the blue blog archives: knit-in news

First off today I thought I'd share a bit of what I saw and learned at the Granite State Knit-In on Saturday. I only took one picture (come on, you've seen ladies knit before!), which was from the Show and Tell portion of the afternoon. Several women came up and showed their fabulous lace and intarsia sweaters. Very impressive. But I got such a kick out of these women who all knitted the same hat and came up as a huge group that I had to take a picture. Funny!

Nancy Thomas, from Lion Brand, was the speaker. I wish I'd thought to tell her about how much we knitbloggers and Knitty readers are enjoying the Cotton Ease (and ask for a few more neutral, sophisticated colors, perhaps). She brought many examples of exquisite knitting from her trips to Bolivia and Peru and talked about her experiences in the professional knitting world. She also brought some free patterns for people to take home and I must say I am impressed at how Lion Brand is really trying to offer hip and young patterns and yarns. It's not just your grandma's yarn anymore!

I took a couple of brief classes and saw a demonstration of some cable techniques, like cabling without a needle (not so scary if you don't have too many stitches in the cable). In another class, I learned a new decrease (new to me, at least), which is the exact complement to a K2tog decrease. You have to try it, if you're looking for matching decreases for raglan shaping or something like that! What you do is slip the first stitch knitwise and the next purlwise. Then knit the two together, by inserting the left needle into the stitches from the right. I know, it seems weird, but here's the result (new decrease on the left and K2tog on the right). Cool, huh?

And at the very end of the day, I won some yarn in the big raffle: 10 balls of Classic Elite's Spotlight cotton in a sort of pale blue/green/gray color. It's very soft! I couldn't help pulling out one ball so I can start swatching. Like they always say - if life gives you yarn, make a sweater!

Finally, speaking of making sweaters, people are still joining the knitalongs. I'm really excited that so many of us are getting together to knit and share our progress. Everyone is still welcome, so if you're interested, just let me know. And speaking of Knitty, until I was perusing the new issue (and old archives) yesterday, I had totally forgotten that the cover pattern two issues ago is a sweater very similar to the Becky sweater. If there is anyone out there who wanted to join the wannabe knitalong but had trouble finding the old Phildar pattern, check out Marc. And be sure to check out the new Knitty anyway. 'Cause Knitty rules!

posted by alison at 12:06 am | in just blogging 03 , techniques , wannabe

Comments

WOW! You did learn a lot! I wish I had been there and it sounds like you had a faboo time! And big, big bonus on winning that yarn raffle!! Woo hoo!

1) The decrease that is the mirror image of k2tog is called ssk (slip slip knit). It's the one I always use even if a pattern tells me not to. Isn't it just like k2tog?

2) Funny how much the sweater Marc in Knitty shows up so much more similar to the Phildar sweater when the Phildar sweater is done in darker colors, eh? The striped pattern is identical, as a matter of fact. If widths changed it's only because the weight in yarn is a bit different. It's clear where designer of Marc had gotten her idea to do the stripes, so if anybody wants to do the Phildar striped they'll get a pretty good copy of it by following the Marc in knitty.

Posted by: Becky at June 10, 2003 1:54 AM

Alison, please include me in on the Pagan knitalong. I think I might actually finish this one!

Posted by: Dava at June 10, 2003 6:49 AM

Speaking of Cotton Ease...I've been trying to hunt it down, after hearing so many positive comments in the blogs. I FINALLY managed to find some--but only a few balls in the bubblegum pink. The stores around me aren't carrying it, but they seem to carry every other Lion Brand yarn, though. I've requested the yarn but I am always met with a blank look, so I'm not hopeful.

Posted by: sharon at June 10, 2003 7:04 AM

Hey Becky (mistress of all decreases and increases!). This decrease was new to me, I guess since I was taught the regular old ssk, which never looked exactly like a K2tog to me. I really prefer this new one. Got a name for it?

Sharon, you might try some online sources for the Cotton Ease. Armadillo Needlecrafts carries all the Lion Brand stuff. Ericas seems to have a few colors for a bit cheaper price. And you might also give yarns-and.com a try.

Posted by: alison at June 10, 2003 7:27 AM

Alison, thanks for the decrease hint! I've filed it on my palm for future reference :) I'd like to join the Becky knitalong as well :) I've put together a pattern with Knitwear Designer for it! love that program!! Thanks for sharing your time at the Knit-In!

Posted by: Carissa at June 10, 2003 8:23 AM

Alison, it sounds like you had a good time. Congratulation on winning the yarn. I like it when us knitters win things.

Posted by: Lynette at June 10, 2003 9:20 AM

Oh, you flatter me much. [Okay! I admit it. I'm a knitting book freak and I love reading about this kind of stuff!] I think that the decrease you learned is a combination of the knit decrease (ssk) and the twist decrease (k2tbl). Slipping the second stitch pwise and then knitting it the way you described would be like knitting it through the back loop; that's a twist decrease. Very clever the new one you learned, but I really couldn't explain why she'd twist one stitch and leave the other untwisted. I haven't tried it on a sample but you've left me intrigued so I definitely will! Thanks for sharing :-)

Posted by: Becky at June 10, 2003 11:33 AM

Congrats on learning the modified ssk! There's also a ssp for decreasing on a purl row: slip as if to knit two stiches and purl them together through the back of the loop.

For raglan decreases I have always used what I thought was more the exact opposite (looking anyway) decrease of s1k1psso- slip one knitwise, knit one, pass the slipped stich over the knitted stitch like you're casting off. That decrease pulls the stitches towards the left whereas the k2tog pulls the stitches towards the right. Or vice versa. I can never remember. :)

Posted by: Alexandra at June 11, 2003 1:20 PM

I'm thinking of making the "Smooch" top? How many folks out there used Cotton Ease for this top? I want to try this yarn. I made the Sitcom sweater from Knitty but used a Tahki Cotton instead - that turned out beautifgully. I still want to try the Lion yarn. So, any advice is much welcomed.

Posted by: MKaye at June 11, 2003 4:22 PM

Hello MKaye, I know that at least two of the Smooch ladies are using Cotton Ease. Johanna did hers in Cotton Ease. There's a picture of it in monday's post. I used it in a couple of my tanks and found it to be a perfect substitution for the all seasons cotton. (In fact, I just bought some more Cotton Ease today to maybe make another tank!). So, go for it!

Posted by: alison at June 11, 2003 4:43 PM

Thanks, I will. In fact I'm stopping on my way home and going for it! So, add me to the Smooch list.

Posted by: MKaye at June 11, 2003 5:13 PM

Thanks for the info on the modified ssk. I will be trying it out!

Posted by: Melissa at June 12, 2003 5:30 AM