Reversible Cabled Scarf

The road trip did yield ample time to try out the new Cosmo yarn that we received last week. It became very interesting trying to knit on the PA turnpike. Boy! Is that ever a rough road. I decided to make a reversible cables scarf, and crossing the cables while crossing the potholes was a feat. But I worked a large enough sample to judge what the yarn is like. Besides making a scrumptious, soft, and all around lovely scarf, the yarn is great to work with, not splitty and moves over the needles very well. Definitely one to knit with.

This is a simple pattern with a 4 stitch reversible cable. We are teaching cabling and reversible cables at our KnitXperience Retreat in November.

Don’t forget that the Cosmo yarn is currently our Featured Product. Find out more here on the Blog under Featured Product post.

Lace Knitting

We will have a two part lace knitting class beginning in September. The first class will concentrate on teckniques and terminology used in lace knitting. The second class will be reading charts and putting it all to use in knitting the Spring Time on Delmarva scarf that Jackie Jones, the instructor, has written.

The pattern is lovely and in case working with lace weight yarn has always given you the willies, she has chosen a DK weight yarn for this class. To see a full description of the two classes, click on this link…Lace Knitting. Check out our class schedule here…Class Schedule.

Problem Solver

With a great gnashing of teeth, you have cast on 99% of your 200+ stitches for a shawl, and guess what? You don’t have enough yarn in the long tail to cast on the rest of the stitches. Well isn’t that pleasant? Yank it out and start over and if you do that, you’re sure to overcompensate and have yards and yards of yarn too much.

Well, how about trying this method the next time. Using two balls of your yarn, or perhaps pull from the inside and outside of a single ball of yarn, make a slip knit as you normally would only using the two yarns held together. Cast on using the yarn coming from one ball ( or center pull on single ball) as the long tail, and the other ball as your active yarn ball.

Cast on one extra stitch, because when you knit the first row, you will pull the slip knot out. Cast on your stitches without danger of running out of yarn. At the end of your cast on, snip yarn from one ball and there you have a neat cast on with a lot less headache.

Do you have a pile of swatches from previous knitting projects?

What do you do with them? You could put them in a journal type book with a notation of project, needles, amount, etc. I always mean to do this, but that part of my organizational skills escapes me.

What I usually do, is rip the swatch out and use in the project. If it hasn’t been too long since I knitted the swatch, I can just use it without any troubles. But what if you are nearing the end of your project and it has been weeks, months since the swatch was done and you just gotta use it. In fact, that swatch is worth gold to you, because you have absolutely run out. So you rip it out and stare aghast at the kinks and ripples in your yarn. What to do, what to do??? Wind your yarn loosely into a skein (not the ball that you immediately put it into!). You could wind it around your thumb and down to elbow and back again . Tie it in several places to keep the yarn from tangling. You’ve probably purchased hand dyed skeins that have ties in several places. Well, that’s what you need to do. Thoroughly wet the yarn, no rough stuff please, squeeze out excess water and hang in the shower to dry. Don’t weight it as this can change the character of the yarn from the original and it will look different when you join it to your knitting.

So, if  joining your swatches to make an afghan, or pasting into a project journal are not for you. Rip it out and use it in your project.

Once Upon a Cable

Here’s a photo of the scarf we’ll be knitting at KnitXperience this year. Melissa is modeling the scarf knitted in llama yarn which has a reversible cable pattern. We will learn cabling by completing an easy bookmark and then, using the simple idea of using a knit/purl combo on the cable itself,  make it reversible. Perfect for those scarves, collars, anywhere both sides will show. A detail of the scarf edging shows the lovely scalloped cable edging. Wouldn’t you be thrilled to complete this scarf in the scrumptious yarn we are providing.? It really is not complicated at all.

Or, why not knot?

Have you ever wondered about whether to knot the yarns together when you add a new length to your knitting? I have always kinda hidden the fact that I did knot the two yarns together because for many years I was told, DON’T KNOT YOUR YARNS! in about that voice too. Hence the subterfuge.

But you know when you discover a well known knitter (Lily Chin to be exact) says knot the yarns for the exact same reasons I always did, you feel vindicated. Like, do you want those yarns coming apart later in your knitting, or how wibbly wobbly are the edge stitches when the yarns are just flapping in the breeze so to speak. And if you don’t make a strangle hold knot, you can come back later and loosen the knot and secure the two yarns within your knitting. And of course, you don’t want to join a new yarn in the middle of a row. That’s just asking for trouble.