Techniques
Herringbone Stitch for Portuguese Style Knitting
January 16, 2012 | 
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Understanding Eastern Knitting and Western Knitting Styles and Knitting Faster
Understanding Eastern Knitting and Western Knitting Styles and Knitting Fast
In this article I will explain the difference between the Eastern and Western styles of knitting and how not to get confused. There will be some instruction in how to do them, yet while this is not so much a knitting lesson, what you learn here may be of great use to the beginner or transitioner. Read the rest of this entry »
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Make Felted Bulky Yarn Yourself
Do you have some worsted weight or other yarn you aren’t crazy about, or don’t want to use for projects at that yarn weight? You can convert it to a bulky or super bulky yarn with a bit of elbow grease. Combine colors along the full length or create colorways as you go along, or just make one color, and the yarn will have new characteristics for unique projects.
While fiddling around with yarn I needed some matching cord for a knitted/fulled/felted sporran I was making for my kilt so I took some of the same fishermans yarn by Lion Brand and crocheted up about five feet of chain in this yarn, then went to work felting it in a sink full of hot soapy water, just rubbing it all in a ball and every half minute or so pulling it all apart so the strand didn’t felt onto itself. After about five minutes the squishiness of the yarn mass pretty much disappeared, indicating the felting/fulling had pretty much completed. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Techniques | 
Tags: bulky yarn, crochet, felt, felted, felted projects, felted yarn, fulling, how to make felted yarn, kilt, knitted cord, Knitting, make your own sporran, make your own yarn, scotland, spinning, sporran, super bulky yarn | 
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Needle Tip: Circular Knitting Needles with Clear Tubing Cables
A couple years ago I bought a bunch of bamboo needles direct from China, which you may have read here I had to sharpen as they were sloppily made. I got about 45 needles for about $40 US. Among these were two sets of circular knitting needles in two lengths, but I did like them because the clear vinyl tubing cables were sticky and the yarn would not slide on them easily.
Just solved that problem. I needed an unoccupied set of #3 us needles for a necktie I’m working on and grabbed one of these in desperation. Then it occurred to me to put a little oil from my forehead on the cable to occupy the tackiness with some molecules other than my yarn. It worked! I put on just a tiny bit and rubbed my fingers back and forth until they moved smoothly, and now as I knit the yarn doesn’t drag on the tubing. It doesn’t feel oily either.
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Update for the Leafy Lace Scarf
I’ve been doing another of that great scarf pattern but I’m starting to realize I don’t like the look of the double decrease, which is supposed to mirror the sk2p (slip one, knit two together, pass slipped stitch over). It doesn’t look as nicely defined as the sk2p. I’m going to try k3tog instead, which is supposed to lean right, as well as my own concoction: k2, slip new loop back to left, pass next unworked loop to the right and drop off left needle, then slip new loop back to the right. I haven’t had time to try this yet, but wanted to post it here in case you are trying the pattern and want to see if it looks better before I can get back to you on it. Happy Knitting….
By the way, I’m also adding a 2+2 cable crossover in the middle for added vine effects.
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Posted in Techniques | Tags: double decrease, knit three together, Knitting, knitting decreases, lace, lace leaves, lace pattern, lace scarf, sk2p | No Comments »
Don’t Hurt Your Wrists: Large Needles and Portuguese Knitting Caution
Hey there. I just wanted to let you know what I’m finding out as I work on a scarf using super bulky yarn on US 15 metal needles. The taper on the tips of these needles is kind of long, and what I’m finding is that it has me moving my hand sideways at the wrist in both directions more than on smaller needles, resulting in significant soreness in short order. I think it’s in part due to using the Portuguese style of knitting combined with these big needles.
It would take a lot of attention to make myself not do that movement. I even restarted the scarf on #13 needles in metal but they are also long tapered. My Knitpicks circulars have a shorter taper and were better, but still had me worried. So I’m using my bamboo 13s which have an ever shorter taper – altered by me last year – and paying attention. I also needed the longer needles as it was hard to do the cables fast on the circulars.
It may be that I’m a bit knitted out after xmas, having done five scarves and two shawls. I wasn’t sore when I finished them, but now I’m getting sore. Be careful and don’t think you can tough it out. If you get sore, give it a rest. I know this may seem insane, but you do not have to knit all the time.
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Knit Better Ribbing When Designing Projects
I almost always try to modify patterns or design my own stuff. I can rarely do something as designed, and when it comes to knit ribbing my experience is that where it asks for p1k1 ribbing I know that will just not pull in very tightly. I’m currently looking for a pattern for fingerless hand warmers things and I want them to hug my hands, or the hands of whomever I’m making them for. That way sizing is not such an issue. They size themselves.
One pattern I found has some nice cables along the wrist and at the knuckles but nothing on the back of the hands, and the whole thing is done in p1k4 ribbing, which doesn’t make sense to me either. So if I use that one I will certainly reverse the locations of the cabling and switch it to p2k2 ribbing at the wrist and knuckles. I will probably change the cables to two columns crossing instead of four, or maybe find a way to transition from the ribbing to four column cables.
So be brave and smart. Try swatches of the p1k1 and p2k2 ribbing and you will see the difference.
By the way, I know ribbing can be a bother in English or Continental knitting styles, but it’s pretty easy in Portuguese knitting style. Portuguese knitting is pretty easy to learn and I always use it for ribbing or any pattern that has a mix of purls and knits. There are a few tricks, which I write about on this blog, so check it out.
Related articles
- Projects ” How-To’s ” Quick Knit Wrist Warmers (cutoutandkeep.net)
- Projects ” Creations ” Fingerless Mittens (cutoutandkeep.net)
- A Bunch of Scarves, Some Cable Knit, and a Shawl (knitforbrains.net)
- Fixing and Preventing Ladders after Cables (knitforbrains.net)
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Fixing and Preventing Ladders after Cables
When I was working on a cable knit hat for my brother-in-law for this Christmas I was pleased that I found a way to defeat the dreaded laddering one can get when switching to purl stitches after knitting a cable. I looked on the web for solutions but while what I found were good, they didn’t cut it for me. http://techknitting.blogspot.com/ is brilliant for so many things but I didn’t like the answers.
The two-part solution is pretty easy.
Part one is that when you finish the last knit stitch before doing a purl be sure you pull the knit stitch tight. This will reduce the extra yarn that can end up in a ladder next to the cable. You have to be mindful to do this each time.
Part two: As you are knit stitching across a cable set you will find that the last loop you are going to knit in in the set is pretty loose. Knit it, then when you go to purl the next stitch you will probably see a big ladder forming. Too much yarn in there! So what you do is this: with your working needle pull that un-worked loop on the left needle a bit to pull the ladder yarn up into the loop. Purl the stitch and move it off the left needle.
Now, be careful not to pull your needles apart too much or you will defeat the solution. Next, you probably have another purl stitch coming. If so, or even if not, again pull some of that extra yarn from the last purl you did into the next loop before you purl it. What you are doing is redistributing the wealth of yarn that was ending up as ladders. If you have another purl or knit coming, do the same, but pull less yarn across. With practice these corrections will look nice.
You can also do this if you look back across your recently stitched row. Check for ladders you missed on this round or row and use a third needle to move the extra yarn out of the ladders and into the surrounding stitches.
This technique is pretty easy and doesn’t require any funny stitches. I tried twisting the purl stitches after a cable but that didn’t help enough. You will find other suggestions on the web, but this is the simplest that I’ve come up with and very effective. I hope it works for you.
Related articles
- The Secret of Correct Yarn-overs in Portuguese Knitting (knitforbrains.net)
- Knitting Backwards Without Twisting Stitches (knitforbrains.net)
- Knit A Really Fast Scarf for a Christmas Gift (knitforbrains.net)
- Better Short Row Ideas (knitforbrains.net)
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The Secret of Correct Yarn-overs in Portuguese Knitting
Posted in Techniques | Tags: eastern european knitting, knitted lace, Knitting, knitting lace, lace, Portuguese Knitting, twisted stitches, yarn-over, yarnover, yo | No Comments »
Super Plarn for Pillow Stuffing
How to save the planet with Knitting.
More and more lately I’ve become irritated by the prevalence of plastic in my life. Even when I try to buy less plastic, more of it comes home with me. I’ve been trying to use less, as well as shift to BPA-free containers. I stopped drinking out of the large plastic tumblers I’ve been using for years now. I won’t store food in plastic unless it’s just in the freezer, and I’m no longer buying Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Projects, Techniques | Tags: Cat picture, cat toys, crochet, grocery bags, Knitting, pillows, plarn, plastic bags, recycling, stuffing, super plarn, toys, Wool-ease, yarn | No Comments »
