Oolong knits

As promised, in this post we will convert the Embellished Microplastic Ban Pattern that we created last week in a pattern better suited for Portuguese-style knitting. We will follow the same procedure as explained in the first part of this tutorial (published two weeks ago). First, we will use a stitch dictionary. That is pretty trivial. Then, we can follow two routes. The straight-forward one: invert the order of each stitch. The clever one: deconstruct the pattern and alter the order of its parts in order to obtain an easier pattern. This last route is pretty similar to designing a new pattern like we did last week and you will see that we will follow the same steps as we did then. Let's start by analysing a typical increase row on last week's pattern: k2, yo, k3, (yo, k2tog) x 3, garter stitch, (yo, k2tog) x 3, k2, k3. As explained then, the first and last 3 stitches, namely k2, yo and k3, form a sort of eyelet selvage. Inside those stitches there is a 3-stitch garter band...

A few years ago I wrote a post about converting increases and decreases from German or English-style knitting to Portuguese-style knitting. Do you need to do that? Not really, there is nothing to stop you from just going ahead and knit a pattern exactly as it's written. Then, why would you want to do that? Because most patterns written for German or English-style knitting include as much knit stitches and as little purl stitches as possible, since the former are much easier to work than the latter when you keep your yarn behind the needles. On the other hand, when working in Portuguese-style, you keep your yarn in front of the needles and thus you would like to purl as much as possible. The best example of this is, of course, garter stitch, as used in the microplastic ban pattern . There are two ways of converting this pattern to Portuguese-style: Straight-forward conversion: use the stitch dictionary and invert the order of stitches . Then, Increase row: k2, yo, knit to end. D...

This is a post on increases and decreases, and in particular on the correspondence between those worked on the purl and knit sides. In this post I talked a little about it, and I was sure I'd written another post on this subject before, but I cannot find it. So I must write it, even if I risk repeating myself. This subject is particularly important for Portuguese knitters, because when we read a pattern that is knit in the round, for example, we must translate it before knitting, since normal patterns are written for working on the knit side, but when knitting Portuguese one works on the purl side. Even patterns that are knit flat are often easier to execute when translated, simply because all varieties of purl stitches (ex: p2tog instead of k2tog, pfb instead of kfb) are easier to execute. To be begin with, here is a simple translation table of the main stitches: knit purl k2tog p2tog ssk ssp kfb pfb This may seem very simple, but there is a further complication. When ...

I know how to knit in a few ways and I use all of them regularly. I can do the knit stitch using German and Portuguese styles, but also Portuguese Reverse. What I mean by the latter is knitting Portuguese style from right to left. I can also purl Portuguese, Norwegian and German style, but I avoid the latter like the plague, because I really never managed to get the hang of it. Why have I bothered to learn all of these different techniques, you ask? Well... even though I must confess I love learning new stuff, that is not the main reason. There are two better reasons to learn to knit in more than one style, and these are speed and even tension . As for speed I decided to do a few test and check. Here are my personal results (per 100st): 4:20    purl pt (pt=Portuguese) 6:10    knit pt 6:00    knit reverse pt 5:50    knit de (de=Deutch=German) I haven't compared the speeds of other purl techniques because they're obviously much,...

It's hard to believe I've not written this post before. It is kind of a big deal for me. So, here is my late confession: I knit Portuguese. As you'd know if you've read one of my first posts , I've learned to knit only recently using the internet. I used the videos I recommended on that post and learned both English and German style knitting. At the time I preferred German-style since I found it easier. I believe the explanation is that even though it may use the left hand more, German style involves less hand movement and specially less coordination between the two hands and I must be one of the least deft people you'll ever meet. So learning to knit was quite challenging for me. I learned only as an adult because, funny enough, neither my mother, nor any other member of my small family, or any of her friends knitted. I think knitting had gone completely out of fashion for their generation, even though I remember seeing enough shops selling yarn when I was ...