Just Desserts
A good friend sent me this link: HannahMax Baking What a riot – my kids will love this!
Hack, Cough, Wheeze
I finally went to the doctor and I have Bronchitis. So I’m on antibiotics and they’re sapping my energy and making me queasy, but I am feeling better and stronger and my chest doesn’t hurt any more. Bronchitis is a way of life for asthmatics, but for the past few weeks I’ve been so physically drained that it was an effort to get up and get a glass of water. I’m getting more oxygen, so I don’t feel that way anymore (thank goodness!)
The Things I Do
Another blog reader wrote with questions about Combination Knitting and my book, which I answered by sending her some info on decreasing (one of the clearest ways to see the difference between Western and Combination or Eastern Knitting.) It’s true that I do have decreasing pages up within my website, but I thought for those who just cruise the blogs and prefer not to dig too deeply into one specific URL, I’d post a decreasing mini tutorial. I’m also still resting. Brrrrr.
DECREASING MINI TUTORIAL
Left Slanting Decrease
When Combination Knitters knit 2 together, we insert our right hand needle into the first stitch on the left hand needle, THEN into the second stitch on the left hand needle, and work them together so we get a decrease that slants this way
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This decrease can be worked in different ways, and is generally described in Western instructions as:
K2tog-TBL (knit 2 together through the back loop)
s1 k1 psso (slip 1 st to the rh needle, knit 1 st, pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch)
ssk (slip, slip, knit – slip the first 2 sts so they’re facing toward the tip of the needle, k them together – this is, in effect, the way that Combination knitters work 2 sts tog.)
However, in my own instructions I prefer to call this decrease:
K2tog-LS (knit 2 together with a left slant)
Therefore I leave it to the individual knitter to get to that decrease however they like. Part of the journey of knitting is discovering many different ways to do things, and that you may favor one method with one yarn, and another method with a different fiber. For instance, quite often I k2tog-LS, but sometimes I s1 k1 psso, depending on the yarn and the way it twists.
Right Slanting Decrease
When the Western knitter knits two together, they insert their RH needle into the SECOND stitch on the left hand needle, then into the first stitch on the left hand needle, so their decrease looks like this
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This decrease is generally described in Western instructions as:
K2tog (knit 2 sts together, starting with the 2nd stitch in from the point of the needle)
In my own instructions I call this decrease:
K2tog-RS (knit 2 together with a right slant)
Once again I leave it to the knitter to determine how they’d like to make the decrease. My favorite way with this decrease is to slip the first 2 sts off of the LH needle, one at a time, then turn them and slip them back on the needle so they’re facing in the opposite direction (away from the point of the needle) Then I knit them together.
Another way to make this decrease is to reach over the 1st st on the LH needle and pass the 2nd stitch over it., then knit the 1st st.
A third way is to work the decrease on the private (wrong) side of the fabric by purling 2 sts together. This will give the decrease a right slant when viewed from the public (right) side of the fabric.