Knit- Day 2

We spent today learning more stitches, this time involving two colours and more advanced techniques. This meant the stitches were more exciting and colourful as well as more interesting shapes. I feel I learnt quite a lot today which will be useful on Friday. The new stitches we did meant it was more complicated, my partner and I had quite a few issues with the threads getting muddled and jammed in the carriage but we worked out why this was happening when we swapped the threads over so once we realised to get the thread completely out the way the knitting went a lot smoother. I also found that I was getting more used to the machine today; I could cast on a lot quicker than Monday so was getting faster at starting the samples.

Hem- first we learnt how the hem the samples which made them look much neater. To do this you sew twice as many rows as you want the hem to be before picking up the bottom stitches and putting them onto the needles with the transfer tool working from the corners inwards, before carrying on knitting. It is also possible to add lace holes to create a pique edge. I enjoyed this technique and found it worked really well.

Stripe- alternate the threads in blocks by starting with a plain knit and swapping the threads by taking the original colour out and replacing it with the  new thread by looping the end round the clamp and putting the thread in the gate. This technique, once we mastered how to avoid the threads becoming tangled, was rather straight forward and I liked the neat finish it has.

Orange Peel- this was one of the more interesting stitches creating a swirling pattern. It is created using the holding tool and alternating which needles knit and which don’t. I really liked the finish this had; it looks quite dynamic in the swirling shape it creates as well as the pointed arrow blocks of colour it has. I found I managed to create this stitch quite easily and didn’t have too much trouble with it. I would like to experiment with it in larger sections to see how it can create a more ‘orange peel’ shape.

Bubble and Pyramid- this creates 3D shapes which can come out of the knit to create surface design or could be used to create a pocket design. I like the idea Bid said of stuffing these to create shapes that could come out of a garment. I found this technique quite difficult to do especially when swapping colours of thread as it was creating holes I didn’t want. These stitches are created using the holding tool again where you move out which needles to knit from in to out or vice versa depending on whether knitting the pyramid or bubble. I found this technique looked good when just one colour was used as creates a more subtle design which has a greater emphasis on structure rather than colour.

Fringe- Created with two yarns. One is placed on the floor and you create a plain knit with the other. Then you bring out the needles and create an e-wrap around each needle while also going round a ruler held one cm below the needles which creates the fringe. You do this all the way along before going over with a plain knit which secures the fringe. I had some trouble with this as I got the threads caught afterwards which pulled the fringe out. It was the end of the day so this is something I am going to have another go at next time so I can get it right.

Grafting-  This is a way of attaching two knitted shapes together where you take a few stitches from one piece and using the transfer tool place them onto the needles you are sewing with before carrying on with a plain stitch. This sews the two pieces together. This is a good technique as can be used to add extra elements to knit such as 3D shapes and designs giving more space for experimentation.