BiblicalZionist.
Pretzel-loop-d.jpg (JPEG Image, 1600 × 1164 pixels) - Scaled (59. BACK to the back join. The back join (subject of a previous post) is a method for working in the tails AS YOU GO in multi-color knitting. The back join is NOT confusing, but judging from the e-mails in the TECHknitting in-box, the first post about it WAS confusing. It would be a pity to obscure such a useful technique with badly-written instructions, so here's another run at it--with an additional illustration showing the back join as it is being knitted. The back join (one more time) The back join is usually used in circular knitting (around and around) because back-and forth knitters usually change at the fabric edge. Therefore, the illustrations below show the back join in circular knitting. You can, however, do the back join in flat (back and forth) knitting--see number (8), below.
So, suppose you are knitting around and around on circular needles in LAVENDER and you want to switch to PURPLE. 1) (above) Begin the back join by knitting to the last LAVENDER stitch. October 2007. Includes 17 illustrationsOk, I gotta say it: those were a lot of comments to the last post--the one about the possibility of including some sewing techniques. Many thanks to all who responded, and to all who will respond. The drawing for the prize--the $20 gift certificate to Knitpicks--will be on TECHknitting's blogiversery post (Nov 5, 2007). In the mean time, it's back to mundane nuts and bolts stuff about knitting--today's post is about MORE left leaning decreases.The current series on left-leaning decreases is the result of a lot of experimentation over a lot of (pre-internet) years.
At different times, different left leaning decreases were my favorites, but now I have settled on two: the SYTK and the Crochet Hook Method (CHM), each of which previously starred in a post of its own. However, that doesn't mean that some of the other left-leaning decreases with which I flirted weren't handsome creatures, too. I've picked the runners up below. RUNNER UP DECREASE #4: One-step sk. June 2010. Interweave Knits has just produced a video featuring EunnyJang, the IK editor, demonstrating TECHknitting'sNEW buttonhole: the tulips buttonhole. The name came about because the buttonhole looks like "two lips" in stockinette. The video is quite small here, but if you click on the lower right hand corner where it says "You tube," you will get a MUCH larger version--easier to follow, by far.
The video is also featured in a "Knitting Daily" interview with TECHknitter (that's me!) About how the Tulips buttonhole was invented. The tulips buttonhole was originally featured in Summer 2010 Interweave Knits, "Beyond the Basics" column, which could be a handy reference to maybe keep with your knitting papers: it is a fully illustrated article, and shows the same steps as the video.
March 2010. The simplest quick-fix is to knit tighter. Simply using smaller needles will put so much less yarn into each stitch that the loose column of stitches will magically fix itself. This is actually an excellent solution for sweater bands--bottom or neck, and also for cuffs and hat brims. Cast on properly and knit very firmly on small needles, ribbing transforms into a stretchy, elastic fabric, with stitches laying in very smooth and even columns. Pros and cons: While this is an excellent solution for cuffs, brims and bands, it is not a good solution for all-over textured fabrics, such as all-over ribs, basketweave, cables, etc.
Tight knitting all over the whole fabric would result in stiff, tight fabric, as well as hand cramps--not fun. Luckily, knitting tightly is not the only fix. In all the diagrams of this post, purple means the stitch appears as a knit on the "front" face of the fabric--the public side--the side which will be seen when the garment is worn. Geek notes. March 2009. The gappy default is to simply chain bind off all the way around, and then to end the bind-off by pulling the tail yarn (yellow) through the last stitch (blue). In this default method, the knitter simply accepts the gap between the first stitch bound off (green) and the last stitch bound off (blue) as shown on the illustration below. The OK method (method 1) To close the unsatisfactory gap left by the default method, a refinement has been added by many knitters, as follows: 1a: After binding off the last stitch (blue) thread the tail (yellow) onto a blunt tipped, large-eyed sewing needle ("tapesty needle").
Insert the tapestry needle up into the blue stitch from underneath, as if you were pulling the final tail through the last stitch in ordinary chain bind off per the default method. Next, insert the needle from the back to the front, under BOTH arms of the first stitch bound off (green). The GOOD method (method 2) 2d: As you can see, the result of method 2 is really pretty good. March 2008. Reminder--like the other posts in this series, the top part shows the general directions, the bottom part, directions for the KAL of the "pocket hats" which illustrate the post For years, a truly flat hat top in ribbing eluded me. With spiral decreases, no matter how ferocious the rate of decrease, the darn thing never lay flat, nor could I find a suitable pattern for progressively eliminating ribs. With "all-at-once decreases" the ribs became even more distorted and the darn thing still wouldn't lay flat--the 12, 10 or 8 stitches at the top would form a little nipple when the yarn was drawn through--not quite the thing.
On both kinds of decrease, the needles at the top of the hat went slipping out as fewer and fewer stitches remained. TRULY FLAT TOP for a ribbed hat This hat top features 5 decrease rounds and a final working together at the top, 6 steps in all: these are labeled steps A through F on the illustration, and are described in the text. STEP A (decrease on the purl ribs) April 2010. April 2008. If you're a hand-knitter who's never used Polar Fleece, you have a wonderful surprise waiting for you! Although it is not without drawbacks, Polar fleece is EXCELLENT when used in small amounts for lining hand knits. THIS TECHknitting post shows how to line a hat with a polar fleece, headband style, while THIS TECHknitting post shows how to fully line a hat with Polar fleece without measuring anything, just by using your head and your finished hat as the template.
But before all that, here is a free-standing write-up on just what Polar fleece is, its advantages, disadvantages, and characteristics. Polar fleece is the name for a certain type of fuzzy, stretchy KNIT yard goods invented by Malden Mills. (Malden Mills, you might remember, is the corporate feel-good story of the 1990's. Fleece is an entirely synthetic fabric made from PET plastic, often from recycled soda containers. There are several truly WONDERFUL things about combining Polar fleece with hand knitting. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
April 2007. How to use dpn's: Double pointed needles are one of those rites of passage like riding a bike or high school graduation. On one side of the divide, you know you still have something to prove, on the other side of the divide, you've arrived and can't remember what the fuss was about. Dpn's are like that: before you learn, you can't imagine how it works, after you learn, you can't remember what you were worried about. Remembering the process from this side of the divide, figuring out dpn's seemed most like learning to carry a big, empty box. Hard to get a hold of, awkward to carry, but not really difficult once you've got a grip. Of course, "getting a grip" will be easier (literally and figuratively) if you use the easiest materials, arrange the needles the easiest way, hold the needles nicely and use tricks to avoid problem points.
If you're still with me, let's start with... MATERIALS--the how and the why 1. Sometimes dpn's come in sets of 4, sometimes, in sets of 5. Click picture 2. 1. 2. May 2008. We're at part 4 of the TECHknitting series on handsewing for handknitters. So far, we've gone over twoways to start your thread, and one way (not to) sew it. Now we come to a very useful stitch --the BACK STITCH. The back stitch isn't much use in attaching knitted fabric to itself, but it is very useful forsewing up WOVEN cloth, orATTACHING woven cloth firmly TO knitted fabric--sewing in a zipper, for example.Before machine sewing was invented, the back stitch was widely used for general seaming of all sorts (seaming=sewing cut pieces of cloth together). The back stitch was also widely used for hemming (hemming=sewing folded-over fabric shut so as to conceal a cut edge). Today, most folks substitute machine-sewing for the long, straight lines of stitches at which back stitch excels.
So, without further ado, here is... THE BACK STITCH, illustrated 1. 2a. 2b. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. And yet... Bottom line: the back stitch is an excellent stitch--a real workhorse stitch--for. May 2007. This TECHknitting series on color knitting (color knitting is also called "stranded knitting") is now taking a 180 degree turn: leaving behind the perhaps slightly intimidating techniques covered in the most recent color-series posts (link 1, link 2) for a much EASIER technique. With this trick ANY knitter, regardless of skill level, can lay down any number of colors with no skills other than ordinary knitting--yes, any color pattern, regardless how complicated. All that is required is a basic knowledge of knitting and PATIENCE. This trick is called... Multi color knitting, one color at a time There are two kinds of multi-color knitting, created one color at a time. The upside of this trick is that it is nothing other than regular knitting (and perhaps, purling)--however you prefer to do it (continental or English).
Click picture At heart, this trick is very simple. Click picture At the end of two passes, this 2-color pattern is done. Circular knitting, flat knitting and out-of-phase yarns. April 2011. Today's TECHknitting post shows two quick solutions to the common problem of placing decreases evenly spaced on a stitch count not evenly divisible--these tricks work for spacing increases, too. For example, suppose you want to space 8 decreases, evenly spaced, on a hat top of 93 stitches. 93 stitches isn't evenly divisible by 8. The nearest even multiple of 8 is 88, which would be 8 decreases spaced 11 stitches apart, with 5 excess stitches left over. 1) Random decreasing before you get to the decrease rounds In this solution, in the last few rounds before the decrease rounds begin, the 5 stitches would randomly be decreased away by working two stitches together at five random points.
By the time you get to the decrease rounds, you would have 88 stitches: 8 markers placed 11 stitches apart. This is the most common solution, I think, and it works very well in garter stitch (use k2togs), reverse stockinette (on the k side, use k2togs, on the purl side, p2togs) and other bumpy fabrics. November 2010. The current issue of Interweave Knits has an article (by me) about installing zippers without any sewing at all, using a very special kind of very small latch hook called a "knit-picker. " There are two different methods described in the article for installing zippers: working from the zipper outward, or installing a zipper in an already-made item.
There is also an Interweave Knits video on the technique. If you have a copy of the article, or have viewed the video, and would like to explore the method of working from the zipper outward, here is a pattern for a little felted purse using that technique. The project is presented as a KAL (knit along) in several installments. Today, we'll lay out the materials and get as far as the top trim. With its flat bottom, this little purse is roomy beyond expectation: a cell phone and other necessaries fit neatly alongside bills and change.
Materials, needles and gauge KAL Part 1: Zipper and Top Trim. February 2011. Poking around Ravelry the other day, I found a thread where a bunch of fellows were wishing for sweaters which fit better than standard "cylinder" sweaters--they want to show off their manly figures in better-fitting garments. Yowza! OK! I'm ALL for that, so here are two super-quick informal methods to adjust any "stockinette cylinder" sweater for the rising "v" shape evidently at issue. (Naturally, these methods will also work for anyone, male or female, with a chest significantly greater than their waist, but this particular post is pitched towards the fellows who got me started thinking about all this in the first place.) METHOD 1: Graduated needle size Here's a handsome fellow in his graduated needle size jersey--4 different needle sizes were used to knit the scrap of fabric laying under this sketch of a body-builder and you can see the difference in gauge as the fabric climbs the rising V shape of this imaginary fellow's torso.
Method 2: ribbing Combo approach A note on yarns. November 2007. Part 1: WHY KNITTING SHOULD NOT BE LIKE OPERA The house lights dim, the curtains rise. The crowd rustles, the orchestra strikes up. The figure in the spotlight opens his mouth. Out comes a stunning tone, washing over a thousand opera fans. But...wait here just a minute! This same thing sort of thing--the snort of those not true believers--may very well happen when a knitter shows up in a handmade creation. Shown a handmade sweater, the knitters in the audience will zero in on the intricate cables, the luxurious fibers, the glowing colors. Opera lovers have no choice about having good imaginations. Knitting is not like opera. And yet--a willingness to face reality--to actually SEE those sagging bands--is "necessary, but not sufficient" as logicians say.
Part 2: WHY KNITTING IS LIKE SOAP OPERA:The sad tale of NORM (who has the support of his family)and WANDA and LON (who do not) Let's start with Norm. Norm lives in the middle of an interconnected community. January 2007. Includes a how-to GAUGE, EASE and FASHION--or "WHY DOESN'T MY HAND KNITTED SWEATER FIT? " Knitting any pattern for the first time is an act of faith. You see a pattern.
It appears on a model, cunningly displayed on a chair, or hanging at the LYS. Through some combination of experience, fashion sense and hope, you decide that although you aren't a model, a chair, or a hanger, that sweater will surely look as well on you. You buy the yarn, you buy the pattern, you cast on. You switch needles 3 times until you get the exact gauge. Your new sweater fits best if you don't button it and looks most modest if you don't breathe, or at least, don't breathe deeply around men other than your husband.
I am here to absolve you. So what is ease? Stated otherwise, "ease" in a technical sense does not refer to lolling about watching TV while eating bon-bons. Confusingly, the concept of ease often runs right into the concept of fashion. Here is the trick. Click picture How about the depth of the armhole? January 2012. January 2008. January 2009. November 2009. December 2008. December 2007. July 2009. July 2007. June 2008. September 2009. September 2007.