Stranded Knitting: Post 16 - Casting Off and Weaving in the Ends

Casting off

Confession time, again…I know there are all sorts of nifty cast offs out there…extra stretchy, extra fast, extra (substitute the latest thing here), but I just seem to come back to the regular old “knit 2, pass first stitch over the second stitch” cast off. I know, boring…but I haven’t had any trouble with this tried and true method. so why change. I have started giving the first and second stitch a gentle tug to enlarge them before the passing over bit...making the cast off not so tight, but generally, it is the same cast off I learned at age eight.

Now, I will say that I do cast off “in pattern” if I am casting off a rib. You know the drill… if the rib is a K2, P2 rib, I will K2, pass 1^st K st over 2^nd. Then P1, pass the remaining K st over the P. The P1 and pass the 1^st P st over the 2^nd….and so forth. This seems to knock some of the frill out of an “all knit” cast off for a rib.

 

Wilkins. Beginning of round where ends were woven in.

Weaving in the Ends

We talked about some of this in Post 10 - “Weaving yarns…to add new colors and finish old colors”, but I wanted to talk about weaving in the ends a bit more depth here…mostly because I said I would.

If you ask a group of non-stranded knitting folks why they are reluctant to try stranded knitting, you will get a variety of answers. Among them is the necessity of weaving in “all of those ends”! This statement is usually accompanied by a look of abhorrence.  Hey…I sometimes get this reaction from stranded knitting enthusiasts!

There are people out there that count how many ends they have to weave in …giving them numerical milestones to reach as they go and a label to their feeling of accomplishment when finished. "I had to weave in 468 ends!"

There are those who kind of enjoy the process of taking care of the ends. At the completion of the knitting, they settle in with a good movie or a book to listen to and work patiently securing those ends. "It's very Zen-like."

I have a friend who spreads out the “joy”. She works for a few inches on a stranded project and then stops and weaves in all of the ends not secured up to that point. That way when the project is finished the ends are all done with.

There are some among you who weave in the ends as you go…as we discussed in the previously mentioned post...for the express purpose of not having to weave them in at the end.

What do I do? For no other reason that being overly cautious, I both weave in the ends as I go AND weave them in during finishing. I know, overkill.

So if you would rather not weave as you knit….and are an exclusive weaver of ends at the finish …or a combination “weave as you knit” and “weave at the end” person, as I am, there are a few options for getting those ends secured.

Examples of weaving in ends for non-stranded knitting generally use cast on and/or cast off ends for demonstration. The knitter is instructed to thread a tapestry needle and on the reverse side, follow a few stitches…doing a kind of reverse side duplicate stitch with the end. This is supposed to maintain the overall stretchiness of the finished fabric.

I have also seen an instruction to make sure to work in diagonal lines when securing the end.

These techniques are designed to prevent the ends from coming unraveled during the normal wear of a stretchy fabric.

Good News! Stranded work is not that stretchy…so the fear of unraveling is a somewhat lessened.

What I do is…gently tug on the end to tighten up the stitches and to determine which direction the end is coming from. Then weave in the end…going under a few purl bumps and around a few floats…for about 2 inches, continuing in the direction the end was traveling.

With the project spread out flat, I go mostly in a straight line and I’m working very gently…and have never had any trouble. Be aware, though, that there are those who say never to go under a float for fear of disrupting your tension. If this is one of your worries…then stick with catching the purl bumps and leave the floats. No worries.

Wilkins. Beginning for round (body), wrong side showing woven ends.

Wilkins. Beginning of round (rib) showing woven ends.

Now, how do you direct the end on your chosen path? Here are a few suggestions…

Blunt tapestry needle with 4-6 inch tail. Thread it up and go. It’s a bit tedious, but works well.

Blunt tapestry needle with 1-3 inch tail. Without threading it, take the needle on the desired path, hold tight while you thread the needle, and then pull through. This is a bit fiddley, but helps when the tail is too short to thread the needle conventionally.

Crochet hook with 2-3 inch tail. Pull the end through 2 or 3 chosen locations along the path. FYI, I generally try to pull the end from the same direction…either the bottom or from the top of the purl bump (or float) that is used as the anchor spot. I find the direction consistency causes the end to spiral along its path of security…becoming a bit more…well…secure.

Ok, so there you go…a few ways to secure ends. As always…not a decree of what’s right or correct, just a few ideas for you perusal. If you have a method that works for you, by all means, stick with it. “Why fix what ain’t broke”?

Next week - last post in this series: Blocking.

I'm be asking what series people would like to see next. If you have enjoyed this one, let me know what you would be interested in as it pertains to stranded knitting.

Best!

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

Stranded Knitting: Post 12 - Using Markers

Some of my markers...the rest are either in that mysterious place all things go to hide...or are at work in some UFO.

Using markers

A whole section on using markers? Seriously?

Markers can be very useful…in more ways than indicating the beginning of the round.

Here is a list of how I use markers for stranded work. Granted some of these methods can also be used for non-stranded work…and odds are, you probably have used markers in all of these ways. Maybe you have a few marker uses not mentioned below. If so, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you have come up with.

Beginning of the round – This one is obvious. Stranded work is generally worked in the round, so a marker to indicate the beginning of the round is very useful. It is also helpful if this beginning marker is different from any other markers used. This can be as easy as using a brass marker as a beg rnd marker and the rest colors…or as cute as a squirrel as the beg rnd and acorns for the rest of the makers.

Counting cast on stitches – When casting on a large number of stitches, markers can be used to indicate groups of stitches...i.e. placing a marker every 10 or 25 stitches. You can do this a couple of ways. Count to the desired stitch number (10 or 25), stop and place a marker…or cast on a larger number of stitches, then stop, count desired stitch number and place an open marker. The later method allows you to cast on mindlessly until you get tired and then count.

Or you can do what I do….start off casting on 25 stitches, stop and place a marker…then get tired of counting and stopping and just cast on mindlessly and count later. :)

Set off steek stitches – Another obvious one. Placing a marker before and after steek stitches helps to delineate these stitches from the rest of the garment…and means you don’t inadvertently carry your stranded pattern right through the steek. (Ask how I know this!) These markers are also good for indicating when you need to work some shaping on either side of the opening for which the steek is a placeholder…i.e. front/back neck or armhole opening.

Set off motif repeats – Like most things that look complicated, when you break them down into smaller sections, the work becomes easier to manage. As applied to stranded knitting, placing markers between motif repeats reduces the work to the size of the stitch repeat. In other words, in a pattern with a 16 stitch repeat, instead of worrying about a round of 256 stitches, with markers you can concentrate on only 16 stitches at a time.

It is also helpful if these motif markers are different than the steek and beg rnd markers. 

Indicate front and back – Sometimes it is useful to have different stitch makers for the front than for the back…if nothing more than to give you a sense of progress.

My favorite markers are the little rubber rings (o-rings). For the longest time, you could only get these rings in black and red. Armed with little bags of rubber rings, I used black makers for the front and red makers for the back. Somehow moving from the black markers to the red markers made me feel like I was getting somewhere…a sense of progress, like I said.

Now I can find these little rings in all sorts of colors…red, orange, green, etc.  Do I still use them in different colors on the front and back of a garment? Usually not…hey, I am lucky to put a hand on any markers, as they are generally cohabitating in mixed colors in the bottom of my knitting bag. Time to clean out the knitting bag and sort the markers into colors? Yes. Do I have time? Not in the least.

Indicate sections of garment – Like separating motif repeats, when it comes to indicating sections of a garment, markers are the best.

·         A marker at the right and left side can help with waist shaping, as well as where to place armhole steeks.

·         A marker at center front can help with placing the front neck…especially a V-neck. This marker can also help with centering a motif….which we will talk about in a bit.

·         Markers placed to set off thumb and/or finger stitches can be very useful when working on mittens or gloves.

·         I am not much of a sock knitter (blasphemy, I know), but I would presume heel stitches as well as bottom and top stitches would be benefit from the use of markers.

Visual cue to weave in new colors – This is one of my favorites….mostly because I like to weave in new colors a few stitches before the end of the previous round. The trouble is I kept mindlessly knitting and before I knew it I was at the beginning of the round and I hadn’t woven in the new color. This revelation was followed by a heavy sigh (or loud-ish oath, depending) and tinking the round back a few stitches to do the weaving.

Now I have a different colored marker 6 or 8 stitches before the end of the round to wake me up to check to see if a new color was needed for the next round. This one marker considerably cut down on my tinking quota…and oath making.

Visual cue to end decreases – Not necessarily exclusive to stranded work, but you know those instruction that say something like “decrease 1 st on either side of the marker every 4^th rnd 8 times” followed by the stitch count you are supposed to have at the end of the decreases?

Say this is a top down sleeve  with decreases to the wrist....and the final count at the wrist is 56 sts after the decrease. I was doing the decreases as indicated and every so often counting the stitches on the needle to see how close I was to the needed 56 sts. One day it struck me how to use a marker to help this process.

Say your stitch count at the top of the sleeve is 122 stitches. If you subtract 56 from 122, you get a total of 66 stitches decreased. Since you are decreasing on either side of the marker, you will decrease 2 stitches per round. Then you count 33 sts (66/2) from the marker and place another different maker. (You can also place another marker on the other side of the central marker, if you would like, but it is not necessary.)

Then you can just decrease until you reach this new marker without stopping to count stitches or keeping track of the number of times you decrease. Now all I need to count is whatever the round count is before I need to decrease again...every 4th round...or every 6th round...etc.

You are probably reading this and thinking…that is a heck of a lot of markers, missy.

Here’s how I handle them…

Beg rnd - brass

Motif makers – any color but red, white, or black

Section markers (center front and sides) - red

Steeks – black

Visual cue markers - white

You understand this is when I have all of the markers separated into little color coordinated piles. The reality is I will sometimes use an open or locking marker hanging off of another marker for the beg rnd….or barring that, I’ll use brass or white…something that will stand out…as beg rnd and whatever I can put my hands on for the rest. 

This “whatever I can grab” method does mean I have to pay attention to what job the markers are doing as I come to them. Sometimes easier on the front end isn’t always easier on the back end.

How do you use your markers?

Next week: Color dominance. 

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

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. ;)

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

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.

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

Stranded Knitting: Post 7 - Reading Charts

Simple stranded motif with 5 colors

Reading Charts (for stranded knitting)

Reading charts for stranded knitting is a bit different than reading chart for other types of knitting. For one thing, most are set up for knitting in the round. Secondly, while one square still represents one stitch, that stitch will most always be a knit stitch….as opposed to purl stitch, twisted stitch, knit into the back loop, yarn over, or any of myriad of other types of stitches.

Ok, you will see indications for some of the shaping stitches…k2tog, SSK, or central double decrease…in some stranded charts...like hats, mittens or waist shaping of a sweater…but on the whole, most stranded charts exist to let the knitter know what stitch is worked in what color.

This can be accomplished in a couple of ways. Let’s take a look at some of them and talk about the upside and downside of each.

Simple stranded motif with colored squares

Color the square the same color as the yarn used to knit the stitch…i.e., if the round uses purple and green yarn, then the chart will have purple and green squares. 

Upside: No need to have a key to tell you what color yarn to use. Chart square is purple, then stitch is knit with purple yarn.

Downside: Works fine for simple patterns, but printing and computer monitors can sometimes be imperfect and colors can be hard to distinguish, especially if some of the colors are similar. Also, if you decide to change the colors called for…say from green to blue…it can be kinda hard to knit blue every time you see a green square. Another thing is that you will need a color printer to get a hard copy of the pattern.

Simple stranded motif with symbols

Use symbols for each color needed. Take that same motif, in this type of chart, the purple is represented by a small star, green is presented by a dot. Then there is a key to tell you what the star and dot represent.

Upside: Color substitutions are easy…just change the key. Also, no need for a color printer.

Downside: Sometimes with complicated, multi-colored motifs there are so many symbols that you can lose sight of the overall pattern…making it hard to get a big picture of what you are working on. Also with a large number of symbols, it can be difficult to distinguish similar symbols from each other. “Is that the large dot or the small dot?” “Is that the open square or the closed square?” You get the idea.

Use one symbol for the whole chart…with the indications for colors found to the side of each chart row. So, in our motif of purple and green, the chart would only have one symbol. (In the case above, a filled in square.) The two indication columns (to the right) would have either an abbreviation for purple or green (P or G), a symbol (number or letter) for purple or green, or the yarn company shade number.

Upside: Again, color substitutions are easy…and there is no need for a color printer. With only one symbols used, the overall pattern is easily seen and understood.

Downside: You will need a key if symbols or letters are used…and you will have to be vigilant at the beginning of each round to see if there are any color changes. With only one symbol, every round looks the same and it is easy to keep knitting with the same colors without realizing it.

These are just three of the various types of stranded charts. Which one do I prefer? If I am submitting a pattern to a magazine or book, then, of course, I will use whatever chart configuration called for. If I am designing and writing for my own patterns, I use the last one most often. It seems to be the most versatile for me. Will I change in the future if a better solution comes along? Sure. Have I prejudiced the "upsides" and "downsides" towards my preferred chart...either consciously or unconsciously? Maybe. But can you blame a girl for having an opinion. :)

But let’s move on to how to work a stranded pattern using one of these charts.

If you have worked with charts in knitting before, you know that one square equals one stitch….and instead of reading left to right, top to bottom, with knitting charts, you start out reading bottom to top, right to left….just like you knit. Add to that, with patterns that are knitted flat (knit one row, turn, purl one row), row 1 (right side) starts at the bottom right and moves to the left…but row 2 (wrong side) starts at the left and moves to the right…and so forth. In other words, all odd rows are read from right to left and all even rows are read from left to right. Add to that, the symbol for “knit” means “knit” on the odd rows, but the same symbol means “purl” on the even rows. On the wrong side, it can be as easy as “knit the knits and purl the purls” or it can be a bit confusing at first.

You will remember we discussed that most stranded work is knitted in the round….with the right side facing you…which means, when it comes to reading the charts, you will always read from the right to the left…always. It also means that all of the stitches are knit stitches. All you have to worry about is using the right colors at the right time.

A chart full of colors or symbols can be pretty intimidating. Fortunately, there are both digital and low tech solutions that help make things a bit more accessible and easier to work with. No matter what method you decide to use, essentially what you are trying to do is highlight the round you are working on so you can focus on that round only.

Some instructions say to put a straight edge (or digital line) under the round you are working on…putting the to be worked squares above the edge. This covers the completed rounds and reveals the rounds you have yet to work.

Some say to put the straight edge (or digital line) above the operative round…which puts the to be worked squares just under the bottom edge of the line….and reveals the completed rounds.

Some say to use clear highlighting tape to cover your working round…leaving both the rounds worked and the rounds unworked visible.

Digital solutions require loading a digital version (usually a pdf) of a pattern or chart into app. I’m sure there are more…but the few I can think of are JKnit and KnitCompanion which can help organize your pattern instructions as well as charts…and GoodReader which is an easy (and free) pdf reader app that allows annotation.

A low tech solution is to make a copy of your chart so you can make notes and still have a clean original. (You can also make it larger if you need to.) The copied charts are then put on a metal tablet with long magnets which act as the straightedge mentioned above. Highlighter tape, also mentioned above, used on the paper copy is a very portable solution and a perfect travel companion.

What do I use? For years I used the metal tablet and magnet solution and it worked well. Now, I load a pdf version of my chart into Dropbox and open it in GoodReader. Since the charts I use are usually in the design process, being able to make notes on the chart helps.

Oh, and as to whether I put the straightedge above or below the working chart round…I put it above the round so the squares I am working on are below the bottom edge of the digital line. I like to see the relationship between what I am working on and what I have completed.

So that's it. How do you organize your charts? What type of chart do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below....or in the thread in the Stranded group on Ravelry.

Next week: Adding in new colors and Finishing old colors...which means video, people!

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

Stranded Knitting: Post 6 - Holding Yarn and Tensioning

A note before we get started....

As you might have noticed the post week is a bit late. What can I say...Life got in the way. Life and rainy weather. 

You see, I was planning to re-shoot some older photos on two haned knitting, but the overcast weather (I don't have big lights yet) during the time I had to shoot sort of foiled that plan.

So here's the new plan...I have put in the older photos here and then hopefully later this week, I'll get new ones done and edit this post.

...and with that said....

Holding Yarns

I wish I could do a series of videos showing you the various methods of holding yarns for stranded work, but the truth of the matter is that I really only am good at one….two handed. This means I knit western with my right hand and continental with my left as I work the round.

The down side of this way of yarn management is you have to learn either western or continental, if you don’t already know both methods of knitting.

In spite of this obstacle, this is the method I teach…at least introduce…when I teach stranded knitting. As you know, there is no absolute right or wrong way to knit. This is just the way I do it.

For equity sake, I do discuss the other methods in class….knitting with both yarns in your right hand, knitting with both yarns in your left hand, and the seemingly easiest, pick up and drop method.

This last method is the one most of my students opt for when the idea of using both hands overwhelms them. They soon discover, however, one of the major upsides of the two handed method…if you keep the yarns separated on either side of your lap, the strands do not get twisted while you work. Trying to manage a new technique which includes working with two yarns as well as reading a chart while your yarns are doing a combination of a tango and the twist can be daunting at best and infuriating at worst. IMHO.

Tensioning

If you think about it, there are two different types of tensioning when it comes to stranded work. One is the way you tension the yarns in your hands and the other is the tension of the fabric you are creating.

Since we were just talking about holding the yarns, let’s start with the first one…tensioning your yarn.

Again, I can only show you the way I wrap the yarn around my fingers…and continental knitters, gasp or laugh at will. I know my left index finger is WAY up in the air…but I can’t seem to help it. Chalk it up to everyone knitting a bit differently.

As an expository aside…I learned to knit when I was eight. Taught by a wonderful woman named Anne, who was a friend of my mom’s. She immediately started me off on a top down pullover of royal blue Red Heart yarn. She very patiently showed me how to wrap the working yarn around the little finger of my right hand. This seems like a mysterious ritual to me, but I eventually realized without the little finger wrapping, the yarn was too loose to work with.

As the years went by, and my knitting skills got to what I optimistically like to refer to as “reasonably passing”, I needed more tension in the working yarn…so I wrapped the yarn around my…wait, let me check…my middle finger. We all do that, right? Sit down to knit, wrap the yarn around whatever fingers it takes to make the tension “feel” right. We do it without even thinking…which is why I had to check just then. I seriously could not remember how it went…I just do it.

Anyway, when I started two handed stranded knitting, I was taking a class in the Outer Hebrides…with Alice Starmore no less. The class was on selecting colors and designing motifs….no instruction on how to hold needles or anything. Ok, I know I could have asked…but who wants to be the whiney American who can’t do something everyone else can...so I muddled through. Anne had taught me to wrap the yarn around my little finger on my right hand…so that’s what I did on the left. It seemed to work.

BTW...I have no idea why the left index finger stands at attention…it just does…or maybe the purpose is comic relief for the lifelong continental knitters. Sorry.

Moving on to tensioning the fabric. The predominant trouble here is too tight tension caused by the stranded yarn on the back being too tight causing the stitches on the needle to buckle.  

Here’s a mental image for you from one of my beginning stranded classes. If the class is large enough, I make them all stand in a loose-ish row, shoulder to shoulder, facing me...telling them they each represent a knitted stitch. Then I hand the ends of two heavy ropes of different colors…one green, one purple...to the person at the end of the row to my right, telling her to hold the ropes in her left hand at waist level.

My helper takes the green rope behind the group and holds it loosely across their backs. I take the purple rope and pull it loosely across the front…telling each person to grab on to it also at waist level. Holding the rope symbolizes knitting the stitch.

I then ask the group what would happen if I tell my helper to pull tightly on the green rope at their backs. The result is everyone moving closer together and/or bowing out towards me in a knitting example of the Battle of the Bulge.

In addition to making you just die to be in one of my beginning stranded classes ;), I am hoping you will see my point…keeping the back strand relatively loose will help give you a final product with even tension.

But how is this accomplished? Through the years, many knitters have developed several methods of solving the problem. Consciously making the strand carried across the back looser, inserting a finger between the back strand and the back of the knitting creating a longer float, stretching out the knitting on the right needle which pulls out the floats and evens out the tension, and knitting the garment inside out which makes the stranded yarns take a slightly longer route around the work…these are some of the methods employed to make stranded tension more even.

What do I do? I actually had to think about…because once you master (or at least, incorporate) one of these techniques, you will do it without thinking about it. I work a few inches of stitches…leaving them kinda all scrunched up on the needle….but not on the tip…and then spread them out down the needle every so often. It seems to work well for me.

Bottom line, though…as with any new technique, the more you knit stranded, the better your knitting and your tension will be…but you all knew that…right? It’s that old “practice makes perfect” thing.

How do you tension your yarns...or your stranded knitting? Leave a comment.

Next week: Yarn dominance.

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

Stranded Knitting: Post 5 - Knitting in the Round

Knitting in the Round

As mentioned earlier, most stranded knitting is worked in the round. One possible reason is that apparently early knitters had an abhorrence of the purl stitch. Most likely because purling takes longer to work…or at least changing from knitting to purling takes that fraction of a second longer than straight knitting. This can add up…and when you have other household duties…or light is fading, any time saver can help.

Another reason…and probably more likely…the patterning is easier to read when the right side is facing you. Also, purling stranded work is a real bear…as mentioned earlier.

Another time saving advantage is construction techniques for knitting in the round require little, if any, sewing up. Piecing knitted garments is a relatively recent addition to knitting pattern construction. When you think about it, with the exception of knitted blankets or shawls, most things you knit are a series of tubes…hats, mittens, sweater bodies, sweater sleeves, socks, stockings. Just saying.

As you think through this “in-the-round” construction, two thoughts will most likely come to mind…

What about cardigans…and if you really think about it, you’ll ask…what about armhole openings or V-necks or round or scooped necks…how do you accomplish these things, Miss I-Love-Knitting-In-The-Round?

My answer to you is “steeks”…those ingenious stitches that serve as placeholders for all of those openings you just mentioned….and I hate to do this to you, but a discussion of steeks and the use of steeks is better left to another series of posts….which I will get to in the near future...I  promise…really. (What’s the count now…up to three “other posts”? I’d better get busy.)

The other thought when you have a chance to think about knitting in the round is you will quickly appreciate that mastering one of the techniques for knitting smaller circumferences will come in handy. Actually, even if you never knit anything using stranded techniques, working with small circumferences effectively is a good skill to have.

Ok, so let’s start with the obvious way to accomplish this.

Working with a circular needle with a shorter cable will give you a smaller circumference, right? If you can find one (they can be difficult to locate), even the shortest circular needle can only be used on limited circumferences. The 16" circular used below is just right for the body of this hat..and may work for the top of a sleeve, but what happens when you get to the top of the hat or closer to the wrist of the sleeve?

There are smaller circs, you say. The trouble here is that they usually include shorter needles as well as a shorter cable…which can feel a bit cramped to work with.

So moving on to the other techniques for knitting smaller circumferences....ones that can be flexible depending on the circumference you are working with. These involve using double pointed needles (dpns), 

two circulars needles at the same time (two circs),

and the Magic Loop method.

Ok, I know that Magic Loop is probably not the best solution for this moment in this particular hat. The method would probably be better used closer to the crown, but you get the idea.

I thought about creating a video for each of these methods, but after doing some research, I am rethinking the idea. My apparent part time job as “Google girl” turned up…

16,600 results for “using double pointed needles”

6,040 results for “using two circular needles”

58,300 results for “using Magic Loop”

…and those are just the video results on You Tube. There are scads of other non-video tutorials on these topics out there.

Somehow I do not think instruction using my hands and my voice (either spoken or written) will be necessary….and besides, odds are if you have knitted socks or mittens...or finished the top of a hat, you are familiar with at least one of these methods.

The question then is how to knit stranded work using these methods. As I see it, in addition to mastering holding the yarns…which we will talk about next…there are two issues to think about.

One is possible laddering (a column of lengthened strands that are surrounded on either side by normal stitches) at the joins between two needles or at the loop area of your knitting. The solution generally includes giving the yarn a bit of a tug when changing needles or rearranging the loop (Magic Loop method).

This issue can also occur with non-stranded knitting, but I think I have a solution which involves managing the back floats, which I will cover in a later post.

A second issue involves irregular tension at those same points…usually too tight tension.

I usually don’t have either of these issues…and before you said “well, good for you…aren’t you special”, let me explain what I do and maybe you won’t have the problems either. If it doesn’t work for you, then please know that I’m sure there are issues that I have that you don’t…so we’re even…right?

Anyway, we will talk about how I manage the tension at these points in the “Weaving yarns…while turning corners” section a bit later. The solution involves a discussion about sections of fencing.

And on that cryptic note, I'll close for now.

Oh...and just for the record...I generally use 2 circs when working on smaller circumferences. Mostly because almost all of my circular needles are 24" long...which is the result of something EZ suggested in one of her videos.

What do you prefer?

Next week: Holding Yarns and Tensioning

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon

Stranded Knitting: Post 4 - Needles Used and Casting On.

Needles Used

Various circular needles

I wish I could tell you a definitive needle selection for stranded work. “Use these needles and you will produce fabulous stranded work every time.” Sadly, this is not possible and the preferences for needles for stranded knitting is as varied as the selection of needles itself. You will have to try different needles out for yourself and see what suits your hands and needs. My only suggestion is wooden needles are generally appreciated by beginners…for the same reason they can help with arriving at the correct gauge/tension. When you are trying out a new technique, the last thing you need is the slick speed of highly finished metal needles.

As to my preferences, I frequently use fixed circulars with fairly sharp tips...and as smooth of a join as I can find between the needle and the cable. I seldom use interchangeables mostly because I usually work with US sizes 0-4 (2.0-3.5mm) needles. These sizes are rarely included in interchangeable sets.

As to brands, I’m afraid I use whatever brand I can get my hands on that suits my needs and is fairly affordable. I know there are those among you that swear by one brand of needle or another…but I just don’t. Sorry.

Casting On (including several two or more color edge treatments)

Decisions on how to begin a stranded knitting project are pretty much the same for stranded work as for single color knitting. There is a wide variety of methods out there…long tail, knitted, cable, the various forms of stretchy or provisional cast ons.

I have heard that the traditional way to cast on for a sweater or jumper is a cable cast on...but I think there are several definitions of "traditional". So...bottom line: Your job is to choose your favorite or the one that best suits the project you are working on.


What do I do...I'm afraid I pretty much cop out and use a long tail cast on in one color for about everything.

But that's just me....when it comes to beginning in more than one color, there are also a number very creative methods to you can use.

If you are interested in braids, there are several tutorials that recommend two color casts on to begin with in a variety of styles....whether one color for the foundation (the thumb color in a long tail cast on) and another color for the stitch (the index finger in a long tail cast on) OR alternating these two colors to get alternating stitches for your cast on round.

Braided edge. 

Two color cast ons can also be used for corrugated ribbing. Just in case you don’t know…corrugated ribbing is a rib sometimes used in stranded work. It is usually K2, P2 where the knit stitches are worked in one color and the purl stitches are worked in another color.

Sometimes the color for the knit stitches is fixed and the purl stitches are worked in a variety of colors.

Folk School original colorway

Folk School alternate colorway

Another variation is both the knit and purl stitches are worked in more than one color.

Weyburn

Eastlake

Criosanna

Wilkins

To be perfectly honest, I find the two color cast on for a corrugated rib extremely clever….but I rarely use it…preferring to cast on in the color of the first knit stitches. I feel this adds a foundation color to the edge. Again, tho, just the way I prefer.

Another option for edging is a turned hem with uses a purl round as the turning round. The hem facing is a wonderful place to add some additional colorwork….just in case you cannot get enough.

Also, you might need to know, this facing is sometimes worked in a slightly smaller needle as the circumference of the facing is slightly smaller than the body of the garment. This is especially true with a large garment like a sweater.

There is also a picot edge… which, when knitted in the round, is accomplished by knitting as many rounds as you want for the hem facing. Then, as the turning round, [k2tog (or SSK, I suppose), YO] to the end of the round. This creates a series with holes where the YO’s are….but when folded, creates a lovely scalloped edge.

One of my favorites is a picot edge where the color used for the hem facing and YO round is different than the front side of the garment…creating different colored picot “bumps” that peek out from the edge.

Maiolica

Saluda Sunset Shawl

But these are just a few options of cast ons and edgings for stranded garments. Go exploring. I am sure you will find a million more on line.

That's it for this week. If you have any favorite cast on or edge treatments....or any questions or gentle comments, please leave them below. I'd love to heard from you.

Next up: a brief look at knitting in the round.

Brandon Knitting Designs - website
Brandon Knitting Designs - Facebook
Ravelry - varianbrandon
Twitter - @vbknits
Pinterest - Varian Brandon
Instagram - varianbrandon