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Giant knitted Blanket (Arm Knitting)

26/2/2018

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Picture
The days are mercifully getting longer here in Scotland as we edge into spring, but it's still mighty cold.  The 'Beast from the East' weather snap is upon us and the gritters with their cute names are out in force.  So, I thought I'd courie-in (one of my favourite Scottish words meaning to nestle or snuggle) and tell you all about my giant knit merino wool blanket.

What is Extreme / Arm Knitting?

Unlike extreme ironing, which is crazy and perilous, extreme knitting is a cosy, fun and quick activity. Super-sized yarn is knit as normal, but instead of regular needles, you use your forearms instead. Alternatively, you can invest in a lovely pair of giant needles or make your own from some curtain poles or PVC piping. You can use jumbo chunky yarn, or like me opt for raw roving.
Extreme knitting with 19.5 micron merino wool using 40mm needles. Blog by Craft Chatterbox

Woolly Mahoosive

Woolly Mahoosive website selling giant merino roving
Woolly Mahoosive website
I bought my wool from Woolly Mahoosive and found the owner Andrea very helpful when I messaged her with questions. This is definitely a luxury product, a 4kg ball of 19.5 micron superfine giant merino costs £160, but there is a more budget friendly'Mammoth' acrylic version for £60. I bought a giant ball of each - the merino colour is denim and mammoth is midnight, but I have to say that my heart belongs to the merino.

The lower the micron, the finer the yarn,

Whilst the merino is pricey, it does represent good value compared to the other shops I considered. Prices were very similar, but as the other shops were abroad, postage and tax was high.  Moreover, Woolly Mahoosive sell exceptionally soft 19.5 micron compared to the standard 23 micron that I found elsewhere.

Needles

Giant wool and needles from Woolly Mahoosive
Excuse the childish staging!
I decided to buy the giant 40mm by 80cm knitting needles as part of a set with the wool, but I they seem to be sold separately now - here. I was a bit disappointed when one of the ends of the needles came off when I started knitting. Instead of fixing with wood glue, I taped with my bright ducky tape which helped remind me if I was on a knit or purl row!

My Extreme Knitting Calculator

Here is a little calculator that I made to help you know how much wool to buy and how many stitches to cast on.  Please note that these are approximate amounts and will depend on your tension, knitting method and needles size.

The Knitty-Gritty

I knit the blanket in exactly the same way as I would with normal size wool and needles. As the wool takes centre stage, it works best with simple stitches, so I alternated rows of knit and purl to give a traditional stockinette stitch. The roving is very delicate, so ensure that the wool is not under tension. I accidentally broke the wool at one point by tugging too hard, but thisYouTube video showed me how to join the ends again. If you've not knitted before, or would like a recap, here are 4 good knitting videos covering the basics.

I watched a couple of movies, so would say it took me about 4 or 5 hours in total - such a blissful way to spend an evening!

Felting and Washing

Lightly felting your wool helps decrease shedding an prolong the life of your blanket. Many guides I read were quite complicated and were often conflicting so I contacted Andrea from Woolly Mahoosive for advice. Here is the guide Andrea supplied - her process was thankfully very quick and easy.

The acrylic wool can go in the washing machine but not the merino. Here’s a guide I found about caring for your merino blanket.

The Finished Blanket

As usual, this is not an affiliated post in any way.  I paid full price for my supplies and all my opinions are my own.
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Top Ten Tip to Save Vinyl and Reduce Waste

18/2/2018

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If like me you hate wasting media and want to utilise every last wee bit, I have some top tips that I've picked up over the years.  I'm particularly excited about tip 10 which saves lots of vinyl and helps alignment if you have multiple colours.

1. Do a Test Cut

Before you cut the entire design, it's always a good idea to check the settings if you're using a new material.  In the SEND menu, adjust the cut speed, pressure and blade, then in the bottom right corner, there is a 'Test Print' button.  This will cut a small square with a triangle inside.  If this has cut fine, you can proceed to cut your design, confident that the settings are correct.  If not, adjust and try again - use the arrow buttons highlighted below to move the blade to a different start position on the mat.
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number one, do a test cut

2. Add a Weeding Box

Add a simple rectangle around your design.  I think this is better than cutting out the vinyl with scissors before or after you cut, as you can space designs much closer together and have nice straight lines which can help with placement.  You can go a step further and add weed lines, further breaking up the design and making it easier to weed in sections.  Silhouette Studio Business Edition offers an automated feature for this.
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number two, add a weeding box

3. Check Your Cut Whilst The Mat is Still Loaded

Before you unload your mat, it's always a good idea to check and see if the design has cut OK.  I normally just weed the counter from a letter O or such like.  This tip is particularly useful if you're a gung ho kind of crafter and you've not done a test cut!  If your design has not cut through, you can send to cut again and because the mat is still loaded, it will cut in the exact same position.
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number three, before unloading mat, test try to weed a small piece.  If it hasn't cut well, send it again and it'll cut in exactly the correct position

4. Nest your designs

Try and arrange your designs in the most space efficient way within Silhouette Studio.  Consider rotating some shapes to fit.  The Designer Edition and up has a Nest function, but I find it can behave erratically, so I tend to just arrange myself.  Here is how I've laid out a project I was working on yesterday - I've rotated some shapes and even made a jaunty weeding box to save a little bit extra vinyl!
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number four, nest designs and consider rotating them to fit

5. Utilise empty space

I like to utilise any empty space by cutting out extra desgins.  In particular, I like to add little HTV or cut fabric details to the sleeves, feet and bum on baby onesies.
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number five, utilise empty space.  For example cut small designs to add to a baby onesie sleeve, feet or bum.

6. Use Arrow buttons to Cut from a Different Start Position

Arrow buttons exist to navigate the blade to start cutting in a different position.  I had used these for adjusting where I wanted my test cut to start, but had never thought of using them for other cuts until I found this awesome tip from Kay over at from Cleversomeday

7. Reverse Weed Intricate Designs

This technique really helps if you have lots of small pieces.  Once your design is cut, apply the transfer tape before weeding to the whole design.  Remove the backing paper and flip over.  Now you can remove the vinyl from the transfer tape, sticky side up.  The transfer tape holds the vinyl in place, meaning small pieces are less likely to be removed accidentally, in a similar way to how weeding works for heat transfer vinyl.  Here's a super quick video

8. Cut SPareS - Especially Dots for LeTter i's

I can not tell you the amount of times I have lost the dot belonging to a letter i and I have to go back and cut more.  Now, if I'm doing a tiny design, I'll cut spare dots, commas etc in case one goes missing.

9. Reuse Transfer Tape and Keep HTV Backing Sheets

Transfer tape can be used several times before it loses all it's sticky.  Similarly, the backing sheet left over after you have applied your Heat Transfer Vinyl can be saved and it can come in handy for lots of things.  For example, if you cut too deeply into your HTV and have cut part or fully through the backing sheet, place your saved backing sheet on top of the damaged one.  You can now weed as normal.  It also comes in handy if for applying fabric appliques and for my favourite tip of all, tip number 10: 

10. Mirrored Print-Out Hack

This is a variation on the hack I read about in Silhouette School.  
Silhoette School alignment trick to save vinyl
In this hack, the design is cut in separate pieces to save vinyl.  A piece of HTV backing kept from a previous project is used to hold the pieces in position.  I don't bother with the sharpie and pen holder though, instead I mirror the full design and just print it on copy paper.  I simply place the print out  on the desk and put the carrier sheet sticky side up and continue as with the Silhouette School method.  This also means that the carrier can be reused again.

This hack also works for self adhesive vinyl.  I did this for a blank clock I got from Acrylic Craft recently.   Instead of being able to make only 1 design with an a4 sheet of vinyl, this hack can fit 5 designs!  Apologies if anyone is easily offended there is a sweary word (it's only half as naughty if it's said in an Irish accent).​​​
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number ten, using my print out hack, you can make 5 designs in an A4 sheet of vinyl instead of just one
I printed my clock design in mirror image and then placed clear transfer tape on top, sticky side up (as my tape is only 6 inches wide, I joined two bits) and secured to my desk with washi tape.  I then cut and weeded each of the 12 clock points as normal (I didn't mirror, just cut in the usual way).  I took each smaller piece and placed it sticky side up, on the large transfer tape with the help of the print out to position it.  So, I had paper, large transfer tape, small transfer tape and vinyl - all sticky side up and ready to apply.
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number ten, how to save vinyl using my mirror print out hack
The ring is the outside edge of the clock, so the arcs do not apply to the surface - I just used them to ensure I had placed the vinyl correctly on the clock.  I burnished with a squeegee and then removed the large and small pieces of transfer tape (saving the large pieces).
How to save vinyl and reduce waste from Craft Chatterbox blog.  Tip number ten, my clock with vinyl applied using my minimal wastage mirror print out hack
After toying about with it, I decided that 12 O'clock should be the letter F rather than the exclamation mark.
Fecking Late Clock by Craft Chatterbox blog
I hope you found this blog post useful and I'd be very keen to hear if you have any other vinyl saving tips or tricks.
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    About Chatterbox

    Blog about craft, design and interiors. Includes DIY tutorials for gifts and the home, often using my trustee Silhouette Cameo.

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