Knitting instructions: How do you easily add colors to garter stitch?

Like many knitters, when I first learned to knit, I started with a garter stitch scarf. By the time I finished, I’d learned cast on, knit stitch, and casting (or binding) off.  As I recall it was a long scarf, so I had lots of practice on my knit stitches.

The scarf was made of a single color. I didn’t try anything fancy. Was just happy to be using two wooden needles, size 11, instead of the spool knitting I’d done previously. At the time I thought spool knitting boring, and for children. It seemed as though there were only a limited number of things like placemats or hot pads to make with it. And after all, I was in elementary school, so knitting with two needles was very grown-up!

Since then I’ve learned a few things about knitting garter stitch with color. And like most knitters I have definite preferences as to what I like!

So what patterns arise when you use simple techniques to add color to your garter stitch?

• Stripes, or
• A mosaic, or even
• A pattern you won’t know until you finish your knitting.

When making stripes I tend to be an orderly kind of knitter. My preference is usually to change colors on the same side, which ends up being the right side most often. Carrying one color only across, and then changing colors on the same side. This gives you sharp stripes. This picture shows colors alternated every 2 rows:

And the other side, usually the wrong side is more blended:

If changing colors on both sides of the article, you’ll get a blend of the two.

There is another technique called mosaic knitting. Here, you change the colors at the beginning of a row like stripes, slip some stitches, and still carry only one color across at a time. It gives some lovely color patterns, on both sides:

Here’s a nice online description of knitting instructions for mosaic garter stitch.

I must admit, however, that one of my favorite ways to add color to garter stitch is easier than either of these.

Use a variegated yarn! Especially if you like the randomness, and being surprised at the outcome which may look like stripes or Intarsia, or even something else.

If you like garter stitch, and want to try a small project, why not a kitchen set? Here’s the link on how you can get knitting instructions for my Ripple Garter Stitch Kitchen Set.

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Dish towel knitting instructions: Where are you?

While I prefer to let dishes air dry, sometimes I still need to dry them by hand.

The other day, as I used a dish towel, it left the water untouched.  I tried a second, then a third. All of them refused to wipe the dishes dry.

The best drying towel seemed to be one that’s probably at least 15 years old. Unfortunately, it also has a large hole in its center.

Have you noticed most if not all the dish towels lately in the stores are manufactured outside the USA?  The ones I’ve had the most problems with are new. Perhaps it’s the yarn, the dyes, or even the manufacturing process?

After exhausting the available dish towels, I reached for a knitted cotton dishcloth. Surprisingly, it did a nice job of drying the dishes. Perhaps a bit small, but the pattern could be easily enlarged.

Have you noticed there aren’t many knitting patterns for dish towels?

Oh, it’s easy to find dishcloth knitting instructions online. Knitting Pattern Central has 277 dishcloth patterns, and 1 dish towel pattern. Even Ravelry lists 46 patterns for dish towels, but it appears only 25 or so are actually towels. And they have over 3000 patterns for knitted dishcloths listed!

Some are for dishcloths, just mislabeled as dish towels.

Three possible reasons for the scarcity of dish towel knitting instructions:

• Maybe they’re less popular because they’re a larger project?
• Maybe many folks don’t hand dry many dishes any more?
• Maybe designers just assume knitters enlarge dishcloth patterns themselves to make dish towels?

Making a dishcloth larger makes sense. An all-over pattern is easy to enlarge by simply adding more stitches — by keeping to the pattern repeat — and by adding rows to make a rectangle rather than a square.

You can see the dishcloth I enlarged by adding additional “bricks” to make a dish towel:

I found the ballband dishcloth knitting pattern inside the label of the Peaches & Creme blue denim cotton yarn. This link will take you to the online knitting instructions. Peaches & Creme cotton yarn is made in the USA from American materials.

When you want to hang the dish towel on a handle in the kitchen, you may want to customize the top, making it easy to hang or tie on the handle. Here’s a link for knitting instructions for topping cotton woven or terry cloth towels from Lion Brand Company that can be adapted for hand knit dish towels.

Of course, if you’re adventurous and don’t mind ripping and re-knitting if needed, you could try to make a top without knitting instructions.

You may find knitting dish towels with and without hanging tops easier — and faster — than you think!

Have you grabbed your free knitted purse pattern with customization suggestions yet? Subscribe to be notified of new updates to The Knitting Yarn site including free patterns, knitting tips, and knitting instructions — and get your free knitting pattern now!

Check out more fiber artists and their projects at Fiber Arts Friday.

What’s the remedy for “boring” knit dishcloths?

Ever have one of those days?

You know, you search for a clean dishcloth. Only to discover …

Most of them are worn, many beyond repair. Amazing how they all seem to go simultaneously. And no, I don’t think it’s a conspiracy.

More likely, I wait until I need more than one, and then make a bunch at a time.

Dishcloths are interesting. They can be as plain or fancy as you like. Since I’ve recently been working with garter stitch, I thought I’d see how many variations of garter stitch I could make.

This is one of my favorite patterns. I start with how ever many stitches I want, using the size needles I feel like, and basically knit a square … unless I feel like making an oblong.

Then I bind off.

The diagonal knit dishcloth is a favorite with many folks. I see it listed often as “Grandma’s Dishcloth Pattern” or “Old-Fashioned Dishcloth Pattern.” That’s not to say Grandma is always old-fashioned of course.

Waffle Stitch is probably not technically garter stitch. It does use only knit stitches with no purling, so I’m including it. I like the thickness, and it makes a nice scrubbing dishcloth.

Mitered dishcloth is fun. Mostly because I like to start with the long end, and decrease as I go. It’s lovely to work fewer and fewer stitches as the square grows. Sure makes the project seem to be going faster, anyway. The pattern is here, just use one strand of yarn and adjust the number of stitches to make the size you want.

Rippled dishcloth is a stitch I modified. From the ripple afghan stitch, I changed it to a garter stitch ripple. Hey, it’s allowed! After all, it is only knitting!

After eight different patterns, I decided I have enough dishcloths for awhile. And, I still have some yarn left over. At least until I decide to knit some more.

I used my size seven Denise Knitting Needles from Alpaca Direct. I still smile whenever I use them because I enjoy them … like that they’re made in Virginia … and Alpaca Direct’s free shipping for orders over $50 always makes me smile.

The cotton worsted weight yarn is Sugar’n Cream Yarn Twists-Rose Twists and
Sugar ‘n Cream Bronze Blue Culinary Colors-3 oz.

Who wants a free knitting pattern that organizes and recycles?

Looking at my collection of darning needles, I realized I needed more organization.

Each needle is blunt. The good news is blunt needles are harder to poke yourself with. The bad news is, they don’t poke through the fabric on my pin cushion. <Sigh …>

Darning needles — and most sewing needles — come in cardboard and plastic packages.  To use the needles, the plastic usually needs to be ripped from the cardboard. While the plastic can be used as a tray, it’s a short-term not a long-term solution.

As I was considering what to do with my needles, I suddenly remembered one of my mother’s pin cushions.

It’s made from a discarded aerosol can top, and a crocheted oblong that’s rolled into the top. Darning needles easily go into the crocheted stitches. Should be easy enough to substitute a knit oblong for the crocheted. But then, I realized I don’t have any empty tops lying around. Probably because I rarely buy aerosol cans any more.

But I do have several measuring cups from laundry detergent.

Its sides aren’t square. I like the clear plastic that will show more of the knitting.

So, it was off to my basket of yarn scraps, and my knitting needles. I decided to make as much of a customized roll as I can. I love the idea of using bright colors. Hopefully they will make the pin cushion be more visible on my cluttered work surface.

My knitting gauge is 7 stitches in 2 inches, with size 7 needles and worsted weight wool. Actually the wool is hand spun doubles.

I cast on 8 stitches, and started garter stitch with a slipped stitch garter edging. The edging instructions are in the video on this web site. I made a slipped stitch along one edge, and changed colors as I ran out of yarn or as it suited me. The slipped stitch edge is the top.  All color changes were made along  the bottom edge.

I knit 10 inches of garter stitch. I bound off 3 stitches on the edge opposite the slipped stitch. Then continued garter stitch with the slipped stitch edging on 5 stitches for another 6-1/4 inches. Followed by binding off the remaining stitches.

I fit the roll into the container as I worked. I didn’t weave in any ends, just tucked them into the roll.

And, voila!

And another view:

I scrunched the roll into the plastic cup. The knitted roll very nicely fit inside it.

With a single project I’ve organized my darning needles, and recycled (reused) an otherwise non-recyclable.

Storage Tip:I like to store all my needles with yarn or thread attached. When one drops, they’re so-o-o much easier to find!

You can download a free pdf of this pattern here.

Now that my darning needles are organized, it’s time to tackle the clutter on my workspace …

Check out the fiber artists at Alpaca Farm Girl’s Fiber Arts Friday.

Knitting pattern symphony

There’s a rhythm in knitting.

When you knit a pattern — especially a new one — you engage more than your mind.  Working the individual stitches involves concentration, coordination, and cooperation.

Concentrating on the pattern seems obvious.  Reading the pattern, and translating it into the stitches on your needles can take some work.  Even the best knitters with the best instructions sometimes need to rework a section.  Rip it out, and knit it again.  Knitters often call this “frogging.”  From saying “rip it” repeatedly and quickly.

When I was first learning, I found when concentrating on a knitting pattern, I’d block out other distractions.

Coordination involves your muscles, mind, and your eyes if sighted.  Touch is involved whether you’re a sighted knitter, or not.

And cooperation among the various parts of your body is essential.

When it all comes together, it can be very much like a symphony. A symphony for the soul, as an old sampler reminds us:

“In the rhythm of the needles, there is music for the soul.” ~ Author Unknown.

This music works in good times and bad: whether they’re personal, or more global.

When a knitter gets into the rhythm of knitting, she can make music.  Perhaps only she can hear it. Still, it’s there.  If you listen closely you can hear:  as she experiences the quiet joy in creating … the comfort in the simple repetition of a pattern … the stress relief while concentrating on a new stitch.

In bad times, I’ve found knitting a quiet respite.  Best of all, there’s a finished product to show for it.  A tangible reminder of the process, one that can also trigger memories — often fond ones. I’ve found many of my knitted projects — even those knitted in bad times — trigger fond memories. And help soften the pain of remembering, easing the journey forward beyond the pain … heartache … or grief.

My philosophy of knitting

Well, maybe not just my philosophy.

“There is no right way to knit; there is no wrong way to knit”

Ah, the wisdom of Elizabeth Zimmermann.

I agree completely.  There should be no right or wrong way to knit.  The way I learned to knit was a product of an 8 year-old teaching herself to knit.  Most knitting teachers would likely tell me it’s wrong.

I disagree.

Wrong maybe as far as the books are concerned.  With it, I’ve knit many patterns including complicated cables.  My stitches are even, and I knit fast.

When I started knitting circular patterns, I realized my method wasn’t working anymore.  So, as an adult, I went back to the books.  Lo and behold, my method was not what the books teach.  It looked fine, though.

After learning that method, it was easy to learn another.  Although it did take a bit of practice to switch consistently.  But so does any habit.

On average, it takes 20 to 30 repetitions to learn a new habit.

While I now can knit either method with equal ease, I find I still don’t hold the yarn like the books.  I hold it my way.  And I think it’s one reason I knit fast.  You see, I don’t worry if I’m holding the yarn correctly or not.

I just do what’s comfortable.

See if you join me in agreeing with Elizabeth Zimmermann’s full quote:

“There is no right way to knit; there is no wrong way to knit.  So if anybody kindly tells you that what you are doing is ‘wrong,’ don’t take umbrage; they mean well.  Smile submissively, and listen, keeping your disagreement on an entirely mental level.  They may be right, in this particular case, and even if not, they may drop off pieces of information which will come in very handy if you file them away carefully in your brain for future reference.”  ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann 1910-1999

Looking to make a difference?

Maybe not change the world, just part of it?

If you’re a member of Ravelry, you may want to check out the Darfur: End the genocide group.  They’re sponsoring making pencil cases for the HELPSudan project.

There are several pencil case patterns available for both knitters and crocheters.  There’s a contest running until March 31, with prizes for the first and second place winners.  The winners are determined by comments on the cases.

And you can make your case as fancy or plain as you like.  Some have ties to close, and some zippers.  Interested in trying Fair Isle knitting for a small project, I used Kieran Foley’s pattern (free) and made a few changes:

While it looks complicated, it knit up quickly.  And was really fun!  Best of all, I feel like I’m contributing to a worthy cause.  Making a difference.

The pencil cases will either be used by children in Africa, or sold by the HELPSudan project, and the money used to help kids.  Either is fine with me.

I’ve looked at several of the cases posted, and all of them are lovely.  It’s nice to see a project made with loving care for others.  And making something for someone else I’ve found is a good way to feel better.  No matter what the news or economy says.

There aren’t a lot of rules for this project.  As far as I can tell, none.  Some projects restrict the type of yarn or the size.  All for very good reasons.  Too many rules (usually written by non-crafters such as bureaucrats) can be discouraging, especially to beginning knitters and crocheters.

Here’s a close-up of my pattern:

Welcome to The Knitting Yarn

I’ve enjoyed knitting for most of my life, ever since I was 8.  There have been times I couldn’t knit, either because of time constraints or physical limitations.  And I missed it.

You see, I find knitting both practical and relaxing.  One of the fastest ways I know to create a unique gift.  And I still hear my sister’s voice encouraging me to “Knit, Ina, Knit” when I was making a sweater for her.

This I hope will be a relaxing adventure, as I share some of the tips and techniques I’ve learned along the way.  I’ll share my projects and designs, and maybe even the occasional recipe.  Not to mention my yarn stash.

Your comments are welcome.  This is a Family-friendly, Spam-free Blog, however.  Because I want to keep it stress-free, I plan to follow the Golden Rule in my posts and comments.  I ask you to do the same.  The administrator will delete any posts she finds inappropriate or offensive.  Thanks for your cooperation in advance.

So grab a drink and maybe your knitting, and let’s get started …