What’s New With Denise Interchangeables?

        Linda from Denise Interchangeable Needles stopped by last week to show us all of the new changes that have taken place at her company recently.  Some of you own, or have seen, the traditional style Denise needles that come in a case that folds closed so that it looks like a book. I owned a set of them for a while but when my tastes turned towards one of several metal needles I gave my Denise set to a friend who still uses them.

Denise Colors: Pink, Red, Seafoam, Purple

        Fast forward a few years and what a big difference there is!  While the company still offers their needles in the book-like case, they have many more options now.  They teamed up a while back with the Della Q folks who make various styles of cloth knitting needle storage cases.  The sets are now more compact and come in lots of exciting colors.  And, they’re becoming increasingly popular with travelers who like them because the smooth resin needles seem to give them less trouble at the airports.  Let me tell you about some of the recent changes.

         Denise offers interchangeable knitting needles, interchangeable crochet hooks, and a double set that contains both crochet hooks and knitting needles.  Even the double set rolls up into a package that is about the size of a closed fist.  MUCH easier to drop in a knitting bag or purse than the old sets!

Denise Double Set for Knitting and Crochet

         All of the Denise sets, both knitting and crocheting, come in four attractive case colors: Seafoam has matching light teal cables, purple has lavender cables, red has white cables, and the pink set, which costs a little more because the company donates the difference to breast cancer research, has pink cables.  The knitting needle sets run from size 5 to 19 and include a crochet hook to help fix mistakes.  The crochet set comes with 12 hooks beginning with size F.  All of the sets come with cables of varying lengths, a set of four end buttons, and two extenders to join cables to make longer ones.  Additional needle tips or hooks, cables in varying lengths, and extra connectors/end buttons are also available.

         All of this sounds really great, but the major test, to me, was how the needles act while knitting.  I use metal needles for just about everything and the quicker the finish, the better for me.  Other knitters like to tailor the type of needle to the fiber they are using.

Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles

       I decided to knit a swatch with the trusty Plymouth Galway that I use for demonstrations in our classes.  It was past time for me to go home, but once I started on the swatch I didn’t want to stop.  I found the needles to be a pleasure to use.  The Galway slipped easily off of the needles but not so quickly that a beginner would have a problem.  I might not have achieved the lightning speed of an addi Turbo, but I was more than pleased and the sets are half the price.  My  stitches moved quickly and smoothly across the needles and I didn’t want to put the swatch down.  I wanted to just keep knitting and knitting and knitting.

         The Denise company backs their sets with a lifetime guarantee for all knitting or crocheting parts.   In addition, the company is headquartered in Charlottesville and the resin needles are made for them by a Waynesboro craftsman.  While the company gets their roll-up cases from Della Q, all of the Denise parts of the needle and hook sets are made in USA.

         The original Denise sets were invented by the Linstead family who made and sold them for several decades.  The Krag family purchased the company in 2002 and the changes they’ve made are great examples of the fact that you surely can teach an old dog new tricks.

          Stop by the shop and take a look at our Denise products next time you’re in our area.

Blocking: The Devil’s in the Details

… or: how I learned to block to give my knits a truly professional appearance.

First, let me admit two things — I don’t always swatch and I don’t always block.  I don’t always swatch because I’ve been knitting for 40+ years and I have a pretty consistent gauge with the combination of needle size and fiber content.  So I swatch when I’m making someone else’s design and want the fit perfect; but this is not often since I mostly design my own.

Blocking:  again, because I’ve knit for so many years (and I produce many things each year), I have pretty consistent gauge.  One of the great reasons to block is to even out the knitted fabric so all the stitches look the same — with consistent, constant gauge, my stitches are the same size and so I can avoid the extra step of blocking.  Also, some yarns don’t block well — 100% cotton, many acrylics and some of the new-age fibers don’t hold a block or may even be ruined by blocking.  ALWAYS TEST YOUR SWATCH IF YOU’RE NOT SURE!

But there are still times I block:  lace work to open out the lace and sharpen the edges of the garment, when I work color-work, when the garment needs freshening up or just needs bit of something to improve the overall look.

Climbing Roses shawl -- unblocked and blocked

So when should you block:

• when your knitting is uneven — to make the fabric smooth, with all knit stitches showing as perfect Vs
• when you do color-work — often knitting with 2 or more colors per row, you’re going to get some rippling and unevenness.  Blocking improves the overall look of finished color-work, making sure the stitches are smooth and even
• when you do lace — to make the lace pop (as shown in the above picture
• when you want to freshen up the garment (yes, you can block even years after a garment is done!).

So, HOW do you block?

My preferred method is wet-blocking — where you saturate the piece (always making sure to support the piece so the yarn doesn’t get stretched — remember, even the hardiest fiber is weakened when saturated with water!), blot to just-damp (never twist or wring … instead, lay the piece on a large towel, roll up and pat to remove as much moisture as possible), and then pin out (using long T-pins) on a blocking board (or towel covered bed/carpet).  I find lace blocking wires (Rosanne carries them) are indispensible for blocking pieces to have nice straight edges and even curves.

Another, quicker method is to use a steam iron or steamer to block certain spots or freshen up an entire garment.  For instance, if you put your sweater on a dress-form, you can steam out any creases, re-fluff the stitches, and make the sweater look perfect.  You can also steam with the piece on a towel or blocking board (with or without pins depending on the amount of blocking needed).  Some use a damp towel over the spread-out garment and then iron the towel, allowing the steam to permeate the fibers.  I worry about this method only because sometimes you can “crush” the knitting or the yarn reacts to the hot, heavy pressure and flattens or gets shiny.  Always test, first!

Tips on blocking –

• Always run a test on your swatch to ensure it can handle the way you’re going to finish off the garment — one of the first things to do before you begin a project is swatch and then finish the swatch JUST AS YOU WOULD DO the finished garment.  If it doesn’t work, you have only “wasted” a small amount of time and yarn — instead of waiting until the 1000′s of stitches are bound off and your finishing method ruins all the work.
• use cold water and never vary the temp of the water!  natural fibers felt when plunged into different temps of water.  Make sure your soak water and rinse water are the same relative temperature.
• do NOT agitate or wring the garment — twisting and agitation assist the felting process and unless you want a felted tea-cozy, just don’t do it.
• always support the wet garment — don’t let it stretch out or put undue stress on the wet fibers.  Cashmere is particularly susceptible to breaking when wet.
• use stainless-steel T-pins and/or steel blocking wires (always wipe with a dry cloth before the first use as sometimes there is a bit of manufacturing gunk residue remaining).  You don’t want to leave rust stains on your masterpiece!
• take notes on what worked and, more importantly, what didn’t to avoid having to “keep inventing the wheel”
• know your fibers –

1.  wool can be wet-blocked or steamed (altho superwash doesn’t always block out well — test first);  wool is weakened with water so avoid stretching and then breaking the fibers
2.  non-elastic animal fibers (cashmere, alpaca, quiviut, etc) can often become limp after blocking (so rely on good seaming and edges that will contain the garment) but, sometimes that’s exactly what you want for a flowy/drapey scarf
3.  cotton can be wet-blocked or steamed but I find it often just needs a light touch to avoid overly stressing the fibers
4.  rayon or viscose yarns should have little if any heat/steam applied to them as it crushes and cooks the yarn
5.  bamboo, hemp and soy — little if any elasticity means that when you block these be careful not to over-block as once the fibers are stretched, you may not be able to get them back in shape

What’s in your knitting bag?

... just some of the tools I have in my knitting bag ...

So, what do you carry in your knitting bag?  I mean, besides yarn and needles?  What tools would you miss if you didn’t have them nearby?  What tools are you missing?

Here’s a list (with explanations) of tools that have proven the most useful over the 40+ years of my knitting experience:

• rulers/gauge – a stiff ruler for measuring the swatch; a flexible ruler for measuring rounded pieces of knitting (armholes).  Gauge measure allows you to determine the needle you’re using (always test old knitting needles as the size stated may not be “true” to the standards of today; also, using different brands, even of new needles may change your gauge slightly)
• stitchmarkers – locking-stitch markers can be removed (and used for techniques like “russian join”) or left in place (the best of both worlds), while the little rings are moved with the knitting (slipping from needle to needle as you come to them).  I often use scraps of different colored yarn that I can use to mark beginning of rounds and pattern reps; the scraps of yarn are flexible and allow me to keep my tension when knitting around them but they do sometimes slip out.
• stitch and row counters – some use these all the time; I find it easier to count rows (if you have the selvage edge, remember to count two for each chain) rather than rely on the clicker
• scissors, snips, yarn cutters – some airlines/secure areas won’t allow scissors, so the yarn cutters are popular (altho some say those have also been denied).  Puppy snips are particularly useful … and pretty darn cute, too! I have been known to break the yarn, but it’s probably best to use some kind of cutting device!
• stitch holders – like big metal safety pins to hold a batch of stitches (ie, shoulders for 3nbo).  If you have a very few sts, coil-less safety pins work great (or to hold the sts for grafting the toe of a sock).
• yarn or tapestry needles – metal or plastic needles with large eyes to allow for threading of yarn so you can sew pieces together or tuck in ends; some have a bent tip for ease of seaming which work great
• crochet hooks in a few different sizes for provisional CO, fixing dropped sts, edging on some items
• point protectors – especially for dpns — are great.  You can also use rubber bands (esp all those little bitty ones from your kids’ braces) to temporarily hold sts on the knitting needles.
• calculator – very important for determining overall size of design you want to make – don’t rely on the sizes given – look at the schematic, do the math and determine which size is right for you
• non-greasy hand-lotion to work into dry hands (especially important when working with fine fibers that catch on every little skin crack!)
• sandpaper/emery board for sharpening wooden needles OR filing nails that have broken
• pencil/notepad for taking notes
• sticky notes or neon-flags for marking position in pattern; also important for reminding yourself of some issue you wanted to investigate further.  I really like the Knit Happy one because of the multiple sizes of stickies and the cute case!

Now, I’m not saying you should run out and buy all these tools at once.  You may find some that I list that aren’t useful for what you knit or a DIY alternative (like scrap yarn instead of locking-stitch markers).  That said, this makes a great checklist for you or a “wish list” for your family and friends to buy bits and pieces for you while your skills and fiber-addiction grow!

Cabled Capelet

It’s a grey day and a reminder that it IS still winter.  I’ve been wearing my capelet all season.  It works well for chilly indoor environments, but it is at its best when I am running in and out and don’t want the bulk or hassle of a coat.

The pattern is Baby Cocktails‘ Cranberry Capelet.  (Ravelry link)  It’s a fabulous pattern, and really would be a great introduction to cables or clothing if you’re new to either.  You can read more about my opinions and modifications to the pattern here. 

I also fell in love with Shepherd’s Wool on this project.   I remember clearly – long before she even thought about opening her own yarn shop – when Rosanne first told me about this awesome, worsted weight wool yarn, so I’m not quite sure why it took me so long to try it.  Don’t make the same mistake!  You really, REALLY need to knit with this yarn.   It’s everything I love in a wool… it’s soft, sproingy (meaning it has good stretch) and yields beautiful stitch definition.  I am sensitive to animal fibers around my face and neck, but again, I’ve worn this several times, sometimes for 10 hours or more at a time, without any irritation at all.

What’s your favorite yarn at Dog House?