Mermaid Knits Registered!

 

First the really BIG NEWS. I have registered a company in the name of Mermaid Knits. Is this my second career? We shall see how it goes. With more and more invitations to teach knitting and other fibre arts, I decided to formalize the work aspect. I've learned about the requirements for claiming US income on my Canadian tax form. I am about to learn about developing a web site. It's all very exciting for me. Wish me luck!

And now on to current projects. The four balls of yarn here I spun up as energized singles. Two balls have Z twist and two balls have S twist. I deliberately spun them with a high degree of twist. It is quite unruly yarn. (wool and silk).

I found this pattern in my favourite pattern source, Walker's Second Treasury. Here it is called the Lace Ribbon Stitch. I know it is called Ric Rac Stitch in another book I have. It is a lovely pattern and with a strong vertical element that I was looking for. Now here's what I'm doing. I am knitting a rectangular piece with the S twist yarn that you will see in the following photos. Because of the highly energized singles, the entire piece skewed to the left (S is counter-clockwise twist). This is what I want; what I am after. So instead of a rectangle, the resulting piece is a parallelogram.

Here's a shot of the first few rows done up in S twist. Already you can see the distinct skew going on. The stitch pattern is hard to see because the high level of twist pulls the fabric in together to make a very fluffy, thick, bumpy piece. Also the colour gradations make it harder to see the pattern, but that is an effect I am looking for.

 Looking at the close up of the S twist fabric you can make out the ric rac if you try. Here is it not yet blocked out.

The blocking board turned out to be just the right length for the first piece. This is the S twist piece. I used up all but a metre or two of the singles.
Currently I am knitting a second piece of the same width, using the same stitch pattern and the Z twist yarn. It is skewing to the right! I have a bit more of the Z twist than I had of the S. Therefore I have the option of making the second piece longer. Or maybe I will knit a third piece with the excess??? The design process is still working in my brain. I am not sure if this will be a shawl or a ruana (using two pieces), or two shawls, or the idea I am favouring right now, a lap blanket. It is very warm! So check back in in October to see what I have decided.

Otherwise I am busy preparing for a winter season of teaching. Here is an example of photography I am preparing for a class on entrelac knitting. I am also improving my workshop notes on this topic.

Can you tell where I might be getting my colour inspiration? It's fall time, after all. The middle layer of rectangles is knit with y own handspun.



And here's another glimpse at the workshop note photos. At long last you may return to your regularly scheduled programming! Thanks for checking in.