It being a new year and all, I made the Symbolic Gesture of breaking out the two colours of cotton yarn and the beautiful rosewood 4.5mm needles, and having a go at the ballband dishcloth Robynn suggested. This was a bit weird, since the smaller needles and the texture of the cotton are a serious paradigm shift after quantities of aran-weight swiss cheese, but I didn't allow this to faze me. After all, I thought, there's still purling to come...
I have discovered that my space-time problem with purl is not, in fact, purl. I knitted a perfect row of purl first-off, no wibbles or continuum warps. It looks kinda cool. I am forced to conclude that the problem I have is in trying to alternate plain and purl. I suspect they're like matter and anti-matter, and therefore shouldn't exist in the same universe. Row. Whatever.
I spent most of the morning stuck at Row 3 in the pattern, which casually tells me "Join B". I had five different websites up with instructions for joining wool of a different colour. None of them made any sense (although this may be partially attributable to the fact that I had to wake up at 5.30 this morning to take my mother to the airport and consequently have no brain; also, the Evil Landlord's computer keeps randomly rebooting, kicking me off the wireless each time, usually in the middle of a complicated knitting video). I couldn't work out what I was actually trying to do here - tuck a new colour miraculously in so that I knit with alternately one and then the other, carrying the unused colour along with me concealed in a small alternate dimension? or starting a new row with a new colour and snipping the old one? or simply leaving the old one by the wayside like a discarded boot until I get bored with hopping? yours, confused. Also, the instruction "slip" sounded fraught with peril. Historically speaking, I break limbs when I slip, or at the very least dislocate something. Possibly the space-time continuum. Again.
Eventually, tired of squinting at the screen and muttering to myself, I damned well joined the second colour and simply obeyed the pattern, trusting to luck and the tangled gods of knitting and idiots. It helped that I finally found a site that explained slipping (it's so simple most don't bother). I am now six rows into the pattern, with no more incident than accidentally knitting the trailing end of the plaster on my left forefinger into a stitch, and having to be vigilant for the occasional picked-up stitch with all this yarn forwarding and backing. I am overcome with awe at the sneaky colour-play resulting from leaving all these slipped stiches hanging in this callous way and anchoring them with the forward/back bit. Knitting. It's cool.
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7 comments:
Yay slippage! Slip-stitch colourwork is really wonderfully cool. (Wait till you try mosaic knitting - looks like fair isle but knits with just one colour per row!) I'm very keen to see what colours you've chosen, btw. Knit blogs are all about lots of pictures, despite my own appalling record in this area. Do as I say, don't do as I do, etc.
Also, happy new year! May it be filled with yarrrrrn.
PS Sounds like your purl problem may have been caused by problems with bringing the yarn forward and/or back when changing between purl and plain? Consult your friendly local religious wolverine for corroboration and advice.
You are, of course, quite right: the stitch-gaining problem was almost certainly my yarn flapping around like a 1920s debutante, since I only worked out how significant it was after about 5 restarts. Both the wolverine and firstfallen pointed this out in kind, understanding tones.
I'll post a pic when I've worked out this gigantic snarl-up that's just materialised.
And happy new year to you too!
ooh, you are being impressive now. Actual colours! she said, in slightly awestruck tones. I just picked up needles for the first time in years just to see what it was like -- the knit rows go smoothly but I feel incredibly clunky on the purl rows, my hands just won't do the right things. Changing back and forth within a row is beyond me right now. Need practice. Can see needles being purchased in Gansbaai.
Are you using the Vinnis Colours cotton for the dishcloth? How is it working?
Hey, don't look too closely at me. Haven't knitted in yonks and already you are using terms I don't know. boucle?
fistfallen is your gal. I'll just admire quietly from the sidelines.
Mamagenerica, I am indeed using the cotton. I like the colours and the feel, but the tendency for the threads to split is driving me faintly insane.
W-n, you at least have the basic mechanics down, which means you've rescued me rather more than once. I really have a very high level of innate knitting idiocy.
Don't be lured by the novelty yarns!! Unless you plan to knit in plain garter stitch for ever. Learn from my recent little jersey: lovely fluffy wool, no pattern visible at all, almost impossible to count stitches, impossible to count rows. Don't even think of trying to recover a dropped stitch. Sigh. The only thing novelty yarn is good for is a big scarf knitted on broomstick needles.
If ever I feel the need to own something boucle (for w_n: it's yarn with little blobs in, a bit like the slubs in silk), I'll buy the pre-knitted fabric and sew something :P.
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