Knitting Friday

Don't feel much like blogging about knitting today - or anything. Can't say I'm depressed or sad or bored. After all, I have my knitting.

Knitting is interesting as a craft. My knitting sites will have periodic threads about "How can people demean the craft by calling it a hobby?" In fact over 200 people have voiced their displeasure with this appellation since March 10 in a thread titled "What wrong with these people?"

I don't think there's anything wrong with people who demean knitting. It's a right brain, left brain, no brain issue. You either have a creative side or not and if you have a creative side it's either finely honed and your creative craft becomes your life or if it's not finely honed you dabble on the edges.

But for me, there is something different about knitting (and crocheting for that matter): it's a portable craft; neat (in the tidy sense); doable with multi-tasking such as knitting and carrying on a conversation; it's often a conversation starter ("What are you making?); and it's got a very advanced learning curve.

Scrap booking, painting, writing, sewing - I can't think of another craft that allows you such latitude.

And even more than that, it gives you an inner peace which is also portable. Standing on a long return line; pull out your knitting. Waiting for the kids after school; ditto. A boring town meeting; you know the drill. The list of places you can be knitting is endless.

That's why I may not feel like blogging today but I do feel like tackling my endless mohair shawl; my variegated reversible shawl and figuring out how to convert yet another pattern into diagonal knitting. Now that's inner peace.

But this is knitting Friday and here's a simple stitch which you can play with. I'm attempting work this so I get a smooth stockinette look to show off the yarn without getting the dreaded stockinette curl.

A Very Simple Pattern in Two Rows:

Row 1: Knit (K) a twisted elongated stitch* across
Row 2: K front & back (fb) *Purl (P)* Kfb (stockinette look) or
Row 2: Kfb *K* Kfb (modified garter look)

*Twisted elongated stitch:
1, start a K stitch as usual - yarn in back, right needle (RN) through stitch on left needle (LN) then:
2. take the yarn around the back of the RN to the left and:
3. bring the yarn to the front and around the LN then:
4. return the yarn around the right side to the back of the RN then:
5. bring the yarn through the middle of both needles and:
6. make the knit stitch as usual.

It's really simple and you make a twisted long K stitch which really takes the mundane side of garter out of garter stitch patterns.

I've gotten some advice on this pattern: if Row 2 is P, make your increases every 2 rows out of 3 for a less narrow triangle:
Row 1 even
Row 2 inc
Row 1 inc (here Row 1 would become: Kfb *twisted K stitch across*end Kfb)
Row 2 even
Row 1 inc
Row 2 inc
Row 1 even
Row 2 inc
Row 1 inc etc.

If you do this variation, use a row counter to prevent cursing.

I'll leave you with this pattern. This would be a great project for line waiting. See if you can come up with a variation which is smooth looking and non-curling.

If you're more successful than I have been, let me know.

Happy knitting.