Lets Get Twisted

Welcome back to blogging with Tabby. Last time we learned about how to purl. In today's blog we will learn how to make a twisted cord.

Twisted cords are fun because you can use them for a number of things such as; cool ends to a scarf, the handle of a bag, and on a vest to keep it closed but also keep it stylish. The first step to making your twisted cord is to cut at least 4 pieces of string 3 times the length that you wish your cord to be (Eckman 18). The next step is to tie both ends off. I found the overhand knot to be the easiest to do for this project.  After you have tied both ends off Eckman says to," Twist [the] yarn until it is tight. be careful to keep some tension on it and hold on! It will want to jump out of your hands and kink up" (18).  Next, you will fold the cord in half and twist it on itself. Finally, tie both ends off and enjoy your twisted cord. The pictures will demonstrate for you:

What will you use your twisted cord for?

Eckman, Edie. I Can Knit. Big Sandy, TX: Annie's Attic, 2013. Print

The Art of Purling

Hello and welcome to blogging with Tabby. In today's lesson we will be learning how to purl. For this lesson you will need your trusty needles and your yarn.

Right off the bat this task will be different from the knitting we all know and love. After you have cast on you will take your right needle and instead of putting it through the back of your stitch you will put it through the front. Then you will wrap your yarn around your needle from left to right (Eckman 14). After that you will pull the yarn under the loop and off the left needle just like when you knit. Continue to purl the rest of your stitches. Look at the pictures below for a great step by step example:

If you are feeling very advanced you can do what is called the Stockinette stitch (Eckman 15). The Stockinette stitch is when you alternate rows of regular knitting and purling. One side reflects the knitting and the other side reflects the purling. This stitch is particularly fun for changing up a scarf. See how cool this looks:

Which style is your favorite, knitting or purling?

Eckman, Edie. I Can Knit. Big Sandy, TX: Annie's Attic, 2013. Print

English Vs. Continental

For the next lesson we will be learning the difference between the English and the Continental version of knitting. There isn't much of a difference between the two except the way that you wrap the yarn around the needle. In the book I can knit Edie Ekman suggests for people who are left handed that, " You might find it easiest to hold the yarn with your left hand in the Continental method. Because all knitting instructions written for knitting from the left hand needle to the right hand needle (3).  Although there isn't much of a difference, you will want to make sure that you are consistent in your stitches otherwise your scarf will come out looking odd.

For the continental method you will want to take your yarn after you have placed it in the needle as done in my previous blog post and wrap it from left to right around the back of your right needle like this:

As you can see the yarn has been pulled from the left to the back around the back of the yarn. After you get the yarn around the needle you continue with the directions from the previous blog which is to pull the right needle through the yarn that is on the left needle.

If you continue to do your stitches like this then the product should look something like this:

Now,  for the English method you will want to wrap your yarn from right to left when you start out. To do this you start the stitch the same way that you would in the Continental method but instead of going around the back you end up going around the front. It should look something like this:

 After you pull it around the front you will continue to make the stitch like the way you do in the Continental method. In the end it should look like this:

When you compare the two styles after the first row it doesn't look like that big of a difference(Eckman 3). But if you try a few rows using both methods you'll notice it looks weirdly inverted and curls when you take it off. See for yourself:

Today we saw the difference between two types of knitting. Which method do you prefer, Continental or English?

Eckman, Edie. I Can Knit. Big Sandy, TX: Annie's Attic, 2013. Print

Starting Your Scarf

In the last post we learned how to make a slip knot and how to cast your beginning stitches. Now it is time to learn how to make your first stitches!




To start off you will want to take the needle that is in your left hand and push it through the back of the loop on the left needle like so:

 Next you will want to wrap the yarn around your needle. I chose to go from right to left but  you can go left to right if it feels more comfortable as long as you are consistent. The difference between the two will be addressed in another blog post. You want to make sure that you take the yarn fully to the other side but not pull it too tightly.

Thirdly you will take the right needle and pull it through the top of the front of the loop on the left needle (Eckman 6). Then you will pull the loop off of the needle (Eckman 7).When you pull the loop off of the left needle you will want to make sure that you don't pull too tight or you wont be able to continue the stitches.

 

Continue these steps until you have gotten all of the stitches from the left needle to the right. In the end it should look like this:

How do you think different yarn effects the look of the stitches?

Eckman, Edie. I Can Knit. Big Sandy, TX: Annie's Attic, 2013. Print

Casting On

New skills are always fun to gain! For this quarter I chose to learn the skill of knitting. The first step in making anything in knitting is casting on. To cast on first you will want to make a slip knot. To do that you will take your yarn and make it into a loop, then you will take the end that is attached to your ball of yarn and pull it through the loop to where it looks like this ( Eckman P4):

Then you will want to tighten it so that it fits well on to your knitting needles. Your next step is to make loops to put on your needles, you will want to make sure that they are not too tight and that they aren't too close together. Keep going until you have the desired amount of loops, which are called stitches. This will be how wide your scarf is (Eckman P5).

How many different ways can you think of to make a slip knot?

Eckman, Edie. I Can Knit. Big Sandy, TX: Annie's Attic, 2013. Print