Monica Knits

To help manage the yarn tails associated with horizontal stripes and color changes I tie a small, temporary square knot. This quick measure prevents gaps from occurring in the knitting and allows me to continue knitting past the color changes until I'm ready to weave in the yarn tails. The yellow arrows point to three of the four color transitions. Read more ....

Picot Cast On After I wrote the picot bind off (cast off) article, there were a number of reader inquiries for picot cast on instructions. Like the picot bind off, you can create a delicate finish of bobbles of good elasticity--ideal for sock cuffs. Also like the related bind off, the picot size is determined by the number of stitches cast on and then bound off together. The picot cast on begins with a cable cast on, then employs a combination of cable cast ons and clustered bind offs similar to the picot cast off. Read more... for illustrated instructions and related links.

This Linked Rib scarf is similar in appearance to Lynne Barr's Twisted scarf in the manner that New Wave is similar to Easy Wave, all samples from her book: "Knitting New Scarves - 27 Distinctly Modern Designs." Of the four patterns I tested, this one had the most challenging instructions, which I modified slightly to facilitate knitting. Read more .. for additional discussion of the "Linked Rib" scarf.

I decided to include an additional swatch illustrating Lynne Barr's 3-dimensional knitted scarves to better illustrate her range of twisted reversible knits--in fact this one is called Twisted. The scarf reminds me of individually wrapped bonbons, strung in a chain, with every other candy turned 90^o. This design, also from her book "Knitting New Scarves - 27 Distinctly Modern Designs," actually looks more complicated to stitch than it is. It knits up quickly on two circular needles and the pattern is easy to memorize, so you can knit it in an evening or two, depending on how long you wish to make the chain. Read the related book review: New Twist on Reversible Knitting.

Swap StsYesterday a reader inquired how to join Kitchener rib in the round. I'll give a short answer today and provide illustrations later. The method of joining in the round depends on the type of cast on you use for the Kitchener rib. The two types discussed in this blog are the provisional cast on and the Kitchener rib (also called Italian and tubular) cast on. If you are making small circles, the provisional cast on is probably the least awkward to execute. The provisional method was used for the toe up sock and the long mohair glove. The Kitchener rib cast on was used for a reversible headband knitted in the round. The two examples below each used 2 circular needles. Read more.....

Now that I've had a chance to wear the socks, I thought I'ld complete my review of the pattern and discuss what I liked and disliked. I did make minor changes to Wayne Pfeffer's two-yarn resoleable sock design, namely in the handling of the toes and the use of waste yarn to facilitate undoing the sole stitches in the future. I also made the socks 3" taller. Read more .... to find what I liked and disliked about this approach for a resoleable sock.    Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image.

Whirligig Gloves Promise of SpringThe late winter colors of sky blue, brilliant sunshine, snow, dried grasses and leafless trees evoked the sense of spring awakening. The effect was both uplifting and fascinating and inspired Fair Isle style gloves in 4 cheerful colors: sky blue, cream, rust and yellow. Read on ... for Independent Designer Pattern (IDP) and yarn information.

The changes made to Wayne Pfeffer's two-yarn resoleable sock design were minor. The toe was knitted in the main Highland color, instead of the contrast yarn and a waste yarn (orange) round was knitted before the start of the toe to make it easy to remove either the toe and sole or just the sole. I made this modification since I tend not to wear out the toe area of socks. Read more ...

Small touches change the appearance of the hugs and kisses wristwarmers. In the first photo, the mother-of-pearl buttons are used so that they coordinate with the lacy blue leg warmers shown on the right. Read more for photos showing two additional variations: a) heart-shaped buttons, and without embellishment. Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image.

This two color cuff was knitted in 2 x 2 ribbing with the knit stitches in charcoal grey and the purl stitches in light grey. This cuff has 52 stitches and is 2-1/2" long. A stranding technique, with a float of 2 stitches was used and a fingertip yarn guide was used to manage the 2 colors of yarn. Read more... for additional information.

Watch a video on knitting with 2 colors: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-0ApmvvhTA