I just finished my Herbivore by Stephen West and am really pleased with how it turned out. It has just the right amount of drape and long enough 'arms' to wrap properly around my neck. The yarn is perfect too - silky and luscious to knit with bright little pops of colour - pale green and blue amidst the teal.
I enjoyed it so much in fact that I spent a happy hour perusing more shawl patterns on Ravelry, looking for some more instant gratification. In the end though I plumped for a pattern I have knit before - a Hitchhiker - in some yarn from my Deep Stash. I think it may be from the Natural Dye Studios but don't quote me on it.
I don't normally knit the same thing twice, but this time I have a cunning plan. if I am going to Knit All the Things then I need to knit faster...much faster. So on this project I am determined to crack Continental knitting.
I found this great U-Tube clip which was really helpful. I have tried to knit this way before but until now I never grasped the significance of using the thumb/middle finger of the left hand to hold the stitches at the base of the work - providing a stable point to lever the yarn through, rather than just poking the right hand needle through the loop and fishing around for the strand of yarn coming from the left index finger. Sorry for the appalling description - it makes sense to me - but this lady explains it far better.
So wish me luck...I am going Continental.
Good Luck! It's how I originally learned to knit. It's very fast :)
ReplyDeleteKerry
Good luck! Thank you for recommending this video. I used a version of continental a bit when doing two colour mittens but I never really felt comfortable. I like the lack of movement.
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