Lindy's Knits & Laces knitting,Knitting Techniques,Master Knitter Level I,TKGA Master Knitter Level I – Swatches #1, #2, & #3

Master Knitter Level I – Swatches #1, #2, & #3

I have completed the first three swatches for the TKGA Master Knitter Level I program. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I discovered an issue with tension that I did not realize I had. And over the last few weeks, I have done quite a bit of reading about tension and an equal amount of knitting, reknitting, and being much more aware of HOW I knit. This is one of the purposes of the Master Knitter program — it makes you think about your craft and helps you identify the bad habits you have developed over time.

I have decided to use this blog as I way for me to document the lessons learned as I proceed through the Master Knitter Level I program. Hopefully, others will find my notes and comments helpful and will also learn from them. So, here is the first of my “lessons learned”:

Swatch #1 — 2 X 2 Ribbing & Garter Stitch
Garter stitch (knit all rows) was fairly easy for me — the key is to maintain an even tension throughout knitting the rows.

Tension can be a real issue with 2 X 2 Ribbing, because most knitters tend to purl more loosely than they knit. [I do]. The result of this tendency is that your ribs are formed of uneven stitches and appear “wonky”. My first attempt at this swatch was definitely “wonky”. After much researching, knitting and reknitting, I determined that I was really out of practice purling because I had been knitting projects mostly “in the round” and this was part of my problem. So, I spent some time just purling and working on my tension — trying to get it more consistent. I eventually managed to obtain a fairly even tension with my ribs. From my reading, I think that the unevenness on the edges is normal and should be satisfactory.

Swatch # 2: 1 X 1 Ribbing and Stockinette Stitch
Swatch #2Tension was also an issue for me with the 1 X 1 Ribbing. With this ribbing, I found that my looser purl stitches really impacted the shape of the ribs. Again, I found that I really needed to practice purling and focus on keeping my tension even when doing the ribbing.

For the Stockinette Stitch, I was able to obtain the even fabric required — but only after I had worked on my purling. The evenness isn’t as noticeable on the right side — you need to look at the wrong side of the fabric and make certain that there isn’t a distinct difference in your rows between the knit rows and the purl rows. Along the way, I discovered that I knit fairly loosely and I had to go down one needle size to achieve a decent fabric.

If you are trying to correct uneven tension when ribbing, here are a couple of ways to do so:
1) Just try knitting with an even tension; 2) Give your yarn and extra tug when moving it to the front of the needle and before purling; 3) Try wrapping your yarn under your needle when purling — note, this makes the stitches sit on the needle with the back loop leaning forward — to avoid twisting the stitch you must knit through the back loop rather than the front when knitting; 4) Try purling using the Norwegian Purl method [link to video here].

Swatch # 3: Seed Stitch
Swatch #3
Swatch # 3 was a sample of Seed Stitch — which is K1, P1 across the row over an even number of stitches. The goal here is to produce a nice even fabric with no visible holes between the knit and purl stitches. This is another tension challenge. It took me three swatches to produce the swatch shown. I finally came to the conclusion that I was over-doing the tension, basically trying too hard — and once I relaxed a bit on this, I got a better result.

In summary, here’s what worked for me: 1) After practicing, I needed to relax a bit — I got to the point that I was pulling my purl stitches so tightly that I made my knitting even less consistent. 2) Remembering to do that little extra tug when putting the yarn in front to purl. 3) For the edges — giving the yarn an extra tug when knitting off the last stitch on the row, followed by giving an extra tug after knitting the first two stitches on the next row.

1 thought on “Master Knitter Level I – Swatches #1, #2, & #3”

  1. Lindy, I found your narrative to be very helpful to me as I start the Level 1 Master Knitting course. I, too, have found in the very short time of working on swatches 1, 2, and 3, that I am taking a very close look at my knitting techniques, style and results. I have made swatches several time with two different kinds of yarn and will block and see which I like better. Over the years, I have read many knitting ‘how to’ books, but I am finding that I need to go back and take a second look at some of the articles. I found your article by google-ing ‘seed stitch without holes’. So, you can see where I am with my transitional stitch tension. I have added your site to my favorites and will continue to ‘check with you’ as I move through this exciting course.

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I did not really use a pattern for these socks. There are literally thousands of free sock patterns available on the internet, but you really don’t need them if you understand the basics of knitting socks. I started with a gauge swatch and used my foot measurements to determine the number of stitches I needed. The “how to” of this seems to be enough for a separate post, so I will place that in my queue for future topics.

I choose to do a picot hem at the top of the cuff, a 3 by 1 rib for the cuff and instep, a slipped stitched heel flap with a square heel turn. My mentors for these socks were Nancy Bush – I consulted her book “Knitting on the Road” for advice on the square heel and Cat Bordhi, whose book “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles” contains a wealth of information on how to knit socks.

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Knitting socks on two circular needles

I used the two socks on two circular needles for this pair of socks. I prefer to knit socks two at a time, because when you’ve finished, you have a pair of socks and don’t have to go back and knit that second sock. You can knit socks two at a time using either two circulars – as shown here in my photo – Or you can use the magic loop technique. I started another pair of socks last night using this technique – so I’ll post about them later.

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SFS_HeelFlap2
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Then I did the heel turn – which required some juggling. I slipped one sock heel onto a another circular needle while I knit the heel turn and then repeated the process for the second sock. This seemed easier than trying to knit the two heel turns with the same circular needle at the same time.

SFS_HeelTurn3

The real challenge was to pick up the gusset stitches and at one point I had 4 circular needles in use. But I was successful in picking up the gusset stitches on both sides of the heel.

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The pattern is really simple. You cast on 6 stitches and then just knit every row until you have used up the entire skein. It only takes one skein to make the scarf and when finished it is about 6 feet long.

My MIL was thrilled. She put the scarf on and wore it after she opened the bag. She exclaimed at how soft it was. She said she would be the envy of all the ladies in the independent living facility where she lives. (I made a BIG hit!) 🙂

Here’s the details:
Yarn: Sashay (Red Heart Boutique) Colorway: Hip Hop
Needles: U.S. 9 (5.5 mm)
Finished length = 72 inches Width = 3 inches

Notes about knitting with this yarn: See picture below of the yarn before knitted. This yarn is essentially a stripe of lace — with the bottom edge more finished than the top. The bottom is the finished edge of the ruffles. You knit this yarn using the top two strands of the upper edge of the lace. The yarn is quite slippery and it takes some getting used to — I used metal needles for this project and the combination of the slippery yarn and the slickness of the metal needles nearly drove me crazy! I recommend using a type of needle with some grab for this yarn — if I knit it again I will use bamboo needles. Also — it is not possible to weave in the ends on this yarn. When you are done, get out your sewing thread and a sewing needle — you will need to sew down the unfinished edges of the scarf to prevent the ends from raveling.

Ruffle Yarn