Lesson 10: Around and Around and Around We Go

Sewing the seams in small pieces bugs me. I really can't stand it. That's why I'm

glad for circular knitting. It truly is a gift from above. 

Circular knitting is when you use double pointed needles or a circular needle to knit the pieces in the shape of a tube. You can add increasing, decreasing, pattern stitches, and colorwork just like regular knitting so it's pretty easy to learn! 

The first method I'm going to show you is using a circular needle. This is extremely easy to do especially after a bit of practice. Circular needles are basically just two short needles connect by a long thin cord made of some type of plastic. The package they come in will tell you two measurements: length and needle size. They look like this:

Using them is really easy. Just cast on the number of stitches you need (the length of the needle will depend on the nber if stitches).

Put a marker on the end of the RH needle so you know where one round (circular rows are called rounds aka rnds) ends and the next starts. 

Connect the ends start working the stitches that were cast on first

MAKE SURE THE STITCHES ARE NOT TWISTED. If they are and you keep going without fixing it you will have to unravel all your work and redo it. Not fun, my friends. Not fun at all. So if the stitches are twisted, untwist them and then start knitting. Just go around the circle until you get to the marker. Then just slip the marker from LH needle to RH needle and keep going! Simple! 

So that's pretty much it. I'm going to save the Double Pointed needles for the next post. 

So now I'm going to make a little tribute to a YouTuber named Connor Franta. He's amazing. If you watch his videos you will understand this next part. 

Okeyyyy I'm gonna go! So today we talked about knitting in circles an circular knitting and yarn and needles and I don't even know what Wbsognrks bouyyyyye!!!!

My New Puppy

Last week my family got a new puppy!! He is about 8 months old right now. My brother named him Caspian. I'm not sure if I like that name but whatever.

He is so cute!
I think he is a Carolina Husky mixed with  a German Shepherd. But he is absolutely nutty!!!!

Pittsburg Penguins Knitting Chart

The Penguins; I can't stand them, but I won't get into that in order to avoid offending any of their fans...

Boston Bruins Knitting Chart

The Boston Bruins may not be a team that I actually like, but I have to admit their logo is kind of cool.

Lesson 9: Seeing Double

The duplicate stitch. So useful, so helpful, so easy! Yes this lesson is about the duplicate stitch: what it's for and how to do it. Looking at pictures of the stitch it looks a little difficult, but it is actually pretty easy!

The duplicate stitch is used for adding patterns and designs to your knitting, much like fair isle, but this stich is better for using many colors and if the design is spread out. It is also useful when you want to put a motif on a knitted piece but you're not sure where exactly. You can just put it on after you have finished knitting!

Step one is o cut a piece of yarn in your desired color. Usually I cut the yarn about 3 feet long or a little shorter when I know that I am going to need multiple long strands to fill the entire space that I want to fill, but if you know that you don't need that much you can just cut less. I use a plastic yarn needle with a fairly large eye because those are comfortable for me to use, but use whichever type you prefer.

Step two is to figure out where the yarn needs to go on the knitting. It is best to start at the bottom of the design on either the left or right side, it doesn't matter in this case.



Step three: poke the needle from the bottom of the knitted fabric at the bottom of the stitch that needs to be covered with yarn. In the picture, if I wanted to cover the blue stitch with yarn, I would poke the needle up through the red dot. Pull the yarn through the fabric until you have about 2 inches on the underside. Hold that piece for a few stitches until it is secure.

Step four is poke the needle down through the top corner of the stitch (if you are starting from the left side of the design, poke the needle down through the left corner. If you start from the right side of the design poke the needle in the right side of the stitch). Then, poke it back up through the other side of the stitch and pull the yarn through until it is snug but not tight.
In the picture to start from the right side of the design, poke the needle down through the blue dot and up from the red dot (it's the opposite for starting from the left)
The key is to bring the yarn under the purple stitch



Step five is to poke the needle back down through the bottom of the stitch in the same place where you started with it. Then repeat steps two through five for the rest of the stitches. To finish off the yarn secure it by pulling it through a few stitches on the back of the work, but make sure you can't see the yarn on the front of the work where it shouldn't be seen.

And that's all there is to it! For many of the fair isle charts that I have put on the site it may be easier to use the duplicate stitch for them rather than fair isle because of the intricacy and use of multiple colors in a row.

Chicago Blackhawks Knitting Chart

This is the Chicago Blackhawks logo. For some parts you will have to use a stem stitch. These areas include the yellow lines on the hair, around the white part of the eye, and the lines on the feathers. I would also outline the feathers in black stitching.

Coming Soon: NHL Charts!

So I was trying to figure out what my next post should be. And then, like a ton of bricks, it hit me. NHL logo charts! I have already made the New York Rangers chart so I figured why not?!
I'm going to use a program that I know if to create fair isle charts for all of the NHL teams! Some of them will be easier to do the duplicate stitch which I will make a tutorial about for those of you who don't know how to do it.
I'm planning on doing all the logos eventually, but If you have any requests for me to do some sooner than originally planned leave a comment below!
Happy knitting!!