kitty: Knitting question??? What is this stitched/technique called...

Knitting question??? What is this stitched called... When you are purling back a row with yarn overs there are at least 2 different ways to purl those stitches. 1: Using the long back leg which creates a larger hole 2: Sliding the right hand needle over the left hand needle creating a twist in the yarn and a hole half the size Any idea what these two different stitches are called?

kitty: working on a new sweater

I for one love Faggot Stitch Patterns, there is something always so rewarding when you are doing a complicated knit pattern to come to a few simple rows of YO and K2Tog. It may be my absolute favorite stitch. They are open, easy, and don't require a lot of thinking.

So when I saw this sweater in the Spring Phildar magazine I was really excited about the pattern. I though the faggot stitch with its vertical lines could be slimming on me and it was a fresh and cute look. So while M, read saturday night I started swatching for the sweater, only to find out that the faggot stitch pictured I am pretty sure is not the one given in the instructions. I swatched the stitch that was given and it didn't have the strong heavy line in the finished garment. it had a thin line. Also the instructions say odd no. of stitches where as you are left with an even no. when you decrease. Something is obviously wrong here. So I did a little swatching and picked a new stitch variation that had the strong vertical lines I was after in the design. The other problem obviously was to find a stitch that had the same gauge as the pattern. Below is a little bit of my research.

Here are the stitches that I tested for the front insert of the sweater: I ended up using No. 3

Example 1: Multiple of 2 sts, plus 2 Row 1: K1, *YO, P2Tog*, K1

Example 2:Multiple of 2 sts, plus 2 Row 1:K1, *YO, P2Tog*, K1 Row 2: K

Example 3: Multiple of 3 sts, plus 4 Row 1: K2, *YO, K2Tog, K1*YO K2Tog Row 2: P2, *YO, P2Tog, P1* YO P2tog

Example 4: Multiple of 2 sts, plus 2 Row 1: K1, *YO, SSK* K1 Row 2: P1, *YO P2Tog* P1

Example 5: Multiple of 2 sts, plus 2 Row 1: K1, *YO, SSK*, K1 Row 2: P1, *YO, K2tog*, P1

Example 6: Multiple of 2 sts, plus 2 Row 1: K1,*YO, SSK*, K1 Row 2: P Row 3: K1, *K2Tog, YO*, K1 Row 4: P

As I was Googling, I found that there were two common questions that kept coming up What is a Faggot Knit Pattern? Faggot Patterns: A mesh stitch that has one of two vertical columns of eyelets separated by adjacent columns of decreases. Where does the term Faggot Pattern come from? OED "The term faggot stems from needlework techniques in existence before the development of lace knitting, principally the deflected-thread and drawn-thread laces and embroiders of western Europe, where narrow insertions of twisted and gathered threads resembling herringbone stitch were used to seams and between larger patterns." Knitting Lace (Susanna E. Lewis, pg 143) Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns also goes into other definitions and historical significance of Faggot Patterns and has it dating back to the 15th & 16th century knitters. Click here to read the Google Book Search page Other References: KnitWiki - Dummies.com MG also found an amazing online reference for the definition of the word "faggot" for the Oxford English Dictionary. Click Here joining of fabric that is jointed with an insert that is faggoted together to make kimono's for morning wear the use of a figure of a faggot, which heretics wore on there sleeve after they recounted a filling stitch in needlework the use in lace to join two pieces of canvas and so many more. It really is amazing the uses of the word historically. (Thanks for the link MG) So where does the word Faggot stitch actually come from may be a little harder to define than one might think. But like many things in history it is hard to determine the first use of the word or technique. It obviously has references to the 15th and 16th century in many walks of life.

kitty: Brioche stitch reference site

Brioche Stitch.... I may be very slow to the game on this one, but I found an amazing site dedicated to the brioche stitch. Nancy Marchant has done an amazing job on the site. Just though I would pass it on to anyone who may be trying to figure out the stitches in some of the runway designs from this past winter.

kitty: the quest for decrypting Missoni knit patterns continues

Here is my current progress report on where I am counting the stitches for Missoni patterns old and new. I have only been able to decrypt some of the simple ones, but I am on a quest! The first one I couldn't actually chart, I just sat and swatched it until I got it purl humps to match up.
	Cast on a multiple of 14 st +1 Row 1: K2tog, K5, double inc, K5, *(K3tog, K5, Double inc, K5, double inc, K5)* rep between * to last 2 st, K2tog Row 2: K2tog, K5, double inc, K5, *(K3tog, k5, double inc, K5) rep from * to last 2 st, K2tog Repeat these 2 rows alternating colours
PS. For all the charts below I assume that you are knitting in the round so I didn't deal with the reverse rows at all.
This is the one that I used in the previous test hat.
		K1
	0	YO
	/	K2tog
	\	SL1, K1, PSSO
This stitch was used as a boder design where the purl ridges formed the ridge of the boder design.
		K1
	0	YO
	/	K2tog
	\	SL1, K1, PSSO
		K1
	-	Purl (RS)
	0	YO
	T	double decrease - slip 2 sts together as if to knit, knit the next st, pass the slipped sts over the knitted st.
		K1
	0	YO
	/	K2tog
	\	SL1, K1, PSSO
		K1
	0	YO
	/	K2tog
	\	SL1, K1, PSSO

MG: edging

almost finished with the baby blanket i've been working on for months. this is the first time you are getting a peek since it was all garter stitch until recently and photographically uninteresting. i think i cast on about 100 stitches and knitted about 200 rows. 100 x 200 = 20,000 stitches of garter.

a few more leaves, and the edging will be done. it's "Tulip-Bud Edging" (pg. 357) from Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. oh, here is a useful database for Walker's first three stitch references.


there will be a moment of truth when this blanket comes out of the dryer. it's Blue Sky Alpaca's dyed organic cotton, 100% cotton that will shrink in various ways. fingers crossed for straight edges.