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Posts Tagged ‘lace’

Yarn Over or Yarn Around Needle?

Posted in Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 16, 2014| 1 Comment »

One of my discoveries in dealing with the “yarn over” issue is the uneven holes that are created by the traditional method.  If you are working in a lace pattern, it is not hard to see that the YO purls are a bit larger.  Why, because they are really “not” a yarn over,  they are in fact a “yarn around needle,” creating a full loop.

Since I am a bit picky about my knitting, I tried some experiments.  The easiest answer, was to mirror the traditional yarn over.  Yep, that fixed the problem.   From that point on, when instructed to make a YO purl, I bought my yarn to the back, and purled the next stitch.  Now, my holes in the lace pattern were the same.

Next, I experimented with the “yarn around ” needle.  It works just as well.  The key is to have the lengths of yarns creating the yarn overs, or around needle, the same.

I use the “yarn around needle” to increase stitches.  It makes a very nice transition.

Below are some demos illustrating both methods on the knit side.  For the purl side you would just reverse the process.

yarn over demo

 

This first demo shows the yarn being brought forward in preparation to accomplish the , YO(yarn over) knit.   This is the traditional method, but actually creates a half loop between the two stitches.

yarn around needle demoThe second demo illustrates creating a yarn around needle by bringing the yarn over the top of the needle and then again to the back in preparation to knit the next stitch.  This method make a complete circle around the needle, creating a full stitch, or loop.

Either way, I get the best results by doing a swatch of each type of yarn over before getting into a complicate piece of work.  The goal is always to make you stitches look even.

Hope this helps.

KT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Lace Shawl for Mom

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on November 17, 2011| 2 Comments »

I just finished a lace shawl for my 90 year old mother.  I got the pattern from Heirloom-knitting.  It is an easy to knit, and is especially beautiful made of lace weight kid mohair.  But…. for my purposes, that being stability and warmth, I chose to knit it with Knitpicks “Gloss” fingering yarn, made of wool and silk.

Here is a photo of it on the bed, drying in the glare of the snow outside.

Here is a close-up.

I did modify the pattern on the top, as my mother will want to close it with some sort of button, or frog.  To give it a more stable finish after the finally row of decreases, I just knitted about 4 rows, then worked a Pico edge, to give it the extra stretch that was needed for it to lay out nicely.

As you can see in the photo above, I now have a modified scallop at the top, but it is not as drastic as the one’s on the sides.

The bind off I used was accomplished by casting on one stitch (knitted cast on). Knitting that stitch and the next one, I dropped the first stitch over the second, counting it as one cast off stitch.  Next, I cast off 2 more stitches in the normal way.

Slipping the stitch left on the right needle back to the left needle, I began the process again.   That’s  it!  Cast on one, bind off three.

*Note – Because I didn’t go to a smaller needle, as is sometimes recommended for a pico cast off,  this method created a small scalloped lace edge.  I think it looks great.  It works for me!!

You can get this lovely pattern call “Frost and Ice Shawl”  at Heirloom-knitting.

Happy Knitting –

KT

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Stix and Strings and Lace

Posted in Knitting Projects, Uncategorized, tagged on March 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This probably should have been one of my first posts, but, better late than never.  For about 45 years I was what you would call an average knitter.  I made useful things like, afgans, sweaters, scarves- you know, simple things.  Then one day I picked a Vogue Knitting magazine, and in it was a picture of the lady wearing a knitted lace sweater.  I had to have it.  I went to the local variety store and came home with Knit Crocheen.    It wasn’t long before I was witnessing magic taking place right before my eyes.

This first project in lace, definitely tweaked my sense of creativity.  I loved learning the new stitches, and had great fun with all the needle gymnastics involved in the pattern.  Knitting wasn’t boring anymore.

From there I moved on  to a little more challenging pattern.  This one featured a spider web pattern on the front.

It didn’t have sleeves, but this old lady does not feel comfortable without them.  So.. I made some.  I wear it quite often, changing the color of the tank I wear under it to go with the rest of my attire.

Now I was really on fire to to something intricate.  so I began my first “real” lace shawl with “real lace” yarn.  The Print o Wave shawl  I made for my daughter, was offered aa a free pattern on the web, by Yuny Jang, of Interweave.   I designed the header of my website with it.

Following that, I ventured out to make two more shawls, one for a friend,  and one for my daughter-in-law.  They were followed by a lace scarf for my sister-in -law.

Southwestern Shawl

by Fiber Trends.

Pacific Northwestern Shawl

by Fiber Trends

Maple Leaf Scarf

by Heartstrings Patterns

Next, came my greatest challenge in attempting the “Princess Shawl” from Heirloom-knitting.com

Here is the edging I am still working on. It’s my travel project.

All this is to say, that new adventures in knitting have taught me to be patient, to be willing to take out and redo, practice stitches and new techniques until I get them down smoothly, and most of all, not to be in a hurry to finish.  I have learned to enjoy the process.  I hope you have, too.

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