Tag Archives: technique

I like the library

I like the library and most of the time I have a couple of books on loan at home. It’s very convenient to get inspiration you might not have got otherwise. Most of the books I borrow are books I would most likely not buy or might never have discovered. But browsing the bookshelves at the library can be quite exiting. Sometimes you strike gold; a very popular book have just been returned or you come across something your not sure about but you take it home anyway and it turns out to  be a little treasure.

(image from Amazon)

That’s what happened a while back when I found Knitting in the old way: designs & techniques from ethnic sweaters by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson (Amazon) sitting in the knitting section bookshelf at my library.  It’s not a pattern book but it contains the history and methods of different sweater shapes,  from a basic gansey to a shaped sweater, and colour stranding styles of different regions from Sweden to Canada.  It was interesting to read more on the western versus eastern style of knitting. I’ve heard of continental versus English knitting or in other word picking vs. throwing. But if I understand correctly the way the stitches are mounted on the needles is the same for both these ways of knitting, which would both be western style. Whereas the eastern style of knitting has the stitches wrapped around the needle in the opposite direction. This came in handy when I helped my friend A who has been thought in the eastern style. She wanted to pick from the opposite direction and know I understand why and could explain it to her.

Another good thing I picked up from this book is to make a diagram of my pattern. Instead of writing instructions the instructions are charted with symbols. I used this technique for the Geodesic cardigan. Before I started knitting I read through the instructions and made a diagram. This way  I had an easy very visual way of knowing what to do and when. It’s been very helpful.

The cardigan is coming along quite nicely. After around 38 hours of knitting, the left front is finished and I’ve started on the back.

SYTYCK – Intarsia in the round

Intarsia is “normally” done while knitting flat. For an instruction on intarsia see this nice post over at the Purl bee on the subject. It is possible to use intarsia for round objects without seeming afterwards and yes there is a reason I didn’t say knitting in the round. There are at least 2 methods (or 3 depending on how you look at things) out  there on the interwebs, and I would not be surprised to find more.

The first that caught my attention was described by Moth heaven. This method is worked in the round, with the added colour section worked back and forth two rows at a time, and then slipped as you work the second row with the main colour. Below is a few charts that shows how this is performed. The numbers represent the order in which to knit the stitches and s is for slipping a stitch.

intarsia_round

I understand the principle and I can execute it but the tension is all over the place. I just couldn’t get it too look right.

 

There are also methods for working the intarsia part flat. Either using wrap & turn (w&t) or yarn overs, which to me at least seems to be the same thing – wrapping stitch or needle and subsequently sealing the joint as you go. Below is again a chart to demonstrate the order of working a tube back and forth by using wrap & turn (w) and working the wrap with the stitch on the next row.

intarsia_wt

Both these created the same end result. At least if you can manage to keep a steady tension. For me the second method was easier to use to produce a nice result from the get-go. It’s what I’m using for my SYTYCK project.