February 26, 2004
Decrease 4 techniques
i was immensely confused by the directions in Rogue for decreasing 4 stitches... it just doesnt look right. it feels like there should be another row before decreasing that much... it looks kind of short.
here's the Rogue version:
decrease 4(close cable loop): on WS, slip next two sts to right needle; pass first slipped st over second slipped st and off needle; pass remaining slipped st on right needle back to left needle; slip second st on left needle over first st on left needle oand off left needle; slip next two sts to right needle; pass first slipped st over second slipped st and off needle; pass remaining slipped st on right needle back to left needle; slip second st on left needle over first st on left needle and off left needle; knit the remaining st on left needle. on RS, work as above, but purl the remaining st on left needle.
i dont like this, because on the row before, you've twisted the stitches in towards the middle, so they were JUST moved, and now you decrease them all...
this is Lavold's description of the placement of decreases (may be long):
in knotted and closed cable patterns, decreases are made in two steps. The first decrease is made on the front of the work. The first two knit stitches are decreased PSSO (or SSK), the second two are knitted together.
The other decrease is on the back of the work (or reverse the sts. if you're knitting in the round, and doing this on the second row). Slip the last st of the background (which will be a knit stitch on the back of the work) knitwise, k the first st of the cable strand and pass the slipped st over it. Knit the next two stitches (a purl and a knit) together. These two stitches will show as purl stitches on the right side and will become part of the purled background.
On the Lillbjars panel, the decreases come one row earlier. The first decrease is made on the back side of the work: purl two purl stitches together, then twist two purl stitches together. the second decrease is on the right side of work. Use the same purled decrease as the first.
This paired decrease makes a less pointed close on loops in the pattern and the shape better matches that of the increases below. The wrong side decrease is much harder to knit than the one on the right side, and you can decide yourself whether it's worth the effort. In the Lillbjars panel, however, it was necessary in order to keep the increases and decreases from running together.
the diagram: (which, for some reason, keeps getting altered by blogger when i try to post it!! it's a right slanting slash with a dot under it, and a left slanting slash with a dot under it. then on the next line, a dot, a right slash, a left slash, and a dot. hope thats clear enough.)
/. .. /\ .
which translates to
p2tog twisted (through back loops) together on RS, or PSSO (or SSK) on WS, p2tog on RS, k2tog on WS
reverse st st (p on RS, k on WS), k2tog on RS, p2tog on WS, PSSO or SSK dec. on RS, or p2tog twisted on WS, reverse st st.
give it a try, lemme know what you think.
here's the Rogue version:
decrease 4(close cable loop): on WS, slip next two sts to right needle; pass first slipped st over second slipped st and off needle; pass remaining slipped st on right needle back to left needle; slip second st on left needle over first st on left needle oand off left needle; slip next two sts to right needle; pass first slipped st over second slipped st and off needle; pass remaining slipped st on right needle back to left needle; slip second st on left needle over first st on left needle and off left needle; knit the remaining st on left needle. on RS, work as above, but purl the remaining st on left needle.
i dont like this, because on the row before, you've twisted the stitches in towards the middle, so they were JUST moved, and now you decrease them all...
this is Lavold's description of the placement of decreases (may be long):
in knotted and closed cable patterns, decreases are made in two steps. The first decrease is made on the front of the work. The first two knit stitches are decreased PSSO (or SSK), the second two are knitted together.
The other decrease is on the back of the work (or reverse the sts. if you're knitting in the round, and doing this on the second row). Slip the last st of the background (which will be a knit stitch on the back of the work) knitwise, k the first st of the cable strand and pass the slipped st over it. Knit the next two stitches (a purl and a knit) together. These two stitches will show as purl stitches on the right side and will become part of the purled background.
On the Lillbjars panel, the decreases come one row earlier. The first decrease is made on the back side of the work: purl two purl stitches together, then twist two purl stitches together. the second decrease is on the right side of work. Use the same purled decrease as the first.
This paired decrease makes a less pointed close on loops in the pattern and the shape better matches that of the increases below. The wrong side decrease is much harder to knit than the one on the right side, and you can decide yourself whether it's worth the effort. In the Lillbjars panel, however, it was necessary in order to keep the increases and decreases from running together.
the diagram: (which, for some reason, keeps getting altered by blogger when i try to post it!! it's a right slanting slash with a dot under it, and a left slanting slash with a dot under it. then on the next line, a dot, a right slash, a left slash, and a dot. hope thats clear enough.)
/. .. /\ .
which translates to
p2tog twisted (through back loops) together on RS, or PSSO (or SSK) on WS, p2tog on RS, k2tog on WS
reverse st st (p on RS, k on WS), k2tog on RS, p2tog on WS, PSSO or SSK dec. on RS, or p2tog twisted on WS, reverse st st.
give it a try, lemme know what you think.
February 24, 2004
the unthinkable
well, i've just done the unthinkable. i've run out of my Rogue yarn.
early last fall up in Putney, i bought a whole lot of green mountain yarn that was on sale. however, at the time i was a poor ignorant girl, and didnt pay enough attention to my yarns. i had 3 of the weight/color i'm using for rogue, and 3 of the same color DIFFERENT WEIGHT. and two of a totaly different color...
this wouldnt be so tragic if it werent for two things:
a. i'm ONE ROW AWAY from attaching the pocket
b. the yarns were on sale, and i dont know if i can find a match, i may have to frog this and give up for now.
as a sort of "consolation prize", i'm starting a second rogue tonight, with some brown sheep naturespun in a nice rusty-brown color. ::sigh::
in other news, a lovely trip to my LYS has alleviated some of my previously stated yarn blahs. after some discussion, i'm going to do a fresh batch of hats. gives me a chance to try out some fun designs and techniques, but in a small and quick project. sounds like just the right thing to get me jumpstarted! i picked up a few fun yarns, and i'm going to pop in a movie now and dig in...
i'm selling select items on evilgreenfaerie. so far, one hat and one scarf. but if all goes as planned, there will be much more soon. and hopefully people will BUY BUY BUY!
early last fall up in Putney, i bought a whole lot of green mountain yarn that was on sale. however, at the time i was a poor ignorant girl, and didnt pay enough attention to my yarns. i had 3 of the weight/color i'm using for rogue, and 3 of the same color DIFFERENT WEIGHT. and two of a totaly different color...
this wouldnt be so tragic if it werent for two things:
a. i'm ONE ROW AWAY from attaching the pocket
b. the yarns were on sale, and i dont know if i can find a match, i may have to frog this and give up for now.
as a sort of "consolation prize", i'm starting a second rogue tonight, with some brown sheep naturespun in a nice rusty-brown color. ::sigh::
in other news, a lovely trip to my LYS has alleviated some of my previously stated yarn blahs. after some discussion, i'm going to do a fresh batch of hats. gives me a chance to try out some fun designs and techniques, but in a small and quick project. sounds like just the right thing to get me jumpstarted! i picked up a few fun yarns, and i'm going to pop in a movie now and dig in...
i'm selling select items on evilgreenfaerie. so far, one hat and one scarf. but if all goes as planned, there will be much more soon. and hopefully people will BUY BUY BUY!
dug a hole...
i am TOTALY in a slump.
i ran out of yarn for Rogue. it's green mountain stuff that i got discounted last fall, and i SHOULD have had enough, but i've gotten much better at knitting since last fall... i wasnt so observant, and bought half worsted weight, and half DK (that's why it was half off, that stuff got spun too thin). so.. ::GRRRR::
i have a bunch of cashmerino and silky wool and brown sheep naturespun around, so i figured, i'll just start another sweater. i recently got a whole lot of books, including starmore and lavold, so i have an ABUNDANCE of patterns to choose from... and nothing seems right. i feel like a little kid throwing a tantrum... "but i WANNA finish ROGUE!" i dont know... i dont want to start something that i'll be half-assed about, but i need to do SOMETHING.
any suggestions? what will get me out of this DITCH? (short of buying more yarn, cause i have NO $.)
i ran out of yarn for Rogue. it's green mountain stuff that i got discounted last fall, and i SHOULD have had enough, but i've gotten much better at knitting since last fall... i wasnt so observant, and bought half worsted weight, and half DK (that's why it was half off, that stuff got spun too thin). so.. ::GRRRR::
i have a bunch of cashmerino and silky wool and brown sheep naturespun around, so i figured, i'll just start another sweater. i recently got a whole lot of books, including starmore and lavold, so i have an ABUNDANCE of patterns to choose from... and nothing seems right. i feel like a little kid throwing a tantrum... "but i WANNA finish ROGUE!" i dont know... i dont want to start something that i'll be half-assed about, but i need to do SOMETHING.
any suggestions? what will get me out of this DITCH? (short of buying more yarn, cause i have NO $.)
February 21, 2004
my hands smell like sheep
... which, is to be expected when one has spent 5 hours in one day working on a project with semi-greasy wool. oh how i love the smell and feel of my green mountain spinnery yarn that i've chosen for rogue.
i've been having... FUN. i forgot to post progress of rogue when i first took pics midweek, so i'll just start with its current state. this week has been a blessing... at least for this project. i got sick, and took two days off of commuting into disease-ridden manhattan. i spent those two days in bed, watching movies, working on rogue. and BOY did that give me a running start.
two weeks ago, i cast on and started the twisted-knit hem facing. nope, just couldnt do it. my hands and the yarn couldnt compromise. then, i saw claudia's hem... and decided that was the one for me. so i frogged... and started over, this time knitting 4 rows, then picking up cast-on stitches and knitting them together with live stitches on the 5th row. this has given me a nice little hem that i'm quite proud of.
the large flap covering the middle is the pocket on its holder
the contrast isnt the best, this yarn just does NOT want to show off my lovely knots in any picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
i'm also motoring along on knitty's top secret, this is my "big ol' needles" easy project.
also, if you'll notice, i finally figured out how to mess with my links on the right side-bar some. next step is to learn how to add buttons and picture-links. do i even have comments on this blog? man, i really have no clue what i'm doing here, do i... hehe.
i've been having... FUN. i forgot to post progress of rogue when i first took pics midweek, so i'll just start with its current state. this week has been a blessing... at least for this project. i got sick, and took two days off of commuting into disease-ridden manhattan. i spent those two days in bed, watching movies, working on rogue. and BOY did that give me a running start.
two weeks ago, i cast on and started the twisted-knit hem facing. nope, just couldnt do it. my hands and the yarn couldnt compromise. then, i saw claudia's hem... and decided that was the one for me. so i frogged... and started over, this time knitting 4 rows, then picking up cast-on stitches and knitting them together with live stitches on the 5th row. this has given me a nice little hem that i'm quite proud of.
the large flap covering the middle is the pocket on its holder
the contrast isnt the best, this yarn just does NOT want to show off my lovely knots in any picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
i'm also motoring along on knitty's top secret, this is my "big ol' needles" easy project.
also, if you'll notice, i finally figured out how to mess with my links on the right side-bar some. next step is to learn how to add buttons and picture-links. do i even have comments on this blog? man, i really have no clue what i'm doing here, do i... hehe.
