In case you missed it last week, we will be starting a second KAL on February 1st and running until March 8th!  Due to popular demand it will be the Truckee Shawlette, our free pattern from December featuring Malabrigo Lace Superwash. We will be operating this KAL in the same manner as the Downton Abbey MKAL, with all of the support and discussion in our Ravelry group.

 Last week, in the Friday Jan. 18th blog, I showed you how to do the increases this pattern calls for, M1R and M1L.

As promised, this week I'll talk about lifelines. What are they and how do they work?

While this project is pretty simple, using lifelines will help you keep from losing any of your M1s should you need to rip back.

What is a lifeline?  A lifeline is a strand of yarn that you insert into your work at a point when you know everything that has been knit before that point, has been done correctly.  It's best to insert it into a plain knit or purl row when possible.  It's also best to use a smooth, slippery lifeline, like mercerized cotton or dental floss but any thing that's not grabby will work.

Once you've completed the row of knitting that you wish to use for your lifeline, thread your lifeline onto a darning needle and begin feeding it through your stitches on your needle.  DO NOT remove the stitches from your knitting needle!  Just run the lifeline through the row of stitches.  If you're using a circular needle, sliding the stitches onto the cord will make room to insert the darning needle.



Another way a lifeline can be inserted if you have interchangeable needles that use a tool to tighten the connection, thread your lifeline through the same little hole used for tightening tool and then just knit normally. Your lifeline will be threaded through the stitches as you knit your row. If you use Addi interchangeables, the Addi SOS cord is now available which has a little slit near the join that you can open up and insert your lifeline into so you can knit it into your knitting the same way.


That's all there is to inserting the lifeline!

When you knit your next row or round be sure to NOT knit the lifeline with your stitch or you will have to cut the lifeline into little pieces to get it out.  Otherwise, removing a lifeline is easy, just pull one of the ends and it should slid right out of your project.  I recommend leaving all of your lifelines in place until you finish your project, just in case.  But if they bother you, they can be removed when you're certain all is well.



 If you have further questions please let me know!  askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool.com (please remove the spaces and replace at with @ to send an email)

Happy Knitting!

 Terry

All I can say is WOW! Your response to the Downton Abby KAL is astounding!  We all, especially Kristen, are thrilled by how much interest there is from all of you!  I'm so looking forward to starting my mystery project too. I adore mysteries so this will be lots of fun!!!  Like many of you I don't have TV so I've watched season one of Downton Abbey online and will be purchasing season two this weekend so I can be ready to start watching season three next week!

With the KAL in mind, I thought today that I would talk a little about needles and needle sizing to help you get your gauge and be all set to start knitting on Sunday.

 I don't know how many of you know but US needle sizes can vary in actual metric size depending on the brand and country of the manufacturer.  Now that the knitting and crochet world has become so international, in a large part due to Ravelry.com, you can't always assume the pattern you are about to knit, lists needles in your country's size scale. The surest way to know if you are using the correct needle for a pattern is to look at what the metric size is of the needle called for in the pattern and compare it to the metric size of the needle you're intending to use.  A great example of this discrepancy can be seen in comparing US size 2 needles.

Addi Turbo US 2 needle measures 3.0 millimeters (mm) in diameter
Clover US 2 is 2.75 mm
Crystal Palace US 2 is 2.75 mm
Knitter's Pride US 2 is 2.75

So the question to answer by looking at your pattern is: do you need a 2.75 mm needle or a 3 mm needle?  If you need a 2.75mm and want an Addi needle you will need to buy the needle that they label as 2.75.  If you need a 3.0mm needle and want a brand other than Addi you will need to buy a US 2.5 (3mm).

Of course not all sizes are different, other sizes that can cause a problem are:
US 6 can be 4.0 mm or 4.25 mm especially if they are older needles. Most brands except Crystal Palace are now 4.0 mm
US 17 is usually 12.0 mm but in Clover needles a US 17 measures 12.75 mm
US 19 is usually 15.0 mm but in Crystal Palace needle a it measures 15.6 mm

And be aware that the needle gauges made by each of the companies reflects these size differences!

I understand from our IT people that they are working to improve the search engine for needles on our website to show both US & metric sizes.  In the meantime, here's a quick reference chart that I hope helps.

US Size	Metric (mm)	Addi US Size	Clover Exceptions	Crystal Palace Exceptions
000	1.5	0
00	1.75	0
0	2	0
1	2.25
1 1/2	2.5	1
2	2.75
2 1/2	3	2
3	3.25	3
4	3.5	4
5	3.75	5
6	4	6		4.25mm
7	4.5	7
8	5	8
9	5.5	9
10	6	10
10.5	6.5	10.5
	7	10.75
11	8	11
13	9	13
15	10	15
17	12	17	12.75 mm
19	15	19		15.6 mm
	20	36
50	25

		If you usually get gauge and are having trouble, then double checking your needle size is a good first step in figuring out what may be going wrong. Another good thing to pay attention to is how slippery your needle is and how tightly or loosely you normally knit.  I find that having tight knitters switch to slippery needles like the nickle plated Addi Turbos help them to loosen up.  Conversely, if someone habitually knits too loosely then switching to wooden or bamboo needles helps them to tighten up their stitches. Don't be afraid to change you needles size up or down to get gauge, this is what you're supposed to do.  The pattern gauge is what you need to get and it doesn't matter what size needle you use to achieve it if you're using the correct weight of yarn.  It can matter if you are substituting yarns but that is another subject for another day. For a thorough explanation of gauge please see the video I did with Diane Soucy!
		How to Measure Your Gauge Correctly and the video Jeanne did How to Adjust Your Needle Size to Get Gauge . I hope these suggestions help and if you still find you have questions or need help I will be happy to help, just drop an email to askTerry@jimmybeanswool.com. And I'm John Bates (see Kristen's blog for the link to find out which Downton character you are) Happy Mystery Knitting! Terry

First there is my A-line Hoodie from our recent Knit Red Knit-A-Long.  The pattern is by Diane Soucy and can be found in Knit Red by Laura Zander.  I'm using Berroco Vintage in color 5150 Berries.

I'm using my new favorite needles, Knitter's Pride  Cubic circulars size US #8.

I'm knitting on this project just as fast as I can so I can wear it now the weather is getting cold!








 When I first saw the Wingspan Shawl by Maylin Tri'coterie Designs on Raverly I knew I had to make it.  I love the way bold, self striping yarns look in this pattern. I've chosen Schoppel Wolle Crazy Zauberball in color 1507 Herbstwind and Addi Lace circular needles.  This is a wonderfully soft yarn and the colors are so vibrant!


I have been trying to knit socks for myself for the past couple of years.  I have about five different pairs in different techniques started.  My problem is, they keep getting preempted by gifts for family and other projects.  I'm promising myself that I will finish them this winter so I have warm and toasty toes!

This pair is Never Not Knitting's Amelie Socks.  I'm working this pair according to the Magic Loop instructions. I love this pattern and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn each of the three main methods for knitting sock because the pattern has instructions for double points, 2 circulars and Magic Loop.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Tuscany on Addi Lace circular needle.

I often like to have several projects going of different skill levels.  Seems like I've been mostly needing mindless, cruising knitting lately so these wonderful socks have take a back seat.  This is quite a challenging pattern. It can be found for free on Ravelry at Neko Knits.  The pattern is Seriously Southwestern Socks.  Mary, the designer is a local customer and a great sock designer! She designed this sock specifically to use one of our Lorna's Laces Limited Edition colors.  Since that color was no longer available when I started my socks I chose Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Gold Hill and Charcoal.  To further complicate this mosaic knitting pattern I'm working them two at a time on two Addi Lace circular needles!  So this most definitely is a "need to concentrate" project.

 I've been working on this little sweater for my now 10 month old granddaughter.  It's Knitting Pure & Simple New Born Layette Pattern #121.  I'm knitting the 12 month size and I'm getting nervous that she'll have outgrown it before I finish!  The yarn is again Lorna's Laces Sock in one of our Limited Editions colors - Wonderstone.  I've been knitting this project on Knitter's Pride Cubics too.







This is lonely project is my Knitbots Featherweight Cardigan in MadelineTosh Prairie.  The color is Earl Grey.  I started this one last year and it has been laying around looking forlorn so I will get back to it after my holiday knitting so it will be done for next spring.
Now for my holiday knitting!  I'm working on a throw for my very special someone.  I'm making the Cabled Afghan, pattern #30 from the Holiday 2012 issue of KnitSimple Magazine. I'm using Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky in the discontinued color of 621 and again the Knitter's Pride Cubics US #11.

It's the holidays and while we are always thinking of how lucky we are around here this is the time of year that it's foremost in our minds. We will be moving into another great year here at JBW, but looking back we have so many to thank for the wonderful year it has been...of course you (our fantastic customers) are always at the top of the list, but our vendors/distributors have been incredible to work with over the last year!!

Lorna's Laces you all ROCK!!! For those of you who may not know Laura and Lorna got going side by side and Laura would go to Lorna's house and buy the yarns for the shop out of her garage...now how cool is that? We are now into our fourth year of the wildly popular limited edition yarn (exclusive to us) from Lorna's and don't see an end in sight on that one, as you all continue to be super excited to see what's new every month!! You can join our LLE fan club on Facebook and for those of you who don't use FB you can still be a member via email. December's color is flying out the door, so check out Sandy Claus by our very own Sandy!


If you haven't heard yet we have a fantastic kit from Rowan yarns featured in Real Simple magazine and it uses the super yummy Lima yarn!! The Make No Mistake Scarf is a free pattern on our site and includes a crocheted version, so what's not to love? Thanks Rowan for such great yarns and for being so amazing to work with!!

How about our amazing friends at Muench yarns? We have had so much fun with them over the last year and certainly long before that, but our relationship just gets stronger everyday, as they are just great to work with!! We carry a bunch of Muench's yarns and one of my personal favorites it the Tessin!! It is super nice to work with and I want to do a bath robe out or it, or the Big Baby...gee whiz it is so hard to decide! So you know what I will do of course? BOTH!

Lana Grossa has become one of our best sellers and it is because they make fantastic yarns and are amazing to work with!! Laura got to go to Germany this year to visit with them and she enjoyed the adventure immensely!! We carry so much of Lana Grossa's yarn that I can't pick just one favorite, but if forced to, I would have to choose the Baby Kid! I have been using a lot of mohair lately and am just in love with this yarn sooooooo soft!!

I can't talk about all of our amazing companies without a huge nod to Blue Sky Alpacas!! Their yarns are absolutely amazing and the people that make up the company are some of the best you will ever meet! Blue Sky Alpacas yarns are so amazing that again I CAN'T pick a favorite...please please don't make me! I have every one of their yarns in my stash except the Worsted Hand Dyes and that will be going into my stash shortly! I want to make my honey a throw out of it and just haven't decided on the right color, but am leaning towards Putty!

We also work closely with Addi/Skacel and if you have never used one of their products then I suggest taking a look! I have so many of the Addi needles in my arsenal and am completely in love with their circular lace needles! The people who make up this company are so neat to know and work with and we are so grateful to have them as one of our main product lines. We also carry yarns from Skacel and they distribute the Schulana line of yarns and patterns which have made a HUGE hit here in the shop!!

I love the fair trade companies and what they do to help people work and get paid a fair wage, so I LOVE Lantern Moon! I have a little bit of most of their products and one of my favorite knitting bags, my Molly is by them. We carry a whole bunch of their products and I am in love with every single one! Lantern Moon is a company who you can feel good about patronizing and I can't wait to see what they come up with next! Thanks Lantern Moon for doing such a great job and for being so neat!

Namaste is another of our fabulous companies and I have 2 of their bags and also the needle binder. I have had to restrain myself from getting more of the bags and accessories, but am sure I will fall again soon! The products are phenomenal and the people can't be beat!

We have just started carrying the Madeline Tosh yarns and patterns! WOW is all I can say!! Not only have they been flying out the door, but they are truly AMAZING!!! The company is so accommodating and friendly to deal with that we just can't say enough about them! Sandy just finished the Poet Society Beret out of Terrarium in the Vintage and Sara just cast on the Owlings hand warmers out of Logwood in the DK weight!

We carry lots and lots of Trendsetter yarns and they are so much fun to work with; both the yarns and the company! Their Blossom yarn is another yarn I would love to make a robe with, as it is super yummy!! Of course I have worked with lots of these yarns including the Cha Cha which we now carry in the prints too and have always enjoyed myself. The people at Trendsetter are so nice and you couldn't ask for a nicer group...thanks Trendsetter!

Thank you to all of you, our customers and to our wonderful vendors!! You all mean more to us than you know and I hope you will take a second to breathe during this always busy holiday season! As for me I will be knitting which is my form of meditation...so, as always happy knitting and crocheting!

Jeanne

Boy, are we getting some cool new stuff in the store!