tutorial Archives - Page 19 of 20

tutorial: knitting M1L and M1R increases

Many knitting patterns do not consist of rectangles but have a different shape. Think of a hat or a triangular shawl. To make contours in your work, you can make it wider by increasing your number of stitches, and narrower by decreasing them. When knitting lace both increases and decreases are indispensable. Knowing about knitting M1L and M1R increases, therefore, comes in very handy.

Being able to work a wide variety of increases is, therefore, a very important skill for a knitter. In this post, I’m going to show you how to make increases by lifting the horizontal thread between the stitch just knit and the next one. These increases are referred to as “make one left” (abbreviated M1L) and “make one right” (abbreviated M1R).

Left? Right?

Now you may wonder what is meant by “left” and “right” in this context. Depending on how exactly you make the increase, it leans to the left or to the right, relative to the surrounding “normal” stitches. This can be very useful in, for example, a sweater where increases on both sides of the neck opening are needed. In this particular case, it may be visually pleasing to be symmetrical.

Sometimes there is no indication of a direction given in the pattern, usually denoted by plain “M1”. If that is the case, you can choose which version you like best, or easiest to make.

Knitting a M1R increase step by step

In this variation, you increase by lifting the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the back with your left needle, then knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the front of the loop. The resulting extra stitch leans to the right.

1. Lift the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the back with your left needle.

2. Knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the front of the loop.

3. The result of the right-leaning M1R.

Knitting a M1L increase step by step

In this variation, you increase by lifting the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the front with your left needle, then knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the back of the loop. The resulting extra stitch leans to the left.

1. Lift the thread between the stitch just knit and the next one from the front with your left needle.

2. Knit (RS) or purl (WS) into the back of the loop. The latter may be a bit challenging, but as with everything practice makes perfect.

3. The result of the left-leaning M1L.

And this is how knitting M1L and M1R increases is done!

The M1 increase really is one of my favorites, not in the least because they give an almost invisible result. See for example in the picture below. In this small swatch, there are three increase rows worked every other row, at a distance of 3 stitches from the garter stitch edge.

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tutorial: crochet curlicues

Crochet curlicues - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

There are many ways to finish the edges of knitted or crochet projects. To name a few examples: crab stitch, shell stitches, and picot stitches. Fringe is also a lovely way to finish scarfs, shawls, blankets etc. But sometimes it is fun to just give it another twist. The answer to that is quite literally curlicues!

Curlicues not only give a lovely result, but are also very addicting to make.

Here you can find how to make curlicues yourself. For the example, I used a generic worsted weight acrylic yarn and a 5 mm (US H-8) hook. These instructions are written in American English crochet terminology.

This is how to make your curlicues step by step:

1. Make a chain in the length you would like your curlicue to have, plus 3 extra chains. In this example, I’m using 15 chains + 3 chains. Be careful not to make the chains too tight, because that will make it harder to crochet into it later.

2. Make 2 dc in the 4th chain from the hook.

3. Next, make 3 dc in each following chain. For the result, it doesn’t really matter where exactly to place your hook into the chain. Use the way you find easiest or gives the nicest result to you. When you are about halfway the initial chain, you should slowly see the curlicue shape emerge!

And here the curlicue is all done, isn’t it cute?

You can also get nice effects by not making the curlicues not in a solid colored yarn, but in a variegated one. You can also make curlicues with half double crochet (hdc) stitches instead of double crochet (dc) to get a less wide result.

Curlicues are also fun to dress up stuffed animals with, think of the arms of an octopus, or the wild manes of a lion. The sky is the limit!

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tutorial: knitting in the round – travelling loop method

In earlier posts I already told you about choosing circular needles that fit your style. “Regular” knitting in the round has also been discussed in this post. In this post, I want to talk about knitting in the round using the travelling loop method.

Why is this actually called travelling loop?

That is because with this method you use a circular knitting needle with a cable that is way too long for the project. During knitting, the excess length of the cable forming a loop will move along from the right-hand needle all the way around to the left-hand needle. The loop “travels” as it were!

Knitting with the travelling loop method works very well if two prerequisites are met:

Firstly, it is of importance that you use a circular needle with a cable too large for your project. If your project has a circumference of 50 cm / 20 inches, then circs with a length of 80 cm / 32 inches or longer would work fine with this method. For this same project circs with a length of 60 cm / 16 inches would not work, because the excess length of cable is too small to form the loop.

Secondly, make sure that the diameter of your project is not too small! Socks and sleeves will usually be too small to use this method because the length of the needle itself will be a problem. A knitted in the round cowl or (children) sweater will be fine though most of the time.

Knitting travelling loop step by step

In this example, I’m using 4 mm / 80 cm circular needles as well as a stitch marker to indicate the start and end of rounds.

1. Cast on the number of stitches as required for your project. In this example I have cast on stitches by knitting them on, you can, of course, use your preferred method or the one specified in your pattern.

2. Move the cast on stitches over your needle in such a way that the first CO stitch is on your left-hand needle. You can recognize this stitch by the loose tail. Make sure not to twist your work, if that is what is desired for your pattern.

3. When you are about to close the work in the round, this is how everything looks: The needle with the beginning of your CO (with the yarn tail) at the side of the left-hand needle, the thread leading to your ball of wool coming from the last CO stitch at the back. The right-hand needle has a long length of the unused cable. Now it is also time to place your “end of round” stitch marker on the right-hand needle.

4. Insert your right-hand needle into the first stitch on the left-hand needle and knit it. There will be tension on the yarn that connects the first and last stitch of the CO. Because of this, it can help to hold the cable close to the needle with your hand.

5. Once you have knitted part of the round, you will see the loop of excess cable travelling along.

6. At a certain point when knitting with a travelling loop, it will become possible to move all remaining stitches of the round up to the left-hand needle. Do this, to lessen the tension on the yarn that connects the first and last stitch of the CO.

7. At the end of the round, you will have a large piece of unused cable near the left-hand needle. Pull the circular needle through your work in such a way, that all stitches are ready to knit on the left-hand needle. The right-hand needle has the excess cable. Put the stitch marker over to the other needle and knit. You can tighten up the somewhat loose connection between the end and start of each round. To do so, pull the yarn tight with the second stitch of each new round. Don’t worry about the sloppy looking join, this will fix itself.

8. With each round making sure to pull the yarn tight with every second stitch of the round only. After knitting several rounds, it will look like this. As you can see everything has redistributed nicely and it does not look sloppy anymore!

Stay tuned for the next blog in the series of knitting in the round using circular needles!

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tutorial: knitting in the round with circular needles

Personally, I find knitting in the round with circular needles to be very relaxing. It goes round and round and round; very zen! This is what also made it so nice to work on my Zeeglas Cowl, pictured below. In this post I will tell and show you how knitting in the round works best, using circular needles (or circs for short).

How does knitting in the round using circs work?

Knitting in the round this way works best when using a needle with a cable length that matches the circumference of your project. It is better to use a needle that is a tad too short, than one too large. Knitting is easy to compress a bit, but stretching it out can get ugly. Also, this makes for a less than optimal knitting experience: it is hard to move along stitches that are stretched tight over your needle and cable.

For a cowl regular circular needles with a cable length of 60 cm (24 inches) is usually fine. For knitting socks this way there are even special tiny circs with extra short needles and a cable of a mere 10 cm (4 inches).

In this example, I will use a size 3 mm (US 2) circular needle with a cable length of 30 cm (12 inches). This specific needle has tips that are a tad shorter than regular circs. This needle by Addi is my favorite to knit baby hats from sock wool.

Knitting in the round with circular needles step by step

1. Cast on the number of stitches as required for your project plus 1. I will explain this extra stitch later on in this how-to. In this example I have cast on stitches by knitting them on. You can, of course, use your preferred method or the one specified in your pattern. In the picture below the strand of yarn at the bottom of the picture is where the CO was started. The strand at the top is the one that goes to the ball of yarn.

2. In patterns where the work has to be closed in the round, there often is a note to be careful not the twist the work. An exception to this is when you actually want a twist in the work. Take for example as with a Moebius type cowl. In the picture above in the spot indicated with the arrow, you can see there is a twist. I have to untwist it before proceeding!

3. Hold the needles in such a way that the last CO stitch is on your right-hand needle. You can recognize this stitch by the attached ball of yarn.

4. Slip this last CO stitch from your right-hand needle to the left-hand needle, then knit the first 2 stitches together. With this, you close the work in the round and at the same time, prevent a “gap” at the join. Also, the extra stitch cast on has been decreased away.

5. Place a stitch marker to indicate the start and end of the round and enjoy the knitting!

In another post on the topic of knitting in the round with circular needles, I also cover traveling loop. Posts on magic loop knitting and “two at a time” (“TAAT” for short) magic loop knitting will be done sometime in the future!

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tutorial: preparing roving for extreme knitting

You have perhaps already read in this blog post, that extreme knitting really has my attention lately. In that blog post I have been shown you how I made extreme knitting needles from broom sticks. Today I am going to show you how I prepared wool roving to be able to knit with it.

At first I just started knitting with the roving as it came. However, soon it became clear that this particular piece of knitting was very thick and stiff. Perhaps suitable for a thick rug, but not for the scarf I envisioned. In other words: my new extreme broomstick needles were too small for this “yarn”!

I wasn’t planning on making even bigger knitting needles, so something had to be done with the wool itself to make it suitable for the needles I had available. Also, the thought came to me that untreated wool roving knit into a scarf, would probably shed like a Wookiee in Springtime. Not a good look when wearing dark colored clothes.

Below the steps to prepare my roving for extreme knitting:

1. Splitting the roving length-wise. This way I not only halved the thickness, but also doubled the total length available for my scarf!

2. The result: Two large balls of roving. Because the roving is now significantly thinner, it also falls apart more easily when handled. This combined with the shedding problem led me to the idea to full/felt the wool.

3. To make sure the wool wouldn’t felt together in one big lump, I draped it on a large sheet like this:

4. Then I rolled up the sheet, making sure that the roving did not touch itself anywhere. When rolled up like a big sausage I used some waste yarn to make sure it stayed that way. After this the whole package was put in the washing machine on a short 30 minute / 30 degrees Celsius program.

5. Here my roving yarn is out of the washing machine and hanging to dry. It’s nicely felted as you can see!

6. And there we have it: A large ball of felted roving, ready for some extreme knitting.

Go to this page to see what I made out of this extreme yarn!

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tutorial: reverse single crochet (rsc)

Reverse single crochet - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

A knitting or crochet project isn’t really finished until all edges and borders are also finished. With knitted pieces, this plays an even more important role, as stockinette or stockinette-based fabric often curls. Applying a crocheted edge is a nice and easy solution to prevent this. In this post, I’m going to write about the “crab stitch” or “reverse single crochet”. This stitch is often abbreviated as “rsc”. The latter reveals a lot about how this stitch is worked: exactly the same way as a regular single crochet stitch, only in the reverse direction!

What I find really nice about the crab stitch, is that it has a very sleek unisex look. Because of this, it is very suitable for finishing of clothing items and accessories for men of all ages. Also, you can create very nice effects by stitching the crab stitch in a contrasting color. This is something I’ve done in the green and blue vest, which you can see a detail of in the picture above. In the step-by-step instructions, I will, however, be making the crab stitch edging in the same color as the main piece. Please note that American crochet terminology is used in this tutorial.

Crab stitch or reverse single crochet step by step:

1. Begin on the left side of the item, you will be working from the left to right.

2. Insert the hook in the base stitch where you want to start your edging.

3. Twist the point of your hook to the left, grab the yarn and pull through the stitch. This is the hardest part of the reverse single crochet stitch to get right. There are now two loops on your hook.

4. Yarn over and draw through the two loops on your hook.

5. This completes the first stitch. Repeat steps 1 to 4 as often as needed for your project.

The completed edging will look like this:

In the picture below, you see in the middle a version of my Kimono Wrap Revisited, which I finished with a reverse single crochet edging in a contrasting color.

kimono wrap revisited by La Visch Designs

Have fun embellishing your projects with this wonderful, versatile stitch!

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tutorial: foundation double crochet (fdc)

In earlier tutorials, I have already shown you how to start your crochet without a starting chain, using either foundation single crochet (fsc) or foundation half double crochet (fhdc).

In this tutorial, the final part in the series: how to work a foundation double crochet or fdc. Please note that American crochet terminology is used in this tutorial. In a pattern, you may find the following instruction for fhdc:

Foundation double crochet: make a slip knot and place onto hook, ch 3, yo and insert hook into both lps of the third st from hook, yo and draw through st, ch 1, yo and draw through first 2 lps on hook, yo and draw through last 2 lps on hook, *yo, insert hook in ch part of previous st, yo and draw through st, ch 1, yo and draw through first 2 lps on hook, yo and draw through last 2 lps on hook; rep from *.

Working foundation double crochet (fdc) step by step

1. Make a slip knot and chain 3.

Working foundation double crochet (fdc) - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

2. Yarn over and insert the hook from right to left under the top strands of the third chain from the hook.

3. Yarn over and draw through the top strands as indicated above.

4. Chain one stitch, make sure to make this one not too tight, because here you create the “chain” part of your foundation row.

5. Yarn over and draw through the first two loops on your hook.

6. Yarn over and draw through the remaining two loops on your hook. This completes the first stitch in your foundation double crochet.

7. Insert the hook in the chain part of the previous stitch, as indicated by the arrow in the picture above. This can be a tad hard to make out. Yarn over and draw through both strands of the stitch.

8. Chain one stitch, again making sure not to make this one too tight.

9. Yarn over and draw through the first two loops on your hook.

10. Yarn over and draw through the remaining two loops on your hook.

Repeat steps 7-10 as often as needed! And this is what your foundation double crochet (fdc) should look like:

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tutorial: making extreme knitting needles

Knitting old fashioned and fussy? The people saying that probably haven’t heard of extreme knitting. There are many varieties of extreme knitting, to name a few examples:

Extremely small knitting or “micro knitting” as practiced by Althea Crome. She is also the artist responsible for the knitwear in the movie “Coraline”.
Knitting at extreme locations. Knitting under water as done by Nelleke and Rob Kool must be one of the more extreme examples of this type of extreme knitting!
Extremely large knitting, using (obviously) very big needles and yarn.

It is this last category of extreme knitting that has my attention. With much interest I have been reading about the Shetland lace garden fence, carpets from many strands of yarn knit simultaneously and fantastically fluffy blankets knit from wool roving.

I’m very interested in this type of extreme knitting. Knitting on such a scale must be very different from knitting on size 4 mm (US #6) size needles. The result itself is of course much bigger, although I can’t really get a feel on the impact of such large stitches when viewing this type of projects on the internet. I also expect that the act of knitting itself is much more labor intensive when compared to “regular” knitting.

The choice was easy to make: I was going extreme! Of course, very big knitting needles are needed for this. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you step by step how to make extreme knitting needles.

Making your own extreme knitting needles

Supplies needed

2 broomsticks with a tapered end (diameter approx. 28 mm / 1 inch)
medium grit sandpaper
fine grit sandpaper
sanding block

Instructions

Tear a strip from the medium grit sandpaper and fold it around the sanding block.
Sand the tapered ends of the broomsticks round and smooth.
Sand the entire broomstick, both tip, and shaft, with the fine grit sand to remove any splinters and make it smooth enough to be able to knit with it.

The result: two extremely large knitting needles!

In the next tutorial on this subject, we will be preparing the wool roving to be able to knit with it.

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from fleece to tweedy yarn

What I really love is to spin my own yarn and then design a pattern to use that yarn to its best advantage. Often I just use ready-dyed top or roving, for example from wonderful dyers like Dutch Wool Diva. Other times I start out with a raw fleece and clean and dye it myself, like I showed you in the dyeing wool tutorial. In this post, I want to show you the steps involved in making a tweedy yarn from the fiber I dyed before. The main characteristic of tweed yarn, consists of contrasting flecks of color on a solid or tonal background. In this particular yarn, I will be using sari silk threads as the contrasting component. I got mine from Bart & Francis.

Therefore, my starting materials consist of the following:

However, before the wool can be spun in threads, it has to be prepared. Because I wanted a somewhat “fluffy” yarn I carded the silk and wool together in fluffy batts, using my drum carder:

I alternated layers of wool and silk, starting and ending with wool. After this first pass, I removed the batt from the drum, tore it into strips and put it through the carder again to blend it better. The end result, three lovely fluffy purple batts, streaked with colorful silk:

Spinning

And then it was time to spin! I spun this yarn as a fat 2-ply on my vintage double drive spinning wheel. I didn’t mind some unevenness, because plying multiple singles together evens out a lot of irregularities. Besides, I really don’t mind a hand spun yarn being a tad rustic. Here’s a progress shot of spinning the singles:

And both bobbins full of singles, you can see the singles are somewhat thick-‘n-thin:

After plying both singles together, I had a wonderful aran weight 2 ply yarn, exactly as I envisioned it! I finished the yarn by giving it a wash to set the twist and snap the skein a bit to distribute the twist better. And there you have it: 189 m / 125 g of hand spun goodness, in this picture drying in the sun:

And of course the resulting and skeined up yarn! Truly from fleece to tweedy yarn, I used it in a cowl.

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tutorial: foundation half double crochet (fhdc)

Foundation half double crochet (fhdc) - a tutorial by La Visch Designs

In another post, I have already shown you how to make a foundation row based on single crochet stitches. I really like this method of a chainless start of my crochet projects for all the reasons already explained in the other post. In this post I will show you how to make a half double crochet foundation row or fhdc for short.

This is a type of foundation row I use a lot myself, because I really like the fabric hdc stitches produce: not too dense, as is often the case with sc stitches. And not too holey either as a dc based fabric usually is. Exactly right as far as I’m concerned!

In a pattern, you may find the following instruction for fhdc:

Foundation half double crochet: make a slip knot and place onto hook, ch 3, yo and insert hook into both lps of the third st from hook, yo and draw through st, ch 1, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hook, *yo, insert hook in ch part of previous st, yo and draw through st, ch 1, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hook; rep from *.

Foundation half double crochet step by step

Below you can find the various steps and accompanying pictures. Please note that American crochet terminology is used in this tutorial.

1. Make a slip knot and chain 3.

2. Insert the hook from right to left under the top strands of the third chain from the hook.

3. Yarn over and draw through those top strands indicated above.

4. Chain one stitch, make sure to make this one not too tight, because here you create the “chain” part of your foundation row.

5. Yarn over and draw through all three loops on your hook. This completes the first stitch in your foundation half double crochet.

6. Insert the hook in the chain part of the previous stitch, this can be a tad hard to make out.

7. Yarn over and draw through both strands indicated above.

8. Chain one stitch, make sure again to make this one not too tight.

9. Yarn over and draw through all three loops on the hook.

Repeat steps 6-9 as often as needed!

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