I just finished my first mitten by twining from both ends of a skein. Twining means you have to spend some time after each round untwisting. Unfortunately, untwisting the two strands also seems to result in unspinning the strands themselves. Am I doing something wrong?
Also, I'm starting another set of twined mittens with unspun Icelandic wool. I predict that this time untwisting the strands will spin them. I'm nervous about using the Icelandic wool because it seems to pull apart so easily. Any advice? Encouragement?
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
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Hi - long time lurker, I don't think I've ever commented.
Try this:
http://www.knittinghelp.com/apps/flash/video_player/play/154/1
It works great for natural fibers...for synthetic fibers, I suggest the Russian join video.
As a whole, I love the knittinghelp.com video set. Short, to the point, and helpful.
Oooh! I know! I know! Please, please pick me!
Well, I actually don't know. What I do know is that when I knit in the round, I add twist. Which means that as I knit, I'm going in the same direction that the yarn is spun. Not a big deal, but it is annoying.
There's nothing to be done except, if it really bothers you, every once in a while, hold your knitting up by the yarn and let the yarn "unspin" itself. Kind of like holding a twisted up phone cord (handset to receiver) up and let it do what it needs to do.
Man, I hope that makes sense. I'm in awe of telling the Angry Professor what to do.
As for unspun yarn - no problem, but use appropriate needles. If your gauge is too tight, you will find yourself having to splice. Often (ask me how I know - cabled sweater, 300 lb friend, did not know that guage mattered - it was a long time ago). Adding a little spin, in this case, is a good thing.
I suggest you separate your yarn into two balls (if accuracy matters, I use a kitchen scale to divide my yarn in two), and then you won't have to worry about yarns winding about each other, and just knit each mitt as it wants to.
Hope that helps.
I have never tried twined knitting, but I think this is normal. I've read that most people use yarn that is S-spun and Z-plied (commercial yarns are always Z-spun and S-plied)when using this technique - apparently this sort of yarn is available in Europe.
Maybe you should take up spinning...
I use Noro a lot and it likes to melt into nothing on the slubby unspun parts, which is a little like using unspun wool. Bamboo needles work better than Addis I notice and everytime it pulls apart, I just rejoin and get on with it. Any weirdness felts - and I think unspun wool will felt itself readily in the finished product just from use.
Twining is normally extremely twisty - yer doing it right, it just kind of sucks is all.
Do you read the Yarn Harlot's blog? She had a tutorial on there several months ago about twined mittens...
Icelandic wool DOES pull apart easily. I knit my husband a pair of gloves out of it about two weeks ago and I spent about half of the first mitten cursing myself for all of the times that I just randomly pulled the yarn apart. The only thing that I was able to do to avoid it? Knit slower and much "more gently" in the areas of stress/tension, such as when working the first stitch of a new dpn. Sorry that I don't have better advise - good luck!
I may have been doing it wrong, but I didn't have my twined yarn unspin. Maybe it was plied in a different direction from yours? I just poked my free DPN through the ball and let it hang until it was 2 strands again. I don't know how well my twined knitting turned out 'cause the mittens didn't fit, but you could probably ask Lene at Dances with Wool. She's quite nice and helpful.
i've never knt twinned, but i have unspun yarn and all you have to do is retwist if you are worried. If it really worries you, you could probably break the yarn, retwist (just spin it around) and then spit splice it back together.
Don't worry about the barely spun, just be a bit gentle and everything will be fine. And like before, spit splicing will be your friend if anything does go awry.
I suggest you consult a Pediatrician:
http://uncleleona.net/blog
This is sooo out of my area of expertise that I can't even make up a good lie about it. But I love your blog.
My apologies though - I've been tagged by one of those "meme" things, and I'm supposed to tag seven other random blogs.
I can appreciate the fact that this is probably one more burden that you don't need, but I'm playing along out of fear that my 2009 would be worse than my 2008 if I don't. If you decide to play along, just check the rules on my site.
Thanks. Have a great semester.
I don't knit, and don't have time to start, so this is theoretical information, rather than practical knowledge. When yarn (or string or thread or whatever) is spun, the two strands are first each spun in one direction (spinning keeps the fibers from pulling apart), and then wound around each other in the other direction. By doing it this way: one twist going one way and the other going the other way, the yarn (thread, rope, etc) doesn't un-spin itself because the one twist keeps the other twist from unwinding. When you untwist the strands from each other, then each strand is left to its own devices, and happily untwists itself (because it no longer has the other strand to keep it in line). Good luck with the unspun wool. That sounds pretty hard to me.
I don't knit.
But I have worn a great many Icelandic wool mittens, and they are worth the effort.
To the wearer anyway.
Dear AP,
Have you checked ravelry.com?
It is a wonderful knitting resource with lots of pictures, chats and help. You have to apply, but it's well worth the day or two wait to gain entrance.
erin d
I have taken a twined knitting class from Beth Brown-Reinsel. She does suggest you hold your yarn up occassionally and let it go back to the original twist like Misstea suggests. The reason is b'c the yarn the original twined knitters used was spun the opposite way commercial yarn is spun today. (that whole S twist vs Z twist) Using unspun yarn will probably mean you will twist the yarn as you work it in the direction that you need. (that is if it really is "unspun" and not "lightly spun") You could spin the yarn you need the correct way, or commission somone you know who spins to spin you some yarn the way you need it done. But just keep letting the kinks out by dangling your project for now. I love my twined knitting and cannot wait to make more!
(oh hi btw. I come thru by way of wordtapestry and rhet)
If it's the spin/ply of the yarn, I will note that I found some cotton yarn at a thrift shop here in the USA that was S-spun and Z-plied. It was skeined like sock yarn but I guess it could have been intended for crochet.
You're doing it right. You just have to let the twist out every once in awhile. I usually grab the ball of yarn and dangle the knitting from it (sometimes putting on a point protector to make sure stitches don't slide off) to get all the twist out.
As for knitting with pencil roving (aka real lopi, not the Reynolds Lopi(tm) that isn't), the best thing to do is use wooden needles and a looser grab on the lopi than you usually use. I don't put it around my little finger, like I do most yarn when I knit, and that helps.
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