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Knitting Friday

 

The Diet: Well, I think that 1/2 hour a day on the treadmill is helping to firm the fat. That's the good news. Now, the struggle will be to remove the fat, firm or not. I'm thinking about going on a very, very low carb diet. I know in the long run then don't work but right now, I'm only looking at short term. OK, revised plan: eating nothing with a carb percentage in the 20s or more. To be continued.......

 

The weather has turned slightly dryer and cooler so I got out all my summer tops (I know that's pretty stupid since I should be getting out my fall/winter tops but then for some reason I always clean closets when I'm having a party) and pulled out the hems on five of them plus frogged two completely. One was a cardi which I never wore and I'm remaking as a top; the other is a light wool (not really summer) top in fingering. It's not because I'm losing weight. I've always work fingering weight tops on 120 stitches for the body on US 9 needles, but this one is way too big around the waist. So I recast on 100 stitches for the body and that should work. What all these alternations have taught me is that top down knitting is the way to go. There was no way I would have been able to rework the waists on these tops if I had to take them apart in pieces. 

 

I still haven't finished a shawl with the new modified pattern I post last week since those top alternations kept me busy. Unfortunately, I'm not anywhere close to being finished so pictures will be a while in coming.

 

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the Emily Ocker's cast on method. A very good video on it can be found here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U65eywy044g 

 

I used this video to teach myself this method. Why do you need this method of cast on? Well, if you are only going to knit flat forever, you don't. But all sock, hat, mitten and glove knitters would benefit from learning it. Plus in MMario's Yahoo Group where he so generously presents probably over 100 free shawl patterns, so many of them start "Cast on 8 stitches. Join."

I have always found that when working a small cast on which must be joined I have to sit at the table (working horizontally on the table top so no stitches fall from the DPNs) with a crochet hook. Now, the EO method does use a crochet hook but in such a way that when you finally pull the yarn end to close the beginning hole, all the stitches are flat and smooth, unlike my easy-to-feel, raised crocheted cast on loop.

 

#1 Pictured DPN = your finger

I have added a few pictures to the video since the beginning confused me slightly. Picture #1 shows your finger (as played by a DPN) with the yarn end on the bottom and your working yarn on top. 

#2 Yarn end goes R; working yarn to L

Picture #2 shows where your yarn should be as you start to wrap a loop around your finger. (My picture #2 is wrong in that based on picture #1, your working yarn should go over your finger, not under - sorry, I just saw that. But you do see where the yarns go.)

 

At about .25, the video has you making the loop around your finger. It's not clear, but you are making the loop with your working yarn. So taking the top yarn from #1, bring in to the the bottom over your finger then around your finger, back to front, so that you will have two loops on your finger with the yarn positioned as in picture #2. You'll have two ends hanging down, the yarn end on the right and the working end on the right. 

 

.25 to .31 in the video shows this well, but he says something like: Make sure that the tail end of your yarn is closer to your hand. That confused me for a while because he really meant to say: Make sure that the tail end of your yarn is closer to your finger tips. (To the right.)

From .31 to 1.49, the video is great showing you how to make your beginning  crochet stitches. In fact by 1.49, you could take the loop from your finger and work it as a stand-alone but practice a few times before you try this.

#3 Loop "standing" without your finger

Picture #3 shows a few more stitches in the loop than 1.49 on the video, but you can see that I've removed my finger and the loop is very defined.

 

 

By now, if you've worked some samples as you watched the video, it should be smooth sailing to the end.

 

Just remember that every stitch on the hook starts with the hook going under the loop, and pulling through the yarn to put one stitch on the hook,. Then you bring your hook over

#4 Stitches on DPNs

the loop to grab the yarn  and bring that yarn over your loop and through the stitch you just put on your hook. Then one stitch is completed.

 

In picture #4, you see the stitches from the hook (obviously with different yarn) now on DPNS. You're looking down at the loop/hole you made with the hook and you won't close this for a while. 

#5 Hole is closed

In picture #5, I just pulled the tail end of the yarn to close up the hole. Believe me, it was breeze, once I mastered the EO cast on to knit on the DPNs. No more hugging the table to make sure I didn't twist everything into a mobius. And, no more bumpy loop at the cast on.

#6 Ready to rip out

Finally picture #6, a side view of my sample. Hole closed with yarn end on the left and no needles on the "free" stitches on the right because my sample example is done and I'm ready to rip it out. Talk about a compulsive frogger!

 

Hope these pictures helped. Enjoy working the Emily Ocker cast on. See you next week.