I'm feeling the pressure! The 15th of the month is
coming and I know I gotta do that red scarf thing and I hate to disappoint - I
know you're anxious with anticipation and, I'd like to get it out of the way
because I have other things to put on this machine. Rhiana, my granddaughter,
was over the other day and asking for her panda sweater! I was hoping to put it
off until the fall - thought it might be a back-to-school thing for her but she
wants it now and was giving me a gentle reminder. I also figured she wouldn't
like the yarn I chose - I thought it was going to be too green, not turquoise-y
enough but she loved it! It's the same colour as her soccer uniform! What was I
thinking? And, I have a couple of ideas for a new dress that I want to get to for
going to DFW in October - don't worry, I am working on the Church Cardi so this
is just in-betweens!
One-Row-Tuck - this is such a great technique, one of
my favourties! It has a nice texture, looks good from either side and with the plain
longstitch bands on each side to finish the edges automatically, I think it
makes a nice scarf and a great learning project if you haven't tried either of
these techniques. I think I've talked about both here (one row tuck and
longstitch facings) before so do a search to find more if you're intrigued.
I have included my chosen stitch pattern here - if you
want the DAK file, email me at knitwords@shaw.ca - I won't hold my breath
though!
So here's the Red Scarf for Aids Awareness for June!
I'm calling it
'One-R-T Scarf for June'.
End needles
on RB. Use number strip on RB to select needles, and count needle spaces on RB
only. MB sts are included as they occur within outside RB needles. Either side
can be right side. Pattern is tucking on MB to left and knitting all sts to
right.
Program as
below. Set cam lever to tuck.
Punchcard
24 sts X 48 rows, make as shown, making holes for grey squares and leaving
white blank, adding double row of holes top and bottom to join card.
Circular Hem.
Swing H5. Arrange for full needle rib, end ns on RB. Cast on WY. Knit several
rows. Set to circular. T4/6, ravel cord, K2R. Move carriages to left without
knitting. Bring ns all out. This will cancel the circular setting and make a
zigzag row (without having to change the settings back and forth). MC, T2/2,
K1R. Hang comb and one weight. RC000. Knit circular, grading tension by
increasing one full number for each row to T8/10, RC014. Swing P. Transfer sts
to MB, leaving outside end sts on RB for longstitch facings as directed. Swing
H. Program pattern and use next row to read/select. T9/7, K1R. RC000. Set to tuck.
Plain Longstitch.
The stitch is single bed tuck on the main bed, but longstitch self-facings require a few (6-7
at each side) sts on the rib bed. Knit with RB engaged. The longstitch is created by
needles on RB knitting in one direction only, when carriage is passing to left
in this case. MB, set as for pattern (tuck).
RB Settings
for Longstitch:
Silver, left
set lever 1, right set lever 0.
Brother, left
cam lever to N, right cam lever to PR.
Yarn: Yeomans Panama - I would stockinette this at T7 but with adding tuck, wanting
the scarf to be soft and making the yarn to go further, I'm knitting the main bed at
T9. The longstitch facing is variable depending on your yarn - I used 7 on the
rib bed because they are knitting only every other row - try it out first of
course ;-) - if the facing is too tight it will be shorter at the sides than
the main fabric. If too loose it will curl inward.
SCARF: Bring 25-0-25 ns to work on main bed. Set to H5 and
bring ns on ribber to work so outside ns are on ribber - one more than knit
bed. Cast waste yarn in zigzag, hang comb and 1 large weight. Knit several
rows, ending CAR. Switch to circular for the ravel cord, K2R. Move carriages to
left and make hem as above to RC014. Transfer sts as above. Download pattern
(read punchcard or set up for pattern knitting as above). Knit 600 rows or desired
length (150 cm/5 ft), ending CAL after the plain row. Now, this is the only hard part - we need to get everything back in
work to make the circular hem. Bring the rib bed needles to work to fill in
between the facings. Not really hard, I should have said just a little bit of
work. Set the ribber back to Swing P so the needles are directly opposite and
using the single prong tool, hang the heel stitch from the main bed stitches on the
opposite rib bed needle - you could just do a zigzag row at low tension over
the whole thing and hope for the best - it will work, but won't look so great -
your choice! After you have all the rib needles filled in, set to circular. T8/10,
K2R. Grade tension down by one number to match beginning hem. RC014. Cancel
circular. Zigzag, T7/7, K1R.
With WY, T5/5, K20R circular knitting. FNR, K2R. Remove from machine.
Steam WY to set stitches. Remove last two rows to open the end. Fold waste yarn
out. Using latch tool, start at side opposite to yarn end and chain cast off by
picking up end stitch, put behind latch. Pick up next stitch from other side of
WY and pull through. Continue going back and forth across row. At end, pull yarn
end through to anchor. Remove waste yarn. Darn in ends.
Analysis: This was a very
quick knit! I did find that yarn spray helped eliminate/reduce the clunking at
the left side on every other row when the rib bed needles were needed. No close
knit bar was required. I have used these techniques on multiple
garments/patterns both in KNITWORDS and in my Serial Stuff series. I hope you
love it as much as I do!
Red Scarf for Aids Awareness count: 7
I'm
pretty sure I'm cured - I have both sleeves done as well as the back now. The
side of my baby finger is almost raw because it sort of ends up resting/grabbing
onto the top of the sinker posts as I flip that darn 7-prong tool up and over
to drop off the stitches! and yes, some of the joy has gone out of the project...but
I have to say, this stitch pattern is brilliant! There is just no going wrong
with it and it seems like you'd have to be pretty distracted to make a mistake.
That 7-prong tool measures everything out perfectly and so long as you remember
there are never more than 3 needles out of work at a time, you're golden! And there are actually 6 rows where you do nothing but bring needles back to work - it's like a mini-vacay!
