[Nfb-krafters-korner] Last Monday 8/2 Night Special ChatInterview Davey Hulse, author, A Touch of Yarn

Wed Aug 11 12:21:59 UTC 2010

Audrey, thanks so much for taking the time to write this.  I was not able to 
attend the chat.

Carol
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "AUDREY WELLNER" <rencraft at snet.net>
To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 4:07 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Last Monday 8/2 Night Special 
ChatInterview Davey Hulse, author, A Touch of Yarn

> Davey Hulse, Guest Speaker, author of “The Touch of Yarn” discussion
>
> On last Monday night, August 2nd, our special telephone chat was attended 
> by approximately 20 people to hear our special guest, Davey Hulse, author 
> of a great book called “The Touch of Yarn” discuss this great primer for 
> all knitters. His book teaches his personal techniques and viewpoints on 
> how to master the art of knitting blind.
> Mr. Hulse started his knitting obsession approximately three years ago to 
> help keep his hands busy and out of the potato chip bag while listening to 
> his many downloaded books on Jaws. As he noticed the expansion of his 
> girth getting out of “hand” he decided to curtail his wandering hands by 
> taking up a hobby.
> He started exploring his new hobby quest by doing latch hook work, but he 
> needed the assistance of his wife to read the grid patterns for him. This 
> curtailed his wife’s activities also, and he desired to work a bit more 
> independently on his own hobbies. Ten years prior to this he had 
> accompanied his mom on a trip to the yarn shop where they purchased long 
> needles for him to practice with. Their length seemed to frustrate the 
> learning process even further. Along with this frustration came the lack 
> of printed Braille instructions not clearly defining the pattern 
> information to follow or precise instructions for the intricate hand 
> positions and stitches to be taken. He had more split yarns, holes and 
> dropped stitches than he wanted to deal with. So out of this frustration 
> grew an idea that there need to be a better manual written to help with 
> step by step instructions written in succinct detail.
> His other business as CEO of “Braille Plus” in the state of Washington was 
> doing well at the time so he toyed with the opportunity to bring his book 
> to life. Finally while sorting through a sack of unfinished forgotten 
> masterpieces of hope (uneven pieces of slippery acrylic yarn projects with 
> holes everywhere), he felt sorry the person they belonged to never had the 
> opportunity to find a proper coach to assist them with finishing their 
> precious garments to pass on to the loved ones. Out of this inspiration 
> sprang his 130-140 printed page instruction manual with 16 or 17 chapters 
> explaining in detail such things as, how to tell the difference between a 
> skein and ball of yarn, how to fix dropped stitches and how to properly 
> label your Goodwill sack of yarn.
> Mr. Hulse also changes standard stock patterns so they challenge his 
> interest by incorporating new stitches into mundane standard patterns to 
> hold his interest while working.
> Joyce Kane our president asked a question for a member (Terrence) that 
> could not be at our chat.
> “How are you as a male knitter perceived?” Mr. Hulse answered that he 
> hoped that people seen him more as a blind knitter than a guy who knits. 
> They seem to be more amazed by the “blind” than the “guy”. He gave an 
> analogy of the difference between how a woman shops for yarn than a man. A 
> woman needs to touch and feel the yarn, then they just have to purchase 
> that “feel good” yarn for a project in the future, but then come back the 
> following day to scarf up the rest “just in case” or perhaps find another 
> “feel good” skein to match that future project. When a guy goes to the 
> yarn shop he purchases a huge quantity of yarn, takes it home never to 
> resurface again until his stash is completely depleted. A guy is not a 
> stash saver, nor does he pet or fondle the yarn. He only keeps enough on 
> hand to complete one or two projects at a time.
> Next question asked was – What method does he use to label his yarn, 
> Braille? He used to use Braille labels on zip lock bags but now uses his 
> “I” phone with an audio labeling system. You can hear more about this 
> system on, www.digit-eyes.com. This system was compared as a Pen friend on 
> steroids. Mr. Hulse stated that the Digiteyes works with Avery labels and 
> they are developing “washable and reusable” labels soon. The new ID summit 
> (his competition) scans bar code labels that tell exactly what the item 
> is, whereas Smart Phone is used with Digiteyes. With his Smart Phone and 
> Digiteyes he now puts on his own audio label indicating, color, fabric 
> content, etc., that can be recited back to him.
> The next question asked – When do you give up on a project? Mr. Hulse 
> answers that the learning curve is agonizingly slow. It took him a long 
> time to get comfortable with the feel of his knitting. This depends on how 
> stubborn an individual is. There are drawbacks with physical problems like 
> diabetic neuropathy making it harder to feel your mistakes, but switch to 
> thicker larger needles and yarn and just “Go Big”. He also enlightened his 
> audience to the use of squared needles that are the same gauge as the 
> round needles to compensate for this lack of nerve ending feeling and be 
> more comfortable in your hands.
> Eileen asked – Were you self taught or did you have help? He said he was 
> self taught.
> Joyce asked – You talked about establishing a website in the near future, 
> please explain.
> He said that it should be ready next month, but in the meantime he could 
> be reached at: davey at brailleplus.net
> He will be developing a series of smaller pamphlets like “How to Modify a 
> Pattern to keep yourself entertained” costing only $3-$10.00. He wanted to 
> have something to breakaway from the massive size of his 200-300 page 
> Braille manual that would be more convenient to carry.
> Jewel asked – How do you weave in two different colors when knitting. His 
> response – very carefully! Along the edge of a seam, and in a situation of 
> narrow strips - carry the yarn to the next corresponding row and knit it 
> into the next row of the same corresponding color.
> Eileen explains a different technique of knitting in a counterclockwise 
> manner over the next twelve or thirteen stitches then tails track back 
> with a tapestry needle. Mr. Hulse refers to this method as the “candy 
>  cane” method.
> The next question asked – Does he use a gauge swatch? He claims he uses 
> larger than 4x4 swatches. He gave us a helpful hint of carrying a 4 x 6 
> index card in your pocket for instant measuring. It can be folded several 
> ways to obtain proper measurement without having to carry a ruler. By 
> making larger samples you can see the drag of your yarn swatch when it’s 
> knitted. And always measure repeatedly to keep a check on your tension 
> gage problems.
> You can purchase Mr. Hulse’s book, “A Touch of Yarn”, from the Lion Brand 
> website in a down loadable large print or Braille format for $19.95.
> Respectfully submitted,
> Audrey Wellner, Secretary
> NFB Krafters Korner division
>
> --- On Mon, 8/9/10, Blindhands at aol.com <Blindhands at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Blindhands at aol.com <Blindhands at aol.com>
> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Monday Night Chat
> To: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
> Date: Monday, August 9, 2010, 5:38 PM
>
>
> This week it will be an open discussion for our Chat. So drop in and see
> what is going on at Krafters Korner.
>
> 218 862 3242 Dawn's Den, hit #1 twice and then enter code # 50 and you are
> there!
>
> August 23 we will have Fun Making Paper Flowers. More information on that
> will be coming.
>
>
> Joyce Kane
> www.KraftersKorner.org (http://www.krafterskorner.org/)
> Blindhands at AOL.com
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