I Heart Magic Loop

copyright: Wendy Gene

For the past month, I have been working on a sweater  for myself using my stash of Cascade Ecological.   I kid you not, this stash yarn has been cast on for at least 9 different projects, and every time, I've not liked the results.  And did I mention that I have 4 skeins of it in two different colours? 

Cascade Ecological has a coarse texture and the colours are slightly washed out.   I am picky and I find it does not lend itself to being the most adaptable.   So why do I have so much of it?  Well, it's a fantastic value.  The yardage is generous and the price point is affordable.  There have been many a time when I've made a trip to may favourite wool shop (The Bee Hive located in Victoria, BC) only to find out that a project, like a wrap, will cost me $92 in materials.   So, I originally purchased the yarn as a substitution for a pricier choice.

One night, while I was supposed to being doing something important, I spent an hour searching through Ravelry, looking for projects made using this type of yarn.  Lucky me, I found a post by Ravelry member BLUEDOGWOOLIES who made Isabell Kraemer's "Caramel" blanket cardigan using Cascade Ecological (shown in picture above).

The result so far is phenomenal.  The pattern involves top-down construction on long circular needles.  For the body, I have completed the neck to my waist.  I've slipped in on a number of times, and it fits like a glove.  The original pattern calls for a double knit weight yarn, but since Cascade Ecological is bulky, the knitting is coming along quickly on fewer stitches.  Out of boredom, I decided to start one of the sleeves before finishing the body.

I may be an experienced knitter, but I find knitting with double points in the round incredibly frustrating.  My yarn always gets tangled and caught, the tension is never quite right, and inevitably, one of my kids always pulls a needle out of a project that I am working on.  I only use double points because I have to. 

After knitting 5 inches of the sleeve, I noticed that my gauge on double point needles was tighter than my gauge on the circulars that I used for the body. Argghhhh!  As a perfectionist knitter, that was not acceptable.  Then I remembered my friend Charmaine mentioning a technique the used for knitting socks - she called it the magic loop method.  So off to YouTube I went, and after watching a three minute video, I was set. 

I love the magic loop method.  Essentially, it allows you to knit small, circular circumferences using a circular needle with a 32" cord.  I don't know if I'll ever use my double point needles again. 

Knitalongs: A Review

This book is truly lovely.  Knitalong celebrates the joy of knitting together and sharing one's love for the craft.  As a knitter, I am always so pleased to find out when others knit.  It's like a not-so-secret society.  Although the act of knitting is singular, it lends itself to building a community.  It is why thousands of people have come together and joined online communities, such as Ravelry.  And it is this sense of community that Larissa Brown focuses on in her book Knitalong.

Knitalong is a collection of stories, resources, and even patterns.  It explains how to find knitting groups both in the flesh and on-line.  I found Larissa Brown's stories engaging, interesting, and inspiring.  I especially liked the chapter on historical knitalongs.  Knitting together is such a beautiful concept and this book inspired me to start a knitting group at my workplace.