tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post111477529449176074..comments2023-10-23T13:01:12.765-05:00Comments on Four Obsessions: perpetually shifting between cooking, reading, knitting and writing: My first sockKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-1114905674420165582005-04-30T19:01:00.000-05:002005-04-30T19:01:00.000-05:00Thanks, Kate. I bookmarked the site and I'll study...Thanks, Kate. I bookmarked the site and I'll study it. I hadn't heard of the two-needle method either. Both look very interesting.<BR/><BR/>Knitting while reading probably isn't gonna happen for me, especially given your description. :) It took me three babies before I could nurse and read at the same time.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486646522914924111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-1114866115910387112005-04-30T08:01:00.000-05:002005-04-30T08:01:00.000-05:00Hey Julie--Reading while knitting requires really ...Hey Julie--<BR/>Reading while knitting requires really horrific posture on my part. I developed the technique when I was working on my first Masters out at UC Davis and was so damn bored by some of the reading that I decided that knitting while reading would help keep me awake. Essentially I slouch on the couch with my knitting held way up under my chin and with whatever I'm reading propped against my knees so I crane my neck to peer over the knitting at the text. I made a couple of sweaters this way. A few people have suggested that I save my spine and use a cook-book holder to hold open the text while I sit normally and knit. I suppose one could do it this way, but I'm a lounger at heart and am willing to contort myself into a pretzel if it means I can do my work while lying down.<BR/><BR/>Magic Loop is a way to use a long circular needle to knit items of a much smaller circumference. Even finger puppets can be made on a 40 cm needle! I'm incompetent at describing the technique, (this web site does a much better job than I can: www.az.com/%7Eandrade/knit/mloop.html) but it can be learned in about 10 minutes. It can substantially cut down on the number of needles you need to buy--anything that requires double points can be done with magic loop and when a sweater pattern says you need one long and one short circular needle (in the same needle size) to make the body and the sleeves, you can ignore that and just use your long one with Magic Loop for the sleeves.<BR/><BR/>It does help if you have circulars with nice flexible cables, like Addi Turbos or Denise needles, but I learned the technique on some crappy needles with a stiff plastic cable and I was still able to get it to work.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-1114816807716748192005-04-29T18:20:00.000-05:002005-04-29T18:20:00.000-05:00What's the magic loop?And how do you read while kn...What's the magic loop?<BR/><BR/>And how do you read while knitting?Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486646522914924111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-1114810966875225992005-04-29T16:42:00.000-05:002005-04-29T16:42:00.000-05:00Yea, while the kids were gone I knit that much and...Yea, while the kids were gone I knit that much and graded about 35 comps. I'm working on the reading-while-knitting, but I gotta say, handwritten compositions require a lot of squinting to decipher bad handwriting...Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03113130840039776447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-1114788385749354602005-04-29T10:26:00.000-05:002005-04-29T10:26:00.000-05:00Purty!Purty!freddyknitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05509022952708939879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10129853.post-1114779681509342322005-04-29T08:01:00.000-05:002005-04-29T08:01:00.000-05:00These socks are going to be very cool! Is that wha...These socks are going to be very cool! Is that what you did last night when the kids were trucked out of the house?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com