Getting Knitpicky

Tonight I want to express my opinions about my experience with Knitpicks. I hope that no one takes any offense to anything I may say, for they are simply my own opinions and no one else's.

I've been knitting now for a little over 3 years and last year at Christmas I was graciously given a set of Knitpicks interchangeable needles in the Harmony Wood. I asked for the wood because at the time I was used to knitting with bamboo and thought wood would be very much the same. I have faithfully used this set ever since, hardly even picking up straights or dpns any more; I love them to death.  Recently, I've noticed they are starting to show their 'age' with me. The joins are getting a bit rougher and I swear there are times when I get afraid one will break. 

Maybe it was just the excessive knitting I did over Christmas Break, but I also noticed my wrists beginning to hurt after using these a lot. I recently purchased some size 1 and 2 fixed circs from them in the nickel, because they were cheaper, and I really do like them. I may continue to purchase the nickel in the future.I also am in love with the cables and smooth joins!

Something else I want to mention about Knitpicks, and it's something that kind of frustrates me, is the fact that most of their yarns are just 'rip offs' of other brands.  It reminds me of how Hobby Lobby has been selling their brand of LYS yarns lately. A great example is Chroma, which to me is just their version of Mini Mochi.

See the similarities?

I have personally never knitted with any of Knitpicks' yarn, because I like my LYS too much to bother with shipping and such from an online retailer, but many people I talk to agree that Knitpicks is just a cheaper alternative to many name brand yarns. 

I will admit I like their spinning roving though, but maybe that is just me being a pretty novice spinner. The Stroll roving that I used last semester for my Spinning Drawings (if you haven't seen my spinning drawings, please click the link, it's definitely worth your time!) spun up really well in the end, but I would probably never use it for more than just experimenting with spinning and dying: it's cheap enough I don't mind 'wasting' it.

Kool Aid dyed Stroll Roving

I will give them credit though, when it comes to knitting accessories, they have a great selection and quality. I love their needle caps as well as the prices they have on books and they seem to really know what knitters need in terms of supplies. If I had to rate them overall, I'd give them between a 6-7, just because the yarn thing and quality of some of their products drives me crazy. As a 'broke' college kid though, I love the prices on supplies!

So now it's your turn. What do you think of Knitpicks? Do you have any first hand experience? What's your go to brand of needle/yarn/supplies? I'm really interested to hear what all my readers have to say!

And once again, the views in this blog are simply that, my views, and no one else's.

'Night!

~Lisa 

Turing Scraps into Gold

 Let me start by mentioning that I finally finished my Effortless Cardigan. I will post pictures and more details after it is blocked, whenever that is.

Anyways, as you may know, I am trying to only use stash yarn all year and not buy any new yarn at all. (although that may get broken very soon because Berroco just made some new amazing colors of Vintage and I freaked out for at least 5 minutes when I found out). So in my attempts to reduce my stash, I have been working on a few projects with my scrap/lower amount yarns.

The first one was a a headband I knitted up with some handspun.  This is the handspun that I made last semester for my spindle drawings , and I didn't have very much of each color so I couldn't do too much with it. I didn't even have enough to finish the headband, as you can see. There are 3 different yarns in there, a blue/black/green 3 ply, a blue/black 2 ply, and then a green 2 ply.  It's really fun to wear because of it's changes in color and bulkyness, but I wish it would lay flat. I guess I need to find an iron and try steam blocking it.

(This photo does no justice, but I can't get a picture of me wearing it...)

Next up is a pair of socks I started last night. I have a ton of random scraps of Vintage, and after finishing my cardigan I wanted to just get them out of my stash. So I am making random stripe worsted socks from the toe up.  I sat down for 3 hours yesterday and am already at the heel cup. I was going to do them 2 at a time, but my yarn got tangled really fast so I changed my mind. Worsted socks knit up so fast though so they'll still be done in no time. I am really excited for these because I am going to make them super long, basically until I use up all my Vintage!

       

Finally, as many of my fellow knitters can attest to, Red Heart, or any cheap acrylic, is AWFUL to knit with! So then why I am finding myself making tons of little white balls with my extra Red Heart? Well that's a secret for now, but lets just say it has to do with my art!

I have so much on my plate with school right now, I can't even keep it straight. I am really surprised that I have found time to knit (and post about it on here!) but I have noticed that when I spend time knitting it makes me want to do school work more later.  Taking a few hours on a Saturday to knit is a great stress relief and prepares me for Sunday when the homework load hits.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend and is ready for the week to start! I have a very busy one ahead, so I'll be lucky if I get through it unscathed.  Take care!

~Lisa

Two Birds With One Spindle

So with dead week and finals vastly approaching, I would like to take a moment to share something with everyone that I recently began doing, and have fallen in love with.

An assignment in my drawing class about a month ago (wow, it's been that long?) was to do some primarily abstract and non-objective drawings with a pre-determined strategy. Examples given in class included drawing with your other hand, drawing under a table, drawing with reaction to something around you, or creating a 'machine'. These were all great ideas, and this was one abstract assignment I actually couldn't wait to start.

However, I could not for the life of me think of anything for the longest time, and then I Googled "Drawing Machines" and clicked images. Upon looking through a few, I found one that looked a lot like a spinning wheel (but I knew it wasn't) and it all made since.

This assignment was done mostly for a visiting artist, Marius Lehene, to come in and critique. Let me tell you, when he looked at mine and said he absolutely loved it and the way it looked like traces left behind by something, it almost blew my mind. Really? Even my teacher liked them (and she's very critical) and when she saw how I was doing them, she was amazed at the process.

So I know you are all probably wondering what process and drawings I am talking about, well ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

Drawing with a Spindle.

For this project, I attached various types of charcoal to the bottom of my drop spindle and put a piece of paper down on the floor. As the yarn spun, the image was created.

(Single stick of compressed charcoal on the end)

The moment I conceived this idea, I knew it would be tricky. In fact, I almost didn't do it. There were so many cons to this idea. The spindle will get too heavy. The charcoal won't touch the paper right. The yarn that I spin won't be worth anything, it'll be too over/underspun. It will take the fun and relaxation out of spinning. My teacher will think I'm crazy. But after thinking some more and coming up with literally nothing better than "pencil on a string", I decided to give it a try. Man am I glad I did.

(How it's done!)

The results have been spectacular. Not only have I produced these beautiful drawings, I have also made some of the best yarn I have yet to make. It's spun almost perfectly. Maybe having that extra weight on the bottom helped to make it so? Or it taught me how to balance my spindle better? Or the fact that it wasn't fine quality fiber to begin with made me able to not worry about the results? Either way, both the yarn and the drawings are pure works of art.

(Created with a single 6B charcoal pencil on the end)

The assignment has since come and gone, and I am sad that I (for now) cannot pursue these drawings any further for a grade. However, I still do it most of the time. Whenever I pick up my spindle I also pick up a charcoal pencil and pad of paper. Upon spinning the leader, the pencil gets attached and a beautiful work of art gets created.

(Created with 2 pencils, one on one side of the end, one on the other, to create more dots)

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm obsessed, or maybe I just like that I can do something I love AND get art/homework done at the same time. No matter what it is, you've got to admit, it sure would be cool to see a gallery show with the yarn hanging next to the drawings it made.

(Most of the yarn I spun for the drawings above, note that I did not create any drawings when plying; I'm not that adventurous yet)

~Lisa

PS: I have way more drawings than what is pictured here, but they are either with my teacher, at studio, or I was too lazy to take pictures tonight. Expect more pictures when I can. Did I also mention I hand dyed all the roving used with Wilton's food dyes?

Spinning, Knitting, and Artwork! oh My!

I couldn't think of a title...

Besides that though, school is in full swing here. I am FINALLY getting back into it (it only took a week and a half!) and I think it's going to be a very successful year, art wise. I feel like my work right now, not even finished, is better than anything I've done before. Although I may have just jinxed it!

Anyways, I wanted to post some pictures of my current spinning project. The purple isn't done, just taking a break because I wanted to experiment with different fibers. This fiber below is merino and nylon from Knitpicks, curtisy my awesome pen pal! I wanted it to be blue, but it's red, only because I can't read and thought the blue fruit punch packet would yield blue color, my bad!

This roving is very interesting to work with. I leaves fuzzies behind everywhere and pulls apart really easily if I'm not careful. I can't seem to make even strands like I could with my purple, so I think I prefer the purple over this.

Moving on, I finally finished a pair of socks I started last December. For some reason the 2nd one is smaller, even though I used the same needles and pattern. You can't really see the pattern well on this yarn, which is sad, because it's pretty. But I love the yarn anyways, the color is amazing. I will never knit with size 1 needles again, and I'll probably keep to 2-at-a-time socks now that I know how. I can't wait to see how these wash up!

For more info and a link to the pattern, click here :)

So like I said, school is started here. I don't see myself having much time to knit or spin in the future because of it, however I do still plan on attending yarn shop knit nights, so atleast I'll get one day a week to do it! I still can't believe I'm a JUNIOR!

Peace out!
~Lisa