Do the Twist! - Episode 40 - The Knitmore Girls

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This week's episode has been sponsored by:

This week, we are joined by Tika (host of Gives Good Knit) and Andrew.

Events: (00:58)

Stitches West meetup- Saturday, February 28th from 2-4 PM in the Purlescence Yarns booth. If you haven't bought your market passes yet, go to the Knitting Universe Website, and the online promo code (for $2 off admission) is: MPCW. Come meet us and get some sweet swag!

On the Needles: (2:51)

Gigi finished her second blue Regia Saturn sock. She has also found another two balls of duplicate Regia in her stash. She has finished her pair of vanilla Brown Eyed Girl handspun socks. She has finished a dark red stocking cap (out of Cascade 220 Superwash).

Jasmin has started weaving in her own ends, inspired by Tika duplicate stitching in her ends. Jasmin, after a lack of knitting mojo on Monday, started her Twist in Apple Green Malabrigo worsted on Tuesday. By Sunday, the body was done and blocked. Jasmin is obsessed with this sweater. Also, the entire sweater will be knit in 4 skeins.

Jasmin talks about her WIP storage/"organization"/green room system.

Jasmin's changes to Twist:

- The pattern is written to knit the body in 3 pieces, Jasmin knit it in one piece.
- The pattern is written to knit the sleeves flat; Jasmin knit them in the round.
- The pattern calls for US 6/7 needles; Jasmin is knitting them on US 5/6.

Jasmin waxes poetic about Twist, and wanders around hollering "My kingdom for a bag of Cadmium!" (Malabrigo)

Tika's Coraline gloves make Lime and Violet's Daily Chum AND Neil Gaiman's blog!

Jasmin talks about Valentine's Day. Andrew bought her a pair of yarn ball earrings and a matching pendant from Rosemary Hill. He also found the perfect buttons for Jasmin's Twist cardigan.

Gigi talks about the Mini Mochi sock, and noticed that knitting it center-pull untwists the yarn.

Mother Knows Best: (26:45)

Stitches West tips, part III, courtesy of Andrew.

Andrew's theory of yarn quality: when buying a yarn for the first time, buy one skein (or one project's worth) in order to determine knots per skein, colorfastness, washability, etc. He also talks about the importance of swatching right away.

(If you hate swatching, knit an Elizabeth Zimmermann Swatch Cap!) Also, swatches can be saved for future blanket projects. Alternatively, you could use them as decor in a curio coffee table.

When Knitting Attacks: (39:11)

Tika and Bree are doing a virtual KAL. Tika forgot to mark where on the chart she was, rips out, and starts over.

Jasmin attempts to be smarter than the Twist pattern. She discovers that she CAN follow directions! Tika suggests using a highlighter to highlight the "AT THE SAME TIME" in the patterns.

Reviews: (48:08)

SWTC Tofutsies sock yarn. Jasmin doesn't like it because she finds it splitty, Tika does like it, but isn't sure yet if she would purchase more.