mythical card nº1

yo! with it you can tuck, you can slip, you can fairisle.you can create vertical rows!

but it's like a kept secret that nobody wants to talk about it.

when you begin knitting with  great struggle you think that,unlike you, all those people out there are terribly smart.

so years pass and you discover that it's mostly about card 1.

look ma, i can do vertical rows now   (￣ω￣ )

and that cute seed stitch in two colors too.

 any questions?

neki desu

 

revenge is colored

 have been waiting to try this technique of eyelets + fairisle .last week there was a false start bcse the second  yarn  was a varigated many colors one.this one is two distinctive colors and the tripe effect is noticeable.being slightly dislexic it is a brain killer when the instructions say ok,now reverse and repeat what you've done.the second group presents many errors bcse of that. if i repeat it fifty times it is bound to come out perfect. developing muscle memory,says richard sennet. thing is that he says a hundred repetitions are needed  ⋋_⋌

turning a page  have been practicing photo editing in affinity the new kid in town.

not so very new actually, but new in thmy realm.down with the image program monopoly!for a miser 50€ you get a legal copy of a program with free updated for life. howzat? as with everything it comes with a learning curve, but it's not more difficult than its competitor.

neki desu 

 

crusade

i am on a good instructions crusade. those who aren't able to give so should refrain from teaching or writing books. sorry.

look what is accomplished  when a self taught person who knows how to read follows clear instructions.

i'ts amazing what one can do if one knows how to read:cooking,knitting,weaving,printing stitching.. should i continue? 

 it goes without saying that not everyone can enjoy attending live classes or seminars. a lot of people depend on on line tutorials and books to learn or advance their craft.

maybe i'ts my inner teacher that makes me aware of the importance of clear instructions and the shocking lack of them. that extra line makes or breaks things, spread misinformation  or quality insights. you see it every day in the world of dyers  where gross misinformation  is going around causing in the best case frustration. 

 going back to knitting this sample the only issue i had was not enough weights;that qualifies as operator error and it's easily solved.

if you're into machine knitting visit alessandrina   and enjoy a  field day of clear step by step how to's .

neki desu

 

all day and all of the night

 working many many samples until i got the stuff right. maybe it's my faulty knowledge, maybe it's that extra line of instruction missing but i wasn't getting it.

no one told me, no book nor instruction said that there have to be 2 extra rows knitted to get the right needle selection, the one that holds the second color in order to have 2 verticals framing the square. ¯\ ( ツ) /¯   the joys of self studying. 

        

those two extra passes however make the square a rectangle. シ  (_ _)シ

need to work at it to get  the right aspect ratio.

not working either.duplicated the holding thread,but the squares shrank. still more work to be done.

neki desu 

 

color me ms.samples

more honeycomb samples this time in wool.the bottom rows were 2 color tuck which resulted in nothing much. sometimes using two colors alter the results dramatically. i think that as cotton is less stretchy than wool it holds the honeycomb shape better.

top and bottom mesh lace.

a take off from a video in youtube.

this is for an electronic using DAK to make the pattern. i  personally find im2track much easier to convert to graphic knitting patterns,but this time i wanted to use the 890 which is a punch card machineie. non electronic.

studying the pattern closely i whatiffed using the instructions on the lace carriage and knitting plain with the knit carriage .the results were similar.

note to self: i need to do something with knitting samples because they are growing.

neki desu

 

yet another rant,beware

a two color sample the bottom is tuck which gives a cute seed like pattern . top is slip and the outcome is stipes. as much as i didn't sample for weaving i am sampling like  a fiend with knitting. in weaving i guess you can fudge it, but knitting is more critical especially when you intend to knit a sweater.

although you can always knit cloth and use cut and sew method to fashion a sweater.

and now rant time.

 have gotten used to not being able to comment on blogs other than blogger since blogger aka google phased out the universal id. not much that one can do.

now they're phasing out the universal analytics. ⋋__⋌   the new one is extremely complicated starting with the obscure nomenclature used to name things. i've been trying without success to migrate, or whatever it's called now, and i 'm pretty much fed up. 

not any longer happy with having people creating free content and creating a following engaging readers they want it all now.

the bottom line seems that they've added a lot of bells and whistles and they want people to subscribe to the service. people who blog or  personal web sites do not seem to have a place in their business scheme. tremendously darwinian: adapt, migrate or die. 

or in business speak :pay,pay,pay.

neki desu

 

the mythical punchcard noº1

 and how it changes when 2 colors are used. the bottom sample is tuck and it gives a nifty seedlike stitch using 2 colors. what would happen if cable structures in another color are randomly added?

this woman is working in that area. such an inspiration!

the top sample is a skip configuration. there has to be more to it that the apparent. will keep at it.

neki desu

 

over the weekend

practicing transferring stitches in a rather uniform way to form lacy fabrics. 

fun especially keeping the piecing of the shell sweater 

parked. anything to avoid the boring work.

the pants are also parked, these because it is a chore translating japanese patterns and following them.

i swear our spatial views differ.

more. too bad the yarn torques like crazy. it's a shame because it's such a beautiful cotton and i have a 3 k. cone.it needs to be twisted to get a straight yarn, but i have no possibilities . have been avoiding spinning and plying all my life. too many things too little time.

this month has dragged beyond infinity. let's see how february goes

neki desu

 

more samples

refraining from my natural tendency of the full sample club aka finished pieces, i've started a honeycomb sample club with only one member, same member of the ganbaru club💪.

this one is 2/20 cotton.

the next will be cotton and merino to see the differential shrinkage.

these are 60 stitches wide and quite easily accomplished. something to keep in mind when one just wants learning with fun and games.

neki desu 

 

and then some more

ever liked sampling yet it seems that lately it's the only thing i do.seems inevitable in knitting,so might as well carry it over to weaving.

these collapse samples however were done a couple of years ago when i has the collapse weave bug.

they do not have much technical info  as i am not good keeping rcords. but they include info that can 

help swing it in  somewhat  educated fashion.

 fine silk with s and z silk crepe yarn, had and soft beat.

neki desu

 

sampling pretty yarn

a side order between warping. yarn for this  little number.the bottom is going to be the pretty yarn  in a diagonal.from below the bust, a grey yarns. sleeves and back  too will be grey.

it's a hand knitting pattern therefore i need to work it in DAK to translate it to machine knitting.

neki desu

 

getting back to normal mode

i've worked so hard, cleared so much little BS and domestic BS that i need a vacation. hope your holidays were relaxing. yes i know they're long past, but bear with me here they end with the magi and epiphany.yesterday was present opening day.

sampling for the portugal project.the project is almost finished, thanks to the k.machine gods that worked with me. however there was a  lot of sampling done.

 and i mean a lot. the materialization of the concepts waste yarn and wasted yarn,which sounds the same but it isn't.

i just need to take the photos now and although a fastidious task i am right on time within my schedule. 

neki desu
 

racking

feel totally chuffed. after studying an image for 2 days i was able to discover the hows.
sampling some racking techniques with different ratios.


this is going to be a mohair scarf using some of the awesome yarns i bought in helsinki at menita- or the  idea of paradise.

neki desu
 

the treatment

came back from the walk relatively shot,sat down for a long break and took this lampas sample that had been subject to various treatments.
i dislike having samples floating around with no use;at least this could be put up on a wall. the image was digitally manipulated and printed on silk organza .before attaching it to the background i gave it a unifying wash of acrylic paint.
 final treatment (?) is stitching. it was woven incorporating gold thread so i used it again to stitch around the right hand  side of the image so as to integrate it to the background.maybe i should add more blue fly stitches at the bottom.
the colors are much more vivid in rel life.


neki desu
 

textures

wool tex 100

cashmere merino 2/48














cashmere merino as above















fishline













from the brother ribber techniques book.making samples and thinking of future projects.





neki desu
 

stars

been inside because of rainy weather. such a change in weather,  first snow on the mountains! 

knitting sample converted. bad photo.

a fabric patch and then some plastic cord like those used by kids to make bracelets.add some hand stitching and it becomes playful.thinking about pattern on pattern.

neki desu

on the front burner again

this  double weave sample project was on hold due to the knitting rush, but just came back to life again. warp is very fine botany wool in white and the other layer is grey 48/2 merino with a stainless steel/wool stripe in the middle. the wefts are white crepe wool 18txcm and stries and or blocks of grey merino and stainless / wool.

front and back after wet finishing.the stailess-wool yarn puffs nicely with more volume than the grey merino which tends to felt. the combination of both yarns is very effective.

the white crepe wool produces small kinks which i do not find unatractive.

your regular wiggly/ bumpy stripes.

the fewer weft passes the  wigglier.

re threading now to sample other possibilities in double weave. 

neki desu

comfortably ribbing during sommerfest

happy solstice you sun children! our big day night will be on the 23rd with enough dancing and drinking and fireworks to need a holiday the day after.

spent time getting to know the monster and testing different yarns.basically the silk bourrette and cotton i'll be using a lot.i am quite pleased because the beast needs to be fed thin yarns and i can use my stash.







fisherman's rib on cotton and silk bourrette
english rib, which is a variation
 of fisherman's or vice versa, on silk

full needle rib.tricky! one has to pay extra attention to remember and swing the ribber or the needles in both beds will collide resulting in bent/broken needles.







i  feel confident enough to start playing this week. anxious to test dropping stitches  and making holey distressed samples.




neki desu