Loopy Weekend

Directions first.  Editorial second.  How to make a Fruit Loopy Scarf

What I did here:

Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On Instructions

The long tail cast on is one of my favorites.  It's quick, easy and works for most projects.  However, I always have a too much yarn left or worse, not enough.  Usually that's not a problem unless I'm casting on over 200 stitches and run out of tail at around 180.  Sort of like what happened when I first cast on the Miami Beach Shawl.  So I set out to find and alternative and here it is.  


Awhile ago, I downloaded instructions linked to pattern on Ravelry by Betty Balcomb on how to do a Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On.  The directions have since disappeared from Rav so here's a quick recap of how to do it.

• From the same skein (or one each from two identical skeins), take the two ends of yarn and tie them in a slip knot with about a five inch tail on both.
• Insert your needle in the loop created by the slip knot.
• Proceed with a Long Tail Cast On (see below).
• When you get the desired number of stitches, break the yarn from the end you won't be knitting from.
• Smile because you had just the right amount of yarn.

As for the loop from the slip knot, I just treat it as the first cast on stitch but you could cast on one more and pull that out at the end.  That's all there is to a Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On.


By the way, here are some links to great sites to learn how to do the traditional Long Tail Cast On.

• KnittingHelp.com (video)
• Knitty.com (text/pics)
• KnitPicks.com (video)

Little Bit giving me her typical pose

right before her ballet recital.

Miami Beach or Bust!

With the failure of the Damson still fresh in the frog pond, I have fearlessly casted on another lace shawl.  This one is the Miami Beach Shawl and I'm working it with Dashing Dachs Dach Sox yarn, in a colorway appropriately named Jellyfish.  The top picture is the one most true to color.

I'm only 1/2 way through the first lace repeat but I can already tell I'll love it!

I used Betty Balcomb's Short-Tail Long-Tail Cast On from a "pattern" she distributed last year.  I'd post the link to it but it's been pulled off of Ravely and every other site I can find.  It's pretty easy to do and I don't know if you can copy-write a cast-on so tomorrow when I have more time.  I'll post how I do a long tail cast on without having to guess how much yarn to pull.  

Magic Ring. Here's Something New to Me

I am by no means an expert knitter and I'm an even less accomplished crocheter.  So when I stumble across something that either makes my hobby more enjoyable and/or makes my projects look that much better, I just have to share.

I was recently put in a position where I had to produce an infant baby hat by the next day.  Of course, the first place I go is Ravelry to do an advanced search for what would be the best pattern for me.  The very first pattern listed was called 30 Minute Baby Hat by Mary Ann Colatuno.  Even the name was perfect.  I immediately cast on and, with the exception of the flower part, was done within 30 minutes.  Now, back to my original thought.

In her directions was a link to a crochetme.com forum post that quickly described this wonderful thing called Magic Ring.  I would give you the link but she has since turned the directions into a pdf and I can't find the post anywhere.  So, today when I wanted to hook a circular project I went looking for it to refresh my memory and since I couldn't click to forum post (typing it in the address bar didn't work either) I searched on YouTube and found it.  I just clicked on the first one listed (you can see it here) and with one simple change, my finished work looks so much neater and was that much easier.

Here's a photo of the finished project.

Photo courtesy of my friend

Sylvia Schultz of

Sylvia Schutz Photography

My Beautiful, Sweet, Wonderful Little Devil!

I'm just going to start this off with a picture...

I'm sure you recognize that as a mess of yarn attached to a work in progress, A Simple Baby Hat by Alison Williams.  In fact, I have to change that into this by next week when my friend is having her twin baby boys.

Luckily, I managed to finish one, but I believe it will take me longer to unravel this mess than it would to knit these boys and entire layette.  The point of this whole post is that I just can't understand why my 3 1/2 year old, who has been exposed to my knitting since before she was born and has always handled my yarn and projects with care (if she needed to move something), suddenly decides she wants to play kitty kitty with my WIP!

Oh, and she knew what she was doing.  She came in saying "Mommy, don't be mad at me".  She led me into the living room and it was strung out all over the place.  Actually, I almost laughed out loud, after all it is just a baby hat that I can redo in an afternoon, but I wanted to have the right balance of disappointment and despair in my eyes so she'd understand never to do that again.  I think it worked.  I went back in the kitchen to try to fix it and a few minutes later when she came in to ask for something, I looked up from the fuzzy, slippery pile of yarn and said I was just a little too busy to play Candyland at the moment.  She thought about it and said "Will Daddy be home soon?".

Center Pull Ball of Yarn

Here is another seemingly self explanatory yarn thing but I had to do some research to find an easy way to do it that 1) didn't end up in a tangled mess and 2) wasn't so complicated I'd have to bookmark the link and boot up my computer every time to relearn the process.

Here is what I came up with:

Start by holding your winding hand open with your thumb and forefinger extended. Take the yarn to be wound and drape it over the open hand from back to front between the thumb and finger leaving about a 6 inch tail behind your hand.

Loosely wind the yarn around the thumb and finger in a figure eight pattern about 30 times, the exact amount isn't important but you don't want to do it too much or when you're finished that part will pull out of the ball and leave a large hallow space.

Pull the figure eight winding off your thumb and finger and pinch it together leaving the tail still trailing down behind your hand.

Now, simply start winding and turning like this: Wind at an angel from the lower part of your thumb to the top of your thumb about 20 times (again, the exact number isn't important) turning the ball on your thumb about a quarter each time after wrapping. Be sure to keep the tail positioned behind your hand.

When you are done, tuck the end into the last few wraps. Pull from the inside string to start. The figure eight part will loosen up pretty quickly and may pull out in a little yarn blob. Now you see why you don't want to make that part too big. But, too small may not leave enough room inside the ball to pull the rest. You can play around with the amounts.