September Skill Builders 2018

Hello Everyone!

“September Skill Builders” is in the books and we built several important and far-reaching knitting skills during this month. We learned how to knit a Mobius cowl and how to shape with Short Rows. We also held our first ever Destash/ Restash Party event where members of our Yarns Family sold, bought, or donated from their own stashes – a huge hit!

We started out skill building with Mobius, Möbius, Moebius Knitting with the  “Spiral Euphoria Cowl” pattern by Lavish Craft(Jennifer Kirchenbauer). In her Ravelry profile, Jennifer specializes in small projects with big visual impact, that span all skill levels. Spicing up the traditional with interesting juxtapositions of texture, gauge, shape and/or color. That is certainly true of the “Spiral Euphoria Cowl”. By incorporating the Mobius Cast-On, this cowl has an added twist. Whenever a designer incorporates the Mobius Cast-On, they usually go to the originator of the Mobius Cast-On is Cat Bordhi. Her tutorial video, “Intro to Moebius Knitting”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVnTda7F2V4 is a very informative, step-by-step tutorial that is easy to follow. I have found that not all creators or originators of a technique necessarily convey how to accomplish the new skill. Cat Bordhi does not disappoint. Her video is very helpful in learning or refreshing this particular skill. There are several videos on the Mobius Cast-On. I think Cat Bordhi’s video is the best one because aside from being the originator of the Mobius Cast-On, she teaches this skill in a methodical way that is easily followed.  If you would like to check out more on Cat Bordhi, go to www.catbordhi.comand you’ll soon see why most use her Mobius cast-on technique. For those members of our Yarns Family that are fortunate enough to have Linda teach you new skills in person, the Mobius Cast-On’s execution will become very clear. Thankfully, we have FaceTime!!

Our next project tackled short rows, that ingenious shaping technique that gives shape to socks, shawls, hats, garments, and toys/ stuffies. Linda taught this shaping skill with the heavenly Moon & Stars Stuffie. Short rows are the key to shaping and are an essential knitting skill when knitting garments, socks, and toys. Short rows are partial rows of knitting that are used to shape or curve sections or to compensate for patterns with different row gauges. According to Wikipedia, “a short row is a row that is not fully knitted; the work is turned before reaching the end of the row. Just before the work is turned, the yarn is generally passed around the next unknitted stitch to prevent a hole from forming at the turning point.” Craftsy has a very clear turtorial on short rows showing how this design element creates soft angles and curves that aren’t quite as obvious or harsh as our usual increases and decreases, by using a key technique called wrap and turn. Check out their tutorial on https://www.craftsy.com/knitting/article/wrap-and-turn/. Another short row method is the German Short Row where those little holes from the traditional short row method can virtually be eliminated. Tin Can Knits has a very good tutorial on https://blog.tincanknits.com/2015/05/14/german-short-rows/. If you want to compare the differences between traditional short rows and German short rows, check out Interweave’s article Substituting German Short-Rows for Wrap-and-Turn Short-Rows at https://www.interweave.com/article/knitting/german-short-rows-wrap-turn/.We chose patterns, “Goodnight, Moon” by Sara Elizabeth Kellner, and Sternkissen - Asterisk (Star Shaped Pillow) by Gudrun Ohle, both free Ravelry downloads for this skill builder projectMoon to make learning short rows fun and engaging. A bit about the designers – Sara Elizabeth Kellner of Rabbit Hole Knits is a toy designer whose designs are really adorable. In her words, her methods of construction are different than other toy designers. It encourages the knitter to learn new skills as her shaping techniques, like the short rows, result in distinctive toys and animals. The pattern is knit in the round, with no seaming required. The pattern is easily memorized because it is the same three rounds repeated from one end to the other. Gussets are added for the nose and mouth. The nightcap can be personalized with stripes, tassels, embroidery, etc. Our second designer is Gudrun Ohle whose beautiful star pattern offers a bit of fun knitting challenge on the accompanying stars. This is her only pattern, but based on its popularity with over 1200 projects and almost 600 queues on Ravelry, we hope she will add more patterns to her Ravelry store.

We enjoyed knitting these skill-building projects. The extra twist from Mobius Cast-On and the shaping of Short Rows are two critical skills that will enhance knitting expertise that takes knitting to the next level.

Speaking of next levels, our “October Gold” projects are full of texture, color, and different techniques! We look forward to what the official start of Autumn will bring!

Knit On! Lisa