Soil Type, Knitting: Cabling and Russian Join

1. Cabling

I did my first bit of cabling today. I cast on 20 stitches, then four rows as follows

1. knit
2. (knit 2 purl 4)* knit 2
3. knit
4. (knit 2 purl 4)* knit 2

then I followed the instructions from New Stitch a Day to make the cable four behind (C4B) in the positions given below

1. (knit 2, cable 4 behind)* knit 2
2. (knit 2 purl 4)* knit 2

and then I repeated all six rows another two times before casting off to make my sample.

2. Garden Soil

To see what type of garden soil you have you can use a screw top jar. You half fill it with soil, then top up with water leaving an inch gap at the top. Shake well and then leave over night. The sand, silt and clay will separate out into layers.

3. Russian Join

Another problem I have with knitting is joining in new yarn. Russian join is a secure way to join in new yarn with minimum fuss.

Sideways Herringbone, Fulgurite, Sand Stitch

1.Knitting: Sideways/Horizontal Herringbone

Sideways herringbone is a very tight, dense stitch. It consists of two rows on an even number of stitches (although I think it would work on any number of stitches).

1. Knit two together through the back loop, slipping only the first loop off the left needle. Repeat across the row, finishing with a knit through the back loop.
2. Purl two together, slipping only the first loop off the left needle. Repeat across the row, finishing with a purl.

I found the second row a bit tricky as it was hard to flick only one of the two loops off the left needle, and I found myself leaving the stitches on the sloped end of the needle so they ended up too tight.

2. Fulgurite

When lightning hits sand, it sometimes forms tubes of glass called fulgurites. The centre is vaporised and then the sand around heated so that it becomes a glassy substance called lechatelierite.

3. Knitting: Sand Stitch

I found sand stitch a lot easier than the other stitches. It's a four row repeat on a even number of stitches (although again I think it would work on any number).

1. knit
2. knit 1, purl 1 to end of row
3. knit
4. pur1 1, knit 1 to end of row

Hope and Inspiration