Nana's Knitting Shop

Knitting tales of a lifelong knitter
and yarn shop owner.

Friday, December 04, 2009

Would you like some cheese...

with that whine? Yes, Paula, I would love some cheese with my whine, but I don't think it will make me feel any better.

So what am I whining about? A picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it?

Way back when I got it in my head that I was going to make Dad a vest for Christmas that actually fit, I convinced Tracy to make one for her Dad too. Same pattern, same colors, same everything, except size. Tracy is making one size smaller for her Dad. Yes, I emphasized one size smaller in a vain attempt to make myself feel better about how far Tracy is and how pathetically far I still have to go. There isn't enough cheese or smaller sizes in the world to make me feel better about how far I have to go.

As you can see, Tracy is just about to the shoulders. Her neck and armhole steeks are all in place and it looks just beautiful. I must say, though, Tracy whined just a little bit too, thinking she wouldn't get it done for Christmas because she still has to put the bands around the neck and armholes. If she won't get hers done, I don't have a chance in hell. She'll get it done, of that I am positive.

In my defense (like you have a defense, Sister), I am now 8 rounds closer to the armhole than when this picture was taken, with a mere 8 rounds to go.

I couldn't possibly end this blog with all this whining. Instead, I'll give out a little education.

Take a really close look at the picture below. Remember, we're both using the exact same yarn and colors.

Do you see that Tracy's vest (on the right) is ever so slightly darker than mine? We're both knitting two-handed, one color in the right hand and the second color in the left hand. Tracy, however, is holding the lighter color in her right hand, the darker in her left hand. I am doing the opposite - darker color in my right, lighter color in my left hand.

When you're knitting two-handed like this, the yarn in the right hand goes over the strand in the left hand and the strand in the left hand goes under. The yarn that goes under the other shows up more prominently than the strand that goes over.

Why? The strand that comes from underneath travels farther to the needle than the strand that goes over; the over strand is closer to the needle. More yarn is used by the farther strand so there is more of it in the finished knitting.

Since Tracy's darker color is farthest from the needle, she's using more dark yarn and her vest is consequently darker than mine.

Consistency here is the key. If you start out with the darker yarn in your right hand (or vice versa), you must continue that throughout the knitting or it will be very uneven and very noticeable.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some serious knitting to do.

2 Comments:

Blogger Kris said...

Wow. Good to know. Thanks for sharing.

2:35 PM  
Blogger Celeste said...

Just ran across your blog and wanted to say "Hello". I always get the urge to knit during the winter months but never complete it!! Thanks for sharing!

Cheers!
Celeste
lolatinidesignstudio.blogspot.com

2:42 PM  

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