Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

This final video shows you how to Kitchener graft garter stitch. Most people learn Kitchener stitch just enough to graft sock toes closed in stockinette. Garter stitch is trickier, because one side of the graft is knit and the other side is purl. I like to think this video will make it easier for you to seam your Tetra beautifully with a graft. You might also be able to seam your Tetra instead with a combination of mattress stitch and garter stitch seam, similar to what you might do on a Baby Surprise Jacket. Whatever you decide to do, try to avoid a seam that would be thick or that would take fabric into a seam allowance. The fun of a Tetra is that you can fold it into lots of other shapes. I suspect it will fold less easily and be less comfortable to sit upon if you have thick seams in your blanket.

This second video also deals with the selvedge. Changing colors every other row (i.e. every right-side row) is a common knitting technique. Not only can you make stripes without breaking the yarn and weaving in lots of ends, but you can also blend two similar colorways of different dye lots when you are using hand painted yarns. Since there are two strands, you have a choice of which way to move your yarns when you change color. In this video, I show you both options. Choose what you like best. Tomorrow: How to graft garter stitch.

The Tetra Stadium Blanket isn't a terribly difficult knit. After all, most of it is garter stitch. This means you can knit on it throughout the sport season, and have your blanket finished and ready for the post season. While you can make it in more than two colors, the two color style is perfect for incorporating the colors of your team. This is a good gift knit, provided you have the time and don't mind the yarn commitment. You can give it to a man who starts each day with ESPN, or you can make it in baby colors and give it to new parents. This first video is how to work what Fleegle has called a vertical lifeline. Basically, you trap a piece of waste yarn, or a circular needle, or a cable from an interchangeable needle in your yarn as you turn to knit back. Tomorrow: How to change colors every other row (i.e. every right-side row).

The genesis of design ideas can be a strange thing. While the final success is the published blanket at right, the path to completion was not quick. The initial idea dates back to the summer of 2009, when I was trying to come up with an original pattern for Christmas in July at The Whole Nine Yarns. This was shortly after the inaugural STITCHES South, which had featured Elise Duvekot, but also shortly after Sophia died and while Scenter was in the cardiac ICU. It also wasn't long after my stint as Atlanta Knitting Guild president, so I was getting back into the swing of working on my own ideas instead of guiding the guild. I still had thoughts of knit one below patterns in my head after STITCHES. I liked how the column pattern made vertical stripes by knitting back and forth. I started to think about making a scarf that would alternate horizontal and vertical stripes in blocks. The idea for Tetra came, in fact, in the cardiac ICU. I don't recall now which visit it w...