My children are in cahoots
with the cats. I mean look at them. They're trying to crush me in this picture. I've stepped on countless toys today, and slipped on one. The fall was not pretty. I fell right on my rear end in my daughter's room trying to put her down for a nap. After I fell I look up at my daughter and she's looking at me like "Whoa... What happened?" Of course this is the same child who managed to shut my computer down 2 times, the wrong way. Plus, SWB just finished up a round of antibiotics a couple of days ago and now has pink-eye and is complaining about his other ear. Putting eye drops in a 3 year old's eyes are not fun. Not even bribery with the little Easter themed marshmellows is working. Where is the good health angel when I need her? Now, my three cats are laying low, but I know they're in on it. They can't fool me. They're probably working up a really good hairball, or have plans to chew on some knitting needles. I just know it.
I'm just about to cast on for my Sockapaloooza socks with the Cascade Fixation and was wondering, does anyone have any tips for working with this stuff? The ball band has this crazy stretched and unstretched yardage. Say what? Does that matter when using it for socks? Any help would be appreciated.
posted by Jennifer at 3/01/2006 07:00:00 PM
10 Comments:
Dang, you have had a day! Hope things settle down A LOT at your house.
Try not to tension the yarn too much when you knit - you want it to be able to stretch when you put your foot in the sock. I usually end up knitting it with a much larger needle than I think I should need - otherwise I end up with something that has shoe-like structure. :)
I feel your pain... I don't have cats anymore, but I know my duo are always in cahoots with each other, plotting my demise. Moms should be able to take out insurance for the countless times each day we almost kill ourselves stepping on toys! Yikes on the pink eye and ear infections. I hope SWB is on the mend soon! I have fixation in my stash, but I haven't worked with it yet. I've heard what Chris said, though, that it's better not to tension the yarn while you're working. I'll be checking back as I'm interested in hearing others' suggestions as well for future reference. Take care! :-)
Oh man - pink eye sucks. Poor little guy.
I think you just need to swatch to see what kind of tension you get. I know that's probably not what you want to hear though!
That sounds like my house. Legos everywhere. And they have the nerve to cry when they step on one, even though I don't play with Legos! I hope SWB gets better soon!
I'm afraid I don't have any Fixation tips. I started a couple of pairs and find it difficult to work with.
I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR OVER HERE! I had to coax my toddler out of the dog kennel today. He and the dog had settled in for a comfy little cuddle in there.
(PS: Try dropping a drop in ear or the corner of the eye once the little one is asleep. My little one had blocked tear ducts for almost a year and it worked a treat for me)
Oh dear, I remember the days of wrestling a toddler to put in ear drops - she would suddenly gain herculean strength that could thwart both her dad and I as we tried to tag team her.
On the fixation - less is good when it comes to tension. As far as needle size, I normally use size 1 addis when knitting standard sockweight yarn (Opal, Regia) and I use addi size 3 for Fixation. Now I am a fairly tight knitter, but I wouldn't think you would want to go below size 2.
Yes, I'm sure the cats are in cahoots and plotting something big to spring on you. All toys should be purchased with forethought to what they will feel like when stepped on in mid rush. Perhaps that is why my kiddo had 4 million stuffed toys? Hee!
I think Lolly knit some socks out of Fixation. I'm sure she would be glad to give you some pointers.
http://www.lollygirl.com/blog
Amy
Hello:
I've done a number of socks and hats out of fixation, you should tension it slightly and work on a larger needle - I've worked with 5's and 6's and ended up with a good product. It will shrink slightly when washed but if not tensioned too tight, it will stretch nicely when worn. Since they're on larger needles, they're a really fast knit!
I knit an ice cream pint cozy out of fixation and it helped to make sure you don't pull it tight while you are knitting with it - keep a looser tension than you normally would.
Wow, you have had a few mommy moments lately! :) Just repeat ... "It's all worth it ... it's all worth it" (in the same tone as "Cats was the best show I've ever seen ..."). (I hope you get that!) Fixation -- I think that if you look at that fixation pattern from the summer Knitty issue (was it Kate Gilbert who made that?) there's some tips on working with it. Good luck! I'm sitting this one out.
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