Fox Paws and Color Choice

If you're one of the many people who has started knitting Fox Paws in the last few weeks, you know that there are certain advantages to using 5 colors of yarn. They generally look good because there are so many of them. In any case, the questions have been coming in about what to pick, how I picked my colors, and how to arrange them in the best order.  I'm posting this to show a bit of color theory and process behind my decisions. I'd like to encourage all of you to add some advice that you have for other knitters as well.

How did I pick my colors? Let me explain.

Machine Knitting Trip Part 1: Shopping

Last weekend, I took a very sudden vacation to New York City to take a machine knitting class at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn.

A while ago a generous person gave me a knitting machine to use, but after a year of improperly installed sponge bars and jammed carriages, I knew that I needed help. I found a knitting machine class on tumblr and found that it was relatively easy to get to. Immediately, I found that my mother wanted to share a hotel room to reduce the commute time and so we made plans.

Mother's day sweater

Last year, for mother's day, I gave my mom sock yarn gradient dyed in her favorite colors.

dyeing rope for crafting

In the spring and summer, I try to put down my knitting for a while and work on a few warm weather projects. Rope is one of my favorite materials because it is cheap and readily available at the hardware store, even in bright colors.

clothesline dyed with blue food coloring and neon yellow acid dye

Crazy Stripe

The last few weeks have been really busy for me with outside work coming in, but I have been spending all of my free time watching netflix swatching some really interesting patterns. Usually I design knits with overall shape in mind, not lace or cables and complex textures. To make things interesting, I decided to look at Missoni style textiles. None of these are copies of commercial knits, their machines do things that hands can't, but in studying the technology , I have come up with my own new ideas.

Here are some of the stitch patterns that I have made using stripes. each pattern is worked with one color per row, yet they look a lot like stranded motifs. the advantage is that there aren't any messy loops on the wrong side, making them great for shawls, wraps, and blankets.

1. This is how the idea started, extend chevrons vertically, lobes will form.

2. Put lobes on the lobes and it will look even cooler.

3-4. Alter the pattern slightly to try to flatten the fabric.

5. Garter stitch makes everything fit together perfectly and lay flat. I amgoing to make an afghan in this pattern and I am working on a wrap with this as well.

These look super hard to knit, but in reality, they are just glorified chevron patterns with increases and decreases - no harder to knit than any other stitch pattern.

1-2. I am looking at ways to make deeper chevrons, you can expect a  detailed post about the number of increases and decreases to make all sorts of chevron patterns as soon as I have time to knit examples. #2 has waves along the chevrons as well.

3. This is a border pattern. It looks cool, but it has short rows in addition to incs and decs. Ain't nobody got time for that.

4. Lobes - loving these lobes. They are easy. You'll see these in a scarf design.

1. I am working on a triangular shawl and thought this would be a good border.

2.  Yet againn, everything lies flatter in garter stitch.

3-4. These are center and corner experiments for the shawl. I am feeling very good about it right now and the pattern should be ready in august.


That's what I have been knitting these days. For now, I am keeping my technique secret until I release the patterns. It's difficult to write because they should be chartable, but most are not due to the change in stitch count from row to row. Maybe I will need test knitters next month. Any interest?

Classic Camp Crafts - Lanyards: the Cobra Stitch

Did you go to camp? I did, and while I was there, I used to spend as much time on the Arts&Crafts shack as possible. We made all sorts of things that were very often useless and ugly, but we also got to do the cool stuff like tie dye, clay pottery, and friendship bracelets. 

Lanyards were not on the list of cool or useful things  that you could make, but they were my favorite.

I made these 2 videos for all the ex campers out there who want to get nostalgic. It's also a great way for parents of kids that do not go to camp to share in the fun.

fortune cookies grafitti edition

Spray paint, summer colors, and a fresh baked batch of fortune cookies. These started clear...

Before folding, they each got a cost of paint, but not a solid color. Using the low pressure control of Montana gold allowed for a gradient to be created across the plastic. Then a base color was applied to complete the effect.

pink splatter

Shock sunset

 Blue sky

 Pinkish

graffitti yarn

It must be true about the hip-hop culture seeping deeper into the mainstream consciousness, or maybe just deeper into my yarn stash. This is a swatch of the "hand painted" result.

Yes, I hip-hop-ified my stash.

This is what you need to do yours:
Mercerized cotton yarn
Montana gold/black (krylon if you are old skool, spray paint in simple terms)
Some cardboard

Wrap your yarn around the cardboard, you can see that mine overlaps quite a bit, but, as long as the wraps aren't too condensed, the painting will be OK.

Note the box with my 12 favorite Montana colors, it is always good to keep them around for projects like this.

So shake the can and trow yo' piece up (Mix your paint as instructed on the can of your given brand. Spray with a quick, close burst. You should have a dot of color).

Continue to use this technique with as many colors as you want. I used 5. Note how close the can is to the cardboard.

I used vertical lines of color to ensure that the colors that I wanted to show more were actually hitting more wraps.

You can keep your colors dense like mine, or really spread things out and keep things monochrome.The amount of craziness infused into your yarn is really up to you.

Below is my swatch before washing:

 

And after.

The color and texture will soften and even out, and surprisingly the paint is safe in the machine. The marled, variegated color character is hard to find in a store, yet it is becoming a big commercial trend.

You will really have to try this technique yourself to see how it works. It is deceptively easy for something with such a finished, coherent look. I would recommend starting with Patons Grace cotton yarn ($5) from a craft store rather than an expensive cone of french cotton, but you can go with just about anything in your stash. Fuzzy fibers like wool, acrylic, or even an un-mercerized cotton will not paint as neatly, so always test with a swatch first.

Have fun!!

This is for next week.

This is new. This is a shrug. This is easy to knit. This is two tone. This is for spring. This is for ladies. This is for girls. This is cropped. This is retro. This is cute.

This pattern is coming next week

Red and white ombre knit bandana

Using my previously tutorialized gradient dying technique, I made a ball of Lang Bebe superwash wool for an early spring weight bandana.

Bebe is a light fingering weight yarn which is very soft and has a lot of drape when knit in a loose gauge. I used 150 yards for the dyed ball, keeping the remaining 230 yards plain white for rest of the scarf. This time, instead of kool aid, which is surprisingly hard to find around here, I used Wilton food color and vinegar.

The pattern is just a basic triangle.

THE PATTERN
I used about 400 yards of light fingering weight yarn on size 6 needles, but this pattern will work with any weight or size.
Start out by casting on 3 stitches
Row 1: P1, YO, P1, YO, P1
Row 2: K1 row
Row 3: P1, YO, Purl up to the last stitch, YO, P1
Row 4: K1, YO, Knit up to the last stitch, YO, K1
Row 5: P1, YO, Purl up to the last stitch, YO, P1
Repeat rows 2-5 until you are close to the end of your yarn or are an inch away from your final size.
Work 6 rows of 1 x 1  ribbing then cast off.

The color change happens about halfway up the scarf.

I think it looks nice, but next time I would not want the dyed section to end so high up.

I'm still not sure if I'll keep or wear this. I had kind of planned on giving this to someone but I dropped the iron on it while blocking and made a big yellow iron burn. Very disappointing, but at least it isn't in an obvious place.

some sweaters are time machines

If I could turn back time, I would travel to the '70s and meet Cher and her striped pants.

I think you would call her The Cheriff

I don't have a time machine, but I do have some red heart yarn (the cheapest) in the perfect colors for a kitschy afghan. Here are a few more mood images.

I'm off to make a sweater that will transport you right back to the '70s.

Chromatic Chrysanthemums

So if you weren't thinking about making a spiky hat for yourself, maybe you will want one now. I made these two examples of chrysanthemum hats using slow gradient and self striping yarn.

 

There was a sale on Lion Brand Amazing at Michael's this week, so I got a few skeins and made this. The colorway is called Mauna Loa. Someone stopped me on the subway and said it would look great for kids. A kid sized pattern coming soon, and you will be able to make it with only one skein of Amazing. 

And here is a hat made out of one skein of hand dyed Cascade 220. The yarn was originally aqua color which I wasn't really into. I figured out a way to dye a 200 yard gradient that would make a cool hat. If the process is repeatable, I'll be posting a tutorial here. 

I hope this was inspiring for someone and that you will buy my hat pattern. Each sale supports my yarn habit and goes towards yarn for new patterns for you.

What I did over winter break...

Here it is, my post-post-modern masterpiece of a sweater. The original pattern is adapted from the 1987 holiday issue of vogue knitting and the chart is based on the Carlton shelf designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1981.

I do not know what Ettore would say about this, but underneath the picture of Carlton in Barbara Radice's 1984 book about Memphis it says this:

"... 'My idea,' -said Keawe- 'is to have a beautiful house and garden on the Kona Coast, where I was born, the sun shining in at the door, flowers in the garden, glass in the windows, pictures on the walls and toys and fine carpets on the tables, for all the world like the house I was in this day - only a storey higher, and with balconies all about like the king's palace; and to live there without care and make merry with my friends and relatives.' ... " 

I hope that was enlightening.

Anyway, below is the stitch chart in case anyone is interested in making a Carlton sweater of their own, but I doubt that there are many knitting designerds out there that enjoy Memphis that much.

Have fun with this chart- it would make a nice pillow or something...