Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

As the Early Bird Deadline for STITCHES South is this week, now seems like a good time to mention my classes. I don't always make the schedule for STITCHES South, so it is very exciting for me to have two classes offered this year! My Thursday afternoon class is "Brioche Rosetta Stone." I've taught this before and I've blogged about it. Check this post from July of 2009 to find the genesis of this class. In class we'll knit three or four different patterns. We will work the first pattern two different ways, so you'll learn the two ways of making brioche fabrics and how to convert between them. When you leave class, you should be able to recognize a brioche stitch whatever it is called -- including recognizing them in Japanese pattern books. And you should be able to work the stitch pattern regardless of which technique you are given. I've been polishing the other class for STITCHES South -- "Waste Not: Shawls," which will be on Saturday ...

If you watch the news, then you know yesterday we had snow in Atlanta. And you know all the roads -- highways, thoroughfares, side streets -- became a gummed-up mess. What I am about to write I am posting because I haven't heard anyone in the media point this out and it needs to be said. [Edit to add: Okay, now I've watched the evening news. Apparently, there are people in the newsrooms who own weather band radios. They noticed what I noticed.] Yesterday's weather was accurately forecast 24-hours in advance. Yes. That means on Monday, the National Weather Service was telling Atlantans we could see snow on Tuesday, that the snow would begin in the late morning, and that the accumulations would be one to three inches. What is shocking is that I knew this. I am usually the last person to have any clue about the weather. My approach is to look out the window and respond based on what I see. But somehow this time I knew enough to run some errands Monday evening, sleep, get ...

You'll remember in fall of 2012 I attended a symposium which gathered people interested in starting a knit and crochet museum. Much has happened behind the scenes since then. Bylaws were written last year and adopted in early autumn. Then those of us on the board went to work on the 1023 form, which is the form filed with the IRS to obtain 501(c)(3) status. That form was filed earlier this month. Hurray! Now we wait for the IRS to recognize that of course Center for Knit and Crochet is a charitable organization. Last weekend several members of the CKC board attended Vogue Knitting Live! in New York. I was not amongst them, so I don't have any lovely photographs to share. What I do want to share is that CKC has a new website and is soliciting charter memberships . Memberships are $35 and currently new members receive a CKC tote bag as a thank-you. The thing I most want to share is the vision. I am so proud of the narrative we submitted in our 1023 filing. Please visit the O...

The Sir Thomas entrelac scarf used a long-print yarn, Crystal Palace Mochi Plus . Long-print yarns are yarns in which the color changes occur at wide intervals. Unlike a typical hand-painted sock yarn, in which the color changes are only 2-3 inches/5-8 cm long, long-print yarns often have several yards/meters of color. When rolled up into a ball, long-print yarns can surprise. You'll see a couple colors on the outside, but who knows what is hidden inside? Sometimes that's part of the fun! Probably the most popular long-print yarn is Noro Kureyon, but more and more manufacturers have been experimenting with the type. Some have completely random color changes. But many long-print yarns have predictable color sequences, they are just very long (many yards or meters). Sometimes the color changes are in sequential order: A B C D E, then more A B C D E. Often they are symmetrical. In those yarns, the color order will be A B C D E D C B  and then begin again at A. If you have Laura ...

This is the third -- and probably most important -- tutorial video for the Sir Thomas entrelac scarf. This join is a clever use of the sliding loop modular intarsia technique published by Rick Mondragon in the February 1995 issue of Threads magazine. I knew of the technique, but had not thought of using it in entrelac until I met Jay Petersen in the summer of 2011. Jay has done some amazing explorations of entrelac that is three-dimensional, patterned, or reversible. He is definitely the king of extreme entrelac! This technique is but a sample of the reversibility that can be achieved.

Here is the second video tutorial for Sir Thomas. I am horrible at finding the turning chains when I need to pick up in a selvedge. Hence, I use a vertical lifeline. Thank you to Fleegle for giving this technique such an excellent name! At the beginning of a row, I wrap the lifeline from front to back with my working yarn. When working up from the lifeline, you can treat the turning bumps on the lifeline as if they are real stitches. You can even replace the lifeline with a knitting needle. Sometimes I don't even use a piece of waste yarn, but instead use the cable from an interchangeable set or a circular needle. And since the needle is just for parking stitches, it can be the same size or smaller than your working needle.

Here is the first how-to video for Sir Thomas. Here is how to use a crochet-chain cast-on so that you have chain stitch all the way around the entrelac project and so don't have to break and join yarn between courses. This features my usual crochet chain cast on done with my fingers. You could also use a crochet hook or knitting needles to do this.