This week I’ve been making progress on the Sweater Sampler. But I haven’t been spending a lot of time knitting. We’ve run out of shows to watch on Netflix and CBS All Access, so I’ve picked up books to read or have been playing video games instead. I’m also feeling a little homesick for California. Not that I’m regretting the move here, not one bit. It’s just that there are more cultural differences between the two areas than I would’ve thought in this day of instant communication.
Anyway, on to Unraveled Wednesday.
I’m learning a few things by knitting this Sweater Sampler and am now glad that I took it on. Having progressed beyond the ribbing, cardigan placket and buttonhole, and a pocket, I moved on to some interesting raised stripe techniques that I didn’t know existed. They would be fun on a blanket or maybe some baby sweaters or hats.
I then moved on to raglan decreases, experimenting with six different ways of knitting these shoulder seams. This was a very helpful exercise. They each look a bit different and the choice could change the look of a sweater. If you haven’t tried many of them, I recommend doing a large swatch before your next raglan project and experimenting to see which technique you like best. It could make a big difference in your results.
The next learning experience was with two color knitting. I’ve completed lots of color knitting projects in the past, including sweaters. But I’ve never tried holding one color in one hand and the other color in the opposite hand.
What a difference! Basically, it boils down to using both continental and traditional English knitting styles at the same time, one style per yarn. I’ve never knit any way other than continental, so learning how to throw the yarn was…interesting. My whole first row ended up with twisted stitches! I also found that my tension differed between the two hands, the left (continental) hand being much tighter. But with practice, this will be a very helpful technique.
The yarns don’t twist when you hold one color in each hand, so the extra time I usually spend untwisting balls is balanced by the time spent on the extra throw step in the English method. This new method might even be faster once I practice enough. I wish I knew about it before I started the Epic Scarf! That would’ve been a lot of good practice 😉
I finished the second Agatha Raisin book and am reading Rita Mae Brown’s second book “Rest in Pieces”. I like this one better than the first, possibly because Mrs. Murphy and Tucker are more involved. I don’t know what I’d do if my dog brought me a dug up human hand, but I rather liked Tucker’s reaction (Tucker: can I have a knuckle bone?) For those who haven’t read the books, Tucker is a Corgi, so although it sounds morbid it actually ends up kind of funny.
Keeping it short today. Have fun reading other Unraveled Wednesday posts!
originally posted at stillroundthecorner.com
