Magic Loop or 2 needles

wrote:
Dennis and Wooly,

For the gansey needles, try a heavy leather belt worn very low on the hips.
Tuck the sheath into the belt over the right buttock. Before you start
knitting, the right needle is just in front of your right arm pit, and the
tip is just below chin level. Then, push the working needle forward and you
rest your right forearm on it. Thus, the working needle is flexed 60 or 70
degrees! You push it down with your forearm and it springs back to finish
the stitch motion. This spring action is the difference between a knitting
sheath and a knitting pouch. A leather knitting pouch will not stand up to
the force of a steel needle being flexed against it.

The needle holding the stitches is held almost vertical. You push down with
your right arm, release, and the needle springs into the stitch. The right
hand flips yarn over the needle point (this is really all the right hand
does) then the right forearm pushes the needle down, out of the old stitch
as the right hand moves back (This also pushes stitches down the right
needle.) Then spring of the needle, lifts the knitting up, pulling the old
stitch off of the left needle. The process actually gets faster, when there
is some weight of completed fabric hanging off to your right to pull the
knitting foreword. Until then, you may need to move stitches down the right
needle with the fingers of the right hand. The knitting speed provides the
yarn tension, and when you are going good, you must make sure that there is
loose yarn available, because the tension of pulling yarn off a ball or out
of center pull skein will stop the process. This is how you knit tight all
(day, week, month, year) without damaging your wrists,

3.25 mm steel needles (with their very high spring constant) allow very fast
knitting, but are a lot of effort. The 2.25 mm needles that you have are a
good compromise between speed and effort, and really fine needles require
another method to achieve good speed.

Spring action gansey needles are such a perfect knitting tool, that I try
knitting every new yarn on them, and ask myself if I can live with the
fabric. It is fast, so the standard size for my swatches now is cast-on 60
stitches and do 50 rows. The swatch on my desk right now is 9" by 10" and
weighs 54 gm. (Compare that to the 2" squares that I knit 3 years ago for my
first thermodynamic tests, and the time to knit those and these is about the
same : D ) Remember, I do not have any SPN these days, so I do my back and
forths on 2 gansey needles. Swatches knit in the round get knit on sock
needles as previously discussed. Mostly, I get something between 6 & 10
stitches per inch, but even the lighter fabrics knit from baby and lace
weight yarns have excellent body and drape, even if they are loosely enough
knit that they are not particularly warm. It is one of those things that
when you try it, you realize that those old timers really knew what they
were doing.

Half way through the first gansey, the needles will no longer be quite
straight, but then they seem to work harden a bit and stabilize. Used
gansey needles are bent and ugly. No wonder we do not see them around.

While I like the goose wing sheaths for socks and small objects, (knitting
sheaths do tame DPN) I have moved to a Cornish Fish design that clips onto
a heavy leather belt for serious gansey knitting. If you like, I will send
you one at no charge. (Part of my warranty service!) If so, send me an
email.

Aaron



"Spike Driver" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Dennis,

A whole pile of swatches later!

There are at least 3 methods of using a knitting sheath, used with three
different kinds of knitting sheaths.

For socks, tuck the knitting sheath loosely into your waist band or belt
so
that it can pivot. For socks, use shorter needles. These days, for
socks
and cuffs, my DPN are 8" - 10" long. I think I sent you some 11", and
those
will work, particularly if you are a big guy. The right (working)
needle
is moved in an almost horizontal motion to insert it into the stitch,
throw
the yarn over it with your right forefinger, and use the base of your
right
thumb to push the working needle horizontally to the right with the
knitting
sheath acting as the fulcrum. (A knitting needle is a lever for moving
yarn.)

While not as sustainable as the vertical spring action achieved with
gansey
needles, the horizontal motion using the right thumb to return the
working
needle is very fast and has the same physics as a knitting pouch.

The Yorkshire "goose wing" (which you have) is one of the best knitting
sheath designs for such knitting.
Knitting sheaths tame DPN.

Saturday, I spent a few hours with lady who learned to knit in Siberia a
young girl. She has always been very proud of how very fast she knits.
She
watched me knit for a few minutes and started muttering, "That is fast!
That is fast!!"
Remember, I came to this group a few years ago because I knit so slowly,
and
wanted help knitting faster.

Also, the tighter you knit, the warmer the fabric. For serous leg
warmers, I
would use a worsted weight wool knit on 5 # 1 needles. That will give
you 7
or 8 spi and ~ 10 rpi, so about 30 K stitches per leg warmer. The is a
lot
of knitting unless I am using my knitting sheath. With # 3 needles, it
would
be some 15 K stitches per leg warmer, and they would still be very warm.
With # 8 needles and worsted yarn, they would not be warm enough to be
worth the bother. It is better to buy machine knit and be warm, than to
have
hand knit and be cold! With # 8 needles and Lopi or some other bulky
yarn
they would be too warm for a centrally heated house. Because I really
hate
fixing holes in knee socks, I would knit a bunch of really soft
socketts,
some heavier outer socks or slippers, and the leg warmers to wear with
the
short socks.

Only with a knitting sheath, can one knit fast, tight, and sustainable.
If
one's hands are both the fulcrum and the effort on a knitting needle,
then
there is a torque on your wrist. Then, if you knit tight, or if you
knit
enough, then you WILL end up at the doctor's office. It is the way
biology
reacts to physics.

Moreover, some stitch patterns are warmer than others. The warmest
stitch
pattern I have tested so far is Lizard Lattice:

*
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk*

However, it works better for dry cold than for damp cold. Lucky you
have
dry cold.



Aaron
And, it is back to the salt mines for me.



"YarnWright" wrote in message
...
Spike Driver spun a FINE 'yarn':

I was just interested.

Do you use the 4 or 5 needles, 2 circulars, or the magic loop?

I use the 2 circulars or the magic loop more than I do the 4 or 5
needles. I prefer the Magic Loop.

I use the 2 Boye needle sets I have until I have need for a smaller
needle than I has. If I have a heavier yarn use the Denise set for
the 40" Magic Loop. I was lucky and caught the smaller long
circulars when a local store was closing.

It took me a while to get used the the 2 circulars and the Magic
Loop. I use them both for sweater sleeves once and a while. The
author of the Magic Loop book mentioned it, no seam.

Right now I am making leg warmers for Gail. When she is up her legs
get cold setting in the wheel chair all the time, she keeps a blanket
over them.

I know we have a few ladies and gents that make socks. I wonder how
many we have?

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail
---
I can do on two circs, I can do on one circ too, but I end up using 5
DPN's 99 percent of the time!
HTH,
Noreen



--

---
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Great Aaron,

I get the sheath out at least one day a week and test with different
yarns. I am still learning. I never thought of socks.

Thanks for the info on gage, I saved it.

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail


Aaron,

Thanks for the info on the spring action and the proper position of the
sheath and needle. I printed out the post. I will use it soon. I have
a request for a wool sweater knit tight.

Most of all, it is nice to see you posting again.

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:
Please don`t be sorry I do enjoy reading YOU here , and that is fun
,,,, mirjam

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail
Sorry Mirjam

Not as much as we all enjoy your sincere responses Mirjam!

Shalom and Love from my home to yours.
Dennis & Gail

JJMolvik wrote:
One circular, Magic Loop, two socks same time! (No second sock syndrome!!!)

JJMolvik

"Spike Driver" wrote in message
...
I was just interested.

Do you use the 4 or 5 needles, 2 circulars, or the magic loop?

I use the 2 circulars or the magic loop more than I do the 4 or 5 needles.
I prefer the Magic Loop.

I use the 2 Boye needle sets I have until I have need for a smaller needle
than I has. If I have a heavier yarn use the Denise set for the 40" Magic
Loop. I was lucky and caught the smaller long circulars when a local
store was closing.

It took me a while to get used the the 2 circulars and the Magic Loop. I
use them both for sweater sleeves once and a while. The author of the
Magic Loop book mentioned it, no seam.

Right now I am making leg warmers for Gail. When she is up her legs get
cold setting in the wheel chair all the time, she keeps a blanket over
them.

I know we have a few ladies and gents that make socks. I wonder how many
we have?

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail


JJmolvik,

What a great response, you said it all.

Hugs & God bless,
Denis & Gail

Several of you passed information on to me about European knitting sheaths
and knitting sticks. I believe that I have thanked you all, but in case I
have not - thanks!

Two interesting virtues of those European knitting sticks were

1) That many of them could support quite short sock needles up into a
comfortable working zone. This made knitting socks super low effort. They
work real well with a set of birch or bamboo or -- rosewood needles.

2 ) If you knit your socks on 5 needles, then the knitting folds up neatly
with the 4 needles forming a nice bundle. For travel, one then lays the
(fragile) needles along the knitting sheath, wraps the completed knitting
around the needles and sheath. Most of the sheaths of this style that I make
are 9 or 10 inches long and easily protect 8" needles. A few of turns of
yarn around the whole package allows it to be dropped into a knitting bag,
tool box, or glove compartment without fear of breaking a precious needle.

I have had some problems with bad needles poking through the knitting bag.
Thus, I have started making needle end protectors out of short sections of
bamboo (including the joint.) The green bamboo works easily, but is much
harder when dry. I cut a slot in bamboo that my knit fabric slips into so
that I can put the protectors on needles that have knitting on them. I use
these for ganseys in progress on 18" needles, but they would work for socks
and would even protect fine rosewood needles on a mule ride into the Grand
Canyon. I hold them on the needles with a loop of cord threaded through
holes in the pieces of bamboo. (Why not the little rubber point protectors?
Because they do not make rubbers in the size I need!) Sadly, I have not
been able to make a good knitting sheath out of bamboo.

Yesterday, I saw the fist blooming fruit tree of the season. That means
sheep shearing season is not far away. Let me be the first to wish everyone
safe "Stash Enhancement Expeditions!"

Aaron



wrote in message
. net...
Dennis and Wooly,

For the gansey needles, try a heavy leather belt worn very low on the
hips.
Tuck the sheath into the belt over the right buttock. Before you start
knitting, the right needle is just in front of your right arm pit, and the
tip is just below chin level. Then, push the working needle forward and
you
rest your right forearm on it. Thus, the working needle is flexed 60 or 70
degrees! You push it down with your forearm and it springs back to finish
the stitch motion. This spring action is the difference between a knitting
sheath and a knitting pouch. A leather knitting pouch will not stand up
to
the force of a steel needle being flexed against it.

The needle holding the stitches is held almost vertical. You push down
with
your right arm, release, and the needle springs into the stitch. The
right
hand flips yarn over the needle point (this is really all the right hand
does) then the right forearm pushes the needle down, out of the old stitch
as the right hand moves back (This also pushes stitches down the right
needle.) Then spring of the needle, lifts the knitting up, pulling the old
stitch off of the left needle. The process actually gets faster, when
there
is some weight of completed fabric hanging off to your right to pull the
knitting foreword. Until then, you may need to move stitches down the
right
needle with the fingers of the right hand. The knitting speed provides
the
yarn tension, and when you are going good, you must make sure that there
is
loose yarn available, because the tension of pulling yarn off a ball or
out
of center pull skein will stop the process. This is how you knit tight all
(day, week, month, year) without damaging your wrists,

3.25 mm steel needles (with their very high spring constant) allow very
fast
knitting, but are a lot of effort. The 2.25 mm needles that you have are
a
good compromise between speed and effort, and really fine needles require
another method to achieve good speed.

Spring action gansey needles are such a perfect knitting tool, that I try
knitting every new yarn on them, and ask myself if I can live with the
fabric. It is fast, so the standard size for my swatches now is cast-on 60
stitches and do 50 rows. The swatch on my desk right now is 9" by 10" and
weighs 54 gm. (Compare that to the 2" squares that I knit 3 years ago for
my
first thermodynamic tests, and the time to knit those and these is about
the
same : D ) Remember, I do not have any SPN these days, so I do my back and
forths on 2 gansey needles. Swatches knit in the round get knit on sock
needles as previously discussed. Mostly, I get something between 6 & 10
stitches per inch, but even the lighter fabrics knit from baby and lace
weight yarns have excellent body and drape, even if they are loosely
enough
knit that they are not particularly warm. It is one of those things that
when you try it, you realize that those old timers really knew what they
were doing.

Half way through the first gansey, the needles will no longer be quite
straight, but then they seem to work harden a bit and stabilize. Used
gansey needles are bent and ugly. No wonder we do not see them around.

While I like the goose wing sheaths for socks and small objects, (knitting
sheaths do tame DPN) I have moved to a Cornish Fish design that clips
onto
a heavy leather belt for serious gansey knitting. If you like, I will
send
you one at no charge. (Part of my warranty service!) If so, send me an
email.

Aaron



"Spike Driver" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Dennis,

A whole pile of swatches later!

There are at least 3 methods of using a knitting sheath, used with
three
different kinds of knitting sheaths.

For socks, tuck the knitting sheath loosely into your waist band or
belt
so
that it can pivot. For socks, use shorter needles. These days, for
socks
and cuffs, my DPN are 8" - 10" long. I think I sent you some 11", and
those
will work, particularly if you are a big guy. The right (working)
needle
is moved in an almost horizontal motion to insert it into the stitch,
throw
the yarn over it with your right forefinger, and use the base of your
right
thumb to push the working needle horizontally to the right with the
knitting
sheath acting as the fulcrum. (A knitting needle is a lever for moving
yarn.)

While not as sustainable as the vertical spring action achieved with
gansey
needles, the horizontal motion using the right thumb to return the
working
needle is very fast and has the same physics as a knitting pouch.

The Yorkshire "goose wing" (which you have) is one of the best
knitting
sheath designs for such knitting.
Knitting sheaths tame DPN.

Saturday, I spent a few hours with lady who learned to knit in Siberia
a
young girl. She has always been very proud of how very fast she
knits.
She
watched me knit for a few minutes and started muttering, "That is
fast!
That is fast!!"
Remember, I came to this group a few years ago because I knit so
slowly,
and
wanted help knitting faster.

Also, the tighter you knit, the warmer the fabric. For serous leg
warmers, I
would use a worsted weight wool knit on 5 # 1 needles. That will give
you 7
or 8 spi and ~ 10 rpi, so about 30 K stitches per leg warmer. The is a
lot
of knitting unless I am using my knitting sheath. With # 3 needles, it
would
be some 15 K stitches per leg warmer, and they would still be very
warm.
With # 8 needles and worsted yarn, they would not be warm enough to
be
worth the bother. It is better to buy machine knit and be warm, than
to
have
hand knit and be cold! With # 8 needles and Lopi or some other bulky
yarn
they would be too warm for a centrally heated house. Because I really
hate
fixing holes in knee socks, I would knit a bunch of really soft
socketts,
some heavier outer socks or slippers, and the leg warmers to wear with
the
short socks.

Only with a knitting sheath, can one knit fast, tight, and
sustainable.
If
one's hands are both the fulcrum and the effort on a knitting needle,
then
there is a torque on your wrist. Then, if you knit tight, or if you
knit
enough, then you WILL end up at the doctor's office. It is the way
biology
reacts to physics.

Moreover, some stitch patterns are warmer than others. The warmest
stitch
pattern I have tested so far is Lizard Lattice:

*
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk*

However, it works better for dry cold than for damp cold. Lucky you
have
dry cold.



Aaron
And, it is back to the salt mines for me.



"YarnWright" wrote in message
...
Spike Driver spun a FINE 'yarn':

I was just interested.

Do you use the 4 or 5 needles, 2 circulars, or the magic loop?

I use the 2 circulars or the magic loop more than I do the 4 or 5
needles. I prefer the Magic Loop.

I use the 2 Boye needle sets I have until I have need for a smaller
needle than I has. If I have a heavier yarn use the Denise set for
the 40" Magic Loop. I was lucky and caught the smaller long
circulars when a local store was closing.

It took me a while to get used the the 2 circulars and the Magic
Loop. I use them both for sweater sleeves once and a while. The
author of the Magic Loop book mentioned it, no seam.

Right now I am making leg warmers for Gail. When she is up her legs
get cold setting in the wheel chair all the time, she keeps a
blanket
over them.

I know we have a few ladies and gents that make socks. I wonder how
many we have?

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail
---
I can do on two circs, I can do on one circ too, but I end up using 5
DPN's 99 percent of the time!
HTH,
Noreen



--

---
avast! AV: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 000704-0, 01/18/2007
Tested: 1/21/2007 10:20:54 PM
avast! - (c) 1988-2006
http://www.avast.com





Great Aaron,

I get the sheath out at least one day a week and test with different
yarns. I am still learning. I never thought of socks.

Thanks for the info on gage, I saved it.

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail

Dennis,
This morning, I got package from London that reminded of a sock knitting
system that I developed last fall.

Then, I made a set of 5 steel 6.3" long US #1 knitting needles. I cut a
gansey needle down to 12" long and soldered a 1" length of brass tubing
that fit the needle snugly on one end of the 12" gansey stub so as to form a
socket into which the tips of the sock needles would fit snugly. I placed
the knitting sheath behind me as for gansey knitting and inserted the piece
of gansey needle into the knitting sheath so that the brass socket was just
in front of my armpit. Then, I inserted the sock needles into the brass
socket. This gives the power of the vertical spring action from the gansey
knitting system and the convenience of working with short sock needles.
This is possibly not as fast on a stitch per stitch basis as allowing the
sheath to pivot at one's side, but it is more ergonomic and it is the system
I would use if I were knitting socks on size 1 needles.

When I first made the tool, my gansey knitting technique was poor so that
the sock needles kept falling out of the brass socket, slowing me down and
causing great frustration - so I put it aside as unworkable. Now, my
technique is much better and the sock needles do not fall out. Now, I see!

This way of knitting socks is like old Irish Ale, very intoxicating. I
would not give it up - not even if a Leprechaun offered me a "Magic Loop"
for it.

A while back, I bought new circular needles and I put maybe 50 hours into
learning "Magic Loop and 2 needles" techniques for socks. Sure it worked,
but it has the same physics as DPN, so it might be a little faster or a
little easier, but it is not a life changing event like coming up eyeball to
eyeball with a Leprechaun. Then, I put a thousand hours into learning to
use a knitting sheath and my productivity has gone up 10 times. Knitting
sheaths do have different physics. That is like being eyeball to eyeball
with a Leprechaun. It is nothing less than a vision of "Old Magic"!

Aaron
"Spike Driver" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Dennis,

A whole pile of swatches later!

There are at least 3 methods of using a knitting sheath, used with three
different kinds of knitting sheaths.

For socks, tuck the knitting sheath loosely into your waist band or belt
so
that it can pivot. For socks, use shorter needles. These days, for
socks
and cuffs, my DPN are 8" - 10" long. I think I sent you some 11", and
those
will work, particularly if you are a big guy. The right (working)
needle
is moved in an almost horizontal motion to insert it into the stitch,
throw
the yarn over it with your right forefinger, and use the base of your
right
thumb to push the working needle horizontally to the right with the
knitting
sheath acting as the fulcrum. (A knitting needle is a lever for moving
yarn.)

While not as sustainable as the vertical spring action achieved with
gansey
needles, the horizontal motion using the right thumb to return the
working
needle is very fast and has the same physics as a knitting pouch.

The Yorkshire "goose wing" (which you have) is one of the best knitting
sheath designs for such knitting.
Knitting sheaths tame DPN.

Saturday, I spent a few hours with lady who learned to knit in Siberia a
young girl. She has always been very proud of how very fast she knits.
She
watched me knit for a few minutes and started muttering, "That is fast!
That is fast!!"
Remember, I came to this group a few years ago because I knit so slowly,
and
wanted help knitting faster.

Also, the tighter you knit, the warmer the fabric. For serous leg
warmers, I
would use a worsted weight wool knit on 5 # 1 needles. That will give
you 7
or 8 spi and ~ 10 rpi, so about 30 K stitches per leg warmer. The is a
lot
of knitting unless I am using my knitting sheath. With # 3 needles, it
would
be some 15 K stitches per leg warmer, and they would still be very warm.
With # 8 needles and worsted yarn, they would not be warm enough to be
worth the bother. It is better to buy machine knit and be warm, than to
have
hand knit and be cold! With # 8 needles and Lopi or some other bulky
yarn
they would be too warm for a centrally heated house. Because I really
hate
fixing holes in knee socks, I would knit a bunch of really soft
socketts,
some heavier outer socks or slippers, and the leg warmers to wear with
the
short socks.

Only with a knitting sheath, can one knit fast, tight, and sustainable.
If
one's hands are both the fulcrum and the effort on a knitting needle,
then
there is a torque on your wrist. Then, if you knit tight, or if you
knit
enough, then you WILL end up at the doctor's office. It is the way
biology
reacts to physics.

Moreover, some stitch patterns are warmer than others. The warmest
stitch
pattern I have tested so far is Lizard Lattice:

*
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkpppkkkppp
kkkkkkkkkkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk
pppkkkpppkkk
kkkkkkkkkkkk*

However, it works better for dry cold than for damp cold. Lucky you
have
dry cold.



Aaron
And, it is back to the salt mines for me.



"YarnWright" wrote in message
...
Spike Driver spun a FINE 'yarn':

I was just interested.

Do you use the 4 or 5 needles, 2 circulars, or the magic loop?

I use the 2 circulars or the magic loop more than I do the 4 or 5
needles. I prefer the Magic Loop.

I use the 2 Boye needle sets I have until I have need for a smaller
needle than I has. If I have a heavier yarn use the Denise set for
the 40" Magic Loop. I was lucky and caught the smaller long
circulars when a local store was closing.

It took me a while to get used the the 2 circulars and the Magic
Loop. I use them both for sweater sleeves once and a while. The
author of the Magic Loop book mentioned it, no seam.

Right now I am making leg warmers for Gail. When she is up her legs
get cold setting in the wheel chair all the time, she keeps a blanket
over them.

I know we have a few ladies and gents that make socks. I wonder how
many we have?

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail
---
I can do on two circs, I can do on one circ too, but I end up using 5
DPN's 99 percent of the time!
HTH,
Noreen



--

---
avast! AV: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 000704-0, 01/18/2007
Tested: 1/21/2007 10:20:54 PM
avast! - (c) 1988-2006
http://www.avast.com





Great Aaron,

I get the sheath out at least one day a week and test with different
yarns. I am still learning. I never thought of socks.

Thanks for the info on gage, I saved it.

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail

When I knit them, I use two circulars. When I crochet them... Ah, you
know!

A while back, I posted about increasing the amount of stitches for the
peasant heel on my crocheted socks. It worked! I used about 66% of
them (due to the nature of the pattern stitch I like to use) and it
works just fine.

Louise
near cold and sunny Kingston ON

wrote:
When I knit them, I use two circulars. When I crochet them... Ah, you
know!

A while back, I posted about increasing the amount of stitches for the
peasant heel on my crocheted socks. It worked! I used about 66% of
them (due to the nature of the pattern stitch I like to use) and it
works just fine.

Louise
near cold and sunny Kingston ON

Great Louise,

Nice to hear you some one was able to help you. What a great group of
dear friends we have here.

Nice to see another knitter and crocheter.

Hugs & God bless,
Dennis & Gail