Keeping Tabs on the Stash

Howdy, everyone!

This would normally be the time I would go over my current projects, give progress updates, etc. 

However, since my current projects are actually Christmas gifts for others (NO SPOILERS!), and the projects I’ve previously posted are in a temporary state of hibernation to meet holiday deadlines, I thought I’d put in my two-cents-worth on a topic that most knitters and crocheters have to some extent; some of us are happy to discuss with our fellow fiber artists, but non-crafters just don’t understand it. 

I’m talking about the stash.  That ever-growing collection of yarn, needles or hooks, and—for spinners like me—fiber that’s ready to be spun. 

I’ll be the first to say, mine can still considered by some standards a “baby stash”.

It just barely spills out of the bin, even when haphazardly jumbled in,

Really, this thing is only a foot-and-a-half deep.  And it's not as organized as it could be.  That's about to change...

 

And it only takes up about 12 square feet of space on my kitchen counter. 

 

But what it lacks in size it makes up for in personality, and believe it or not, a person’s stash can say a lot about the owner, as I think mine does.  Let’s take a look at what’s going on…

UFO’s

No, I’m not talking about alien spacecrafts—in this case, UFO stands for Un-Finished Object.

Not pictured:  the beginnings of a shawl in light blue and sage green laceweight

Some yarn I buy with the intent of making a pattern, or at the very least with a general idea of what kind of thing I want to make.  But for whatever reason, I start projects more than I finish them. 

What it says about me:  I dig variety.  And If I get stumped on a technique or ideas for finishing, I don’t stew too long over it.  I’m also easily distracted. 

 

The Crowd of Novelty Yarns

Finally, after five-plus years at the bottom of the stash, they see daylight.  And I actually have some idea of what to do with it! 

Eyelash and fun fur and bobbles, oh my!  
All wound up, they look like tribbles that made trouble in a painter's studio.  And if you're not careful, they can reproduce like the darned things.  Yeah, we've all seen this trend come and go, and like all trends they can bring either fond nostalgia, cringe-worthy flashbacks, or something in-between.  Used well, they can add a little something extra to a scarf or some socks.  Used wrong, though, and results vary from Muppet with a shedding problem to goodness knows how much worse. (Ravelry users, check out the Ugliest FO thread under “For the Love of Ravelry” if you haven’t already become addicted as I have)  Some of these were either purchased for me when I was a young knitter just starting out, or I bought them on an impulse and later regretted it.  But I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. 

What it says about me:  I don’t like wasting yarn, and I will find at least some kind of fun, updated use for an out-of-date novelty. 

 Re-worked Garments and Commercial Yarns

I was considering using the sweater on the left in a crazy-cat-lady costume for Halloween, but even that was too outlandish for me. 

There are times when I have a love-hate relationship with a store bought piece in my wardrobe; I just don’t like the thing itself, but I love the material too much to get rid of the garment in its entirety.  This is where knowledge in the skill of deconstruction comes in handy.  If you know where to take out the seams and how to do it, and you know which tail of the yarn to pull, you’ve got a new sweater, shawl, or other ready to be made.  The same can go for some plain, no-frills yarn, preferably something that has visible singles plied together.  Before you know it, you can split 300 yards of worsted into 600 yards of DK or sock weight.

What it says about me:  at least one of the following... 

·       I’m resourceful

·       I’m not well-funded to buy the 1,000 or so yards required for a sweater

·       I’m freakishly patient

·       I probably have waaaay too much time on my hands, or

·       Most likely a combination of all of the above. 

 

The Bag of Odds and Ends

Oh, boy.  If ever the phrase “not enough to keep, too much to throw out” applied.  In here go all the bits of dreamily-colored discontinued nylon so soft you’d swear it was genuine alpaca, or some extra chenille you didn’t know you even had when you were making an infinity scarf from another ball of the same yarn.  Anything you like, that’s discontinued, or think you could use for something.  I keep all of mine in a gallon-sized zip top bag, along the side or back wall of my stash bin. 

What it says about me:  Besides being a pack-rat, I really don’t know. 

 

Do you have a stash?  Do you think it reveals anything about you?

Fear Factor: Crafter's Edition (part 2)

 

For the longest time, I have been simultaneously in wonder and in fear of cable work; at the stores during the cooler months, I gravitate toward sweaters elegantly striped with four-by-four ribbing with that bold licorice-like twist spaced evenly down the vertical line of the garment.  And don't get me started on the Aran style jumpers--thick, cozy, and adorned with panels of braids, basketweaves, and trellises.  My favorites look like they belong in an ancient Celtic stone carving. 

But when it came to actually knitting such pieces, even as a foolhardy knitter who wasn't afraid to use a different yarn than a pattern called for and not bother to check my gauge (I have since learned my lesson--especially with the gauge.) I would shy away sheepishly from any pattern that required cables. 

Maybe it was the confounding charts?  Or the freaky-looking needles said to be required?  Or the mystery of how on earth do you get the yarn to contort like that?  Nonetheless, I was content to simply admire the pretty pictures and scour the shops to find a ready-to-wear piece that suited my particular aesthetic tastes. 

It took until last spring for me to actually get up the nerve to stop looking and start doing.  I had just finished a scarf with plenty of the main-color yarn to spare, and the urge to start a new project to use it up.  I eventually saw the Celtic Cables Dishcloth pattern on Yarnspirations (if you would like, this is the Ravelry link to add to your queue or favorites!).  The Saxon braid spoke to me, and the enticingly simple-looking cables along the edge whispered, " Don't be scared!  You can do it!" 

Before I could think twice, I had cast on and started on my first cable adventure.  Here is the result of my efforts:  

I continued the repetitions of the pattern to elongate the dishcloth into a simple pouch, complete with some spare, and might I add cheesy, buttons I had acquired.  
The yarn had felted itself slightly from previous moments of indecision before the cables found me, and a little from slip-ups along the way, but that weeklong adventure in cables had empowered me.  I could knit anything I wanted to. 

Here's what I had found on my journey, and some of my insights for others with untapped cabling potential. 

Charts

If you haven't already, please read my little bit on charts from my inaugural Fear Factor: Crafters' Edition post.

Read it?  Got the hang of it?  Awesome! 

Wrong-side rows

Just like when you read a lace chart, or any chart for that matter, you read the right-side rows from right to left, and the wrong-side rows left to right.  Unlike lace, though, for the most part you're just working with knit and purl stitches.  That being said, unless you're knitting a pattern that results in reversible fabric, you don't always have to look at the chart when you're working the wrong-side rows--I love that! 

So, how do you know what to do?  With each stitch or set of stitches, you just look at those that line up with them from the previous row.   (Insert picture and caption)

Right-side rows

Under normal cabling circumstances, the right-side rows are going to be the ones where you're going to cable.  And you're going to need to know when.  The symbols used in cable charts are a little more...well, dizzying than those in lace charts.  They span multiple stitches, and they often travel, if that's not daunting enough. 

I sense some hyperventilation, so let's take a deep breath and dissect a chart.  But before we can dissect anything, we need to see the specimen intact. 


One of my favorites; not only is it pretty, it gives a sample of different techniques. And yes, I realize the error in row 11--It's supposed to be the same as row 3. 

Before we continue, I would like to mention that other pattern writers may have some slightly different insignia or different abbreviations, but they all come down to the same thing. 

Let's break it down, shall we? 

Name:  Cable 4. 
Alias:  2-over-2

 This is one of the most basic cable stitches, done two ways.  It's called the "cable 4" because there are four stitches involved in the maneuver.  The reason for the other name:  two stitches are cabled over the other two, depending on the instructions.  In the C4L, the top stitches travel to the left, as above, and the C4R to the right.  Line up a bunch of the same type in a column, separated with four rows of stockinet in between, and you'll have a classic cable: 

You could so the very same thing with only two stitches in the sequence. 

Don't worry; once we go over the rest of the stitches, I'll show you just how it's done. 

Also, if you recall the lace charts from before, you'll see those little boxes with either dots or blank spaces that indicate purl and knit stitches, respectively.

This is important, and it will make or break your pattern.  Pay attention to where they are in the pattern in general, and where they are inside the cable sequence, as below: 

I know, my handwriting stinks using a tablet. 
Stitch name:  Turn 3. 
Alias:  Turn 2-over-1

These two are known as "turns" or "traveling stitches".  This is when two knit stitches are cabled over purl stitches.  In a T3 like this, it's always two knit stitches crossing over one purl stitch. 

As with all of these examples, there are multiple variations on this stitch, and one stitch can have as many aliases and guises as the main character in one of those secret agent movies.  Just read the instructions for your pattern, and it will become clear. 

And now, we knit.

So let's, in the words of Larry the Cable Guy, "get 'er doooone."

(oh, yeah.  I went there.)

Equipment

Contrary to popular belief, you actually can knit cables without a cable needle. 

If you're like me and you crochet and have a handy supply of crochet hooks in all different sizes, you're all set.  Just match the needles in your project to the closest size crochet hook you have.  If you don't have exactly the right size, it's better to err on the small side than the large size. 

No crochet hooks?  Use a double-pointed needle (known simply as DPNs), again, erring on the small side. 

No crochet hooks or DPNs?  No problem.  Go with a paperclip or a safety pin.  Or clean chopsticks.   Anything you have that can hold those live stitches, because we will be taking them off the working needles.

 If you have a high level of dexterity or are double-jointed, you can even pinch the stitches when you rearrange them.  (Only if you are very careful and very adventurous with a side of reckless do I recommend simply pushing the stitches off the needle and leaving them hanging.) 

Moving stitches. 

I've stalled for you long enough.  It's time to cable.  While my favorite is the crochet-hook-method, I will be employing the safety-pin technique since that's the easiest to photograph. 

Let's start with the very beginning of the chart:  that first C4L, after the two purl stitches. 

After you work those two purl stitches, slip the next two stitches onto your crochet hook, cable needle, or safety pin (whichever you choose to use) and remove them from the left-hand needle. 

 

 

Move them to the front of your work--remember, we knit right-to-left, and this is a left-leaning cable--and knit the next two stitches. 

Finally, move the two stitches back onto the left-hand needle and knit as usual.  This is where I'd like to point out the advantage of a crochet hook:  you can knit directly off your hook and onto your right-hand needle. 

Since the rest of the row is just basic stitches, it's onto the next row. 

When working wrong-side rows, I just take a cue from what happened on the previous row.  For instance, the very first and very last stitches are purled on the right side, so we're going to knit when working the wrong side.

Then just follow the rest of the stitches. 

 

 

 

Time for the next row of cabling.  Work the first stitch of the chart, and then get ready for the turn.  Since this is a T3R, the next stitch (with the safety pin) will be moved to the back. 

 

 

Since this is a 2-over-one, knit the next two, move the purl stitch back to the left needle, and purl.  In this pattern, knit the next two stitches, and repeat the turn. 

So why is this a turn and not a cable when it's practically the same move? 

Excellent question! 

In cables, you're twisting two stitches or sets of stitches of the same type, just like braiding hair or something else.  When you're turning, you're moving that "strand," so to speak, across a background. 

I hope that answer/explanation makes sense. 

Got the turn?  Nice!  Now finish that row, work on your wrong-side row, and let's continue. 

In row 5, we have a purl, two knits, another purl, and another 2-over-two cable (or C4, whichever you want to call it), this time going to the right.  It's just the same as the C4L, but this time the first two stitches will go behind your work after slipping them onto the cable needle and working the next two. 

Rows 7 and 8 will conclude the first set of the pattern, with 7 containing two T3L (2-over-2, left) stitches.  Again, it's just like the T3R, but the two knit stitches are being moved to the front while the purl stitch is worked. 


What the T3L looks like, this time using the crochet hook (my preferred method).

There!  That wasn't sop hard, was it?
Here's what the chart makes after several repeats: 

If you liked this, check out Ravelry, Knitty, or some of your favorite sites for more patterns.  Still have questions?  Feel free to leave a comment! 

Once you've gotten the basics, there's really no limit on what you can do.  Sometime, I think I'll even make one of these...

Remember, if you have a suggestion for another Fear Factor:  Crafters' Edition post, don't hesitate to leave a comment or a message.

Until next time, have fun and keep making awesome things! 

A Nice Cuppa Tea

Almost equal to my love of the fiber arts is my love of tea.  Tea and fiber arts—what could be a more perfect combination? And what better topic to relax by when transitioning between Fear Factor Crafters’ Edition posts!  I have a decent-sized yarn stash (though still a “baby stash” by the standards of other fiber artists), but it pales in comparison to my collection of tea.  I have an entire shelf crowded with teas of all kinds, a collection of teapots for every occasion, and I have several books on teas and tea parties. 



The other stash in my life, plus some of my favorite brewing implements

 

Obsessed?  Maybe… 

Except for a recent surge of new-wave tea enthusiasm, the beverage and the leaf from which it comes has frequently been taken for granted here in the US.  I think that’s a shame, considering all the wonderful ways the leaf of a single plant species (Camelia sinensis) can be processed, blended, brewed, and enjoyed.  Not to mention it has a backstory worthy of its own soap opera miniseries! (that will have to wait for another post...) 

A Whirlwind Gide to Tea Types

In my pantry, I have many examples of all four of the main types of tea:  white, green, oolong, and black.   A note to any pu-erh fans who may be reading:  I consider this one an extension of black tea, and since I haven’t yet had an encounter with it, you’ll have to wait for another time.  The same goes for herbal blends, since there are too many types and combinations for one post. 

Even though they all come from the very same species of plant, each has vastly different characteristics and flavors from the other, which stem from the different types of processes, and where the plant was grown (much like coffee, wine, and chocolate—yum, yum, and yum!).  Here’s a basic look at how we get each one of these treats, and some of what to expect from a straight cup. 

·       White tea:  the least processed of all, and the lowest level of caffeine.  The leaves are simply picked, shaped, and dried, and the brew is light in color and delicate and mellow in flavor. 

Clockwise from top:  Cucumber White (Tazo), Pear Luna--discontinued, Lavender Dreams, and Youthberry (all from Teavana)

 

 

·       Green tea:  pan-fired or steamed before drying to prevent oxidation.  The heat destroys enzymes that leads to unwanted oxidation, and allows the pigments in the chlorophyll to shine through (kind of like perfectly-cooked vegetables).  Flavors range from subtle, to floral and springy, to sweet, to nutty and robust. 




A few from my stash (left to right, from top):  Decaf Lotus Blossom (Tazo), Peach Blossom (Celestial Seasonings),  Jasmine and Orange Blossom (Dean & Deluca), Trader Joe's Candy Cane, Hibiscus Honey Lemon (Hawaiian Islands Tea Co.), Trader Joe's Coconut Green Tea.  Not Pictured:  too many to list. 

·       Oolong tea:  process builds on green and white, and is partially oxidized before firing.  Can be peachy or fruity in taste, or deep and, again, nutty. 

Goddess of Mercy (Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants, Temecula), Stash Coconut Mango.  Not pictured:  S'mores oolong (Teavana)

 

Close-up of Goddess of Mercy oolong



·       Black tea:  again, the process builds on the previous three, but unlike oolong, the leaves are allowed to fully oxidize.  The resulting brew is actually the most variable, and can be light and fruity—almost like a good wine, or robust and malty or chocolatey.  Even though it has the highest level of caffeine, it only contains 35 percent of the caffeine found in regular drip coffee.  

Zhena's Chai Sampler, Mim Estate Darjeeling (Metropolitan Tea Co.), Paris: Earl Grey with Vanilla (Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants, Temecula) Grand Canyon Prickly Pear, Oatmeal Cookie (Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants, Temecula) Not pictured:  Garden Afternoon (Churchmouse Yarns and Tea, Bainbridge Island WA), Trader Joe's Cinnamon and Vanilla

Brewing the Perfect Cup

Like many things in life, a cup of tea is amazingly simple, and amazingly satisfying.  Unfortunately, I’ve had many cups that have been made bad by equally simple brewing mistakes.  While I’m not a tea snob, I am particular about proper brewing procedure.  Here are some common pitfalls and how to avoid them. 

Water

It’s the universal solvent, and the number one ingredient in making tea.  Yeah, you thought it was the leaves, didn’t you?  The quality of your water source can make or break your final cup or pot of tea.  Tap water that’s been run through a good filter (like the one in your refrigerator door) is your best bet; it takes out any of the excess chemicals (such as chlorine—blech!), but still leaves the right mineral balance to get the best flavor extraction.  You could almost look at it like using a primer when you paint a house.  Bottled spring water could do in a pinch, but avoid mineral and distilled waters.  Mineral water would mask the subtle nuances in tea, and distilled water would be too chemically squeaky-clean that it can’t extract any flavor in the first place.   

Time, temperature, and amount

Now let’s say you’ve got some nice filtered water, and you’re ready to put the kettle on.  Before you turn on the heat, you’ll want to know how far to go.  Certain teas prefer certain times and temperatures, for the most part corresponding with how processed they are.  Also, you’ll want the right proportions of tea to water; for loose-leaf teas, I usually go for 1 to 1.5 teaspoons per 6 to 8 fluid ounces (177-236 mL) of water.  One average teabag should do for the same amount, depending how strong you like your tea. 

·       White and green tea:  175° F White is usually steeped for 3 minutes, green for 1 minute (sometimes even less), although flavored teas of either category are steeped for two minutes. 

·       Oolong:  180°-195° F, about 3 minutes. 

·       Black:  195°-208° F  Black tea is the most variable for time; it can be steeped as little as 2 minutes, or as long as 5 minutes. 

·       Herbal blends:  Boiling for 5 minutes

You don’t want to mess with the brewing temperature, especially for white and green teas, since water that’s too hot can extract bitter compounds, namely tannins, resulting in a very harsh brew.  Then, too cool water just won’t extract much to begin with, good or bad. 

My favorite kettle; use the controls to set the temperature, and the LED display shows the current temperature of your water...Slick!

As far as steeping times go, I suggest starting with the manufacturer’s instructions and adjusting from there based on your own tastes.  For instance, I find Tazo brand’s flavored greens stay wonderfully smooth after their suggested 3 minute steep. 

Tools of the trade

There’s not a whole lot you need for a good cup of tea; for heating the water, I use an electric kettle that has a built-in digital thermometer and temperature control, but I keep a stovetop kettle and a beverage thermometer in my kitchen just in case the power goes out.  I like using a good 8-to-12-ounce French press is my ideal for a single serving of loose tea, but whatever you end up using, just make sure your loose tea has plenty of room to expand, at least double the initial volume of the dried leaves; and make sure the leaves stay submerged—that is the point of making tea, right?  If you like bagged tea (I have plenty—no shame in that!), just plop one bag in a favorite mug and steep from there. 

Now, your tea is steeped and served…all that’s left is to find a comfy seat, maybe outside in the garden if the weather permits, pick up your latest project or a good book, and enjoy! 

Cheers!

Fear Factor: Crafters' Edition (part 1)

When crafting as a hobby, there are a ton of opportunities to make things—things that make you smile, things that make others smile, and more or less useful things.  

 

Along with all those wonderful things, there are plenty more opportunities for road blocks, which can strike fear in the hearts of otherwise intrepid crafters, and may keep some from pursuing and achieving awesomeness.  Such include new and scary-looking equipment, new and difficult techniques, mess-ups (whether or not they’ve actually happened), and the list goes on. 

This has happened to me more times than I care to count. 

That’s why I’ve decided to start a series of common crafters’ fears, starting with the crafts with which I’m most familiar—that is, knitting and crochet—and go over what the fear is, why it exists, and ways to face it to get the most awesome project ever!

Yes, even you can learn this!  But that's another post. 

 

Before I start, though, I will advise you to seek out the folks at your nearest local yarn shops for specific troubleshooting.  If there is a specific issue in your current project, they will be able to pick up your work, examine it, and diagnose.  This is also important:  these instructions are written for a right-handed knitter; if you’re a lefty, I again suggest going to your local yarn shop.  You’ll see I also knit continental, but that shouldn’t affect the instructions. 

And with that, here we go! 

For my inaugural edition I would like to start with a fear that’s relatively common for new crafters, but one that’s relatively easy once you’ve gotten a confidence boost.  This, my friends, is lace.  And lace charts. 

I really hate to dumb it down, but I say you should talk your troubles down to a level that you can manage.  Knitting patterns and designs into fabric, as you do in lace, is really just combining different stitch types and arranging them stitch by stitch and row by row. 

Aside from the basic knit stitch, there are a few other stitches and techniques that you’ll need to get under your belt as a knitter: 

Purl stitch

Yarn-over

Slipping stitches

Twisting stitches

Decreases

With that, let’s tackle these one-by-one. 

 

Purling

As a knitter, I’m not just going to assume you already know how to do this one, or any of the other techniques.  However, I will say that if you do, you can skip this one, but looking at the photos won’t hurt things.

Here we go.  First, make sure your yarn is at the front of your work instead of behind.  Then take your needles and put the right needle into the next stitch (in the left hand) going from the top down, like a diver going head-first into a pool.  Make sure your needles cross over each other, with the needle in your right hand on top. 

 

 

Next, wrap your yarn up the front, over, and down the back of the needle in your right hand.  This is also called a “yarn over”, which we will discuss next.  

Up the front of the needle...
 



 

 



...And down the back. 



 

The rest is similar to the knit stitch, where you bring the needle and your yarn through the working stitch on the left needle then release. 

What this stitch ultimately does is puts the little bump on the side of the fabric facing you, and the little “v” shape on the side away from you.  For ribbing, alternate this with the knit stitch in the same row, or you can make a chart to create little pictures and texture patterns in your fabric!

 

Yarn Overs

The yarn-over is the simplest increase out there, and it creates an intentional hole in the fabric.  This one is key to lacework--you simply cannot have knit lace without it.  All you do is wrap your yarn around your working needle from front to back and that’s your stitch. 

It's just like with your other stitches--up the front, over the needle, and down the back. 

 

This stitch also adds another stitch to your needles, so unless you’re intending to increase and make the row and the rest of your project one stitch wider, you’ll need to take away some other stitches to make up for it.  We'll get into that one in a little bit. 

 

Slipping Stitches

This one is also very easy, but there are a couple ways of going about it, depending on the desired effect in the fabric.  Slipping a stitch knit-wise is like the beginning of a knit stitch, except instead of wrapping the yarn around your needle and creating a new stitch, you simply move the existing stitch from left to right.  Slipping purl-wise works on the same principle, except placing your needle in the stitch from the top down instead of from the bottom up. 

 

Twisting Stitches

When you twist a stitch, you have to think backwards a little.  Let’s take this one part at a time…

Twisting a knit stitch, a.k.a. Knitting through the back of the loop (common abbrev:  KTBL), involves inserting the needle in the back of the work from the top down (like our diver analogy), but making sure the yarn is back behind your needles. 

 

Then work your stitch as normal:  yarn over, put the needle and the new stitch through, and release the old stitch. 

To twist a purl stitch (a.k.a. purling through back of the loop, abbrev. PTBL), make sure the yarn is at the front of the work, then insert the stitch upward through the stitch, coming from behind.  Then work your stitch as normal.  The picture will be a little wonky, but hopefully it will work. 





 

Decreases

As I said before, when you yarn-over in lacework and you want to keep the number of stitches on your needles the same, you need to learn to decrease.  This involves combining two or more stitches into one.  The basic decreases go like so:  insert your needle into two (or three, or more) as if to purl or knit…

For the sake of demonstration, I'm doing the classic knit two together, or K2tog. 

 

…and work the stitches as one big stitch. 

 

With the knit stitch, that causes the decrease to lean to the right (looks like a forward slash / )

Another decrease is the slip-slip-knit (ssk). 

 

Slip one stitch knit-wise, then another, and knit the two stitches together (it should look like you’re working a KTBL on this step, but it produces different results). 

 

 

The stitch should look like a backslash ( \ ) when the rest of the row is complete.  Another way to produce the same result is to slip a stitch knit-wise, knit the next stitch, then pass the slipped stitch over (abbrev sl, k, psso). 

 

Reading Charts

Now that you finally have the basics of what stitches and stitch types are commonly used in lace knitting, it's time to look at another form of instruction. 

As intimidating as they look, charts are a knitter’s—and a pattern writer’s best friend.  They condense a pattern and make it easier to write, and they give visual learners something to go on.  But you need to know how to read a chart if you want it to work with you. 

When looking at most lace (and other) charts, the chart is going to depict where each stitch is placed in the finished fabric.  That being said, since it shows only the right side of the fabric, you need to think backwards a little when you work the rows where the wrong side of the fabric is facing you. 

In the picture below, the first chart is how most patterns depict their charts, complete with row numbers and key to symbols.  (For any experienced knitters, feel free to test this pattern.  I didn’t want to copy someone else’s design, so I made something up off the top of my head.) 

For your convenience, all the techniques I covered, and nothing too foreign.

The same chart is copied on the bottom, but this time I put little red arrows that wind their way through the rows; this is how you would read a chart pattern, from right to left on the right side rows, then left to right on a wrong-side row. 

 



Don't get dizzy...



 I hope this cleared up some of the mystery of laces and charts!  Next time on Fear Factor:  Crafter’s edition, I’ll demystify the art of…

CABLES!  (cue dramatic chord of music)

 

I’ve got a sort of mental list of topics that I hope to cover, but if there’s something you are just itching to know or really want me to do a post about, please message me in the comments below! 

 
Until then, see ya! 

"You woke me up for this?"