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Knitting Friday - Tips and Techniques
I want to make this a tips and techniques Knitting Friday but I'm going to also make it a "Learn How to Add Pictures in my Updated Blog Day" so bear with
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| Use the same needles |
me as my brain expands and, hopefully, does not blow a gasket.
1. Use the same needles tip: On the right, you're looking at one of my typical top-down shells in the very hot-this-season stitch pattern (2 rows K and 2 rows *YO, K2tog*) as seen in J Jill and the Gap . (Do you know how psyched I was when I found myself standing in front of a Gap store in Princeton, NJ and seeing this pattern on a sweater?) The picture above shows the top just before I bound off and tried it on (for the second time but obviously the first time I really, really looked at it.) That's when I realized the top of the sweater for about 5" had a much looser stitch. That's when I realized I had been using KP Harmony needles at the beginning but the yarn was grabbing the needles so I switched to KP nickel for easier work but also a big problem which I wouldn't discover till much later. Tip #1: Be careful if you change needles in the middle of your work. Even with the same size needles, tip texture changes the tension and the look. P.S. I frogged and I'm reworking this top with a K 2 rows, *YO, K2tog* for 1 row pattern.
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| Ready to work the width |
2. Ready to work for width tip: On the left is another example of my 1 skein #10 crochet cotton thread summer shawl. It's a simple *ch 5, dc in loop* across the row pattern. You make 2 loops in the end loops on each side and every row for increases. (I've posted this pattern before and I'll update it soon.) The picture on the left shows the shawl at the length I want, I'm ready to start just working for width.
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| Typical end loop increase |
In the picture on the right, the pins mark the two loop increase in one end of the shawl. Follow the second vertical stitch past the left pin and also the next vertical stitch. You can see they both go into the same loop of the previous row.
That's the increase you work on both sides of every row as you're working your length. You really don't have to mark where you have to make this increase because whenever you come to this double loop, you make your increase in the second double loop. (In the right pic, this loop is marked by the left pin.)
That's the increase you work on both sides of every row as you're working your length. You really don't have to mark where you have to make this increase because whenever you come to this double loop, you make your increase in the second double loop. (In the right pic, this loop is marked by the left pin.)
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| Working the width |
In the left picture with the ruler, this pin is at the bottom of the ruler and you can see that I'm now working the width of the shawl but not its length. Here's how I did it.
a. Mark the second loop from the end of your work (the loop marked by the right side pin in the right picture above. b. When you reach this loop: Chain 5 and work a double crochet in this loop.
c. Turn, chain 5 and work a double crochet in the same loop. (The end loops will now only have one loop each side, every row.)
d. Mark the loop you just made and keep moving your marker at the end of each row so that you know that's your end loop and you just make one loop in it, not two loops as before. (I like to use a safety pin as a marker since you don't want to lose track of this end loop.)
Pretty soon you'll start to see the width developing (bottom picture) and you should use the rest of your skein just working the width this way.
3. The best short rows explanation in the world: I'm thinking if I were to live to 100, I would remember how to knit to the end. However, now and on my 100th birthday, I would still be looking up how to make short rows. Making them is not a skill like tying shoes or riding a bike; not least not for me.
I can't sing the praises of this website enough when it comes to a clear, workable, explanation of how to make short rows:
Backing up a bit, short rows are a way of giving shape to a garment. For example, if you want a shawl to cling to your shoulders or a sweater to curve in under the bust, you would work short rows. It's a way to decrease within a row without the tell-tale marks a ssk or k2tog make.
Read through Socktopus' explanation of short rows (which she calls a Shadow Wrap) and then try a few. That's what I did and I was amazed how seamlessly these short rows fit into the rest of the garment.
Most short rows include a wrap and turn (a Google search will take you right to an explanation of w & t) which helps to prevent the hole a short row can create. Additionally, they also include dealing with the short row stitch on the next row. Which would be OK, but, for me at least, I sometimes "flub" the two stitches I'm supposed to work together on this row. Socktopus has you make your short row stitches as "twins"; that is, they're connected visibly in the stitch below them. You can't miss them on the next row.
Just a tip for a neophyte to short rows who reading about Shadow Wraps:
The "mama" stitch refers to stitch from the previous row; below the stitch on the needle. So when it says "Put the mama stitch on the RN." you are picking up the stitch below the one on the needle.
I was so impressed with this method, I worked up a "cheat sheet" that I'm putting in with my traveling needles. Believe me, this tip is so good you don't want to forget it.
That's it for today. Happy Knitting! Oh, Knit Picks has a sale on interchangeable needles for M-Day. Might be worth a look.
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