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).

Beaded star edging

Celestarium edging

I recently finished the Celestarium shawl. I modified a popular edging that is used and have charted it. There are 2 charts on the PDF so that standard or mirror knitters can follow it. Due to the option of knitting this standard or mirror I did not label the / or \. use SSK or K2TOG as needed to get a matching lean per chart symbol.

 The edging is a 14 row repeat, but contains 13 beads per row! Make sure you have enough beads to compete this. I used 2 sizes of beads for my shawl and edging. For the shawl I used a triangular bead for the large stars and smaller 6/0 beads for the rest. for the edging I used mostly all 6/0 but used 1 larger one at the points.

My finished shawl is very bead heavy!

How many beads will you need?
total edge stitches divided by 7 (edge stitches needed per repeat). Take that and multiply by 13 (beads per repeat)
Stitches / 7 x 13 = beads needed

this is the PDF file for the star edging

And my ravelry project page for my shawl. I have detailed notes on how i completed it

May the stars be your guide

Tunisian lattice throw

This throw is tunisian crochet on the bias and has a simple but elegant texture. For mine I used Caron Simply Soft in Heather Grey and it took about 5.25 skeins. This pattern is written and will allow you to make this as wide or long as you like. If you want to switch up the edging or add open spaces to it, it is easy to modify.

The pattern is written

Tools:
Tools 6mm / J extended tunisian/afghan hook (or long straight hook). 6 skeins 1500 yards / 852 grams Caron Simply Soft Heather Grey

I have 3 downloads for this pattern.
Tunisian Lattice Throw- mirror. This pattern includes photo instructions on how to create the tunisian stitches and they are left handed.
Tunisian Lattice Throw - standard - This is the same print but I have went and flipped all the images so they appear right handed.
Tunisian Lattice Throw - Chart (left hand) - This is a chart for this pattern. It is a left hand chart ( read left to right) if you are right handed and read patterns right to left you will want to either go into your advanced printers settings and print this as a mirror image so that you will be able to read it right to left. Or just read the printed chart left to right. This chart does not have detailed stitch directions so use it along with the instructions on the written patterns.


The 1st pages are just bare bones with 2 images. I than follow with photos on separate pages to show how to do the various tunisian stitches required for this pattern. This will allow you to just print the pattern or print the photos and tutorials.

I think this blanket works best with a medium shade yarn. Nothing to bright or dark or the texture will be harder to see. Also I chose a solid grey but Tunisian tends to play well with variegated yarn.

This would make a lovely large blanket, just be cautious to make sure you purchase enough yarn as this does consume a LOT of yarn!

This is also on Ravelry

I don't know why these pictures are showing up sideways, 

Knitted decreases... how do they work?

This description is directed at mirror knitters and the mirrored version of decreases.
Mirror knitters swap the meanings for the decreases we use because we approach the stitches from the other direction.

I am posting this here. I have shared this on a board on Ravelry and thought i would add it here for refrence.

Below is a swatch I made showing various decreases with explanations of how/why they work. This description is of the decreases from the top section down.

These descriptions refer to stitches mounted so that the leading leg is in front. Due to your personal style of knitting the stitches on the needles may not be mounted leading leg in front and require extra slipping for correct placement to avoid twisting your finished stitches. I am a combined knitter so I have to manipulate stitches a bit more than some.

Patterns are written assuming you have your leading leg in front so that is what based these descriptions on.

block 1:
on the left are  ssk’s  - the line of decrease slants to the right (right leaning) the stitches to the right are ending at the line of decrease
on the right are the k2tog - the line of decrease slants to the left (left leaning) the stitches to the left are ending at the line of decrease
at the top where they join is s1 k2tog psso (you can see both lines of decrease end at this point and the point sits on top and the center stitch under sort of disappears into the point.
the last decrease directly on top is a sl2tog k1 psso you can see the center line stays on top and the side stitches end into and behind it.
block 2:
these are all s1 k2tog psso - when stacked this creates a choppy line because the side stitches are being pulled over the center stitch and covering it.
block 3:
sl2tog k1 psso - you can see the center line stays on top and the stitches that are being reduced are “disappearing” behind the center line.
this stitch is not used nearly as much as the s1 k2tog psso decrease.

on the bottom 2 samples I placed an extra row between the 1st and 2nd decreases to sort of show them better. on the top sets of decreases I worked them directly on top of each other
*you can click to enlarge the image for a better view.

 

when working decreases on the wrong side that will be seen on the knit side you need to switch decreases to get the desired result on the right side of the fabric.

To demonstrate why this is, take a small piece of paper and make a diagonal line from the lower left to the upper right corner, this line represents a right leaning decrease. When you turn the paper over that line is now left leaning.
 
ssp = left leaning decrease on the right side
p2tog = right leaning decrease on the right side

If you are decreasing in a field of purls and the purl side is the right side it doesn’t matter which decrease you use because lean cannot be seen on the purl side. use whichever one is easier for you.

Crochet intarsia

This is a technique I came up with in an effort to eliminate the ends I would have to weave in while making my most recent crochet shawl. I am calling this crochet intarsia. Like intarsia in knitting, this technique allows you to work separate blocks in of color in lace without having to cut your yarn or using other stranded techniques. I leave each ball connected to the project, ready to pick up and work when I get back to it.

Reminder: I'm left handed and crochet left to right holding my hook in my left hand

Being that this is lace work I didn't want to have to weave ends in everywhere but I wanted it in 2 colors split 3 ways. I have taken photos of how I did this. But you will have to forgive me as my photos are of me working this current project which happens to be crochet out of lace weight black and red yarn so the photos may not be the best (the yarn is a wool/silk blend so it does show up kinda well considering). They should be good enough to get the idea/technique across though.

This may seem quite tedious of a process, but when you consider the other option I had to make this shawl in this color scheme was to clip the yarn and weave in each end on every row several times for each color... this is a rather attractive alternative. With this method, the only ends I have to weave in are the 3 from the start and the 3 at the tip of each wing when I am done.

This shawl is the Icarus Shawl available form interweave and this is the Ravelry page for the pattern as well.

I have been taking detailed notes as to my changes for this project on my Ravelry project page

This is the shawl finished and blocked.

You can enlarge any picture for a full clear view.

Here I'm about to start the color switch. I have a chain 3 for my black (space between black and red shell)

I have my loop left on my hook from my chain 3 and now I'm going into the black in the row below where the red passes through the black chain space.

I am doing a yarn over and will draw a loop through the black to give me a working loop to crochet with. still leaving my black loop on the hook. I pretend it's not there. you can drop it if you like.

I have drawn up a loop and am ready to crochet with the red.

I have slip stitched back to the chain 2 in the shell.

 I have chained up 2 chains and slipped that loop of black around the loop of red on the hook.

 

Now I close the loop of red to fit the hook

 now I bring my hook around those chain 2 and snag my yarn and bring up a loop this traps that chain 2, this will become part of the 1st stitch.

Here I went into the chain 2 space in the shell below and drew up a loop. I yo and draw through 2 loops on the hook, yo and draw through the last 2 loops completing the 1st double crochet, trapping my black yarn form the other section and also wrapping my chain 2 up into the stitch. I than did 2 dc to complete the 3dc cluster of that side of the shell. The black yarn is left attached to the ball and forgotten till we need it again.

Now I'm at the other side of the red section and have completed my last shell.

 I am going to insert my hook into the stitch of the shell below that the black is going through.

Now I yo and draw up a loop of black (note the red loop i was working on is still on the hook, you can drop it or just forget it exists for a minute)

 Now I have slip stitched back over the chain 3 space and up the point where I would normally crochet into for my 1st stitch in after the shells section.

A note about slip stitching back over the chain, this is black lace weight yarn so instead of trying to find each stitch I simply slip stitch around the chain, chain 1 and slip stitch around the chain, easier and faster than trying to slip in each stitch. this is how I slip stitch around all the chains in this shawl.

 my 1st stitch coming off the red is a chain 3 space and a dc, so  I have chained 6 to make the equivilant space. I have slipped my red loop over my black loop on the hook. and now I will slip stitch back over 3 of the chains I have just made trapping the red loop of yarn.

 Here I am back to the point to work in pattern.Slipped back the 3 stitches and the other 3 chain stitchs represent my 1st dc. Now I can just work in pattern as written.

 I have worked to the end and turned my work and came back to where I just left off in photo above and am ready to change back to the red.

 I will insert my hook into the black strip form the row below where the red is trapped through it.

 this shows where I have put my hook through the black.

 I will now slip stitch back to the chain 2 space of the shell, just as I did earlier.

 doing a chain 2 and slipping my black loop from the previous color section around the red loop on the hook.

 Now i have brought my hook behind my chain 2.

 I have done a yo to bring the loop from behind the chain 2 around to the front and than inserted my hook into the chain 2 space of the shell and will complete the stitch as a normal dc trapping the black yarn and the chain 2 from my chain up.

 This shows the black yarn now taped in the 1st stitch of the shell.

 and I work across the red section to the last shell on the other side.

 I will put my hook into the section of the shell that the black yarn is trapped through and yo and draw up a loop with the black yarn.

 Now i have slip stitched across the chain 3 space of the black yarn up to where my 1st stitch is to start in my background shell (which is the 4th dc.

 For this pattern, I would normally start this section with a chain 3 space and a sc into the 4th dc in the cluster below (this is the stitch I slipped back to). So I have chained 3

 And slip the loop of red yarn around the loop on my hook.

  And will slip stitch back across this chain creating the chain 3 space required.

 Than I will do a sc into the same stitch I started from and am ready to work back in pattern as written.

 

Here is a closeup of the left wing tip. I like how this technique works. Yes, it does make those joining chains thicker, but so would weaving in ends.