Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
Sign up for my newsletter here: Sign up for the DRK Newsletter: eepurl.com/diPxsr
In this week’s episode we cover:
1. Hi Andrea! I was hoping to chat about the tubular cast on. I love how it looks and I’ve definitely become more confident with the technique. BUT for some reason I struggle with counting stitches with this cast on. I’m almost always +\- 2 or so stitches, even with putting stitch markers every 10 stitches. I cast on about 5 times when I made my second tessellated vest. (I made it for my bestie and was determined to start off with the right number!) I took the advice of folks in either the Framed chat or comments from the Framed testers and tried the tubular cast on that starts with the provisional cast on, hoping that it would help. As I squeeze my knitting time in where I have 5 minutes, I thought maybe having to shove my knitting back in the bag contributed to my counting problems and the provisional cast on would be sturdier. Spoiler: I was still off in my final count! (Hahaha) Any other tips or tricks you can recommend? Or is making an adjustment of a couple of stitches in that first round after the ribbing an okay option? I just did a Make1 on each side of my Framed sweater to get the 2 stitches I needed because I was over trying to get the right cast on number! But also don’t want my frustration with counting to impact my final sweater.
2. Do you have recommendations about how to protect your knitwear and yarn from pests like moths? For the last year or two I've had issues with moths in our home and it is so disappointing to find little (or sometimes big) holes in things I so lovingly made. I've done some googling and do my best to follow the tips I've read, but I'm curious if you've got any additional recommendations. It's a frustrating problem to feel like I can't actually solve :( Thank you!
3. Spinning question!! :). I used my drop spindle and I’ve spun clockwise 4 ounces of Merino which I want to ply together. They are on two separate other bobbins because I transferred in order to continue spinning on that same drop spindle. I am wondering if when I ply them, I should ply them clockwise, even though I spun them clockwise because I move them over to different bobbins therefore reversing the twist perhaps? I’m not sure but when I have tried different things, I’ve ended up with a mess ugh- my beloved handspun!! so I’m hoping you can help me. I also tried plying them from the inner and outer, and that was a total mess!! I plied them counterclockwise. BTW- wheel plying if that matters?
4. Whenever I pick up stitches for the sleeves in a sweater or cardigan, I always have a hole in the underarm where the stitches got stretched. Is there a technique I can use to avoid that? Is it just something I have to fix afterward?
5. Do you ever see yourself designing home goods like blankets or pillow covers?
Today I am wearing the soon to be released Frame Your Face Cowl!
Ravelry:
My Website:
Rhinebeck Framed KAL Ravelry Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/topics/4321023
Rhinebeck Framed KAL Facebook Forum: facebook.com/groups/1227489541598223
Instagram Hashtag: #RhinebeckFramedKAL
DRK Spin It to Knit It KAL
Ravelry KAL Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/topics/4300929
Instagram Hashtags: #DRKspinittoknitKAL2024 #DRKspinsTHETRAVELER
Ask a question for next week’s Q&A: https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
Sign up for my newsletter here: Sign up for the DRK Newsletter: eepurl.com/diPxsr
In this week’s episode we cover:
1. Hi Andrea! I was hoping to chat about the tubular cast on. I love how it looks and I’ve definitely become more confident with the technique. BUT for some reason I struggle with counting stitches with this cast on. I’m almost always +\- 2 or so stitches, even with putting stitch markers every 10 stitches. I cast on about 5 times when I made my second tessellated vest. (I made it for my bestie and was determined to start off with the right number!) I took the advice of folks in either the Framed chat or comments from the Framed testers and tried the tubular cast on that starts with the provisional cast on, hoping that it would help. As I squeeze my knitting time in where I have 5 minutes, I thought maybe having to shove my knitting back in the bag contributed to my counting problems and the provisional cast on would be sturdier. Spoiler: I was still off in my final count! (Hahaha) Any other tips or tricks you can recommend? Or is making an adjustment of a couple of stitches in that first round after the ribbing an okay option? I just did a Make1 on each side of my Framed sweater to get the 2 stitches I needed because I was over trying to get the right cast on number! But also don’t want my frustration with counting to impact my final sweater.
2. Do you have recommendations about how to protect your knitwear and yarn from pests like moths? For the last year or two I've had issues with moths in our home and it is so disappointing to find little (or sometimes big) holes in things I so lovingly made. I've done some googling and do my best to follow the tips I've read, but I'm curious if you've got any additional recommendations. It's a frustrating problem to feel like I can't actually solve :( Thank you!
3. Spinning question!! :). I used my drop spindle and I’ve spun clockwise 4 ounces of Merino which I want to ply together. They are on two separate other bobbins because I transferred in order to continue spinning on that same drop spindle. I am wondering if when I ply them, I should ply them clockwise, even though I spun them clockwise because I move them over to different bobbins therefore reversing the twist perhaps? I’m not sure but when I have tried different things, I’ve ended up with a mess ugh- my beloved handspun!! so I’m hoping you can help me. I also tried plying them from the inner and outer, and that was a total mess!! I plied them counterclockwise. BTW- wheel plying if that matters?
4. Whenever I pick up stitches for the sleeves in a sweater or cardigan, I always have a hole in the underarm where the stitches got stretched. Is there a technique I can use to avoid that? Is it just something I have to fix afterward?
5. Do you ever see yourself designing home goods like blankets or pillow covers?
Today I am wearing the soon to be released Frame Your Face Cowl!
Ravelry:
My Website:
Rhinebeck Framed KAL Ravelry Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/topics/4321023
Rhinebeck Framed KAL Facebook Forum: facebook.com/groups/1227489541598223
Instagram Hashtag: #RhinebeckFramedKAL
DRK Spin It to Knit It KAL
Ravelry KAL Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/topics/4300929
Instagram Hashtags: #DRKspinittoknitKAL2024 #DRKspinsTHETRAVELER
Ask a question for next week’s Q&A: https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
