Day 163 - How to make a single ball yarn case.

September 9th, 2012

How to make a single ball yarn case.

A yarn case is a container used to hold a round ball of yarn from rolling away when you are knitting your project. I have a 6 ball yarn case and it is extremely useful but not not always

You will need:

Margarine container (small, medium or large depending on size), clean

Or peanut container, clean

Scissor

Masking tape

decorative supplies-stickers, decorative paper, glitter, glue etc...

Step one: 

Take the top and make a slit going towards the center. This will allow yarn to be slotted in. Cut a hole in the middle of the top.

Step two:

Run tape along the edge of the slit and hole. This will prevent snagging the yarn when it is being used.

Step three: Optional

Decorate container.

Step four:

Place yarn in container. Pull tail through slit and into hole. 

Step five:

Start project. Happy knitting!

Day 162 - How to choose yarn for a knitted project.

September 8th, 2012

How to choose yarn for a knitted project.

Choosing yarn is a crucial part of the knitting process. You will never achieve the effect you want if you use the wrong yarn. Case in point, you can't make a sleek dress sock with a bulky wool and 9mm needles. You need a fingerling weight wool and 2.5 mm dpns. Wool type should also be a consideration. Again if you want a sleek sock, you shouldn't use felting wool. When choosing yarn you have to consider three things, appearance, gauge and fiber content.

Appearance:

When considering appearance we must look at texture and colour. Texture is the weight and smoothness of a yarn, how may plies in a yarn. Single plied yarn is make of one strand of yarn. Multiplied plies are multiple strands twisted together. This can make the yarn bulkier but not necessarily. The weight of yarn is more dependent on the thickness of each individual plie strand and they can vary between fingerling to bulky.

Solid colours and smooth yarn is good when making a piece with a pattern or cable knit. Cable stitches can be lost if the yarn is too crazily coloured. At the same time, a plain stocking stitch project can really be jazzed up if you have a funky yarn, sock, scarves and hoodies come to mind.

When choosing yarn for a project remember the Simple and Complex Rule. The simpler the pattern, the more complex the yarn. Alternatively, the more complex the pattern, the simpler the yarn.

Gauge:

Gauge is how many stitches there are per inch. It is extremely important, if the wrong gauge is used on a project then the item may be too big or too small. It is also important to use the appropriate needles for the project. This can be found on the label of the yarn ball.

Fiber content: 

Fiber content dictates how the yarn will act. Silks and cottons will not stretch. Wools can shrink. Acrylics stretch. Pick the yarn that best goes with what the project needs. Fiber content also dictates how a yarn feels. They can be fuzzy like angora or smooth like cottons.

Day 161 - How to wind a center pull ball of yarn

September 7th

How to wind a center pull ball of yarn

2 methods

 

Method 1

 

Things you will need:

1 skein of yarn

2 knitting or crocheting needles

chair or knees or volunteer hands

 

Step one:

Positioning your skein. Untwist the yarn and place it on knees, chair or in friendly volunteers hands so that it is in slightly taut oval. This allows the yarn to easily free from the skein.

 

Step two:

Find the free end of the yarn. Do not pull on the yarn too hard, this can create knots. Shaking usually works.

 

Step three:

Take the two needles and places the yarn between them. Make a long tail with one end and lie it against the needles. Begin winding the yarn feeding from your skein around all the needles and tail, moving back and forth until you have a small center started, 10-15 times around.

 

Step four:

Pinch the center between your thumb and fore finger and slide off needles.

 

Step five:

Begin winding the yarn feeding from your skein around the center, make sure that tail stays free and not to wind it too tightly. This will cause issues later.

 

Step six:

Turn, wrap, repeat until the skein is finished.

 

Step seven:

Start your project!

 

Method 2

Things you will need:

1 skein of yarn

tube-toilet or plastic tape

chair or knees or volunteer hands

 

Step one:

Positioning your skein. Untwist the yarn and place it on knees, chair or in friendly volunteers hands so that it is in slightly taut oval. This allows the yarn to easily free from the skein.

 

Step two:

Find the free end of the yarn.

 

Step three:

Tape free end of the yarn to the edge of the tube.

 

Step four:

Run the yarn along the side to an inch past the middle to create a tail.Begin wrapping the yarn back over the tail stop at least an inch from edge.

 

Step five:

Wrap yarn back and forth  along tube until the skein is finished.

 

Step six:

Start your project!

Day 160 - How to colourfast fabric

September 6th, 2012Day

How to colourfast fabric

 

For someone who sews, bleeding dye can be a real problem, not only when preshrinking but also when wearing and subsequent washing. Some fabrics, like wool, are notorious for dye rubbing off in the wash, especially reds, but you can prevent this by colourfasting the fabric prior to using. Do this prior to, or concurrent, preshrinking.

You will need:

Bucket

Washing machine

measuring cups

Teaspoon

retayne solution  (found at Amazon.com)

synthrapol solution

Step one:

Put fabric into bucket and cover with hot water until piece is completely covered.

Step two:

Add retayne solution, 1 tsp per meter. Mix well.

Step three:

Let soak, completely submerged, for 30 minutes. This step binds the dye to the fabric.

Step four:

Wring out and rinse fabric with clean, room temperature water.

Step five:

Place into washing machine, run load on hot with synthrapol solution added. (1/2 cup for top loading washers, 1/4 cup for front load washers as they use less water.) Do not wash with other clothing, this could result in a dye transfer and ruin the other items as this step rinses away excess dye.

Step 6:

Dry item (hang, lie flat or traditional dryer) as you would while preshrinking.

Delicate items that can only be hand washed should not be put in washer even if they need colourfasting. Simply replace Step 5 with hand washing in water as hot as you can manage. Use gloves to prevent from getting burnt or dyed hands.

Day 159 - How to fuzzy up crochet items

September 5th, 2012

How to fuzzy up crochet items

You will need:

Hair brush or cat brush

Patience

Crocheted item

Scissors

Step one: 

Grab your item you want to make fuzzy and start brushing. Pull brush back and forth, up and down.

Step two:

Keep brushing until adequately fuzzy, use different brushes if needed. This may take time, use patience.

Step three:

Use scissors to make fuzz even.

Step four:

Snuggle fuzzy item.

Day 158 - How to read a yarn label

September 4th, 2012

How to read a yarn label

        

1. This area identifies the name and fiber composition of the yarn.

2. This portion of the tag indicates amount of yarn that the ball contains, usually in length and weight. 

3. This section lists gauge. Yarn gauge is how many stitches there are per inch. It also suggests what knitting needles or crochet hooks.

4.The area indicates the yarn weight. Yarn weights range from 0 to 6. 0 being a fingerling (sock) wool while a 6 is a bulky wool.

5.This section advises where it was made.

6. This portion lists care instructions, whether it is machine or hand wash.

7. This corner identifies the colour of the yarn, specifically the dye lot. Shades can change from lot to lot, so it is best to use yarn from the same dye lot.

8. This last section provides the company information.

(Picture courtesy of the internet, specifically the google images but I think it was collected from the Lion brand yarn website.)

Day 157 - How to preshrink fabric before you sew!

September 3rd, 2012

How to preshrink fabric before you sew 

You will need:

Washer and dryer

Iron that has a steam setting

Two towels

Sewing machine or serger

Organza ironing cloth

cotton batiste ironing cloth

 

Preshrinking fabric is extremely important before starting any project. No one wants a misshapen shirt after the first wash.The first thing you need to determine is if the fabric is machine wash, hand wash or dry clean only. 

Machine washable fabrics (cottons and knits, etc..)

Step one:

Serge or machine stitch edges to prevent fraying.

Step two:

Machine wash on cold. 

Step three:

Dry on high. 

Step four:

Start your sewing project.

Hand wash fabrics (silks etc..)

Step one:

Hand wash with mild detergent.

Step two:

Lay flat to dry.

Step three:

Press with organza ironing cloth.

Step four:

Start your sewing project.

Dry clean fabrics (wools etc..)

London Shrink method

Step one:

Saturate all the fabrics in water.

Step two:

Place between two towels and roll-up tightly.

Step three:

Allow to dry, possibly rerolling with new towels if the piece of fabric is large.

Step four:

Start your sewing project.

Steam method

Step one:

Put the a few cotton ironing clothes into a bowl of water. 

Step two:

Lay out the fabric on the ironing board.

Step three:

Wring out one cloth and place on top of fabric. 

Step four:

Iron the press cloth until dry, do not glide, use a pick up and press down motion. Lots of steam should be billowing out. 

Step five:

Repeat three and four, moving the press cloth until the entire piece has been pressed.

Step six:

Start your sewing project.

Dry cleaner method

Step one:

Take it to the dry cleaners, ask for no creases.

Step two:

Pick up fabric at dry cleaners.

Step three:

Start your sewing project.