Happy New Year!
The kids are back at school, and we have found our way to the office and dusted off the computers, ready to knock this year out of the park! Or something like that…
The break was nicely recharging. I’ve been working on a sweater for myself – Granito by Joji Locatelli – and I’m using our Something to Knit With 4ply in the dark and mysterious Twilight colourway. It’s knitting up like a dream and I’m even daydreaming that I might finish it to wear at EYF in March. But that might be a bit over optimistic… We will see!
Read moreJIm and I have been taking stock of the year. I know that it’s a little bit early to be doing a retrospective of the year, but I’ve had the phrase “running on empty” running through my head for the last couple of months, and to be honest, if 2018 were done already, for me it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
We have packed far too much in to this year. I find it bizarre to consider that at the start of the year we were just finishing up the last couple of months of A Year of Techniques. That feels like such a long time ago, when actually it was only nine months back.
Read moreWith only a couple of weeks remaining in the KAL within our Ravelry group, I’d thought I’d share a small selection of finished items to inspire you to try out the technique for yourself.
Read moreNow that you’ve got two-round stripes and stitch patterns nailed, you’re ready to open the doors to a whole new world of helical possibilities…
Read moreJim is knitting for himself for once.
Read moreAs I mentioned yesterday, one of the ways in which helical stripes differ from traditional stripes is that they make the fabric slant. The more rounds you have in your stripe pattern, and the smaller the circumference of your knitting, the more the stripes appear to slant in the fabric. I absolutely love the effect this gives when you push it as far as you can, and I struggle to see how else you would achieve this look in your knitting.
Read moreLots of knitters have asked me about how to work multiple round stripe patterns helically. In fact, this question is one of the things that motivated me most in writing the Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting ebook. The Twiss cowls are really my answer to the question of how to work stripes with more than 1 round in each colour. The pattern includes details on how to work 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-round stripe repeats, including patterns where you work more than one round in each colour.
Read moreWhen I talk to knitters about helical knitting, if they are familiar with the technique it is almost always in the context of 1x1 helical stripes. I have to admit that this was how I first met helical knitting, but I’m fast coming to the conclusion that it’s helical garter stitch that is the most exciting application of helical knitting.
Read moreI can hardly believe it, but in just under 12 months I have knitted myself a 4ply cardigan!
I’m totally thrilled with how it turned out, and I’m already wearing it a great deal! I thought it would be helpful to talk through how I took Ella’s absolutely beautiful Ola Yoke sweater pattern and converted it to a cardigan, as it’s really not a difficult transformation to make. I should say of course that the sweater is fabulous, and doesn’t need modifying at all. I just know that I wear cardigans a lot more than sweaters, and wanted to get the most from this lovely knit.
Read moreClearly I’m not yet done with helical designs! If you’ve already purchased Something New to Learn About Helical Knitting, this bonus design will be added to your Ravelry library later today, but this is also available as a single pattern download. Giuseppe Momo is the name of the architect who designed the newer 1932 double helix staircase at the Vatican Museum in Rome (below). This is one of the most spectacular double helix staircases, and so it seems a fitting name for a hat that features both helical garter stitch, and a cable panel that has a bit of a helical look to it!
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