I am with you on swatching and David Brooks. With knitting it is so much better to know the yarn and stitch gauge that is happening on your needles than to be all cast on and halfway up the ribbing and starting to worry about the stitch gauge or how the yarn is sort of difficult to work with. If all knitters would make their swatches into hats to donate to others it would be a better world. Love the idea of doing that!
Like you, I usually was slightly or more than slightly irritated with what David Brooks said as a TV commentator. Then I saw him interviewed to promote a book and was quite amazed at how much I agreed with his thoughts and viewpoint. Looking forward to reading the NYT article and his book!
I have issues about knitting one skein. You might get a skein that is perfect in how it took the dye, was spun, needles you choose . The next skein is pure crap, uneven dyed, lots of broken strands, unevenly spun, kinks as you knit it. If doing color work, cables, various stitch patterns, it can eat up yarn quickly and not give you a true representation of its true self. That’s why two or even three skeins is helpful. Also asking friends if they have the yarn and can you trade, or barter for that yarn so you aren’t buying more.
I have an enormous stash and I am retired. What I have found is that I really like worsted for warmth, sport for shawls, fingering for shawls. If yarn isn’t my jam, I trade it, make hats, socks, lap blankets. If the weight is no longer one I like to knit, I start adding the unliked yarns together to make a new yarn. Swatch and see what it says.
I miss having a yarn store or several in a quick drive. Now its at least and hour drive. So having a stash is important to me. I like resources for my artistic ventures and exploration. That’s what I really miss. Technical, informative posts like this. I miss Clara Parks yarn reviews because they were insightful. I miss when different knitters respond about their experiences with various yarns. I like artists/knitters who do something with yarn that is out of the ordinary.I also miss when a sweaters worth of yarn with a bit of a discount enabled me to try different fibers to see how they played together, or not. And for under a $100! While I love the colors of high end yarns, I, personally, can not justify the cost. That is me.
I miss the old WEBs with Kathy and Steve, I miss that connection. My downfall is LittleKnits. Periodically I unsubscribe to various vendors just so I am not enticed. Well that’s my bit. Looking forward to this substack.
Thanks for being here - I'm glad you found us. And I'm glad you found this post valuable.
I'll continue to write about yarns I love, but I don't write negative reviews. There is plenty of negativity in the world without me adding on.
I believe in being loud with praise and quiet with criticism. The people who make and sell yarn work hard. I don't assume my taste is better than anyone else's, and I'll never be the person who publicly trashes someone's product.
Letting someone know there is a problem with batch xyz is not hurting them, it is making a problem known. Of course this is done privately or with the yarn store where bought. I went to a yarn store to get the latest copy of a publication. There was a printing mishap, as both a graphic designer and a knitter it was important to me to make the store aware of the mishap so they could get corrected copies. Another cases was I bought some beautiful hand-dye, handspun yarn, it was stunning. It was also spun too tightly suitable for weaving not knitting. I traded the yarn and found this out first hand. I did not let the dyer/spinner know because it was years old, they also went out of business.
Constructive criticism is not destructive unless one makes it so. The education I received in college, through multiple careers always made the constructive criticism part of the process otherwise you get an inferior product. people need to know of problems so they can be fixed, known and resolved.
I’m hesitant to buy just one skein because by the time I get around to swatching, I won’t be able to buy any more or it. And since I primarily knit sweaters, I take the leap and buy sweater quantities.
But I only buy souvenir yarn. No ordering yarn online. I have to draw lines somewhere. And since the last time I went out of town I came back with enough yarn for four sweaters and three pairs of socks, there is no more room for yarn. So I have to knit up a couple of sweaters worth before I’m allowed to buy more.
I wish I'd seen (or heeded) this advice earlier. I tend to buy yarn in large enough qualities to get free shipping or, if ordering from Webs, a discount. I have ungodly quantities of yarn that aren't really my jam (it turns out that while I like to WEAR silky clothing made with tencel), I HATE knitting anything that slippery.... Also turns out that I don't much like lace weight. But I have an entire bin of it...
On the other hand, I've fallen in love with swatching. I think of it as playing and just knit whatever I like.
What you say about Altiplano sounds so much like what I felt with Malabrigo's Dos Tierras. It makes so much sense to try a skein first and then go for more. Such lovely hat and thank you for the reading suggestions. I too believe reading fiction makes us a bit more understanding and empathetic.
Lovely hat! And I take to heart what you say about swatching. I’m one of those knitters who avoids it and lives to regret it 😉 I appreciate what you say about Brooks. He often irked me with his commentaries on the PBS Newshour and The NY Times. I’ve nicknamed him “Bobo” because of his book Bobos in Paradise … although I never read it. My bad. I will say I always thought he seemed earnest, and he definitely seemed to be more interested in civil discourse than shutting people down.
With Brooks, I think it's an illustration of the fact that reasonable people can disagree. His books show that he is a thoughtful, principled man who shares many of my values. Those values have, however, led us to different conclusions on issues of policy.
Pineapple - it’s what I thought when I first saw the finished hat.
It’s interesting as I usually resist knitting swatches as I almost always find that my tension is pretty much what is needed for the garment I’m making. I might take up hat making though, that’s a great idea. Thank you.
I am with you on swatching and David Brooks. With knitting it is so much better to know the yarn and stitch gauge that is happening on your needles than to be all cast on and halfway up the ribbing and starting to worry about the stitch gauge or how the yarn is sort of difficult to work with. If all knitters would make their swatches into hats to donate to others it would be a better world. Love the idea of doing that!
Like you, I usually was slightly or more than slightly irritated with what David Brooks said as a TV commentator. Then I saw him interviewed to promote a book and was quite amazed at how much I agreed with his thoughts and viewpoint. Looking forward to reading the NYT article and his book!
Also looking forward to making that sweet hat!
I have issues about knitting one skein. You might get a skein that is perfect in how it took the dye, was spun, needles you choose . The next skein is pure crap, uneven dyed, lots of broken strands, unevenly spun, kinks as you knit it. If doing color work, cables, various stitch patterns, it can eat up yarn quickly and not give you a true representation of its true self. That’s why two or even three skeins is helpful. Also asking friends if they have the yarn and can you trade, or barter for that yarn so you aren’t buying more.
I have an enormous stash and I am retired. What I have found is that I really like worsted for warmth, sport for shawls, fingering for shawls. If yarn isn’t my jam, I trade it, make hats, socks, lap blankets. If the weight is no longer one I like to knit, I start adding the unliked yarns together to make a new yarn. Swatch and see what it says.
I miss having a yarn store or several in a quick drive. Now its at least and hour drive. So having a stash is important to me. I like resources for my artistic ventures and exploration. That’s what I really miss. Technical, informative posts like this. I miss Clara Parks yarn reviews because they were insightful. I miss when different knitters respond about their experiences with various yarns. I like artists/knitters who do something with yarn that is out of the ordinary.I also miss when a sweaters worth of yarn with a bit of a discount enabled me to try different fibers to see how they played together, or not. And for under a $100! While I love the colors of high end yarns, I, personally, can not justify the cost. That is me.
I miss the old WEBs with Kathy and Steve, I miss that connection. My downfall is LittleKnits. Periodically I unsubscribe to various vendors just so I am not enticed. Well that’s my bit. Looking forward to this substack.
Thanks for being here - I'm glad you found us. And I'm glad you found this post valuable.
I'll continue to write about yarns I love, but I don't write negative reviews. There is plenty of negativity in the world without me adding on.
I believe in being loud with praise and quiet with criticism. The people who make and sell yarn work hard. I don't assume my taste is better than anyone else's, and I'll never be the person who publicly trashes someone's product.
Letting someone know there is a problem with batch xyz is not hurting them, it is making a problem known. Of course this is done privately or with the yarn store where bought. I went to a yarn store to get the latest copy of a publication. There was a printing mishap, as both a graphic designer and a knitter it was important to me to make the store aware of the mishap so they could get corrected copies. Another cases was I bought some beautiful hand-dye, handspun yarn, it was stunning. It was also spun too tightly suitable for weaving not knitting. I traded the yarn and found this out first hand. I did not let the dyer/spinner know because it was years old, they also went out of business.
Constructive criticism is not destructive unless one makes it so. The education I received in college, through multiple careers always made the constructive criticism part of the process otherwise you get an inferior product. people need to know of problems so they can be fixed, known and resolved.
I’m hesitant to buy just one skein because by the time I get around to swatching, I won’t be able to buy any more or it. And since I primarily knit sweaters, I take the leap and buy sweater quantities.
But I only buy souvenir yarn. No ordering yarn online. I have to draw lines somewhere. And since the last time I went out of town I came back with enough yarn for four sweaters and three pairs of socks, there is no more room for yarn. So I have to knit up a couple of sweaters worth before I’m allowed to buy more.
It sounds like you had a very fruitful trip!
I wish I'd seen (or heeded) this advice earlier. I tend to buy yarn in large enough qualities to get free shipping or, if ordering from Webs, a discount. I have ungodly quantities of yarn that aren't really my jam (it turns out that while I like to WEAR silky clothing made with tencel), I HATE knitting anything that slippery.... Also turns out that I don't much like lace weight. But I have an entire bin of it...
On the other hand, I've fallen in love with swatching. I think of it as playing and just knit whatever I like.
Oohh - that free shipping trap. It used to get me every time.
What you say about Altiplano sounds so much like what I felt with Malabrigo's Dos Tierras. It makes so much sense to try a skein first and then go for more. Such lovely hat and thank you for the reading suggestions. I too believe reading fiction makes us a bit more understanding and empathetic.
Lovely hat! And I take to heart what you say about swatching. I’m one of those knitters who avoids it and lives to regret it 😉 I appreciate what you say about Brooks. He often irked me with his commentaries on the PBS Newshour and The NY Times. I’ve nicknamed him “Bobo” because of his book Bobos in Paradise … although I never read it. My bad. I will say I always thought he seemed earnest, and he definitely seemed to be more interested in civil discourse than shutting people down.
With Brooks, I think it's an illustration of the fact that reasonable people can disagree. His books show that he is a thoughtful, principled man who shares many of my values. Those values have, however, led us to different conclusions on issues of policy.
Pineapple - it’s what I thought when I first saw the finished hat.
It’s interesting as I usually resist knitting swatches as I almost always find that my tension is pretty much what is needed for the garment I’m making. I might take up hat making though, that’s a great idea. Thank you.
Thanks!
Hat name suggestion: McCaffrey Traded Up. Also, if that hat needs a home before 2/11, you know where to send it. 😉
It's not quite 49er colors - the "gold" is more of a brown paper bag color. But thanks for the suggestion.