Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

It has taken me awhile to shoot video and post this technique, partly because this is one of my "unventions." I haven't seen this technique documented elsewhere. Rather, I derived it. It allows you to bind off at both the beginning and the end of a row of knitting without one side being taller than the other. In the top photograph, you can see the left corner and right corner don't match. The left corner has one more row of stitches, making the stripe thicker. In the bottom photograph, both corners match. Yes, this is a very picky detail that typically makes little difference. But for those it does annoy, this technique will delight. I usually teach this in my "Refined Baby Surprise Jacket" class as well as "Unventions" and "Looping Back" classes. The directions: Bind off at the beginning of the row, as per the instructions. Work across in pattern, stopping with what you need to bind off plus one stitch remaining at the end of ...

First off, I must apologize for being offline for so long. I had a fabulous time teaching ten classes at Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. I met lots of wonderful students. I even had 17 people in one class! I've never had that happen before. Unfortunately, somewhere in all the fun I picked up a nasty intestinal virus and have been sick for three weeks. The first two weeks consisted of very little eating and as much drinking of water as I could manage. I even ended up in the emergency room at one point. In weeks two and three my stomach started to get better, but then my head got worse and I had to fight migraines. This third week I've been able to eat and drink more comfortably, so I'm working my way back up to my regular diet. I eat something close to Paleo diet, so lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and some meat in appropriate (4 ounce) portions. Of course, all that roughage is harder to digest, so it is taking me awhile. Being nauseated for days on end has greatly improve...

I've found that cuffs often look "fluffier" from the purl side. Now, you could cut the main color, tie on the contrast color, knit one round and then purl, purl, purl. But there is another way. Hold the stocking and join on the contrast color so that the inside of the stocking is the RS and the outside is the WS. Purl the first row only -- the knit side of this row will be on the public side of the stocking and will make for a smooth transition. Now, knit around so that you are forming reverse stockinette stitch on the public side of the work. Keep knitting until the cuff is double the length you would like it to be. On the sample, I knit about 65 rows. Don't bind off yet. I've made the cuff extra fluffy and strong by folding it in half and stitching it down. In the first photo (upper left), you see the nice row of red and white bumps. This is the view from the inside of the stocking. You can see the rounds and rounds of knit stitches in white. In the second photo...

Last weekend North Georgia Knitting Guild was delighted to bring podcaster extraordinaire and practical knitter Brenda Dayne to the Atlanta area for two days of workshops. I gleefully signed up for the works -- “Creative Glove Design,” “Beginning Bead Knitting with Mrs. Beeton,” and “No Math Sherman Toes and Heels.” For the glove class, Brenda had a thorough and informative slide presentation and a handout with places to record our own hand measurements. I knit one pair of gloves many years ago -- and keep wondering every winter why those two skeins of plum-colored qiviut in my stash haven't knit themselves up into gloves yet. I also have a skein of pimento-colored cashmere that might make for nice gloves. Brenda is clearly someone who has knit gloves more than once, and she was able to provide several bits of information I had not yet encountered on the topic. Very helpful! The sock class was an all-day affair in which we knit baby socks to learn the technique. I had encounte...

One of my goals for 2014 was to work down through the unfinished object pile. I've mentioned previously that February is typically Knitting Needle Liberation Month in my household. At the beginning of the year, I like to look through what I have and make decisions about what to knit and what to frog. January and February are the months to clear out the stalled projects. Unfortunately, I didn't get to the Rovaniemi wristlets until quite late in the year. I've taken many, many classes; and I typically store the handouts in three-ring binders. Susanna Hansson distributes her class handouts in a two-pocket folder. Since the class came with yarn to make wristlets, the folder looked a little strange, bulging with yarn and not fitting well on the shelf. I took the “Lapland Hand Garments” class at STITCHES South in April 2009, so it seemed it was about time for me to pull the dang thing off the shelf, knit the yarn, and make the handout folder fit. Sometimes cleaning up really ...

I recently finished teaching my "Refined Baby Surprise Jacket" class. This is one I would love to be able to teach at shows, but it requires three meetings. I usually space those meetings two weeks apart, but this time I spaced them every three weeks. That worked very well for everyone, and it accommodated my trip to South Carolina Knit Inn and a Valentine's Day weekend visit to my Cuddly Hubby in Maryland. I've knit Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket pattern multiple times. In fact, I'm to the point of playing around with it just to see what will happen. This time around, I decided to knit one to fit a teddy bear. Atlanta Knitting Guild supports The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy by dressing comfort bears. Children who have experienced or witnessed a trauma may need to be interviewed so that law enforcement can take action. Bears are typically given to the children afterwards. Did you know teddy bears and babies do not have the same proportio...

Well, my first published pattern is moving out into the world. The Serpentine Short-Round Scarf was in the STITCHES South Fashion Show on Friday evening. If you were in the market on Saturday or Sunday, you could acquire the pattern with purchase of the yarn. The booklet will be published later this summer, hopefully in June. I do want to be good about pattern support. If you purchase one of my designs, I want you to be able to work through it all and to be able to do so using the sort of subtle detailing that a long-time knitter would use. I want you to have a beautiful product you wear with pride around knitters. Because I enjoy playing around with construction and technique, this scarf is knit in the round and shaped using short rounds, rather than short rows. It is also a type of double-knitting, this being the slipped-stitch variety. You only deal with one yarn at one time, working across the needle in knit one, slip one. I have given you a cast-on and a bind-off that...

I said I would blog more about my winning entries at Maryland Sheep and Wool. One of the entries was a hat. This was the winner in category K14: Miscellaneous knit from commercial yarn. The design started out as socks. For the sock pattern, I decided to investigate just how stretchy reversible lace is. Socks normally have a heel turn. For some sock knitters, this is part of the fun. You work in the round for awhile, sometimes in pattern, then you have the excitement of a heel turn, then you work in the round some more. For others, this is exactly why they don't knit socks. For many people, working in the round without increases or decreases is perfect television knitting. Paying attention to a heel turn is not. And of course, there are multiple ways of dealing with heel turns. So many choices! So many options to like or dislike. While I typically enjoy the challenge of a good heel turn, I sometimes don't like the design options. If I'm working a pretty lace pa...