How I Avoid Ladders on DPNs

Whenever I talk about how much I love knitting with double-pointed needles (DPNs), people who aren’t converts talk about the ladder. It’s that awful run of loose stitches you get where you switch needles, and it does make your knitting look less than tidy.

It took me a long time to get the hang of avoiding that ladder and sometimes even now I’ll end up with one if I’m working at an unusual gauge, but I’ve mostly got the hang of avoiding it and this video shows you what I do.

I wasn’t feeling chatty so you get slightly sarcastic, extremely silly captions instead (which is basically my natural speaking tone anyway).

Oh, and you also get some old timey music to cheer you along. You’re welcome.

Why knitting won my heart

If you’ve been following my recent series of posts, you might wonder how I jumped from being totally obsessed with crochet to being a dedicated knitter. Though I learned to knit before I learned to crochet, I took to the latter much faster.

I thought knitting was too fiddly, and it was too difficult to fix things. I could fudge anything with crochet, so I went with the hook.

For example, see this post from November 2010:

Recent times have also seen me attempting to knit once more. It didn’t go well. I can cast on and I can do the knit stitch quite confidently but then I notice I’ve dropped a stitch and instead of trying to work out how to fix this problem, my brain explodes and I spend so much time picking the bits of skull out of the yarn it’s not really worth it, you know? So I am not getting very far with the knitting needles.

What changed?

Circulars. Yep, the moment I figured out how much more convenient they are, I could not stop.

It only took until March 2011, too. Though by this time I was fully entrenched in the craft community of my hometown, I had avoided knitting as a matter of course since I abandoned my first project. Then I discovered circular needles.

There’s the first example of knitting on my blog after so many months of crochet, and it’s on a pair of terrible, cheap, metal and plastic circulars. I say they’re terrible because I cannot stand knitting or crocheting with metal where I can help it; I’m a wood person all the way.

Here’s what I had to say about knitting on circulars:

I find them so much nicer to use outside of the house since you don’t poke the person next to you on the train and your project is less likely to slip off the end. Absolute bliss.

These days I either knit on circulars or DPNs. I knit with the latter when I’m making socks or gloves/mittens, and circulars for almost everything else. I love being able to shove the project down onto the cord to stop it slipping off in my bag, and I love how little space it takes up compared to straights. It also doesn’t feel as heavy, since you can balance it in your lap.

I’ve been paying attention to how I use DPNs lately since people have asked me for tips once or twice, and I’m going to post a few tips I’ve found useful when I’m trying to avoid getting tangled in my own project or forming unattractive ladders up my socks.

What turned knitting for you from a passing interest to something more?

Come Along, Pond.

I’m knitting socks.

Okay, okay, try not to faint in shock. I know this is unusual and a little bit baffling. Polo, knit socks? Never! Except for those dozens of times, and all those socks I have planned for the future and all the skeins of pretty sock yarn and all the pairs suffering from Second Sock Syndrome…

These ones are made from glorious Manos del Uruguay. If you haven’t knitted with it before you need to head to your local yarn store and get some as soon as possible. It’s luscious.

The pattern is Business Casual and I’ve kind of stopped looking at it because it’s very intuitive, though considering my recent track record of messing up things when I glance away from the pattern for three stitches, maybe I should reconsider this. (You will be hearing more about that later, since I did the dumb thing and gifted the resultant mittens without getting photos.)

I’ve named them Come Along, Pond. Why? Well. Because they’re ginger, of course.

Come along, Pond!

That’s what they look like inside but in natural light they’re far more red than it seems there. It’s orangey-red rather than just plain orange. This is a closer match to the colour:

Can’t you feel how soft and smooth and fluffy that yarn is through the screen? You know you can. And isn’t it pleasing that the two-stitch cable pattern splits from the 2×2 rib of the cuff? Yes, yes it is. These socks are a dream to knit and my saviour in between fun but difficult patterns.

As an aside: I’m knitting them on my only pair of cubics and they’re great. No better than ordinary DPNs for me, though some people swear by them. The best thing is how they line up so neatly when you lay them down on the table. No more abrupt squats to pick up escaping needles!

Though squats do give you a fabulous derriere.

Amy Pond is one of my favourite characters in Doctor Who because she gets to live out such a huge part of her life and, more than most companions, she has the control. She says when she’ll go with the Doctor and when she won’t. She manages a life with her husband and the rest of their family and yet still gets to go off on adventures with her alien friend. She’s also totally hilarious and a bit mental, so I dig her.

These socks are in her honour as I come to the end of Eleven’s time in the show in my binge-rewatch.

 

A Trip Down South

With my departure from England becoming more and more imminent, my previously-scheduled holiday visiting my family this week has taken on a different sort of meaning. It’s more intense and I have found myself revisiting things (and people) from my past with a strange nostalgia that’s both triumphant and sad. In other words it’s been a strange sort of week for me but deeply enjoyable.

Most of the week has been spent in London. I met up with a fellow knitter, a long-time friend and excellent person that I still think of as Cal (though I’m sure she goes by her real name now, it’s how I knew her when we did pixel dolls back in the day).

We took a much-needed trip to Loop which is one of my favourite yarn stores for reasons obvious to anyone who has been there. It’s tucked down a backstreet near the Angel tube station and I’ve missed out on going there the last couple of times due to horribly bad timing (I always end up in London on a Monday when it’s closed). With Wollmeise in mind I very nearly walked out with some brightly-coloured Socks that Rock instead but, after painful deliberation, walked out with a beautiful skein of Wollmeise in the Gianduia colourway – a rich orangey brown that’s much more natural than the usual colours I pick. I’ve fondled it extensively but have yet to take photos.

And no, I have no idea what I’m going to knit with it. And yes, I’m aware that I shouldn’t be buying more yarn right now when I already have so much to take back to Canada with me.

I met briefly with Frankie, a fellow geek I met at university. I believe our first conversation was about X-Men back in a long-distance seminar and we got along swimmingly after that. Unfortunately due to bad planning on my part (as in, I barely let anyone know I was coming down this week) I didn’t get to spend much time with her or another friend Ruth who has managed to turn into an even more interesting and lovely person in the years we’ve not met up.

One of my favourite moments in London this week was wandering around the South Bank and Westminster for no reason just to soak in the city. I do love this country; it’s strange and archaic and modern and banal all at once. It’s also beautiful.

The second of these pictures is from the latter half of my week off. I went back to my hometown, a little island poking off the bottom of England. It’s called Portland and while I moved off it when I was 16 as quickly as I could manage, I still find it gorgeous. And weird. It’s always weird being back there.

I’ll be posting a few pictures of things I made for my family whilst down there. For now I’m going to go pet my Wollmeise and wonder what to make with it whilst lamenting the fact I have the yarn and the pattern but not the needles for the thing I want to make most of all (despite the fact my girlfriend is shocked that I don’t have every needle size in existence).

 

Socks Yay Socks

I’m so classy, jeez.

I’ve been knitting these socks from some really lovely yarn. It’s the stuff I got in the swap and I adore it; it’s soft, squishy and dyed in a beautiful way. I love the subtle changes in the yarn – the colour, that is, because the yarn is nicely balanced itself.

It was difficult choosing a pattern for the sock because I didn’t think a complicated pattern would look right on this kind of yarn. I browsed for a long time through patterns on Ravelry trying to decide what to do until I realised that the best thing for this yarn would be to knit a plain stockinette sock after all. There are some yarns that just have to be showcased for exactly what they are, and Jennifer’s stuff is one of them.

These socks have been with me through a lot in the last few weeks. I knitted pretty much the entire first sock while I was at an OCD conference. The second has been with me at work and at home and at my friend’s house while we learnt songs to sing to my visiting mother. I do love how a finished knitted object carries all these things with it long after they’re finished. It’s one of the reasons I love knitting for the people I care for; it feels like I’m giving a little piece of myself instead of just string in fancy patterns.

As an aside, I highly recommend the KnitPro DPNs. They’re smooth and warm and beautiful. I usually knit on bamboo DPNs, but I treated myself to some to match my KnitPro circular set.

Never have I made a pair of socks that have ended up actually belonging to me, but I’m determined not to give these away.

We’ll see.

Related articles

• Grafting Using the Kitchener Stitch Tutorial (polkadotsheep.wordpress.com)
• Seamless two color socks (mercigranny.wordpress.com)
• Wanton Fibers (simplysockyarn.typepad.com)
• Odd socks (noidlehan.com)
• The softest, squishiest yarn in the world? (daffodilsandslate.wordpress.com)

With Sticks and String

It doesn’t matter how much chaos there is in my life (and there is quite a lot); I can find solace in something simple. I can pick up my sticks and string and turn one thing into another. The quiet peace of order from chaos is one of the few things that keeps me chilled out even when the weight of all this crap is piling on my shoulders. I can escape for a few hours with a good movie or show and some luscious yarn.

At the moment I’m sticking to the simple projects. Any attempts at lace lately have been a massive failure and I can’t be doing with any more disappointment. Garter stitch and stockinette and ribbing are my friends.

My current project. It is (or will be) a pair of fingerless gloves in 2×2 ribbing with Heritage Silk yarn. It’s soft and shiny. I love anything with a touch of silk.

They will be for my lovely girlfriend. She mentioned cold hands in her (one day our) new apartment and I offered a pair. We will have been together three years in a couple of weeks so it’s part of her gift for that. Sure, it’ll be summer there soon and unbearably humid but she asked and I will provide.

Hopefully I will be going back to Ontario for a couple of weeks vacation in August/September. I’ll be stopping off at the Little Green House of course! In the meantime I’m spending a lot of time (and quite a bit of money) at the gorgeous Knit Studio. If you’re in Newcastle upon Tyne or the surrounding area I would highly recommend it.

It feels good to write in my blog again. Now back to my sticks and string.

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Related articles

• Beginner Knitting Projects (crystalbeadshl.wordpress.com)
• Tuesday Craft – String Shawl (overbookedandunderpaid.typepad.com)
• The Firebird Scarf and Fingerless Gloves Collection: (intricateknits.wordpress.com)
• Hand-Spun Hitchhiker Shawl Complete – FO Friday (all-she-wants-to-do-is-knit.com)
• Free Form Hanging (catena.typepad.com)

I Made a Purchase

On Saturday I headed to The Little Green House in Whitby with a rather fabulous new friend to buy the yarn for my first wearable garment (Coachella, though I’m doing a modified version found on Ravelry). It took a while to pick the yarn of course. I went with Cascade 220 Superwash in a greeny-blue flecked colour. I’m quite pleased with it and apparently I really like Cascade yarns. The last three projects I’ve done have been by them.

Like this one, a scarf made of lovely rich red cotton.

They had a little workshop going on where, for two dollars, you could try out needle felting and jewellery making. We decided to go ahead and try it, resulting in a cute needle-felted bookmark (or potential cat toy) and a pair of earrings. I spent rather too long trying to find the right beads and now I want to do this all the time.

Bad idea. I have enough hobbies already that I struggle to decide what to do when I have a moment not working.

Still, maybe one day I’ll have even more free time and can do it.

I’ll start hoarding any pretty beads I find just in case.

Anyway. At this point it was time to go and pay for my yarn, which was 15% off like everything in the store. Very exciting. I picked out some cotton to make more washcloths with and then looked for circular needles in the size I needed. Alas, there were none.

Except… well, except a set of KnitPro interchangeable needles that were, before discount, around $70. I picked them up. I stared. I wandered back upstairs to see my friend. I gave in and went back downstairs, debit card in hand, and put the cotton back as if that would somehow make a huge difference on the price. Fortunately this paycheque I had a little extra to spare so I don’t feel too badly about it.

From my excitedly blurry photo you may deduce I was definitely not feeling badly about it. Holy crap I am so in love with these needles. One is broken, but Martina from the store is replacing it when she can. This does not deflect from the glory of these needles. Knitting on them is delightful. They’re smooth and slick and pretty. The cords don’t twist like my cheap plastic grey circulars. There’s lots of sizes and lengths and I am SO EXCITED.

So I cast on my Coachella. I’m about 25 rows in now and getting more and more excited the further I go.

These needles? Definitely worth it.

How to Knit in the Round

When I started knitting I didn’t really get it. Same with crochet. With both of these crafts it finally clicked when I started in the round. It seems to flow much easier and I seem to find it less awkward to keep track of where I am in a pattern. I’m sure there are a lot of people who would much rather knit straight but given the choice, I’ll usually pick something knitted in the round.

There are a few methods of doing this, which I’ll lay out here. I am not comfortable enough with some of the methods to be able to instruct from scratch, so I’ll provide you with the links and resources to learn as quickly as I did.

Double Pointed Needles

These are needles that do not have the stopper at one end. They’re pointed on both sides – hence the name – and they’re usually quite a bit shorter than regular straight needles. They’re used a lot in knitting socks.

This is my preferred method for knitting socks and mittens/gloves. It looks a bit fiddly but once you realise you’re only ever knitting on two of the needles, it becomes much easier. The only problem is trying to avoid the obvious line through the bits where the needles switch, something I haven’t quite got the hang of yet. I learned through YouTube videos such as this one, though if you search for ‘knitting on double pointed needles’ a lot of tips and tutorials come up.

The most important thing with knitting on DPNs is that you don’t get the first stitches twisted. If you do, your sock is going to look more than a little strange and will be rather unwearable!

Circular Needles

These are needles specifically designed for knitting in the round; they’re generally used for larger projects than socks etc. They’re two straight needles attached to a flexible cord which comes in a variety of lengths.

I recently used a 16″ circular to knit my mum a hat, shown in the previous post. I also used the same needle to knit myself a headband using an offcentre rib stitch which I’m sure has a name but I have no idea what that would be! It was entirely improvised. Knitting on circulars is quite useful because you can slip the project down onto the cord when transporting. I’ve never had anything fall of circular needles, unlike DPNs; I have also used circular needles to knit straight just for the portability factor.

Have a look at this tutorial or this video. It’s quite a simple process, possibly the simplest of methods knitting in the round. All you need to bear in mind is picking the right size!

Magic Loop Knitting

This is the newest method for me. It’s where you use one long-cabled circular needle and knit small projects in the round – for example, I’m using this to knit mittens. You split the stitches down the middle with the cable. It’s very clever. I understand a lot of people prefer this to knitting with DPNs.

I only tried it a couple of days ago and for some reason I’d expected it to be a lot more difficult. It wasn’t – it was easy peasy! Me and a friend were watching TV so I didn’t want to watch a video on youtube which is my usual method of learning a tricky new skill in knitting. Turns out I didn’t need to: this tutorial from KnitPicks was more than enough.

It may look complicated and confusing but I promise it’s not. I’m not sure I’m completely sold on it; I still prefer knitting on DPNs but that’s a personal preference. The best thing about knitting is that there are so many ways to achieve the same or similar effects and it’s fun to try each of them out when you’re learning to know your own preferences.

So how do you do it?