Flipping any YouTube video

Something I just learned. If you go to the URL of a YouTube video from the website (not the app) and replace YouTube or m.youtube with mirrorthevideo it will flip any video so you can view it mirrored. Great for turning any right, or standard,  knitting or crochet video into a mirror or lefty video

G's sock blanket

Update progress pic 2/27/22

I will add to this as I make it

Why am I posting a sock blanket when there are loads of sock blankets out there? I did a few tricks with this one. I'm working the co and 1st row in black which will frame each square. I'm doing a sk2p every other row and I'm slipping the last stitch for a easy pickup edge.this is also made so that all the edges are pointy and the squares are turned so points are up.

The marker is for the center decrease. It shifts on the wrong side and Mark's the decrease on the right side.

To start my blanket I made 3 square groupings so that my points at the bottom of the blanket are 2 squares deep (the top will match). My blanket is 6 points/groups wide. I made my points and then joined them once I had enough. If you dont want the deep points, just make single 1st squares  and join them as described later.

PLEASE NOTE!

I am a mirror knitter. This means I knit left to right. If you are not a mirror knitter please reverse left and right! Ex. When I say join on the left, or left edge of the blanket, you will be working on your right. Photos in this pattern will appear reversed if you knit right to left.

Using fingerling/sock weight yarn and size 3 needles (I will be switching between knitting and crochet, but that will be later)

Tools:

Size 3 (3.25mm) needles

Size C (3.12mm) crochet hook

1 stitch marker

Yarn needle to weave in ends

Abbreviations 

co - cast on / k - knit / pm - place marker / sm - slip marker / sk2p - slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over (double decrease) / s1wyif - slip 1 with yarn in front

sc - single crochet / ss - slip stitch / ch - chain

Always join with right side facing. Slip marker on wrong side rows, decrease on right side rows.

Casting on

At the start of a row and to make the 1st squares I use LTCO. 

To co 1 I use backwards loop, knitted co works to. 

To co at the end of a row I use knitted co. You can use backwards loop here as well.

1st square:

With border color: Co 24, pm, co 25 (the stitch with the marker on it will be your center stitch), Turn. - 49 stitches

*Every square will be worked exactly the same as written below after the setup row. Only the setup row varies depending on where you are placing it. The squares will give the setup row, then say finish square. 

Row 1: K to marker, remove marker, k1, pm. K to end, turn. Break yarn. - 49 stitches

Join in color B:

Row 2: K to marker, sm, sk2p, k to last stitch, s1 wyif, turn - 47 stitches 

Row 3: k to marker, remove marker, k1, replace marker, k to last stitch, s1 wyif, turn - 47 stitches

Repeat rows 2 and 3 till 3 stitches remain. Sk2p, k1 break yarn, pull end through and weave in ends

2nd square, Joining to square 1 on the left 

With border color: 

Co24, PM, co1, pickup 24 stitches along the edge, turn

-Finish square 

After casting on, pickup stitches. There are 24 slipped edge stitches on the square. Start with black.

This is after the co and pickup 

I leave the co tail loose so if there are any gaps or stretched stitches where it transitions from co to pickup I can use the tail to close it and straighten it up as I weave in ends. The strand on the left is my tail from breaking yarn. I've ran it under a few stitches on the needle. This shifts the tail to a place where it wont have to be weaved in where the other 2 ends are reducing bulk in that area.

Here is the square after a few rows.

3rd square, joining to square 1 on the right:

With border color and starting at the point, pickup 24 stitches from the other side of square 1, PM, co25, turn

-Finish square 

4 - Joining square (also body square)

With border color, pickup 24 stitches, pm, co1, pickup 24 stitches from next square

-Finish square 

All the squares in the middle will be made this way. But instead of m1, you pickup one stitch from the point of the square below as described in the next square. This can be easily done with the hook.

5 - Left inner edge including edging

*if you dont want to crochet, just pickup the 24/1/24 stitches. But doing this will leave 1 edge of the side squares without a border.

Join edging color to border edge, ch1, sc in same space, sc in next 22 edge stitches, 2 sc in last stitch,  ch1, insert hook into 1st slipped edge stitch on other side of point, draw up a loop, pull loop through loop on hook and place the loop on the needle, pickup the next 23 stitches (24 stitches on needle), pm,  pickup 1 stitch through the point in the middle square, pickup 24 stitches up along the edge of the next square

-Finish square 

 

6 - Right inner edge square with edging 

With border color pickup 24, pm, pickup 1 from point, pickup 24 from next square.

Leave the 49 stitches on the needle. With the hook insert it into the 1st slipped stitch on the other side of the point (outside edge), draw up a loop, ch1, sc in same space, sc in next 23 slipped stitches along the squares edge, ch1 turn. 

Return row: Working in front loop only ss in each stitch to end, 1 sc into point, ch1, hook last knit stitch and pull it through the loop on the hook, place loop back on needle 

- Finish square

Crochet down edge and slip back

Hook 1st stitch and pull it through the loop on hook and put it back on the needle and keep knitting

7 - outer left edge 

co 24, pm, pickup 1 from point, pickup 24 stitches from side of square, turn

- Finish square 

8 - outer right edge

Pickup 24 stitches along edge, PM, pickup 1 stitch from point, co 24 stitches, turn

- Finish square 

End the blanket with the last row being the wide outer edge row

Finishing edging

With crochet hook, join border color to 1st border slipped stitch of last row of squares, ch1, sc in same space, 1sc in next 22 slipped stitches, 2sc in last space, [ch1, 2sc in 1st slipped stitch on other side of the point, sc in next 22 slipped stitches, insert hook into border slipped stitch, draw up a loop, (skip point), insert hook into 2st slipped border stitch of next square, draw up a loop, yo draw through 2 loops on hook. Sc in next 23 slipped stitches, 2 sc in last stitch.] Repeat to top of point on last square. Ch1, 2sc in next slipped stitch, sc in next 23 slipped stitches, break yarn and weave in ends.

This is a mockup of how I will finish it. Clearly it will not be done for a very long time, so instead of waiting till I actually finish, this is how it will be done.

Here is a picture with the squares numbered to show where they fit

You can add large squares by working the left then righ and leaving a 2 square space then picking up 2 squares worth of stitches (pickup the 48 stitches on either side).

How to win when you loose at yarn chicken

How I adapted this pattern to make the yarn stretch.

I chose to use a hook 2 sizes larger so running out is my fault. I did buy more dark purple, but didnt want to have to wait for more of the light yarn. Being that it was the last band followed by a lace edge I chose to skinny up the design

Below is the lace band overwritten with my adaption. The screen shot is from the program "knit companion", which is a fabulous app! The section I modified was everything in the white.

1. a the 1st row of sc is just a foundation to build the next row of DC on. I conserved yarn by changing this row to a sc, ch1, sc row instead of all sc. Being sure the sc would be where the next row was worked into so that the chains would show and creeatevthat boundary foundation similar to the band above.

2. I made sure to work the DC for the next row into the sc stitches. This still leaves the ch stitches below visible  so that it keeps the feel of the origional panel

3.the next row of sc is to work the cluster stitches onto. I eliminated it. 

4. The 3tc cluster stitches are a HUGE yarn suck. I reduced them to a 1tc v stitch. This maintains the V, but cuts the yarn by close to half. I made sure to crochet into the chain1 spaces of the DC row as the sc row is missing.

5. Because I eliminated the row of sc before the V row, I eliminated the row of sc after to keep it symmetrical. This row gives you the foundation for the next row of dc.

6. Because there are no sc stitches over the chain spaces in the V row I worked the DC stitches directly into the actual chain stitches. Working around the chain will allow them to slip around and you want to maintain spacing. And without the sc row to work into,  placing them into the chains secures their spot. When working at the top of the VV I went down under the strands and stitched between the to pull it all up nice and tight.

Below you can see the difference in the full panel and the thinned out panel. It's clearly lighter, but it blends in as it tapers to the lace edging. Also keeping the essence of the main rows makes it look more planned. I had to frog this section numerous times as a reduced stitches to conserve yarn. Whatever I did below the V row i had to do above it to keep it balanced.

None of this effected cstitch count. The row is a bit shorter, but counts are all the same

The pattern is available on ravelry. It is for sale and the charts are great. The written pattern is a bit confusing as they way over explain it. 

My shawl took 2 Hanks of dark purple and would have taken a 2nd hank of the light to finish. But if you follow the pattern you should have enough. I ran out of purple about 1/2 way through the last purple band. Again, I was using an I hon instead of G because I like the fabric better.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rimsky-korsakoffee-cake-shawl

This is a picture of it pinned out. I steam blocked it. I also used sock yarn

How to use tiger tail wire (Beadalon) to bead knitting

This is my preferred method for placing beads onto knitting. This is the same method as what people use dental floss, but the wire (found in the beading/jewelry making section) is stiffer and easier to handle. And once you have a kink in it you can load up the wire and set it aside and the beads don't easily fall off. Also you don't have to worry about your hook splitting your yarn as you try to work the beads onto the stitches.

This is the wire, it is a nylon coated steel wire used for jewelry making. I use a larger gauge of this type of wire for my stitch markers. The fine gauge works well and allows you to use more of your beads. Seed beads don't always have a consistant sized hole in the center which makes some useless because you cannot get a hook into it. With the wire, you can use the beads which may have a smaller hole.

 I cut segments about 5-6" and put 1 bead on and tie the wire around it into a knot towards an end of the wire. This creates a stopper so you won't loose your beads.

I'll use my current shawl, Celestarium, for this demo.

 load the wire up Leaving a long enough tail to fold over. Fold the end to put a kink in it (at least 1 inch from the end). 

 

Hook the end into your stitch

Holding both strands of the wire, pull the stitch off the needle.

 

 Slide a bead down and make sure to feed the tail of the wire through the bead as you transfer it onto the stitch. Place the stitch back on the needle and remove the wire and continue working.

For this particular shawl I strung the bead onto the stitch before I knit it. this creates a tight stitch and the beads sink back into the fabric to sit nice and snug. so I string the bead onto the stitch, place the stitch onto the needle and than knit it.

You can also place the bead onto the stitch you just knit. this will create a little more slack in that particular stitch because there is enough yarn to pass through the bead and go around the needle. I do this if I want to make sure the beads will stay on top nicely. Ilike if I'm following a line of decrease. It allows the bead a little bit of slack to be more raised on the surface.

Here is a bead in my current shawl. it's nice and tight

These are the beads on the Sagittaria shawl I did. I beaded the stitch after knitting it (knit the stitch, placed the bead and put back on the needle). They sit nicely on top of the lines of decrease. These particular beads were much smaller than the ones I normally use.

Demystifying the moebius!

I have a couple new moebiuses to post but thought I would post a little trouble shooting and tips post first.

For starters, when I cast on for a center out moebius I use my longest cables. I believe the are 60". I use this for all my center out moebius knits. It's the most comfortable length for me. I also like to put a small tip on the end that i will be knitting off. this makes it easier to get the stitches off the cable.

When it comes to cowls, the moebius is my preferred shape as it lies flat and you don't have any bunching at the twist.

This is regarding the center out moebius knit in the round. You can adapt any stitch pattern that looks good on both sides to a moebius knit! It doesn't even have to be the same on both sides, just has to look good.

I always use Cat's moebius co. YouTube link It's a brilliant and super fast co. But its also incredibly sloppy and somewhat difficult to count as you don't have any actual stitches on the needles until you knit 1/2 way around on round 1. Before that it's just yarn wrapped around the needles and cord.

When casting on you count the stitches being wrapped around the needle only. Each set of wraps creates a wrap on top and on the bottom cord, but only count the top!

If you are converting a regular circular cowl to a moebius, co the same amount the pattern recommends (counting top only).

When converting a nesting pattern like chevrons or drop stitch (as in the cowl I'll be posting) or a staggered pattern. You want to cast on in what ever your pattern stitch repeat is + 1/2 that. If your stitch repeat is 8, for example, you want to cast on in multiples of 8+4. The 1/2 count will let the pattern nest above and below the co line. Your grand total, on a 8 stitch repeat will be a multiple of 16+8 counting all stitches (top and bottom). Here is the cast on of the Moebius waves of Color cowl with 1/2 the stitch repeat added so that it nests (I did a few modifications to the original as well which I detailed on my Ravelry project page).

Now I have yet to cast on a center out moebius and have an accurate stitch count. It could be because its such a fast co that my hands work faster than my brain.

So after I cast on and when I'm working the 1st round, I place markers for counting. Of course ALWAYS use something to mark the start of the round! I place small markers every 20 or so stitches. If you need to adjust your stitch count, make sure to balance it on both sides of the co line! This is extremely important on nesting designs!

If you find you need to add stitches, do it in sets. If you need to add 2 stitches do a M1 and in that same spot on the other side use a locking marker and place it between the stitches on the other side so you know you need to m1 in that spot when you get there. A strand of scrap yarn tied around the spot works to.

If you have to many stitches, decrease in sets as well. K2tog and place a locking marker through 2 stitches on the other side so you know to knit them together when you get there.

You need to increase/decrease in this way for fixing stitch counts to maintain the same amount of stitches above as below to keep things lined up properly when you start your pattern.

Working a moebius flat and seaming into shape

Another cowl I made uses a 20 stitch repeat of 10x10 ribbing. When doing something like this you want a reversible pattern and offset design. When working the cowl, I work it flat like a scarf and seam it on the short ends into a moebius. In ribbing you want your rows to end opposite of how they start. Start with knits, end with purls. When you add the 1/2 twist the sides will line up.

You will also want to make sure any row repeats line up properly. The bubble cowl I made started with a bubble on the 1st column repeat. So I needed to end with a bubble being in the 1st column again so that when the twist was made it lined up properly on the other side. If you have a ribbing pattern and knits are on the left, you want to end with purls on the right so it lines up when grafted.

Also, this type of cowl requires grafting in pattern which isn't nearly as complicated as it sounds. I have a post describing how to Kitchener in pattern which will enable you to Kitchener any combinations of knits and purls. It will also help you to understand what you are doing and to tell where you are at if you have to set it down.

This is the seam of my recent pattern Bubble Moebius cowl.
The seam is the last grey row to the right of the skinny grey strip on the left. On the right you see it flat as a WIP. If you look you will notice that the bubble on the left is knit and the bubble on the right is purl. this needs to be offset like this to be able to make the 1/2 twist required to complete the moebius shape.

 

Row counters

These are nice counters that you can leave on your needle. You can't accidentally put them on the wrong row and they count to 100. You can also use them to track repeats of 10 rows or less.

What you need
Chain (closed loops are best. I got mine at Michael's)
Beading wire (I like the nylon coated wire)
Crimp beads
Cutters (to cut the wire)
Pliers (to crimp the crimp beads)
Lobster claw clasps
Whatever beads you like

Break the chain into 10 ring segments
Make a dangle on the lobster claw clasp and add crimp bead to secure
Add a bead to the end chain ring. This marks the bottom of the counter.

GET CREATIVE! Make them however you want. Make matching stitch markers if you want.

How it works:
As a 1-100 as row counter:
The clip represents the 10's place. The clip in the bottom ring is 0, so this is where you start.

You hang it from the needle in the corasponding ring.
Clip on the 1st ring and the 4th ring on the needle =row 4
Clip on the 5th ring and the 2nd ring on the needle=42

Move up to the next ring on the needle at the start of each row. When you've got the top ring on the needle in the next row move back to the 1st ring and move the clip up one ring.

To use as a 1-10 pattern repeat counter:
Place the clip on the ring for the last row of your repeat. Move up one ring per row. When you reach the marker you know you're on your last row of the repeat and return to the 1st ring on the next row.

No pickup garter tab

I have combined a couple techniques that has resulted in a garter tab that you don't have to pick up a single stitch to make!

1st cast on using the provisional co for toe up socks. For this sample I'll be making a 3 stitch garter tab. So I have 3 stitches on each needle.

 Just pull the needle through the 3 you won't be knitting right now so they are further down the cable and out of the way.

With the 3 stitches that are on the needle
kfb, k2 turn
k3 turn
kfb, k2 turn

repeat these steps. the 1st stitch of the kfb will be the one that you would have to pick up later. Were just doing it right now. End on a kfb row. Do these steps untill you have enough stitches to equal what you would be picking up later.

You can see the 3 loops on the cabel thsn 5 stitches created by the kfb and the last 3 are the live stitches

Now pull your cable tight causing the 3 stitches from the co to pop back up to the tab. My tail is kinda in the way here, but I've moved the cable through so all the stitches atr together.

turn your work and knit across all stitches. this is the 3 live stitches, however many you have on the side (i have 5 in my sample) and the 3 from the co end.

you have just made a garter tab and didn't have to pick up a single stitch!
Here is the co to my current shawl that I used this technique for. This called for a 2 stitch garter tab and 5 stitches to pickup along the edge as well as another 2 stitches from the start.