I was only kidding.
Jan. 7th, 2013 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stitchy_stitchyMy research this weekend involved looking for possible cures for "rowing out" - that thing where flat-knitted stockinette stitch has visible / raised horizontal lines in it resulting from purls and knits being slightly different sizes. The Masters graders consider it a major flaw, even though most people do it to some extent, and no, it won't go away when you block the FO...
TechKnitter was no help. "The only 100% foolproof solution is to avoid stockinette stitch. Knit garter stitch or in the round, or substitute a near-stockinette stitch pattern like broken rib." Not useful when I must generate a rectangle of stockinette stitch.
Also commonly recommended: knit with different-sized needles. Great for stockinette stitch, maybe not so great for ribbing or moss stitch.
A lot of people recommended switching to "combined knitting". Tried it before. Didn't like it.
But then it dawned on me: I took that class in Portuguese-style knitting (I know some people object to the name, since the technique didn't originate in Portugal, but that's what the biggest advocate I know of calls it) where the yarn is tensioned around the neck or a hooked pin. The pin I bought with the class is missing, but I can't misplace my neck. (Daughter might be able to. Sometimes I worry about her.) I didn't remember how to do the knit stitch, but Knitting Daily TV has a video up...
So far: my stockinette stitch is very, very even. There are occasional loose stitches instead of entire loose rows, and that's probably not too bad when you consider I've spent a whole four hours knitting with this technique and one of those hours was several years ago. 1x1 ribbing is easy, because it's a matter of moving the yarn from above the needle to below the needle instead of from the back of the work to the front of the work, and you don't have to adjust your grip on the needles at all. I think increases, decreases, cables, and lace will be worked the same as I'm used to since the stitches end up mounted on the needle the same way. My biggest problem is that I need to learn to let yarn slip through my right fingers rather than moving the work closer to me. All in all, I might be on to something here...
...and here I thought I'd been joking about having to learn to knit all over again. Word to the wise - never joke where the fates can hear you...
TechKnitter was no help. "The only 100% foolproof solution is to avoid stockinette stitch. Knit garter stitch or in the round, or substitute a near-stockinette stitch pattern like broken rib." Not useful when I must generate a rectangle of stockinette stitch.
Also commonly recommended: knit with different-sized needles. Great for stockinette stitch, maybe not so great for ribbing or moss stitch.
A lot of people recommended switching to "combined knitting". Tried it before. Didn't like it.
But then it dawned on me: I took that class in Portuguese-style knitting (I know some people object to the name, since the technique didn't originate in Portugal, but that's what the biggest advocate I know of calls it) where the yarn is tensioned around the neck or a hooked pin. The pin I bought with the class is missing, but I can't misplace my neck. (Daughter might be able to. Sometimes I worry about her.) I didn't remember how to do the knit stitch, but Knitting Daily TV has a video up...
So far: my stockinette stitch is very, very even. There are occasional loose stitches instead of entire loose rows, and that's probably not too bad when you consider I've spent a whole four hours knitting with this technique and one of those hours was several years ago. 1x1 ribbing is easy, because it's a matter of moving the yarn from above the needle to below the needle instead of from the back of the work to the front of the work, and you don't have to adjust your grip on the needles at all. I think increases, decreases, cables, and lace will be worked the same as I'm used to since the stitches end up mounted on the needle the same way. My biggest problem is that I need to learn to let yarn slip through my right fingers rather than moving the work closer to me. All in all, I might be on to something here...
...and here I thought I'd been joking about having to learn to knit all over again. Word to the wise - never joke where the fates can hear you...
