Worsted...What the Heck is That?

As a newbie knitter. you walk into a yarn store and want to buy yarn. The sales person asks you about gauge and weight of yarn...Huh? The pattern says worsted...what the heck does that mean?

Knitting terms can be confusing..dk, aran, 16 stitches to 4", bulk, super bulky, gauge...There are many basic charts on the internet that will help you become more familar with the standards set by the Craft Yarn Council of America
 http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/weight.html  The chart lays out the different names used through the ages by different countries and the numbers that now go with them.

The term worsted originally comes from the 12th century weaving industry in Worstead England. It is also a term used for the carding of wool and the spinning of wool and the subsequent fabric made from it. Interesting but not relevant for the knitter who wants to know what size needles she needs and what yarn to buy.
In the end, its quite simple, its about creating a fabric that you like that will work with the pattern that you have chosen.If the pattern calls for a 4.5 mm needle and the fabric is too tight, then you are best to go up a needle size, and consequently if it is too loose go down. Making a swatch may seem silly or unnecessary, but it helps test the yarn you have chosen to see  if it works and mostly importantly whether you like it.  In the end its sillier to knit a whole garment to find out you don't like it or it doesn't fit.

A Tree for Mental Health

This is the beginning of my layout for the tree piece I am doing for a fund raiser for Canadian Mental Health at Bottega next week.  At the event, the participants will be able to add leaves to the tree using a variety of materials and they will have the option to write words on their leaves. I am very excited about the project and I look forward to see the tree completely felted and fulled and full of leaves.
At the end of the evening the tree will be auctioned off.
My studio isn't big enough to make a pieces this size. So don't tell my kid, but I used one of his old paintings as a board to create a surface for the lay out. I did cover the painting with plastic so it wouldn't get wet.

Urban Dude's Infinity Scarf

 I knit this scarf with my boys in mind. The infinity scarves that I knit last year where too feminine for the boys...so I took some yarn, Araucania Panguipulli and picked a colour I thought Son #3 would like....knit the infinity scarf and then asked who wanted it....no takers...oh well, sample for the store.
Now look whose laughing...me, of course, Son #3 is up in northern Alberta...freezing his butt off and no Urban Dude Infinity Scarf to keep him warm.
This pattern is available in my Ravelry store:
 http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/urban-dudes-infinity-scarf

Ok..Truth...will I really finish this?

 There are some projects you start because you have an idea and want to try it out....but...part way through you realize you don't like it.Are we obligated to finish it?...Absolutely Not. I started this baby sweater...loved the colours...hated the yarn. Then one day my coffee spilled on my mittens that bled onto my knitting and left a red stain on both the yarn and the knitting. This was, to me a sure sign to stop.
I am a yarn snob and I realized that I have to love the yarn to finish the project. I can buy a cute acrylic sweater, but I can't buy a hand dyed superwash merino one,  made in a yarnlike Madeline Tosh. Now that there are so many        beautiful superwash wool yarns,

I don't want to knit in a synthetic fibre.
Sure people say they don't want the wool to irritate the baby, but very few people actually have a wool allergy. A wool allergy consists of being allergic to the lanolin in the wool. Most people have an ïtch factor" problem and that can be resolved, for a baby, by using a yarn like Madleine Tosh or Mulberry Yarns which are superwash merinos. Merino is the softest yarn available.
Needless to say, the orange and yellow baby sweater will never be finished...
On the other hand, I have been working on this crochet blanket for years....still love it, the yarn is cotton and I know |I will finish it when the right       reason comes along.