Coverstitch Video

Waaaaaaay back, I promised to make a video with some tips on using the Brother 2340CV Coverstitch machine, because a few of you had bought one and were having some troubles.  Ooops!  I did get my machine out a few times since then, but it always seemed to be on dark, dreary days.

Yesterday I got it out for the first time in a long time, and it was sunny.  So I made a video showing how the machine works best for me.  If anybody else has any other tips, I'd love to hear them!  I'm not an expert by any means - my samples worked beautifully, but I managed to mess up the first hem I did right after!!

Fair Isle Knitting, Part 2

Here is the second video I made yesterday, after I got cut off by the first one.  The mistake I made in this one is right at the beginning - I talk about catching in the grey yarn with the red; it's really the other way around!  The red yarn is the long float and the grey is the working yarn in this case, so I'm catching in the red float to keep it from being too long.  Sorry!  I've said it before and I'll say it again:  Low Budget!

Fair Isle Knitting, part 1

I had a little bit of time yesterday, so I made a couple of Fair Isle videos.  I'm finding that it's much easier to post these one at a time, so I'll do it that way.  And fair warning:  they're long!  The first is 9 minutes and the second is 8.  I guess I have a fair bit to say on this topic!

I was waiting for a contractor to come over when I made the videos, so I was a teeny bit distracted :-)  And I made an error in each one.  In this one, at about 4:15, I say "3 grey" but I really meant "3 color" stitches.  Oops!

Kitchener Stitch for Linda

Linda of From the Purlside requested a video on how I do Kitchener stitch.  Originally I'd planned on finishing up the sock I'm making and using that for the video, but then I decided it was really too small to be able to show clearly, so I knitted up a little swatch and demonstrated with that.

In the video I talk about the proper orientation of the stitches and show a little "mantra"  I use to keep myself on track while grafting.  So that it's easily accessible, I wanted to reproduce it here:

  f p
  b k
*f k - drop
 f p
 b p - drop
 b k *

I explain what all this means and how to do it in the video, but here's a little key as well:

front purl
back knit
*front knit - drop
front purl
back purl - drop
back knit*

(ETA:  the first two stitches are set-up stitches, and the remaining four stitches between the asterisks are repeated to the end of the row.)

I call this a mantra because I literally repeat this over and over to myself while I'm doing the Kitchener stitch!  For a long time I had to have it written out in front of me too, but now I can just do it while thinking my mantra.  I must be illumined - at least, knitwise!

There's one caveat here:  this method only works for stockinette stitch.  If you are grafting some other stitch, say 2 x 2 ribbing, then this won't work.  That is:  it will work to hold the knitting together, but it won't be invisible like it is on stockinette.  But since the most frequent use of Kitchener is for the toes (or heels) of socks, and those tend to be in stockinette, this method will get you pretty far.

I've got two videos because my memory card crapped out on me when I was almost at the end!  There's only a bit on the second video.

Also, there are times when my hands shift upwards.  When I made the videos, I was standing up behind the tripod and looking at the camera screen and occasionally over at my hands.  It's really awkward to do it that way:  I'm never sure where to look and my hands shift up to where I can see them!  I checked the videos though and you can always see what you need to see.  So much for the myth that my videos are super professional - this is all just seat-of-the-pants stuff, kids!