How To Wind A Ball Of Yarn By Yourself

Today I wanted to wind a ball of yarn but I was home alone so I didn't have any one to hold the hank of yarn so I can wind the ball of yarn.

I'm waiting on a ball winder and swift to arrive from Joann.com. So I improvised and used a chair to help me out.

First, I removed the label from the hank and untied the ends. Then I put the hank over the back of a chair.



Next, I got a used medicine bottle and placed one of the ends of yarn inside the bottle and closed it with the cap.



Then I wrapped the yarn around the medicine bottle. This can be kind of tricky. First, you have to be careful to not pull the yarn up off the back of the chair. This causes a big mess with yarn getting all tangled up. Believe me, you don't want this to happen!

Second, it can be difficult to get a round ball by wrapping over the end of the bottle. I usually have to try it a couple of times before it doesn't move itself off the bottom. I found that the more yarn you have on the bottle the easier it is to get the ball round.

Third, you have to be careful not to wrap around or over the cap or you won't be able to open it to get the bottle out.



When you are done wrapping, remove the cap, pull the bottle out of the center of the ball, and wala! you have a center pull ball of yarn.



Okay, I didn't come up with the idea of wrapping the medicine bottle for a center pull ball. I got this great tip from Vickie Howell on Knitty Gritty.

However, I did figure out putting the hank around the chair. Yeah! Now I can continue knitting my "The Same, But Different" sleeveless top.

P.S. Don't you love the green of the yarn! It is a dark forest green that is just royal.

Preemie Hats For Evie

Just got done knitting the second of two preemie hats for Evie. I knit the first one flat with a seam like the instructions stated, but I hate seams. So the second one was done in the round.




The hats are done in Bernat Softee Baby. It is sport dk weight yarn. I did the seamed hat on size 6 needles and the non-seamed hat on size 7 DPNs. The color number is 31203. I used this pattern:
BEV'S SECRET STRIPED PREEMIE BEANIE

The hats are so tiny but so is Evie.



The above picture was take on Evie's birth day, February 10, 2006. That's Andy's hand so you can really tell how small she is. Evie weighed 3 lbs and 9 ounces when she was born.

Evie is two weeks old today. Tomorrow I'm going to Kelly's baby shower. It was planned for 5 weeks before she was due, but Evie had other things in mind!

The Same But Different

That is the name of the pattern for a sleeveless top I've started from the Yarn Girl's Beyond the Basics book.

The recommend yarn in Berroco's Cotton Twist but I couldn't find a colorway that I liked at my local yarn store. Well, I did find a colorway I liked but they didn't have enough for the top.

That is one of the most frustrating things about going to a yarn shop. They have tons and tons of wonderful yarn in all textures and colors imaginable, but hardly enough of one type to do much more then knit a scarf. Often I'm told that they can order me some of the yarn. But heck I can do that myself on the Internet and usually pay less per skein than at the LYS.

But I did find enough Berroco Soft Twist in a lovely deep forest green colorway to do the top. It is a wool/rayon blend whereas the Cotton Twist is a cotton/rayon blend. But Soft Twist is the same gauge as the Cotton Twist so I bought it.

I'm changing up the pattern a little. First, I'm going to do the top knitted in the round instead of knitting the front and the back and seaming them. I hate seaming! And this way I only have to seam at the shoulders. Second, I'm knitting the bottom part of the top where there is an eyelet design in two separate pieces and starting the round knitting after about 20 rows. I've continued one eyelet up the side of each piece. The part of the top will not be seamed and will be less constricting then knitting the whole top in the round. I need more room at the bottom of the top then I need at the waist and bust. Because, you know, I'm a hippy kinda gal!

I've nearly got the front portion of the bottom eyelet section done. My goal is to finish that and start the back one next with the hopes that I'll get them connected this weekend. Then I can mindlessly knit in the round for awhile until I have to do arm and shoulder shaping.

It is a three day weekend, thanks to President's day on Monday. So I hope to make a lot progress on this.

Of course, I also want to work on the Knitting News Cast website. I have a new design for it that I've already posted but there are several more sections I want to add including reviews of the knitting books, websites, blogs, and yarn I have included in my past podcasts.

So it will be a busy but knitting kinda weekend.

And we get the RV on Sunday!!! Yeah!

Knit Cast Interview

The latest issue of Knit Cast is out. In celebration of her one year anniversary of podcasting, Marie invited other Knitting Podcasters for a virtual round table.

I enjoyed listening to all the other podcasters. And Marie did a great job of editing the podcast.

Happy Anniversary Marie!!!

Raglan Sweater

Finished this raglan sweater using Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It was a top down pattern that required no seams!!!

Sweater Complete

Last night I finished my raglan top down sweater that I was knitting in Lion Brands Homespun yarn. It is purple green yarn that feels really nice.

I bought the yarn about 4 years ago and apparently it is much nicer then the Homespun that Lion Brands is producing now. I didn't have any problems with yarn scrounging up at all.

Today I am wearing the sweater. It is supposed to get cold later today so this might be the only opportunity to wear it until later this year.

I'll post a picture of it tomorrow after I get home and get a picture taken of it.

Now I have to decide what to work on next. I had started the Knitty.com Tubey sweater but I'm not sure if I'll work on that right now since I won't finish it in time to wear it this year.

So I'm thinking of knitting some tops for spring/summer out of cotton/rayon/silk. I picked up the Yarn Girls' Beyond The Basics book the other day and they had some really cute sleeveless tops and tank tops.

Berreco is sending me some Ultra yarn as a sample to review for my podcast. If I like it, I may purchase enough to make a top.

Pointy Sticks Podcast

A new knitting podcast has hit cyberspace. Christine from Houston, Texas has just released her first knitting podcast called Pointy Sticks.

The first episode of the podcast discusses other knitting podcast including KnitCast, Fibercast, About-Time, and my very own Knitting News Cast. Christine talks about her knitting inspiration and celebrating her one year "Knitiversary". Several of her current projects are discusses, ss well as news on the Knitting Olympics. The podcast has several great tunes in it.

Overall, I enjoyed Christine's podcast and look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Knitting Podcasters Unite!

Sleeves, Sleeves, Sleeves

On with the WIPs. I have the raglan sweater I've put on hold. I had the main body done but not the sleeves.

I started on the first sleeve after finishing the baby blanket yesterday.

Why is that it seems like the sleeves take just as long or longer then the rest of the sweater?!?

Hopefully, I'll get this done before it gets warm. But I better hurry because that could be tomorrow!!

I've been looking at some summer tops by Berroco. They have an Ultra Silk yarn that I want look at the next time I go to the yarn store. I'd like to do a short sleeve or sleeveless top (no sleeves yeah!!!).

Baby Blanket Complete

I finished the baby blanket I've been working on for the Campbell's baby due on April 1st. The baby shower is on February 28th, so I wanted to get it done in time. I want to make a small teddy bear too, but I'll give that to them when the baby is born.

The pattern for the blanket came from Knitty Gritty. It is called Baby Blanket with Embossed Hearts. It is designed by Kristin Spurkland.

Instead of using the yarn called for in the pattern which is a chunky cotton blend yarn, I used two strands held together of Cascade Sierra. It is 80% prima cotton and 20% wool. I used 2 balls of 01 - White, 15 - Pink, and 17 - Dark Pink. It was knitted on my Denise needles using size 10.

Boing Boing: Teflon-coated yarn

Here is information on the teflon-coated yarn I talked about in one of the episodes of the Knitting News Cast.

Boing Boing: Teflon-coated yarn