The Knitting Fiend

Notice anything odd? I can’t believe I accidentally knit something that can be used to teach a knitting lesson!

Here goes. Look at the socks I’m knitting in self striping yarn; notice the colors cycle through in an “ABC->ABC” type progression. That is to say, the color bands go:

• A: (Solid Raspberry) followed by
• B: (Orange & White “check” followed by Raspberry & White “check”) followed by
• C: (Solid White to Yellow & White “check”.)

After “C” the color progression returns to “A” and cycles through A->B->C again.

Cycling in a predictable way is one of the features that gives many of the popular self striping yarns their distinctive charm.¹

But look at my socks; one looks upside down. Oops!

Remember, I decided to test my new sock pattern generators? One of my generators creates a pattern to knit a sock cuff down, the other to knit a sock toe up.

Remember I decided I’d knit mis-matched socks I could test each generator using one sock from a pair. Well, I am testing it that way.

But, look! The colors are cycling through ABC as expected. But, in once case, the “A->B ->C” points from cuff to toe and in the other case it points from toe to cuff.

Well, I think it’s kind of fun. And, since these are bed socks, who cares what other people might think?

Still, I can’t help but I wonder if anyone would notice this reversal if I wore the socks in public? But, I digress. . .

Now to discuss the lesson this illustrates!

Let’s say someone was knitting from a pull skein. And let’s say they were knitting a V neck. And let’s say the pattern suggested you divide and knit each side separately, attaching a fresh ball to knit each side.

Everyone has done that, right?

Now, let’s say someone else recommended that, rather than actually attaching a new skein, you could knit one side pulling from the center of the ball and the other side unwinding from the outside.

Sounds like a good idea, right? And it can be. If the yarn is a solid color, this trick minimize the number of ends you need to weave in.

But, let’s say the sweater is knit in a self patterning yarn, and let’s say you do as they suggest. Well, guess what? If the yarn colors progress in an “ABC->ABC->ABC” fashion, one side of the V neck is going to look upside down when compared to the rest of the sweater.

So, if you are going to knit from both ends of the skein, you should check whether or not the color pattern does this. Otherwise, you might accidentally do what I did with my socks.

And if you do end up with one upside down bit, you will you react?

That depends. If you are a perfectionist or a “glass half empty” sort, I suspect you will unravel the upside down part.

On the other hand if you’re non-perfectionist-”glass is half full” sort of person, you might decide the resulting hand knit sweater is “conversation piece” which you will use to teach knitting lessons!

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1. Popular yarns with obvious A->B->C patterns include, Regia Mini-ringel, Regia Crazy and Regia Multi-Effekt. Not all multi-colored yarns cycle this way. Some cycle A->B->C->B->A. Random dyed yarns like Noro Kureyon and Noro Silk Garden claim not to cycle at all, but that claim is only partially true. It’s always best to check and think about how the color is going to knit up before actually knitting something and discovering you need to rip.

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Filed in Sock Links.