Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Veggie knitting explained

Heather asked me what the phrase "veggie knitting" means. I'm sure all you keen knitters out there know exactly what I mean....

It means that you can completely veg out while doing it. It turns the knitter into a vegetable. You can do it while holding a conversation, or paying close attention to the television, or while admiring your puppy. A bit harder to do while said puppy is chewing the ends of your knitting needles, but even so....

It is code for stockinette stitch - one row knit, one row purl. Great lengths of it are extremely boring, but there are definitely times when that is all you can cope with.

Two alternatives to veggie knitting are lace and fair isle. My next project is (are?) lace socks with 24 different rows of an eight stitch pattern, including knit two together, slip one knit one pass slip stitch over, slip slip knit, yarn over, purl one in all kinds of combinations over those eight stitches/24 rows.

Fair isle is easier (I think) - for you non-knitters it is knitting with two or more colours. It has challenges like holding the yarn in both hands and knitting in both English and Continental style, floating your yarn behind long sections of one colour and so on. I find fair isle easier because it is easier to rip up when you make a mistake, and following a coloured chart is easier than seeing whether all the lace holes are in the right spots. Phew! See why veggie knitting is so soothing and boring at the same time?

1 comment:

  1. You need to have two projects going - one which is challenging for those quiet moments and vege knitting for when family keeps talking to you non stop... now was that one yarn over, knit, knit, purl or was I up to just a knit?

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