Swatch

I don’t know about you guys but the endless endless emails that clog my inbox from Interweave press and all their crafting offshoots have gone beyond the point of annoying to the point where I just have stopped taking them seriously. Somebody has really got to tell these guys that less is more.

MESSAGE TO THE SUITS AT INTERWEAVE PRESS:

I certainly like to hear what is happening at Interweave press but please,  not more than not more than once a week and certainly not the low content, “purchase my stuff” drivel that you pile on relentlessly, hoping that something will stick. Why not take a leaf out of the Berroco team who send a nice update every Friday which gets you in a fun weekend mood thinking about all the stuff I can do over the weekend with my favorite hobby?

Having said the above, Interweave Press obviously commands some wonderful hand knit and crochet talent. Eunny Jang alone has got to be one of the best in the biz (not to mention how she shines on camera!).

This lady is terrific.

You could say that the “suits” at this company are not serving the talent well but as part of the great Knitting and Crocheting public, we can learn a lot from the knitterati tips that get sprinkled into their relentless marketing drive from time-to-time.

Today’s post is taken from some of that good stuff.  The marketing tactics of this company are so off-putting that I’m not going to include links to the original content, but any knitter in N. America is probably getting the same stuff and needs no links, and anyone else out there with access to an internet search function can easily find it.

OK, enough ranting, onto the good stuff; in this case swatches of mock cables and patterns where the stitches go in different directions, creating texture and all without cabling.

swatches from Knitting Daily; wrapped stitch on left, mock cable on right

Wrapped stitch

Row 1: K3, yarnover, k3, pass yarnover over all three stitches, k3, yarnover, k3, pass yarnover over all three stitches, and so on across row.

Row 2: Purl across row.

Note: a YO is generally long enough to pass over 3 sts comfortably

2-stitch faux cable

Row 1: K1, yarnover, SSK, P2, K1, yarnover, SSK, P2, across row.
Row 2: Purl.

Note: there are several other methods for producing a 2-stitch mock cable, basically variations on the Bavarian 3-stitch mock cable shown below.

Smocking stitch

In this example you need a multiple of 14 stitch plus selvedge stitch(s).

Base Rows: 2×2 rib.

Row 1: Knit to start of smocking (in this case a wrap over 6 stitches total, two columns of 2 knit stitches with a column of 2 purl stitches in between). Insert needle in the space after the last stitch to be smocked (6th st on the LH ndl), pull up a loop, place loop on the LH ndl and knit together with the first smocked stitch.

Next few rows: Dependent on spacing between smocking, knit in 2×2 rib as established.

Final row: Repeat smocking, but offset smocking from row 1 by 4 sts.
Note: In this case the wrap is created with 2 strands of yarn. Compare to the wrap created by a YO in the first example which consists of a single strand of yarn.

3-stitch mock cable

3st mock cable picture from knittingfool.com

Holding the yarn in back and without dropping stitches off the needle, knit the 3rd stitch on the LH ndl, then the 2nd stitch. Knit the first stitch on the LH ndl and drop all three stitches off the ndl. Work twist every every other RS row (i.e. if you twist on row 1, twist again on row 5).

Check out this post from Explai(knit) for a great discussion of mock cables.

Double ended crochet hook

Chalk one up for the mass marketers. When I was at Rhinebeck last year, I searched high and low but could not find a double-ended crochet hook for sale.

Enter stage left good old Jo-Ann, which is now selling these:

They’re only available in 5.5 mm and 6.0 mm sizes, but it’s a start.

I’ve had been seeing more articles about double ended crochet recently and wanted to try out the technique.

Here is a little swatch, made with 2 colors of worsted weight wool and the 5.0 mm crochet hook. The swatch was made in the round using the instructions supplied with the hook.

The fabric is fairly dense and I was quite surprised how non-stretchy it was, would be great for a collar or a cuff.

Here is a close-up of the rounds at the beginning and end. It’s fairly subtle but probably noticable to the discerning eye. This would be best placed in an inconspicuous spot.

One thing I did not like the cast-on row, this gives an edge that is about half as thick as the body of the fabric. This which would be great for attaching a loose edging, but would need some extra finishing as a stand-alone edge.

One option for finishing this edge would be to leave a long tail at the start and then use this to slip stitch in each stitch to attach the floppy stitch and add body. You can see the cast-on edge (pink yarn) and the cast-off edge (blue yarn) more clearly in this picture:

Testing, testing

On a whim, purchased some Rowan natural silk aran from the recent sale at Elann. I had seen a friend knitting a simple ribbed scarf with this and the feel of the fabric was sumptuous. This is a tough yarn to characterize, not like anything I’m used to (i.e. wool!). I used the ball band recommended 4.5 mm and am not enamored of the fabric plus the yarn stitches seem to enlarge as I knit them. It would not be comfortable to knit with smaller needles as the yarn is soft to the touch but has a strong string-like quality to the feel. I realized that the reason I admired it so much on my friend’s needles is because she is a an incredibly tight knitter and her fabric was very dense.

Adding to my confusion, this yarn that looks totally different up close, where it resembles rope, and and far away where it looks modern and glam (the silk content). Not at all sure what to do with it at all now. Does this ever happen to you that you’re intrigued by a yarn that perplexes you? A bag would seem like a good project but the fiber content (73% viscose, 12% silk, 12% linen) seems too glamorous for a humdrum shopping bag. It does appear to be a yarn that looks really good in crochet and I show you my little swatch below. Interestingly, after washing, the swatch grew considerably in the horizontal direction but barely in the vertical direction.