Purling Sprite

At the movies, Part III

I wasn't planning on posting these videos, but I have had so many questions asking me for a video that I finally broke down and here they are. The techniques are not difficult, but if you are a visual learner, the mini-shows will help you.

At the movies brings you variations of creating the Knit Stitch. You know the knit stitch: the smooth V like stitch. In loom knitting, you can create it various ways:

1. Put the working yarn above the loop on peg, insert tool and pull a loop from the working yarn through. Place this new loop on the peg while at the same time taking off the previous loop that was on the peg.

2. Place working yarn above the loop on peg. With knitting tool, pull the loop that is below off the peg.

3. With working yarn, hug the peg (as forming the letter U around the peg) and then with the knitting tool, pull the bottom loop off the peg.

The Knit Stitch is one of the foundation stitches in knitting and loom knitting with its partner the Purl  Stitch, you can create a gazillion combinations of stitch patterns. Even if you do not know the Purl Stitch, you can create gorgeous items with just the knit stitch. The top above has the Knit Stitch as its main stitch pattern...cute. Here is a close-up of the Knit Stitch (click the picture to enlarge).

If you are wondering: the top above was loom knit :).

Ready for the show? Here are the 3 versions of creating the Knit Stitch. Practice them and try each one of them. When a pattern calls for the Knit Stitch and you can't get gauge with one, try the other as the other may yield the gauge desired.

The Knit Stitch (my preferred method)

The Flat Stitch version

The U Method (Hugging the peg)

At the movies, Part II

The second installment of looming cables is on. But before we go on to view the next mini-videos, let's address some of the questions asked from the first set.

Bethany asked: Question: When knitting what you have just demonstrated in a project, do you have the tendency (I know I do, and I've been wondering if I should actually be doing this)to take the slack out of the carry over lines in the back, so that they are nearer to the pegs they are going to end up on? Or do you just leave them loose and long?

Answer: It depends. If I see that my stitches are too loose, I tug gently on each of the stitches, taking out all of the yarn slack off each of the stitches.

Christine asked: I wanted to try your thicker cable that you have posted that uses 6 pegs for the cable instead of three but my yarn simply would not stretch and in some cases I broke it because I was working it over too hard. Do you have any suggestions for keeping the yarn from breaking?

Answer: Excellent question! knitting on a loom stretches out all the stitches and there is very little slack between each stitch. Creating the 6st cables (or larger) is rather complicated. If you are using a yarn with very little elasticity, the stitches are going to be very difficult to twist. One way to make your stitches be more manegeable is to remove the stitches before the cable to a stitch holder doing this will provide you with some slack to cross your stitches for the cable. After you cable, place the stitches back on the corresponding pegs. Another option is to work the row before the cabling loosely--need to plan ahead a bit. Another option: work the stitches before cabling loosely, once you have cabled, go back and take out all the yarn slack off each of the stitches so they are nice and tight.

Christine also asked: on the patterns you show above what is the row repeat.

The 3-st cables that I showed are crossed every other row, e.i: row 1: cable, row 2: work normal. row 3: cable.

Thank you for your questions, keep them coming. If you have any other questions about today's show, drop me a comment and I will address those questions tomorrow.

In today's movie, we will be featuring the 3-st LPC cable and the 3-st RPC cable. They are very similar to the cables we saw previously, except one of the stitches gets purled rather than knitted.

First up, we have the 3-st Left Purl Cross cable (3-st LPC).

How to: cable is over 3 stitches.

1. Skip peg 1 and peg 2 (with working yarn towards the back of the peg)
2. Purl the stitch on peg 3. Take this stitch to the cable needle and let cable needle rest in the center of the loom.
3. Take working yarn to front of peg 1 and peg 2. Knit peg 1 and peg 2. 
4. Move the stitches as follows: Stitch from peg 2 to peg 3. Stitch from peg 1 to peg 2. Place loop from cable needle on peg 1.
5. Gently, pull the yarn slack off each of the stitches (if necessary)

Last in the 3-st cable series, we have the 3-st Right Purl Cross cable (3-st RPC)

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How to: cable is over 3 stitches

1. Take stitch from peg 1 to cable needle and place cable needle to center of loom
2. Knit pegs 2 and 3. Move the stitches from the pegs as follows: from peg 2 to peg 1, from peg 3 to peg 2.
3. Place loop from cable needle on peg 3. Purl the stitch.
4. Gently, pull the yarn slack off each of the stitches (if necessary)

Hope you enjoyed the show. Stop by next week for Part III of the cabling show. Next week we will be looking at 4 stitch cables (4-st LC, 4-st RC).

At the movies, Part I

Get a comfy chair, grab a yummy treat...take out that chocolate you have hidden on top of cupboard, your knitting loom, a cable needle and some yarn and let's get ready to try out something new on our looms.

Today, we are going to go over a two cables: 3-stitch Right Cross Cable, 3-stitch Left Cross Cable, These cables are typically used to make traveling lines like the ones shown on the blanket on the left. (The blanket shown is the Aran Afghan from Learn to Knit Cables on Looms booklet.)

Before we get started, I want to talk a little bit about the yarn for this type of project: try to choose one that has some elasticity to it, such as wool. This is one time where I would say not to choose a chenille type yarn, it would break too easily. Choose a yarn that will allow the cables to show too, something smooth, non-frilly, and a light color will allow the cables to pop a little more. On cable needles: I like the curved shaped cable needles as the curve prevents the stitches from accidentally popping off.

We are going to look at the 3-stitch Right Cross Cable (3-st RC) first.

For the cabling demonstrations, I am using the red Knifty Knitter loom, the yarn is Lion Brand 's Thick & Quick, the cable needle is a U shape plastic/nylon cable needle.

The instructions for the 3-stitch RC cable are as follows:

1. Place loop from peg 1 on cable needle. Take cable needle to center of loom.
2. Knit pegs 2 and 3. Move them as follows: Loop from peg 2 to peg 1. Loop from peg 3 to peg 2.
3. Take loop from cable needle and place it on peg 3. Knit peg 3.

Next, we are going to look at the 3-stitch Left Cross Cable (3-st RC) first. The instructions for this cable are as follows:

1. Skip peg 1 and peg 2 (take yarn behind pegs to peg 3).
2. Knit peg 3. Place loop from peg 3 onto cable needle. Hold cable needle to center of loom.
3. Knit peg 1 and peg 2. Move them as follows: loop from peg 2 to peg 3; loop from peg 1 to peg 2. Place loop from cable needle on peg 1.

Come back tomorrow for a second installment on cables. We will be looking at the 3-stitch Right Purl Cross and the 3-stitch Left Purl Cross cables. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the cables we saw today, drop your comment and I'll try to address the question(s) tomorrow before introducing the other two cables.

Comments

A taste for cables

*Updated:

I was reminded of this cables hat I made a few years ago. Hope some of you can use it and try your hand at cabling with the knitting looms.*

The response to the booklet has been vivid indeed. Thank you for the comments and emails you have sent me about the upcoming release of Learn to knit cables on looms. I haven't received my complimentary copy yet so I can't really tell you the layout or pages of where anything can be found. But what I can do is share a bit on cables. Here is a video I prepared on creating a 4-st left cross cable.

To the left is a picture that I took of the reboso before I sent it off. The yarn, if you are already preparing to loom it (coughLizcough), is Lion Brand Cashmere blend in silver. It takes only 6 skeins and ooh, it is sooo soft. If you think the yarn is soft on the ball after blocking it becomes even more so. Gorgeous yarn, fell in love with it before the project was done. I did use blocking wires (thank you Tina) to block it to shape, so you may want to acquire some of those in anticipation, they are not necessary but they make the job a lot easier--unless you enjoy pinning 200 Tpins.

Healthwise: I am doing much better. I was able to move around without aches or coughing. My voice didn't sound like a frog so much this morning and I didn't forget to pick up my kid from school today. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Yep, the responsible mother that I am forgot to pick up my child from school yesterday. I realized it about 5 minutes after his school was over. I am terrible! I blamed it on hubby though as I had told him last week that I would be busy for the next few days and the kids were his to take care of. He left for work which meant that the kids were home alone (theoretically speaking). Alright, so I admit it, I am guilty! I forgot him! And I kept beating myself up all day about it. But now that my cold is gone from  my head, I can think straight and remember 98% of my responsibilities--the dishes in the sink are not mine to wash, nope!

Well, hope you enjoy the video and find it helpful...book mark it, you may need it when the booklet above comes out...btw, have you pre-ordered your copy yet? Do you have a looming blog? I would like to do a book(let) tour...drop me a note and you may score a copy.

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Too many pots on the stove!

Have you ever tried to cook and have 4 pots/pans on the stove with food in them? You jump from one to the other, stirring, and lowering the heat, and checking the other, and trying to blow the foam of the 4th that it is at the verge of spilling.

That is the feeling I am getting right now, I have a few projects with deadlines around the corner and then my personal knitting--my Rusted Root. I am jumping from one to the other in hopes that I may finish them all with plenty of time before deadline. So far, I have completed two halves--a half for one project and a half for another. But, my Rusted Root is losing in the cookout--it has been thrown onto the "warm" burner and it hasn't advanced more than a row here and a row there. I really don't think I will have it done by Saturday, unless I forgo all the other burners and concentrate on this one. 

Although there are too many things on the burners, it does make for some fun knitting time. I don't have enough time to get bored. I have a couple of projects on the knitting looms and a few on the needles which makes things even more interesting.

Here is a little video for my loomatic friends, this one shows the M1 (make one) increase. (Blogline readers must click out to view the video, sorry for the inconvenience).

Pictures: Pink stuff--a top secret project. Green project, a test knit--sorry can't tell you what it is, but it is a cool project that's teaching me a whole new concept, Note my goKnit pouch in this picture--I really love it. If you don't have one, try to get one, they are really great. I usually knit in the car (every 5 minutes of knitting counts!) and my yarn always use to go either in my purse or on my lap, now I just put it in the goKnit pouch and hang it from the door and it works great!  I am saving the pennies to get a couple of more--another small one for my sock loom and a large size one for my bigger projects, oh, heck, one of each! Scout rocks! She just keeps getting more and more cool stuff in that store of hers and her supersonic shipping services make the shopping experience even better!

Loomy Q & A Day: Colourwork on the Knitting loom

In our Loomy Question and Answer Day we are going to tackle the question of adding color to your loom knits.

Question: How do I add horizontal stripes to my loom knitted items? How do I work fair isle patterns?

(Picture caption: samplers to find the perfect motif for the Knitty Gritty show)

This topic right now comes close to my heart as it is part of my presentation for the Knitty Gritty show on knitting looms and to face reality, I know so little about it compared to some of the great needle knitters out there that I have acquired a small library of books with this topic. Some of them come with only charts, others come with informational and historical background.

If you are in search of books in this topic, I recommend the following:

1000 Great Knitting Motifs--great for loom knitters as everything is charted and you do not need to make any "translation".

The Art of Fair Isle Knitting--superb book: historical and informational, plus some patterns, and some charts.

Traditional Fair Isle Knitting--my first book that I got on this subject and I highly recommend it. Easy to read, great history background, charts.

In the video below, I demonstrate horizontal stripes, and working a simple stranded color pattern. Sorry for the background noise, the kids were playing :).

Enjoy, and as always, tips and questions are always welcomed.

Isela

Tip 1: When working your stranded color patterns, remember the following: consistency/yarn dominance

Background color--Over (reach over the foreground color to get this yarn)

Foreground color--Under (reach under the background color to get the foreground color yarn.

Keep this consistency throughout your pattern, if you don't, your motif won't be as defined.

Experiment before embarking with your project, try by exchanging which yarn is coming from above and which one from under--knit a complete chart repeat and see the difference.

Tip 2: Do not travel too far with your yarn, keep it to less than 1". If you travel to long, the knitted item will have overly long floats (Floats: the strand of yarn that travels behind the work). If traveling for more than 1 inch (or 3 stitches), weave the yarns around each other.

Tip 3: Block: items worked with stranded colour knitting look their best after blocking.

Tip 4: General tip when working with 2 different colors: keep a ball of yarn at each side of you. By keeping them separated the odds of the yarns tangling are less.

Tip 5: If possible, try to obtain a small gauge or even fine gauge knitting loom to try out your fair isle knits--your stitches will look more defined and the entire motif will look more crisp.

The samples swatches in the video were knitted on a fine gauge knitting loom and the hat was knitted on a regular gauge with 2 strands of worsted weight yarn. The three items were knitted with the Knit Stitch.

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