Screwed it up? Knitfall, not Pitfall

Best Quote I Heard All Day
"Summing up, it is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock." Woody Allen

Expert knitters screw up their knitting too, even though most of them don't want to admit it. I make occasional mistakes and I'm about to add Knitfalls to my design directions.

Lace provides the stack of Knitfalls. What's the major Knitfall? Skipping a yarnover but making its attached decrease. The next Knitfall is fucking up a Slip1, K2together, Pass Slip Stitch Over (Sl1, K2tog, psso), the double decrease that shows up frequently in lace. Often its *yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo* and also *yo, sl2, k1, psso, yo*. And further on, the double decrease's yarnovers can be placed elsewhere. That's called "delayed increases."  Delayed increases provide a wave. So what's that Knitfall? Putting the yarnovers next to the decrease when they are actually placed elsewhere on the row/round because you've been putting the yarnovers by the decrease primarily and your brain and hands don't hit the delayed yarnovers.

Want another Knitfall? Here's one of my new sock designs with a slip stitch with yarn forward (sl1wyf) pattern.

Working it in the round helps to avoid this Knitfall...where you forget to move the working yarn in front of the slipped stitches. When knitting flat, you're more likely to keep the yarn in back and slipping the stitch(es).

The yarn for the socks? Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Rainbow. This will be going up on Ravelry shortly. My Punk Princess Liz saw them and said, "Wow Grammy! Those are Mardi Gras socks!" So that's the design title. Liz, now a Bachelor of Fine Arts junior at Montclair State University, still loves to be my sock model, although those are my feet in the picture above.

If you have some Knitfalls you'd like to share, feel free to comment.

 

Da Mags

Although I have my iPad Vogue Knitting subscription, I haven't bought the other knitting magazines in a long time. Because I design my own stuff, I don't do other people's. But last week, I bought Interweave Knits and Knitter's. Way back when, I bitched about both of them. And both magazines have improved incredibly. There are now so many knitting magazines, it's tough to say which one sucks. These three are now my favorites.

The two magazines that I always buy are Pieceworks and SpinOff. I haven't done any weaving in a long time but I'm going to hit my Schacht Flip loom. Can't fold open my Mighty Wolf loom because of the lack of room. But I'd like to get back into weaving. Interweave Handwoven is the perfect magazine for novice weavers. As is SpinOff for spinners.

Edit Time

I'm about to tech edit for Yarnwise, a UK knitting magazine. And my friend Lars Rains's Lopi book. Lars is a rare and handy Lopi designer. I'll let you know when the book is published.

Later, skanks.