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  • Writer's pictureBobbie Olan Casiano
    • Aug 17, 2022
    • 41 min read

#024 - Lempster and knitting needles

This episode features a deep dive into the Lempster sweater by Norah Gaughan, as well as my (extensive) thoughts on choosing the right knitting needles (for me). I then show some spinning, some natural dyeing, and share another Aussie vlog - Shara Made. Last but not least - thank you to all my subscribers! I'm right on the brink of 100 and am planning a giveaway for the next episode.




Transcript

Greetings knitting neighbours and crafty comrades. Welcome to another episode of Bobolog. My name is Bobbie Olan and I am a knitter and fibre crafts explorer in Victoria, Australia. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I live and create - the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people - and I would like to pay my respects to their Elders past, present and future.


A little housekeeping to get us started. I am also on Instagram and Ravelry and you can find the links to those social profiles in the description down below on YouTube. In that description, you will also find links to all of the patterns, yarns, whatever else I mention throughout this episode.


There is new housekeeping this episode is well- as well, which I am a bit nervous but excited to share with you - and that is that I have set up an account on Ko-fi. So I mainly did that to be able to put together a little shop of a few bits and pieces that I have made for the purpose of selling over the years. But I haven't wanted to establish an actual shop shop because I'm not really creating product lines. They're just ideas that I've had for things to make here and there so I've made small batches of certain products.


And they- Yeah, they're now in what I call my hobby shop on Kofi - and of course it doesn't also [hurt] that if anyone is willing to just give me a little tip then they can do that as well without purchasing an item if that doesn't interest them. So you can check out that Ko-fi link down below as well and hope you find something nice. And if not then of course that's fine too.


Yes, so welcome to all of you lovely viewers out there. To all of my Returning viewers - thank you so much for continuing along with me on this journey. And for any new subscribers - because there are a few of you - Hello! And thank you for giving me a chance.



Handy Dandy

I'm going to jump straight into Handy Dandy because I suspect that this is going to be a long episode because I have a lot to get through as usual.


So I seem to have come down with a case of finish-itis because I have actually finished another project since the last episode went out. I did start it - I think I started it before I did that episode but because I did such a deep dive into the item that I showed you then that I didn't really have space to talk about anything else. So it's gonna be another one of those where I'm really focusing on just one project.


Split Hem Cable Knit Pullover

Before I show you that though, I wanted to show you the thing that I started first and that is this very unfinished object. So a few years ago I started making a jumper for my mum and I had found one that I quite liked that I thought that she would really like - and she did - on Ravelry and it's called the Split Hem Cable Pullover.


The thing is - I had gone on a trip with my parents all the way to Bendigo to check out Bendigo Woollen Mills and she had picked out four different yarns in colours that she liked and I- I was still somewhat new-ish or maybe just more cavalier about my knitting back then. So when I was searching for patterns that I thought that she would like I just picked this one because I knew that she would like it - because it's cables and it was long and it had a turtleneck thing going on, and she's always cold so I knew that she would appreciate all of those features about it. And then I just paired it up with one of the yarns that she had picked.


Now that jumper is in - I believe - bulky weight yarn or something like that. And my philosophy back then was always just - I'm going to pick the pattern I like and I'm gonna pick the yarn I like and if I need to do math to make it work, then I just do the math to make it work. And for the most part that does work for me, but it is a lot of extra work.


So anyway, I started it.



I do also just want to mention that when I started it I had just discovered twisted stitches and twisted rib. So I started doing the hem completely in twisted rib and I remember being so excited about it. I thought that my ribbing looked so neat and so beautiful. And I absolutely loved working with this colour too. It's such a beautiful foresty type green and I was just really enjoying it. But then - I don't know - I got caught up in other projects or something and I put it away.


I think also after knitting this much - this is quite a lot - I got a bit tired of doing the twisted rib. I don't have a problem with knitting through the back loop but purling through the back loop is pretty painful- can be pretty painful.


So anyway, I had obviously done all of the math so that I could make that jumper in- in DK weight yarn instead of the bulky that it called for. And I started it years ago, I put it away, and it's been hibernating ever since. And so I picked it up again, and I had a look back at my calculations - they took a bit of understanding and double checking to make sure I knew what I was doing - and I made a start. So when I picked it up again I had just done the rib. I hadn't done any of the cables.


So this- I don't know if you can tell but this curly-ish looking stuff here at the very very top - I had just started doing the cables. And what I realised is - the way that the pattern had been created is that these columns of knits, they transition really well into the cables. And because of the adjustments that I'd had to do with adding in extra cables (because I had a lot more stitches on the needles to get to the size that I had to make) the- the columns of knits on the ribbing were no longer transitioning really neatly into the cables and I- that was really bothering me.


And I just wasn't enjoying knitting it to be honest. I just wasn't enjoying it anymore on picking it up. But it was realising that the cables weren't transitioning nicely that really made me put it down.


So you can kind of see here maybe that this column of stitches is twisting into the cable nicely. But as you get further in, that cable is starting from a purl column and it just doesn't line up and it's out of place and I just wasn't happy with it. So I hadn't done much of it so it was really easy to just say, "Nuh, I'm done with that."


It's still a great pattern that I would like to make someday. But I don't have the yarn for it. It's not gonna work in this yarn. And now that I have shown that to you, I can rip this out and rewind it and put it away.



Lempster

I went looking for another cable pattern that I had in my library that I could do in yarn that I already had. And I had already previously paired up some other yarn that I have - so I should mention that that yarn was Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic and I also have this Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury in aran weight, which is the pumpkin spice colour. It's a really nice colour. And I had had in my queue - my Ravelry queue - and my library for a really long time now the Lempster pattern by Norah Gaughan and that one was in an aran weight yarn.


And I have worked with this yarn enough - I've made two other garments out of it - that I didn't have to swatch. I knew what my gauge was - in stockinette stitch at least. And I was confident enough with it that I could just go for it. And my gauge was super, super close. The closest I think I've probably ever gotten to the gauge specified in a pattern. I was getting...


Let's see if I can remember this. I was getting I think 18 stitches and 24 rows in 10cm of stockinette stitch and the pattern called for 17 stitches and 24 rows. So amazing. I did not have to do any math. That one extra stitch every 10cm I felt wasn't going to be a problem. If the jumper was going to end up being a little bit wider then that's actually fine because it doesn't have a lot of positive ease so a little extra ease on that wasn't- I felt it wasn't gonna affect it too greatly. And I- Because my row gauge was right. I wouldn't have to do any messing around trying to figure out, you know, different decrease rates and that kind of thing.


So I had to- I didn't have to change anything about this pattern, which is just completely amazing and almost unheard of for me, I feel like.


So I very happily cast on and started that. And I have to say - when I started it, it was just such a thrill and such a joy to work on. It was- I just- It was just really fun. It was so much fun. I couldn't stop smiling while I was working on it. I was really happy working on it. And such a big contrast in how I felt from the other one that I was working on. So, so happy that I put that down and picked this one up instead.


So here it is here. It is finished. Tada!



It hasn't been blocked. So it's all like crumpled and- and all that kind of thing. So the way that it is done - and it is a free pattern by Norah Gaughan - it is- you work the- it's from the top down and it's seamless. So you do the front left shoulder and the front right shoulder and connect them. The back left shoulder and the back right shoulder and connect them. And then you end up connecting all four of those pieces together. And then you start knitting. Yeah, basically.


So that is a new to me construction. And I think that's part of what made it really exciting for me as well is that it was new.


I did get a little bit confused initially because Norah Gaughan's cable charts start on the wrong side. The first row - I'm generalising and this is the first pattern of hers that I've actually knit but I know from looking through her Knitted Cable Sourcebook that the charts in there all start on the wrong side as well. So that was something that I was aware of, but it's still threw me and I still started working the chart - I started reading it the wrong way when I was knitting one of the sections and I was knitting... I read it from the wrong side and I had to redo that. And it turns out that a lot of people had struggled with that, if you look at pattern notes on Ravelry, which I didn't think to do before I started knitting.


But once I had realised what I had done, it wasn't a problem for me to get my head around it. I just had to know what I was doing from the start and actually pay attention and then it wasn't a problem.


I do want to mention as well how I did the increases on the shoulders and, in particular, the direction in which I leaned the stitches.


For the increases, when I was working those shoulder increases in the round - so there are actually four increases on each shoulder. And when I planned which way the increases would lean originally, I was thinking about how that looks from the front or the back or the left or the right - so sort of face on, what are you looking at. And I thought that the leans should face outwards from that centre point of the view that you're looking at it on. But after I had done a few rounds of that, I wasn't really liking how it was looking. And I also realised - because of how those increases are placed - because there are sort of two that are close together towards the front and then there are two that are close together towards the back - and because of the proximity of the pairings of those increases - I realised that it actually made more sense to lean the stitches outwards from the that panel of increases rather than from the section itself.


Gosh, I really hope this is making sense. So if you're looking at the shoulder - I'm knitting that way - so originally I wanted the increases to go like that and then, you know, from the front for example, the increases would be leaning like that. But then if you look at this section here where the increases are being paired together - I didn't like how that looked. And I realised that because they're so close together, they should be... The leans should be based on this panel here. So instead of having them lean that- inwards, if you're looking at just that strip, they are leaning outwards. And I don't know if you can tell but to me it's pretty clear that this section isn't as neat as the rest of it here.


So I hope- I hope that that's clear to [you] and if not I hope that my explanation at least made some kind of sense. But that was how I did the- the- the increases on- around the arms.


The other thing that I wanted to note is - I was doing this honeycomb stitch - for the most part, I was doing cables without a cable needle except for the bigger cables running down the sides. But for the honeycomb stitch I had two different ways of doing the - I believe - the right leaning 1x1 cables. So in one of them I was working the second stitch on the needle. I worked that and then I took the first and the second stitch off and rearranged it. And then the other way that I did it was I slipped both the stitches on the working needle off and then rearranged it... put them back on the left hand needle and then worked them - because I wanted to see if it actually made a difference to how it looks, basically. And it did.


I'm not completely surprised because- Let's see if I can show you what I mean. I didn't plan this. So I'm just going to do a super quick cast on.


When you're going to leave both stitches on the left hand needle - if I do this and pull it through, that yarn has actually wrapped around the back of that first stitch and is hugging that first stitch into the fabric. So now when I rearrange them, and I work that stitch, it has the yarn wrapped around it already. Whereas if you rearrange the stitches from the start then nothing is being wrapped around that- that second stitch, which was the first stitch.


Let me see if I can do a clear demo of that for you in a different colour. So leaving both [stitches] on... The yarn gets wrapped around that - oopsies, slipped straight off - but see how it's sitting at the back of the first stitch that is on the needle? So when I rearrange them, that yarn that has wrapped around that stitch is sort of hugging it to the front of the fabric. Whereas if you rearrange these from start, then of course there is no- no yarn hugging around any of those stitches.



So... I mean, you can't really see anything from the back there but- oh, you- you kind of can there. See how there's that extra bit of yarn there that is just sort of wrapped around the back of that stitch? Whereas here there is no extra bit of yarn that's wrapped around it. Anyway, enough clumsy demonstrating there.


So I don't know if you can see this. To me it's really really obvious. And in other photos that I've taken, I feel like it's really really obvious. But in the back - for half of the stitches, I was doing the right leaning increase one way and for the other half I was doing the right leaning increase the other way. And if you can see - I don't know how clear it is going to come through, but I feel like you can kind of see how one set of stitches has more depth to it than the other. The other one is a bit of a flatter fabric. I hope- I really hope that is clear.


And after I had knit a section of that up to there, I realised how different they actually looked. (Made a mistake there. Shhh!) I noticed how different they actually looked and I didn't think I would be happy having that running all the way down. So I swapped the sides, worked the same number of rows, swapped the sides, work the same number of rows, swapped the sides, and worked to the bottom.


Both methods work and they're both completely valid but they will give you a slightly different look to your fabric. I just thought that this honeycomb stitch was the perfect place to compare the two different methods together. That's that. What was the next thing that I want to say?


They're- The yarn itself. This used under three balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury. They have wonderful big 200g balls of yarn. So I actually have 30-ish grams left of the third ball, so that is excellent. And in those three giant 200g balls of yarn, there were maybe three or four fuzzy-ish yarn joins. But no actual knots, which was great. And for the most part, those joins came up while I was doing the honeycomb stitch. And because there's so much cabling going on in this honeycomb stitch here, it sort of really helped hide those fuzzy bits really well so I- you can't be where they are, which is excellent.


One other thing that I want to mention is - a few people had commented on Ravelry that they thought that the neck was too wide. When I was trying it on as I was going along, I sort of had that sense too that it was too wide. So all I did was - I did the neck on one needle size down than what the pattern had called for. And while it's not, you know, hugging the neck, it's perfectly fine. And I'm quite happy with the opening there.


I do quite like and I think it's interesting that it doesn't have any ribbing on any of the openings, any of the edges. So it's just reverse stockinette stitch that's allowed to curl in, so you can see that on the neck there. It is on the cuffs. Haven't trimmed my ends. I will do that after it's been blocked. And it is on the hem as well. So the hem is a little bit curly and awkward looking but again - hopefully once it has been blocked it will help with that.


The only modification that I did to it was to lengthen the sleeves. So it is about a three quarter length sleeve, and I pretty much just kept going until it was sort of just past my wrist and... Really happy with it. I kept the rate of decrease that she had already established as I was going and I think it's great. I think it looks really good. So let's see.


Do you want to see it on? Here you go. I think it fits me really well. Very happy with it. Like that sleeve length. Good length on me as well. And there you have it.



Craft for Thought

Next up, I thought that I would take you on my little train of thought into knitting needles that I've sort of been riding the last few weeks.


Considering the ChiaoGoo Forte set

So there's been a lot of buzz lately about the new limited edition set of interchangeable needles that ChiaoGoo is bringing out later this year. So it is called the Forte set. It is beautiful.


To me, they're actually almost the perfect set. They have ChiaoGoo's nice sharp stainless steel, really pointy tips which are excellent. They are wooden shafts. So that is my preference because they feel nicer in the hand. And you know, they're- they're warmer and softer than metal needles and therefore they're more ergonomic. They have swivel cords which I have always wanted and I think that they are just the best thing. And they have a whole bunch of different sizes as well so- as in that they come with a whole range- a really good range of needle tip sizes. Plus the kit comes with a few other extra bits and pieces.


The thing is - the price is ridiculously expensive. Seriously, ridiculously expensive. In Australia, they're somewhere around... They're over $450 which is- which is nuts.


I was really seriously considering getting them because like I said to me they're almost perfect. The thing that would have made them absolutely perfect for me is if the shaft was actually square - again, because it's an ergonomic thing. It's also something that Carson Demers recommends in his Knitting Comfortably book. That's the only thing that was kind of missing from me.


And I was so sure that I was gonna get them. I was so sure because they were so- they're such a great set. It was just the price that was really putting me off, but I was still certain that I was going to get them. And then I was looking around at the other sets that ChiaoGoo has and I realised that I could buy three other of their sets and it would still cost less than that one Forte set. So to me that was like, 'Okay, done. Not interested anymore. I'm not getting them.'


And then about a week later, I looked at them again. And I talked myself back into it because again I was just looking at all of those things that are really great about them. Sharp points - which is actually- I think it was because I was working on the Lempster and doing all of the cables, and the needles that I have now - which are the Knit Picks Foursquare needles, which I purchased because- I chose this set because they are wooden and they are square. It doesn't hurt that the colours are totally my colours as well. These beautiful cool tones on the shaft. I think that they are just gorgeous. So that's that.


I was finding though that I was wishing that the point was sharper when I was doing the cables. And I think that's why I looked at the Forte again. (Where did I pull this out of here?) So then I started thinking, 'Okay, what- what am I actually missing? What don't I have?'


And the thing that I don't have that I'm sort of interested in trying - aside from amazing swivel cables - is... I've sort of being intrigued by 9" circulars again. I tried them once long ago - very early in my sock knitting history - and did not care for them. But so many people talk about them and I- I- I want to do more walking while knitting and I do feel like socks one-at-a-time are the easiest thing to bring along for that so I was seriously considering it again. So I was thinking, 'Well, what if I just got ChiaoGoo's shorties set. Is that the thing that I'm actually missing, is being able to make small circumference needles?'


The other thing that I was thinking about was - is it really just the cables? Is that the most important thing? Because for me, I can manage without pointy tips. I, like- I obviously was able to knit that whole jumper. And sure it would have helped to have pointy tips to do them. But I really do like wooden needles and that's probably the reason why I hadn't bought a set of ChiaoGoo before this.


I bought two sets of the Foursquare, actually. I got the normal length needle. I think that's 5" or let me hold it there. It's about- They're about 12cm long. And then the shorter set is the set that is about 7cm long. So I bought this so that I would have the flexibility to do shorter circumferences if I need. But they are just a little bit wide - a little bit long with the shortest cable that came with them to do sleeves I think.


So anyway, I realised or I reminded myself that I had these short tips. It really isn't necessary for me to have two sets of short tips and I'd be doubling up. And I didn't really want to do that because I'm trying to be more conscious of curating the tools that I have and not just getting like everything that I think is good. If I can get by or if I can make things work and work well with what I've got then that's better than spending all of this extra money for the hot new thing.


I had sort of looked at whether ChiaoGoo cables would actually work with my Knit Picks, but the male and female parts are actually on the opposite things, for one thing, but also I think the way that ChiaoGoo designs their range is that they can't be swapped out with other brands.


I had a look to see what else Knit Picks has that I could just pair with these. And when I purchased these, they didn't have any swivel cords on their own. And I checked to see if they had them now and they don't. But then what I did find is the brand Lantern Moon and they have swivel cables, and they are also made out of wood. And I did a little bit of research on the internet - but there wasn't all that much around - but it seemed like it would be possible that the cables for those would fit Knit Picks Foursquare needles. So I went online and I had a look around to where I could buy them in Australia and I found Knitting Co.


Lantern Moon has a few different options for interchangeable sets. And they do have smaller sets that just had five needle sizes. And I was thinking, 'Okay, what needle sizes do they go in? And are they the needle sizes that I use?' Also, I think they came with four cords - four cables. Two different sizes and in each size, one swivelled and one was fixed - one didn't swivel. So not a whole lot of variety in the cable lengths there.


And I think that the needle tips, they were kind of in a good - that good mid range for what sizes I felt like I generally work with. I think they went from like 3.25mm needles to 5mm needles.



Stat Chat

And I actually went through all of my projects in Ravelry and made notes of all of the different needle sizes that I actually use instead of what I just think I use. So we have a little Stat Chat - and these are all of the sizes that I use.


I did suspect that 4mm would be my most used needle and I was right. I have used that in 17 projects. My next most used size was 4.5mm which I had used in 16 projects. That surprised me. I was aware that it was a size that I've used, but I didn't feel like I had used it a lot. I thought that I would have actually used 5mm quite a number of times but I have only used it in 5 projects.


So my top five needle tips are the 4mm, then the 4.5, and then the 2.75 which has 11 projects and they're mostly socks. And the next one after that is 3mm which has 9 projects.



Craft for Thought cont'd

HD2 words



Discovering Lantern Moon

Anyway when I was looking at the Lantern Moon set, it would have been so good if instead of being from 3.25 to 5, if it was just from 3 to 4.5. That would have been excellent and I probably would have gone for that.


Instead, what I did was - I did a few different calculations to be like - well if I just bought swivel cables in this size and if I just bought knitting needles in this sizes. And I was figuring out if I wanted to buy five different needle tips and four different cable sizes, how much would it be? And if I wanted to just get three different needle tips and three different cable sizes, how much would that be? And I figured out what my perfect set would be. And I can't remember exactly what combination is- it is but it's around $150.


The set that they have of the five needle tips was $140. So it was just spending a little bit extra, but I would have all the needle sizes that I like and I would have a lot of different sizes of cables - all in the swivel - because when you buy their swivel cables, you actually get two of that size. Which- I actually really like having two cable needles of the same size because I do use them all so I think it's great to have more. If I spent that $150 I would be getting a lot more cables and all of the sizes that I actually use - except for the 2.75 because they didn't sell that one on its own. But I'm fine with the needles that I use for socks.


What I did initially is - I bought one set of the cables and one set of needle tips. I chose to buy the 4.5mm. It's my second most used and it's also in- it's being used in the next project that I'm working on. If I didn't have a project going that was using that size, I probably would have bought the 4mm because it's my most used size.


Anyway, I bought that and I could have not bought the needle tips, but I thought that I should be safe and get them because if these swivel cables don't work with my Knit Picks, then they're going to be useless unless I have a [needle] to go with them. So that's why I did that. And I don't really need extra needle tips. But I may actually just buy a whole bunch of the cables, because they do actually fit my Knit Picks. They do actually fit them perfectly so I could just buy the cables and I wouldn't really need the needle tips. But it would be nice to have extras of the sizes that I most use because there have been many times where I have had to take tips off projects to put on other projects.


Anyway, I love that I've discovered this. Lantern Moon cables do fit on Knit Picks interchangeable tips, which is excellent.


I'll talk about the cables first. So they swivel which is fabulous. It is the one thing that I had felt like was really missing from the Knit Picks set. Because they are square and with the nylon cords that they come with that are fixed - just because of the way that it's naturally kinked, sometimes you're actually holding the corner on the flat of your hand instead of the flat part. And of course, the benefit of the square shafts is that you have a bigger surface area for your finger to be resting on, which is a more ergonomic sort of grip. I had thought already when I bought these that it would be so perfect if they came with swivels but they didn't. And now I have some swivels to go with them.


I think they're the stainless steel coated cables that are meant to be memory free and don't kink around and they're- they're wonderful. I love them. They're really, really great. I have started using them on a project and the project that I'm working on using this cable needle is one that is being worked flat. And usually when you turn- when I turn the project around to start going in the other direction I have to do a bit of manoeuvring to get the cable right. This one I don't even notice. I just turn it around and keep working because it just swivels and swivel cables are just the best and they're just so good. And they're just so friendly to use and they're wonderful and I've- I love them.


I love them. I love them.


They're excellent. Highly, highly recommend. I am so happy. And with the discovery of that, I am completely cured of Forte fever. I have next to no interest in getting that. The only thing that I am missing is the sharp points and really - I can live with that. The swivel cable, the wooden shaft, and the square shaft are more important ergonomic factors to me than having pointy tips.


The last thing that I want to say about the cables is what you get when you buy just the cables on their own. The end stoppers are actually these lovely wooden knobs which I actually really like. They're heavier than the ones that came with the Knit Picks set, but the circumference is comparable. These are a lot lighter. These are a lot prettier. And because they're thicker as well they're - again, ergonomics -they're nicer to grip to- to attach or detach from the cables. So that is one thing. I really like them. They've just got a nice feel and a nice look.


And then what you also get which is truly wonderful - that's the tightening pin, this tiny thing that comes with the Knit Picks set. The Lantern Moon set comes with this. Which is great because again, ergonomics, and just ease of use. You've actually got something to hold on to, rather than this little tiny thing where you're just, you know, holding on to the tip of it, and it's, you know, not the most pleasant thing to hold. But then with this, you have an actual handle to put in and it's great. It's wonderful, and I'm going to end up with lots of these and lots of those knobby stitch stoppers because I'm going to buy a lot more cables on their own. So that is that.



Comparing Lantern Moon, Knit Picks Foursquare, and ChiaoGoo

The last thing that I wanted to do with all of these is a comparison of the needle tips. So the Lantern Moon ones are actually a bit shorter than the Foursquare ones. They're about a centimetre shorter, I believe. It does actually... Let me quickly attach them to this. I feel like it's kind of actually a more comfortable size. So I do prefer long needle tips to short and I only use the shorter needle tips when I really need to for whatever it is that I'm working on. But they're not that much shorter.


So they still, you know, I can still grip that comfortably in my hand. But you can kind of see - if you have two really long needles there and you're working like this, the extra length is just going to pull that out more and just make it a bit more taut and uncomfortable to work with. That tiny bit less length - that tiny bit of shortness helps make that circumference a bit smoother. So sure, it's a couple of centimetres shorter than what you would get with the longer one but I actually find that really comfortable.


I do also actually find them really nice to hold in the hand. They feel really friendly and soft. I think they may actually feel a bit softer than the Foursquare ones. They're super comfortable to hold. I think they are also just the tiniest bit grippier I think than the Foursquare. They're both wooden needles. I believe these ones are made of ebony. I have no idea with the Foursquare ones are made of. Majestic wood.


They do have the sizes printed onto the shaft. The little that I have looked up online, I think that will actually eventually rub off which is frustrating. The- The Knit Picks ones have it etched onto the metal part. That will never disappear and you'll always be able to tell what size needles you've got there. So that's one annoying thing about the Lantern Moon ones.


They have a sharper taper down to the cable than the Foursquare ones have, but still really smooth.


I don't know if you will be able to tell. The Foursquare tips are actually just marginally, marginally, very almost imperceptibly sharper than the Lantern Moon tips. So hopefully you can see it there. I mean, I have to look pretty closely in real life, to be able to see that. Generally, I don't think that's going to make a difference. But for things like cables and lace and the, you know, all those kinds of works where you want a sharper tip, then I think it will make enough of a difference.


The other thing to compare with them is the length of the taper. If I pull out a ruler here and just check I would say that the taper on the Lantern Moon is about 15mm. And the taper on the Foursquare is about 12. So barely any difference there but the Lantern Moon ones have a slightly longer taper and a slightly blunter tip.


So I hope that all of that information is helpful to you if you are considering getting either of these. I am so so happy that I have discovered these. I probably will just get all of the extra needle tips of the Lantern Moon because they do feel quite nice. It really doesn't bother me as well that the Lantern Moon connections are gold and the Foursquare silver. It's not something that I would notice while I'm knitting so it doesn't really matter to me.


But I love using this handle. It is super great. Actually, I didn't even tighten them so I don't need to use them.


And that is my train of thought with the needles. Long train of thought. Thank you for coming along for the ride. Let me put everything away.


Oh no, not quite. I also just wanted to compare them to the one set of ChiaoGoo that I have. And it's not going to be the best comparison because these are 2.75mm. I use them to make socks. So they're going to be a different diameter, circumference, whatever you call it, to these two.


But just to show you really clearly how much sharper the ChiaoGoo point is. So that is that there. Hopefully that is clear. And gosh, so much sharper. I do really like how sharp the ChiaoGoo's are. Oh, no. Nah. Don't need. Don't need more. Don't need more. But they are nice. And I would say that the taper is about the same as the Foursquare ones. So not a super long taper on those. They're so good.



And while I've got the that I will just quickly show you as well the difference between the cables. So they are both - I think they're both some kind of plastic coated stainless steel, but the ChiaoGoo ones are thicker. And I feel like because they're thicker they - I mean they're still completely flexible. But there have been times when I've used them where I've wished that they just had a bit more give to them. Because these ones are thinner they do have that extra give. Oopsies. So I think that isn't really going to bother me. I also may just not even notice. Bit thinner. Bit bigger. Bit more flexible. Bit less flexible, but also probably less likely to kink - if they ever do actually kink up.



And that is enough talking about that. I hope that has been helpful to you.



Multicrafty

I did want to show you some Multicrafty things but this episode has gone on quite a long time already. So I'm just going to show you and I'm not going to really go into a lot of detail about any of them.


Three quick spindle spins

First of all is spinning. And I have to pull them out one at a time. I did a last few spins on my cross-arm spindle that I had 3D printed for me. So this was my first attempt at long draw on a Turkish spindle and that worked out a lot better than I had expected and it is nice and fluffy. The next thing I did is that I went to the guild and I used their drum carder.


Well, first of all, I tried shredding some old stretch jeans that I have, which was really really difficult. I'm not gonna do it again. But I shredded it and I carded it in the drum carder with some of this same roving just to see if I could produce some kind of tweed. I mean, it sort of worked. The main issue was probably... I don't know, it didn't blend very well. I think the elastic stretchy jean material wasn't great. This isn't good quality fibre as well. It's really really dry and I probably should have given it a couple of more passes in the drum carder but I just couldn't be bothered.


So this one I did long draw. And this one I did short forward draw. And I haven't plyed them yet. I haven't decided if I'm going to do them as 2 ply or 3 ply.



My new EEW 6!

Continuing on with spinning - the reason that I say that those are my last spins on the cross-arm spindle is because I got my first wheel. I'm so- I was so excited to get it and I am so super happy with that.


I got the Electric Eel Wheel from Dreaming Robots and this is it here. You can see I have made a good start on it. I'm getting some nice fine singles on here that I will be plying up - probably 3 ply. So happy with it. It is such a great little machine.



And I do just want to mention as well - I am an affiliate with them now so if you are interested in getting one then I would love it if you check them out through my affiliate link in the description down below.


Anyway, I think this is such a great little machine. I do have to remind myself every time I finish using it to loosen the brake band and the drive band so that they don't become stretched out and deformed or whatever. B ut I think it is an excellent machine. I did film my first use of it where I was getting to know the machine. So I filmed that. I've been a bit slack about editing it but I will try to have that out this weekend - fingers crossed - so that you can see what it's like in action. So that is that and I love it and I just I think it's brilliant. So put that aside again.



Sewing a Stand and Slide Pouch

I'll just show you a tiny bit of sewing. So I think it was last year I started seeing all of these ads for a pencil pouch. I found a pattern for it that called it the Stand and Slide pouch. I don't know if it has any other names, but this was the first sort of prototype that I had made of it. I thought it was such a clever little design and I did this test first just to see if I could get it to work because I am not great on this sewing machine. And this came out okay.


So how it works is - so it's kind of like - I probably should have made it shorter so that when I put pencils and stuff in it, they kind of stand out and I feel like that makes more sense in how it is used. So anyway, the idea is - say it was really that height instead of that height and you had your pencils in it sticking out of it, like that. And then when you're done with it, the idea is that you elongate it and close it up. And then when you are trying to get things out of it, you - this is gonna be terrible, but you - I'm trying to do it one handed so you can see the slide. You pull on the tabs and slide down and then you can see the things that are in it.


This didn't exactly work for me it's kind of okay but I used way too flimsy a material on the inside. And when I slide down, it kind of just bunches all around the opening and I sort of have to tuck it in around the outside. I still thought that it was such a neat little pouch. And it does have pockets inside as well. But again, the material that I used is so flimsy that they don't really work very well.


But I was still keen on the design. So I sort of tried to figure out different measurements so that I can make one into a knitting project bag. And I started all of this a long time ago and then I only just came back to it and finished it quite recently. So it is this here.


So changes that I made is - I made this - the slide down top section - shorter. I made it a bit too short because when it is fully extended up you shouldn't see any of this lining here so I made it a bit too short. But you open it up and you slide down. Again, the fabric that I used is still a bit thin or something. I don't know if it's my fabric choice or if it's the design, but I still have to - when I slide it down - tuck it in a bit. But I wanted it to be so that when you pull it down the zip isn't at the top so that when you are pulling- when you have a project and you are pulling yarn out of it the yarn can't catch on the zips. So that part worked out really well.



And then the idea that I had for it as well was - when you have a long needle and you store it in there, you can fit it in when it's fully extended. Like that.


So I still think that it's a really neat design. But I'm not a sewist and I don't feel confident enough to figure out all of the measurements correctly, and consistently produce a quality bag from it. But if anyone is interested in it, then maybe. Maybe. Let me know in the comments down below if you think you might like one or maybe, I don't know, if you'd be willing to sample one if I made another prototype and figured out all of the kinks.


I do think it's really neat but also, honestly, I don't really knit with straights. I don't know anyone who really knits with straights. So I don't really know what the benefit of the extending it is except for the fact that when you're open - when you have it open and you're working out of it, the zip can be pulled out of the way. Which is a feature I really like so yeah. I don't know. Maybe I will work on another prototype of that and see if I can improve on it. Use better material and all of that kind of thing. Really figure out the pockets.


I feel like maybe the pockets need some interfacing because - if you can see in here - they're kind of just like floppy. And usually when I shove stuff in the pocket gets pulled open and things go in the pocket instead. So I don't know if I interfaced the inside - if I interface the pocket or if I just use thicker material - if that would work better. But I had, you know, put some narrow pockets for putting your needles or your pens in.


I'm not quick on the machine too. So I just I don't know that it would be worth my time to try to make these and sell them because I'm so slow but there you go. That's that. I think it's a really neat design.



Natural dyeing at the guild

I have one last Multicrafty to show you and that is some natural dyeing that I have done. So it is something that I did as part of the dye group with the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild.


So they meet once a month and I joined my first group last month and we were dyeing with cochineal. It produces this - at least what we produced from it was this lovely colour here. So for the group, we were asked to bring in five 5g mini skeins of yarn - three whites, one grey, and one that had been dyed in madder which is apparently what they had dyed with the month before that. So I only brought four because I obviously didn't have the madder but some other lovely attendee of the dye group (I believe it was Gayle. Thank you, Gayle!) brought in some extra skeins of the madder and gave me one.


The thing is I felt like the madder didn't really take on much of the cochineal colour. It didn't change much. It has some slightly pinker bits to it. But when she gave me the skein, it was mostly already this colour so I don't know if it needed to be re-mordanted or anything like that. Who knows. So I'll put that one aside.


So this here is the grey skein and I only used a very, very light grey because I was just using something that I had in my stash. And these are all four ply by the way. So this is the grey, and this is the white that I used, and they're very similar colours. I can only tell that this is the grey because it's a different texture to the rest of the yarns. It is slightly darker but not very. So that's that one there.


And then with the three skeins of white that we dyed - one of them went into a pot of potah- of potash solution, and the other one went into a copper solution. So the one that was in the potash - it's pretty similar to the original but it is a bit pinker. So that's that there. And then the one that went into the copper gave this gorgeous gorgeous purple which I really really love. It's a really rich sort of mauve-y purple - pinky purple - but it is- it is quite nice. And I really like that there.



I'm so glad to have joined the guild and found this group. I think it's going to be lots of fun. The thing is - I only have another 5g of this grey left for the next group and I only have enough left to do two more 5g mini skeins of the white because - as I had showed in the previous episode - I started using it for my MiniMint colourwork sweater that I made. So I actually used more of it than I thought and I only have 10g left. So I knew that for the next group, I would have to buy some more white yarn and probably some grey yarn as well.


But then I started thinking about what am I actually going to do with these? Do I think I'm just going to keep them as a sort of record of my dyeing journey or do I think I'll actually want to use them? And I want to have the possibility of being able to use them, and I don't want to just keep buying random skeins of what and grey yarn. I want to get the same yarn so that if I make something out of all of them as a record of my dyeing - but knitted up or woven or whatever into an actual project - it should all be the same yarn. And I didn't really want to get the same yarn that I had bought for this because I had just gone to the shop and I had just picked up some white 4 ply that was reasonably affordable. And I ended up getting some white- some baby yarn, which is nice. It's very nice. It's 100% wool and all of that. But I wanted something a bit nicer if I'm thinking about a longer term project that I'm going to use it for. And then of course I had to be able to get something that came in a white colour and then something that came in a darker colour.


And then of course for me there was really only one choice - and that is - you guessed it - Tarndwarncoort.


I ordered two balls of their natural cream colour - so that is that one there - and one ball of their natural taupe colour - which is this here. And I am so especially excited about dyeing over this because I have seen beautiful results from dying on naturally coloured wool. The colours just come out so much richer and deeper and I'm- I'm super excited about doing that. So I'm going to need to wind these off into mini skeins and get that done. Super excited about doing that.


And Tom and the flock at Tarndwarncoort were very kind and lovely to give me a couple of extra bits and pieces, which were these two mini skeins here of 4 ply. So this is the natural ash and this is char. So this one is another undyed natural colourway and this is one of their dyed colourways. So if I just put these three together you can see the three natural colours that Tarndwarncoort yarns come in, which is nice. And I had considered getting the ash instead of the taupe when I was making the purchase - but I figured if I'm trying to see what it looks like over dark yarn then I should go for the darkest.



So that's that there, and they also sent me a couple of these gorgeous postcards which has some lovely artwork of a couple of farmers - man and a woman watching over a flock of sheep - which is just gorgeous. And I like just having it on display there.


And that is it for Multicrafty. Hope I kept that quick for you guys. Did I? Who knows? I don't know.



Eyes and Ears

Now I do also want to share an Eyes and Ears with you. So one new vlog that I have been watching in the last couple of weeks is the Shara Made podcast. And Shara is another Melbourne based... I was going to call her a knitter but she is so much more. She seems to do so many different crafts and she is really good at all of them. She sews herself really beautiful clothes. She sews project bags and pouches and things that she- that she sells and they're beautiful and they look like they're really well made. So she's super multicrafty. She also spins. I love seeing her spins. As a new spinner, I love seeing other people- I love seeing what other people come up with and I think it's just so much fun and so exciting and it's nice to share that with other people.


The way that she expresses joy or excitement I just find to be really really sweet. She'll get sing-songy or she'll just exclaim over things in a way that is just really sort of joyful and... I keep using the word sweet but she really does seem just really sweet. So yeah, I really like watching her.


I'm doing my thing as usual of going back from the very beginning and watching all of her episodes. So she started in - I want to say 2014. Don't quote me on that. So I'm still getting through all of hers.


She designs as well. And I love that she shares bits and pieces of her design process and how she thinks about coming up with ideas and putting together ideas and trying things out. And all of that kind of thing I think is always really great to see.


The other thing about her that I find so impressive is - in the past I have knit things and loved them and said I would love to make that again, but I almost never do because there's so many other things that I want to try knitting. So I am super impressed that she actually does knit multiples of the same pattern. She, you know, she'll knit a jumper twice, or something like that. There have been a few different shawls that she has knit multiple times and I just find that really impressive because I can never seem to bring myself to do that. And it's also really nice seeing all of the different versions that she comes up with for the same thing. And I know that you can go on Ravelry or whatever and look up a pattern and see, you know, people's different iterations of it. But it is nice to kind of see the same person produce the same thing in different ways - in different combinations as well. So that is really great. Go check Shara Made out on YouTube.


Heart Full of Craft

And last but not least is my Heart Full of Craft and I am so grateful - I think I have had this as a Heart Full of Craft before that- where I have said that I'm really grateful for my viewers. But oh my gosh. I am really so grateful for you!


I am so so grateful for all of the new subscribers that I've had. Actually, no. I don't want to say I'm grateful for all of the new subscribers I've had recently. I am grateful for all of my subscribers. Thank you so much. And I'm extra excited about it for this episode because I am practically at 100 subscribers. And it has taken me a while to get to this first milestone here but I'm so excited to be here right on the brink of it.


So at the time of filming, I have 98 subscribers. And I want to give an extra- I want to give an extra special shout out and thank you to a few different people who have shouted me out - either on their vlogs or on social media - recently, which I really feel like have helped boost my subscription rate. And I'm so happy to have more of you here spending your time with me.


So they are Kat of Oliphant Kat. Thank you so much for your mention on your vlog.


Sarah of The Taylor Made pod- podcast and of The Maker's Corner. Thank you so much for both of your Instagram story shares. I really really appreciate that. I'm- Thank you.


And Astrid of Wattle and Wool. Thank you for the shout out on your vlog recently as well.


Other people have mentioned me before but I really feel like those three in recent weeks (months? weeks?) have really given me a boost. So I'm really really grateful for the three of you especially. Thank you so much.


And I don't want to jump the gun and say, "Well, I'm going to do a giveaway right now because I made 100 subscribers," even though I hope that by the time this goes out I am at 100 subscribers. But right now at the time of filming I'm not quite there yet. So I just wanted to let you know that hopefully next episode I will be doing a giveaway to thank you all for subscribing and helping me hit 100 subscribers.


For this first giveaway I have decided to look through my stash and see what I can part with to give to one of you lovely viewers as a thank you for subscribing so look out for that next episode. I will just say though that I am- I'm trying to put together a couple of different options for it that are the same- that are equal value but I am only going to give away one prize. The reason that I'm having options is because I want to be considerate of people's values and ethics in what I am giving away. So one set is going to be wool and one set is going to be cotton or - most likely cotton. And yeah, that's just because I want to be considerate of you and your values. If- if you're opposed to wool or if you're opposed to cotton or what have you - whatever your reasons may be - or you may just prefer one over the other when you see what I have to share. So look out for that next episode, and thank you.



Thanks!

Thank you so so much for subscribing. I would really appreciate it if you let other people know about me. And also, you know, just find me on Instagram and Ravelry and, you know, follow me or say hello on either of those. I love hearing from any of my viewers.


I- I also want to say a quick hello to Sylvia and Irene. Hello! They are two people who have commented on previous videos and have let me know that they're really really local to me so that's really exciting. So I just wanted to say hi to the two of you. And thank you for watching.


And okay, all the usual things that you've got to say on YouTube. I really hope you give me a like if you like this video. If you aren't subscribed already, then I hope that you consider doing that. And... oh yes, I love hearing from you. So if you can leave me a comment down below that would be wonderful as well. Introduce yourself if you haven't already so I can get to know who all of you are and that will be- that'll be really fun.


And I guess that's all that I have to say. Thank you so much for watching along and joining my journey. And I just really appreciate having you here. I hope that you're finding time for your family and friends, for your crafts and other hobbies, and for yourself. Take care and I'll see you in another couple of weeks.


Fare thee well.


Transcribed by https://otter.ai

 

Resources


Mentions

Knitting Comfortably by Carson Demers

Knit Picks Foursquare

Lantern Moon knitting needles

Shara Made podcast


Patterns (on Ravelry)

Lempster by Norah Gaughan

Stand Up Slide Down Pouch (sewing) by Sew Can She


Yarns (from my LYS, or on Ravelry)

Tarndwarncoort yarns from Polwarth sheep


I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which I live and create, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. I pay my respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging, and to all Aboriginal peoples.

 

© 2022 by Bobbie Olan of Platypus Knitting.

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