Yarnomat

Blocking knitted squares for blankets

When you are knitting squares for a blanket, they don’t always come off the needles exactly the same size and shape. The squares can be coaxed into a better shape as you’re sewing up the blanket, but sewing is a bit easier and the result looks more professional when you lightly block the squares first.

Mum and I have been knitting 8-inch squares for the knit-a-square project. Our squares are colourful, varied and fun, but I thought they looked a bit haphazard. So I’ve been tidying them up with a quick spray blocking. Here are some photos showing how I do it.

I use a ruler, pins, a spray bottle full of water, and large foam jigsaw pieces with letter cut-outs that I bought at a discount store. (One day I’d like to buy proper blocking boards with grids marked on them, or simple interlocking floor mats that I can mark up myself, but these letter cut-out tiles will do for now.)

Start by pinning the 4 corners of the square, using the ruler to make sure each edge is the same length: in this case, 8 inches (20 cm). Don’t worry about making the corners perfect right-angles, just eyeball them.

Pinning the 4 corners of the square.

Lay the ruler against one edge, and place extra pins to line the edge of the square straight against the ruler. I pin the middle, then 1/4 and 3/4, as shown in the next photo.

Adding extra pins to each side.

When you have pinned all 4 sides, give the square a generous squirting with a spray bottle of water, so that it is quite damp but not entirely saturated.

Spraying the square with water.

Leave the square pinned out until it is entirely dry, then remove the pins. Your blocked square should hold the shape it was pinned into.

The square in this example is made from leftover scraps of sock yarn. I held 2 strands together and followed the reverse mitered square with stripes pattern, swapping in different sock yarns at random intervals.

Blocking works best on natural fibres such as wool, and is not as effective on synthetics such as acrylic. However, it doesn’t hurt to give acrylic squares a quick blocking as well, and I find that it does make a difference.

Square in the Round

Front of Square in the Round.

Here is another pattern for an 8 inch (20 cm) square, suitable for the knit-a-square project.

Your gauge, yarn and needle size aren’t important. Start with 4 stitches, join to work in the round, then keep increasing every second row until the square measures 8 inches.

Materials:

small amounts of DK (8-ply) yarn, preferably wool, in 2 or more colours (Sample uses Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply)
4 mm knitting needles, suitable for knitting in the round (I use 1 long circular and magic loop, but you could use DPNs or 2 circulars if you prefer)
larger needles (if needed) for loose bind-off
4 stitch markers
blunt needle for sewing in ends

You can use any combination of yarn and needles that results in a fabric you like. If your squares are for knit-a-square, wool yarns are best for warmth and fire retardant properties, but other yarns are okay too.

Abbreviations

Back of Square in the Round

Instructions:

Cast on 4 st. Join to work in the round.

R1: * Kfb, repeat from * to end of round. (Result: 8 st.)

R2: Purl.

R3: * Kfb, repeat from * to end of round. (Result: 16 st.)

R4: Purl.

Arrange stitches in 4 groups of 4, placing markers between each group.

R5: *Kfb, K to 1 st before marker, Kfb, slip marker, repeat from * to end of round. (Result: Increased 8 st.)

R6: Purl.

Repeat rounds 5 and 6 until the square measures 8 inches (20 cm) across.

If you like, switch colours occasionally on odd rounds to create stripes.

Bind off loosely using a larger needle if necessary to keep the edge stretchy.

Sew in ends and block if desired.

KAS knit-a-long and gallery

Zina and Dawne at Another Long Yarn are running a KnitALong to challenge knitters worldwide to contribute squares for Knit-a-Square.

For every square that you knit or crochet, photograph and add to their KAS gallery before 15 March 2010, you’ll receive an entry into their prize draw. They’ve collected some lovely goodies including a handmade knitting satchel, some Knit Picks interchangeable needles, and a sampler set of a dozen skeins of yarn.

To enter, you need to comment on Dawne’s Can You Spare a Square? post (so she has your email address), and then upload a photo of each square you’ve knitted or crocheted to the gallery.

Seeing my own squares in such fabulous company makes me want to go back and block them all — mine look a bit wonky. I had vague hopes that they’d look neater when sewn up into blankets, but they’ll look neater still if they’re blocked, right? I sense a big blocking session in my near future.

Reverse mitered square with stripes

When knitting squares for the knit-a-square project, I discovered the delights of the reverse mitered square.

A mitered garter stitch square with stripes, shown from the right side.

Gauge, yarn and needle size aren’t important. You start with just 3 stitches, increase every second row until the square is the size you want, and then cast off loosely.

Play around with variations, switching colours when the mood strikes.

Here is my basic recipe for a simple reverse mitered square knitted with stripes of colour in garter stitch.

Materials:

small amounts of DK (8-ply) yarn, preferably wool, in 2 or more colours
4 mm knitting needles
larger needles (if needed) for loose bind-off
1 stitch marker
blunt needle for sewing in ends

Abbreviations

Instructions:

Cast on 3 st.

Row 1 (right side): K1, YO, place marker, K1, YO, K1.

Row 2 (wrong side): K1, K1 tbl, K1, slip marker, K1 tbl, K1.

Row 3: K to marker, YO, slip marker, K1, YO, K to end.

Row 4: K to 2 st before marker, K1 tbl, K1, slip marker, K1 tbl, K to end.

(These two rows make up 1 ridge in garter stitch.)

Repeat rows 3 and 4 about 15 times, or until you feel like it’s time to change colours.

Bring in a new colour on a right-side (odd-numbered) row.

(To change colours, I normally just drop the previous yarn and start working with the new yarn, leaving the ends long enough to for easy sewing in later. The changeover stitches are floppy as you work them, but you can neaten them up when you weave in the ends. Alternatively you can loosely knot the new yarn to the old, at the end of a row, then undo the knot before you weave in the ends.)

Mitered square in garter stitch shown from the back

The reverse side of the mitered square shown above.

If you make the garter-stitch stripes no more than 4 rows (2 ridges) wide, save yourself some weaving-in time by carrying the colour not being used up the side of the work — no need to cut the yarn and re-join.

When the square measures 8 inches (20.5 cm) on a side, cast off.

(I use a larger needle size so that the cast-off edge stays stretchy and the square doesn’t distort. For a square knitted with 4 mm needles, I cast off with 5 mm needles.)

Sew in ends and block if desired. My sample square is not yet blocked.

Knit-a-square project

My Mum and I have been knitting lots of 8-inch squares lately for the knit-a-square project. These squares will soon head over to South Africa, to be sewn into blankets for orphaned children.

Source: knit-a-square

I love to experiment with different combinations of yarn, pattern and construction, so my 23 squares are a hodgepodge of styles, with mitered squares being my favourites.

Mum has stormed through a big pile of leftover yarn, making 36 mostly ‘plain jane’ squares knitted straight or on the diagonal.

Mum also gave me a Christmas present of postage stamps to send the finished squares off to South Africa, so that’s the next job on my list.

Knitting these squares has been so enjoyable. For me it’s all about texture and colour and the special quality of something that’s hand-made. As I’m knitting each square, I think about how it might look and feel like something special to a child that doesn’t have much.

Even though machine-made blankets bought from a factory would be just as warm, I want to believe that these hand-knitted squares will make blankets that give more than simple warmth.

All the yarn has gone

It’s a sad day here at Yarnomat because all the storage tubs, shelves and boxes are empty. The last order is sitting next to the door waiting to be posted in the morning, and then that’s it.

My shelves might be empty, but it’s cheering to think of all that yarn in the hands of new owners, waiting to be knitted, crocheted, or otherwise transformed into something wonderful.

Now that the store has closed, I’m going to focus on knitting pattern design. There are already some free patterns here, and I plan to add more. I’m also going to develop some new patterns for sale, and will write about them here when they are ready.

If you want updates by email when new patterns are ready, please subscribe to the Yarnomat newsletter. I will send the newsletter out whenever there are new patterns available, whether free or for sale.

Other places to buy sock yarn

Now that I’m no longer buying sock yarn wholesale, I’ll soon need to find new sources for enhancing my own stash.

Bead and Opal Wool Queen is a great place for Opal sock yarn, of course. I like Opal a lot for hard-wearing, bright and funky yarns. Wish I could get ‘em in solid colours too, though.

Ecoyarns has a lot of TOFUtsies and a selection of Opal self-patterning yarns. I love the way TOFUtsies knits up, washes and wears, but have sometimes been a bit disappointed with the colour fading over time. I’d suggest choosing TOFUtsies colours a little brighter than you want, to allow for potential fading.

Yay! for Yarn is new to me and I haven’t ordered from them yet, but plan to give them a try. They have Bearfoot, Dream in Color Smooshy, and Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. They have former Yarnomat staples Araucania Ranco, Noro Kureyon Sock and Silk Garden Sock, and Flat Feet, so you still have an Australian source for these great yarns. I also love Patonyle’s quality and softness, although I wish it would come out in better colours.

Wondoflex looks fabulous, has a great range and excellent prices. Lots of Opal colourways, plus Jigsaw, Patonyle, Maxime Print, Regia, Happy, and Noro Kureyon Sock. Good quality photos, too, which always helps with an online store.

Sarah Durrant’s only sock yarn is Colinette Jitterbug. Previously I bought Jitterbug from my local yarn store, but there are so many beautiful colours on Sarah’s site that I’ll be ordering direct from her next time I want Jitterbug.

Morris and Sons have Araucania Ranco, Noro Kureyon Sock and Silk Garden Sock, Regia, and Jigsaw. I bought from them back when they used to be Tapestry Craft. They have a huge range of other craft supplies, and physical stores in Sydney and Melbourne.

I also want to mention Joy of Yarn in New Zealand. It’s the only physical yarn store that I know of specialising entirely in sock yarn. How fabulous is that? I’m going to splurge on postage and try some of their Supreme Possum Merino.

What are your favourite sock yarn stores in Australia or New Zealand? What do you like best about them?

Crikey! Almost all gone

This morning I announced that the Yarnomat sock yarn store will close on 8 February, and marked all the stock down to half price. I’d hoped that I might be able to recover some of the purchase costs, and give my wonderful customers a last chance to get hold of some the wonderful sock yarns that can be hard to find in Australia.

I’d expected to sell maybe half the stock before closing up in a couple of weeks, thus leaving me with a big personal stash of sock yarn to work through over the next few years.

Silly me. Your orders have flooded in today, and there’s less than a quarter of the stock left. At this rate, it may all be gone before the store officially closes.

If you have had trouble trying to access the Yarnomat store today, I’m sorry! Please try again. You will get through eventually.

There are still some lovely yarns available (as at Thursday night), including a good selection of the Flat Feet handpainted flats. I’ve been knitting a pair of Marywarmers for my sister with Flat Feet, and love the smooshy way it knits up. It comes quite crinkly out of the flat, so blocking is more important than usual to get a nice professional finish.

Closing down sale: everything half price!

All stock at Yarnomat is half-price from now until the doors close for good on Monday, 8 February 2010. So this is a great opportunity to grab some great sock yarn at incredibly low prices.

Yarnomat has been quiet recently, and I had been planning to re-launch it in January.

Well, I’ve been doing some soul-searching, and honestly examined the financials, and have decided instead to close the yarn store for good. It’s been lovely to have a miniature yarn store in my home, but I just haven’t had the time or the funds to build it into a profitable business.

I still love knitting, and sock knitting especially, and will continue developing and publishing patterns at the Yarnomat site. I just won’t be selling sock yarn there any more.

Thanks for shopping at Yarnomat over the last couple of years!

Time for renovations

The Yarnomat store is temporarily closed for renovations, and will reopen on 1 January 2010.

I haven’t had much time lately to work on Yarnomat, and the store was looking a bit tired. In my other life, I teach technical communication and do some consulting work, and have been pretty busy with that lately.

I still love knitting, sock yarn and Yarnomat though, and the store will be back, I promise! I’m moving Yarnomat to a new storefront provider (Shopify) and designing some new knitting patterns.

Please join me in January for some great re-opening bargains at the new Yarnomat store. For now, you can always find me at Ravelry as verylisa, leave a comment here or send me an email.

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