Mother of Purl by Eig, Edith (best desktop ebook reader .TXT) 📗

a timely manner and it’s still available. If you are knitting an item for a friend, give them a label along with the gift. I always tell my clients to be sure to keep one of the labels from your project, attach a snippet of the yarn to it, and store it in a safe place. If you become a dedicated knitter, buy a knitting notebook to store all your patterns, labels, and knitting notes.

COTTON

Looks can be deceiving: not all cottons are the same. In determining quality, the most important characteristic of cotton is whether it is made up of long or short fibers. Price is one of the key indicators of this difference. If it is inexpensive, then it’s made up of short fibers (cotton that has been processed has a tendency to shed, pill, and stretch). Cottons with long virgin fibers, such as Egyptian or pima cotton, are among the finest.

Unlike your cosmetic cotton ball, which is only available in white, natural cotton grows in a variety of earth tones, including pale shades of pink, green, and beige.

Cotton is also prone to shrinking, so you’ll need to account for this as you prepare to knit. That’s why mercerized cottons are preferred; they’ve been treated with caustic soda and stretched, making them smoother and stronger and less likely to shrink and stretch.

[EDITH KNIT TIPS]

Commonsense Knitting with Cotton

When I recommend that my clients knit with cotton, I’m often met with the comment “No, cotton stretches.” Since cotton has less elasticity than other fibers, it tends to lose its structure and form, giving it the illusion that it has stretched, most noticeably in ribbing. There’s a remedy for this. I suggest knitting the ribbing with needles three sizes smaller than the ones with which you’ll knit your garment.

WOOL

Wool is often used as a generic term for yarn spun from an animal. In fact, wool is only spun from the fleece of a sheep. As with cotton, you also get what you pay for with wool. Wool comes in many varieties, depending on what type of sheep it originated from. My preference is merino wool, a premium wool made from the Australian Merino sheep. It is one of the softest wools available.

FINDING INSPIRATION

Yarns aren’t the only source of inspiration for new projects. My client, Jane Lockhart of Sweet Lady Jane, the renowned baker to the stars, was inspired to knit a cardigan. The style of the sweater was centered around a set of vintage buttons inherited from her grandmother. We had a lot fun roaming the shop until we found the perfect yarn to enhance these vintage buttons. Inspiration is everywhere.

Many knitters start their first project with very inexpensive yarn bought from one of the chain craft stores. It may seem like a bargain—only two or three dollars a ball—but these yarns are of inferior quality: they are rough to the touch and because they’re held together with starch, you may notice the yarn has a sticky feel. Since you’ll be investing hours in making your project, it’s worth buying quality yarn that will add to the end result rather than detract from it.

I sell a broad range of wools, everything from ultrasoft fingering yarn to thicker and coarser wools that knit up into the classic ski sweater. A sturdy fabric, wool also has many practical attributes: a sheep’s coat helps maintain its body temperature, keeping it warm in winter and cool in summer, all the time repelling rain and moisture. It can do the same for you—but don’t forget your umbrella.

[EDITH KNIT TIPS]

All Wools Are Not Created Equal

There is a clear distinction between virgin wool and pure wool. I always recommend that my clients knit with virgin wool because it comes direct from the sheep to you—unlike pure wool, which is made of recycled wool. So, to put an end to the wool controversy, wool vs. wool: unless the label specifically says “virgin wool,” you are purchasing the other kind.

Ripping Mohair

Ripping out mohair can be a hairy task! Individual rows may rip quite easily, but the last stitch can keep the row tied up in knots. To make the process easier, I advise my clients to use a sharp yarn needle to pry loose the stitch and to avoid yanking to separate the strands that have become entangled.

MOHAIR

Back in the ‘60s, every woman owned a mohair sweater. It looked stunning until you actually felt the fibers, which were rough, prickly, and itchy. Today, mohair yarns have come a long way; spun from the belly of a kid goat rather than from an adult goat, the yarn is much softer and pleasing to the touch. Mohair yarn is often misunderstood and considered to be a very thin yarn. In fact, the opposite is true: mohair is a lofty yarn because you must account for the fuzziness as well as the core when working with it.

ANGORA

Angora comes from the full underbelly of angora rabbits—not your common neighborhood bunny. Like mohair, angora is also a lofty yarn and is often mistakenly considered much thinner than it is. As a result, people tend to knit with needles that are too small, creating a tight fabric. If you knit with needles that are too small, you risk compressing the yarn and marring the beauty of the finished product.

[EDITH KNIT TIPS]

Taking the Shed Out of Angora

Angora tends to shed, especially when you’re working with it. Eventually, the shedding will stop on its own. To shorten this process, however, you can put the finished garment in the dryer on fluff without any heat (this is very important) and let it spin. As long as you’re not exposing the garment to heat and high spin, you can keep the garment in the dryer on fluff for approximately a half hour. You may need to repeat this procedure several times.

CASHMERE

Cashmere, one of the finest, most expensive fibers in the world, is spun