Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Practicing

I did say that scarves are a good way to practice stitches and knitting techniques, so I'm doing just that. I'm working on a mobius scarf in seed (moss) stitch. For those who don't know what this is, a mobius scar is a loop that has a half twist in it. You can make one easily by knitting a scarf and then sewing the two ends together after putting the half-twist in. This is what I am doing this time. You can also make a seamless one by using a long circular needle and using any of a number of methods that you can simply Google. It's best to make a mobius scarf in a reversible stitch (such as ribbing, moss or double moss) because you will see the front and back of it when it's done.

As for seed stitch (our European friends call it moss stitch). It is simply 1x1 ribbing done on an uneven number of stitches. You can do it on an even number of stitches if you remember that on the second row you need to start with a purl stitch instead of a knit stitch. This gives that bumpy texture that resembles seeds scattered over it. Just remember to knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches on each row and you'll do fine.

I'm doing this to practice knitting continental style (yarn in left hand). I've knitted English style (yarn in right hand) for over forty years (close to fifty), so this will be a challenge. The biggest challenge will be purling. Knitting is easy continental style, but purling requires a bit more practice. What better practice than to do seed stitch and make a pretty wearable in the process?

I'll let you know how it goes.

Day one:

I cast on 45 sts for my uneven number. This way I can just mindlessly k1, p1 the whole time without trying to remember if I'm on row 1 or row 2 of the pattern.

The first row was a bit difficult, as I predicted. The second row was a bit easier. I'm sure I'll become a bit more proficient as I progress, I've only been trying this style for a few days, so it feels kind of clumsy still.

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