Sorry friends, no finishes this week. I’ve made a bunch of additional masks, did some scrappy projects for wrangling said masks (read more about it here if you want), and worked on two other projects.
Justine
I’m further than this now. Justine isn’t part of my YOP projects, but I love it and want to share it. Now that I’m on the last set of cakes, I’m just going around and around. Realistically, this will be complete in a couple days and I’ll be able to mail it Thursday or Friday. I can’t wait!!
YOP Project Mash-Up
My handspun ribbed cowl is now married to my green chaos cables idea. They were joined this morning in holy knitting and will now, and forever, be inseparable. I decided to go in a different direction than initially intended with my cables. The body of the cowl will be a cabled fabric, with no end and no beginning; hence the chaos.
My photo is 100% unstaged. You can see the ring of Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai (made with coconut/almond milk) in my mug. Target understands me: procrastination and pumpkin spice and chai. I’m the Queen of Procrastination, and it drives my spouse UP A WALL.
Interesting development in my knitting style. I’ve been an English/Thrower for the entire time I’ve knit. So ingrained that it makes holding my crochet yarn in my left hand all the time challenging. The 9,000 stitches required for the 2×2 ribbing was tedious, I switched from English to Continental for the majority of the rib. BOY HOWDY!! Once I started to purl through the back loop, to avoid twisting because of how I wrap the yarn in this position, the ribbing was completed really fast. Then, once I was done with the ribbing, my hands wanted to do my knit rows in continental too. I am not able to cable continental yet. Who knows, maybe someday. Or never. Both are fine options.
I’m really excited to finish up some projects and share them with all of you.
Miscellaneous Design Studio 
18 responses to “Year Of Projects: Week 5”
I admire your ability to switch from English to Continental! I am an English knitter, and I sort of know how to do continental because I do stranded colorwork that way, but my gauge is pretty different so I can’t just switch in the middle of a project like that.
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The, ahem, “rustic” nature of this particular hand spun has been tremendously forgiving. And the zillion rib stitches provided a space to improve my tension.
Before this project, the only time I knit Continental was with colorwork too.
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Wow, I have tried continental but am not able to “get” it. So I stick with English and Portuguese knitting. Your cowl is pretty. I’ve the two pieces together. Justine is so bright and cheerful. Will brighten any place it is put.
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I’ve never tried Portuguese knitting. I’ll have to try it! New techniques leave me tickled!
I think all the crochet I’ve been doing has helped with doing Continental. After years it’s all starting to click!
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Justine is, hands down, the brightest project I’ve going right now.
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I use continental when I am doing fairisle knitting. I throw with one colour and pick with the other. I do find crochet does mess me up with the yarn coming from the ‘wrong’ side. Last year when my rotator cuff injury was at its worst I did learn to crochet left handed, and to Portuguese knit – both were great substitutions, but once my arm was healed I went back to my old ways – I guess 50+ years of habit is hard to change.
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I can crochet lefty, but only do it when I teach lefties. It is great to have options available to us, we never know what will happen in life!
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I’m still working on my conversion to Continental knitting. My gauge is MUCH looser so I haven’t liked the fabric I make. I had wanted to use Continental for the sweater I’m knitting but couldn’t get gauge. It’s still my goal to convert. I do the Norwegian purl which isn’t as fast but works better for me as it still keeps the yarn behind the needle instead of needing to move it to the front.
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Norwegian Purl? I’ve not encountered that technique. I will be sure to check it out! I really do love trying new techniques. Sometimes I find better ways to do things. Like Aggies magic cast on for toe up socks.
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I like Very Pink’s video on the technique.
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Once I learned continental knitting I seemed unable to knit any other way. My gauge is most consistent with it and it’s so much faster. Possibly because I’m a prolific crocheter and handling and tensioning the yarn with my left hand fingers is most natural to me. Looking forward to seeing Justine finished. What an interesting looking granny square!
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When I initially taught myself to crochet, the hardest part was how to hold the yarn. I STILL find myself transferring the yarn back and forth to my right hand when I crochet.
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Justine is lovely, and an interesting pattern, too. I knit continental all the time, I’ve tried English style but my tension is so tight it takes every least bit of stretch out of the fabric. I wanted to be able to do colourwork with one colour in each hand but alas … Same with crocheting – I always hold the hook like a fork, that is in my hand. I tried holding it like a pen, with just the thumb and two fingers, but it just doesn’t work. Maybe it’s because I learned both (continental style knitting and holding a crochet hook) as a child, so it’s so engraved in my muscle memory that I just can’t change it.
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I get hand cramps every time I try to crochet with the pen grip!
Muscle memory is such a hard thing to retrain.
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Justine is gorgeous but looks complicated. Is there a pattern? It looks like a log cabin block like they do in quilting. Very cool! I love the cowl and the green yarn to go with it. I am an English thrower and I tried continental but wasn’t that motivated to change but I should because I am a very slow knitter. I’ve heard the Portuguese style is the fastest. Enjoy your week and love your projects!
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When I started Justine, I had no intention to write a pattern for her. But now that I’m approaching the end of the project, I’m considering making a pattern/tutorial with solids (the solids would make it easier to illustrate directional changes). I have just the collection of yarns to use. The colors are earmarked for a TBD YOP project, it would not at all be cheating to make them into a Justine!
I have been flirting with continental since 2005. I’m a reasonably quick knitter, but the tedium of ribbing just slays me! I just wanted something that was easier in the short term. Who knew it was potentially going to change the way I knit!
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I love your mug. I could see that someone could easily buy that mug for me and I wouldn’t be shocked. I keep trying continental now and again but keep defaulting to English style. On colourwork I do both. If it is all purling then I do Portuguese knitting which is BRILLIANT for purl rows and definitely work a look if you aren’t familiar with it.
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Some of my best and most interesting work is created in the last minute procrastinatory panic!
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