After much aggravation and cussin' I have mastered (mistressed?) reverse/backward knitting. I am really more of a reverse purler as I haven't yet done a pattern requiring the reverse knitting. The actual making of a single stitch is not a big deal in itself. It's speeding up and developing a technique that insures even stitches and tension that nearly caused me to snatch myself bald-headed. I have nailed it and I am ridiculously proud of myself. I am now the Backward-Knitting Clap-Queen Bag-Hag and Short-Row Junkie. Feel free to kowtow .
Sue, yarn-junkie enabler extraodinaire, at Little Knits told me about this scarf pattern in Gedifra Highlights 042
She made me get the book and yarn Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe in colorway 16 which just happens to be soft and beautiful and which I had never seen before but she assured me I would love and I do and I hate when she's right.
I have two on the needles right now.
The first is actually my second start on the pattern. I knit four rows in some scrap yarn to see if the pattern needed any tweaking, frogged it and started the two you see. The first is made with Wool Ease on size seven needles and the second is made with the Gedifra mentioned above on size tens. You can see more clearly in the second picture that I have three sets of twelve live stitches on one needle. The pattern calls for the live stitches to be placed on a stitch holder but I find they can be left on the needle even if I turn the work. When the fabric got longer and too cumbersome to turn I still left the live stitches on the needle and used a DPN to knit the stitches currently in use. I'm no good at describing things and I'm sure that last bit made no sense so just skip it. Of course, reverse knitting makes the whole pattern much simpler and faster.
Now, a month ago, if I had read that sentence written by someone else I would have scoffed. I am, after all, fifty-two years old and I have been knitting a long time and after a token attempt I thought the technique was beyond me--the whole new-dog-new-trick thing, ya know. But I was wrong--and there's three words I don't say/write/type often. I practiced, cussed, practiced, cussed, and finally something clicked in the brain to hands transmission and I was backwarding up a storm. I'm not bragging, it was really hard for me to learn, but I am so proud of me.
7 comments:
I'm proud of you tooooo!! And VERY impressed!! I've wanted to learn how to do 'backward' knitting too and will give it a go someday. So, be prepared for questions. That pattern is very pretty and I can't wait to see it done!! And, I'm of the FIRM opinion that we get smarter as we get older. You just proved my point. hehhehhhhhhe
I am tres impressed. Love the yarn too.
I, too, am VERY impressed by the new techniques and that you are keeping up with your blog :) Now that I know that you put everything in your mouth, I will be careful of what I mail you in the future.
Look at that entrelac go! Very nice.
Thinking of you this week. So sorry that you're having virtual hurricanes on the heels of the weathery ones.
Be strong. If you can zig and zag through the entrelac and demonstrate all the compassion and thoroughness you do, You Will Weather The Storms.
Did not make you do it, no I did not! :) That does look lovely Deb!
Sue F
AKA the yarn enabler.
Wow, wow AND...WOW!
Rock on! Entrelac is one of the scariest techniques I've ever seen - I lovet he look but I'm too much of a coward to try it.
I like the new blog look, too. It may not even be new anymore, but I've been away for awhile, so it's new to me.
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