Random Answers to Random Questions

Yesterday as I posted to the blog, I remembered that last Friday there was a question about Artesian and I had never answered it!  Sorry about that, I’ll take care of it today, as well as answer yesterday’s comment question.

In knitting Artesian, on the first row of each repeat you place a lot of markers.  Then, as you work through the short rows of the repeat, you use the markers as turning points.  The first time through it feels kind of strange, but after I got a feel for what was happening, I realized that this was probably the easiest way to write and knit the pattern.  (As a side note, I’m not really using the chart at all for this because in this pattern, I think it’s easier to use the written directions.)  In order to make this easier to knit, there are numbered stitch markers available just for this pattern.  Right now though, they aren’t available, so the commenter was curious if I had some or how I was handling the marker situation.  I do not have the numbered stitch markers because I’m not a fan of stitch markers with dangly bits.  I like the way they look, I’ve just found that I don’t like knitting with them.  I prefer a simple ring type marker with no dangly bits.  I realized though that I needed some way to keep track of which markers were which in this project though, so I color coded them.  Markers 5 and 15 are red, markers 10 and 20 are white and all the rest are black.  This way, when the directions say to work to marker 7, it’s easy to find without counting everything, every time.  The other thing I did, that is not in the directions, is to put two markers at the marker 20 position.  Then, when I get to the point where I’m stopping to turn before marker 20, I move the second marker (it’s silver) to where my next turn will be.  I have to look ahead because I place the marker on the RS row right before the WS where the short row actually happens, but it makes it easier to just work to the marker on the WS row than counting “X stitches before Marker 20.”  This might not make sense to everyone, but it works for the way my brain works, and it’s been very helpful.  Actually, this whole paragraph probably doesn’t make sense unless you’re knitting Artesian.  Sorry about that.  (I’m really hoping this makes sense if you are knitting Artesian.)

Yesterday there was a question about checking to see if my light color for my project would felt.  I’ve heard before that there are some cream/white wools that won’t felt when the rest of the yarn line felts beautifully.  Apparently some of the bleaching techniques will strip the scales from the wool and it won’t felt because of this.  For my project, the white color is only used for the lace on the bowls and it doesn’t have to felt.  Only the gray used for the bowls needs to felt.  And no, I haven’t actually tried to felt it yet, I’m crossing my fingers that it will.  Also, I’m trusting in the Cascade 220 because it does felt well, in general.  I’ve never tried to felt it in white.  As a side note, Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride will felt in the natural/white colors, in case you’re looking for a felting yarn in a natural or white color.

I hope you have a great weekend!  We’re supposed to get more snow today and more freezing rain and stuff tonight and tomorrow.  It’s like we’re having our entire winter this week.  I’m ready for it to warm up a bit now.