13 August 2009

Spiralling Away!!

Yarn for Mentmore Socks by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I have been thinking about spirals recently, and how they are important in knitting. Sometimes they can be interesting, but they can also be a nuisance. For example, when we are trying to put bands of colour into a circular item such as a sweater or a bag, then we might see a “jog” at the colour join.

At first this is surprising because we tend to think we are working horizontal bands of colours, forming stripes. However, what we are actually knitting is a series of spirals.
Diagram of spirals for blogpost by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I was musing about this for a bit and then realised that we could actually use this to our advantage. After a bit of experimenting I saw that if you use three different colours of yarn spaced evenly around as you work, then different colours will appear as single-width stripes. Similarly if you used two balls of one colour and one ball of a contrast shade, you should see alternating thick and thin stripes.

I had recently received some wonderful kettle-dyed yarns from Knit Picks, their Stroll Tonal yarn. The photo at the top shows three balls of this yarn and what is perhaps surprising is that they are all from the same dye-lot.

They are all beautiful colours in themselves and with a wonderful depth and interest resulting from kettle-dyeing the yarn. However if I made a pair of socks, one with one ball, the second with another and the third ball being used as a back-up if I ran out of yarn along the way, then each sock would be very different.

​One would be a glorious dark burgundy colour, with hardly a lighter patch in it. The other would have bright sparks of colour almost verging on light pink. Basically the socks would not look like a matched pair.
Using multiple yarns for Mentmore Socks by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So I started making my new pair of socks using all three balls of yarn in the same round. It was surprisingly easy to do and the colours just melded together, giving a far more harmonious final result. Of course there were still lighter-coloured stripes and highlighted stitches, but these are the feature of kettle-dyed yarns that draw us to them in the first place.

This technique also has another advantage and that is to break up the pooling or "Zebra-striping" that often occurs when using hand-dyed yarns. This is where splodges of colour end up in the same location round after round. Using several balls of yarn in the same round interrupts this unwanted patterning and lets the beauty of the yarn shine through. And of course, this could be useful not just for socks but in any garment where you are seeing this effect.

I will post more details about this new pattern, the Mentmore Socksnext time but if you'd like to read more now then please click here.

Until next time – Happy Sock Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Patterns/Accessories,
sock, socks, tonal yarns, space-dyed yarns, kettle-dyed yarns, blending yarns, dyelots, dye lots, hand-dyed yarns, zebra striping, colour pooling,

12 August 2009

Bags of Bags!

BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
A few months ago, we celebrated World Earth Day – an annual event designed to focus our collective thoughts on the needs of the planet and what we can do to raise environmental awareness. Although this day has been on the calendar for nearly 20 years it still feels as though there is much left to do, not least of which is tackling the issue of plastic.

Single-use plastic bags so easily find themselves blown away on the breeze, tangled in tree branches or washed out to sea. However, we knitters have solutions! We can make reusable bags for ourselves so we can say with pride: “No plastic bags for me!”

Last year I wrote my very first blogpost about the BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag knitting pattern and then followed that up with suggestions for lots of bags in different colours and finishes.

So I thought it might be a good idea to put some of these ideas together on a page for inspiration. Please click any of the photos below to read more:

BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag in lime green and purple
BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Two-tone pink and white BYOB bags
BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
BYOB bags worked with solid Basketweave sides

Picture
BYOB in Autumnal Colourway
BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Stripey BYOB Bag worked in Seed Stitch
BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Set of BYOB bags in Autumnal Colourway

Picture
BYOB 2.0 pattern - now with 4 sizes
BYOB Market Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
BYOB Market Bag with long handles
BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Fibonacci striped BYOB bag

I like to put “sets” of bags together ahead of time, with 1 or 2 linen bags plus 2 or 3 BYOB Bags. If I put one of these sets in a handy place, they are ready to grab as I leave the house. Then I have everything I need when I arrive at the shops!

To see all the patterns I now have available for knitted bags, please click here. In addition to the bags pictured above, you will also be able to see details above five fabric-lined bags which are included in the Southampton Collection and also a backpack, the Westernesse Bag.

Until next time – Happy Knitting!
 

Moira
Keywords: Patterns/Bags, Pattern Notes/Bags,
bag, bags, stripes, Seed Stitch, Mesh, Basketweave, knitted bag, shopping bag, market bag, BYOB,

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