I’ve finally understand the k1b stitch, I’ve made the Inside Out scarf from Elise Duvekot’s book and must have started it over 4 times to get it right. I can’t figure out how to pick up and correct mistakes.
I’ve started another scarf with the Row 1: k1, k1b, Row 2: p1, p1b stitch (such as in the Laid Back Lapels), just to try the stitch out before I attempt the vest, and dropped a stitch and tried to read her directions in the book for ripping back, but I can’t see this “float” she describes. I wish there were pictures or drawings of it.
Any suggestions on how to rip back? I think once I get this technique down it will be smooth sailing, I think the stitch looks marvelous. Any help appreciated! Thanks!
I am a combination knitter so I’m always knitting through the back loop. I’m knitting the Tree of Life afghan right now (baby version) for my sister who is expecting, and I have to be very careful when working the trees to remember to knit Continental so that my tree limbs have the correct “lean” to the loops.
It’s taken me a very long time to get any confidence in my knitting, and then a project like this comes along and I’m pulling my hair out because I didn’t read the pattern far enough to realize I was doing it ALL wrong. I’ve frogged this afghan more often than not.
The one thing I can suggest, and I had to do this when learning socks, is do practice swatches. Practice the techniques over and over until you can do them in your sleep. My husband laughed at all the half-socks I had all over my desk until I finally mastered the Kitchner stich. I turned numerous heels, worked a hundred gussets until I felt it was right. However, I can now divide and work a heel flap without really paying attention and picking up stitches is a no-brainer for me. It’s funny how one stitch or method can open up whole new doors for you.
I now knit english, continental or combined depending on the project. When I first started I told myself I wasn’t learning anything but the knit stitch… well… that didn’t work out and now I’m in love with all the different techniques
But there is only one stitch in knitting - the knit stitch. You get a purl by doing it ‘reversed’, you get stitch patterns by doing combinations of the knit st and ‘reversing’ it. Styles of knitting… that’s a different story.
Now, wrap your head around this one, Sue, which way do you wrap the yarn around the needle? Clockwise? Counterclockwise? You can purl through the back loop as well (as is done for Eastern Knitting).
When I realized how many ways there are for doing one simple stitch, it stopped me in my tracks and I had to re-evaluate everything I was doing, just so my husband’s sweater would be perfect. A good project, ones that make you do that same old stitch a different way, are good for teaching you new ways to do old things. It keeps knitting new and exciting… well, as exciting as knitting gets anyway.
I know what the float is, but when I rip back and look at all these loops, I don’t know which loop the float is, and how to put it back on the needle! I needed to really look at the graphics in the book to know where to put the needle to k1b or p1b, and once I got it it was a piece of cake, but like anything else with me I need to figure it out. I just wish there were pictures or a diagram or something somewhere.
Thanks for all of the advice so far! You are wonderful.
I knit english and since I look [I]down[/I] at the needle instead of at the point when I knit, it’s clockwise. If you look at the point it’s c.clockwise, so that’s why I think it’s not useful to use those terms, it very much depends on how a person is looking at the needle.
There’s still only one stitch - on one side of the row you work into the front of it, but in into the back of it on the other side. Not the legs, how the stitch looks.
Tignor, when you rip out, the float will be the strand of yarn that’s above the actual loop which was the stitch that was knit. Maybe if you CO a few stitches with larger needles, knit a few rows in it, then pull your needles out, you’ll be able to see them easier.
You knit1 regularly (regardless of your knitting style)
k1b Creates a twisted stitch. So here you put the needle thru the reverse of what you usually use. Be that thru the back or front. With standard knitting, you work a twist by knitting into the back. Angela would work it thru the front. The key is twisting the stitch.
Unless the prior stitch has become unraveled, you won’t have a float. You will just have a loop hanging in air. So you find the hole on the loop & put it back on the needle.
Twisted stitches are harder to get off the needle. I put my forefinger on top of the stitch to keep it in place, then put the needle thru the back & make a loop. Pull the loop onto the right needle. Then let go with my forefinger.
