Here are the Nupps:
And a close up. Click on the photo to get a better view.
The arrows point to the little troublemakers. For those of you who don’t know what “nupps” are, they are evil little bobble-like creatures, in this case intended to look like lily of the valley buds. You make them by doing a K1-yo-K1-ko-K1, all in the same stitch, thereby increasing 5 stitches in one. On the next row, you purl those 5 stitches together to make the nupp. Or you can cheat, and do K1-yo-K1, followed by purl 3 together on the flip side. Kate (no blog) had a good suggestion in the comments from my last post. She recommended pushing the stitches down to the cable part of the circular needle, then purling them together. That works pretty well. So does getting them all bunched up on the very tip of the needles, but they tend to do the lemming thing and jump off the edge, so I abandoned that approach.
Once the nupps and I had a little “come to Jesus” meeting, we are getting along fine. Though I would recommend very sharp pointed needles. And a good vocabulary of swear words.
I pinned this out slightly so you could see what the lace looks like. I really have fallen in love with the Zephyr yarn. It’s a wool-silk blend, and comes in lots of lovely colors. I have one more repeat of the nupps section, then the final edging, then the same thing on the other end of the scarf, then it’s done.
The “unbuilding” phase is mostly done, and the rebuilding has started in earnest. We are going to have two huge decks on the lake side of the house when this is all done. Now I only hope it’s done in time to enjoy at least a little of the summer out there. Here’s one photo. It’s hard to get a good idea of what the decks will look like, as we’re still under the “big top”. The kitchen windows still need to come out so they can rebuild around them, but I think they are saving that for when it’s hopefully a bit warmer so we don’t freeze to death. Actually I think they are saving that for when the decks are framed in so it’s easier to get to the windows.
Have a good weekend, and a nice Mother’s Day for all you mothers!
Your house looks like it’s getting ready for a big surprise–it’s like wrapping paper!
And, oh yes, nupps look evil! Anything remotely like a bobble? Ick!
I think your nupps look fine. Oh, wait a minute! Is that getting too personal? I’m glad the demolition is over and the rebuilding has started – that’s gotta be encouraging.
It’s lovely, despite the agony it’s giving you.
The big top look isn’t sooooo bad…
I had no idea that nupps existed, nor that they were so completely fiddley. My new life goal is to avoid nupps at all costs.
I didn’t get a chance to comment when you first asked about nupps, but there was a whole discussion SOMEWHERE (I think it might have been on a laceknitter yahoo group or something) about ways to deal with nupps. Someone suggested using a smaller needle size in a doublepoint and I tried it because I was curious. It seemed to work pretty well, even though it was fidly. just use the tiny dpn to get a new stitch through all the other crazy stitches, and then put the new stitch back onto your normal needles.
I did the larger version of this for my grandma. It was really pretty when finished, so keep on keepin’ on or some other encouraging phrase like that 😉
Good to see the Zephyr – I’m about to start with that.
Another thought (totally untested), but slipping them to a smaller straight cable needle could also help. A little fiddly, perhaps, but more secure.
Last year at Stitches Midwest I took a class with Nancy Bush. I showed her my in-progress Madli’s shawl which incoporates 7-stitch nupps and she showed me how to do them. The trick is in forming them really loosely so when you come back to them they’re not so hard to work. She showed me how to form them so the loops are about twice the size of the needle; it’s really hard to describe, but easy to do. I had been concerned that they would be too loose, but apparently they’re supposed to be that way. My Madli’s Shawl still isn’t done, but it’s much easier to work on now.
The nupps look good, but I can understand how nasty working them can be. The K3tog in the Marla sweater in DK wt yarn almost killed me. And dropped stitches were much less nasty for me on that, since it was a less complex bit.
The house? Wah. It will be good in the end, but the process does nothing but suck.
I cheat even more with the nupps. I knit them together through the back loop on the right side after I do the increases.
I guess the nupps separate the girls from the women, or the wheat from the chaff, or the dedicated from the unfocused…..
And your house wrapped in plastic looks wonderful. If the plastic shroud is still on months from now, you can add a big red plastic bow and call it christmas decoration!
I think your nupps (and the rest of the scarf look lovely! Here’s my nupp “secret”….instead of the k1, yo, k1, yo ect. VERY loosely K1. P1, k1, p1, k1 IN THE SAME STITCH. The yo’s tighten up and that’s what makes it so hard to knit or purl them together! Subbing a P for a yo is undetectable in the finished project and whole lot easier! I have made a Madli’s Shawl (also a N. Bush design) and that how I made my nupps. There are pics in my 2005 FO link on my sidebar if you want to see!