Distitch?

What is this, you ask?

Pic borrowed from Rav pattern page

Apparently this is a new thing called distitch, which leaves you with a clean I-cord-like selvedge and I want to try it! The free pattern on Ravelry called the Distitch Edge Scarf is written for worsted weight yarn, but I think you could make this technique work with any weight. There's a whole book about it with scarves, hats, headbands, and coasters. Has anyone tried this? Tell me what you think!

Fair Isle Fun

Sally has been playing around with the Cascade 220 Sport.  We've discussed this yarn before, and Sally is pretty smitten with it.  Before she left for a well-deserved spring break trip, she grabbed five skeins of different colors and decided it was time to hone her stranded knitting skills.

Stranded knitting is the general term for the technique in which two colors are worked in a row to create a pattern, with one strand carried behind the work while the other is being knitted.  Multiple colors are usually used in a given project, but two colors per row is standard.  While the terms stranded and Fair Isle are generally used interchangeably at this point, Fair Isle knitting is actually a subset of stranded knitting focusing on the traditional patterns of Fair Isle, one of Scotland's remote Shetland Islands.  Technically, you are only doing Fair Isle knitting if your stranded colorwork pattern is one of their traditional motifs.

Brrr.  Image from Fair Isle website.

Colorwork is an even more general term for multi-color knitting, including stranded knitting, mosaic knitting, intarsia, duplicate stitching, and even basic stripes.

We have several pattern dictionaries for stranded knitting patterns, including Alice Starmore's Charts for Color Knitting, Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting, and 200 Fair Isle Motifs, which we are restocking as soon as we can.  Sally pulled out a few basic motifs and used them to create her beautiful hats.  Her plan is to create 5 hats from 5 skeins of 220 Sport, which are $5 each.  Five for five for five!  Granted, the book is an added expense, but if you love stranded knitting, it's a good investment.

To keep the technique manageable, Sally used just a little bit of colorwork on each hat.  If you are feeling more ambitious, I highly recommend We Call them Pirates, a free pattern from Hello Yarn.  

Why, yes, those are purple Decepticons.

I have made this hat in the original skull and crossbones pattern a few times, and I have also used her blank hat template to create several of my own designs.

I love doing colorwork like this, especially on little projects like hats and mittens.  I find it hard to put the knitting down, because I want to knit "just one more row" to see the pattern develop.

We actually unpacked 20 colors of Cascade 220 Sport today, so if you come in this weekend you will really have your pick of the litter.  Come find your favorite five colors, and stay tuned for the pattern for Sally's sweet little hats!

Also, don't forget to send us photos of your mom for our window display.  If you are a mother, please send us a photo of yourself!

Liberty Color Play

Did I show you this?  I don't think I did.

I cranked out a Splash of Color Cowl while I was away in February for a few days.  I needed a small, mindless airport project, and this was just the thing.

Classic Elite Liberty Wool is a machine washable multi-colored worsted wool that does some interesting things.  The colors change very gradually over the course of the ball, so you end up with a watercolor effect.  I found this terribly satisfying.  There isn't much repeat in each ball, so you don't really get stripes, and you can pick and choose your blending depending on which end of the ball you pull from.

I used the Brick Road colorway, #7863.  As you can see here, I chose to keep the pinks and purples in the center of the cowl and saved the browns and grays for the edges.  If I had started from the other end of my second ball, I would have ended up with a big swath of the golden brown in the middle, which I think would have been equally cool.

This cowl requires just two balls, but I feel like I would have been even happier with about 30% more width and a third ball.  Next time.  

If you choose to make the pattern as written, make sure you bind off as loosely as you possibly can, preferable with a larger needle.  I've had luck with the Decrease or Lace Bind Off, demonstrated here on Knitting Daily.  I wasn't thinking the first time around and ended up with a bound off edge that was so tight that I couldn't double wrap the cowl.  After unpicking it and redoing the bind off, it's much better.

We are part of a little subscription service from Classic Elite, so we receive two bags of each new color they release every month or so.  The two newest colorways are very springy, but we have a really great selection of almost all of their shades.

We have some of the solids, too.  They are lovely on their own, and really fabulous paired with the multis for some variegated stripes or colorwork like in Accents (#9166).

Zig Zag Tam, Photo from Classic Elite Yarns

If you like having some simple little knitted gifts on hand, you can't really beat this cowl.  Each colorway is so interesting, it is sure to please someone you know.  And for less than $20, you really can't go wrong, right?

Learn Something New: Knit, Crochet, and Advanced Techniques

More classes for you! Our class schedule is filled out for the rest of April and May.

Nettie in Rowan Revive

Adrienne's Knitting: Beginning and Beyond remains a very popular class. On Thursday nights from 6:30-8:30, Adrienne will teach you everything you need to know to tackle a variety of projects. The next round of classes will be April 21st, 28th, and May 5th.

Formal Boot Bag in Tahki Donegal Tweed

Ann continues to offer a one-shot Learn to Knit workshop for those of you who just need a little reminder. Normally a Tuesday night class, we are offering one on Monday, May 9th, as well, to accommodate your busy schedules. If Tuesdays work for you, we have classes open on April 12th, 26th, and May 24th.

Destroyed Cowl in Rowan Renew

Many of you expressed interest in learning to crochet, so we have a Learn to Crochet workshop with Ann on Tuesday, May 17th. Ann will teach you as much as you can learn in two hours! If there is interest, we will continue to offer crochet classes this summer.

Crocheted yarn bomb on our little corner

Finally, I'll be offering an Advanced Knitting Techniques Workshop one Sunday morning each month from 10-11 before the shop opens. We are always happy to help you with your knitting during shop hours, but sometimes you knitters have some pretty big questions and dilemmas! If your question seems like more than a "10 minute problem", sign up for this workshop. Think of it as a semi-private lesson. When you sign up for the workshop, please let us know what you'd like to learn so I can prepare for class. I will contact you if there is anything special you need to bring along.
We can work through a pattern that's giving you trouble, talk through your first sweater, learn to fix mistakes, whatever you need! I'm happy to teach you any new technique you've been wanting to learn as well. Here are a few suggestions: short rows, seaming and mattress stitch, picking up stitches, I-cord, provisional cast on, grafting, fair isle methods, intarsia...I'm sure you'll come up with even more.

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Heart Bonnet in cashmere

Hope to see you in class!

P.S. The photos don't have much to do with anything, but aren't they pretty?

More Classes

Interested in learning something new? We have some great classes coming up in the next few months.

If you're starting from the very beginning or pushing yourself to the next level, spend your Thursday evenings with Adrienne in her Knitting: Beginning and Beyond class. She has a March session and an April session, and you can knit whatever interests you.

Ann offers a Learn to Knit workshop on Tuesday nights if you can't commit to the three-week class or just need a little refresher. She has space on March 15th and April 12th. Grab a group of friends and sign up!

Already comfortable with the basics of knitting and purling? We have great options for you, too!
If you are ready to try knitting in the round, check out the Sally Hat class. The Sally Hat was designed by Nancy Ricci, and it's one of the most popular designs at the shop. You can knit a cap or a slouchy beret, depending on the size you choose. Ann will walk you through the basics of knitting in the round on circular and double-pointed needles.

Ann is also offering a class on the Turkish Bed Socks from Churchmouse Yarns & Teas. You get to learn all of the basics of sock knitting in half the sock!

I've had short rows on the brain lately, so I'm going to do a few one-shot workshops.

In one workshop, I'll show you how to make this great little washcloth using short rows. We will accomplish a wrap and turn (W&T) and get rid of those pesky little holes left behind. If you don't want to knit a washcloth, this design makes a great pillow cover or afghan square.

I'm also offering a workshop on short row shoulder shaping and the 3-needle bind off. If you have trouble seaming sweater shoulders with those funky stair-steps from binding off (seen above), this is a great way to make them easy and beautiful.

Any seamed sweater pattern can be altered with short-row shoulders, and I'll teach you how to do it so you can apply your new skill every time.

We have had some requests for introductory crochet classes, parent/child knitting classes, and fair isle technique classes. Stay posted, and I'll let you know when those are being offered. Anything else you have a hankering for?

Chloe Cowl

Nancy has another free pattern for us, as well as the helpful photo tutorial below. We just received a fresh shipment of Silky Flamme at the shop, so you have your choice of gorgeous colors for this sweet little project.

This fancy little cowl has an all over shadow cable pattern and ends with several rows of seed stitch. In this design, I have incorporated buttons which have no function aside from being cute, so no buttonholes are needed.

This is a pretty simple and straight forward knit, with some sewing at the end. Its length is easily adaptable; the longer you make it, the looser it will drape around your neck.

The yarn used is Silky Flamme by Elsebeth Lavold, a luscious bulky weight alpaca and silk blend with an organic feel and look to it.

You will need one ball of Silky Flamme, needle size US #10.5 and US #9 and a cable needle. If you wish, you can add some cute little buttons for fun!

The shadow cable pattern consists of 8 rows. Cables slanting to the left and slanting to the right create a soft curvy look. Your first 8 rows will look like this:

You will repeat those 8 rows 9 times all together or until your piece measures about 15" from cast on edge:

Now switch to the smaller needles. You can see in the picture below how much yarn you will have left to do the last part. Plenty!

Time to finish your piece with several rows of seed stitch. In the last two rows, decreases are used to make the edges curve. If everything went okay, your piece is about 16" long.

When you are finished binding off, make sure you leave a tail of approximately 45-50". With this tail you are going to sew the ends of your cowl together.

Sewing the ends together

The ends of your piece should overlap by 1"making sure the seed stitch part is on top:

Start sewing all round the edge of the seed stitch part using your darning needle. In the picture below I used a contrasting color yarn to show you along which line to sew, but of course you are going to use your long tail in the same color of your piece:

Because you are sewing in the seed stitch area, your sewing stitches will be quite invisible. So don't worry about being overly neat!

Now that you are done with sewing, you can opt to leave your piece as is or embellish with buttons! For this cowl I choose to work with 4 little filigree buttons:

You can also use just one big button on top your piece. Use your imagination and make sure to have some fun!

Silky Flamme comes in many beautiful saturated jewely colors, and I couldn't resist trying a bunch of them:

To download the pattern, click on the link below:

Chloe Cowl

Have fun knitting this pattern!

Note: A mistake (egad!) was found in the pattern, but this version has been corrected.  In row 3, there should NOT be a K3 as the first instruction inside of the *s.  Sorry for any confusion, and thank you to our knitters who found this!

Drop It!

Dropped stitches, for better or worse, occur when a stitch is removed from the needle and allowed to unravel down the length of the knitting, creating a column of horizontal ladders where the stitch should have been.

This technique is often used as a design element. The much-loved Clapotis from Knitty utilizes dropped stitches to create diagonal ridges. Raspy from Denim People uses strategically placed dropped stitches to give an unusual, edgy look to an otherwise simple pullover.

This amazing Destroyed Cowl by Martha Merzig uses a group of dropped stitches around the edges to give this eternity scarf a cool look.

I made mine in Manos del Uruguay Wool Classica Naturals. I love the thick and thin texture of this yarn, and the dropped stitches really give the variations a chance to shine through.

Of course, dropped stitches are not always a welcome sight. If you are knitting along and see the tell-tale loop:
you are experiencing a dropped stitch. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to fix.

First, put something in the stitch to keep it from dropping any farther down your piece. I often use a stitch marker or a bit of scrap yarn. On the knit side, work to just above your dropped stitch as shown below.
Next, find that crochet hook from your toolkit. Insert the hook into the front of the stitch and use it to grab the horizontal ladder behind the stitch and pull it through. You can remove your stitch marker or scrap yarn at this point.
If you have more horizontal ladders, repeat this process until you’ve used them up as pictured below. Put the last loop onto the left needle.

Dropped stitch fixed! If your stitch dropped down several rows, this can lead to a column where the tension looks a little off, but it should correct itself during blocking.

I find it easiest to fix a dropped stitch from the knit side rather than the purl side, but you can pick up a dropped purl stitch by going into the back of the stitch with your hook rather than the front. If you need to perform a fix in garter stitch, you will need to alternate pulling the ladder through the front and the back to duplicate the garter stitch pattern.

If you’d like to see a video of this process, knittinghelp.com has a great one on their Knitting Tips page called Fixing a Run/Dropped Stitch. They don't use a crochet hook, but the process is the same.

Whether you've dropped a stitch accidentally or want to try incorporating them into a knitted piece, hopefully this overview gives you a good place to start.