Winding a skein into a ball of yarn

All skeined up, that yarn looks innocent, doesn't it? 

What, me tangle? Never!

But when you first start in with skeins, it seems danger lurks. Perhaps that innocent looking skein will snarl into an awful tangle, never to come right. 

...snarl into an awful tangle...

Let's take the monster by the tail and see what happens. Poke the tail (now colored red) into and through the skein. The skein comes undone in stages.

Result: a large wheel of yarn.

This wheel is made up of many many loops, tied together at one or more places along the perimeter. And this is where things really can go south. You see, each strand must be sorted to lay smooth among its neighbors while the center must be absolutely clear. Loops crossing from one side to the other, strands heading the wrong way out of a tie: these can cause endless grief.

Strands and loops crossing over the middle must be smoothed back into place, heading in the correct direction out of the tie

After all is smooth and tidy, it's time to mount the yarn-wheel on something: a chair back, perhaps, or a yarn swift (more about swifts, below). The important thing is don't unknot the ties until the wheel is safely slung around some object which permanently prevents crossing over the middle.

What you sling the yarn around depends on what you have. The quickest set-up is a swift of some kind and a yarn-winder. But for many (many!) years I had neither, and used a chair-back to hold yarn as I wound balls by hand. TECHknitting has already shown how to wind balls by hand, and the yarn for winding is supplied as you lift the strands, one at a time, over the chair back.

Use what you have

Swifts are basically arms of some kind which hold the yarn-wheel and (swiftly!) spin as you pull on the running yarn. All swifts hold the yarn-wheel under tension, preventing tangling: under tension a yarn wheel cannot shed loose loops here and there. Some swifts tension yarn with an umbrella-like unfolding mechanism ("umbrella swifts")  and some by means of pegs.  First fit the yarn-wheel loosely to the swift, then push the umbrella button or set the pegs to make the yarn wheel stretch as tight as possible. 

Umbrella swift. The orange button on the hub allows the mechanism to unfold upwards like an umbrella, The yarn-wheel stretches to its fullest as the mechanism enlarges.

Once mounted, it is time to unknot. The yarn-wheel is tied together in at least one place along its perimeter, and usually more spots, also. The main tie brings together the first (purple) and last (red) strands. Typically, the purple strand is brought to the surface in one or more loops, the red strand is threaded through the loops and the two strands are then tied together in a slip knot. This knot can be undone by pulling on the tails in the direction of the blue arrow. As to the other ties, these are usually simple loops, but after several unfortunate incidents, I try to untie all knots as much as possible, saving scissors for a last resort. 

The first purple) and last (red) strands are typically interwoven, then tied with a slip knot. To undo the knot, pull the tails in the direction of the blue arrow. 

It's less obvious in real life, but I have colorized the red and purple strands to show more clearly in this photo. 

Click here to enlarge: colorized, interwoven ends in real life.

Once the first and last strands are untied, tuck the last strand behind a slat of the swift (red arrow). Leaving it loose to flap is just asking for trouble. 

Tuck end behind slat

The last step before starting to wind is untwisting the skein as it lays on the swift. Twisted strands are often confused for crossed strands because both make the swift jam up. However, because you've already eliminated crossed strands as a culprit, the trick now is to locate and undo any twist. Twist traps some strands behind others, as these green strands are trapped behind the red, below. To cure, rotate that section of the skein (blue arrow) until the trapped strands are freed to the surface. Some skeins are highly twisted, so you have to go around and around several times, rotating the skein repeatedly until it unreels smoothly.

Rotating trapped strands to the surface

And now to winding! As mentioned, it is possible to make quite neat balls of yarn by hand, but quickest and easiest is a yarn winder. 

Once out of the box, assembled and clamped to a table, the ball-winder is threaded with the yarn through the yarn-guide, and the running end of the yarn coming off the swift is trapped in the slot at the top of the spindle, as shown. As you turn the handle (doesn't matter which way, but be consistent!) the yarn winds on. The handle has been colorized green in this illustration.

End of running yarn trapped in slot atop yarn winder spindle. This will become the center-pull

The winder base is tilted, so as it spins, it presents an ever-changing location for the yarn to wind onto. Close inspection shows the yarn actually winds on straight from the yarn-guide to the ball-surface. However, because of the tilt, the ball surface itself tilts toward then away, so yarn winds on from top of the spindle to the bottom, then back again. Further, the tilt is out of synch with the spin, so each new round of yarn goes on in a slightly different place than the one before. Result = a regular pattern of cross-winding. It's really very clever! 

Cross-winding

Geek note 1: This cross-winding pattern can be duplicated by hand for the mathematically inclined: here is an amazing 4-stage sample, a work of art in itself. 

And finally, if one picture is worth a thousand words, a 12-second video must be worth several paragraphs, right?  So here you go. 

 

There seems to be a theory that the winder must be mounted far away from the swift, but as you see, this isn't really necessary. Important is that the yarn exiting the swift takes a direct route to the winder. If the yarn has to go around a corner to enter the winder's ball-guide, reorient the winder. 

Trouble shooting

--If the winder stops but the swift keeps going, the yarn will spool around the shaft of the swift. So you have to unwind the yarn from the shaft before continuing. To prevent, stop the swift by hand the instant the ball-winder starts acting up. (This becomes an automatic reaction, pretty quick!)

--If the swift jams but the ball winder keeps going for a second, the yarn winds onto the ball very tightly. Cure by unspooling the tightly wound length and re-spool it onto the winder at normal tension before continuing.

--If the ball winder acts up and skips gears, there's too much tension between the swift and winder. Usually, this happens when twisting causes uneven feed. Cure by going back to the yarn on the swift and untwisting until the trapped strands come to the surface. Then, per above, unspool and respool the trouble spots. 

Tips

--It's awfully tempting to wind up all your yarn when it first comes home. However, you cannot return yarn to the store once wound up. Also, unless you're planning to knit up soon, it's actually easier on the yarn to store it as a skein. This is because yarn in a ball is under tension, while yarn in a skein is not. Yarn under tension will eventually stretch. Then, when it finally gets wet and has a chance to relax, it may very well go back to its original length. Result: the garment will seem to shrink, and of course, shrink unevenly. You can solve this problem by winding balls LOOSELY, but far-future projects, as well as souvenir yarn really are better off stored in skeins. 

--Knots in yarn have a way of appearing just as you get to the front left breast in a field of smooth stockinette. To fight unexpected knots, loosely guide the yarn through your hand as it travels from the winder to the ball. Stop the winder and cut out any knots you find, then knot in a contrasting color scrap as temporary inlay. In use, the inlay gives warning that a join is coming. Forewarned, you can plan just how much yarn you need to cut out (either just the knots and inlay, or a longer length to include the knots and inlay) in order to land your proper join in an inconspicuous spot.

 

Cut out any knots you find (top) then knot in a temporary contrast color inlay (red, bottom). In use, the inlay provides warning a join is coming up.

--As the ball is pulled off the spindle, the center collapses. If you plan to center-pull your balls, make sure you have hold of the center yarn where it crosses the spindle-slot before you unmount the ball from the winder. This is also the perfect time to fold the yarn label and pull the ball up over it: as the center collapses around it, the label is held securely. 

--Finally, consider tying on contrasting color scraps to both ends of the ball--the center-pull as well as the outside end. Now the tails are obvious, even when tucked into the ball for safe-keeping. The specter of tangling is tamed, the yarn ball is angelic again. 

Angelic again. This ball has contrast color leaders tied on, and the label and leaders tucked in. 

Take care--TK

 * * *

Questions? Feedback? Contact me at 

Blue Sky  @techknitter.bsky.social or  

talk to me about this post on Ravelry TECHknitter forum

* * *

Previously published posts about yarn handling

Yarn organization for color knitting

Quickly unkinking yarn with a steam iron (video)

Center-pull balls of yarn, wound up by hand (with video)

Center-pull balls of yarn, wound up by hand

Scrap amounts, or a whole skein: any reasonable amount of yarn can be hand-wound into neat and tidy center-pull balls. There's a video, followed by the non-video illustrated version. 

Video

If the video does not load for you, here's the direct link to the You-Tube URL 

If the subtitles are in your way, pull them to the screen top, and by all means, skip the ads--they are annoying as heck. 

Here is the non-video illustrated explanation.

Begin by laying the yarn tail between the first two fingers of your non-dominant hand (left hand in the illustration). This tail will become the center-pull. 

Lay the tail between your first two fingers. This will become the center-pull

Now trap down the tail with your thumb, then wrap the yarn over your fingers 10 times to form a (very) mini hank.

Mini-hank wound over first two fingers

Once you have ten loops over your fingers, slip this mini-hank off your fingers, pinch it up and wind more yarn over its middle, meaning at 90 degrees to the direction of the original wind.

Wind over the middle

For a small ball, the last two steps are these

    -- As you come to the last wrap, lay a forefinger alongside the winding, then wind the very last wrap over it, as shown below. Then, pull up tightly. 

    -- Insert the tail-end UNDER the last wrap, in the direction from your forefinger towards the palm of you hand, meaning inserting towards the center-pull:  red arrow  in illustration above. If you've done this last part correctly, the entire scrap of yarn will unwind from the center pull without a knot in its tail. Inserted the other way (from palm towards finger) will leave a small granny-knot in the tail. Give a final gentle tug to seat the tail and there's your tiny center-pull ball. This is a very convenient, very quick way of organizing scraps. 

For the larger ball version,  keep winding over the center mini-hank maybe 20 or 25 times, until you have a good mass into which you can sink a "claw" consisting of your thumb and middle finger, as shown.

In the upcoming action, each of the fingers on your non-dominant hand gets a different role. 

--The claw of thumb and middle-finger is the axis around which the ball will rotate. Where these fingers are, the top and bottom ball-eyes will form.

--The forefinger  provides  rotation  by a ratcheting action, meaning it will rotate the ball towards the palm  (red arrow)  one small step after each wrap: "to ratchet" means to "proceed by steps or degrees." 

--The last two fingers hold down the center-pull against the palm so it does not get lost.  

The action is this: the dominant hand winds the yarn over the top of the ball, first bringing the yarn towards you, then away over the top of the ball, around the back, and so up from the bottom again. In the illustration below, the yarn has been passed over the top of the ball, is now around the back, and will shortly be drawn forward again, up from the bottom, and so over the thumb. In this way, every wrap slightly overlaps the thumb. 

As the ball is rotated by the forefinger, the yarn slides off the thumbnail in the direction of the green arrow. If each rotation is equal, the yarn slides off at even intervals: this is how the very pretty and regular pattern of yarn is laid down. The yarn is also wrapped slightly overlapping the middle finger as it passes around the back of the ball, and the same slide-off occurs at each ratchet-step. 

 As to just HOW the forefinger provides rotation, in the illustration below A and B are both your forefinger, just in different places. When the forefinger is in the A position, it is just about to plunge into the ball. As soon as the wrap goes by, the forefinger does plunge into the ball. Then, still plunged, it is drawn towards the palm, into the B position (solid blue arrow). This make the ball rotate one small step around the "claw" axis of your thumb and middle finger. In the illustration, the forefinger in its B position has just completed the rotation and is being lifted out of the ball.

After each little rotation, the forefinger is raised and put back into the A position (blue d-o-t-t-e-d arrow), waiting above the ball for another wrap to go by. With each wrap, the forefinger again plunges into the ball and draws the ball towards the palm into the B position. It is in this sense that the forefinger is "ratcheting" the ball. In other words, it is the repeated sinking, drawing and lifting action which rotates the ball by a small degree each wrap, and so each trip of the forefinger from A to B is a "ratchet step." 

If you find this confusing, then, even if you HATE videos, consider watching just the "wrap-and-ratchet" action of the video at the top of this post. That specific action starts at 2:37 (2 minutes and 37 seconds) into the video.

If you are wrapping and ratcheting with your thumb and middle finger "claw" always in the same place, deep eyes would form at each finger, and the ball would start to become egg-shaped. The steeper the egg, the more yarn would try to fall off the sides. So, when you start approaching egg shape, you have to stop wrapping and change position. Simply sink your thumb and middle finger "claw" into the ball in a new place, and then start wrapping and ratcheting in this new position. 

You may wonder what happens to the center-pull when you wind over it, and the answer is, nothing happens. As long as you give the center pull yarn a tug every so often to keep it at the correct length, and as long as you don't lose track of it, the center-pull yarn will travel along the inside the ball from the old eye to the new eye, and appear there. When you first go to tug on a center-pull ball which has been wound using many changes of direction, the center pull may be stubborn. Have faith! Insist! Keep tugging and the stubbornness will subside. After these first few tight tugs, the center-pull will have created a straighter path from the heart of the ball where it originates, to pull more easily outward.

Three last thoughts.

First, just because the ball is capable of being center-pulled does not mean you have to use it that way. In fact, center-pulling may introduce unwanted twist. For more info, there's a whole TECHknitting post about that, but the short version is, you may want to unwind from the outside of the ball to prevent biasing. If you for sure are going to unwind from the outside, you can wind the ball just as shown here, but without keeping track of the center-pull.

Outside-unwinding is conveniently done either via a yarn lazy-suzan* (either commercial or home-made) or a yarn bowl or similar container. If outside-unwinding a center-pull ball, tuck the center-pull into the eye of the ball, having first knotted-on a scrap of contrast color yarn so you can find it again.

And finally, we are winding yarn here, not the innards of a baseball. Keep the tension of winding as loose as you can: tight enough so the yarn doesn't fall off in every direction, but no tighter. Tight winding stretches the yarn now and leads to problems later--uneven gauge, garments which shrink mysteriously the first time they are wetted and even yarn which offers to come apart. Loose is the watchword when winding yarn into balls! 

--TK

* Geek note: if you know ahead of time you'll be using a lazy-susan with a spike, you'll have to re-mount the ball at every place you changed direction of winding, because the placement of the eyes has changed. Therefore, you may choose to change direction of winding less often than if you were unwinding via yarn-bowl.

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Related posts about yarn handling

Yarn organization for color knitting

Quickly unkinking yarn with a steam iron (video)

Winding a skein into a ball of yarn

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Questions or feedback? Talk to me about this post on Ravelry's TECHknitting forum

Lanyard cast-on and lanyard-cast off IRL + Matching deco-band Baby sweater+hat

 Lanyard cast-on and cast-off how-to was the last post, and here it is in real life on a side-to-side baby sweater. Bonus: a matching deco-band

...plus a little hat

Along the edges are the lanyard cast-on and cast-off. 
The deco band echos the lanyard pattern but is worked in the fabric interior.

This little garment is knit in washable worsted-weight yarn. It is adapted from a baby sweater by Claudia Olson. Originally designed in fingering weight, this adaptation is knit with worsted-weight yarn and greater ease. The bottom border and neck in the original are eliminated: the adaptation adds these in afterward. 

To be clear, the pattern is not offered here: it is on Ravelry (free download) as side-to-side baby sweater.  This post shows adaptations for where and how to work the lanyard cast on, lanyard cast off and deco band, to add color and detail along bands of all kinds: bottom, top, neck, front and brim.

Add color and detail to bands of all kinds

* * *

There are seven sections to the sample garment. The diagram is not to scale. 

Worked left cuff to right cuff, click here to enlarge

1. left sleeve    2. left shoulder    3. left front    4: back

5: right front    6: right shoulder    7: right sleeve

Section 1: left sleeve

The baby sweater starts with a lanyard cast-on along the left sleeve-cuff. 

Geek note: this is the only lanyard cast-on of the entire sweater. Due to the side-to-side construction and adaptations, all the other exposed edges are worked as a lanyard cast-off. More discussion at tension, below. 

The lanyard along this cuff is an s-mounted 3-strand lanyard.

•  Illustrated directions for cord here 
• Video of "s" mount here 
• Cast-on directions here 

The 3-stranded lanyard was worked in three colors:   pink ,  green , and  blue , in that order. Used as a cast on, a lanyard made like this doesn't really show the (pink) first color. What shows is a three-layer stripe where a filling of (green) second color purls appears between upper and lower layers of the (blue) third color: blue sandwich stuffed with green purls.

...blue sandwich stuffed with green purls, schematic...

Here is the lanyard in use as a cast-on IRL. By picking up the pink bumps on a slim dpn, nearly all that color is pulled out of the lanyard to be transformed into the live (pink) stitches. What's left behind is that blue sandwich stuffed with green purls--the second color layered inside the third, shown hanging below the needle in the photo below.

...blue sandwich stuffed with green purls, IRL.
The pink has been pulled up into the live stitches and hardly shows in the blue and green cast-on hanging below the needle.

Above this cast on, a K1, P1 ribbing was worked on the live stitches for several rows, without any additional shaping. 

Next up, the deco band.

Deco band pattern

For decoration, the deco band creates a stitch pattern very similar in appearance to the lanyard cast-on and -off. The deco band is worked with the same colors as for the lanyard edging, but differs in two ways.

First, the deco band is not a lanyard at all: it is just rounds of ordinary knitting. 

Second, The deco-band colors are not worked in the same order as the lanyard. 

   --The lanyard is worked in three colors, which are first=A (pink), second = B (green), third = C (blue), e.g.: A, B, C.

--However, the deco band is worked in color A (pink), then color C (blue) then color B (green) and then color C again (blue), e.g.: A, C, B, C.

...very similar in appearance

(Right: lanyard, left: deco band)

Worked FLAT on a stockinette or ribbed background (as for this sweater), and worked on DPNs or a circular needle. 

• Leading up to deco-band, work a last row in the main color on the back fabric face (here, the last row was in ribbing, and main color, A =  pink ). Turn work to front fabric face. Pink running yarn is now at right edge of work. Drop this yarn: it is to wait here for several rows.
• Begin deco band...
• Row 1 (front): Knit one row of the color C, (here,  blue ). Blue running yarn is now at left edge of work as seen from front fabric face. 
• Row 2 (front): Slide stitches to left tip of DPN. Knit one row of the color B (here,  green ). The running yarn of this color is now at the left edge of the work. It may be trimmed to a two or three inch tail to be worked in later, it will not be used again. Turn work.
• Row 3 (back): KNIT one row color C,  (here,  blue ). Turn work. The running yarn of this color is now at the right edge of the work as seen from the front fabric face. It may be trimmed to a two- or three inch end now to be worked in later, it will not be used again. 
• ...deco band is now finished.
• To continue work, (front) the running yarn of the main color A, (here,  pink )  has been waiting at the right edge of the work as viewed from the front fabric face. Using this yarn, return to stockinette by knitting a row in this color. 

Geek note. Row 2 (green), is knit but comes out purled. Wonder why you don't just purl row 2? The short answer is that row 3 bumps out the stitches in row 2 to become purls. The long answer is in this post about mysteries of knitting.

Again, the sleeves on this garment are worked flat. But later in this garment, the deco-band will be worked in the round, so here are those directions.

To work deco-band IN THE ROUND, then, starting on the front face of a knitted fabric:

• In ribbing or stockinette or whatever your fabric pattern is, knit up to where band is wanted, using first color (main color A, here,  pink ).
• Begin deco band...
• Round 1: knit one round in color C (here,  blue )
• Round 2: knit one round in color B here,  green ). At end of round, this yarn may be trimmed to a two or three inch tail to work in latter, it will not be used again. 
• Round 3: purl one round in color C (here,  blue ). At end of round, this yarn may be trimmed to a two or three inch tail to work in latter, it will not be used again.
• ...deco band is now finished
• Return to fabric pattern in color (main color A, here,  pink ).

On the little sample sweater, the sleeve deco band was knit flat. To reduce the number of ends to be worked in, the two contrast colors (green and blue) were carried up the side from the cast-on to the deco band. 

After knitting the deco band, the knitting continues until the sleeve is approximately 3 ½" long in total, working increases at stated intervals along the arm. 

Geek note. As it turns out, the rate of increase and decrease is pretty much the same regardless of yarn weight. This applies not only to the arm increase, but also to the arm decrease, plus both sides of the neck shaping. This means you can read the rate of shaping (but not the stitch count!) right off the base pattern, even if knit in heavier yarn. 

Section 2: Left shoulder

When the sleeve is approx. 3 ½" long, the sides are cast on, approximately 5" of length on either side, which you can calculate from your own stitch gauge.  I used the trick of casting on 2/3 of the required stitches as backwards loops, then making up to the required number of stitches on the return trip by making additional loops out of the slack. 

Putting a marker in the last row before casting on the second set of stitches allows for easy row-counting when the time comes to match right sleeve to left. The easiest marker: place a three- or four-inch strand of contrast color (cc) yarn in the space between any two stitches. *Knit a few stitches in the ordinary way, then flip the cc yarn to the opposite fabric face, again slotting it into the space between two stitches. Repeat from * until the entire strand is interwoven. This kind of row-marker easily pulls right out of the work when the time comes.

Geek note: These cast on stitches, together with the sleeve side-edges make the A-B left side seam per assembly diagram below. 

Section 3: left front

The stitches for the back  (½ the total) are put on a holder and the left front knitted with the neck decrease worked as per the pattern. Stop when the front is approximately 2 inches wide. 

Again, you may wish to put a marker in the last row before the neck decrease begins, to allow for accurate row-counting when you come to match the right front to the left. 

When the left front if finished, those stitches are put on a holder.

Section 4: back

The back stitches, previously placed on a holder, are strung back onto the needles, and the back is worked until approximately 4 ½ inches have been added. The stitches are again put on a holder. 

Geek note. If you happened to have TWO circular needles in the same gauge, you could switch between them as holders, saving having to restring the stitches as the back stitches are set aside and then re-activated, again set aside, again re-activated.

Section 5: Right front

The stitches for the right front are cast on provisionally--COWYAK is an easy method for this. The number to cast on is identical to the number put on a holder back in section 3, left front. The rate of neck INcrease is also the same as was the rate of DEcrease for the neck in section 3, and again, that is on the pattern. 

After the right front is knitted for the same number of rows as was the left, then on the last purl row, simply continue up the stitches reserved for the back. This joins the previously free-standing right front onto the rest of the sweater. All the stitches are now live. Again, if you place a row-marker on the joining row, matching the upcoming right shoulder to the already-knit left shoulder will be easier. 

Section 6: Right shoulder

With the right front shoulder stitches joined to the back, it is time to work the right shoulder. There isn't much to this, simply knit back and forth until for the same number of rows as for the left shoulder.  When the row-counts match, cast OFF for the side-seams the same number of stitches as were cast ON for the side seams back in section 2. The stitches centered between these two cast-off edges are the sleeve stitches, waiting to knit section 7.

Geek note: These cast on stitches, together with the right sleeve side-edges coming up next make the C-D right side seam per assembly diagram. 

Section 7: Right sleeve

Match the rate of DEcrease for this sleeve to the rate at which the left sleeve was INcreased in section 1. When you reach the same row count as for the right sleeve, and the same stitch count at the cuff (which points, hopefully, coincide) it is time to work another deco-band, again following the "worked flat" directions, above. This time, however, when working the deco-band, I didn't cut the running yarns, instead letting them dangle for the next few rows as I worked the ribbing between the deco-band and the cast off.

The right sleeve ends with a lanyard cast off. This is worked as shown here, with the exception that the cast on begins by placing the first (pink, color A) stitch on a crochet hook, and then drawing a green loop (color B)  through the pink. This is followed by a blue loop (color C), and then back to a pink from the DPN. You may wish to work the last row before the cast-off with smaller needles. 

Assembling the sweater

Fold back over front, per orange arrow. 

Top:Seams A and B are the sleeve-edges and cast-on edges from sections 1 and 2. Seams C and D are the cast-off edges and sleeve edges from sections 6 and 7. The fold line runs across the middle of the shoulder sections, even with the back neck edge of section 4.

To assemble, follow the orange arrow, to flip back over front at the fold line. This turns the sweater inside out, with smooth front-fabric-face touching one another, while the bumpy purl back-fabric-face is on the outside

Bottom: A is seamed to B, then C to D. This sews the arms shut and makes the side seams also. 

In this position, 

• the fold lines are at the top of the garment, and the garment is inside out. 
• Thus, the FRONT FABRIC faces are together, the purl fabric is facing out and the smooth knit face of the fabric is on the inside. 

Using any method at all, edge A is sewn to edge B, then edge C to edge D. This puts the seams to the inside. After sewing, turn the garment right side out.  

Rate of pick up and marker placement

The next step is that a deco-band is worked around all remains exposed garment edges except for the cuffs--the cuffs were already worked as-you-go. Set up for this process by removing the provisional cast-on along the right front, putting the resulting live stitches on a holder. 

The deco band requires live stitches, which means using a long circular needle (at least 24" if not longer) to pick up stitches around the entire opening. 

Here is a whole post on picking up stitches along a selvedge, with several how-to's. 

The RATE of pick up around the bottom, neck increase and decrease, and neck back (outlined in green) is THREE stitches picked up for each TWO row ends. The remaining stitches along the fronts (outlined in  purple ) are simply slipped from their holders onto the needle as you come to them. As you slip and pick up, place 6 markers as shown by  red dots  on the diagram below: one marker outside each last bottom stitch, one marker outside each bottom-front stitch, and one marker outside the lowest neck stitches both sides. These locate where mitered increases will be made in the deco-band, ribbing, and lanyard cast-off.

Once all the stitches are picked up, work an additional round of stockinette stitch in the main color.

Working around a corner without providing an increase would cause the corners to flip up into half-moons. Therefore, on the two bottom corners, on every second round, when the knitting comes to the markers, an increase is worked outside each marker. This means that the markers always enclose the two corner stitches, and are flanked on the outside by the increases: exactly like working the increase along a raglan line. To get matching slants, here is a post about increases which slant in opposite directions--use one on each side of marker. 

At the neck edge, there is only a single increase, again, you can make these slant as you wish by following the directions for slanting increases in this post, and again, the rate of increase is one stitch on the NECK side of the marker, every second round. 

To be clear: there are six increases on every second round knit, two at each of the two bottom corners, one at each neck edge. 

Deco band worked in the round

After the second round of the main color, it is time to begin the deco-band. This time, the band is worked according to the "in the round" instructions, above. 

* * *

Geek note: avoid lots of ends all in the same place. Recollect that there are going to be ends to work in where the contrast color yarns of the deco-band begin and end. When working flat, as on the sleeves, there's not a lot you can do about this. However, when working in the round, as on the bands of this sweater, there are more opportunities to avoid many ends in one place. The trick is to slip along the round until some distance down the line from where any previous yarn has ended, then starting the next round of knitting there. In other words, the first round of the deco-band (here, blue) need not start at the same place last round of main color (here, pink) ended. 

You can go further with the trick of slipping also: the second round of the deco-band (second contrast color (here, green) need not start where the first (blue) one did. You can again slip to some other place and start that (green) round.  One the third round of the deco-band, when returning to the first contrast color (blue), again slip back to where that running yarn is dangling. 

Finally, after both colors of the deco band are knit, slip back to where the main color (pink) running yarn was left dangling.

By the trick of all this slipping around, only 2 ends ever need be worked in close together. 

* * *

Geek note: avoid jogs in the deco-band. To avoid jogs, overlap the first and last two stitches of the each round of the deco band as shown in this post on smoothing rounds. This makes each of the three deco-band rounds into a complete circle, instead of stacked spirals which jog. (And yes, you can work this trick AND the slipping trick!)

* * *

Ribbing, buttonholes

The deco-band is followed by ribbing for the same number of rounds as were worked between the deco-band and the lanyard edging on the cuffs. Again, the ribbing must be mitered at the 6 markers to prevent the corners from rounding and flipping up.

As you work the front bands, make button holes on one side, centered between the ribbing rounds. My go-to is the tulips buttonhole (here, worked over three stitches) but any kind of buttonhole (including the simplest, sheepseye) will work. The sample has five buttonholes. As to spacing, recollect that after making the buttonholes, additional rounds remain to be worked: the rest of the ribbed rounds, and the lanyard cast-off itself. Therefore, mentally add the additional rows of length to top and bottom of the band when working out the buttonhole spacing. 

• As to which side to place the buttonholes, here is a post with details 
• For selecting buttons, this post 
• For sewing on buttons, this post 

Lanyard cast-off

After the last round of knitting, it is time to finish the garment with the lanyard cast off. Again, the full details are here, at the previous post.  If you find that the cast off is coming out too tight, consider the "single-crochet-like" variation. To avoid curling at the corners, I worked a detached chain of one blue and one green chain at each corner, between the markers. 

Hat

This was made without any particular pattern, and really, any hat pattern can be adapted. The hat starts with a lanyard cast-on (but see note about tension, below). 

There is a ribbing above the cast-on. This is followed by a deco-band worked in the round, using the trick of slipping to avoid having lots of ends in the same place and also using the smoothed-circle trick. 

Above the deco band, the hat is knit until slightly before the shaping is to start. There, another deco-band is worked. After two rounds knit plain, the decreasing begins. (Starting the shaping right after the deco band would distort the band.)

...grafted together

The hat ends by grafting together the last eight stitches (four per needle) according to step F of the truly flat hat top. 

Tension, cast on vs. cast off

The lanyard cast-on has a greater learning curve that the cast-off. You may have to experiment with several different crochet hook sizes to get the cord to your exact liking, and each iteration means starting over again from scratch. Truthfully, it took me a while to get tension. By contrast, with the cast-OFF, it's easier to adjust the tension as you go, or even to go back a step and re-do the last row or round in main color, if the tension isn't great. 

So, because the cast-off is easier to tension correctly, here's a shortcut to consider. 

• work a provisional cast on (like COWYAK)
• work the garment
• end by working the lanyard cast-OFF on the live stitches where the provisional cast off is removed

On the sample sweater, that one single left cuff cast-on isn't really worth this work-around, but for longer edges like the sample hat, perhaps you'll find this shortcut worthwhile. 

As to band tension, you might automatically choose to work the cuffs from the cast-on to above the deco band using smaller needles. As usual, smaller needles along a fabric edge make for neater work, so smaller needles for the cuffs is a very reasonable choice. However, for the long and continuous band around the bottom, front and neck--well, if that long band is knit on smaller needles, it would likely pull in too much. That's a LOT of edging all the way around. The entire garment would likely become distorted. 

Lanyard edges, deco bands and yarn weight

The sample sweater was adapted to be knit in heavier yarn because lanyard edges and deco bands make more of an impression when worked in heavier yarns. Worked in very thin yarns, the color contrast details are lost. DK or above yarn weight is recommended.

--TK

This is the fourth post in a series about lanyards. The other posts are:

• .Lanyard cords for decoration & utility: quickly use a crochet hook to make "lanyard cords" + musings on warp knitting (September 14, 2024)
• .Lanyards, starting and ending (September 27, 2024)
• .Lanyard Cast-On for knitters, and Lanyard Cast-Off, too, Let's make a fish (October 22, 2024)

Questions? Feedback? Talk to me about this post  on Ravelry TECHknitter forum 
or via e-mail (contact on "more info" page, upper right)

Colorful Lanyard Cast-On for knitters, and Lanyard Cast-Off, tooLet's make a fish!

Lanyards cords, useful for knitters was part 1 of this series. But lanyards aren't only for making cords  They also make very pretty CAST-ONs and CAST-OFFs! 

Colorful and quick: Lanyard cast-on

To demo, here are some little fish. These little quick projects show off how stretchy and pretty lanyard edges can be, with the cast ON matchy-matchy to the cast OFF. 

Cast on (fish bottoms) and cast off (fish tops): a perfect and colorful match

The next post will show the lanyard cast-on and cast-off in real life: on the edges of a baby sweater. And as a bonus, a matching deco-band which echoes both the cast-on and cast-off. But for today, the basics, so...

Let's make a fish

The sample fish is the pink one, featuring yellow borders and a red dotted outline.

Let's make a fish 

To make the fish, you will need:

• three different colors of scrap amounts of yarn: wool in worsted weight preferred (worsted weight = yarn ordinarily worked at 5 st/in)
• A crochet hook suitable to the yarn-gauge
• One small thin double pointed needle (DPN)
• Two knitting needles in a size suited to your yarn--I think DPN's will be easiest here.
• tartar sauce--haha! Not!

This is a three-color lanyard, but in the finished product, really only two colors are obvious in the lanyard itself. Specifically, 

• The first color laid down will be the color of the fish (A):  PINK  in our example. This color shows somewhat in the lanyard border itself, but the other two colors dominate. 
• The second color laid down (B) will be the contrast color which runs inside the border in a series of attractive purl-looking bumps,  RED  in our example.
• The third color (C) makes the top and bottom outline of the border. In the example, C = YELLOW: the yellow edges outlining the fish and the red border. This will also be the color of the wrapping on the fish's tail. 

This demo project uses short rows so you can cast OFF  without having to pick up along any edge: the cast-on segues directly into the cast-off.  Even if you've never worked a short row before, these ones are super-basic: don't let the short-row component scare you off. 

LANYARD CAST-ON

Make a three-strand S-mounted lanyard as shown in the first post of this series (illustrated directions for cord here, video of "s" mount here). 

Continue drawing loops through one another in regular order: pink-A, red-B, yellow-C until you have 11 pink bumps. End with the full sequence, meaning, after there are 11 pinks, make one more red and one more yellow. (Geek note: in this way, you are set to begin the cast OFF in correct color-cycle sequence with another pink.)

An S-mounted three color lanyard worked for 11 full cycles of pink-red-yellow. Running yarn to right, tails to left. The yellow loop is inactive at this point, but will patiently wait be picked up again as part of the cast-OFF.

With the slim, small dpn, pick up out of the lanyard, the pink bumps. Mount these right arm forward, as for ordinary knitting stitches. 

A repeat of the opening photo, showing pink "bumps" mounted right arm forward on a slim dpn. Click here to enlarge. These mounted loops are now ready to knit into. The yellow loop continues to patiently wait in suspension until we begin the cast off. 

__ __ __

KNIT THE FISH

Row 1 (front). Switch to larger dpn's. 

• Slip 1 pink st "open" (i.e.: not twisted, also called "slipping purl wise").
•  *P1, K1, repeat from * until within 2 sts of end, P1. 
• Wrap last st by holding yarn to back, slip last st to right needle, bring yarn to front, return last st (the one you just wrapped) to the left needle. 
• Turn work. 

Row 2 (back). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 1, row 2 begins with 1 st on the right needle and the yarn to the back. Don't forget to transfer the slipped stitch to the second of the larger dpn's before knitting row 2.

• *P1, K1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row. 
• Wrap second-to-last st by holding yarn to back, slip second-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return second-to-last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 3 (front). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 2, row 3 begins with 2 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back. 

• *K1, P1, repeat from * until within 3 sts of end of row. 
• Wrap third st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip third-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return third-to-last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 4 (back). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 3, row 4 begins with 3 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back. 

• *P1, K1, repeat from * once. You are now 4 sts from end of the row, P1.  
• Wrap third st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip third-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return third-to-last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 5 (front). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 4, row 5 begins with 3 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back. 

• *P1, K1, repeat from * once. You are now 4 sts from end of the row.  
• Wrap fourth st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip fouth-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return fourth-to-last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

 Row 6 (back). Here is a progress photo showing the work just before starting row 6. There are four sts on the right needle, 7 sts on the left needle and the pink running yarn is at the back of the work. In this back-view, the tails from the cast on are to the right, the red and yellow running yarns from the lanyard cast-on are to the left. The yellow loop waiting patiently to left shows where the lanyard remains in suspension while we continue knitting the fish. 

Progress photo: just before starting row 6

• Commence working row 6 by K1, P1, K1. You are now 4 sts from end of the row.  
• Wrap fourth st from end of row by holding yarn to back, slip fouth-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. Return fourth-to-last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 7 (front). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 6, row 7 begins with 4 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back. 

• *K1, P1, repeat from * once, K1.  You are now 2 sts from end of the row.  
• Wrap second--to-last st by holding yarn to back, slip second-to-last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return second-to-last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 8 (back). Due to the slipping maneuver which ended row 7, row 8 begins with 2 sts on the right needle and the yarn to the back.

• * K1, P1, repeat from * to within 1 st from end of the row.  
• Wrap last st by holding yarn to back, slip last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 9 (front). Due to slipping maneuver which ended row 8, row 9 begins with 1 st on the right needle and the yarn to the back.  

• *P,1, K1, repeat from * to within 2 sts of end of row, P1. 
• Wrap last st by holding yarn to back, slip last st to right needle, bring yarn to front. return last st to left needle. 
• Turn work.

Row 10 (back). Switch to smaller dpn and slip the wrapped st onto it. Working with the smaller dpn, 

• *P1, K1 until within 2 st of end, P1. Slip last st. 

The knitting is done, 11 stitches are on the slim dpn. Cut the pink yarn to a tail of several inches. 

__ __ __

LANYARD CAST-OFF

Lanyard cast-off echoes the lanyard cast-on. The main difference is, the first stitches in the sequence--the pink ones--are not worked from the pink running yarn (which, in any case, you just cut off at the end of row 10!) Instead, the pink stitches of the last row of knitting--waiting there on their smaller dpn--will be used instead, acting as the first stitches of each cycle of the lanyard. 

Specifically, 

• Hold the work in your non-dominant (usually left) hand. 
• Take the crochet hook in your dominant (usually, right) hand and slip it through the yellow loop which has patiently been waiting in suspension all this time.
• Next, onto the crochet hook, slip in the "open" position, the first pink stitch from the tip of the smaller dpn. 
• Draw the pink stitch through the yellow loop, and snug up the yellow. The upper inset shows this: the first pink stitch has been slipped off the dpn onto the crochet hook, with the yellow loop now snugged up around its little neck. In the square overview photo, middle, you can see the yellow running yarn which has been tugged upon to do the snugging. 

The lower inset shows that after the pink has been drawn through and the yellow loop snugged and dropped off, the next step is exactly as for the lanyard cast on: the red is caught around the hook of the crochet needle, ready to be drawn through the pink.

Recall that the color-cycle sequence of the lanyard cast-ON was pink, red, yellow, then starting again with pink. So, you have just replicated that color-cycle by drawing a "first pink" through a "last yellow." and there is the second color--red--waiting to to go through the pink. After the red is through, the cycle will end again when the yellow running yarn is drawn through the red loop. Then, the next cycle will be set up to begin with next pink stitch drawn off the dpn by the crochet hook, and again drawn through yellow.

 Below is one final progress photo with the cast-off more than half done, and a pink about to be drawn off the slim dpn, then through a yellow. Recollect that, except when one loop is in the process of being drawn through another, there is only ever one loop at a time on the barrel of the crochet needle, so that yellow will drop off the needle as soon as the pink is pulled through.

Lanyard cast-off in progress

Geek note: Heads up! When we come to troubleshooting, we will revisit the above photo for an optional alternative bind-off. This photo has been given a green background rather than blue so you will remember it!

The cast off ends with a yellow, and the last step is to use the yellow running yarn to work a wrapping over the fish's tail. Begin by cutting the the red tail to the length of a few inches. Holding all the tail ends in a bunch in your left hand (non-dominant), work a single crochet casing over the strands (or use the yellow running yarn to work any other ending which catches your fancy in the second post of this series). 

Here is a close-up of the crocheted tail-wrap being worked. Again, the directions for this are in the second post of this series. 

Crocheted tail wrap worked over fish tail-strands

For finishing, work in the pink cut end near the head of the fish. If desired, knot the individual tail strands to prevent their coming unplied in the future, and make an eye with a scrap of contrast color yarn.

Wondering what to do with your fish? These are small enough to fit into an envelope with a card or letter, where little kids like them as a surprise. They also fly surprisingly well when thrown--the tails stream out and catch the breeze. 

TROUBLE-SHOOTING

Trouble-shooting a too-loose cast off. If the problem is that the main color stitch is too loose where it is worked as part of the bind off, then re-work the last row of the garment before the cast off with a smaller knitting needle. Because the cast-off often is somewhat loose, the fish pattern calls for a smaller needle on row 10, and if that's still too loose, use a smaller needle still. 

If the problem is that the cast off is just overall sloppy and loose, use a smaller crochet hook and/or pull the yarns tighter after each stitch.

Of course, all these tricks can be combined.

Trouble shooting a too-tight cast off. Sometimes, the problem is not a too-loose cast off, but a too-tight one. The first and easiest thing try is working the cast off with a larger size crochet hook.

If that is not sufficient, perhaps the last row of knitted stitches was knit on too small a needle. It stands to reason that if the last row of stitches on the slim dpn are too tight, the cast off will also be too tight. Correct by re-working the last row on a larger needle, rather than switching to a slim dpn.

 If the problem persists even with a looser last row and a larger hook, there is a third alternative: you may work the cast-off in the manner of a single crochet instead. And this is where we re-visit the photo with the green background. 

Suppose instead of drawing the pink through the yellow and the yellow dropping off, that you hold both the pink and the yellow on the crochet hook, as shown in the green-background photo AND THEN, draw the red through BOTH. This replicates how a single crochet is worked by drawing a third loop through two loops over the barrel of a crochet hook.

Specifically, *draw the pink off the slim dpn onto the barrel of the hook, BUT ALSO retain the yellow on the hook--there are now TWO loops on the barrel of the crochet hook as per photo. Through BOTH of these, you would draw the red as a loop. This would be followed by a single yellow drawn through the red in the manner of a chain stitch, but the next pink would NOT be drawn through the yellow, with instead, a new cycle commencing by repeating from *, above. 

Do you wonder whether the single-crochet-like alternative looks different than the ordinary lanyard cast-off? The fact is, you might notice the point where one switched to another, but they are otherwise extremely similar. The real difference is in the tension, not the overall appearance. 

__ __ __

CAST-ON AND -OFF IN REAL LIFE

On a larger project, the cast-on and cast-off are the same as shown here with one exception: you don't usually have a situation where one segues into the other, as they do on this pattern. Therefore, the cast on usually ends after the last main-color bump has been worked, meaning, you wouldn't add another red, yellow combo after the last pink as you did on the fish. Similarly, the cast-off usually starts by drawing the contrast color through the first stitch to be cast off. In terms of this pattern, there would have been no yellow loop waiting patiently to start the cast-off color cycle. Instead, you would have started by slipping off a pink stitch and drawing through a red, then a yellow, before starting the cycle over again by slipping the second pink off the knitting needle, and through the yellow.

--TK

Questions? Feedback? Talk to me about this post  on Ravelry TECHknitter forum 
or via e-mail (contact on "more info" page, upper right)