Today is a prime example of why I need to stay at my apartment until my sister moves out of the house. She is 17 years old but still cannot be talked to when she is tired because she gets cranky and WILL cry like an infant. If ever there were a poster child for discipline it would be her. She is spoilt beyond belief, constantly in trouble, and a nightmare to live with. I only come home because I am still in a transition stage with half my stuff at home and half at my apartment. I am not bothering to move the stuff yet because the apartment is in no way permanent. It is just a temporary residence while I am going to school. Not that any of this is relevant to readers. Although it is a strong reminder of why it is nice to have your own space to work in. If you can I heartily suggest turning a spare bedroom or walk-in closet into a craft room/ office. It is always nice to have a space that you can retire to when you need some alone time or just want to get some work done. Regardless of my location, knitting is the one constant, and provides shelter when I cannot stand my loving situation any longer. Knitting allows for the passive release of thoughts and stress.
The passive release of stress, today, took place in the beginning of a cardigan for my step-sister’s baby. This is not the same sister living at home. This is the sister, previously mentioned, pregnant with her second child. As previously mentioned, the baby is a little boy, who will be here in late October/ early November. This cardigan is designed with a preppy feel in bind and is a mix of white and blue. I even incorporated two of the stitches mentioned yesterday, the garter and the ribbing stitch. I am eager to finish this cardigan and am excited to see the final product on him.
I want to finish this blog with 3 more stitches for my readers to try. I hope you will enjoy these next stitches and will not be afraid to incorporate some of them in your own knitting.
Stitch 4 – Reverse Stockinette Stitch
This pattern reminds me of horizontal rows of zig zags and can be worked using any number of stitches.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1 & 2 until the piece reaches the desired length. Bind off in pattern.
***The difference between this stitch and the traditional Stockinette stitch is that in the reverse stitch the Purl side of stitch becomes the correct side of pattern.
Stitch 5 – Reverse Garter Stitch Rib
The finished product produces much more pronounced ribbing than with stitch 3 and is worked in multiples of 4.
Row 1: *knit 2, purl 2. Repeat from * across row.
Row 2: knit
Repeat rows 1-2 to produce pattern and continue in this manner until the desired length. Bind off in pattern.
Stitch 6 – Ribbing, Part II
This pattern creates a wider ribbing than seen with stitch 3 and is worked in multiples of 4.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: *knit 2, purl 2. Repeat from * across row.
Repeat rows 1-2 until desired length is reached and bind off in pattern.
Check back tomorrow for 3 more stitches and don’t forget to practice the stitches you learned today.
Showing posts with label Basic Stitches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basic Stitches. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Basic Stitches From Awful Writer
I feel myself an awful blog writer because I have not been writing as often as I should. This is mainly because I am in a different living situation then I was previously and do not have nearly as much access to the Internet and for that I am sorry. But I also have been trying to finish a project for every blog, but I cannot seem to make my fingers work fast enough for a project completed every day, well not when I have other things to do as well. So I am going to devote the next several blogs, with a few exceptions, to outlining pattern stitches you might come across or would like to try, as well as spotlighting new things in the knitting community.
There are 12 basic pattern stitches used, but I will only be introducing 3 of them today. These first stitches are commonly used and are probably well-known with many knitters. I am not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence and mean for this blog to be purely a technical reference to new knitters.
Stitch 1 – Garter Stitch
Finished knitting appears in several horizontal rows and can be worked using any number of stitches.
Row 1: knit
Repeat row 1 until knitting has reached the desired length, Bind off in pattern.
Stitch 2-Stockinette Stitch (st st)
This pattern creates a series of valleys or v’s and can be worked using any number of stitches.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1-2 until knitting has reached desired length. Bind off in pattern. The knit side of st st is also known as the right or correct side of pattern.
Stitch 3 – Ribbing
This pattern creates a ribbing effect by mixing knit and purl stitches together throughout your pieces and is worked in multiples of 2.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: *knit 1, purl 1. Repeat from * across row.
Repeat these 2 rows until knitting has reached the desired length. Bind off in pattern. This pattern also has a right and a wrong side. The right side will be the knit side, where the pattern can be seen, while the wrong side will resemble garter stitch.
As you can see, none of these stitch patterns are hard to make. If you are new to knitting then I would encourage you to first practice these stitches in a tension square before attempting a pattern that calls for these stitches. For those knitters, who do not know, a tension square is a swatch of yarn knit up in order to test gauge and can also be washed in order to see how any knitting projects would fare before knitting. This is good to know because some yarns will shrink up in the wash. A tension square can be any size but gauge is usually checked using an area of 4 x 4. You can always undo these squares after you have finished them. I recommend, if you are planning on undoing the square, to take a quick snapshot so you can recall what a particular stitch looks like later. Although with the popularity of knitting today you can probably find pictures of these stitches online.
There are 12 basic pattern stitches used, but I will only be introducing 3 of them today. These first stitches are commonly used and are probably well-known with many knitters. I am not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence and mean for this blog to be purely a technical reference to new knitters.
Stitch 1 – Garter Stitch
Finished knitting appears in several horizontal rows and can be worked using any number of stitches.
Row 1: knit
Repeat row 1 until knitting has reached the desired length, Bind off in pattern.
Stitch 2-Stockinette Stitch (st st)
This pattern creates a series of valleys or v’s and can be worked using any number of stitches.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1-2 until knitting has reached desired length. Bind off in pattern. The knit side of st st is also known as the right or correct side of pattern.
Stitch 3 – Ribbing
This pattern creates a ribbing effect by mixing knit and purl stitches together throughout your pieces and is worked in multiples of 2.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: *knit 1, purl 1. Repeat from * across row.
Repeat these 2 rows until knitting has reached the desired length. Bind off in pattern. This pattern also has a right and a wrong side. The right side will be the knit side, where the pattern can be seen, while the wrong side will resemble garter stitch.
As you can see, none of these stitch patterns are hard to make. If you are new to knitting then I would encourage you to first practice these stitches in a tension square before attempting a pattern that calls for these stitches. For those knitters, who do not know, a tension square is a swatch of yarn knit up in order to test gauge and can also be washed in order to see how any knitting projects would fare before knitting. This is good to know because some yarns will shrink up in the wash. A tension square can be any size but gauge is usually checked using an area of 4 x 4. You can always undo these squares after you have finished them. I recommend, if you are planning on undoing the square, to take a quick snapshot so you can recall what a particular stitch looks like later. Although with the popularity of knitting today you can probably find pictures of these stitches online.
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