Wet Coast Wools Podcast Episode 21: Pile o' Socks

February 27, 2017

Introductions
Feb 9th, 2017
Welcome to Old and New Viewers
Coming to you from Vancouver, BC Canada
Wet Coast Wools
Glenda and B ec0g33k
Show notes can be found on Ravelry; you can leave comments and questions in the Ravelry threads

We want to say a special hello to Marnie from Portland, Oregon

Also, Hello and a big thank you to Christine from Dartmouth, NS, for sending us the needle cozies! She has an Etsy shop called Chestnut Fibres where she sells project bags. Christine sent us a bag and a needle cozy to give away as a prize - We will use it for the sweater KAL; more details to come later.

Question about yarn for KALs: Does the yarn need to be from our store? It doesn’t. We just wanted to encourage knitting of socks and sweater :)

Question in the Comments of last video:
Karen White was asking about how different fibres interact with certain needles. Metal vs wood etc.

In General, metal needles are slippery and wooden ones have more grab. This is due to the texture of the needle itself. Bamboo needles & unfinished wooden needles are the most grabby; epoxy-filled wood (Knitter’s Pride, KnitPicks, etc) are slightly less grabby; varnished wood & plastic needles are somewhere in the middle.
With metal needles, weight has a role also - ie: the old grey Aero needles are coated aluminum; the big sizes can be heavy, and the combination of weight and smoothness makes them fall out of your knitting a lot. Boye has a series of coloured aluminum needles (each size is a different colour); these make much nicer DPNs, but they aren’t very sharp
The texture of the yarn has a role in this also; smooth yarns don’t have much difference, but textured yarns will grab more. Wooden needles + mohair is a bad combination, for example. Plastic needles and acrylic yarns can be a bad combination too.
Even the slightest bit of grab on a yarn/needle combination can affect your gauge - that’s why it is important to swatch with the exact needles that you plan to knit the project with. Many people find they can knit faster on more slick needles, because the grab of the wooden needles force you to slow down your movements. Sharper tips are also helpful for many people, although some find that sharp tips split multi-plied yarns - this can be affected by how tightly you knit and the style in which you knit
Ultimately, the ‘best’ needles are the ones you like best - it is all about preference. Things like tip length (on circs, for example) have a role also, so you need to experiment until you find something you like. Technically, if you want to knit badly enough, you will knit on whatever you can get your hands on, but it is still nice to have options.

FOs (Finished Objects)
B: Wearing- Prairie Fire by Tin Can Knits in Knoll Coast

No FOs this week :(

Glenda:Wearing- Thyone by Tori Gurbisz

~Turtle Purl socks. ‘Bah Humbug!’ colourway, 2.25mm DPNs, 68sts. Cuff-down with Heel Flap. These are mine…
~Blue Paton’s Socks: 2.5mm DPNs; Patons Kroy, “Cadet Colours” colourway. Made them for Mike.
~Orange Opal Play socks: 2.5mm, 64sts. I used a modified boomerang heel so it didn’t offset the colour pattern. Opal Play #1084, with black Opal yarn for heels.
~Roman Rib Socks by Charlene Schurch and Beth Parrott: 72sts, 2.25mm. The large number of sts is offset by the rib pattern, so its not as huge as I’d anticipated. Uses a “Strong Heel”, which I had never seen before.
Yarn is ‘Wild Aces’ Sock Yarn from Sin City Yarns in Las Vegas

WIPS
B
~Clarke Pullover by Jane Richmond
Imperial Tracie Too in Rain and Teal Shadow
~Triangle Shawl
Test Knit for softsweater
Malabrigo Rios in Sand Bank
~Cozy Memories Blanket
Shoulder has been hurting because of spinning for too long and a lack of stretching and for some reason this is all i can knit on at the moment. Using Coziest Memories by Kemper Wray, 5mm needles, Worsted and sock yarn held double
~Valentines Day Sweater
Bottom Up Secret sweater
~Rainbow Spinning
Batt I got from Crafty Jak’s Boutique at Knit City, going to ply with grey from West Coast Colour
She’s going to be at Fibres West, may need to pick up another batt

Glenda - SO MANY SOCKS!
Living in a Lone Larch Project Bag
~HO: Modified Fidget Socks by Amy Stringer. Working these cuff down (not toe-up) and I used a heel flap instead of the recommended Fish Lips Kiss. 66sts, 2.25 needles, which are almost too small for this yarn. I’m using Patons Kroy FX in the ‘Clover Colours’. These are very dense & used up more yarn than I thought they would.
~Porthos Socks by Caoua Coffee - this is from her 3 Musketeers series. I’m using only 64 sts (not 80) on 2.5mm needles. Patons Kroy FX in ‘Camo Colours’

Small Craft all the Things
Moose Tote Bag. Used this tutorial. I’ll have a picture of the lunch bag next time. Either that or i’ll make myself one and bring it in.

Store News

The Yarn Harlot is coming to Vancouver the weekend of February 24th. She is here as the guest of the West Coast Knitters’ Guild, but tickets are now open to the public. On the Friday night she is giving a lecture, and there are two classes on Sunday which still have tickets available. To learn about the classes, visit westcoastknitters.org or go to EventBrite.ca and search for the Yarn Harlot.

Jane Richmond Interview
Sorry for the looping clip, my editing software wouldn’t let me do the thing I wanted to do and it seemed better than staring at a black screen.