New here, with over-ambitious project

Squishy · 05-08-2006, 10:22 PM

Hi, I love that this site exists! I learned to knit (english) about a year ago from a friend in gradschool. I've recently (for the last 8 months) been working on my first sweater. It's the cabled hooded jacket by Debbi Bliss in the Cotton book everyday book. No problems with the cabling fortunately, but I have lumpy edges of the pieces where there are decreases. Often pattern reads something like: decrease 1 st at each end of this and next 10 alt rows. Makes sense, but why are my edges lumpy? to decrease I'm doing one bind off st at each end. Sometimes it's a purl, sometimes a knit because the pattern varies. Should I have made them all knit? I suspect the lumpiness has something to do with the decreases only being every other row. Any thoughts on this?

I'm also endeavoring to learn to knit continental now, because I want to do a fair isle project. I have very sloppy continental right now though so I think I will try to do a bunch of knit projects in continental. Love the videos on this site- they REALLY help me!

So, hi to all, and hurray for knitting!

Ingrid · 05-09-2006, 04:06 AM

Welcome!

When you decrease one stitch at the edge, you should just knit two together rather than bind off. That's where your lumpiness comes from. It will be hidden with the seams, though.

I knit Fair Isle entirely English, so it's really not manditory to learn Continental to do it.

Squishy · 05-09-2006, 04:16 AM

great- thanks! I've done k2tog before but for some reason didn't think to do it here...

so when you do fair isle, you just switch yarn when you get to that point?

Ingrid · 05-09-2006, 04:25 AM

I usually pinch the main color between my index finger and thumb and keep the contrasting color over my index finger so that when I lift my finger it's held with tension. Not conventional, at all, but it works for me. In fact, in the Art of Fair Isle Knitting, Ann Feitelson does something similar, doing all the color changes with her right hand.

Most Fair Isle directions advise doing it with two hands, but I'm so decidedly right handed that I can't get a comfortable flow going with two.

It works for me.