Firestarter Socks and Twined Knitting KAL

Check out this cool sock pattern:

Firestarter Socks

As soon as I saw these, I knew they would be the next socks on my needles. And I have the perfect color yarn (great for February V-Day and "Fire"): Nova Sock in "Jester"

I am knitting these at a gauge of 7 st/inch, not the recommended 8 st/inch, but my foot is small so it should be fine. I used the "Magic Cast-On" for toe up socks instead of the pattern recommended provisional cast on and I have made a couple of other small modifications, but I'll discuss all of those when these are finished. It is a fun pattern and is knitting up surprisingly quick. I love the gusset--can't wait to knit other socks from Yarnissima!


My second project for this month is a Twined Knitting KAL. At long last, there is finally a twined knitting group at Yahoo Groups and Ravelry (same group). This is exciting because there are not a lot of patterns out there for twined (or two-end) knitting. I hope to one day design a sweater in two-end knitting--maybe that will be a goal for 2009!

Anyway, this Twined Knitting group has started a KAL and you know I couldn't say no to that! We will be making a pair of 2-color wrist warmers designed by Hilly. This will be my first attempt at 2 color twined knitting and wrist warmers are a very manageable way to learn. I am going to use this yarn from Black Water Abbey:

and hope to cast on by the end of the week.

Misc Monday

It’s “Misc Monday” here at BuzzandFuzz: a day to tie up loose ends. Today’s loose end is my “Twined Sweetheart Mittens”. But first, an announcement…

I got a shipment of Fleece Artist “Blue Face Leicester Aran” in this morning (7 colorways)! I love this yarn. It’s a great all-around wool and my favorite wool for twined knitting (even though it is “S” twist and not “Z” twist). It is so soft and the colors are gorgeous. I can’t wait to work on some designs with this yarn. Click here to order some for yourself!

Done with the shameless advertising, now on to the knitting. I finished up these mittens last month:

I am really happy with how they came out. The picture doesn’t do a very good job of showing the detail, so I tried to hand draw a sketch (I know, I’m not an artist):

The Mora yarn takes on new life after soaking and blocking. I would imagine that these mittens will become even nicer with time and handling. I wrote the pattern for sizes woman’s small – men’s Xlarge. The XL men’s mittens used exactly 1 skein of Mora yarn. I have a few skeins of Mora available as kits with the pattern: click here.

And because it is “Misc Monday”, here is a random question: Are you a football fan? If so, College, Pro, or both? My answer: I am a huge Pro football fan. It’s what I look forward to in the fall. I love knitting on Sundays while watching the game.

Z twist yarns

Over the past month or so I have been making mittens via two-end knitting. I have been working with two different z-twist yarns and I wanted to share my observations thus far.

I started the first pair of mittens with Mora yarn from The Wooly West. It is a super fine gauged yarn -- my gauge is 9st/inch two-end knitting on US3 needles. It still has a bit of lanolin (which I love) but is a little rough on your hands as you knit, so I was worried about how the finished mitten would feel. Well, after a 15 minute warm water soak, the blocked and finished mitten is lovely. The yarn and stitches have relaxed and allowed the yarn to bloom. I am really happy with them. My only complaint about these mittens (now named the "Sweetheart Mittens") has nothing to do with the yarn. Eric, whom I am making these mittens for, has very large hands and at this gauge, the second mitten seems to be taking forever. Here's where I am (I apologize for the crazy background; you can click the images for better detail...):

Once I finish the second mitten, the pattern should be ready. My goal is to have this mitten and pattern complete by mid October.

The other z twist yarn I have been working with is Black Water Abbey Worsted weight. The colors are fabulous, it's very nice to knit with and has a gauge of 6 st/inch two-end knitting on US 7 needles. I have knit two mittens so far with this yarn. The first I knit on US 6 needles and I really felt the finished product was too firm (6.5 st/inch). The second mitten was knit on US 7s and I am happier with this gauge (6 st/inch).

My conclusion (for what it's worth...): The Mora yarn has a softer feel in the finished product, but is rougher on your hands to knit with (and is 9 st /inch!).

So what next? I am going to finish the Sweetheart Mittens in Mora and then start another pair of adult mittens using an S-twist yarn. For now, I am going to abandon the Black Water Abbey mittens.

New yarn

When you come home from a short, but lovely, vacation in West Virginia...

it helps to find this waiting for you:

My yarn from Black Water Abbey has arrived. The colors are gorgeous ('Wine' and 'Old Purple') and I can't wait to start working with them. Unfortunately, I won't get to them until this weekend.

Today I need to unpack, do laundry, and finish MS3 clue 6 (I couldn't knit that on the plane!). Tomorrow the final clue is revealed. I will be happy to move that from a WIP to a FO--I have some sweaters I need to finish up before winter.

Mora Men's Mittens

So when I need a little 'mindless' knitting and am not working on MS3, here's what I've been up to:



I am knitting a pair of twined mittens using a traditional Z-twist yarn (Mora). I am making these for Eric, my DH, who has very large hands. Although I am not loving the pattern I've designed, I think these will be really nice-fitting, warm mittens. I tried to put a discreet heart on the palm-side cuff (circled above). It may be too discreet--I'm not sure it's visible at all. I suppose it will do though; these are supposed to be 'manly' mittens.

The Mora yarn is a little rough, but I'm hoping that with Z-twist yarn and twined knitting, the finished, soaked, and blocked item will be soft to the touch.

More on Twined Knitting

I am really loving this twined knitting. I have finished the other mitten:

and I’m designing and knitting a pair for my DH. So what exactly is twined knitting?

From the back cover of Twined Knitting: a Swedish Folkcraft Technique, by Dandanell, Birgitta; Danielsson, Ulla; Hansen, Robin Orm (Translator) :

"Twined knitting, or tvaandstickning, is a venerable Swedish folk knitting technique which creates an unusually dense, durable, and exquisitely patterned fabric. Twined knitting has been used historically for mittens, caps, gloves, stockings, and jackets. Knitters today are finding that the extra skill and care demanded by this fascinating technique are justified by its heirloom-quality results.”

Basically, it’s a really old technique that involves using 2 strands of yarn from the same ball (the center and the outside) usually knit in the round. It makes a really warm and durable fabric that is more elastic in the width and not so elastic in the length. You can’t twined knit too tightly, which is perfect for me because I always knit tight!

For information on the history of twined knitting:
http://knittingkninja.com/tag/twined-knitting

And for a starter tutorial on twined knitting:
http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter05/FEATwin05TT.html

It’s a bit tricky at first, but once you get into a rhythm, the knitting moves along nicely. The two most decorative stitches used in twined knitting are the “crook stitch” and “chain path”. These stitches are made by carrying one of the strands of yarn in front of the work. Here is a close up of both stitches in the mittens:

The diamond pattern on the hand of the mitten was made with crook stitches:

Twined knitting was originally done with a multi-stranded Z twist yarn (click here for info on Z vs S twist). Most commercially available yarns we knit with are S twist. I used an S twist yarn for the class mittens and I really like the way the finished product feels. But of course I need to know if it really makes a major difference, so I am going to try a couple of pairs of mittens in a z twist yarn. I could only find two companies carrying z twist yarns: The Wooly West Mora yarn and Black Water Abbey .

I am using the Mora yarn right now (fingering weight) and have ordered some Black Water Abbey worsted weight yarn. It will take a couple of months for my complete analysis, but I’ll keep you posted…

Twined Knitted Mitten Class

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to the "TKGA Conference" in NH and attend a workshop by Beth Brown-Reinsel of Knitting Traditions. I have been waiting for years for Beth to teach close enough to Maine when I had the time available to take this class. I love learning new knitting techniques and this one has me hooked. Beth was a great teacher and it was a really fun class. So here it is...

And the inside is just as cool as the outside. Here's what "twining" the stitches creates on the inside of the mitten:

We only had time to make the right mitten in class, but don't worry-I'll be finishing the left mitten over the weekend! More about the class and the mittens in a couple of days...