Knitting Tip of the Day - Working Stripes or Alternating Skeins, without Weaving in Lots of Ends.

 Today's Tip

A knitting friend asked me,
”I’m using a hand-dyed yarn for a shawl that uses 2 skeins. Should I alternate skeins? And how do I do it so that edge where the yarn is carried up doesn’t look weird?”
Part 1: you only need to alternate skeins if you can see a difference between the 2 skeins. Sometimes there’s virtually no difference; sometimes it’s an obvious difference.
Part 2: If the shawl has an edging or border, change yarns on the wrong side, just before the end of the row, at the border or edging. This might be 3 sts from the edge, or 8 sts from the edge, whatever makes sense.
For example, work to last 3 sts in current color, twist Yarn A and Yarn B together, and begin using new yarn.
On every WS row, twist the 2 yarns together and change yarns; carry unused yarn loosely up along WS row.
This tip works equally well for stripes too. This way, hardly any ends to weave in.

I used this method on my Willowbrook, Winona, and Molto Bella shawls.  

Willowbrook

Winona

Molto Bella

Here's a photo of the wrong side:

It barely shows, but if you look closely, you can see the yarn being carried along 3 stitches in from the edge.
Like this tip ? Tweet it to your friends!

Tweet: Check out this cool knitting tip from Brenda Castiel http://ctt.ec/e4jCE+ Fewer ends to weave in!

Songlines - A Review, a Giveaway, a Coupon Code

* The winner of the drawing is #6 LisaCinFL or Renaissance Yarns. Congrats, Lisa! Thanks everyone for participating *

The Songlines collection by Ambah O'Brien is a newly released collection of shawls. The Aboriginal peoples of Australia used rhythmic songs instead of maps to document the contours of the land they traveled. These “songlines” were the inspiration for Ambah’s new collection. Because everyone’s journey is individual, your color choices can combine to create a dreaming track that is very specifically yours.

Each of the shawls are completely original in shape and construction. Chances are, you haven't seen anything like these shawls before. For example the Alinta wrap starts with a provisional cast-on in the center and works outward to create a trapezoid shape. Along with the unique shape, and the use of color, Ambah uses stripes and eyelets to create beautiful transitions of form and texture. 

Each of her shawls uses a different shape and construction. The PalanaShawl is knit in an oval which wraps gracefully around the neck and is roomy enough to really keep you warm as well.  

The next pattern, the Talara shawl  has an unusual U-shaped pattern worked in stripes, while the overall shawl shape is a more common crescent. Ambah achieves this with, again, a unique construction method, that I have not seen before.  

You can win this pattern collection! Comment on the blog saying which of the patterns is your favorite, in order to enter a giveaway for the entire shawl collection. 

Please be sure that you sign up for my newsletter, if you haven’t already done so, in order to be eligible to win (you can sign up in the upper right hand corner of this blog). 
Make sure you give me an email address, so I can reach you if you win, and confirm you're signed up for the newsletter. The drawing will be on Oct. 23.

Coupon Code

Right now, until Oct. 23, I'm offering 20% off my newest patterns with the code OCT20. 

Willowbrook Shawl - an easy knit perfect for gradients, variegated yarns or your own handspun.

Perpendicular Cowl - magic stripes make it special, and it's perfect for your favorite team colors.

Thanks for reading my blog. See you next time!