices I do find the small mesh/net hats the women wear on the back of their heads to keep their hair buns from flying away intriguing.

This 'Psychedelic Mennonite' is mosaic crochet and I'll be making more and offering them on Etsy. Since I'm using different grist handspun to make these, there are 'air-holes' to make it wearable in the fall or spring. It also makes securing the hat with bobby pins possible. Other pill-box type caps will be more along the lines of a "Big Pill to Swallow" and I'm working on getting some important dimensions to investigate a man's cap.

All in all quite a bit of experimentation is going on in my workspace but I will be blogging more regularly with smaller blog posts. If you want detail on anything I'm doing, let me know.

Pre-Halloween Projects

An Overview of October Chaos

A little bit of this and that is one way to talk about the second half of September and the first five days of October but "scattered" is a more accurate description. I have several projects in the works right now and folks are volunteering new ideas daily. My biggest problem is how to tell this one or that one, "No, I can't devote a week to knitting you a pair socks for free. Sorry." I do need to figure out how to do that though, without offending. The only thing I can think of would be to start up a knitting class and make people pay me to teach them how to do what they'd like me to do -- I just don't have the time or the credentials. I swear. If you want to breathe these days you better have a certificate from an accredited junior college proving that you've been instructed on how to pull a breath in and blow a breath out.

On the Needle-Felting Front

I've finally decided what to do with a hat I knit and felted a couple of years ago. I used some of my bulky black hand spun and added a novelty yarn of sparse white fringes and gold flecks to the brim but wasn't happy with the result . I've pulled the hat out of the mothballs and I'm in the process of making a snowman bas-relief above the fake-fur snow. I'll post a picture when the tableau is complete and the hat is named.

Below the hat is a sock-monkey Halloween mask set. I'll have the pattern for this below, in case you have a little sock monkey in the house or are interested in dressing up a friend as something that should adorn a lady's bed.



Fairies and Angels

When I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was playing around with needle-felting brooches, she mentioned that while the market for vampire bat brooches is understandably small, there are always people willing to plop down 5 or 10 bucks for an Angel or a Fairy. And what luck ... they're basically made the same way with the exception that the latter is usually more colorful than the former. Using some silk I picked up at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival and some alpaca roving I bought on eBay I spun a single of each to make a two-ply. I happen to have the Hazel Rose Tiny Weaver triangle and square looms and from her Nativity Tutorial it occurred to me that I had just the right tools. I'm not sure if I'll be using the triangles and a pompom for the body, or needle felting something to attach to the wings when I've spritzed them with enough fabric stiffener. I may also try to make some wings solely from the silk singles.

The hand-dyed silk hankies were from Kindred Threads. I had a lot of fun learning how to spin the pink and gold silk on the high-whorl bobbin I bought from Nels Wiberg, inventor of my favorite spinning wheel - The Babe. Yes, he was at the WS&WF too.

Suri Alpacas

I finally had a chance to visit PaceSetters, a local Alpaca Ranch, and then go back to buy some of their rovings and raw fiber. In the past I've always purchased low quality fiber on eBay. The alpaca that I'm using on the Fairy/Angels was one such buy -- scratchy and full of VM -- Not something you'd really want to put next to your body. Dennis & Christy Pace, on the other hand, have incredibly superior Suri Alpacas on their ranch and there is something other-worldly and regal about those camelids.

I have a couple of ounces each from the Alpaca named Privateer and also from Loca Mocha. I purchased their fiber raw and there is so little VM in them that they will be a delight to spin. In addition I picked up 4 oz each of processed roving in white and black. It is so soft it's like touching a baby's hair. The black and white are destined to become a modular black and white scarf. Though the roving is made up in pencil roving width, I'm hoping to be able to spin it woolen. We'll see. All of the Llama Locks will not end up in yarn either. Part of that will be adorning felted Brownies.

Prodigal Socks for the Face

The whole sock-monkey mask and face sock explosion you see to the left, is a direct result of my year long battle with the short-row heel. Since I hand spin I'm never quite sure exactly how much yarn I have. I regularly spin a yarn till I get bored with it and then cast it aside to start spinning something new. That means I have vague idea of how long I can make my socks and that idea is usually treacherously incorrect.

Knitting both socks at once, from both ends of the ball, toe up, is the logical way to deal with any skein of yarn I spin. Knitting in this fashion, I stop knitting the cuffs when I run out of yarn or they are as tall as I want them to be or I get tired of knitting them.

My major problem was the heel. I was having a lot of trouble finding a backwards Dutch Heel, or more precisely, a formula for figuring and completing a backwards Dutch Heel. Instead I kept running into blogs singing the praises of the short-row heel.

I Googled short-row, sock heels, toe up heels, etc. ad nauseum and read and read and read and tried and tried and tried and still could not knit a short-row heel without holes. I finally gave up and found a pattern for a toe-up gusset heel that I really like, and have been using for my personal socks.

And that would have been the end of that if it hadn't been for a Harriet Carter catalogue and my love of walking in the winter. The biggest problem I have with winter walking is lung freeze when it gets really cold. You can layer your body against sub-zero temps, but the whole scarf rigmarole to protect your lungs from the nose-hair freezing air is always faulty. And the need to have several scarves available because of pesky frozen snot was also a major impediment for me. I balked at allotting that much time to making that many acrylic (machine washable) scarves.

One day, paging through ta catalogue I saw a face mask touted as the perfect thing for winter outdoor exercise. I realized it was nothing more than a short-row heel translated into a polar fleece sewing project for slave labor manufacture in the far-east to be sold to us to sabotage our economy.

The face sock was born.

I can knock-out a face sock in a couple of hours from left-over machine-washable yarn. Since it attaches to the face via a couple of crocheted ear-loops, there are no infuriating attempts to adjust and re-adjust a scarf while wearing two pairs of mittens. The face-sock does its job. Once home, into the clothes hamper it goes.

The sock monkey mask pattern below is for a Child Size Stocking Cap and an Adult size Face Sock. I'd double the number of stitches for an (adult size cap) and halve the number of stitches and short rows on the Face Sock for a (child size). The numbers in parenthesis are approximations. I leave it up to you to stop and check the size of your piece as you go, and make necessary adjustments.

You will need one skein each of Lion Brand Jiffy yarn (or any 5/Bulky machine washable yarn) in White, Brown and Red. One size 11 circular needle suitable for magic loop (or double-pointed needles size 10.5 to 11) for the hat. I used 10.5 straight knitting needles for the Face Sock. A darning needle for finishing.

Sock Monkey Hat - Child

Approximate Adult size in ()

Using size 10 magic loop circular knitting needle and with brown cast on 48 (96) stitches -- or any multiple of 4 stitches you prefer.
Join.
Knit 2 Purl 2 for 2 (3 or 4) inches.
Change to stockinette stitch and knit for 1 inch.
Change to White yarn and continue knitting in stockinette 2 (4) more inches.

Place stitch markers every 8 stitches on next round for child size. (Divide number of stitches by 6 and place markers appropriately for adult sizes. If you have 'extra' stitches, as in [9,9,9,9,9,12], parse the extras out as evenly as possible between the markers [10,9,10,9,10,9] and eliminate the extras via K2Tog in the first row after the marking row.

K2Tog before each marker, each round, until you are left with 6 live stitches. Leaving a long tail, break yarn, thread darning needle. Dropping the stitch markers as you go, run the yarn tail through live stitches twice to bind off. Cinch up the 6 stitches and sew the yarn through the cinch a couple of times to secure.

Make one large pompom from Red yarn and sew to pinnacle of the cap.

Sock Monkey Face Sock - Adult

On 10-1/2 single point knitting needles cast on 30 (15) stitches in brown.
Row:
1. K1P1 to end.
2. K1P1 to end.
3. K to end
4. Change to White and Purl to end
5. Knit up to the last stitch (knit 29). Yarn to front, slip 30th stitch, yarn to back, turn work, slip first purl stitch. This completes the first wrap.
6. Purl across to the last stitch and wrap it (yarn to back, slip, yarn to front, turn work, slip wrapped stitch). *Please check online tutorials regarding short row heels if this is confusing.*

Continue working short-row heel in white for 7 WRAPS EACH SIDE.

Begin picking up wraps, the first left and right wrap in white.

Join Red and work the 6th through the 2nd wrap portion of the heel in the red color. Break red and rejoin white and work the final two wraps in white.

Break and join brown.
Knit one row
Purl one row
Work two rows of k1p1.
Bind off. Weave in ends.

If you try on the face sock now, you will see that the heel turn fits over your jaw, with one side of the heel covering your throat and the other covering you face up to and over your nose. The raw sides of the heel go up and over your jaw joint and should nearly touch the lobes of your ears.

With size 10/G crochet hook and brown, single crochet 9 stitches around the raw right 'ear' side, chain 9, slip stitch back into first single crochet to make an ear loop. Repeat with the left 'ear' side. Weave in ends.


Approximate Child Size

I'd cast on 15, and follow the 2 row ribbing and 1 row stockinette in brown, one row stockinette in white described above. I'd then only do 3 rows of short-row in white. At the turn, I'd change to red immediately and work all short-row increases in red. Change to white for 2 rows stockinette, then brown for one row of stockinette before the top 2 rows of ribbing would finish the mask.

The ear loops might be problematic for a small child, in which case chain stitching Surgeon's mask ties to bow tie at the back of the head under the cap might be the answer.

That's it for today! If you have questions or suggestions, post or email!

The Needle Felted Sheep Look Up

Too much fun is still being had this weekend at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson. A little less than 60 miles away from Footville via Route 26, the Jefferson county seat fair grounds annually hosts shepherds, sheep and fiber enthusiasts from around the state. In the fair ground parking lot there were also license plates from Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.

I've been trying to make it to Jefferson in September for about five years. There's always been something in the way: lack of cash, lack of time or lack of both. This year I signed up for a couple of classes early and so forced myself to budget time and money in order to get there. I'm glad I did. Needle Felting was a delight and Beret Weaving Off the Loom was an eye opener. Next year I hope to take more classes.

This weekend was a lot like going to a Science Fiction Convention with a few extra species, and not just because it takes place in September. The people had expressions of child-like delight. The dogs were happy and hyped. The sheep were a bit worse for wear. Don't get me wrong, the ewes and rams and lambs were all fine specimens and obviously well-cared for and cherished. But I got the feeling the sheep were more than slightly suspicious of the goings on. The aroma of mutton on the breeze may have contributed to their skittishness.

The dogs, on the other hand, knew that they were a welcome, valued and honored part of the party. Sheep dog trials involving brilliant dogs, stubborn sheep and harried owners were ongoing. You don't really appreciate the partnership between man and dog until you witness a Border Collie convincingly pretend to be listening and taking direction from its owner while moving sheep into a pen. Those dogs exhibit multi-tasking and tact skills which far exceed mine.

Sheep milking demonstrations, sheep cheese tastings, spinning, weaving, rug hooking, shearing, skirting, dying, knitting, felting -- if it had something to do with sheep it was happening there.

The main reason this festival reminds me strongly of a SF Convention is that for a brief time I felt a little less "odd." It's a common phenomenon Fen experience at their first Worldcon. After spending years being treated as geeks, many discover at their first convention that they are FAR from odd. They discover that they will never be as odd as the guy dressed entirely in day glow orange or the girl dressed in a tiny pair of fairy wings and little else. At the WS&WF there were a lot of people who make their living solely from sheep. Wisconsin currently has the most dairy sheep farms in the country as well as being home to many meat and wool herds. All of those sheep mean a lot of people make their living by processing, buying or selling sheepish products.

Though I knit, crochet, spin, weave and now (thanks to a class I took yesterday) needle felt, there were actually people at the festival who are more involved with wool than I. I was less odd and it was such a welcome feeling. I knew I could open my mouth and say any woolly thing I pleased and be greeted with smiles and nodding heads.

I'll be going again next year, and I urge you to take advantage of any convention that coincides with your hobby, obsession or occupation. All of us spend way too much time defending our self-esteem from the constant assaults of the talentless and uninspired. Conventions and Festivals give us an opportunity to be affirmed and affirm. It gives us an opportunity to realize that even the goofiest of us isn't all that goofy.

Two Successful Experiments

Couldn't Believe My Eyes

You know how you read things and say to yourself, "Sure that could happen." But when you sit down to replicate what you've read there's that nasty little voice that says, "Maybe someone else can do this, but that's not me."?

That happened to me while I was weaving this scarf from Bernat Baby Sport and some Pink/Red/Off-White hand-spun of mine. The original piece looked too flimsy and tacky and ugly to amount to anything. I was sure I was wasting my time. But I kept going. Once run through the washer to felt it, I got this. Now I admit, it's not going to win any national beauty contests, but when I sit down to the loom again I won't be smacked in the gut by despair. Lesson Learned: If nobody's eye is going to be put out, go ahead and run with it. It might work.

Now that I know that this technique really works and I can really do it, I'll be spinning specific yarns in felting and non-felting and feltyish versions in fun funny colors and eventually go to town with this one.

This scarf is currently not in the store ... if you're interested let me know.

From a Different Point of View

I know something is going to be fun when I immediately start thinking how to approach it from the backside or the top or the bottom ... the astrophysics of knitting. You may recognize the "blossoms" on the end of this skinny scarf. They're a different take on the modular shells from the Isis Scarf and the Isis Cuffs that are currently available at Artisan Local Gift Gallery in Janesville. Again, I'm using my hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn for this fun project. I'll be labeling it and taking it in to the Gallery next week and will post here when it's available there. Same thing goes, though .... if you're interested in this piece let me know.

ALGG
If you're like me and not always interested enough to click a link, but still wouldn't mind seeing a picture, here's the Main Street entrance of Artisan Locale Gift Gallery in Janesville.

And here's the view from the river side.

The cooperative shop is located in a historic building which has something to do with Mr. Jane, the settler for whom the city is named. I'll get more data and report next post. I realized after I downloaded the image from the camera and cropped it for inclusion here that the street address is 6. I think I need to find out if there are any apartments upstairs that are available for rent, and if they are done in kubrick-nouveau-modern-continental style. And yes. City Hall does have a dome.

Updating Prodigal Sock

I'm still in the process of updating the Website. I'm altering the "Store" and making other needed renovations to make it load a tad faster. Until next time ...

Be Seeing You!

Long Time No See

Some things are worth waiting for and some aren't.

I've been posting tutorials on Facebook instead of putting them here where they belong and learning a great deal about what I can and can't do with my life during this recession.

A real-life venue

I finally looked into a real-life way of selling my work and found it in the Artisan Local Gift Gallery on Main Street in Janesville. I'll be moving the Facebook tutorials over and will be updating here on new items I have for sale.

An online showroom

I'll be setting up pictures in the "Store" section of the main Prodigal Sock website as a showroom. Items will be labeled to let you know if they're available in case you've had a chance to handle my work before and are willing to chance buying without fondling first.

What I have at the Artisan Local Gift Gallery

Just in case you are in Janesville, here are the items I currently have at the Gallery.



Isis Collar

I read an article in "Spin-Off" about modular knitting with left-over bits and pieces of hand spun and jumped for joy. Over the years, I've made several gifts out of this "Sky Blue" Merino and have always been amazed at the luxurious feel of it against the skin. Since I will NEVER buy an uncleaned merino fleece again, this is a one of a kind item. Because it was handwashed by me before dyeing and spinning it is incredibly soft. This piece is a collar-size scarf designed to be worn with a broach either on top of a cardigan or a coat. As the piece grew on my needles it reminded me of images I've seen of Isis, and so the name. I kind of like the idea of a neck protected by a goddess.


Isis Cuffs

When I finished the collar I had four extra scallops and quite a bit of exquisite soft white hand spun left, and so decided a goddess could probably stretch herself to protect a woman's wrists and hands. These cuffs are very elastic, and can be pulled down to cover most of the hand, or be worn as I prefer, as an additional layer of insulation over a light winter or leather glove.

Wine Colored Shetland Scarf

I had quite a bit of left over roving I'd dyed a wine color for a scarf. After reading an article in "Hand Woven" about texture weaving on a rigid heddle loom I realized I'd found the perfect project. Since the "Shetland" texture weave is close to a waffle-weave, this scarf is very dense. It could easily be crossed once across the chest under a coat and keep the wearer a little bit TOO warm.



Shetland Scarf

I'll be using this particular texture weave for scarves for a couple of years because it's just such a fun way to make clothing that can stand up to bitter winters. This version is a more traditional length with the twist that the warp was space dyed turquoise and wine, while the weft is solid white.

In both of these scarves, I've braided the fringe extra long for the convenience of any obsessives who choose to purchase them. There's enough length to re-knot and trim the fringes so they are all the same length. Me, I like fringe -- well -- fringey.

That's all for this post. I'll be moving tutorials over and highlighting new finished pieces and works in progress as time allows.

The Science of "Cute"

The Power of Perky

There are children around the world who are addicted to animi shows and even more who have special little toys made in the orient that seem to have magical powers, for the children at least. These toys take on talisman status and many children can't leave the house without either stuffing it into a pocket or lunch box, or ensuring that it has been safely hidden.

My younger sister had one such toy, a tiny baby doll that would fit in her 6 year-old hand. It was jointed and according to today's standards wouldn't have been suitable for any child as it had more choking hazards than you could shake a stick at. But for a period of two years, she had to have that doll with her at all times. Unfortunately it could only be purchased at a toy story in Evansville, Indiana. When it lost one of its legs and it was determined that it could not be satisfactorily repaired, we all piled into the car for a three hour road trip with the purpose of doing anything humanly possible to shut my sister up.

I enjoyed the trip, even though I didn't get a toy, because at that time they had a live dancing chicken in a glass-boxed vending machine at the store. If you put a quarter into the machine
the chicken would dance. I didn't learn until much, much later that the chicken danced because the quarter sent an electrical charge through the floor of its glass cage.

So right now you're saying to yourself, how horrific! Encouraging children to torture an animal in a toy store?!? That's monstrous!! Well yeah it is now, but then it was cute. And there are more than a few adults out here who will testify in court that being forced to go to a toy store with any child is cruel and unusual punishment.

The thing is I have noticed that the majority of cute things in this world are also at least mildly repulsive on some level. Troll dolls, baby-dolls, amigurumi of all sorts while irresistible to children do make me slightly uneasy. It's probably the flip side of the clown-thing in action. A perfectly harmless fellow in grease-paint and floppy clothes is hilarious to adults and terrifying to children.

But as I mentioned earlier, the Japanese have harnessed the power of perky with their Hello Kitty and Animi and now their amigurumi, so a Box-Store-Agoraphobic Crafty Person had best learn a thing or two about creating cutely.

An Example of Proportion



Here, I have made myself "cute," starting with a photo in the upper left hand corner and then running counter-clockwise to the baby doll version of me in the upper right. I painted over the original "cute" version of me, because it was just too devil-doll creepy-crawly for me, but here's the basics of it.

Take any normal adult image and draw a line from the top of the eyes to just below the bottom lip. That whole area will be collapsed and will be the basis of the face. Onto your re-sized "face" you will paste the eyebrows at normal size. Increase the size of the eyes by 50%. Reduce the size of the nose, mouth and body to 50%.

So How Do I Use This?

When designing amigurumi, on the face of the poppet the forehead and eyes should take up 75% of the area. The head of the poppet should be at least 30% of the total height of the toy and up to 50%. Any more diminishment of the body, frankly, makes the thing look like a tick to me. Enter something creepy-crawly that has been rendered cute via crochet. My Amigurumi Medusa Monster.

Like many amigurumi, the body of the poppet begins with a spiralling circle of at least three rounds of crochet. By employing stitch increases of varying frequency, your circle will lie flat. If you think of the body of the toy as the bottom of a cup, once you have the base diameter you need, you create the sides of the cup by stopping any increases and just crocheting up. Googling "crocheted circle" will send you to several sites that will explain how often you should increase in order to get a flat circle.

When Medusa's body cylinder still seemed "chubby to me I changed from white yarn to some "camo" yarn I'd picked up while studying planned variegation in dyeing. I crocheted a single row in camo, and then began creating tentacles by:


Chain 9 stitches. Beginning with the second chain from hook, slip stitch in each stitch back to the base. Single crochet 2 stitches. repeat.


The slip stitching makes the chain curl and writhe like a snake. As you're working your way around the second row, you begin setting your "snakes so that they lie between those already crocheted in the row below which means that you may need to crochet 1 stitch between snakes and sometimes 3. Additionally at this point, you'll want to start decreasing stitches.


For those of you who have never decreased while crocheting, it's a simple matter of:


Pull loop up through first stitch and hold on the hook. Pull loop up through second stitch. Yarn Over and pull loop through all three loops as if to single crochet. In this way your reduce one stitch.


Before I had the top of the head completely closed, I rolled some bubble wrap very tightly and inserted it to create stuffing.


Another Kind of Cute


My sister's baby doll wasn't misshapen as Amigurumi is. It was just tiny, and that is the second part of cute and one that is more age difference friendly. I have always found sock monkeys hilarious but have been leery of purchasing or knitting socks specifically for the purpose of cutting them up and sewing them into a doll.


It occurred to me that it should be fairly easy to knit a tiny Sock Monkey, and if you have metal double points, it is. I chose size 2 metal double points and Red Heart worsted weight acrylic for this pattern, so you can already see that the knitting was tough work on it. But the monkey is so tiny ... not much bigger than a standard business card ... that it's quickly finished.


Cheeky Monkey Pattern -- 4 to 5 Dbl. Point Knitting needles and 2 different colors of yarn.

For the legs, using double pointed needles cast on 3 stitches in white and in first row, increase one in the center stitch so that you have 4 stitches on the needle. Knit I-cord with white for about 1/2", change to brown and continue until I-cord is 2" long. Leaving your first leg on one needle, give yourself about 3" of yarn to use to sew up the crotch later, and cut the yarn. Make another leg. TIP: I used a Russian join to join the white to the brown so I wouldn't have any ends to secure later, so their little feet don't match exactly, but what the hell.

When you've finished the second leg, don't cut yarn. Cast on 2 stitches for crotch, then knit across first leg, and cast on 2 more stitches for butt. You're going to start knitting the body in the round now, so space your stitches on three needles and then join up to leg one.

(If you have 5 needles in the same size you can add the tail and arms as you knit, otherwise just get some safety pins handy to use as stitch holders.)

Knit your 12 stitch tube for 3 rounds. On the butt side, using a safety pin set aside 2 stitches for the tail, and cast on 2 stitches to replace. Continue knitting in the round for 1 inch. Then on the left and right side, directly above the legs, set aside 2 stitches each for the left and right arm, casting on 2 stitches to replace them.

Continue knitting the tube for 3 more rounds.

Reposition your stitches so that the 6 front stitches are on one needle and join the white. At this point you knit a short row mouth.

Short Row Mouth:

Knit 6 stitches white, turn
Slip 1st stitch, purl 4, turn
Knit 5 stitches
Purl 6 stitches

Rejoin brown.


Stop at this point to lash down your mouth white yarn ends on the inside of the monkey's face. You don't have to be fussy. No one's going to see it.

Knit in brown for 3 more rounds.


Before closing up the top of his little head you'll want to add the French knot eyes, ears and mouth. For the eyes, I whip stitch attached the white to the inside of his head then did one 3 wrap French knot for each eye, then ran the rest of the white through the backside of a couple of stitches to hold it. For the ears, I did 7-10 wrap French knots on either side of the mouth. The red of the mouth is just some red yarn in a lining stitch across the center of the white.

Stuff all your yarn ends into his head.

Closing his head: knit 2 together around. 6 stitches remaining. 3 needle or Kitchener stitch bind off.

For the arms and tail, leaving a 2 or 3 inch tail of yarn, pick up the 2 stitches you set aside on a safety pin. Knit 1, Make 1, Knit 1.

Arms: work brown idiot cord for 1", change to white and work cord another 1/2", bind off.
Tail: work brown idiot cord for 2" in brown and bind off.

When done, use the yarn tails on the arms and tail to close up any gaps and firmly attach the arms and tail to the body. Since you're doing some serious whipping here, you can get away with leaving the tails loose on the inside of the monkey's body.

Stuff 3-4 cotton balls into the monkey and sew up his crotch with the 2" of yarn you left on leg one.

That's it for this month! Hopefully next month will be a bit more timely!

Sandy's 2 Circ 2torial

I didn't buy my first set of four double-pointed needles to make anything in particular. Oh, I rationalized that I would need to learn how to make a seamless sleeve and that one day I might actually want to knit socks, but I had neither of those projects in mind. For me, double-points held the excitement of using several dangerous objects to do something any sane human would consider impossible.

I could almost hear the carnival barker in the background, "Step right down and see the lovely and exotic Janice of Atlantis as she defies fate while juggling hundreds of deadly, pointy sticks AND produces a horrifyingly hideous garment with no known use!!" And the crowd gasps and shivers as the monstrous thing ensuing from my flying needles grows at an alarming rate.

So when a knitting sage stated disdainfully that Americans should give up the foolish habit of knitting in the round with 4 needles and do the sensible thing and buy Continental sets of 5 needles, I was overjoyed. One more deadly pointy stick to amaze and horrify the quivering crowd!

When I first heard of knitting in the round on two circular needles, I was unimpressed. Though my experiments at knitting large tubes with several double-pointed needles had been disasterous, using circular needles seemed like cheating. Much more enticing was the Magic Loop Method. Oooooh! It's Magic!

But my most recent request is not for magic-loop and so I've relegated the online videos of that technique to the sidebar of the newsletter. Once you master knitting in the round on two circulars, the jump to magic loop will be easy.

But let's not come back to reality just yet. I'm going to ask you to turn on your creative thinking and tell yourself that knitting in the round on two circular needles is exactly the same as working in the round with double-points. There is nothing to fear. The only difference is that even though you will still be working with 4 needlepoints, your four double points have been magically attached by a flexible cord so that they appear to be two needles. If you can tell yourself that it only LOOKS like you have two needles -- the oddness of it will go away.

Equipment

If you've been knitting sweaters with circular needles for a while, you probably have at least two circulars of different lengths for the needle size you usually use. the small one will normally be used for sleeves and collars, the larger one for the body of the sweater.

Both circulars should be the same needle size but they don't have to match each other or be the same length. As a matter of fact, it's handy if they are of different lengths or a different needle color or both. The 20" circular I'm using has silver needle tips and the 28" has blue.

1. Casting On

When working with double-points, I have always cast on to a long single-point of the same size, and then transferred the stitches to the round. Same goes here. Cast an even number of stitches onto one of the circulars. I've cast on 20 stitches using the long tail method for this example.

2. Divide
After casting on using the long single-point, I would then begin slipping the stitches to double-pointed needles. Since I normally found myself with 4-needle sets, I would divide the number of stitches by 3 and slip the result to individual needles. That usually ended up being 5, 5, 6 or 7,7,8. In the case of two circular needles your job is simpler. Divide by two. Here, I've slipped half the stitches to my second circular.

Your first reaction will be "How the hell am I supposed to knit this! The needle points are nowhere near the yarn! Am I supposed to carry the yarn up and weave in later!"

Well, no. A little bit more magic is needed here and that is to...

3. Slide
You're now going to slide the stitches on both needles to the opposite end. Grab the stitches loosely in one hand and, one at a time, pull the stiches over the cable to the opposite needle point. Not all the way onto the needlepoint, just right up to it. The pink arrows show the direction of pull.

Once your stitches are butting up against the opposite needle points, gently ease them over the cable connection so that a few are actually on the metal part of the needles.

The last of the cast-on tail, and the working yarn from the ball should both be nearest the points of the needles. By sliding the stitches to the other end of the needles, you've positioned your stitches near the working points where the working yarn from the ball can be knit.

4. Join
Many tutorals will tell you to just start knitting here, and at some point you may choose to do that. But for the sake of clarity about what goes where, when, how and why, I like to do one last step.

I like to join my work by exchanging the first stitches from both needles. At left, you'll see that the silver circular holds mostly yellow and the blue holds mostly green stitches of this variegated yarn. I took the green stitch closest to the blue needle point (with my fingers :::gasp:::) and slipped it onto the silver needle. Then I took the yellow stitch closest to the silver needle point and pulled it up and over the green stitch and put it onto the blue needle. With everything joined up this way, there's less risk of the circulars flopping around and doing their best to confuse you.

Note: There is no confusion here about whether or not your stitches are twisted as there would be with 3 or 4 double-points. It's easy to see that the cast-on ridge is towards the center.

The working yarn (which is turning purple here) is still attached to the stitches on the silver needle. This means that the silver needle will be your PASSIVE needle.

Note:Whenever you set your work down, from now on, there will be no question about which direction you should be knitting. If you're in the middle of a needle's worth, you continue knitting as normal. If, on the other hand, the working yarn is hanging off the end of one needle, then that needle is the passive needle. You will begin knitting on the other needle, the active needle.


5. Knitting Re-Visualized
Your first instinct will be to pick up the silver needle point in your right hand and begin knitting stitches off the blue needle-point in your left. But that defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Again, you'll be asked to look at knitting in a completely and somewhat jarring way.

Grabbing the Active Blue needle with your left hand, pull the passive silver needle point to the right in order to slide its stitches to the center of the silver cable. Let the passive needle hang.

Pick up the dangling Blue needle point and begin knitting.

All of the stiches on the Blue needle will always stay on the blue needle. Likewise, all of the stitches on the silver needle, will always stay on the silver needle.

You will never knit stitches off the blue needle with the silver, and vice versa. Each needle's stitches stay on their same needle. It sounds impossible when I say it, but you can see how that would work by the picture at the left. It's as though you were knitting a gigantic idiot cord.

When you get to the end of the stitches on the Blue needle it immediately becomes the passive needle. Slide the stitches to the center of the blue needle's cable and pick up the active silver needle. Slide the silver needle point closest to the working yarn into working position. Knit silver to silver until you get through that side of stitches, and voila, the silver needle becomes the passive needle again.

When you sit the work down and walk away and come back to it again, the needle that has the working yarn hanging off it is always the PASSIVE NEEDLE.

Things to watch out for

Eureka! No more lost double pointed needles in the bottom of the knitting bag. No more picking up and reknitting stitches that were dropped by that wayward double-point.

Well, yes, there is that big benefit. But there is a construction problem that must be overcome as well as some often overlooked benefits.

Ladders

In Two-Circular and Magic-Loop knitting, it is very easy to leave ladders on both sides of the knitting. Now I don't mean 'ladders' created by a dropped stitch. The ladders I'm talking about are stitches that are visably looser than the others. They are created by a change in tension between the last stitch on one needle and the first stitch on the other. If you've knitted in the round on double points, you're accustomed to the snugging of the first stitch on every needle.

The technique on two circulars is similar, but the tug you are accustomed to giving the yarn may not be enough. Additionally, giving that first stitch a really hard tug may render that first stitch too small to easily slip over the connection between the needle and the cable.

My technique is to give a really hard cinch to the 2nd stitch -- not the first. This gives the yarn two avenues for ease, the first and third stitch. If you're still getting ladders, you might want to give a hard cinch to the next-to-the-last stitch on the needle as well. Same principle.

Your object is not to completely eliminate the ladder. While you're knitting that won't be possible. Your intention is to reduce it to the point that the first wash you give the piece will allow the stitches around the ladder to ease in and erase it.

Your first few projects will be laddered to some extent. This is not a failure ... it's an opportunity. You have contrasting colored and novelty yarns in your stash. Use them to put 'running stripes down the sides of your socks or your sleeves, by needle-weaving through the ladder.

Benefits

No more shifting needles when you have to make a heel. No more reshifting needles to make the toe.

With this technique you can easily knit a short-row heel on one needle. With this technique (and a stitch holder or a third circular) you can do a provisional cast-on to knit a peasant heel. And yes, Sandy, you can even do a good old fashioned dutch heel just by working back and forth on the 'heel' needle and then ensuring that all of the picked up stitches also end up on the 'heel' needle before beginning your gusset decreases.

After you finish your heel on one circular and begin knitting in the round again, your sock is already positioned correctly to decrease the toe (when you get there) with the K1,k2tog ... ssk, k1 combo.

Cable, lace and other patterned stitches become simple. No more intense examination of your work every time you pick up a new needle. You aren't required to keep an equal number of stitches on each needle. You can divide your work by the garter stitch or stockinette stitch gutter between each motif. Once you're finished with the heel of a sock, for instance, you can easily continue the lace down the top of your sock while knitting the soul in stockinette.

The possible practice project I'd like to give you is the door snake. If you live in the north, and most of us do, you know how a draft under the kitchen door can make walking barefoot in the kitchen during the winter, uncomfy. If you also happen to have a cat, a doorsnake will give them hours of amusement.

My dearly departed Tommy developed a technique for accidentally making the snake move, and then (:::gasp:::) surprised by the sudden threat (LOL) of a live snake in the house, would attack and attempt to disembowel it.

Cheap red-heart yarn or old odds and ends of acrylic yarns are great for this project. The doorsnake begins with an idiot cord, increases quickly, continues for the width of the door to be blocked, and then decreases to the nose.

Door Snake

1. Using one circular needle and your preferred cast-on technique) cast on 3 stitches.
   
2. Slide the stitches to the opposite end of the needle, so that the working yarn is at the wrong side.
   
3. Pull the working yarn to the stitch nearest the needle point, and knit. You may want to cinch this first stitch to pull up as much slack as possible.
   
4. Knit across all stitches.
   
5. Again, slide the stitches to the opposite end of the needle, so that the working yarn is at the wrong side.
   
6. Again, pull the working yarn to the stitch nearest the needle point, and knit. You may want to cinch this first stitch to pull up as much slack as possible.
   
7. Continue knitting in this fashion. You will notice that you are creating something that looks a lot like a thick cord.
   
8. When your chord is about 1 inch long, increase one stitch in every stitch. You'll now have 6 stitches.
   
9. Before beginning to knit again, slip 3 stitches to your second circular.
   
10. Your passive needle will be the needle that is attached to the working yarn. Slide the stitches on the passive needle to the center of that cable, and knit the three stitches on the active needle and then knit the three stitches on the other needle. This is an ease row and is knit with no increases.
    
11. On the next round, increase one stitch in each stitch. You will now have 6 stitches on each needle.
    
12. Work an ease round.
    
13. Continue working one increase round and one ease round until the circumference of your knitting is large enough to block a draft from the door. This usually means a one or two inch diameter.
    
14. While you're knitting you can also be thinking about what materials you will use to stuff the snake. It helps, every 6 inches or so, to prestuff the snake. Older patterns for this knitting project call for old panty-hose as the perfect stuffer. Now that sadistic HR directors don't force us to wear those any longer, you might want to take a look in your underwear drawer. Socks that you keep meaning to darn but never do, underpants that have seen better days, and tights that have pills or you never are going to wear again make perfect snake stuffing.
    
15. Continue knitting, with no increases, and stuffing when you have enough room, until the snake is long enough to reach across the door jamb. This is your perfect opportunity to work on cinching your second stitches to reduce the ladder that will appear. If your stuffing is of a different color, you'll easily be able to guage your progress as you knit and stuff.
    
16. The neck of the snake requires no decreases. Instead, change to K1, P1 for about 2 inches. The ribbing will contract enough to make the head appear to be a head.
    
17. The base of the snake's head is created by returning to stockinette (knitting around) for about an inch.
    At this point, you'll want to stop and gently stuff the ribbed neck. Feel free to overstuff here, because you'll want to squish the excess towards the nose of the snake when you've finished.
    
18. Now, to create the wedge nose of the snake begin decreasing as for a peasant heel.
    
19. On each needle, k1 K2tog, knit to last 3 stitches, K2tog k1.
    
20. The next round is an ease round. Knit all around.
    
21. Continue decreasing one round, knitting one ease round until you still have an opening large enough to stuff through. Check to see if you have anything you can stuff into the head which will fit without getting in the way of knitting. Having the cat disembowel a stuffed toy for this purpose is encouraged. As a matter of fact, if it's a stuffed toy from a lying, cheating, ex-whatever, you could always cut the legs and part of the bottom of the toy off and stitch the last stitches of the snake mouth to the toy to make it appear to be a little more realistic than even I can stomach.
    
22. Continue decreasing one round and easing the next until you have about 6 to 8 stitches left.
    
23. Bind off using 3-needle bind-off or kitchener stitch. Knead the head stuffing towards the 'nose'up from the ribbed 'neck.'
    

If realism is important to you, you can now hotglue a felt tongue and embroider eyes on the head and throw it on the floor for your cat to disembowel. If your cat is anything like mine was, it's already tried to disembowel while you were knitting it.

Or you can wait to finish your snake until ...

Next Month

... when I haul out the crochet hook and discuss techniques for creating original Amigurumi Toys.