D126: What?! And not knit?! As if.

As I mentioned earlier, one of my BFFs has had her third baby - a little boy yesterday morning.  While I've no idea how quick another baby project will be (the last one took 2 weeks) it won't stop me from beginning something for this little lad.

Bub began swimming lessons today.  It turns out she's a little elderly for her group.  At a seasoned 11 months, she's the oldest there (although by no means the hairiest - she's still a fuzzlebug on top).  It was a roaring success and we were able to stop by the yarn store on the way home, putting the whole outing under 'Winning'.

I thought having Bub & Hub waiting in the car would help me make a speedy decision.  Speedy? Yes.  Best choice? Not sure.  I'm afraid the grey I've chosen is too dark, even though I plan to decorate it with a light blue.  I can't even ask your opinion because, like I said, my friend reads here* and I'd like there to be some surprise to the gift.  (Hence the lack of pics.) Ah well, shall just have to trust he's a cooler kid than I.

In terms of the work, I'm knitting the garment as directed and not converting it to in-the-round.  Although I am using the Continental style, with circular needles, this pattern has sleeves and I don't fancy attaching set in sleeves on a knitted garment.  I'd much rather sew up the sides from cuff to waist at the end.

So, before I go wrap up the house for the evening run, here are the best bits of news for today:

• This Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran is devine to work with; and
• I began the back this afternoon and I think I'll be up to at least the armpits by bed!  Who knows where the day will take me!

*She's, like, a quarter of my readership!  Gotta look after my peeps!!

D124: Tip of the day - Hang your ball low!

Does your ball hang low? Well, I should, in some way or another.

While working on this garment, knitting left-handed in the Continental style I usually use with circular needles, I had patches of loose stitches.  Sometimes, this was due to dropping the tension when doing purl stitches - I'm still developing my reliability with tension when switching between stitch styles.

However, during the arms holes and neck bands I realised how this was happening.  (I knit faster than I think, it would seem...)

Here's a picture of how the tension is meant to be held when knitting Continental:

The wrapping and hold or traditional Continental knitting

This yarn is lovely and smooth.  in these winter months my fingers are slimmer, cold and smooth and the yarn just slips through like ribbon. Here's how I held it for this project:

The way I wrapped and held my yarn for this project.

And here's how those loose patches turned up:

The ravelled loop already in my hand, and what the little blighter looks like when drawn out.

As the garment is turned the yarn becomes ravelled*, sometimes into it's twist and sometimes against.  Either way, a little loop sometimes evolves and travels towards the work as I knit.  Soon, it's inside my fingers and I haven't even noticed it's there until it's too late, slackening my work - even just one or two   stitches, and developing a loose bunch of stitches.

In my hurry with this project, I haven't taken the diligence to go back, unstitching suspect bunches and reknitting them with better tension.  I also let my work space be very crowded, with bags, needles and my book, because I was keeping it from little hands.  This meant the yarn got wrapped up in things sometimes - another tension trap!

The solution is to anchor the ball of yarn somehow, and some distance and gravity would suffice.  So whether it's next to your feet or in a container, hang your ball low so that the yarn doesn't loop on itself before it gets to the thing that should control the yarn: your tension hand!

*yup, I choose to use that word this way

D118: Intense knitting

A bit more done.  Hmmm... those stitches really are leaning to the right...

Another inch or so complete and a pattern has emerged...

There's a ridging in the stocking stitch.  Here's a horizontal shot that I think better reveals the tilt.

See what I mean?

I think my tension, combined with the way I pick up a stitch to knit Continental style, has helped twist the yarn in each stitch.  The right-hand needle enters the stitch at the base and as the needle slides up it pushes the wrap of the yarn upwards, unwrapping it a bit below the needle and tightening the wrap along the back of the loop and behind the left needle.  That's my theory anyway.  I haven't had this happen with my right-handed knitting style.  I think, in future projects, I'll change my yarn hold and hopefully that'll keep it from being pushed around so much.

I'm not sure I can do much about it other than easing the tension so that the entered stitch will slide around the new stitch more easily.  However, at 27sts per 10cm, it's only slightly tighter than what's prescribed by the pattern, so I'm reluctant to change that, especially this far in.  It may mean I have to go get another ball, but I could use the contrasting yarn to do the neck and arm holes... Whether I do that or not probably depends on the time of day I get to that stage: if it's after the shops close, ecru contrast it is!

Anyway, at this stage, I'm happy to let it be an aspect of an individual garment.  Worse things have happened, right?