information superhighway

while answering the stocked up emails i have from not being home on the range computer, i took a break to read a few articles in Knitter's Review - the latest is a reprise of how to substitute yarn in a project.

now... i do not create my own patterns. Don't have the talent. LOVE that others do. But to be honest many times those creative people use yarns i cannot afford. so i have long been of the "substituting yarn" category. The article on this (or actually a series of them) helps people who may not have the steps or the information to DO the steps.

I am extremely (can i repeat extremely!) fortunate to have a chart that was created by someone at my LYS years ago. I took the info this lovely person gave me (thank you eileen!) and put it on business cards - and have carried it with me ever since - over the years i've gotten pretty good at recognizing some of the information with regards to gauge and needle size (fingering/dk/worsted come to mind) but there are times still when yarn stumps me. For those times that little cheat sheet comes in way handy!

A similar cheat sheet appears in the article on Knitter's Review this week ... the article you can find if you click here - thank you to Clara Parkes for reprising this article written a while ago. There are links to current yarn info (YARNDEX and RAVELRY have great information stored)and discontinued yarns and what their qualities are (yards/meters per skein etc) in case you have old patterns that do not specify. The newer patterns DO give you (often) the yardage on the yarn they call for - at least when you sub out you can do the math.

with the glut of new media available, one thing i also do is keep a running list of yarn i might need for a project on my ipod (i probably could on my phone, but i like keeping that separate) - just the weight, what it's for, and the yardage - so if i am surprised by a LYS somewhere i can still stash wisely.

i feel i've gotten better over the years and don't buy as indiscriminately - but i do succumb often to internet clearances - not always good for the budget.

so ... what am i knitting... working on the round and rounds of my latest pair of soldier socks. am at the 7 inch mark and only need two more inches to decrease the toes and be done. need maybe to be asking for another pair of legs.

Also working on the woodruff mittens spoken of in my last post - i should learn how to put something in the side bar with 'works in progress' - shouldn't i.. oh well not a necessity since there is probably not a lot of reason - lol - the yarn i am using is the School Products pure merino i purchased in december - it is a little stiffer than i like to work with - but i am hopeful it will soften as advertised. The mittens are for me, since i've lost two pairs this winter - i usually opt for fingerless mitts (will post a couple of pics) but sometimes you just need "closure"

most are a variation of "socks for hands" - a pattern from a calendar from several years ago. I altered it to be knit in the round, with a longer cuff and longer ribbing in the finger area - so it is not the original pattern anymore - but i cannot claim creative responsibility - someone else did all the math - i just did a variation.

could this post be any longer? i am thinking not...