A Sampler of Increases & Decreases

Somewhere in your progress, you want to knit to the next level of techniques.

For a beginner, one of these is a lesson of increases & decreases. Sure, a 'make one' gets the job done... but it's just the basic beginner increase. After reviewing two good samplers on the net (Knitting Helpand NonaKnits),

I combined their shaping stitches with ones gleaned from my reference books: Mary Thomas's Knitting Handbook, Vogue Knitting, the Knitter's Handbook (Reader's Digest) and the Knitter's Handbook (Knitter's Magazine). I have bought tags to attach to the sampler to record the stitches until I can discern them by sight.

I've left the tail on the bind-off. The second picture bottom rows show the beginning cast-on and garter stitching.

Beginners, please note that abbreviations do not appear to be standardized.

• Multiple references may use different abbreviations for the same stitch.
• Multiple references may use the same abbreviation for different stitches.
• Some references give the increase or decrease a name without abbreviations.
• Others use their own terms as reference (June Hiatt for example).
• ALWAYS, check your source pattern to determine which method their abbreviation is referring to be used. For example, compare M1L in Mary Thomas’s Knitting Book to the Knitter’s Handbook. Same abbreviation, different stitches.

SHAPING	LEFT SIDE	RIGHT SIDE	NOTES
Bind-off leaving tail.
Decrease	yo dec rs	yo dec ls	KnittingHelp.com
Increase	MI	MI	Vogue’s median increase
Decrease	k2tog	k2tog tbl	Vogue
Increase	M1	M1	EZ’s method
Decrease	k2tog	ssk new improved	NonaKnits
Increase	yo	yo
Decrease	krpr	skp (s1k1psso)	KnittingHelp.com
Increase	M1R make 1 right	M1L make 1 left	make one
Decrease	k2tog	ssk improved	KnittingHelp.com NonaKnits
Increase	M1L lift stitch before	M1L lift stitch after	lifted increase
Decrease	k2tog	ssk
Increase	M1B	M1B	bar increase, k1f&b or kfb
Cast-on			long tail method

My First KAL

I joined my first Knit Along (KAL) earlier this year - February is for Finishing. Finishing a project should be easy, right? I only have three projects in progress to consider. So I sign up to finish the Soda Capelet (see below), then promptly worked and finished this sweater instead. Hope this counts since the capelet is still in a holding pattern. Just don't seem to know which edging to use. The pattern calls for fringe which is too seventies.

Any ideas?

Building A Yarn Stash

Building a stash is a hard thing to do for a beginner -- mostly a matter of what & where. What type of yarn do I buy & how much? Where do I go?



When a friend mentioned a yarn sale in Spring, TX; she could have told me we would visit the dark side of the moon -- Greater Houston covers Such A Large Geographic Area.

I made plans the night before. I knew I wouldn't go That Far Away For Yarn anytime soon. OK, which patterns do I add to my list? OK, calculate the yardage sizing, add the pattern name and yarn weight/stitches per inches. Armed with a shopping list of Multiple projects -- you never know what you'll find -- we went, we saw, we stockpiled.

Why, oh, why is the number of available skeins just one short of the pattern requirement? I went through four yarn choices (each short one) for the Oat Couture Celtic Cardigan alone. The lime/teal yarn combo above is the Santa Fe Shawl for my mother-in-law. The coral/lime/pink yarn is for my husband's grandmother.

So, an all day trip to Twisted Yarns and also the Hen House netted my first yarn stash for 2 shawls and 4 sweaters! Since I have always bought end-of-season for the following year, it made sense to do the same with yarn -- especially since it will take that long to knit for Christmas!