Double decreases and increases and how they distort fabric sounds pretty ominous, doesn’t it? These decreases and increases are often used in knitting for texture and surface interest. They are used to create the undulations in lace, and they can do other wonderful shaping things as well. I’ve been working on a Eventide, a sweater…
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We Need a Diversion Right Now
We need a diversion from all the news. Whatever your feelings might be, this is a lot to have coming at you all at once. I want to be on top of all that is happening, but at the same time, well I need a diversion to keep my sanity. I am quite happy I…
Filling the Well: Actions You Can Take
Filling the well is an expression I used in my creative classes at FIDM to talk about how to managing creative energy. From the outside it seems like creativity is something that just exists—that you are creative, or not. In that vein, I am sometimes asked whether I can actually teach someone to be creative….
Binding Off Within a Row
How can the instruction for binding off within a row be made clearer to the knitter? I’ve found a way that works for me. I need to have every stitch accounted for in the instruction, but when you are binding off within a row, some stitches have a dual role. Why There is Confusion When…
Challenge Yourself To Try New Things
How often do you challenge yourself to try new things? This week I decided that I would try a different method for making the toe of a sock. I’m not completely satisfied with what I’ve done—and I can always tell when I’m not because I quit working on something, even though I want to—but by…
Knit Nebula as a Nursery for Ideas
You can knit Nebula swatches to see what it has to offer! Nebula is a lovely yarn to work with, and I have two designs being worked up in this one. The combination of the subtle color variation always evident in Anzula Luxury Fibers yarn and the subtle (soft) sparkle of stellina make this an…
Poor Fit is Killing Fashion Denim
Poor fit is killing fashion as I have known it. I have been aware of this for several years, but yesterday it kind of slammed me in the face. I had the strangest feeling of being completely irrelevant and flat. Mitch and I went to look for a new pair of jeans for him. He…
Row Gauge Questions Answered
Here your row gauge questions will be answered! Row gauge can rear its head whenever you are working a pattern in anything beyond a two-row stitch pattern. Sometimes it is nearly irrelevant, other times, it is a huge potential issue. You may not have given a lot of thought to row gauge questions, but here…
May I Please Be Excused?
May I pleased be excused from my regularly scheduled activities? I’m going to blame this on a combination of things, but I feel like I need a bit of a break this afternoon (on the day I’m writing this). I typically work until 6:30 or 7 pm, or until I need to leave my office…
Row Gauge, Blocked and Unblocked
Row gauge is bound to come up whenever knitting professionals are in a conversation. I can almost predict how it will come up, and of course I know what my response will be. But unlike stitch gauge, row gauge is a little less clear-cut. It is difficult to match row gauge, so having some tools…
Swatch in Breeze from Anzula
I promised instructions for working a swatch in Breeze from Anzula. The stitch pattern I am using is one of my favorites. When I found it in 2001 or 2002, I loved the energy it has. It is called Tilting Ladder in Barbara Walker’s A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. You should read Ms. Walker’s…
My Expertise Might Be Right To Help You
How might my expertise help you? The thing is that I’ve been working on this project–designing, construction, teaching–for a long time, and it is hard for me to judge what I know in comparison to what others know. I know I know more than the average knitter, but it is easy to forget just what…
