Bag Fetish: The Tom Bihn Swift - A Review

If you've read this blog, you know that I have a bag fetish. I've acquired more than a few bags and I've also made everything from project/ditty bags to carpet bags to full-blown TARDIS messenger bags. Part of this bag fetish is trying to find the "one perfect bag" that will carry everything that I need everyday, comfortably, and without hassle.

However, I know that the "one perfect bag" is a myth --- an elusive unicorn that exists only in myth & story. But recently, I've found something that is pretty damn close to that unicorn, and those bags are made by Tom Bihn. I've known about their company for a number of years, but haven't tried out their bags until this year. Why? Because I didn't quite like their aesthetic; it was fine, but there were always other shiny / pretty bags available. But, as they say, don't judge a book by its cover.

I've seen many knitters rave about the Tom Bihn Swift for a few years. Generally, I prefer messenger bags (both vertical and horizontal versions) instead of totes with shoulder straps, but I thought to give it a try. Back in May, I bought the Swift for my birthday.

 

(From Tom Bihn's site)

And WOWZA. They really took the time and effort in working with Knitty.com to create this bag! I've never had a bag so thoughtfully laid out, organized, and with a multitude of space and pockets! It's more than a knitting bag and slightly less than a true bag of holding!


Here's my Every Day Carry for Work:  Big (sweater or shawl) and small knitting project (socks), a shawl (because my office gets cold), work laptop, tea mug, sunglasses, wallet, keys, notebook, pen, and assorted knitting notions in the blue case. (Cat not included)

It all fit into the Swift without issue and with room to spare. The side pockets with clear windows is genius! You can see what's inside without rooting about. Also, they have a key strap at the top of the back that I can clip my car keys onto --- so no more fishing for keys at the bottom of the bag!

I was so enamored with the configuration that I ordered a few more organizational things from Tom Bihn, because I loved how well just the bag helped me organize everything.

I picked up their "Freudian slip", a few of knitting pouches, and two of their knitting ditty bags.

• The small Freudian slip let me able to consolidate my wallet, notebook, pens & pencils, earbuds, extra cell phone battery, a phone cable/charger, and a few other things. It's extremely convenient:
• If I turned the FS sideways, it opened up the bag when I was working at my LYS. 
• The FS also lets me transfer all the important things to any other bag with minimal fuss. 
• Note: I did not purchase the FS made for the Swift. I bought the smaller version because I thought Swift FS was much too big.
• The organizational pouches let me get rid of the bulky notions case AND add a few more things, like a pair of scissors. 
• The clear windows let me see what's inside.
• They come with a ring that keeps them together.
• And insofar as the knitting bags........ Hold on! Sure, you might be asking right now - You have made tons of ditty bags! Why buy!? - Well,  the ditty bags have a built in clip that lets me clip it to the O-ring inside of the bag so that they never fall out! They also have a yarn guide on the inside. (In my copious spare time, I am going to add these features to any new ditty bags I might make, but for now, it was just as easy to purchase them.)

Here's all that stuff in the bag.

For FUN, I bought their Field Journal Notebook (FJN), because I love notebooks and writing. This is slightly bigger than an iPad Mini; it actually fits my iPad mini inside.

Here's the FJN inside the Swift instead of the laptop.

So far, I've used this bag extensively for work, for play, and generally everything. I've take it on car trips and on airplanes. It's a great bag to have at your feet as a passenger or under the seat for a plane and be able to access everything quickly and without hassle.

I am still amazed at how much stuff I can fit into this fairly compact bag. You would think that it would get heavy, but the weight distribution of the bag is actually well done. Yes, there is weight, but because the weight is distributed evenly, you don't really notice it. The only time I really noticed a problem was when I went urban hiking for 15 miles, but then again, I knew I was probably taking the wrong bag for a romp through the San Francisco hills!

Is it perfect? Not quite, but it's pretty damn close despite the fact that it's not my beloved messenger-style bag. I'm seriously considering purchasing a few more in different colors for different purposes!

Tom Swift makes bags in the U.S with a lot of workmanship and care. Their products have a life time guarantee and they have a small cult following.

I was so impressed with the quality of workmanship of the Swift, its organization, and its carrying capacity that I also purchased the Maker's Bag almost two months later to try out the messenger bag version (kinda sorta). I'll review that later.

I told you that I had a bag fetish....I might also be a Tom Bihn convert.

KnitCompanion App: A Review

While I was working on my Dire Wolf flip-top mittens, my SIL suggested that I try out a knitting app called, KnitCompanion, that would help make reading charts easier. Since I was nearly complete with my mittens when she told me about this app, I opted to just keep on with the paper charts I was using.

(I had even made my own chart holder for it.)

I had been using the app, Readdle Documents, for PDF patterns, but while did the job for written patterns, it wasn't that great for charts. And, I was planning a very chart-heavy project -- an Aran sweater by Alice Starmore called the St. Brigid --- a pullover that I'm converting to a cardigan. There are FIVE different charts, 7 types of cabling, a variety of row repeats, and two types of increases. Plus, I'm going to be including some waist shaping. All of this together is a lot to keep track!

The back panel, alone, uses a combination of the 5 charts for a total of NINE CHARTS. This is what my work table looked like while I was trying to do some knitting math to work some waist shaping into the pattern (and where in the pattern to include the shaping).

When I tried to test out the my chart holder with just two charts taped together and it didn't work out so well. I could have made the charts smaller, but I actually wanted to be able to read them. I couldn't imagine having to cart around 9 pages of charts taped together, with sticky notes on waist shaping, etc.

So I thought to take my SIL's advice and try out the KnitCompanion app. It took me about 2.5-3 hours to go through all of the tutorials and figure out how to set up my pattern. (CAVEAT: I work in the software industry and am used to dealing with very complicated software.)

BUT, the effort was WORTH it! The ability to just follow the chart, and have the app keep track of everything for you...it's wonderful. I really like this app. I can see it really changing how I deal with patterns with written instructions AND charts.

This is what my worktable looks like now, and the only thing that I need to carry with me.

The GOOD:

The people who designed this were knitters and/or took care to address the needs knitters might have.

• This app is pretty robust, and keeps track of both written & charted instructions pretty darn well. If you shut your app for any reason, it keeps track of where you left off -- for both row and stitch
• It allowed me to stitch together 9 charts (row-by-row).
• You can add highlights to your charts
• Add your own notes and audio cues.
• It keeps its own row counters, and you can advance or frog back.
• It keeps track of what stitch you are on (using a slider.)
• It won't let me advance to the next row unless I check off that I'd done specific increases that I've set up.
• It has special counters for shaping, row repeats, repeated stitches, AND keeps track of them for you.  (I have to repeat rows 3-24 multiple times, so this is handy!)
• You can set it up where the Chart Keys are always visible so you don't have to flip back & forth to different pages.
• There is a community page on Ravelry where you can look up problems and post requests & ask for help
• The moderators are quick to answer the questions on the Ravelry boards. (I posted a question/comment, and had a response in less than an hour!)
• There's an extensive line of very helpful YouTube tutorial videos to help you learn how to use this happ
• They also have free "Webinars" you can sign up for and learn how to use the app.
• It has the ability to read any PDF pattern, and you can use your Dropbox to download patterns or through the iTunes interface.

The BAD:

This app isn't perfect by any means.

• Most people are going to have a very steep learning curve on this app. It does A LOT so consequently, it's a bit complicated. However, the short video tutorials are extremely helpful, and you can figure out most of what you need to do.
• The UI is not exactly intuitive, so setting up your pattern to read correctly can be a hassle until you get used to how it works.
• Currently, this app only allows you to sync up with Dropbox. (My other PDF readers allow me to sync up with any cloud storage, including Ravelry.).  However, you can:
• open up any PDF file that you can access via your web browser .
• upload patterns to your dropbox
• add PDF files via the iTunes interface
• At the time of this writing, the User Guide was slightly out-of-date with the app. But, the developers said they were revamping all of their documentation.
• This app only reads PDF. If you have paper patterns or patterns in different formats, you need to scan or convert your patterns to PDFs.
• Some people are going to balk at the price of this app, which is $15.00. BUT, as they say, it's cheaper than a skein of good sock yarn, and you'll find that you're going to probably use it a lot (esp. if you do a lot of chart work!)
• Currently, this app is only for Apple products -- the iPhone and iPad (regular and the mini). They are investigating into the Android devices, but it might mean they have to completely re-write their code from scratch. Sorry Android users. :-(

Go Try It!

I think the number of good outweighs the bad. Despite it's steep learning curve, I really think this app is WORTH the money. I've managed to get through at least one repeat of the cabling pattern on the Aran sweater and the app has made knitting this pretty simple. (It's almost knitting itself! -- Okay, not quite, but I wish). I don't have to second guess where I am in the pattern; there are no more scribbling of notes or yellow stickies, and I don't have to carry around taped-together pieces of paper that I'm afraid of losing!

You can try download this app for free. They have also included 4 pretty good patterns as part of the download. However, it won't let you open up your own patterns (until you buy it), but first, I highly suggest playing around with their free patterns, go through their tutorials, and learn how to use it. (Don't be like me and try to learn how to use it on a pattern that you want to cast on immediately!)

Now, the app isn't perfect by any means, but it's pretty damn good, especially with all the bells and whistles that the developers keep adding.

Their customer support seems to be very good (which is a must with an app this complicated). My own questions were answered on the Ravelry board within an hour and all of the responses were thoughtful. Plus they're constantly updating their app, and working with knit wear designers to make their PDF patterns more readable.

Check out some of their screenshots from their website to get a better idea of how it handles patterns for both written & charted instructions

(this is from their website)

This app is going to radically change the way I deal with my patterns. I'd say it was definitely worth the money and the effort to learn how to use it.

Book Review: Spinners

As most of my friends know, I'm a big fan of books of fantasy. I especially love the retelling of fairy tales in a different way. Of course, there are some excellent retellings and there are not-so-excellent retellings.

A while ago, I was at my favorite used book store and found a wonderful book that appealed to my love of fantasy as well as my own craftiness. It was the book, Spinners, by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen.

Basically, this YA book is a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story (collected by the Brothers Grimm), where a miller's daughter is told to spin straw into gold or die by the King, and a strange man helps her. The authors DO tell that story, but they also weave an interesting back story to Rumplestilskin as well as the Miller's Daughter. It's rather artfully done. The back story they create is interesting, and there is some character development that leads you to see how the characters come about and how it leads them into their fairytale.

In addition, the authors did an excellent job at researching spinning, spinning different fibers (wool, cotton, flax, etc), and I couldn't find fault in how they described a a lot of the actual spinning that takes place. My only gripe (now that I think about it) was they gloss over how much time it actually "takes" to prepare fibers for spinning (like cotton or flax), but considering they are trying to move the story along, it's not a sticking point for me.

It's actually quite refreshing to see how much spinning and detail that they actually incorporate into the storyline instead of glossing over why this fairytale occurs (i.e. spinning straw into gold). Without giving away spoilers, they authors describe how the Miller's Daughter (who is an excellent spinner) creates different types of yarn (incorporating white & black stripes into her yarn skeins) or adding flowers, feathers, or other things into her skeins of yarn (basically art yarn).

However, as much as I really liked what they did with the backstory and the aspects of spinning, I'm rather disappointed with the ending of the book. They pretty much stuck with the ending of the fairytale (that we're all familiar with) instead of taking this book into a different direction that would still stay true to the backstory that they created AND the spirit of the fairy tale itself.

I'm not saying that the book needed to have a "Happy Ending". After all, real life doesn't always have a happy ending, but I think they cheated the reader and abruptly ended the story with the fairytale ending. They could have created an ending something more appropriate given the backstory they created for their characters and the relationship betwixt them.

Personally, I think they did more research on the aspects of spinning than thinking about a much more cohesive and appropriate ending for this book.

As a retelling of a fairy tale, this book is not the best, nor is it the worst I've read. It's mediocre at best, although if you are a spinner, you might delight in those aspects of the storyline -- I know I did.

If you're going to give this to a young reader (especially one learning how to spin), you might want to give it to a 14+ year old, as there is a "love" scene in the first few pages of the book. It's nothing graphic, but probably a bit more detailed than a simple kiss and hug.

Unfortunately, this book is currently out-of-print, but you might be able to find a copy of it at your local used book store.

Brief Thoughts on The Schact Sidekick: A Review

Ever since the Schact Sidekick was announced, I've been really looking forward to giving it a try. The Sidekick looked very nifty and the preliminary reviews were excellent. But, since I like to try wheels out first, I wasn't ready to pre-order it.

If it worked out for me, I had plans to sell my Ashford Joy for the Schact Sidekick. So, when my LYS finally got one into their store, I gave it a test drive.

My Initial Impressions:

* It's a very cute wheel, and looks to be well-engineered
* It is very small, and would travel very well.
* It treadles beautifully. However, being of a shorter stature, I do have to be in a slightly taller chair for it.

Then my wonderful spinning guru at my LYS showed me how to break it down, and this is where I started noticing problems. I'll be listing the advantages/disadvantages as I saw them.

Advantages:

* They use some nify handles to loosen a lot of parts (much like bikes).
* The Sidekick is very light to handle, albeit an awkward shape.
* Treadling is very smooth and very easy.
* Nearly everything has it's place.
* The orfice is of a good size, and you can probably do some art & bulky yarns with it.
* It's very well engineered (although I think it might be a little *too* over-engineered, see my notes below.)
* This wheel is tiny with a SMALL footprint. It'd fit nicely in a small apartment. You can probably take it on as carry on luggage on a plane (provided you don't carry anything else)
* It comes with two types of whorls (medium & fast). Also you can get an additional slow whorl (4.25:1/5.25:1) and the High speed whorl (12.5:1/15.25:1)

Disadvantages:

The following are some of the disadvantages that I found with the Sidekick. These are based on my personal preferences, and not something that is a "deteriment" to the wheel, but basically some things that might annoy me.

* It's not exactly easy to fold down the Sidekick. There are screws to be loosened, removed, then parts are rejiggered, then screwed into their proper places.

Unlike my Joy, where it's a push here, fold this, then zip into the bag and you're ready to go, the Sidekick takes a bit of doing. I'm sure that once you get used to breaking it down, it'll get faster. I'm just comparing it to the Joy where it was easy to fold up out of the box.)

* There's no place to put the flyer that would secure it well once it's folded down, nor is there a place to store extra bobbins.

* There's no handle by which to heft the Sidekick when it's folded, but there's plenty of real estate on the wheel to put something there. So, I don't know why Schact didn't do this one thing.

* There's no built-in kate (not a deal breaker for me, but something I noticed).

* The travel bobbins are PRICEY ($30.00 apiece). If you don't already have a Schact Matchless or Ladybug, you'll be investing in additional bobbins.

* I'm not sure how much I like their Scotch tension design that puts the spring on the wrong side of the nut, which causes it to lose a little bit of finer tension control as with other Scotch tension wheels. I really have to crank the nob to get a change in tension (unlike my Kiwi or Joy where a small twist to the spring provides additional tension)

Conclusions:

This is a very nice wheel that I would buy if I already didn't have the Joy. But this is a wheel that I would highly recommend people to consider IF:

* you're looking for a wheel that could serve as a home & travel wheel, I'd go for the Sidekick.

* you don't have a lot of space in my home/apartment, and needed something with a small foot print, I'd go for the Sidekick (although I think breaking it down repeatedly would be a hassle.)

* you're travelling and am going to be leaving your wheel set up for an extended period of time, I think this is an excellent wheel. If you need to constantly setup & fold up your wheel, this might get annoying, depending on your own personal preferences.

* you don't already own a travelling wheel.

I don't think I'll be selling my Joy for the Sidekick. I think the Joy is a little bit more "travel" friendly than the Sidekick; it's certainly easier to break down and I like the extra bobbin storage. Also their bag allows me to put fiber and other tools easily.

Spinner's Study: Targhee

The following is part of my continuing spinner's study on various wools.

Information about the Sheep Breed
Targhee Sheep are named after the Targhee National Forest where the breed were developed/grazed. (The forest was named for a chief of the Bannock Indians who had lived in the area in the 1860's.) This is a one of the youngest American breeds; developed in 1926 at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in Dubois, Idaho.

Targhee sheep were bred from Rambouillet, Columbia, and Corriedale crosses. This is a dual-purpose sheep developed for meat & high quality wool. This sheep became popular and is now found in primarily in the Western United States -- Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota.

The Targhee is a large sheep and are naturally polled. Mature rams weigh from 200 to 300 pounds. Breeding ewes weigh from 140 to 200 pounds.

Targhee wool characteristics:

• Considered a fine wool
• Microns: 22.05 - 24.94
• Count: 58s-64s
• Staple length: 3-5inches

My Review: The Good & Bad
I picked up 2oz of Targhee wool from "A Verb for Keeping Warm" in the colorway, "Granite". I'll do a review of AVFKW wool, then a review of the Targhee itself.

The Bad
What I didn't like was AVFKW's dye process. During spinning, a lot of dye bled on my fingers of my drafting hand. I showed it to some fellow spinners who were with me at the time (I was at a spinning event), and they were surprised as well.

In addition, some of the wool seemed a bit felted from the dye'ing process. There were some small sections that just did not draft property and I fought with those parts or just tore them out of the roving. Also, the roving came in two parts: one long piece of consistent roving, then an extra .5 ounces of the same colorway that looked like they just stuffed in, in order to make the whole thing 2 oz. This extra "piece" did not look like it had been accidently ripped off either end of the roving as it wasn't the correct color in the sequence.

As this was my first purchase from AVFKW, it did not impress me.

Once I was done spinning, I washed the whole thing in white vinegar to help set the dye. (I'll probably rinse it with dye AGAIN once it's been knitted up just to ensure that it doesn't bleed)

Targhee Wool: -- The Good.

Despite the problems with the sample I bought, I really liked spinning this wool. It was soft, and didn't mind being spun thinly.

I really liked the colorway from AVFKW, and I wanted to preserve the change in color.

I split the longer piece of roving lengthwise, spun those into 2 bobbins worth singles in the same direction, then did balanced 2-ply with the bobbins.

The resulting yarn is lovely, balanced, and just so utterly soft. I *definitely* want to spin this wool again, but probably not from AVFKW.

1.5 oz. 259 yards of 2ply heavy fingering weight.

Octopus Anyone?

In the attempt to get my knitting mojo back, I took to making an octopus as a quick and easy knit from the book, Amigurumi Knits.

Here's my octopus wrapped around the hacksaw used to help make my Lazy Kate.



BTW, love, love, love this book. It's not exactly amigurumi (as technically, amis are crocheted, not knitted), but I love the patterns as they are quite unusual!

Carrying My Knitting -- and the Nantucket Knitting Bag

I'm a sucker for bags...of any sort. I have a collection of photography bags, travel bags, etc. However, I haven't exactly succumbed to getting a collection of knitting specific bags, such as Namaste, Lexie Barnes, and such.

Why? Because they aren't really my style. I don't really like "purses", but rather utilitarian bags that I can carry a book, water bottle, notebook, knitting (of course), and maybe a drop spindle & extra fiber.

Now, Timbuk2 messenger bags or Eagle Creek bags are more "me". And I use those on a regular basis and it fits everything that I want.

For day-to-day carrying projects: knitting projects are placed in Stuff sacks (aka Ditty bags) then placed in the main bag. The stuff sacks are often made of rip stop nylon so needles don't poke out, and the bright colors make them easy to find. I have several in different colors so I can easily grab a project and "go".

In addition:
-- Notions are placed in a small clear plastic makeup bag.
-- Fiber is placed in zip lock baggies
-- the spindles are placed in camera lens bag or wine carrier case (which I found at a local thrift store for cheap!)

However, I did pick up one bag, the Nantucket Knitty Bag, which has worked really well for me thus far. Currently, I use it for long extended road trips in the car or for taking projects with me to "Stitch & Bitches".

The original bag was designed for use by carpenters who need all those pockets for tools, but it works really well for placing all of your knitting & spinning supplies in as well!


(The photo is from the manufacturer site. My Nantucket is black.)
The bag measures: 15" x 10" x 6" with 1.25" handles. You can sling it like a shoulder bag, or close up the top and use it as a back pack. You can also reverse how it zips up so that all the pockets are in the inside of the bag. (I did this when visiting a house with small children).

It easily fits multiple projects, multiple yarn & fibers, and has wonderful pockets for putting in things such as full-size scissors, measuring tape, etc. It's easy to pull things in and out of it, and I can stuff it relatively full without worry.

I've been using it for car trips. For one week-long trip I carried: three sock projects, a sweater project, a hat project, all the associated yarn for said projects; two spindles and fiber for spinning. Then all the assorted tools that got placed in the pockets. It fits nicely at my feet on the passenger side, and the wide open mouth lets me immediately place in a project without any fuss.

When I'm not using it for car trips, it just simply holds yarn or fiber or whatever I'm currently working on at that particular moment, and will often get carried room to room when I'm knitting. (This is an addition to my static yarn baskets that sit by my favorite chairs.....)

The only thing about this bag is that, depending on how full you stuff it, the top won't cinch close all the way, and if it topples over, you might spill your yarn/fiber/projects out. However, I don't normally stuff it that full, so this hasn't been a problem for me.

Overall, it's a lovely bag to use.

Book Review: Spin Control by Amy King

I've just finished reading Amy King's Spin Control Book. And as a relatively new spinner, I definitely like this book. It's geared primarily towards those spinners with wheels, but the techniques can be converted to those using spindles with a bit of care.

In the beginning of the book, she goes over some spinning basics -- the differences between woolen versus worseted, S-spun / Z-spun, short draw versus long draw, and the different fibers and how they react to certain spinning types. And she has some wonderful color photographs showing how a woolen yarn knit up looks to a worsted spun yarn. In addition, she goes over tips & techniques to help you get your yarn more consistent. She does not go in-depth about some basics, so if you're looking for details, this is probably not the book.

She also goes over plying and the different plying techniques. And again, lots of wonderful photographs showing how a 2-ply or 3-ply pr N-ply does with regular knitting versus cabled knits versus colorwork.

Spin Control: Techniques for Spinning the Yarns You Want
by Amy King

The last few remaining chapters of the book go over the possibilities of what you can do with your handspun, including core spinning, making boucle, and purposefully made 'art yarn'.

The photographs in the book are very well done, and give you a nice view of what can be accomplished and provide a 'guideline' on how things might spin or knit up. The writing style is laid back and easy to read. There's no overly complicated instructions and a lot of the step-by-step instructions are accompanied by photographs.

I have heard that more advanced/experienced spinners might not find a lot of value in the book, but I'd say for beginning/intermediate spinners, this book can show you all of the possibilities and help you get to the next level in your spinning.

Review: Respect the Spindle

This past weekend, I finally picked up the book, "Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool", by Abby Franquemont, at a local bookstore.


Respect the Spindle

Can I just say this? WHERE was this book when I first started spinning on a spindle?!?! Oh yeah, she was just finishing up writing it and it was *just* about to be published. So, I didn't get the full benefit of it when I started spindling.

It came out about 3 months after I started spindle spinning. However, it's awesome book to read with a lot of information specific to spindle spinning that you don't necessarily get in other general spinning books (which mostly cater to wheel spinning). Despite it's focus on spindles, it's an overall good "spinning" book with information on drafting, woolen, and worsted spinning, plying (with some good photos on chain plying), etc. I've learned quite a bit more just by reading this book.

Abby does a really good job at breaking things down into easy-to-understand concepts about the hows and whys of spinning. Her writing flows nicely from one end of the book to the next. Her style is fluid and easy-to-read. She explains (with good photographs) the different spindle types, why they work, how they work, and what are the idiosyncracies between all of them. She goes over the physics of spinning, mathematics of spin rates, and a little bit about the history of spinning in general.

In addition to the above, there are some brief exercises for you to work on, how to determine your spinning rate, and then she also provides a few patterns for your first few skeins of handspun. She's very encouraging throughout the book, getting you to explore at your own pace, to find your own spinning "mojo", and to really understand that there is going to different ways of doing things.

(And there are also some very gorgeous photos of various spindles and fiber!)

Overall, it's a *wonderful* book. In terms of specific spindle books, I think this one sits at the top of my "recommended" list. It'll be the one I will be recommending to people who want to learn how to use a spindle. I know that I certainly learned a lot.

(As a side note: Books, such as The Bellweather's Productive Spindling (also a very good book) compliments Abby's book very well, going into some specifics (such as how to efficiently wind-on a cop for different reasons, etc).

I'll review the Product Spindling book at a later date.