Bryspun Plastic Needles

About two years ago, when we went to Auburn, AL for our daughters graduation from Auburn (War Eagle!!!), I decided to start a new knitting project. I started the Beekeeper’s Quilt because a friend of mine gifted me the pattern the morning we left town. I just couldn’t wait to get back home before starting it, so I stopped into a little yarn store in Opelika, AL called Yarnhouse Studios. While there, I purchased a skein of Berroco Sox and a set of double-pointed US4 knitting needles. The yarn store was very nice. The staff was very friendly and helpful, but the selection was much smaller than I was used to. Anyways, the needles I purchased were made by Bryspun, and at the time, I had never seen this brand before. It was the only double-pointed needles that they had in a size US4, so I thought I’d give them a try. After knitting with these needles, I will tell you that I love them. They are slightly flexible, so they are easy on the hands. They are very smooth to knit with and I love the tips. Also, my yarn slides on them well, without grabbing too much, yet they aren’t slippery. To top it all off, they are made in the USA and I love buying things made in the USA! That being said, when my mother mentioned the other day that she needed new needles and that she prefered not to use metal. I quickly suggested that she try Bryspun and that I had recently seen this brand here in Houston at a local yarn store.

My mother met me for lunch on Wednesday and we decided to stop in to the local yarn store to search for her needles. I won’t mention the yarn store we shopped at because I normally enjoy going in there, but this trip was not so enjoyable at all. As we walked in the door, a girl hopped up from the table and greeted us and asked if she could help us find something. I told her that my mother was looking for some new knitting needle and that she prefered plastic, and before I could finish asking if they still carried Bryspun, she blurted out, “Plastic??? (with a look of discuss on her face as she wrinkled her nose), Seriously??? Most knitters don’t use plastic!”. I was shocked by her attitude but I politely finished my sentence and said, “You used to carry Bryspun, do you still?” She showed us to the Bryspun needles and then left us to browse the store. I was so shocked at her rude, sarcastic attitude towards plastic needles. Two days later, and I’m still thinking about it and I can still hear her saying “Plastic??? Seriously?” and I can still see her wrinkled nose, as though she had just smelled rotten garbage. So now I ponder… are plastic needles considered inferior is some way in the knitting world? Are plastic needles the “acrylic” of yarns? Does it make me less of a knitter because I sometimes knit with plastic needles? Do my projects turn out differently because they were knit with plastic needles? I’m now so confused.

Let me just say, that I enjoy knitting with all kinds of needles. I’ve never been a fan of wooden, but I do have some and I do use them from time to time. I actually prefer the metal needles that are coated. My favorite needles are Aero-Bernat, but they are very hard to find here in the US unless you can find them in a thrift store or eBay. I did see them for sale on a website once, it was a Canadian website, but they did ship to the US. I’ve tried all brands too. I dp like my Addi Turbos, because they are nice and smooth to knit with and I love the tips, but the metal they use for their needles make my fingers stink. I know that you are thinking I’m weird, but it’s true! I can’t knit with them without having to go wash my hands right after. I also like knitting with KnitPicks needles and that’s normally what I’ve ordered lately, when I come across a needle size I don’t have.

So, I ask you, my readers…. Do you ever knit with plastic needles? Do you think plastic needles are inferior to wooden or metal needles? Have you tried the Bryspun brand and if so, how did you like them? I’d love to hear from you on the subject! Thanks in advance!

My Valuable Yarn Guide

Last weekend was the best day for thrifting at estate sales and antique stores! More about that later in my next blog post, but I wanted to blog about my one find at an antique store, because I’m super excited about it. I found a copy of “My Valuable Yarn Guide”, ninth edition, 1988 Fall/Winter. Valuable indeed! The author is unknown and I have no idea who published this booklet. I had never seen or heard of this little booklet before, so I was curious when I saw it and picked it up. On the front cover is a conversion chart with ounces, grams, yards, and meters. Also the conversion of knitting and crochet needles and the different sizes. The inside cover lists all the different fibers that different yarns are made of, the raw state from which they come, the conductivity, strength, shrinkage of the yarn and even the flame test results of each type of yarn. The first few pages of the booklet talk about caring for your yarn and proper washing methods, etc. It also talks about how to substitute different yarns and interchange the yarns within a pattern. A glossary is also included. Then, the remaining of the book (the majority of the book) is a printed database of yarn brands, the name of each different type of yarn, its class, yardage, gauge, needle size, grams, and fibers and percentages of each yarn! This is amazing! I love to knit vintage patterns and often the vintage yarns are hard to find, so this is a wealth of information that will help me to decide what other kinds of yarns can be substituted in a pattern. For example, say a vintage knitting pattern calls for Spinnerin Yarn, Charisma. I would look under “Spinnerin”, then look for “Charisma”. I would then see that Charisma was a sport weight yarn and there was 100 yards (29 grams) per skein and that it is made of 56% acrylic and 44% nylon. How cool is that??? So out of curiosity, I did a search this morning on the internet for other copies of My Valuable Yarn Guide, and I found only two on Amazon for sell, starting at $29.99 and up. I paid $4.95 for my copy! What a bargain! I know that I will refer to this booklet time and time again and I’m so glad to have found it. It’s awesome when you find something that you didn’t even know existed and you know it will be so helpful in the future!

Vintage Baby Blanket

A friend of mine from work and his wife, were expecting their first child. When I heard the news, I knew I had to knit him/her something and it had to be from one of my vintage patterns. After all, I haven’t had the opportunity to knit for a baby in a long time. I flipped through all my vintage baby knitting booklets and found an adorable knitted blanket with a satin edging. Since they didn’t want to know the sex of the baby until it was born, I thought a knitted blanket would be a perfect gift. Plus, the baby would get to use the blanket longer, since it was something that he/she wouldn’t out grow quickly.

My friend has seen me knitting before and commented that most yarn gives him the creeps, since his fingers are always rough and dry. So while shopping for yarn, I found some super soft yarn. Surprisingly, it was made by Red Heart and it’s called “Soft Baby Steps”. I chose white, since the sex was not known, and for the fact that the white satin would match nicely to the white yarn. So I immediately casted on and went to knitting. The knitting part was finished in about two weeks, and that was with me only knitting for a few hours in the evening.

I decided to lightly block the blanket because the salvage edges were curling badly and I was having a hard time pinning the satin edging to the blanket. I soaked the blanket in cool water, patted dry with a towel and stretched, just slightly to make the blanket flat. I was careful not to stretch too much, because I wanted the satin binding to look nice once the recipient washed the blanket. After the blanket was dry, about 2 days later, I pinned the statin binding to the blanket, placing the edge of my knitting into the crease of the binding. I made sure all the corners were folded in the same directions. Then I hand stitched the binding to the blanket. I thought it would look nicer to stitch one side of the blanket, then flip it over and stitch the other edge of the binding to the blanket, instead of trying to catch both sides all at once. I’m very happy with the results! I also stitched the creases on the corner now, so little fingers and toe wouldn’t get caught. It was finished just in time, one day before little Charlie made his appearance. Charlie was born on May 1st at 8 AM and weighted 9 lbs 3 oz.. Welcome to the world little Charlie!!! I hope you will enjoy your new blanket made especially for you!

Happy 93rd Birthday Grandma

My grandmother turns 93 years old today!  She has crocheted for as long as I can remember, and is still crocheting today.   She crochets baby blankets and donates them to a local hospital for the new-born babies.  Last summer, I had the opportunity to sit with her for the day and we spent the whole day crafting (me knitting and her crocheting) and chatting.   She’s seen a lot in her years and has a lot stories to tell.   I hope she has a fantastic day!   She’s so cute… I love my grandma!

Holy Yarn Bomb!

To my surprise, there has been a yarn bombing not far from where I work! Last Friday, I cut down LaMonte on my lunch break to check out an estate sale, and I as I passed Stevens Elementary School, I noticed the yarn bombing. I screamed out loud as I drove past, “Oh wow! A yarn bombing!!!”. Of course, I had to pull over and take a few pictures! Several trees were wrapped in colorful knitted pieces and bright red, yarn apples were hung from the trees. Knitted and crocheted flowers and leaves adorned the chain link fence. It was so beautiful and it really gave some color and pizzaz to the school.

Upon telling my mother what I had seen, she told me she saw a news clip about this on one of the local tv channels. I did a search for the video and found out that the members of the Oak Forest Yarn Club did all the knitting and crocheting. They had the school all decorated for the kids when they returned from Spring Break a few weeks ago. What a wonderful surprise for those children! The yarn bombing is supposed to be kept up all spring, so if you live in Houston, you might want to go check it out. If you don’t then you can enjoy the knitted art below via the pictures. Enjoy!

How to Block WITHOUT Lace Blockers

I’ve been putting off blocking some of my garments because I felt they would look better if lace blockers were used in the process.  Every time I placed an order for yarn, I would consider ordering some, but at $20 a set, I just couldn’t bring my self to place the order.  I always thing to myself, “$20!  I’d rather spend that money on more yarn!”.  So I did an internet search and it seems that some people block using yarn.  Who knew?  So I thought I’d give it a try too.  Much to my surprise, it was pretty simple.  So here is a tutorial on how I blocked one of my wraps without lace blockers.

Before blocking, find a place in your home that is large enough to accommodate the size of piece you are blocking.  Also make sure it can be left out for a day or two while it dries.  I prefer to block on a spare bed or carpeted floor, laying my blocking mats out on top.

Step One:  Using scrap worsted cotton yarn, thread a tapestry needle.  Be sure to use cotton, because it will not stretch like other yarns when wet.  Weave the needle along the straight edge of your knitting.  I usually weave between the second and third stitch from the edge.  Once you’ve weaved the yarn all the way across, flatten out your edge, so you don’t have any bunched up edges.  Allow 10-15 inches, to be sticking out on each end.  Cut yarn.  Repeat this process until you have all the edges weaved.

Step Two:  Soaking.  In a clean sink, run cold water.  Add Soak (or your favorite woolwash) to the cold water.  Stir it in with your hands and place the garment in the sink.  Allow your garment to soak about five minutes in the cool water.  Remove garment from sink and lightly press with hands to remove water, but do not wring or twist garment.  Lay wet piece on a large bath towel and roll the towel up (with garment) to absorb excess water.

Step Three:  Lay damp garment onto the blocking mat and block to the dimensions given in your knitting pattern.  Place  the T pins to the inside of the blocking yarn.  See picture below.

You will need to anchor the tails of your blocking yarn.  To do this, wrap the end of your tail around a T pin and stretch it away from the garment and anchor into the mattress, carpet or blocking mat.  See picture below.

Step Four:  Once your garment is pinned and it looks all nice and straight, it’s time to be patient and let your garment dry.

Step Five:  Enjoy wearing your blocked, finished project!

Finally… Yarn Grows on Trees!!!

I have the most amazingly, talented little sister! Kit has always been very creative. As a kid, I remember her making really neat collages on poster board, using cut up magazines. She just had an eye for putting things in certain spots and transpiring a plain poster board into a really cool piece of art. She was also great at drawing back in high school and I recall her making me a picture of a rabbit, using just ink dots. She currently lives in Chico, CA with her husband and family and she is still making fabulous crafty creations. She mostly paints nowadays, but recently she made some very creative collages. She made one for my mother, one for my father, and one for me. She adapted each collage to each person’s personal interest. Each collage includes pictures of the family, as well as things related to our lives.

My sister knows that my one of my favorite hobbies is knitting. So she created a collage, which she entitled “Finally… Yarn Grows on Trees”. The details are amazing. The collage is of a mystic, fairytale like scene and includes photos or me, my husband, my kids, mom, dad, Kit, her husband and her kids and she even included my dog, Dottie. The scene is of a castle and a huge tree that appears to be growing 3-dimensional balls of yarn! She used a photo taken of me on my wedding day and jazzed it up by adding a crown to my head, a larger (more colorful) bouquet and a little butterfly. She then put a castle in the background and put a picture of my hubby, from our wedding day, at the top of the castle. It appears that he is my knight and shinning armour, coming to my rescue me and live happily ever after. And he is my knight and shinning armour… and I’m sure we will live happily ever after. We’ve been married over eleven years now. The details on this is amazing. I took several pictures, but the pictures I took don’t do this piece of art justice. I’ve hung this collage in my knitting room. I think it’s the perfect piece of art for my room and I love to look at it as I knit.