All About Entrelac

All About Entrelac...it is just a working title, but at least it is a start. I have
had people ask me to write a book on entrelac for years. And it is one of the few books that I am actually interested in trying to put together. Recently I came across a pair of gals called the Blog Squad. How I found them is a bit convoluted, but needless to say, I have started following them. Their primary service is geared toward business professionals wanting to take their blog to the next level. One of the ways to do this is to write your "next" book via a blog.

So for the next few weeks, and most likely months, the Knitting Professor is going to be focusing on entrelac. At least until I move it to a different site or give up on the idea. Now even if you are not particularly interested in entrelac, many of the skills can be applied to other areas of your knitting.

So let's start with knitting backwards. So the question is, how do I learn to knit in the opposite direction? The key, which I have shared in countless classes and demonstrations, is to teach yourself based on how you knit. My particular motions will only work for you if you knit the exact same way that I do.

Before you embark on teaching yourself this very fun skill, remember this is just like learning to knit for the first time. Your tension will probably be all off and it will start out being much slower than just turning the work and purling. However, with practice and a little persistence, you will work out the awkwardness, even up the tension and pick up speed. The final effort is worth the investment.

1. Begin by turning your work to the private side and inserting your needle as if to purl.
2. Without changing your needles, turn your work to the public side and note the position of the inserted needle.
3. Turn your work back to the private side and wrap your yarn around the needle without pulling up a loop.
4. Without changing the position of the yarn, turn your work to the public side and note the position of the yarn and which direction it is wrapped around the needle.
5. With the public side of the work facing you, pull up the loop that is wrapped around your left needle.
6. Repeat these steps until you are familiar with the correct positioning of the needle and wrap direction of the yarn.

So now off you go to practice!

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The Importance of Seams

Seams -- a word that generates fear in some knitters, even to the point of trying to avoid them at all costs. Having recently completed the Sample Stitch Kimono, I had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time not only thinking about, but in fact creating seams.

Now it would be a lie to say that enjoy seaming, but I do get a great deal of satisfaction having completed a seam that is done particularly well. And although there are many classes on finishing, it is a topic that I believe the more options you are aware of, the better chance of having a finished product you are happy with!

And of course, there is no substitute for experience! Seaming stitches to stitches has always been easier for me than seaming rows to rows. However, seaming stitches to rows never bothered me as much because the "fudge factor" was never quite as obvious.

Almost all the seams in the Sample Stitch Kimono are rows to rows, so I had an opportunity to gain a lot of experience. Below are my observations (for what they are worth):

• If both pieces have a slipped stitch edge they are easy to seam, but not a "sturdy". If only one does, it compounds the difficulty of seaming rows.


• A stockinette selvedge edge was easier for me to work with, especially if I was trying to only catch half a stitch in the seam.


• In most cases, catching a whole stitch does not add significant bulk to the seam, but great improves the look of the finished product.

What are your experiences in creating seams?

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Finished Project

Okay -- so it took a while to get this posted, but I have been very busy getting ready to upload a complete revamp of my website along with preparing new product for the TNNA show in January. My New Year's resolution is to post to one of my three different blogs each day.

Notice how the flap on the purse isn't wavy along the bottom edge. Although I did block it slightly, it is based on the method decribed below. Now if you want to know how the purse holds it shape, you will just have get the pattern -- which will be availabe immediately after TNNA (middle of January)!!

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Managing the Rippled Edges of Cables

This is my project of the moment. Any guesses as to what it is to become? I have enjoyed textural knitting since I was introducted to my first cable and this project has had me thinking about the best way to minimize the rippled edges that often occur with heavily cabled fabrics. The reason for the ripple is fairly simple:

Cables, in most cases, pull in the fabric creating a denser gauge, but along the edges (beginning or ending) the effect of the cable hasn't taken hold. The result is a less dense (or wider) fabric at the edges versus in the middle and more fabric means ripples.

So what is a knitter to do?

There are two approaches, one is a scientific, mathematical approach and one is less structured and based on what "seems" to be right! Let's start with the mathematical approach. You would begin by determining the average gauge across the cabled fabric and the average gauge for stockinette (or whatever your background was). Divide your total number of stitches for the cabled fabric by its average gauge. Then multiple that result by the average stockinette gauge. Subtract the result from the total number of stitches in the cabled fabric and you have the number of stitches that need to be adjusted at the beginning or the end. Simple -- right?!?!?! Okay, not so simple -- at least for many knitters.

The other way is a bit more intuitive and may require some trial and error, but I find to be successful. Start with a provisional cast on (that is the pink ribbon in the picture above). Once the fabric is established you can see at which points it wants to ripple and at which points it wants to lay flat. At the points that it wants to ripple, you will need to do a decrease before binding off or starting your ribbing (after picking up the stitches from the provisional cast on). Usually this occurs at the point you switch between knits and purls or at cable crossings. If you make notes, you can do the same thing at the other end of the work.

Watch for a future post to see the finished item and learn other knitting tips and tricks from the Knitting Professor!

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Magical Mosaic

Mosaic knitting, it is one of those techniques that seems to go unnoticed most of the time. If you are not familiar mosaic knitting, it is a slip stitch technique that utilizes two colors. Row 1 is a series of knits (rarely purls) and stitches slipped with the yarn in back. Row 2 is work in the same color and each stitch is worked as it was on row 1. Stitches of the same color are knit and stitches of the "other" color are slipped with yarn in front (wrong side of the work). Rows 3 & 4 would be similar, but worked in the second color.

The reason I bring this up is that you can create some really beautiful and complex looking patterns in a relatively simple manner utilizing the mosaic knitting technique. Recently, I just completed the first project in a three project series on working with colors in a variety of ways (a new Class In A Bag project). The project is a simple eyeglass case, but the pattern makes it a really interesting finished piece of work!

If you haven't tried mosaic color work it really is easy, interesting and fun!

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