The Knitting Fiend

I’ll be using two stitch patterns in my next “original” design for Jim’s sweater: “Welt Leaf Pattern” and “X-and-Diamond Border”. Both are fairly simple knit-purl combinations with 8 stitch repeats and appear on page 36 of Barbara Walker’s “Treasury of Knitting Patterns”.

Because I like following knitting charts, I charted out “Welt Leaf Pattern”, it’s shown below the right. (If you have trouble reading charts, refer to How to read knitting charts. If you scroll to the bottom, you can find all 7 articles in that series.)

I’m planning a simple drop sleeve sweater for Jim. The chest will measure 40″ around. So, the body will just be one big tube up to the armholes. Tonight, I plan to calculate out the body and cast on the ribbing.

Later this week, I’ll explain how to organize the two stitch patterns– which pretty much involves centering the two patterns. There’s not much to doing it, but my philosophy is: There is always a newbie knitter out there who wants to know. Why not post the tutorial?

Who knows, if I get ambitious I’ll make a podcast!

---

Blogging tip: I get about 600 visits a day when people search for knitting tips using Google or other search engines and I also make some money with this blog. Not a fortune– but more than most knitting bloggers. How does this happen? Well, it’s partly due to using few “tricks” Two are used in this article:

• Tip 1: Notice how I linked back to my previous article about reading charts? Linking back is helpful for the reader. It also reminds Google that page exists and is about reading knitting charts! (This is called a ‘SEO tip’ because it has to do with pleasing a search engine.)
• Tip 2: Notice that the first time I mention Barbara Walker, her name is linked her knitting books at Amazon.com? That link helps knitters find all her knitting stitch pattern books, which quite frankly, most avid knitters eventually buy. If they happen to buy after clicking my link, I make a few bucks.

  But neither of those two are the tips! The tip is this: I inserted that automatically using a free Wordpress plugin called “aLinks”. I described how to use aLinks at Big Bucks Blogger. (I can write a better tutorial at anyone’s request. ) Do you want to see how powerful that plugin is. Look at this: Elizabeth Zimmerman! I didn’t code that: aLinks did.

---

Tonight, I cast on!

Obviously, I’ve been in a knitting and knit blogging slump. But winter is approaching and I finished my “Floridays Shawl”, which I cast on in June. Obviously, this is a pathetically slow rate of progress. But, fear not, I think I may have found something I find fun: Post casts.

For some reason, in the past, I have never been tempted to turn the little dial on my camera to the little “movie” recorder. On Saturday I did. I discovered I could take movies. I filmed on very, very bad one and deleted it.

Then, I broke filming into clips and recorded a fairly bad set of clips. Rather than try for perfection, I decided I’d teach myself how to actually finish a video and show it at my blog. So, I imported the pretty bad clips to my mac and edited in “IMovie”. Then I uploaded to YouTube. Now, the worlds can see my pretty bad podcast.

I could bore you by listing everything wrong with the quality– but I made so many mistakes, the list would be pretty boring.

So instead, I bring you a relatively poor quality podcast showing me blocking my “Floridays Shawl!”

Now that I’ve figured this out, I’ll probably show streaming periodically, and also provide links to things associated with the steps in the podcast (when the links are available.) That way, knitters can benefit from the things that are best shown on video and also from the things that are best show as stills.

Later this week, I’ll try to collect the links for the various stitches. The shawl is easy, and the general idea can be used to create your own shawl in your own yarn. The one thing you really need is a yardage estimator so you have enough yarn. So, I’ll get that together… some time!

Hope you like the video!

---

Details for shawl:

1. Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr : 5,040 yds./lb. – 1 lb. cones. 50% fine grade Merino wool, 50% Chinese Tussah silk.
   Jagger recommends dry clean only; hand wash.
2. Twisted Long stitches: I haven’t written a tutorial!
3. Eyelets: How to Knit an Eyelet Row
4. Bind off: Picot Edge Bindoff

Heather, has tagged me in a 7 Random Facts about yourself meme. As I’ve chosen to accept it, I must tell you 7 Random Facts about myself. Afterwards, I must find 7 bloggers that haven’t been tagged yet to do the same. (Seven? And Heather already tagged all my knitting group? Sheesh!)

1. I have a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.
2. I work part-time for Argonne National Laboratories. When working, I wear my pajamas. (Good thing I work at home!)
3. I take care of two cats: ‘Mo and Piewacket. They are pretty domineering.
4. I’m going on vacations next week! (The inlaws will be staying here taking care of ‘Mo and Piewacket.
5. I love pesto so much, I dug up a 8ft x 20 ft strip on the west side of the house to grow basil.
6. I was born in El Salvador and we moved to Bufallo, NY in January of 1966. Yes, it was a shock.
7. Uhmmm…I like knitting… a lot…(but I’m slow.)

Ok.. there is only one thing to do: Tag people in the machine knitters web ring! I tag:
knutty4knitting, Needles of Steel, Zeppo’s knitting blog, Knit Man, Knittsings, A Distant Knitter and Knitting on the Rogue River.

Yes… I could use their names. But since joining all these paid for post blogs, I’ve learned it juices their google search efficiency to use their blog post names inside the link! (Weird, hun.)

For the convenience of any of those tagged, if you have a hard time thinking up 7 people to tag, check out the machine knitters feed list. There are 23 knit bloggers on that list, and I bet they’d wouldn’t mind a simple meme like this one.