Knitting – Page 27 – New England's Narrow Road

Miss Babs “Tea Party” Yummy 3-Ply Yarn

Quite a while ago I bought a skein of Tea Party yarn from Miss Babs. This one is sport weight and is one of the Yummy 3-Ply yarns offered at Miss Babs’ site. I bought it because it was pretty, and I don’t have definite plans for it yet.

Before I wound it up, I took some photos of the various colors that can be seen among the strands of yarn in this lovely color way. “Tea Party” must be popular because it is currently sold out / out of stock in many of the yarn weights offered by Miss Babs. I hope it comes back because I love it.

Below is a little swatch where I played around with some stitches and used “Tea Party” with “Deep Sea Jellyfish” which is also a Miss Babs yarn in Big Silk worsted weight.

Tea party and jellyfish yarn — Swatch with Tea Party and Deep Sea Jellyfish

I don’t know what I will knit with this yarn, but I’m considering a scarf with both the bright pinks and purples of Jellyfish and the more subtle speckled white of Tea Party.

Learning About Plies in Yarn

I’ve been relatively clueless about plies of yarn. Probably like most beginner knitters, you jump in and buy because of color!

And….Sale yarns… don’t you hate them? They call to me and say “What a deal! Too good to pass up!” And yes, I am a sucker. Without any idea what on earth I will do with the beautiful bargain yarn, I buy and stash and hope some wonderful pattern will spring to mind.

When I purchased my latest deal yarn, I was hoping to knit a baby blanket. I wanted “baby” colors and since there is no baby on the way in my family, a neutral color would work best. I also wanted to try my hand at a “center out” blanket, because they look so cool (not so easy to begin). Also I would be learning a new knitting skill.

Mrs. Crosby single-ply Satchel yarn in color way Dogwood — Ball of single-ply yarn by Mrs. Crosby

The super-sale yarn I bought the other day is a single-ply by Mrs. Crosby in an off-white mixed with other pastels colors. The type of yarn is Satchel, color name is Dogwood. I am not really thrilled with the color, but I am knitting up a swatch. I had recently made a little baby hat with animals using a similar sock yarn by Madeline Tosh and did not like the outcome. I think it’s safe to say I don’t like single-ply yarns. Or maybe I just don’t know how to use them.

I now own the new, hardcover, Vogue Knitting book and I love it! (I bought a used edition on sale and it’s like new!) Already it has helped answer some of my knitting questions, and it’s just fun to read. Unfortunately it really didn’t help much with how to choose a ply. It did describe plies, but there were no suggestions for choosing single, double, or more plies for knitting – not that I have found anyway.

Help With Choosing Plied Yarn

Plies are single strands which are twisted together to give strength to the yarn, so the more plies, the stronger. Am I correct? It seems to make sense. I understand what plies are, but not how to choose the number of plies for projects.

Since there is usually such good yarn places online to find information I went to Mason Dixon Knitting and found a wonderful explanation of ply! She even uses the Mrs. Crosby yarn as an example of single ply, and she knits up swatches to compare single, two and three ply yarns. It was a fabulous article.

After reading the explanation, it appears that 3-ply yarn is the best for stitch definition and performance. Sometimes yarn descriptions simply say “plied”, so what then? If yarn is made from three fibers, they would be 3-plied, I assume. I will keep learning.

Free Knitting Patterns, Are They Worth It?

As a beginner knitter, I have searched for “free knitting patterns” to get a feel for stitches, directions and charts. Why would I want to spend money on a pattern that I can’t comprehend and knit once it is downloaded? For beginners, free is probably best to start with.

So is knitting something that is free worth it? Well, yes and no. Be careful where you find those free patterns.

A warning here is to try to find well known knitwear designers who sell patterns but also offer free ones. They care about their patterns because it’s a business for them. Offering free things could very well lead to purchases done the road.

Or, choose a free pattern that has already been knit a lot and has great reviews.

I do understand that starting out we beginner knitters have NO idea who the knitwear designers are. And where do we find reviews and comments on patterns?

This is where Ravelry – an online knitting (and crocheting site) can be a huge help. If you can ignore their politics, it’s an enjoyable place where I’ve learned so much.

My First Hand-knit Shawl Was a Free Pattern

My very first shawl was a free pattern from a designer who offered it with the stipulation that I sign up for her e-mails. The shawl was good practice for me, with wonderful directions, it and brought her a follower. Below is the Spindrift Shawl (a free pattern and my first shawl knit) by Helen Stewart. I still get her e-mails.

Spindrift shawl — My first shawl knitting project

That is not to say that many free patterns work out just fine. Usually they are fairly simple and closely match other free patterns of the same type. Sometimes knitters just like to share something helpful with other knitters.

The Scrappy Bias Shawl (below) is one that gets a lot of knitter’s attention. It is easy knitting and fun. The Honey Cowl is pictured at the beginning of this page, and it is a free, one or two wrap, cowl.

colorful scrappy bias shawl — Scrappy Bias shawl – completed!

For beginner knitters, using a free pattern can be very helpful. Usually they are simple patterns that give us good practice and cost nothing but the yarn. A great place to begin is with Tin Can Knits. I sure wish I had found them sooner in my knitting adventures. They have an excellent bunch of tutorials and a page full of free patterns such as hats, sweaters, mittens and more, for all ages and sizes. Below is my Playdate Cardigan.

Playdate cardigan in size 6-12 months — My experience knitting the Playdate cardigan

Purl Soho

One very good place to start, if you want clear knitting directions, often with video tutorials, is Purl Soho. They sell beautiful yarn, and offer many types of patterns for free! It is one of the first places I found for free things when I began searching. From simple hats and housewares, to sweaters and ponchos, this is an awesome site for free designs and helpful insights.

Beware that some of their pattern stitches are quite advanced, and those wraps and blankets can take a long time to knit.

One place to also find more advanced free patterns (as well as the more simple) is the Espace Tricot collection. They offer a slew of free patterns of all types. The sweater below is one I recently knit.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn — Photos of My Turtle Dove Sweater / Poncho

In closing, I suggest being careful where the free patterns come from. If you begin to knit something that looks good and get toward the end and hit trouble, you’ve wasted lots of time. But, many free patterns are definitely worth knitting.

Ahhh Ravelry, What Have You Done?

Today I saw the changes that Ravelry made to their site over the weekend. As I opened their front page I saw the rainbow flag next to their name. Then I read the paragraph:

“We are banning support of Donald Trump and his administration on Ravelry. We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is unambiguously support for white supremacy. “ (Taken from the Ravelry website.)

What?? I support my country, and whomever is in office, whether I “like” the person or not, but to do so means (in the eyes of Ravelry) that I am a bigot and hater of blacks and pretty much everyone who is not white?

AND, just below this paragraph is one addressing specifically the LGBTQIA+ community. I’ll be honest, I’ve lost track of what all those letters stand for, but Ravelry wants them all to know that they love and support them. Yes, they are lumped together as people to love…. Trump supporters are lumped together as no good and banned. See a problem with this way of thinking?

FYI Ravelry, this is a hateful thing to say.

At least I know where I stand.

I went on to view some postings at Twitter and other places about that notice at Ravelry, and not surprisingly the Trump-haters were pleased as punch. Some were even considering taking up knitting because they loved Ravelry so much for the statement! For me, its just another fun place to hang out online that has become intolerant of anyone who does not believe like they do. (And I bet I pretty much do believe like they do except for the mass hating of a specific group of people.)

Pointing the finger when you need to look in the mirror. What’s new? This type of thing has become so tiring.

I’ve only recently become a member of the largest knitting and crafting website out there, and honestly I am still finding my way around Ravelry. But I’ve liked (until now) what I’ve seen. I’ve been building my FO’s (finished objects) section, finding and saving favorite knitting patterns from around the web, and learning from KAL (knit-alongs), forums, and others who love knitting as much as I do. Sharing photos about my projects as they progress has been fun.

I’ve never seen hate speech on the sight, and everyone seems to be friendly and helpful. But apparently a seething hatred has been building towards a group of people, of which I am a part.

I’d Love to Close My Account, But

They apparently don’t want any of us who support the leaders of America. We are ALL racists if we support our President. Removing and banning all political statements / designs from the site would have been fair, but this is not about fair. This is the typical hate message of the left, and phew… finally they got it out there!

The pattern designers are one big reason I am hesitant about closing my Ravelry account. They design and sell on Ravelry, and without the site, it will be difficult for me to find new patterns and pattern support. A lot of people who would like to make an exit from the site may feel like there is no place better to go, because presently there isn’t, as far as I know. That could change soon.

I also have a lot of links on my blog posts that go to my Ravelry pages. I don’t want to lose those links, but I do plan to remove some. Links to Ravelry helps them, and I will not do that from now on.

My Support of Ravelry is Gone

I’ve been working online since 2007, and I know a thing or two about promoting myself and others, but I will no longer promote Ravelry in any way. I will not Tweet them, Pin them, FB them, share them on Instagram, or (after today) blog about them. Yup, they are quaking in their boots over that! I am one, but I know I am not alone.

This does not include the designers, unless I see hateful posts from them individually, or see that they support Ravelry’s decision to exclude a big part of the membership (don’t know for sure, but I bet it’s a lot) on their site by lumping us into a collection of bigots.

Beware yarn-dyers / sellers and pattern designers, do not go down this road. It would be a mistake. I believe Ravelry may be sorry.