Stranded Knitting: Post 11 - Weaving yarn...while turning corners

Weaving yarns…while turning corners
While the title of this post may sound like another in the list of things you should not do while behind the wheel of an automobile, it actually refers to the possibility of evening tension at a vulnerable spot of a stranded knitting project.

Here’s another image for you. Imagine several sections of fencing…you know, the white board/surround the pasture on some big farm in the country type of fencing. Ok, you can picture any type of fencing that you like…this is just what I think of. :)

Anyway…these fence sections are almost at a right angle to each other….like a fence that is running along the front of the big farm property and then has to turn to go up alongside of the driveway. Are you with me?

Now, drape a rope along the fencing from the inside…wrapping it around the vertical posts. When you come to where the fence turns up the drive, skip the post in the corner and continue up the drive.

Now look at this rather crude, but highly instructive (at least in my own delusional mind) graphic. See how the rope, if not anchored in the corner, will pull across the angle…in effect, cutting the corner.

How does this relate to knitting? Think of working on a stranded sock or mitten and you are using your favorite small circumference knitting method…dpns or two circs or magic loop.

Look at the graphic again. Think of the green fencing as one of your dpns…or one of your circs…or one part of your magic loop section. Think of the brown fencing as another dpn…or your second circ…or the second half for your magic loop section. The rope represents your unused yarn being stranded across the back of your work.

The “cutting of the corner” can seriously affect your tension at the points where the needles…or sections…join.

The solution is to weave in the stranded yarn before and after you make the turn.

  

This weaving has less to do with catching long floats and more to do with tacking down the strand so it will not “cut the corner” and cause stress on your stitches at these crucial joining places.

Here's a video attempt at a translation from fences to needles...

I find this extra weaving helpful to keep floats where they should be...you may not. The great thing about knitting is we all do things that work best for us...and we are free to try new concepts to see if we can make things work even better.

What cha think?

Next week: Using Markers...yeah, really.

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Stranded Knitting: Post 10 - Weaving Yarns...to add new colors and finish old colors

Weaving yarns…to add new colors and finish old colors

Now that you have mastered weaving in long floats, you can use the same techniques to add in new yarns…at a color change or when you have run out of one skein and want to add a new one.

This can seem a little awkward. But if coming back and weaving in all of those ends seems daunting, this little fiddly bit will help. If you find the after-weaving a relaxing way to spend an evening…and some do…then you can skip this part.

Remembering this is the two handed demo…

To add in a new yarn….you actually begin 4-6 stitches before the end of the round (or skein). Place the new yarn between the back of your work and the working yarn….with a 3-4 inch end down and to the right. As you hold it in place with your left hand, go around the new yarn with the working yarn to make your next stitch….trapping the new yarn against the back of the work with the working yarn. Over the next few stitches, this new yarn becomes the left yarn momentarily in the catching the yarn with the dance. You will need to do the dance at least one more time before the end of the round.

I suppose you could use the catching the right yarn with the left scenario, but I just find the left with right less fiddly and therefore easier with new yarn.

But, you say, the last 6-8 stitches is a combination of foreground and background colors, how do I catch the new yarn? My response is…all you need is two stitches together somewhere in the last 6-8 stitches in the round. Odds are pretty good this will happen. Then you can use whatever yarn is working to trap the new yarn.

Now you might have guessed that you can use the same techniques to weave in old yarns…either the end of a skein or an old color which will not be used for a while. After you begin working with the new color/yarn, you can weave in the old color/yarn over a few stitches. Then break the old yarn leaving a 3-4 tail…and off you go.

We will talk more about this in the “Finishing” section, but I know there are those people out there that say to leave a 4-6 inch tail. I think this is because they are using a tapestry needle to weave in the ends and they need enough yarn to thread the needle. I get that…however, you will waste less yarn if you leave a shorter tail and weave your tapestry needle in the back of your work before you thread it.  Better yet, weave your ends in with a crochet hook. No threading of needles…which takes time as well. 

Even better yet...some people use the above techniques to weave in new colors and weave out old colors...and never worry about weaving in anything at the finishing stage. 

What do I do? I'm afraid I do a bit of both. I weave in and out colors leaving a 3-4 inch tail...or sometimes, a 2-3 inch tail...as I go as mentioned above AND then come back at the end give each tail a bit of a gentle tug and weave them in again with a crochet hook and then snip off any remaining length to about 1/4 inch. Overkill...maybe. Just what I do.

Note: If you are working a cardigan, weaving in new and old yarns is not so critical. For a cardigan your round begins at the center front steek section. It is just easier and neater to add and finish yarns in this section. The good news...you don't have to be too obsessive about it because you will be cutting this steek section to open up the cardigan at some point. I usually weaving in for 2 stitches or so just to make the center of the steek section not so “loosey goosey”. Makes cutting the steek a bit easier.

So that's weaving in new yarn and weaving "out" finished yarn. Next week: Using this same technique to put rope on a fence...and you'll just have to join me next time to see what that means. ;)

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Stranded Knitting: Post 9 - Weaving Yarns...to catch long floats

Accidental photo taken for video production when camera was on wrong setting.

Weaving Yarns…to catch long floats

On the top of my very unofficial poll of the things that most concern beginning stranded knitters are how to…

                       hold the yarns

                      how to get even tension

                     how to weave in yarns to catch long floats

We’ve talked about the first two…but before we get into the “weaving” part, let’s talk about why you want to catch the long floats.

Just like there are different types of tensions, when you talk about “weaving in” yarns, more than one type of weaving comes to mind. There is the weaving in of the ends when finishing a garment and there is catching or weaving in long floats. We’ll talk about the catching of long floats type of weaving here….and save the weaving of ends for the “finishing” segment.

A float, as you will remember, is another name for the span of the non-working yarn that is stranded across the back of the fabric. Long floats are just that…long strands of yarn looping across the inside of your garment. In addition to catching jewelry and fingers when the garment is pulled on, these loops can be a detriment to even tension. (See list of concerns above.) 

If you are working with yarn that felts easily…like Shetland wool…this finger catching nuisance may not be as big of a problem, however, if just for the sake of even tension, catching the non-working yarn is a pretty good practice. Also, we will use the technique again in the next two sections.

What you are trying to do here is to trap the stranded yarn between the back of the project and the working yarn. If you remember, there are two stranded coming out of the back of your work…the one on top (or over or above) and the one on the bottom (or under or below). There is a different way to catch each of these yarns.

If you are holding your yarns in the same hand...either right or left…you will need to take the over yarn from under the under yarn or the under yarn from over the over yarn. If that is about as clear as mud, let me try again.

If you look at your hands at the two yarns…the over yarn should be towards the right...call it purple…and the under yarn should be towards the left…call it green.

So say you are working a series of purple stitches and you need to catch the green yarn in the back so there will not be a long green float. You will need to go under the green yarn and to work the purple…twisting the two and catching the green yarn.

If you are working a long series of green stitches and need to catch the purple yarn, you’ll need to go over the purple to work the green.

….and if that is still indecipherable, I might remind you that I knit stranded two handed…and it might be easier to check for a video online than to listen to me. ;)

Now…if you have decided you are a two handled stranded knitter, here are two videos of how I do this catching floats thing.

The first shows catching the left hand yarn with the right….which is accomplished by just tilting the left yarn forward so the right yarn can go behind it to work the stitch.

  

The second video shows a multi-step process of catching the right yarn with the left…which is accomplished by sticking the right needle into the stitch as if to knit...and holding the needle there until all of the following shenanigans are finished…then…wrapping the right hand yarn around the needle as if you are going to work it western style…scooping or picking the left yarn continental style, unwrapping the right yarn…and then…and only then…completing the stitch by pulling the left yarn through the loop and taking the new stitch off the left needle onto the right.

Note about video: for some unknown reason, when I refer to the pinching the needles to stabilize the work, I apparently was concentrating so hard on the weaving technique that I got middle and ring fingers confused...which means when I say ring finger, I really mean middle finger,..but you could figure that out for yourself. I just wanted to let you know that I know as well.

Ok, now…your next question is when do I do these little yarn dances? The answer is …it varies. (Doesn't it always with knitting?) Some say in a run of 4-5 stitches …some say 7-9…some say it depends on your gauge …others say you catch the back yarn if the float is to be over an inch in length. Some styles of stranded knitting have you do this every stitch…producing a very dense fabric.

What do I do? I usually don’t have a float of longer than three stitches…no matter the gauge or the yarn. This means I will catch the stranding yarn on the third and sixth stitch…if the run is that long. “Knit, knit, catch” just becomes a rhythm on the long runs. I am doing it too often? Maybe…but it works for me…and it makes things consistent. :)

Next week: Using this weaving techniques to add new yarns and finish with old ones. Also, using weaving to help prevent laddering.

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Stranded Knitting: Post 8 - Adding New Colors and Finishing Old Colors

Sample chart knitted up.....added so social media will have an image to grab onto. ;)

Adding new colors

One of the biggest occasions for blank looks from students is when the chart indicates the addition of a new color. The truth is…that adding new colors can be just a simple as just starting to knit with the new color. Once a few new stitches are worked, you can break off the old yarn leaving a 3-4 inch tail. Yes, this can cause loose stitches at the beginning of the round… for now, just give the old and new yarn a tug to snug them up.

If you are interested…there are several ways to anchor the new yarn that help to maintain tension at the beginning of the round. Here are three…

The first is to thread a tapestry needle with the new yarn and weave the yarn through the purl bumps of a few stitches in the back of the work…making sure the end is towards the right and the working end is towards the left so it can be used.

The second is to tie a simple knot around the working yarn and snug the knot tightly to the last stitch created. Your new yarn is ready to work with.

The third is the one I sometimes use the first time I add a second color.

I am sure there are other ways…but let’s move on to how to end a yarn…either a color that is no longer needed or when finishing up a skein.

My favorite is to weave in the new yarn at the end of the round before it is needed. We will talk about this method after we talk about weaving yarns in general.

Finishing old colors

When you are finished with a color, you will need to decide whether it is best to break the yarn, leaving a 3-4 inch tail to weave in later and then reattach it if the color is needed again….or to carry the yarn up the back of the work to next round it is needed.

So let’s talk about this “carrying up” business. The distance the yarn is carried “up” depends on the knitter. Tension in stranded knitting is mostly about the horizontal tension…the tension between stitches, but when it comes to carrying up, it is also about the vertical tension…the tension between rounds. You’ll want to make sure there is enough slack in the strand carried up so as not to pull and distort the fabric. You will also want to make sure it is not so long that it creates too long of a vertical float to catch on fingers and such.

My preference is to carry up for no more than 3 rounds. The rest of the time I usually break the yarn and reattach…not wanting to risk the tension issues. After weaving in the old yarn…which we will talk about in a bit…I break the yarn leaving a 3-4 inch tail.

Ok…when it comes to carrying up…I will admit there is a “generally, but not always” corollary to the “no more than 3 rounds” rule. If I am running short of yarn, I will carry up to an inch...figuring it takes less yarn to carry up than it does to break and reattach. In these incidences, it is sometimes necessary to come back in the finishing stage and catch the float with a threaded tapestry needle.

Back of Teggala Mitts showing yarns carried up work.

Teggala Mitts

You can also weave in the old color during the first few stitches of the next round...the first round it is not used. Again, we will talk about this during weaving yarns in general. (Don't hate me. I'm trying to be orderly about this.)

Question, comments, observations? Please leave a note in the Comments section below or on the thread in the Stranded group in Ravelry or on the thread in my group on Ravelry.

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