A Blog about Knitting
It’s FUN to try a new technique!
Martha
Part one of the series is found here. Part deux can be found here.
Other knitting projects skipped ahead of this one: baby blankets, a full sized blanket, felted oven mitts as gifts, and class projects.
I am happy to get back to this item. I finished the body of the sweater and joined the shoulders using a three needle bind off.
I started the first sleeve, worked for about 6″ and decided the increases were too fast. I frogged (rip it, rip it) back to the second cable row and slowed the increase rate.
I usually don’t “Hand wash, lay flat to dry” until after the garment is put together, but I just HAD to see how the cables would open up. I like it!
Stay tuned. I started it October 2017. It will be finished by the end of THIS October!
KnitYourselfHappy
To make sure the sweater fits the way he likes, I measured one of his favorite sweatshirts.
This video shows you the key areas to measure.
Make sure you knit the swatch in the stitch pattern that you intend to use on the garment:
I cast on using 2 skeins of yarn for 238 sts:
joined in the round:
and worked a K2, P2 rib for 1.5″.
I’m not that fond of working K2, P2 rib for a long time.
I mentioned this to one of my sisters. It seems to take forever.
It can be a bummer. It is a necessary part.
She commented, “Just like puberty.” Exactly.
I chose a three-over-three left crossing cable and off-set
the cable twist every 12 rows for the front body.
The back of the sweater is stockinette stitch.
So now I am on my merry way. The following pictures show the progress
through the first skein: 
The second skein:
And the third skein:
So there it is so far! Next time I post about this sweater,
I will focus on the front neckline.
It’s not rocket science.
It’s not a mystery.
Blocking The Mysteries of Blocking
Cast On Backwards Loop Cast On and Long Tail Cast On
Cast on Do the Twist! German Twisted Cast On
Cast On Provisional Cast on: What, How and Why
Charity Knitting Knitting for Charity
Christmas Christmas Kisses!
Christmas Knitting for Christmas
Decreasing My “Rules” for Decreasing
Double Points Double Points: No Fear!
Fall Knitting October Knitting
Fixing Mistakes Fixing Knitting Mistakes
Gauge It Really IS All About the Gauge
Hats “Fit to be Tied”
Hats Hats!
Holiday Knits Valentine Knitting
Increasing A Tale of Two Increases
Knit Stitch Projects The Knit. The whole knit. And nothing but the knit. Part 1
Knit Stitch Projects The Knit. The whole knit and nothing but the knit… Part 2: Log Cabin Style
Knitting Techniques The “Right” Way to Knit
Knitting Techniques “Rules” to Knit By
Mittens Red Mittens: A Personal Story
Organization Knitting Goals 2017
Organization “To Stash or Not to Stash…”
Reading Patterns Don’t be a Slave to the Pattern
Picking up stitches Picking up Stitches in Garter and Seed
Sewing Knitting Sewing Your Knits: Stockinette Stitch
Small Projects Those Hot Summer Knits
Sweaters Sheep to Sweater Story
Weaving Weaving: A Necessary Evil
Yarn Store Your LYS
The Oxford dictionary defines basic as:
an adjective: Forming an essential foundation or starting point; fundamental.
a noun: The essential facts or principles of a subject or skill.
The ubiquitous knit stitch is indeed the foundation for everything in knitting. In a way, it even shows us how to purl, considering that the purl stitch is a mirror image of a knit stitch. We can cast on by knitting the stitches onto a needle.
We vary our stitches by manipulating the knit stitch. Everything starts with knit. (Well, actually, everything starts with “e”, but we are talking about knitting here.)
Notice that when we tell people what we are doing with two needle ends and some yarn, we refer to the activity as “knitting”, not “purling”. And it is certainly not weaving, crocheting, quilting or macrame, although some non-crafty people lump all of these things into one big category of “things I don’t know how to do, even though my grandma tried to show me once”.
There are a couple of ways to look at the knit stitch. If you are working a piece flat, back and forth, the fabric that is produced by the knit stitch is referred to as “garter”. This fabric is bumpy on both sides, and has furrows. Mind you, if you worked a flat piece back and forth in all purl, it would still produce garter fabric. (Remember, purl is mirror of knit, so if you only purl a flat piece, you will get the same result as if you only knit a flat piece.)
Another fabric that consists of only the knit stitch is anything that is joined into the round and worked in knit. In that case, you are only working on the outside of a cylinder of knitting, and piling knits on top of knits in the round produces stockinette stitch. The fabric is smooth on the outside and bumpy on the inside, and without the deep furrows of garter stitch. Think of a knit sock worked in the round. All knit stitch. All on the outside of the stocking. Voila, stockinette stitch.
The Poncho a la Mode is knit in the round in one piece. (Ok, it has some rib at the very beginning so the edge doesn’t curl.)
Even though this is the first stitch we learn, it can create variety of very sophisticated looking items. Some of the most beautiful blankets and shawls are made with only the knit stitch. The “Mrs. Watson” is one great example.
On huge needles, thick yarn for a garter stitch blanket looks like something straight out of a fancy catalog.
Thin yarn on tiny needles is extremely warm and can be the foundation of an amazing shawl.
And, believe it or not, the Newport Summer Shrug is only the knit stitch! There are yarn overs, but isn’t that just a manipulation of the knit? No purling in this one!
And when is a flat piece in all knit stitch not garter? You can manipulate what you are doing by starting a yarn at the other end of a circular knitting needle to create “purl” rows! Check this out! Sliding Garter Blanket. My newest pattern on Ravelry!
Coming up! In part 2 of this blog about the knit stitch, I will discuss picking up stitches around garter.
Until then, Knit Yourself Happy!
Because of the vast variety of TV shows, movies and music that we have at our fingertips at any given moment, it feels like there are always many fashion trends happening at once. Downton Abbey fans are loving the 20’s and 30’s looks of sleek lines and really cute hats. Pop stars have their own unique brands and the stores are quick to fill our needs. What’s old is always new and designers just need to put their own twist into an idea to make it exciting again.
How do knitters make what’s hot right now? Often, by the time a knitting magazine is on the shelves, the trend is sliding away. Thanks to Ravelry, designers can get ideas out there as fast as we can make the garment and write the pattern.
I design many of my own garments myself. For Southern California I like short sleeved cotton sweaters, but we do need the occasional warm sweater also. Often, a student in one of my classes will have a favorite store bought sweater that they would like me to write a pattern for. Most of the time I get ideas by looking at what other people are wearing, sometimes from TV and in shop windows.
Coming up with a name for a new pattern is always a challenge for me… This one seemed easy!
Here it is with a silk scarf woven through the eyelet holes:
I always have some beginning knitters in my classes. What to make? This hat is perfect for a beginner!
Use a long tail cast on
To get started knitting in the round, see my video.
Double point needles are necessary to close the top of the hat.
Of course, don’t forget to fix that little gap that happens at the cast on.
Making an I cord is easy and fun! According to one of my favorite knitting icons, Elizabeth Zimmerman, “I cord” stands for “Idiot cord”. Maybe because it’s easy? Maybe because it is repetitious? Either way, check it out.
