Slightly uncommon techniques/methods

Do you use any technique/method that might be slightly uncommon? With technique/method I mean anything like knitting styles, ways of doing increases/decreases, short rows, joining in the round or anything else knitting related. I do not have any particular need but I a lot enjoy reading about these kind of topics.

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I enjoy reading about different techniques too. I canā€™t say that I do anything in a particularly interesting way.
I do pull the second stitch of the ssk in order to tighten up extra yarn in the decrease.
The kfb without the bump, yes. Other than that? Nothing comes to mind.
Do you read Techknitter? She is always thinking about other ways to work shaping, etc.

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Those two I also do :grinning:

But I do not know about techknitter. I have to find that site.

I might do one thing that might be less common: instead of casting on one stitch too much and then passing over when joining in the rounds, I like better the result of swapping the first and the last stitch. I first drop the left needle stitch, then move the right needle stitch over to the left needle and then pick up the dropped stitch with the right needle.

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I like the idea if this thread and hope it gets more interesting responses!

I donā€™t do anything to join in the round other than just to start knittingā€¦ but I think thatā€™s a fairly common approach.

Iā€™m not crazy about following patternsā€“Iā€™m more likely to make up my own stuff. That could make me slightly unusual I suppose, particularly as a not-very-experienced knitter. I also frequently adapt the gauge of a pattern I do like to fit the gauge I get with my needles. I donā€™t own needles in every single size, just a range of about every other size for the range of yarn weights I use, so this is a more common way for me to ā€œget gaugeā€ rather than swatching with different needle sizes till I match the designerā€™s gauge. Iā€™m more likely to do a swatch to check that I get the kind of fabric I want and so I can measure my stitches/rows and do the math to fit that to the measurements for the intended project (assuming Iā€™m working a different stitch pattern or with a new yarnā€“if not Iā€™ll probably just use a previous recent project to measure gauge). To me thatā€™s just the more logical route, and suffices for many things, but I guess some people might consider that ā€œuncommonā€ā€¦

I usually like to weave in any ends I can as I go, so usually use overlapping joins to join in new yarn such that thereā€™s no weaving in to do later, but I know lots of people do that. However, sometimes I also weave in the cast on tail from the longtail cast on (or also the tail from where I started mid-project with a new strand of yarn) in a similar fashion by working it together with the working yarn at the beginning of the next round/rowā€“which is something I just ā€œcame up withā€ alone that Iā€™ve not yet seen anyone else do. (So often, if Iā€™m feeling particularly clever, I will have nothing but the final yarn end to weave in when Iā€™m done, which I find satisfying! :slight_smile: )

I do also knit in a kind of ā€œcontinental combinedā€ style, but weā€™ve covered thatā€“and that seems to be not so unusual anyway.

Otherwise I canā€™t think of too much else.

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This is true for me too. My work requires a lot of thinking and I am pretty much mentally exhausted when I get home. Then I am too tired to work with patterns. If I then have strength to knit I just want to do it to relax, without any extra thinking.

Sometimes when I knit something completely new that I have never knitted before I might follow patterns. Then I prefer diagrams rather than written instructions because written instructions are not always very clear. I am able to decipher written instructions for myself by using a bit common sense but I still find it frustrating. I have a very big respect for @salmonmac and her patience in deciphering patterns even for all the visitors at this forum.

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I realized there is another method that might be uncommon that I use: when frogging stockinette I pick up all the stitches before I actually begin frogging. Often I use a thinner set of needles for that. For me this is faster than picking up the stitches after ripping.

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Thatā€™s a good way to do it. I rip out to one row before I need to and then put my left hand needle into each stitch as I pull out the yarn from that stitch. Keeps the sts oriented correctly and saves dropped sts.

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I love knitting patterns! Theyā€™re eye candy and inspiration, but I rarely follow a pattern to the letter. My technique for knitting a top down sweater will make many cringe. I work with yarn and needle sizes until I decide what I like then hold the piece of knitting up to my shoulder or neck, pinch it at the ends and count the stitches between my fingers for the cast on count. If doing a raglan the back neck count is the main thing I need and decide how wide I want the shoulder portion to be at the start and cast that on x2. Iā€™ve lately learned to love top down seamless tops with set in sleeves. Those require stitch count for back neck and shoulder. Math is not my friend. Math done by someone else who is its friend and passed along to me is wonderful but I really hate bothering my mathy friend all the time. Because of that much of what I do is with a this will work so just go for it approach. When I did my steeked cardigan I came up with the stitch count needed to go around my hips and went for it. I shaped the waist and did raglan decreases. Luckily done this way I could try it on often. Itā€™s my best piece yet.

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Oh, Iā€™ll have to try that. Thanks!

If Iā€™m doing something with mixed patterns (like a baby blanket or poncho, for instance) that include portions in garter stitch, Iā€™ve found that the garter stitch often has fewer rows over a given length than other pattern stitches in the design, thus causing the piece to draw up in those sections. If youā€™re using wool and can block the difference out, then all will probably be fine. But if youā€™re using synthetic yarn itā€™s a different story. I use short rows to increase the number of garter rows as compared to the rows in the other patterns. You may have to experiment with this to get a look you like. I suspect I discovered this on some pattern in the past; I canā€™t quite imagine entirely dreaming it up on my own, but I have no idea where I might have found it.

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After a car accident that meant that I can no longer cast on with the traditional long tail method, I had to develop a new way of doing it. So now I use a crochet hook and crochet stitches over the knitting needle I will be using. My cast on stitches and cast off ones look the same.
I usually donā€™t worry about getting the traditional gauge of a pattern. I see what my own gauge is with the yarn that I have since itā€™s rare to have the exact same yarn that the designer used. I love math and itā€™s just a matter of ratio to adjust the gauge of the pattern to my own.
I have a few knitting machines that I use to knit many items and often will do the ribbing by hand then the body of what I might be making on one of my machines.

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Iā€™m really enthusiastic about a tubular cast on in 1x1 rib and the sewn bind off. I try to use these on hats and sweaters whenever I can. Itā€™s a good, stretchy bind off for toe-up socks too.

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I also like tubular cast on for 1x1. Recently I used it for my sweater.

Iā€™m sure that your math friend would be more than tickled to help you. I have always loved doing math myself. I get as much enjoyment from it as others do from creating a special meal, playing musical instruments, doing crossword/jigsaw puzzles or needle arts. I am sure it sounds strange to those who hate math to think that anyone could find a thrill in it. I had a good teacher at a very young age.

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I no longer weave in yarn tails old style when theyā€™re on the WS; I just tuck them in about 1" as I knit/crochet around them, to later trim all of them to 2".

After 50 years of knitting, this gnawed on my nerves and took about three months to get used to it; LOL!!

MDK web site of which Iā€™m a member did an article of ā€˜Seven different ways to tend to yarn tailsā€™, with number seven (7) being commando, yes ā€˜Commandoā€™! Means ā€˜nothing, zero, zilch, nadaā€™. Iā€™m not sure why I decided to read that article as I do tend to not want to read long articlesā€¦serendipity? LOL!!

I made many afghans during that time period and looked daily at my ā€˜commandoā€™ backs. Ack! Again, it took me about three months to get used to a commando back on anythingā€¦however, I think itā€™s just rather an ā€˜abstract effect/look/appearanceā€™ and I love it now; LOL!!

DRM

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I think you meant to reply to GrumpyGramma, but thatā€™s interesting. I think the reason so many people claim to hate math has to do with how itā€™s presented in schoolsā€“in a boring, onerous way that leaves little scope for the imagination. I think I feel the same way about world history that you do about mathematics. Some people think of it as just a bunch of boring names and dates, because thatā€™s what they were taught that it is, but for me itā€™s utterly fascinating, viscerally relevant to my daily life, and full of endless possibilities for exploration, imagination, and discussions.

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I truly love high school maths and I never found it boring :grinning:. In my head I always imagined situations were I could use the maths I learned. I had a lot of questions and maths, physics and chemistry interested me a lot because of that. They provided a way to get answers to my curiosity.

For example, when I jumped from 10m (about 33 feet) into the pool I wanted to know with what speed I hit the water. So I did calculate (with maths and physics) an upper limit for that speed. Because of many common situations I grabbed my calculator, a sheet of paper and a pen and begun calculating just to satisfy my curiosity.

So my point is that whatever a school subject, like maths, is boring or not depends a lot on the person and not just on the teachers and how it is presented.

It is because I see a direct parallel between theory and practical usage I like to read about theoretical topics related to knitting too.

(Am I weird but I like history too?)

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Havenā€™t ever tried that, but it sounds like a good idea. Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll find an opportunity . . . . :slight_smile:

Iā€™ve never heard of a sewn bind-off, salmonmac. How does that work? Iā€™ve done a tubular cast on - took me a while to get my head round it - but not in rib of any kind. Is there an advantage with it?

Gillian