Joining Yarn

There are many times as we knit a manufactures knot is buried deep in a cone of yarn and only discovered as you are knitting along (usually in the middle of a row).  If I am knitting stockinette stitch I can easily rip back stitches to the end of a row, and start the yarn after the knot.

If knitting a stitch pattern or in the middle of some short row shaping it can be a bit messy to get back to the beginning of a row and maintain the integrity of the pattern or short rows.  This is when I turn to the "Russian Join" method.

This is a strong join and when knit is usually never visible without tails to weave in, it slips right through the machine smoothly.  Simply cut out the knot and create the join as shown in the video below.  This is also very helpful with yarn broken during repurposing or winding mishaps.

Take a look, you will like this as much as I do!

Great Whitening Info

Hi!

Yes I am still here and still knitting.  Have been so very busy in all aspects of normal life.  Hoping you are all doing well too.  I have been teaching locally here in Las Vegas and just received another request from a new machine knitter for some starter classes.  It's great to meet enthusiastic and eager knitters and see them get on their way.  Last year I was invited to teach at several seminars, it was unfortunate I could not make it, hoping the organizers didn't get annoyed with my having to cancel.  It's so hard to commit so far in advance especially when things pop up work wise which prevented me from being away.

I do get quite a bit of questions and comments sent via the blog to my email.  When a reader asks  questions via a reply to a post it is very difficult for the blogger to answer and when we do the answers are buried in the comments under the blog entry.

Better to email me direct, just click on the button on the right side of the blog.

I have recently been asked (many times) about how I whiten the yellow plastic and received this information from Mandy in New Zealand today:

This process is a chemical reaction rather than just a bleach, and thus the UV rays are an important part of the process. It is so that the Bromine that leeches out of the plastic and settles on the outer layers, yellowing the plastic is catalysed to the H202. I did this with a Singer 323's carriage that was so damaged by sun exposure that the whole machine was yellowed to brown! You could even see a brown liquid come off the plastic after the process was done. I found the 40Vol (12% H2O2) at my local pharmacy. I also used a UV lamp at night (as it has been winter here in New Zealand) in conjunction with the sunlight to speed the process up a bit. 

Mandy is correct the UV light is important in removing yellow from the plastic.  I have also tried only using 40 vol creme peroxide (found in a beauty supply) and have had excellent results.  It works a bit slower than the more involved formula I have posted.  You simply coat the plastic (liberally) with the creme peroxide then wrap it in plastic (clear) so it does not dry and place in the sun.

A note off topic, I just completed a gift of 2 pairs of black socks using a solid black wool sock yarn.  I was quickly reminded why I do not favor knitting with any black yarn.  I need a spot light or bright daylight when working with black.

Have you checked out the Butterfly Stitch Diana demonstrated this month?

Diana's August Video