Archive for the 'techniques' Category

a comparison of cast ons

I started the second of my Anemoi mittens last week. Unfortunately I had failed to make any notes on the pattern, which meant that I had totally forgotten which cast on I had used. This mattered, as the cast on edge is particularly decorative, with an attractive corded edge.

I ended up going through Montse Stanley’s Knitter’s Handbook trying out method after method before re-discovering which one I had used. Incidentally, if  you don’t have this book, I can highly recommend it, if only for the thirty pages of cast on and cast off methods illustrated there.

However, if you don’t have this book, there are some really excellent online tutorials available.

I thought it might be useful to compare a few methods of tubular cast ons, and to include links to some of these tutorials. So, here goes!

Note: As Rose Red quite rightly pointed out in her comment, these samples do look pretty similar. So I have highlighted the ways in which they are different from each other, which is easier to see and feel in person.

1. Italian Tubular Cast On

This is in fact the method that I used for my mittens. It gives the corded edge you can see in the photo above, which is decorative but quite noticable. If you prefer a more unobtrusive cast on, this one might not be the best one to use.

There is a tutorial for this method on Fluffbuff’s website.

Here’s how the edge looks:

2. Long Tail Cast On

I have used this method a number of times. It produces an edge that is very stretchy, and fits in well with 1×1 ribbing. In doing this comparison I have realised that the edging is less neat than the Stocking Stitch method below. It is quicker though, and its stretchiness would make it ideal for socks.

There is a tutorial for this method on Ysolda’s website, and she also demonstrates how to modify the method for 2×2 ribbing.

Here’s how the edge looks:

3. Stocking Stitch Tubular Cast On

This cast on definitely results in the neatest edge of all the methods compared here, but it also takes the longest time to make. It also requires the use of waste yarn. It is slightly firmer than the Long Tail method, and I think it would look really good on the ribbing on a sweater.

There is a tutorial for this method on My Fashionable Life’s website.

Here’s how the edge looks:

4. Alternate Cable Cast On

This one is a bit of a cheat; it is not actually a tubular cast on, but it produces a similar effect. It is quicker to make than all of the other methods here, so would be a good one to go for if you want to save time.

There is a tutorial for this method on Knittinghelp.com (scroll down to the bottom of the page).

Here’s how the edge looks:

I hope that was helpful!

Published on March 2, 2009. 18 Comments Tags: , , .

Blocking for curves, or how to make mountains out of molehills….

1. Gather your supplies.

Take two of these (a):

Some of this (b):

And a ladies’ uplifting foundation-type garment (c). I think you know to what garment I am referring!

2. Assembly.

Fill the ladies’ foundation garment with the balls of wool, and wrap in plenty of cling film.

And load into the damp knitting:

Voila – molehills blocked into mountains!

Published on June 19, 2008. 20 Comments Tags: , .

Eyelet Chemise: crochet edging

I managed to complete 1 1/2 sleeves of my Eyelet Chemise today, and do the crochet edging on the finished one. I carried on trying out the combination method that I mentioned yesterday to improve my stockinette tension, and I’m really pleased with the result. Thanks for all the comments about this – I am going to write about this subject in much more detail over the next week or so, and post it with some swatches, as I think it’s a technique that could be very useful to draw upon sometimes.

I really enjoy crocheting, it’s so quick and satisfying, but just doing this little bit reminded me why I don’t do more. I have a tendency to get RSI (repetitive strain injury) in my right hand, not helped by having a job that involves writing all day and then spending my free time knitting. I try not to twist my wrist too much with these activities, but wrist-twisting seems to be pretty much the main action required to do crochet. Never mind, this is a really pretty edging, and I’m sure I can cope!

I signed up for the Knitting Olympics last night, for Team Mine, the Selfish Knitters‘ group team on Ravelry. I’ve never done this before so am pretty excited about it! The idea is to cast on a project during the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics (August 8th) and finish before the Olympic flame goes out on August 24th. That’s 17 days. I don’t have time to do anything too large in that time, so socks seemed like a good idea; several of us have planned a mini-KAL called the Pomatomus Posse, making socks or gloves based on this pattern.

Published on June 18, 2008. 3 Comments Tags: , , .

Improving 2×2 ribbing

The body of my Eyelet Chemise is knit in an eyelet rib pattern, which has reminded me of a technique I find invaluable when knitting ribbing of more than 1×1 stitches. The technique is the same for any number of stitches in the rib, but for the sake of clarity I will describe it for 2×2 ribbing, as demonstrated on this cute little pink swatch:

If you knit ribbing in the ‘normal’ way, in other words [k2, p2] repeated, you might find that the last knit stitch before a purl is much looser than the other knit stitch. The top half of my swatch is knitted in this way.

I’ve read various theories as to why this might be the case but, whatever the reason, the gap between knit and purl stitches appears bigger when going from knit to purl than when changing from purl to knit.

I’ve tried various methods for minimising this gap. The one that works best for me (I knit continental, by the way) is to knit the first purl stitch eastern style, by wrapping the yarn clockwise around the needle instead of the normal anti-clockwise. When that stitch is encountered on the next row, it will be twisted, so you will need to knit into the back of it.

This method means that instead of repeating the same two stitches, you are actually repeating four different stitches. Here’s how it would look in a pattern; I’ll assume one where the right side begins and ends with k2.

Row 1: [K2, p1 clockwise (c), p1 anti-clockwise (ac)] to last 2 sts, k2.

Row 2: P2, [k1, k1 to back of loop (tbl), p1 c, p1 ac] to end.

Row 3: [K1, k1 tbl, p1 c, p1 ac] to last 2 sts, k2.

Repeat rows 2 & 3.

The ‘normal’ method is on the left in the pictures below, and the clockwise method is on the right. Better, no?

Published on June 11, 2008. 9 Comments Tags: , , .

How to insert short row bust darts into a cardigan

In this case, my Eyelet Chemise:

This has taken some working out, as I’ve never used short rows to make bust darts before. But, I got it sorted in the end. I used HoneyBee33’s brilliant ‘titorial‘ to help me figure this all out. I’m going to note what I did in tedious thorough detail, so I don’t forget for next time. Also, I hope that all the ripping (of yarn and hair) I’ve done might mean that you don’t have to! I’m going to summarise HoneyBee33′s instructions, just the bits that relate to short row darts, and then I will detail what I did on this cardigan. I’ll point you to where to get the best photo-tutorials for actually doing the short rows a bit further down.

Here’s what you do:

1. Note down some measurements:

  • Row gauge per inch. Mine is often off, so check your actual row gauge, not just what it ought to be.
  • The length of the finished garment.
  • Your shoulder to back waist.
  • Your shoulder to front waist – tie a length of yarn around your waist to make sure your back and front measurements are consistent.
  • Your shoulder to bust point

2. Calculate the depth of your darts:

  • Subtract your shoulder-to-back-waist measurement from your shoulder-to-front-waist measurement.
  • Multiply the answer by the number of rows per inch.
  • Divide this number in half. This is the number of stitches you will wrap.

3. Calculate where to start working the short rows:

  • Subtract your shoulder to bust point measurement from the garment shoulder to hem measurement.
  • The result is how far from the cast on edge you start the short rows.

A couple of extra notes:

  • This is probably really obvious but took me ages to figure out: when making a cardigan, as opposed to a sweater, you just do the short rows at the side edge. You don’t have to do pairs of short rows like when making socks!
  • If you are knitting the garment in one piece, start the darts at the last stitch on the front. If you are knitting front(s) and back separately, start the darts a couple of stitches from the edge.

This is what I did for my Eyelet Chemise: 1. Measurements:

  • Row gauge: 8.25 rows per inch.
  • Garment length: I added length to the bottom half, so the total length will be 20″.
  • Shoulder – back waist: 18″
  • Shoulder – front waist: 20″
  • Shouder – bust point: 10″

2. Depth of darts:

  • Front waist – back waist x row gauge divided by 2 = 8.25, rounded down to 8 wraps.

3. Where to start them:

  • 20 – 10 = 10″ from cast on edge.

To work the short rows, the best references I have found are knitty.com’s article on short rows and misocrafty‘s tutorial on picking up wraps.

This is how it should look after you have wrapped all your stitches:

This is how it should not look:

Published on June 4, 2008. 9 Comments Tags: , , .