I’ll Knit If I Want To: Episode 119

Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!

In this week’s episode we cover:

1. ALTERNATING SKEINS - is there a technique for alternating skeins when working in reverse stockinette or in garter stitch? When I use the “carrying up” method that works great for stockinette, I end up with visible dimples on the right side unless my gauge is loose. They’re very uniform, so it doesn’t look terrible, but I’d rather have it be invisible. Any help you can offer would be much appreciated! Thanks so much!

2. Hello Andrea, I have knit a blanket in a log cabin pattern. Now I want to add an edge to give it a cleaner look. Is it possible to knit the border in the round? Do I add stitches in the corners on every row? I hope this makes sense? I think what I'm asking is do I increase stitches in the corner on every row?

3. Hi Andrea! A virtual thank you hug for these videos. I’m a newer knitter, and with my husband and I both working and enjoying our three busy kiddos, I greatly appreciate that I can watch these whenever I can find a moment. The information (and connection) have proved invaluable. (My kids joke about me having to have my “time with Andrea” to be happy.) My question: I’m knitting a top down short sleeve sweater in the round. The beginning of the round is in the middle of the back. I worked through the pattern of the yoke, did the raglan increases, and then separated the sleeve stitches from the body. All is good. But then one line completely threw me “The beginning of round is now at the right underarm.” What?!? How did the beginning of the round move? Is it a design choice or is there some logical reason that my brain can’t figure out?

4. I love the Attune shawl and am eager to knit one up during the KAL, and would love to use a set of Spincycle yarns I have put aside for “The Shift”. But…I’m trying to figure out how you used your 3 different Spincycle yarns in your “Sample 2”. It looks like you switched off one yarn to another vs using all one skein and moving to the next. Would love to hear how you used your yarns to get that beautiful effect your obtained! Thank you 🙏🏼

5. Andrea please help…… I have knit the Harlow worsted three times and I cannot get the cast on loose enough! The hat is the perfect size but the cast on is so tight even when I did it with the larger needle size for the pattern. What am I doing wrong?

Attune Shawl:

Instagram Hashtag: #spintoknitATTUNE

DRK Spin It to Knit It…Along - Weekender Style - Ravelry Forum:

Join on Instagram with the hashtags: #DRKspinittoknitKAL and #DRKspinsTHEWEEKENDER

[KnitStitchGrow]

I love all the green/yellow yarns you're spinning together Andrea, such vibrant spring colours 💚

[lgm]

My FO’s will be hereby known as my “Knit Babies”

[amyb]

Alternating skeins in reverse stockinette, like for a Weekender. If you use the technique sometimes called yarn forward, it will be invisible on both sides. When you join in the new skein, bring the old yarn forward through your work and let it hang there on the front, which is technically the wrong side. And when you come back around to that place, simply move that yarn to the back of your work and move the yarn you were just working with to the front and let it hang there until you come around to it again.

[KateMH_]

Congratulations on turning 40 this 🎉💐🧶

[nicolelafontaine]

I love your enthusiasm for spinning, I am refraining myself from falling into that rabbit hole, but you could be just the kick I need to stop refraining. Especially since you've been spinning with a spindle. I don't have much space to craft.

[jonellesandel]

Helical knitting!! Easy easy. Knit around with first ball, then add and knit around with second ball but stop three stitches before the end and slip those three stitches, pick up first ball of yarn where it left off and start knitting, when you get back around, slip last three stitches before where second ball left off, pick up second ball yarn and knit. Keep going! No jog, no twisting yarn, just moves backwards three stitches each time!

[tiffinthecity]

I have the too tight phenomenon with tubular cast on too! I've discovered this happens when I cast on directly with the working yarn (probably because of the tension I'm creating trying to keep the stitches from twisting). I've found that using a provisional crochet chain to do the tubular cast on fixes the issue for me.

[calvin]

“Let it bring you joy and let your tools do the work” ❤❤ you always inspire me to enjoy the process of knitting and to work through the kinks! No stress just FUN! Thank you Andrea 😊

[debsievert]

I think you’re right about being happy & proud of that accomplishment. If we did NOT feel that way…. We would stop knitting/ or whatever!

[angelaobernesser]

I am currently on a weird almost summer break while finishing up grad school so I am not always remembering which day of the week it is... so opening YouTube and seeing that a new episode is up is a lovely surprise while I sip my coffee and knit!! Your energy is always so fun and I look forward to videos each week 🤩

[sunnyw]

I signed up for my first Tour de Fleece thanks to you. I am a proud ROOKIE because it has been over 20 years since I have spun and I now have an espinner that I need to adjust to. My goal is to spin enough local brown Corriedale and Romney to make a Field by Maxim Cyr. Hoping at the end of the tour I feel more comfortable with spinning again.

[jla]

Prefect analogy with the labor before your baby is born versus the process of knitting and the resulting piece.

[debsievert]

Love that shawl. Just bought the pattern! On my To-do list now!

[maryannc]

I had the same problem with alternating skeins when knitting a pullover, most-stockinette sweater (Ranunculus) in the round with fingering weight yarn. Twisting the yarn together on the side was way too obvious. The yarn was the same colorway, but it was two different purchases of hand-dyed yarn that didn’t even have a dye lot. Helix knitting was the perfect solution. It it didn’t leave any tell-tell signs and it blended perfectly. I just had to be careful about the tension at that points where I changed skeins.

[jamie]

Thank you so much for the weekly videos Andrea! I have learned LOADS from you. Selfishly, I hope you get your sew-jo back soon so you can chat about sewing! Good luck with Tour de Fleece!

[merithomas]

I too have come across a finished item that I haven't worn in awhile and fall back in love with it. A good stretchy cast on is the German Twisted Cast On, it's similar to the long tail cast on but adds stretch. The tubular cast on is something that I still need to practice.

[knitwisedesign]

As a designer I really related to your comments at the beginning about previous designs and the "fuzziness" about the pain of birthing them!

[jamiethrogmorton]

I used to feel exactly that way about legal briefs I had written. Coming back to them later, I’d say, “wow, that’s really good, just how did I even do this?” At the time, it felt stressful and time-pressured, or worse if my case wasn’t very strong or was very complex. Perspective does help reverse the imposter syndrome. 🎉

[laurellae]

I'm with you Andrea, I can't be bothered to alternate skiens. 😂 If I notice a discrepancy between two skiens, I'll actually fade them together and make it a design feature! Or, depending on what it is I'm knitting, use each skien for different sections.

[christynelson]

You have inspired me to start to learn to spin. Until I can afford a wheel, I will learn drop spindle spinning. My goal is to spin enough yarn to use at least some for the Attune shawl. I can’t wait to learn.