A Solution

June 21st, 2007

I have stumbled upon a knitting realization that did not come easily, so I thought I’d share. It’s about how my knitting always curls. (We hateses the curling, precious.)

The stockinette stitch tends to curl, because, no matter how loose or tight you try to make it, the back purl stitch is smaller than the front knit stitch. I tried ribbing to get rid of the curl, but the ribbing columns also curled, making the scarf wavy. Garter stitch (all knits) looked sloppy to me, since I prefer the look of tight little V’s. I suspect making circular projects, like sweaters and socks will render the curling irrelevant, but I wanted to knit a scarf and a blanket. Finally, I stumbled upon this stitch:

The pattern is knit 1, purl 1 all the way across, matching the stitches when you turn to do the next row. It *looks* like stockinette, because the purls curl slightly inward, drawing the knit stitches together to make the tight V’s.

Alas! Now I can finish this scarf (that I’ve half-made and unmade 3 times already)! And I can make a giant blanket, too, from big, thick yarn. *swoons* I’ll post the projects as soon as I get started.

A Shawl

June 5th, 2007

Crochet is so freaking practical. I’m going on a trip, and someone told me it would be cold in my destination, so I thought, “Dur, I’ll make a shawl.” It took all of 6 hours.

I made it from Lion Brand Wool Ease, color: Fisherman. The rows alternate with one double crochet row followed by a double crochet-chain 1 row. I made the pattern myself; the whole thing is a giant triangle. At the edges, I just added 1 or 2 extra stitches each row.

Here’s a pic: