And then recently I was watching a video where Kathryn of Crafternoon Treats talked about learning to do helical knitting. She said it was easy and she listed some resources. I was intrigued again, but I ended up moving on to another video before taking note of them. Having lost track of Kathryn's video, I went looking again for one that would make sense to me. I specifically wanted to understand how to do helical knitting with only two colors.
Very Pink Knits has a fairly helpful tutorial for making multi-colored stripes. But for some reason I could only sort of understand - possibly because while she showed a two- color sample, she ended up doing a tutorial with three colors. And somehow I couldn't quite translate the information to just two colors.
So I looked some more...
Finally, it was this video by Jen at JenACKnitwear's that made it click for me. Oh my goodness! It is so very simple! I just couldn't believe that I had avoided trying this for so long.
So... with that I was off, and now I'm about half-way finished with a hat:
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Due to some cancellations, it turned out to be kind of a slow week here (which I've actually enjoyed after Thanksgiving week) and it ended up being a perfect time for... cat sitting!
After Thanksgiving, all three of our sons went on a road trip together to Florida, and among other things were able to view the SpaceX rocket launch. We were pretty excited for them, and I was not just a little tickled that we got to care for two grand-cats. (Yes... I'm easily amused.)
While, now that the cats are gone and it feels good to clean house today and put things right from "cat proofing", we sure did enjoy them for the last 10 days. When they weren't sleeping, or chasing each other, or watching birds and squirrels from a window, they were immensely curious about my yarn. So finally I gave them some of their own to play with.
I know it looks like a fairly small tangle of yarn above, but numerous times they had that little ball of cotton yarn wrapped around the legs of several furniture pieces and under the ottoman or couch. I couldn't believe how far they could spread a single strand of yarn!
I'm sure it could get old if I had to rewind balls of yarn all the time, but for the last day or two (since it occurred to me to give it to them) it just made me laugh to discover all the many ways they could take a small ball of yarn and create a crazy maze with it. It's been so long since we've had a cat - or any furry pet, I'd forgotten how entertaining and sweet they can be.
But let me be clear... it is really good to have my house back. lol My sensibilities about things have changed and while sometimes I think I'd love to have a cat again, at the moment I'm realizing I'm content to just borrow them occasionally.
But, for today, I'm happy to join my friends who have furbabies and share a few pictures of my grandcats. 😄
To see what other YOPers are up to, you can click on links to their blogs in my sidebar.
lol. Ah yes, kitties and yarn - I often give Otis his own little ball so he will leave mine alone and it does get wrapped many times around the piano leg! I made some helical knitting socks for my daughter's then boyfriend one Christmas. They broke up in January - I hope I hadn't invoked the boyfriend sweater curse. haha.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. I've made items a couple of times for girlfriends of my sons. And shortly after, a break-up would happen and I'd wonder if it had been presumptuous of me, actually, to do that. But one recently told my son that she still wears the scarf I made her. That was nice. And felt kind of validating.
DeleteHi Becki :) Oh your helical knitting is beautiful! It's so well done and precise! So nice that you learned a new skill! Your grandcats are so cute! Cat proofing, yeah, that's a part of my life now lol...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rain. :)
DeleteGrandpets are the best - we get all the fun and none of the headaches - definitely works for me. Now you have me curious about helical knitting and will have to check out the video.
ReplyDeleteCool. I look forward to hearing if you enjoy it, Mary Anne!
DeleteI tried that same approach with Miss Peeps but she eats it! She also likes to chew on plastic bags which makes me wonder if someone put her and her brothers and sisters in a bag and she had to chew her way out? I hope not but she chews any plastic bag she sees. Your grand cats seem much more civilized than my feral Miss Peeps! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI love the knitting stripes with 2 colors! Very pretty. I did that one Helix hat and need to do more as it is a great way to use up leftovers. It's a free pattern on Ravelry and it is 3 yarns and she shows you how to do it. HAve a great week and glad you have your house back! LOL!
One of the cats actually did try to eat the yarn early on. And was surprised at how much she got into her mouth before I discovered it. As much as they loved to play with it, I didn't let them have free reign with it after that. Ooooh, I can see that you're right about Helix knitting using up scraps. I hadn't thought of that, but that makes me look at those odd bits and bobs with new eyes! =^)
DeleteWell, color me surprised! I had never heard of Helical knitting. Now I need to go and look it up and see if it is as easy as you say it is. How fun it would be to be able to do stripes without the noticeable jog in them. Thanks for the links as to where to go look. Your grand kitties are precious. I do miss my cats (at times). I will stay with my dogs for now. They are getting older and so am I. Once I these two go to the Rainbow Bridge, I do not think we will have anymore animals. (Even though I wouldn't mind having a kitten again, hubby has asked not to have anymore critters) BTW, the colors on your hat are quite striking. Love the purple and yellow together.
ReplyDeleteIt is very easy. I think the trick is finding the person who clicks with you for the explanation. If I can get it, I know you can. I finished the hat above today and started a new one (but in self-striping yarn). The self-striping yarn is almost boring now in comparison to helical knitting. lol It wasn't I got back to working on my hat that I realize the colors above aren't even true. The yarn colors are actually gold and wine. Hopefully next Sunday I can get a picture that shows the colors better - though the colors above are actually prettier. ;^)
DeleteThe new stitch is quite pretty. I am jealous of the boys. I am a space nut and one of the best things was watching one of the last shuttle launches. I really need to go down for a launch like this one. It is amazing to watch it all.
ReplyDeleteI know! I'm so glad they did this and did it together. A great memory maker, for sure.
DeleteYour new stitch looks lovely and sounds a bit on the easier side of knitting.
ReplyDeleteGood for you in trying something new, and look at that, you like it! :-)
How fun to have those cats to enjoy, especially when they are so playful.
We had a ragdoll who was not much into playing much of his life, though we loved him so.
We rescued him from a home where drugs were used and we believe he was effected by the drugs,he was a little slow, bless his little heart.
He lived to be 17 years old and he was one gorgeous cat!
Nice to visit with you this evening.
Merry Christmas to you!
I'd love to see a ragdoll cat in person. How nice that you rescued a kitty from a harmful environment and that he lived (what sounds to me like) a long life. :)
DeleteHow you keep the joined edges from getting pulled tight? When I use DPN's to knit helical the joins are tight which makes me think I'd have to use a circular to do it instead.
ReplyDeleteI used circular needles for the body of the hat. (When making these hats I switch to DPNs at the top when I've finally decreased to the point my circulars won't work anymore). So maybe that's the answer to your question.
DeleteBut I have to say, I actually find my knitting tighter on the circulars, and then it gets loose as I switch to DPNs. On the circulars I have to just be really conscious about loosening my tension as I work.
For working the decreasing rows at the crown I finally got some wooden DPNs that don't slip so easily - because when I use metal DPNs I have to use point protectors to keep those things from slipping right out of the stitches. It's really cumbersome and I dread having to switch to DPNs. Fortunately, it's only for a few rounds that I have to use them - and those rounds get shorter and short as I go. :)
Love your stripes. I used helical knitting for the first time on my socks arms to alternate skeins of yarn and found it a revelation. I just had to remember not to twist the yarn, just drop and continue knitting!
ReplyDeleteVery cool! As experienced as you are, I'm thrilled to know it's something fairly new to you, too, Lucy.
DeleteSuch beautiful cats, I took up knitting after my cat died so haven’t experienced the cat and yarn ball joy/terror. I’ve been too lazy to alternate skeins when knitting a jumper but to intentional use helical to make a stripe pattern seems a more interesting way to learn it.
ReplyDeleteYes, knitting with cats was something I'm not sure I could get used to they were permanent residents. They were constantly wanting to play with the dangling yarn from whatever project I was working on. And I wasn't real crazy over the idea of having cat hair end up in my projects. They've been gone for a week and even after vacuuming (furniture and floors) I'm still find rogue cat hairs around here. lol
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