![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Knitting Class, Week 2
This is the week we were to learn purling. But first we learned the mattress stitch.
Hats
The instructor brought in one hat for each of us which she had made the previous Saturday on her knitting machine. They were complete except for sewing the (easy part of) the final seam. We each sewed up one hat (so you can barely see the seam) while she told us that hats are always in demand to be donated. She said that when knitting a hat for donation, it is wise to make stripes, to use more than one color. Then you won't accidentally make a hat in a gang color. Also, this makes it easy to use up scraps of yarn.
Gauge
We learned to purl. And then we made a swatch of stockinette stitch so we could practice measuring stitches per inch.
And then she gave us a "universal" pattern for a hat. Basically what you do is:
1) Measure the head of the future hat recipient in inches.
2) Knit a swatch with the hat yarn you've picked out and measure your gauge.
3) Follow directions for your size/gauge combination.
This is different from the usual technique of knitting swatch after swatch with different sized needles until you get the required gauge. All gauges work for this pattern. Cool!
We didn't actually start a hat. But she hoped we would and if we do, we should work through to the decreases (where the hat starts tapering in) and then she'll show us those. There are many ways to decrease, and the one she uses for her hats is downright pretty.
Charts
Apparently there are two ways to code a knitting pattern. One is with abbreviations in the sort of English that recipes are written in. The other is a grid. The ones we looked at had dark squares to show a purl and light squares for a knit. The only tricky part is that after you do a row and flip your work over to start the next row, then you have to do the opposite-purl the darks and knit the whites. (Purls look like knits on the back and vice versa.) So it's especially important to keep track of which side you're on. The instructor recommended hanging a thread off the first row.
She said that the world is going to charts. They:
* are easier to translate
* are less error-prone to create (you can actually see the pattern)
* take less space in magazines and books.
She said you could write out a charted pattern into English if you want to.
We saw samples of several charted patterns and she started us on a checkerboard (with verbal instructions) so we could learn how to switch back and forth between knitting and purling.
Short rows
In the middle of all that she told me to pull out my knitting and start trying to do the "Swirl Dishcloth" pattern. This required me to learn something new. A short row is when you're working on a row and before you finish the row, you turn the knitting around as if you'd finished the row and just skip all those stitches. Later rows can then curve around that end.
There are many technique to keep a hole from appearing there at this spot. I learned the "turn and wrap" technique.
Short rows can be used in knitting socks, which I want to try one day. And this is a pretty swirly dishcloth, so I was happy to start this.
Hats
The instructor brought in one hat for each of us which she had made the previous Saturday on her knitting machine. They were complete except for sewing the (easy part of) the final seam. We each sewed up one hat (so you can barely see the seam) while she told us that hats are always in demand to be donated. She said that when knitting a hat for donation, it is wise to make stripes, to use more than one color. Then you won't accidentally make a hat in a gang color. Also, this makes it easy to use up scraps of yarn.
Gauge
We learned to purl. And then we made a swatch of stockinette stitch so we could practice measuring stitches per inch.
And then she gave us a "universal" pattern for a hat. Basically what you do is:
1) Measure the head of the future hat recipient in inches.
2) Knit a swatch with the hat yarn you've picked out and measure your gauge.
3) Follow directions for your size/gauge combination.
This is different from the usual technique of knitting swatch after swatch with different sized needles until you get the required gauge. All gauges work for this pattern. Cool!
We didn't actually start a hat. But she hoped we would and if we do, we should work through to the decreases (where the hat starts tapering in) and then she'll show us those. There are many ways to decrease, and the one she uses for her hats is downright pretty.
Charts
Apparently there are two ways to code a knitting pattern. One is with abbreviations in the sort of English that recipes are written in. The other is a grid. The ones we looked at had dark squares to show a purl and light squares for a knit. The only tricky part is that after you do a row and flip your work over to start the next row, then you have to do the opposite-purl the darks and knit the whites. (Purls look like knits on the back and vice versa.) So it's especially important to keep track of which side you're on. The instructor recommended hanging a thread off the first row.
She said that the world is going to charts. They:
* are easier to translate
* are less error-prone to create (you can actually see the pattern)
* take less space in magazines and books.
She said you could write out a charted pattern into English if you want to.
We saw samples of several charted patterns and she started us on a checkerboard (with verbal instructions) so we could learn how to switch back and forth between knitting and purling.
Short rows
In the middle of all that she told me to pull out my knitting and start trying to do the "Swirl Dishcloth" pattern. This required me to learn something new. A short row is when you're working on a row and before you finish the row, you turn the knitting around as if you'd finished the row and just skip all those stitches. Later rows can then curve around that end.
There are many technique to keep a hole from appearing there at this spot. I learned the "turn and wrap" technique.
Short rows can be used in knitting socks, which I want to try one day. And this is a pretty swirly dishcloth, so I was happy to start this.