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Double Knitting: The Brady Bunch Method!

Double Knitting: The Brady Bunch Method!

Double Knitting. Like how airplanes fly, or the appeal of Sean Hannity, it's one of life's mysteries. Lucky for us, we don't have to know why it works, we only have to know how it works. And Uncle Stashley definitely knows how it works, and in his first 100% fully useful post, he's going to spill the tea*. In case you're not sure what double knitting is, it's basically a method of creating two fabrics at the same time. The advantage to this is you can do fun stuff with co

That's Entertainment!

That's Entertainment!

Uncle Stashley likes to knit almost as much as he likes to read (I haven't, for instance, begun to knit in the bathtub yet, although now that I've written that down I'm itching to give it a try, once I have a scarf long enough that it can dangle off to the left and through the curtain). Unlike Sam-I-Am's difficult friend, who refused to try Green Eggs and Ham under any reasonable circumstance, I definitely would and could knit them in a house, with a mouse, in a box, with a

Why I Haven't Been Eaten By Wolves (Not Lately)

Why I Haven't Been Eaten By Wolves (Not Lately)

You know the feeling ... you pick up your knitting (enter the woods), happily knit a few rounds (gather flowers for Grandma), and before you know it you've done something horribly wrong (get eaten by a wolf). Maybe you lost track of your stitch count and fumbled your pattern, or you knit the wrong strand when double knitting, or what could be more natural than decreasing properly on the back of the sweater vest, but improperly on the front of the sweater vest, leaving you hav

Yes, Of Course You Should Buy It

Yes, Of Course You Should Buy It

When Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and I were discussing her book Knitting Rules!, she mentioned she considered it her only truly useful book. Quick digression: she also, in astonishing Sherlock Holmes fashion, deduced I was a gay Canadian within one second of having met me. A knitting luminary next to her (it was a book signing at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival, it's not like all fiber arts bloggers are friends (which will never happen, not until Kate Davies apologies for her out

And Now For Something Completely Different

And Now For Something Completely Different

I started writing about knitting with colour, and before I knew it I was creating a graduate-level thesis on colour theory ... riveting to me, but perhaps to no one else. So I started writing about mistakes knitters make, and soon digressed to writing a compelling essay about my early reading behaviour, which isn't why you're here. So I've scrapped all that, and I'm just going to share with you my current PIPs (projects in progress). Welcome to my knitting lair! Here's an

Help! I'm Cheating On My Knitting!

Help! I'm Cheating On My Knitting!

So I've foolishly decided to try crochet. Not instead of knitting--no chance, no way--but as a useful adjunct to knitting. Sometimes patterns say "just crochet a chain/stitch/double-half treble triple stitch" as if we all learned crochet in Brownies and turned to knitting later when we became s'phisticated adults, but that's not the case for me (I was in Cub Scouts, one year only, and I learned left from right and how to play Capture the Flag and that's about it). Therefore

In My Own Little Corner, In My Own Little Chair

In My Own Little Corner, In My Own Little Chair

Where do you mostly knit? Let's explore the possibilities, in the internet's time-honoured tradition of "Which Seinfeld character are you?" You rarely have time to knit, you're so busy--so you drag it with you on the bus and knit when you manage to land a seat, and you take it to work so you can eschew work and knit in your office as much as possible. You're an Elaine. You're an enthusiastic overdoer, so two months after beginning knitting you transformed your home into a k

In Praise of Ravelry, Part One (Yes, There Will Be Parts!)

In Praise of Ravelry, Part One (Yes, There Will Be Parts!)

As a genuinely happy person, I have few regrets in life. It's so convenient! Whenever anyone suggests you should have made different life choices, which include (these are all real choices I've made, unfortunately): bleaching your hair blond, then dying it temporarily black again, which made it dark green, washing it out, achieving lighter green, dying it temporarily brown again, which made it medium-dark green, washing it out, achieving a pale grey-green sage, then shaving

Why, I Can't Even See Straight!

Why, I Can't Even See Straight!

There are many great debates among knitters, including Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up, K2tog* vs. SSK*, English* vs. Continental*, tying knots vs. oh-my-God-I-can't-believe-you-tied-your-yarn-ends-together, and many, many more. But the great debate I'll tackle for today is Straight vs. Circular needles (or, for that matter, Double-Pointed vs. Circular needles). In case you're very much a beginner knitter, I will describe them for you in confusing terms: A Straight needle is shaped l

S.T.A.S.H. (Stuff That Always Stays Hidden)

S.T.A.S.H. (Stuff That Always Stays Hidden)

So, the stash. Beginning knitters, beware ... like beginning dragons (who start with a ring or bracelet here or there, maybe a doubloon, but eventually hollow out entire mountains so they can rest on 3,000 cubic tons of gold) you too will acquire more of a stash than you planned. I am a relatively new knitter (I wish I could claim to be a relatively young knitter, but it doesn't work like that) in that I have been knitting for about 4 years, so I have accumulated 4 years wor

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