increases - a little digression

You know what I don't like? I don't like increases that are too obvious. For instance, when you increase a stitch in crochet and the stitch has an obviously larger hole because there are two stitches in it. What I have come up with to correct this is to make one of the stitches in the back loop and the other through both loops as usual. If the increase is at the edge, make sure the stitch that goes through both loops is also at the edge. If you have a troublesome horizontal loop, then make your single loop increase stitch through the front loop on right side facing rows and through the back loop when the wrong side is facing you. I haven't seen this anywhere before, someone else could easily have suggested it, but I do want to pass the word along.

Increases in knitting are interesting because there are different ways to do them. Yarn overs leave a hole, which is great for lacy things. Knitting in the front and back loop of the same stitch leaves a little horizontal bar which you may or may not like. Picking up a loop through the horizontal bar between two stitches is the increase I usually use because it is hard to detect and it is easy to do. Picking up a stitch in the loop that lies in the row below the stitch where you want the increase is also interesting to try.

So go forth and multiply those stitches!

Jude

appolonian vs. dionsysian

The urge to create versus the urge to destroy; how interesting is that! These days all I really feel like doing is making and designing things (knit, crochet, beading) and yet there are things I must do that go so completely against this. Helping my mother by cleaning up her companion's home has taught me a lot about destruction. He was a pack rat worthy of being on the 'Hoarders' show. My husband and I spent his vacation clearing out the attic and basement of the house he left to my mother. Now, remember, that this is a one bedroom home. We filled dumpster and dumpster with remnants of lawn chairs, broken furniture, pieces of wood, old mismatched tile, and more bags of clothing all dirty and torn than you can imagine. The final total for this cleanup was 26,000 pounds. 13 tons. Just imagine that for a minute if you can. Next on the list is the main floor and the yard with all its overfull sheds. I am in serious avoidance mode over that right now. And, if I wait long enough there will be too much snow to even worry about the yard for awhile.
But for the moment, I will go with Apollo and do a little designing and needlework. I am pushing myself a little as I am working on a design that will result in 3 patterns: one crochet, one knit, and one tunisian crochet. Just a little challenge to keep my brain cells firing. Though goodness knows, I'm not using them for much else these days....
Go with Apollo!