Loom Knitting 2 ways

I made a pair of fingerless mitts for OKL's birthday on the green Boye knitting loom -- slow work, but done in 2 wkds.


When I finished his this morning, I got out the Addi Express Knitting Machine and tried to make the same thing on the little knitting machine.  It worked beautifully, simple and easy! 

Here's the comparison:

 OKL's half gloves on the green Boye Knitting Loom by hand (slow work).

And here are the ones I did this morning on the Addi Express in less than an hour (90 minutes to finish everything).  It's almost hard to tell the difference, since I used the same yarn.   But these are indeed 2 separate pairs of Half Gloves.

I think I'll have to stitch some stars onto mine, just so we can tell them apart.
It is a good day!

Quick Black Fingerless Mitts on the Addi Express

Who-hooh!  It worked!  Quick Fingerless Gloves on my Addi Express.



I found this video by Elisabeth Craft on making a simple pair of fingerless gloves on the Addi Express.  No fancy (or even simple) ribbing, or extra stuff for the thumb holes.    And because I used a thicker, chunkier yarn than for the first attempt, it worked out beautifully!

The Addi Express seems very happy with this yarn : "I Love This Chunky ..."

It's 100% acrylic.  Color is : Heathered Charcoal.
I love the color because it reminds me of my old Newfie, Maggie.

I did do a couple of practice runs -- which I would recommend to anyone who is new to working a circular knitting machine.  It knits up so fast, that it's easy enough to pull out and start over, too, if you have a mistake.  The thumb hole was a little tricky, but I finally got it figured out.  I can't believe how fast it went on a Sunday morning!  I had both tubes made in less than an hour.  Finishing took a little longer, as there was no video for that. Also, I rolled the cuff under so they appear a little shorter than Elisabeth Craft's in the video. 

Spinning Yarns : Chocolate Mint

I spun this yarn on the new cherry Schacht Reeves spinning wheel.  The brown and green mix was a ball I bought at the Sheep and Wool Festival years ago.  I think the green is silk?  I think it came from Hidden Valley Sheep & Wool Farm on the other side of Lake Winnebago.

I plied it with with some black sheep and alpaca wool from Lindago Alpaca Farm in Neenah.   Somehow she manages to get nice fiber batts at very reasonable prices. 

The spool on the left is the Hidden Valley roving spun up into a single thread.  Yes, there's a little mylar in it to add sparkle.   The middle and the left spool are after it's been plied with the black wool from Lindago.

Here's a detail shot.

This looks like some very expensive and fancy yarn! And I made it myself.  ;-)

What will I make with it?

LittleThings

 First, a gorgeous image of frost from the guest room window back in February. 
The Frost Fariries were doing beautiful work that day!

My husband asked me to weave some place matts.  He got some quilted ones for Christmas instead.  Since I'm at the applique stage of the Morning Star Quilt project, I've been itching to SEW something -- and I have lots of blue scraps left over from my Sister's blue and orange quilt along with mom and dad's king-size 50th anniversary quilt.

I made a velvet scarf for my mom for Christmas.  She loves blue, and pretty things.  

The velvet is leftover from the Polar Bear Quilt.  

2 versions of Fingerless Mittens

The right (top) hand was done on the Addi Express Knitting Machine.

That's how I spent New Year's Day, getting to know the Addi's ins and outs.  

I'm working on a separate post to explain how I made the version on the Addi. 

The left (lower) hand was done on a manual knitting loom-- Slower work, but more precise, and nicer looking.  I think I'll definitely be doing more of that method.  Even took it on a plane trip earlier in December, proving it's portable and calming.     There are also multiple stitches you can do on the knitting looms--not just stockinette.  I have a whole new world to explore! 

Ok Sheila -- You win on the contemplative nature of knitting vs. the speedy machine knitting sucking all the joy out of it.  Slow work has value.

We've been making progress on the wool picker project.  The picker plates are sized and cut out. I worked up the drilling templates for the nails, and drilled them last weekend.  Yes-- I got 5 pounds of nails for Christmas so we could make this wool picker.  ;-)   More updates on that to come ...

Other than that, I'm feeling very frustrated in my quest to learn to knit with traditional knitting needles--even after watching the Craftsy Class online.  I've been spending countless hours on Pinterst, printing off patterns, only to realize most of them are wwaaayyy beyond my current ability / skill level.    Yup-- I want to make a lacey cowl, or patterned socks.    Sigh -- I bought aluminum needles -- maybe that was my first mistake, and why I hated it when I was a kid.  I was compelled to make the stitches so tight so as not to lose them--which is one of the issues with aluminum needles.  But apparently that's less of a problem with wood or acrylic needles.  Either way, I'm going back to the knitting looms for a while ...   I need to let the needle knitting sink in little more.  Although -- I feel better about reading charts now, and there are methods for translating needle knitting patterns to loom knitting.   Beyond that, I have a couple of friends who are accomplished knitters, and are willing to help me out ...  at least for mastering the basics.   Then there's the YouTube World, too.  Which had been just dandy for the loom knitting.  Or I could just go back to the tried and true crochet handwork.

It's good to learn new things, to remember what it's like to be an amateur ...  How long does it take to make those knitting stitches automatic?  You see those knitters going at it without even looking at what they are doing because they have such a feel for it.  I'm a long way from that.

 Let's end on a high (and calm) note with another Frost Texture photo.   Ahhh!

December Frost