Saturday, March 25, 2006

General Update!

Sorry I've been inactive for so long!

Dragon Scarf News! The pattern is in the editing and test-knitting phase. I was recently contacted by the Orphan Foundation, who informed me that my scarf inspired them to start The Red Scarf Project! Awesome! So I think once I have the scarf ready to go, I'm going to sell the pattern as a kit, and donate part of the procedes to the Orphan Foundation!
Sorry to keep you all waiting, but I want to get all the pieces in place before I release anything :)

In other news, I've been teaching a lot of classes lately and LOVING it :) I really wish I could do it full time. My two newest tutorials from my classes are up, please check them out and learn a new technique!

My Rogue sweater is almost finished. I put it aside for most of February, but I finished the body, except for the hood, and am almost done with the sleeves! Haha i'll be finished just in time for summer :P It's still wearable now though, and will be till about June.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Entrelac Tutorial!

Sorry this is so late and I haven't updated in Forever! I haven't had much internet access lately!

Entrelac Tutorial:
This tutorial was written for an Entrelac class I did last week. To get the best effect I suggest using a varigated yarn with long color changes so that each row (or each block) is a different color. Yarns like Noro, Karaoke, and Teseo work well for this.

Entrelac uses a technique called short rows to work small pieces of a row at a time, creating a woven-looking fabric. It is comprised of 3 basic parts: base triangles, corner triangles (right and left), and rectangles (right and left-leaning).



Abbreviations used:
CO: cast on
RS: right side
WS: wrong side
K: knit,
P: purl,
S1: slip one stitch from the left needle to the right needle as if to purl, with yarn in back (RS); or as if to purl through the back loop, with yarn in front (WS)
P2tog: purl two stitches together as one (decrease)
K2tog: knit two stitches together as one (decrease)
SSK: slip two stitches as if to knit, re-insert the left needle through the front of the stitches, and knit them together (left leaning decrease)
PU: pick up stitches
M1: make one stitch by picking up and knitting through the back loop of the stitch from the row below

This tutorial will make a swatch with blocks that are 5 stitches across. Once you get the hang of it you can make your blocks are large or as small as you like.

Cast On 20 stitches. Your swatch will be 4 blocks wide, 5 stitches each.
Turn your work at the end of every row unless otherwise noted.

Base triangles: (only one set of base triangles are needed )
K2
S1, p1
S1, k2
S1, p2
S1, k3
S1, p3
Sl, k4
S, p4
Sl, k4, place marker, DO NOT TURN;
First base triangle finished. Repeat, beginning with the next two stitches. 4 triangles total.


Left corner:
Beginning with WS facing.
P1, m1 (lift stitch from row below and purl through the back), p2tog, turn
S1, k2
S1, m1, p1, p2tog
S1 k3
S1, m1, p2, p2tog
DO NOT TURN


Right-leaning rectangles:
PU and purl 5 stitches along the downhill slope of the base triangle.
[image of how to pick up and purl]

*S1, k4
S1, p3, p2tog with next live stitch from the next triangle, to join them.
Repeat from * until all the live stitches from the next base triangle are used.
[image of p2tog with next live stitch]


Repeat for the rest of the base triangles. You have now reached the end of the row.


Right Corner:
Beginning with RS facing
K1, m1, ssk, turn
Sl1, p2
Sl1, m1, k1, ssk
Sl1, p3
Sl1, m1, k2, ssk
DO NOT TURN


Left-leaning rectangles:
PU and knit 5 stitches along the downhill slope of the rectangle below.
*Sl1, p4
Sl1, k3, ssk with next live stitch
Repeat from *.
[image of how to pick up and knit]

Go back to Left Corner.
Continue with the corners and the rectangles until the desired length is reached, ending with right-leaning rectangles.

Bind off:
Do right corner as usual until 4 stitches are on the left needle. Then Sl1, m1, and bind off one, and continue binding off across the row until the last stitch of the triangle.
PU 5 stitches along the downhill edge as usual, you now have 6 stitches on the right needle.
S1, p4, turn. Slip 1, bind off
K3, ssk
S1, p3, turn. S1, bind off
k2, ssk
S1, p2, turn. S1, bind off
k1, ssk
S1, p1, turn, s1 bind off
ssk, bind off,
repeat until the last stitch of the last rectangle. Knit the last stitch and bind off.

Double Knitting

I Taught a class in Double Knitting on Tuesday and figured since I made up the whole tutorial I may as well share it!

This technique creates a thick, double-sided fabric with two “Right” sides. It is usually used to do double-sided stockinette, especially in contrasting colors. Applications include reversible scarves and blankets, hats, and lined mittens or socks. In the picture, the back side looks just like the front except the backgroud is red and the heart is gray.


Double Knitting was used to create the Checkerboard Rhino Scarf as well.


For this class you will need two balls of worsted weight yarn in contrasting colors (Main Color (MC) and Contrasting Color (CC)) and size 7 or 8 straight needles.

Basic Double-knitting technique, using this heart chart. To read the chart, read from the bottom right to left on odd rows, and left to right on even rows:


Cast on 9 stitches using the long-tail method, holding both strands together as one.

Set-up row: On the next row use the right needle separate the MC loop, and knit it with the MC working yarn. Move both strands between the needles and purl the CC loop with the CC working yarn. Repeat for each stitch, separating the two colors for the rest of the row. You should now have twice as many stitches, and they should alternate MC, CC.



At the beginning of each row, twist the MC yarn behind the CC yarn for the first stitch. This ensures that your two layers are joined at the sides:
(the Red is the MC in the photo)


Each square of the chart represents TWO stitches, one on the front and one on the back. The color shown is the color you knit when you are on the RIGHT SIDE. MC is the background color, the first stitch of the row, and CC is the motif color. When you change colors, you must keep the stitch-pairs together, for example, row 2 (on the WRONG SIDE) goes (pmc, kcc), (pmc, kcc), (pmc, kcc), (pmc, kcc), (KMC, PCC), (pmc, kcc), (pmc, kcc), (pmc, kcc), (pmc, kcc).
Continue this way, following the chart.


Double-knitting Bind off: Slip the right needle through both loops of the first stitch, the MC and the CC and k2tog. Knit the next stitch the same way, then bind off. Continue the k2tog bind-off across the row.


Double-knitting benefits from a good blocking after you're finished.