tangled

My sock design, Van Halen, is featured on the Tangled Blog in the upper left.

Once I played a movement of one of Bach's partitas for solo violin on a recital, and one of the audience members told me, "You play violin like Eddie Van Halen plays guitar." Later, he asked me to show him some of my riffs.

I wonder whether Tangled was thinking of my approach to colorwork when they named the pattern. I'm choosing to take it as a compliment.

binding off

Here's a way to bind off stitches that really helps your bind off stay loose. I "unvented" it while working through Lynne Barr's mind-opening Reversible Knitting. Captions are beneath the photos.

Here I have one stitch knit.

I put that stitch back onto the needle,

inserted my right needle through the next stitch as if to knit,

wrapped the yarn,

. . . and . . .

pulled the loop through both stitches.

Ta-daa!

This method helps keep the first stitch open. If you want extra insurance, you can hold it open with your thumb. I would use my left thumb to hold it open from the time I put it back onto the needle to the time I pulled the loop through both stitches.

Several stitch patterns in Reversible Knitting call for passing slipped or worked stitches over other stitches. I find this method saves time, but I don't assume that would be the case for everyone. I just fling the stitch back onto the needle when I'm going in for my next stitch. Slick, if I do say so myself.

leftward leanings

If you knit, you may already know about the SSK decrease, which is in my opinion the best looking left-leaning decrease. It involves slipping two stitches knitwise, one at a time, and then knitting these slipped stitches through the back loops.

You can also work this decrease without taking the stitches off the first needle. It especially works well with wooden or bamboo needles, but metal works, too.

Here's how to do it (captions are below the photos they reference):

Insert the needle knitwise into the first stitch, but do not take it off.

Bring the needle to the front of your work without removing it from the stitch.

Insert the needle knitwise through the next stitch.

Wrap the yarn around the needle,

pull it through the second stitch,

take yarn and needle between the two stitches to the back of the work,

bring them through the first stitch,

and slip both stitches off.

This method will save time and (more importantly) add variety to your knitting repertoire. I find it eminently satisfying to have more than one way of working the same stitch.

Many thanks to Cole for the photography.

faux bow baby hat

Sized from preemie to 9 months, I designed this for my knitting in the round class. It uses 4 different methods of knitting in the round!

gecko hat

All proceeds go to Relief Aid for Japan.

Hello Again!

I weeded the gardens today. It didn't take long and it made me happy.

We're approaching the second anniversary of my stroke.

Sometimes it seems like just a few weeks ago, and sometimes it seems like years.

Other times I can't even remember what life was like before. . . .

Great Barrier Reef

I have been wanting to knit something from Knits from Nature by Jenny Kee since my friend Joan gave me the book about 10 years ago. I love wearing tunics, but the one I really want for myself is the Barramundi, and I haven't had money for yarn since . . . well, since ever! But when baby Caleb needed a blanket I knew just where to look for inspiration. Since the blanket is worked in intarsia, the back side is, shall we say, not nearly as attractive. But I could use left over scraps of yarn for it, and I think it turned out really well.

I have plans to design an underwater scene baby blanket which is actually reversible. This will take some time, though, so don't look for it in the near future.