Let's speed things up...

Sadly, this tip is not about speeding up your knitting--it is a bit of blog-housekeeping, instead.

Some readers have complained that this blog takes a L*O*N*G time to load. I personally am a computer idiot, but have heard from computer-literate friends, and here is what they say:

ELIMINATE YOUR COOKIES. Periodically eliminating gets rid of useless, expired cookies, which are (so I am told) slowing things down.
EMPTY YOUR CACHE. You might want to go so far as to empty your cache (the memory of sites you have recently visited). Emptying your cache means it takes a little longer for a site to load when you revisit, but I have been told that the overall performance of your computer can get a lot faster.

As to how to actually eliminate the cookies and empty the cache, if it could be done with a knitting needle, I'd be able to lay out several different methods, but for button-pushing tricks, you're better off asking your resident IT person. If you are completely at sea, however, cookie/cache management is often hiding under the "preferences" tab of your browser, so maybe start there.

Caveat: You may have to re-enter some passwords which the computer now automatically fills in for you, so maybe note those down BEFORE you scour out your computer's little brains.

--TECHknitter

Correcting errors in the rows below, part 1: moving a decrease

Let's say you look at your work and discover to your horror, that several rows ago, you made a decrease in the wrong spot. This happened recently to a reader of this blog, who wrote that she was loath to rip back, because her error was made on a circular object, each round contained over 200 stitches, and the error was several rows back.

Not to worry, there was no reason for her to rip back all her work to get at the error. Here's the trick for moving the decrease to the correct spot without ripping out any work at all, even when you are already several rows or rounds past the misplaced decrease. 1. (Above) The decrease SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE with the red stitch and the purple stitch, but instead, was MISTAKENLY MADE with the purple stitch and the blue stitch.

2. (Above) Slip your way through your work until you have your needles poised over the error. (There is more information about slipping in the last note, below). Between your needles, drop down a giant runner, turning all the stitches ABOVE the red, purple, and blue stitches into the rungs of a giant ladder.

3. (Above) Create the decrease on the red and purple stitches, where it should have been in the first place. (You create the decrease by simply drawing one stitch in front of the other, placing whichever stitch in front that will cause this decrease to match your other decreases). Next, hook the ladder rung immediately above the red / purple decrease through both of those stitches. Finish by hooking all the remaining ladder rungs above through, in turn, such that every ladder rung turns back into a stitch in its own right. Finish by placing the last stitch on your left needle. (Although this is not illustrated, the easiest way to perform the hooking operation is with a crochet hook, but if you haven't got one, a spare knitting needle or even a large darning needle will work to pull the rungs through the stitches.)

4. (Above) Lastly, hook the rungs of the ladder remaining above the blue stitch so as to turn them back into stitches in their own right. Finish by replacing the last stitch back onto your right needle. Your decrease has been moved to the proper spot.

Three final notes

• These illustrations show a decrease which was made only one stitch away from the correct position. However, even if your decrease is misplaced by 3, 4, 5 or more stitches, you can still use this trick--just let down a GIANT runner encompassing all the stitches (those wrongly decreased, those where the decrease SHOULD have been, and all the stitches that lie between). Then, move the decrease, and hook everything back up again, working from left to right, as shown. (True confession: it doesn't actually matter if you work from left to right or from right to left, but pick one method, and stick with it. Being methodical will help you keep track of what you've done, and what remains to be done.)
  
• When you first try this, don't be frightened. Even just one released stitch makes a MUCH wider ladder than the illustration shows. The illustration is out of scale because an in-scale illustration would be so wide as to go off the page. Persevere, and you will see that a crochet hook and some concentration will tame all those wide, loose ladders back into knitted fabric.
• As you can see, in the illustrations, the needles have been worked around to the scene of the action by slipping the stitches. I think there are two reasons why slipping around to the scene of the crime is superior to knitting your way to that spot. First, by slipping, you wind up with the same number of stitches on both sides of the runner, but if you knit around to the scene, you'd have one stitch more on your right needle than your left needle. Second, by slipping around, you don't have to worry about the running yarn getting tangled in the work. Of course, you can knit your way around to within just a few stitches, then slip the rest of the way--as long as just a few stitches on either side of your runner have the same stitch count on left and right needle, this little maneuver will be easier. If you do use the slipping method, then you are done with your repair, just slip back to where you started, and you'll never know there was an error in your work.
  

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: moving decreases wrongly positioned in the rows below)

QUICKtip: the best first stitch or: "how to avoid the slip knot"

(This little tip has already been on this blog, but it is buried at the end of a long post on long-tail casting-on, and it's so neat that it deserves its own little entry.)

The point of this blog is to infest your mind with all the little improving viruses which currently infest mine. So here's the best way, in my mind, to make the first stitch in your casting on. (FYI: this also works for the first stitch in crocheting.)

If you make a simple loop, there's no knot, and a knot (even the slipknot recommended by most instructors as the first stitch of your cast-on) leaves a nasty little nub in your work--best avoided.

To start your cast on with a simple loop, just insert your needles and twist, and there's the first stitch, waiting on your needles. If the loop unwinds when you make the second stitch, that only means that you made the loop with the wrong end up. Twist it the other way and try again.

BTW: The illustration shows two needles because for many kinds of casting-on (long tail, in particular), it IS best to cast on over two needles.

--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: "how to avoid the slipknot")

QUICKtip: check the web for errata BEFORE you cast on

(A lot of QUICKtips lately because the garden calls--I've been hoarding these short little tips up for the busy days of summer....)

ERRATA (err-ah-tah; plural noun)
Errors in printing or writing, especially such errors noted in a list of corrections and bound into a book. [Latin errātum, from neuter past participle of errāre, to stray.]

Old hands have learned this the hard way--this TECHknitting QUICKtip is for newer knitters, and was inspired by a novice knitter I overheard in my LYS last winter--asking the workers why the pattern she'd bought a few weeks earlier wasn't working. The idea that it wasn't her fault--that the pattern could be wrong--clearly shocked her.

THEN

In the old days, publishers would send out "errata notices," little strips of paper that your LYS was supposed to paste or tape into a booklet to correct the errors the publisher found out about only after the booklet was published. Similarly, when you bought a pattern book, a flurry of little errata slips often fell out as you opened the book for the first time. The publishers quaintly believed that since the error was theirs, they ought to fix it.

NOW

With the advent of the web, publishers and designers have put the onus on YOU to check their websites to see if errata have been published. It would behoove you to do that--there are pretty much no publishers immune, and magazine patterns seem particularly prone to being full of errors. Not to mention yarn company patterns.

Bottom line: check the publisher's web site for pattern errata BEFORE you cast on. Heck, check the whole web--bloggers often find problems...before publishers do...

--TECHknitter

QUICKtip: controlling extra-long cables

If you are working with an extra-long circular needle (like for "magic loop" or back and forth knitting) the trick of inserting your hand into the loops of excess cable will stop the cable from whipping around with every stitch, whacking everything around you.

This trick works very well with the newer flexible no-memory cables, such as with Addi Lace needles (illustrated). It works less well with old-fashioned nylon cables, but your seat mate on that next flight will still thank you.

(This is a 47" needle being used "magic loop" style to knit a hat.)

--TECHknitter

QUICKtip: Knots can be your friends

The ancient Incas are said to have communicated by "quipu"--knotted strings which encoded information. You too can encode information in a simple knot. If you knit a swatch on size 7 needles, 7 knots go in the tail. The next time you wonder what needles you used with that yarn--ta da! Your own personal "quipu" is hanging on the swatch waiting to tell you. If you "borrow" your best size 5 circular needles from a project and put the project on a stitch holder, 5 knots go in the tail. When you find that project languishing 6 months from now, you won't be discouraged from taking it up again by not remembering what you were doing--your 5 knots will remind you that you were knitting with size 5 needles. As is apparent, this also works with millimeter sizes BUT you must not mix millimeter and American sizes--pick one or the other.

--TECHknitter

How to count rows

Angie, a reader, (and a blogger who takes a nice photo) asks:

"How do I count the rows accurately in my active work? Do I include the cast-on row and the stitches on the needle(s) or not?"

A 2-part question gets a THREE-part answer...

1. COUNT THE CAST-ON?

Whether to count the cast-on depends on HOW you cast on.

• If you cast on with a loop method (such as backwards loop or forwards loop) the first row you knit is the first row of the work--the loop cast-on is not usually counted as a row. (This is a convention because, if the cast-on were to be counted as a row, pattern writers would have to write a different set of instructions for the first repeat of a texture pattern counted in rows.)
  
• If, however, you cast on with a long tail method, the first row is knitted at the time of the cast on. Therefore, the first row you knit (or purl) after the cast-on is actually the second row of the work. (There is a more detailed explanation in the long tail post.)
  
• If you cast on with a cable method (also called "knitting on" or "chain cast on") then it's knitter's choice -- this kind of cast-on is heavier than a mere loop cast-on, but not quite doubled as is the long-tail cast on. You must make up your own mind.

click picture

This illustration came out small (another mystery of html). If you click it, though, it'll get bigger.

2. COUNT THE STITCHES ON THE NEEDLE?

As to whether to count the loops on the needle -- the answer is "yes." You do count the loops on the needle, because they are stitches which have already been knit. The confusion about this is understandable--it is the NEW stitches you are going to put INTO the loops already on the needle which is going to determine how those loops will lay--whether they will be knit stitches or purl stitches. BUT, because they have already been created and are laying on your needles, there is no question that the stitches on your needle have already been knit. Because they have been knitted, they ought to be counted, unless the directions tell you otherwise.

Now, having said all this hyper technical stuff, I can also tell you that one row more or less might make a horrible mess of a TEXTURE pattern in a fabric (such as this one, for example). BUT -- one row here or there is unlikely to make a difference in the FIT of any knitted garment. Whether you choose to follow the convention to exclude the cast-on row from your row count will not make a noticeable difference in your finished garment. What WILL make a difference in your fit is whether you are CONSISTENT in counting rows between the different parts of your project.

Example: suppose the front of your new sweater is knit to 76 rows to the underarm, NOT counting either row of a long-tail cast on as the first row, and NOT counting the stitches on the needle (in other words, not counting the red, green or blue rows of the illustration.) Now suppose the back is knit to 76 rows to the underarm. This time as part of the 76 rows, you DO count the rows you didn't before (in other words, this time, you do count the red, green and blue rows of the illustration.) The front piece would wind up 3 rows longer than the back. This will make for awkwardness when it comes to seaming up.

Bottom line: There is a convention for which rows to count as part of the row count. However, to achieve a good fit, CONSISTENCY in counting is the most important thing--much more important than whether you choose to follow the convention.

3. ADDENDUM:

Even though it's not part of Angie's question, the title may have readers wondering a different question. Many knitters ask: "If you want to keep track of rows as you knit them, what's the best way?"

There are lots of ways to keep track of your rows as you go--clickers of various sorts are popular, I often use the little green kind that hangs around the neck. Also popular is that hardy perennial--pencil and paper. Some knitters make hash marks on a blank page, some make Excel spreadsheets with little boxes to check off. As to the question of whether the row should be noted BEFORE starting or AFTER finishing, this is a dispute into which I will not go. As long as you are (say it with me now) CONSISTENT in your approach, it makes no difference whether you mark the row before you start or after you end.

Whatever way you keep track, however, the one certainty is that you will lose track. The phone will ring, or your kid will crash into something, or your city council rep will ring the bell to explain why she should be re-elected as you stand there wishing you'd brushed your teeth after that cheese-and-pickle sandwich. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that "reading" the fabric, as Angie wants to do, is your best insurance policy.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, and drive carefully!
--TECHknitter
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: How to count rows)

A very nearly invisible increase

Here is an increase which is as invisible as any increase can well be--the sort of increase you would do in the middle of a field of stockinette, should you ever need to do such a thing.
Step 1 (above): The green stitch is the next stitch on the left needle, the red stitch is the stitch under that. The blue yarn is the yarn of the current row--called the running yarn.

* * *

Step 2 (above): Insert the head of the right needle into the red stitch as shown.

* * *

Step 3 (above): Place the head of the red stitch on the left needle--arrange it untwisted, with the right arm forward.

* * *

Step 4 (above): With the running yarn (blue) knit the red stitch AND the green stitch.

That's it. Neat, huh?

--TECHknitter

PS:  There has been some confusion between the nearly invisible increase which ADDS a stitch to your fabric (this post above) and "knitting into the stitch below" which is a knitting trick to make a thick and puffy fabric but which does NOT ADD a stitch.  It is true that both of these techniques involve the stitch below, but they are not the same thing and confusing one for the other will cause no end of problems in trying to follow a pattern!
(You have been reading TECHknitting on: Invisible increases)

QUICKTIP: 2 kinds of sewing needles

After watching various knitters over the past several weeks stuggling to sew seams, or to work in ends, here's a TECHknitting QUICKTIP.

There are two kinds of long-eyed sewing needles which knitters are likely to meet: dull and sharp. The smaller dull ones are properly called "tapestry" needles and the larger dull ones are called "darners," while the sharp ones in all sizes are called "embroidery" or "crewel" needles.

Dull needles are used when you don't want to pierce your yarn, such as when you want to seam together the pieces of a sweater, or create duplicate stitch embroidery on the surface of a knitted fabric. LaurieM (a reader of this blog) points out in the comments that dull needles are also best for the kind of Kitchener stitch done with a sewing needle. (Thanks LaurieM!) Sharp needles are used when you do want to pierce your yarn, such as when you want to work in ends, or embroider through a thickness of knitted fabric.

Using the wrong kind of needle for the wrong kind of work will only slow things down and make you unhappy.

Addendum, December 2011:  While it is true that using the wrong kind of needle will make you crazy, here's a brand new tip from Patti in Canada--a reader who wrote in with a swell idea to avoid the need for needle switching.

--TECHknitter

Multi color knitting, 1 color at a time: slipped stitch patterns

We've already talked some about multi-color knitting created one color at a time--a kind of knitting called multiple pass knitting. Now we're turning to the second category of one-color-at-a-time color knitting--SLIPPED STITCH patterns.

Slipped stitch patterns come in two flavors. First, simple slipped stitch. This kind mostly has a certain amount of contrast color and generous amount of the main color. The second kind are more complex patterns, often called "mosaic knitting." Complex patterns generally have roughly equal amounts of both colors.

click picture

SIMPLE SLIPPED STITCH color knitting:

A couple of decades ago, my mom made a multi-colored vest. While gearing up to write this series on color knitting, I dug it out. Mom never learned to knit with two colors at the same time, so I was curious how she'd made it. Looking carefully, that vest was made using a slip-stitch pattern--stitches from the row below (and sometimes, 2 rows below) were slipped up into the current row and left there. This created rows with two colors, although only one color was ever knitted at a time.

Below is a charted example: in this chart, row 4 is to be made by knitting the stitches shown in blue, and slipping the pink stitches indicated by the red arrows.

click picture

Step 1 of this technique involves first knitting a blue stitch, then slipping a pink stitch, then knitting a blue stitch, and so on, down the line. This is the result on the needle: the slipped pink stitches are marked with a red dot. (Below.)

click picture

Step 2: On the following row (row 5) all the stitches, both pink slipped and blue unslipped, are simply knitted. The slipped pink stitches (marked by a red dot) remain in the fabric in their slipped positions. (Below.)

click picture

* * *

Simple slipped stitch patterns are probably the easiest of all methods for creating colored knitting. However, they're nothing to sniff at. As the French philosopher Descartes implied (commentary to his third rule) when something is fine just as it is -- simple and evident -- it need not be wrapped in complications to make it seem more desirable and important.

See for yourself: this illustrations shows an super-simple slipped stitch pattern; next to it is the quite gorgeous fabric it makes.

One thing: slipping stitches distorts the fabric (bunch it up, lengthwise), so these fabrics are denser than regular one-color knitting -- sometimes a LOT denser. Good for boxy winter garments, not so good for fitted summer clothes.

One more thing to take into account: if you want to make two color slipped stitch fabrics working back-and-forth, it will sometimes happen that your two colors of yarn will wind up on opposite edges of the fabric. This is more of a surprise than a problem--the solution is laid out in the green paragraphs about "out of phase yarns" in this post (scroll down for the green text).

COMPLEX SLIPPED STITCH color knitting:

The simple slipped stitch fabrics illustrated above usually involve slipping a few contrast stitches over a ground of main color. Complex slipped stitch patterns are made the same way--by slipping stitches of one color on the first pass, or the first several passes, then knitting these slipped stitches on a future row. However complex patterns differ from simple patterns:

• they are generally geometric
• they generally feature rather equal amounts of both colors
• the stitches are more frequently (but not always) slipped over more than one row.

Complex slipped stitch patterns knitted in motifs are often called "mosaic knitting" and their most famous proponent is Barbara Walker. Ms. Walker's book by that name was recently re-issued by Schoolhouse Press, (Thanks, Schoolhouse!)

Mosaic knitting--whether in motifs or in all-over fabric--creates a firm, not very stretchy fabric, more like fabric woven on a loom than fabric created with knitting needles. (This is because the high number of slipped stitches take most of the "reserve" out of the normally loopy knitted stitches--more info at this link.)

All-over mosaic fabrics; heck, any mosaics, have a retro look. They are rather thick and heavy -- best for outerwear or sleeveless garments. How 'bout this dapper gent's vest pattern from Vintage Purls? (VP, posting from Kiwiland--New Zealand --collects vintage patterns and puts them on the web for free. Thanks VP!) How 'bout those colors in the fabric sample knitted from the pattern? 70's appliances, no?

Heads up: sock patterns are sometimes written in mosaic patterns, but even in thin yarn, they'd be pretty stiff and thick--more hiking than dress up.

--TECHknitter (You have been reading TECHknitting on: Slipped stitch color knitting)