Learning and playing

Not sure about anyonelse but I find sewing items up is the bane of my life - especially small items like mittens etc. I have more circular needles than DPNS though and although I don't mind using DPN's I quite often find them fiddly to start with. I was asked to mock up a pair of fingerless mitts at the weekend which could lead to a commission :-). But I couldn't find 2 of my 4mm DPN's but did have 3.25 mm and 4mm circulars.... and lo and behold in this months Lets Knit, not only were there free circular needles but instructions on how to do "Magic Loop Knitting". I got a tad confused though and decided to google it and found some really useful video and pictorial tutorials. I found one from Weeble Knits the easiest to understand.

I've also been experimenting with colourwork patterns that use slip stitching instead of fairisle to make patterns and devised the following one for the mitts:

Pattern is in stocking stitch throughout - you need multiple of 5sts + 4
Rows 1-4 knit in colour A
Row 5 - Change to colour B - k4, sl1 kwise to end, K4
Row 6 - P in B
Row 7 - Change to A, K4 sl1 K wise to end K4
Row 8 - P in A
Row 9 and 10 - as for rows 5 and 6
Rep pattern from beginning

This gives an easy pattern that looks quite effective once completed:

And the finished items are on sale in my Folksy shop too at a very reasonable £5


I think these slip stitch patterns are great for both beginners and experienced knitters. Beginners can create colourful and reasonably intricate patterns with very little effort and experienced knitters can run up intricate knits quite quickly.... am also experimenting with another slip stitch technique called mosaic knitting.... pics to follow :-)

For today's October Folksfest, I have decided to carry on the theme of stitch patterns that can create quite intricate and effective texture and / or colour work - just click on the caption beneath the picture to go to the store:

Tea Cosy from Tiggi Designs

Variegated yarns - Fingerless Mitts from Ecklectic Fish

Rib stitch elephant from Woolly Lakes - up for adoption :-)

And for new crocheters - the simple addition of a contrasting edging stripe in this cute design:

Smurf  / Smurfette hat and pocket scarf from Nofkants