Tag Archives: tutorial

Tutorial: Closing Up

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As you guys all know, I’ve been going to town on some Christmas Balls. (I think my last count stood above 20, but I could be wrong.  There’s so many it’s getting hard to keep track of them all these days.)

Knitting these bad boys is fun and (fairly) easy, though some of the colorwork is a little bit challenging to knit up without making the balls pucker too much.  The finishing isn’t too bad, either, just a little bit of a pain when you have to repeat it so many times.  You stuff the balls, weave in all the ends, close up the top and the bottom, and add a loop to hang  the balls from. Easy, right?

Well, closing up the top of the balls is easy enough- you just pass your tail through the remaining active loops and pull, just like the top of a hat.

But the bottom is a different matter- one that took me a couple tries to figure out how to do neatly.

Because you cast on at the bottom of the ball, you have a big old hole down there, waiting for you.  And, there’s no obvious way to get rid of that hole, since you can’t just pull a string and have it disappear (believe me, I tried).

Here’s what I’ve been doing, and I think it works pretty well.

So, you see the long-tail cast-on edge? There are little slanted “stitches” all the way around the edge.  I use a yarn needle to carefully pass my needle through those stitches, counter-clockwise, starting right next to the spot where my tail yarn comes out of the ball.And I keep going…Until I get all the way around the hole.Then, I pull the tail snug,And voila!  A lovely finished ball bottom that looks just as good as the top!  You could use this technique on top-down hats, fingers-to-cuffs mittens, or really any time you need to close up an opening created by a long-tail cast on.

Now, all I’ve got to do is repeat this on the rest of my Christmas Balls. Oof.

Do you have any favorite techniques you’ve been using lately?

OK… We’re Back On Track

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Guys.  I’ll be honest.  That shawl sat on the coffee table all weekend.  Un-ripped, and un-fixed.

Until last night, when I took a good hour (AN HOUR) to undo all the bound-off stitches, as well as a whole row of knitting.  One word: Heartbreaking.

But, I’m back this morning, ready to go.  This time I’m sure I’ve got enough yarn, and I’ve got a cool new plan.

Instead of a plain-old smooth bind off, I’m gonna go fancy.  I’m making a picot edge on this bad boy.  Because why not!?

To start, I knit 2 stitches, and bound off 1 (so just 1 stitch remained on my needle).  (Also, I’m using a larger sized needle to do the binding off, that way I don’t have to worry about my tension getting too tight.)Then I slipped that stitch back over to the left hand needle.Then I used a Knitted Cast On to cast on two more stitches.Then I bound off 7 stitches (the 2 that I just cast on will form the little picot bump, and the other 5 are the space between bumps- if you want your bumps closer or farther apart, change the number of stitches you bind off each time).Then I kept going, slipping the 7th stitch to the left hand needle, casting on 2 stitches, and binding off 7…Until a super-cute picot edge started to form.Now I just have to make it all the way across this danged shawl!  I need a good podcast and a big cup of coffee.

Wish me luck!

Have you ever added a picot edge to any of your projects?

Tutorial: Reading Charts- Repeats

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Now we all are experts in reading a chart while knitting back and forth, and we’re experts in using charts in the round.  But charts aren’t always that simple.  Sometimes your project has more stitches in a row than there are on your chart.  You can imagine that this could happen with projects that have a wide, repeating pattern (like a dish cloth, a blanket, or sweater).

If you have to repeat the whole chart, that’s easy enough- knit across the chart row, then work it again (and again), until you get to the end of your row of your knitting.  Simple.

But sometimes you have to repeat only some of the stitches in a row.  When you need to do that, your chart will look like this:laura-chart-c-repeatsDo you see the change?  (It’s subtle, so I’ll help you.)laura-chart-c-repeats-highlightSee those highlighted vertical lines?  Those are your repeat marks.  OK, honestly, I’m not sure what they’re technically called, but they mark out the stitches that you have to repeat.

So, let’s make an imaginary project- a scarf maybe?  We’ll cast on 18 sts, and use this chart, repeating the 4 sts in-between the repeat marks 3 times.

Start at row 1 st 1, and knit straight through to st 6 (just before the second repeat mark).  (You’ve worked 6 sts)

laura-chart-c-repeats-order-1Then, go back to st 3 (just after the first repeat mark), and work back through st 6.  (10 sts total)laura-chart-c-repeats-order-2Then, you’ll repeat sts 3-6 once more, and continue on to the end of the row.  (18 sts total)laura-chart-c-repeats-order-3On the next row you do the same thing, but reverse the way you read the chart (because we’re pretending to knit back and forth).

So, start at row 2, st 10, and work across to st 3 (just before the second repeat mark).  (8 sts)laura-chart-c-repeats-order-4Then repeat the middle 4 sts.  (12 sts)laura-chart-c-repeats-order-5And finish by working sts 6-1 once more.  (18 sts)

laura-chart-c-repeats-order-6Make sense?  Of course, for a wider project, you might be required to repeat the middle section more times, but the concept is the same.  Just keep going across the row, looping back as needed when you get to a repeat mark.  Simple!

Any more questions?  Let me know if anything else is confusing to you, I’m happy to help!

Tutorial: Reading a Chart

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I’ve had a rash of people emailing me lately who don’t know how to read a chart- and that blows my mind!  Not only are charts the best way (in my mind) to understand a complicated pattern, but I think they’re head-and-shoulders easier to read than a 100% written-out pattern.  So, without further ado- let’s look at a chart.

laura-chart-c-plainThis is a little chart from my new pattern, the Laura Shawl!  (It’s the narrow, textured stripe, in-between the big cables.)52162220_21Let’s look at the main parts of this chart.  At the top, you’ll see the chart name- this is important if you’re working a project that uses several charts.  For example, the Laura Shawl uses 5 separate charts, this is the third (C) one.  And, at the bottom (or sometimes to the side), you’ll find a key which explains what the symbols mean (I’ll explain that in more detail later).laura-chart-c-title-and-keyThen, along the left and right sides, you’ll find row numbers.  And, on the bottom, you’ll see the stitch numbers.laura-chart-c-rows-and-stsYou’ll notice that the row numbers go from bottom to top (ie.  1 is on the bottom).  This is because you’re going to knit from the bottom to the top.  That way, when you finish knitting the chart, you’ll be able to hold up your knitting next to the chart and you should see something that looks similar to the chart (in other words, it shouldn’t be upside-down or mirrored).laura-chart-c-knitting-directionThis chart is meant to be knit flat, and I can tell that because the row numbers alternate sides.  (1 is on the right, 2 is on the left, etc.)  laura-chart-c-rowsThe beginning of your row is marked by the row number.  So, Row 1 starts at the right and goes to the left.  Row 2 starts at the left and goes right.  (Just like your knitting!)laura-chart-c-row-directionNow you’ve got your bearings, it’s time to start knitting.  But what do all those little squares mean?  Each square is a stitch, and the symbol (or in this case, the color of the square) tells you how to work that square.  Do you see down in the key?  Each symbol has instructions, which include what to do on the Right Side and the Wrong side.  On odd-numbered rows (unless your pattern says otherwise), you’ll work the RS instructions.  So, for Row 1, you’ll K1, P3, K2, P3, K1.laura-chart-c-rsThen, on the even rows, you’ll use the Wrong Side instructions.  So, Row 2, you’ll P1, K3, P2, K3, P1.laura-chart-c-wsAnd, that’s basically it!  See?  It’s not so bad!  You can totally use a chart!

Next week I’ll walk you through knitting in the round using a chart (Spoiler- it’s even easier!), and how to work charted repeats.

Do you like using charts, or do you prefer written-out patterns?  Why?

Tutorial: Three-Needle Bind Off

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I’m still jazzed about the three-needle bind off I did on my cabled sweater this week.  It’s just such a neat (in both senses of the word) technique that doesn’t get used enough.  It’s a great way to join shoulders on a pieced sweater, or pieces of a scarf, or squares of an afghan.  Is it kind of weird that I want to design something that uses the three-needle bind off, just so I can do it some more?  Possibly.

Anyhoo, if you haven’t done it before, it might feel a bit tricky- after all, you have to wrangle two pieces of knitting and three needles.  But, trust me!  It’s super simple.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFirst, hold your knitting with good sides together in your left hand.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen, insert your third needle (in your right hand) into the first stitch of each piece of knitting.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWrap your yarn, and pull it through, dropping the two stitches off the left needles, just like you’re doing a k2tog.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen, do it again. (Work a K2tog using one stitch from each needle.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAYou’ll have two stitches on your right needle.  So, now it’s time to do a plain ‘ol bind off, pulling the first stitch over the second.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAJust keep going!  Work a K2tog using one stitch from each left hand needle, then pull the old stitch over the new.

When you’re finished, you’ll end up with a lovely neat row of bound-off stitches.  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd, when you open up the piece and look at the right side- Ooh!  So pretty!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHave you ever used a three-needle bind off?

The Library is Open- Part 2: Cables

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Let’s talk about cables!  They’re some of my favorite things to knit, and they look super impressive.  But here’s the secret- they’re actually pretty easy!  (Especially if you can read your knitting as you go, instead of relying on a row counter to keep track of your pattern.)

Here’s the little sample I’m going to talk about today.  (These cables are both pretty simple, but the concepts I talk about here could totally be applied to more complicated cables.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHere’s a cool thing about cables- 90% of them are done with knit stitches, and 90% of them only work crossover rows on the right-side.  That totally simplifies it, right off the bat!

First off, let’s figure out how wide these cables are.  This is super easy!  Just look at the widest part of the cable and count the knit stitches across, just like we did last week.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe cable on the left is 3 stitches across, and the cable on the right is 4 stitches across.

Next, we’ll determine how the crossover is worked for our cable.  Look at the narrowest part of the cable (where the two parts of the cable actually cross), and count how many stitches are on top.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe cable on the left has 1 stitch on top, and the cable on the right has 2 stitches.  This, combined with the width means that the left cable is a 1×2 cable, and the right cable is a 2×2 cable.

That’s all there is to figuring out the stitch count for a cable!  Next, we need to figure out how many rows each repeat takes.

Start by identifying the crossover row.  It should be the row where the stitches are all slanted sideways, instead of being nice, upright “v’s.”OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen count the rows from one slanty v up to the next one.  I like to count the outside edge stitches- I think they’re easier to see.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe left cable has 3 rows in-between each crossover row, so it’s a 4-row repeat.  The right cable has 5 rows between each crossover row, so it’s a 6-row repeat.

If we combine all the information we learned, we can come up with the pattern:  The left cable is a 3-stitch cable, with a 1×2 crossover worked every 4th row.  The right cable is a 4-stitch cable, with a 2×2 crossover worked ever 6th row.

So, now that we know the pattern, what’s should we do next to continue the swatch?

Look down the cable to the most recent crossover row, then count rows up to the needle.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe left cable has been worked 1 row past the last crossover, so we need to work 2 more rows even before we make the next crossover.  The right cable has been worked 5 rows past the last crossover, so we can work the crossover on the next row.

Does that make sense?  Do you have any favorite tips for working cables?

 

Design Process Series: Twinkle Toes

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We’re almost done!  These socks that we started talking about months and months ago, are almost finished!  Whee!!

(Can you tell I’m excited?)

OK.  Down to business.  We finished the main part of the foot last week, ending at the middle of the bottom of the foot.  We cut the MC yarn, and now we’ll work the toe.  This is my favorite, classic, simple toe.

Here’s what we’ll do:

Join the Contrast Color and work as follows:

  • Knit 1 round even.
  • *K to 2 before end of the needle, k2tog.  On the next needle, ssk, then knit to end. Repeat from * for the next two needles.  You will decrease 4 sts per decrease row.

Repeat these two rows, alternating even and decrease rows, until you have 20 stitches on your needles (5 stitches per needle).  Finish with a decrease row.  K 5 more stitches (your yarn will now be at the side of the toe, instead of at the bottom of the sole).

Then use the Kitchener stitch to close up the toe.  If you need more detailed instructions, this should help.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWeave in your ends, give yourself a pat on the back and make a second sock!

Blocking: The Basics

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OK, so if you’ve blocked before, this’ll be a refresher for you.  If you haven’t tried wet blocking before, you’re in for some excitement (but maybe it’s just me that’s excited about blocking…).

I’m using a little bitty swatch for this example, but you can use this technique for just about any shape for basic blocking.  This swatch is a little piece of stockinette.  Stockinette is super curly when it’s unblocked, so I definitely need to block it.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is a tiny little project, so I’m just using a little cereal bowl to soak my knitting.  I’ve filled it with warm (think bathwater) water, and I let the swatch hang out for a bit (about 20 minutes) or until its completely soaked through.  If I’m in a hurry, I’ll squeeze the knitting gently to get all the air out and really soak the fibers.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANext, I’ll get out a clean towel and roll up my wet knitting, squeezing it to get out the extra water.  You want your knitting to be damp, but not dripping.  Sometimes, I’ll even step on the rolled-up knitting (like squishing grapes for wine), especially if it’s a really big project.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOnce most of the water is squeezed out, I’ll break out my foam blocks (or your carpet, if you have carpet) and lay a new, dry, clean towel on top.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen, I’ll take the damp knitting and pin out the corners to the dimensions I want.  I want this square to be nice and, well, square.  So I’ll start here.  The sides will pull in at first, but that’s OK.  We’ll fix that in the next steps.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANext, I’ll grab more pins and tack down the center points of each side. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd then I’ll add another pin in-between each existing pin.  Since this swatch is so small, I’ll stop here.  If I was blocking something larger (like a scarf), I’d keep adding pins until I had surrounded the whole item and gotten rid of the little swoopy edges.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAYou’ve finished the hard part! (If you can even call it hard.)  Let your knitting dry completely (if you’re in a hurry, point a fan at it or put it in a sunny window), and remove the pins.

And, voilà la! A perfectly finished project! (Or at least an almost perfectly finished project.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANext time, we’ll talk about blocking something a little more complicated- sweaters!

More Linen Stitch!

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I’m kind of in love with the linen stitch.  It’s haunting my dreams and dancing through my head.  I may have a problem.  It’s so fiddly and such slow going, but I absolutely love how it looks.

And, even though it takes a while to work up, it’s a really simple pattern-so easy to memorize!

Cast on an even number of stitches and follow these 2 rows:

RS rows: (K1, bring yarn to front, slip 1, bring yarn to back) repeat to end.

WS rows: (P1, bring yarn to back , slip 1, bring yarn to front) repeat to end.

Easy!  Let’s do it together.

On the right side, start with the yarn in back.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAKnit 1OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABring the yarn to the front, between your two needles.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASlip 1 stitch from the left needle to the right.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABring the yarn back to the back, and do the whole thing again (and again and again).OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOnce you finish your row, flip your knitting to work back and forth.  Start this row with your yarn in front.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPurl 1.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABring the yarn back, between your needles.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASlip 1 stitch.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABring the yarn in front again, and keep repeating until you reach the end.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAfter a while, your right side will start to look like this (which people say looks like woven fabric.  I don’t know if I agree with that, but it does look cool.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd your wrong side will look all cool and bumpy and textured.  I almost like it more than the right side.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve made these samples using a different, random color each row, but the linen stitch looks great in one color, knit with variegated yarn or using two or three repeating colors.  The linen stitch is a great way to play with color mixing!

Have you ever used the linen stitch before?  What did you make with it?

Casting On: Picking Up Stitches

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I’m going to say something that might be controversial (or it might not be):  Picking up stitches is one of my favorite ways of casting on.

I know, radical stuff.  Let me explain.

If “casting on” is essentially a way of beginning a knitting project, making the initial row of stitches, then why can’t we count picking up stitches as a way of casting on?

I  think it’s pretty fun, easy, and results in a more polished finished product than knitting two separate pieces and sewing them together later.

Of course picking up stitches isn’t an any-time cast on.  You have to have an already-finished piece of knitting from which to pick up the stitches (obviously).  But I love using it to add button bands on sweaters, turning the heel on socks, and it’s essential for modular knitting projects (like this blanket).

So how do you do it?

Naturally, you start with a piece of knitting to form the base of your project.  I’m using a little swatch of stockinet, but you can pick up stitches off of any piece of knitting.  On this swatch, I slipped the first stitch of every row.  It leaves a nice, smooth edge that makes picking up stitches that much easier.  But, if I need to pick up a lot of stitches, I’ll knit all edge stitches.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen, I’ll poke my needle through the spot where I want my first picked-up stitch to live.  See how I go through both “legs” of the stitch?  If you only go through one leg, you end up with a flimsy piece of knitting. No bueno.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWrap your yarn around the needle, just like every other knit stitch you’ve ever done.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd pull the new stitch through.  You’ve picked up one stitch!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAKeep picking up stitches until you have the number that your pattern requires.  See how nice and neat the picked-up stitches look?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThey even look nice and neat from the back.  See that horizontal row of red V’s?  Those are the edge stitches that we picked up.  Prettier than a sewn seam!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThen, keep on knitting your project.  Your new knitting will grow off the side of your old knitting and be magical and wonderful!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA