16 July, 2010

Stranded Knitting Redux

Remember the selbuvotter mitten from hell that I tried to knit last year? I was having all sorts of issues with it: I am really, really right-handed and HATED knitting two-handed but wunderinstructor Janine made me; I had tension issues so that the top of the mitten was wider than the bottom; I decided not to knit the second mitten. I have not attempted stranded knitting since. And then several of my friends learned stranded knitting. And one in particular turned out a pretty pair of Spot Check Socks. And I was envious. And then along came the July Sock Knitters Anonymous Sockdown challenge. Colorwork. And Chrissy Gardiner is designing a mystery sock. And it's cute. So I went in search of figuring out a way to hold both strands of yarn in my right hand, and I found this:



IT WORKS! I am ecstatic. I can now knit with two strands nearly as quickly as I can with one, with none of the tension issues and none of the hand cramping. THANK YOU, PDXKNITTERATI, WHOEVER YOU ARE!

So, of course I went in search of yarn and an easy pattern that I could use to do some practicing, and in about two hours I had this:


Huron Mountain by Nancy Bush. Love that it was inspired by a place in Michigan.

And a couple of days ago I went in search of yarn to knit the mystery sock, and in about 30 minutes I had ordered this:


Wullenstudio Superwash Sock Yarn in Green, Green, Bad Moon Rising, Sherry Baby, and Purple Haze. Nifty names for colorways.

The neat thing about Wullenstudio yarns is that you can order them in 75-yard mini-skeins, perfect for colorwork! I ended up with one mini-skein each of the four colors above and a half skein of the undyed base yarn (appropriately called Natural Woman).

Sigh. I thought I was going to use August to finish a couple of sock WIPs, but it was not to be. August will now be devoted to colorwork.

4 comments:

Andi said...

Those Wullenstudio yarn colors are wonderful! I think I want them all.
Thank you for the sharing the video for the right handed colorwork, I have just recently been trying the two handed method and I am not a fan- so I am going to try this. Your colorwork is looking fantastic. :)

Unknown said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting that video! I've been wanting to do some colorwork stockings for Christmas but was really afraid of knitting with both hands. I will definitely try this before I even think about holding the yarn in both hands.

Anonymous said...

Years ago, there were two mitten books by Robin Hansen with names like "Fox, and Geese, and Fences" (One had a red cover, and one had a turquoise cover---I can never remember the titles.) She showed how to do colorwork for the mittens by carrying both colors in your right hand. I took a class on the mittens at my LYS just so I could learn how to do the colorwork. I think this method is SO much easier than using both hands, but no one seems to be teaching or learning it. It is too hard to achieve even tension while knitting in both the continental and English methods at the same time. The Robin Hansen books have been combined under one cover and reprinted---those mittens are really fun to knit and warm to wear. Keep practicing---you will be tackling a Dale of Norway or Starmore sweater before you know it.

Brenda.

Delaine said...

Kim - I, too do my stranded knitting right handed and LOVE it!