Chat Back for March 8

Karen asked . . .

With all those cables, do you use a cable needle or do the needleless method?

And Frank asked . . .

Didn't I read that you knit your cables with a bobby pin? I think its more fiddely to use the no cable needle method than to use them. What do you use?

I'm the same knitting speed with or without a cable needle, but keeping track of the cable needle slows me down. I can't tell you how many I've lost. They evaporate, never to be seen again.

My preference is to cable without a needle when the cables are simple and the yarn is not slippery.

My favorite cable needle is a four inch glove double point in a size 0. Here's what I have left of a set of five. Time to start looking for a new set to buy.

I've never tried a bobby pin. Once in an emergency (I didn't want to get out of the chair) I used a round toothpick. It was rough and snagged the yarn - but it didn't slip out and it got the job done.

For the She Said Aran, I've been able to do all the cable work without a cable needle. The Cascade 220 yarn has good grab and the cables are simple (only one cross at a time).

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Megan asked . . .

What type of short row technique do you prefer?

Interesting question because I wasn't aware of more than one technique.

I knit/purl to the end of the short row, slip the next stitch onto the right hand needle, wrap (front for a purl, back for a knit), slip the stitch back to the left hand needle, and turn. If it's been awhile since the last short row, I have to look up how to do the wrap.

Are there links for other techniques? Are they better in some way?

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Sue asked . . .

Your pictures are always amazing! How do you get in so close and take a picture without spooking them? Are you inside or outside?

This time of year the pictures you're seeing are taken from the inside through the window. When the weather is nicer, I do take plenty of bird picture outdoors.

The camera, a Canon S3 IS, has a zoom lens and is great at focusing on the bird through the window.

I crop the photos when I get them on my laptop. Sometimes they get darkened or lightened as needed to show the colors and detail accurately as possible.

The bird in the picture is a Field Sparrow.

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Marianne asked . . .

What is the best way to make a sock comfortable when there needs to be a knot in the yarn?

Yikes! A sock is never going to be comfortable with a knot in the yarn.

I split the ends of both pieces of yarn and twist half the plies of one piece with half the plies of the other for two to three inches to make new yarn. Then knit.

This leaves four thin ends to weave in and a very very solid join that's never going to come undone.

I use this join for everything, not just socks.

For single ply yarn like Lopi, I hold two strands together and knit for a few stitches.

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Laura asked . . .

Oh, aren't pileated woodpeckers wonderful?

Yes. Seeing and hearing it in the yard was one of the highlights of my February.