Open M1 Increases on of MK Level 1 Mitten

This is what I have been doing.



And this is what I've got to do.



And I've sent 12 bags to Charles, Binka and Suzanne.  So far we have 17 sponsors and 29 yarns to taste at the Yarn Tasting at the San Diego conference.  It should be a great evening!

TNNA is this weekend and I have a few stops to make there for the tasting as well.  (I also have to look at new products...poor me.)

STUDENT NEWS
This has been the slowest month I can remember.  Very few lessons have arrived and I only have three new students.  That gives me plenty of time to wind little yarn balls...

TIP OF THE WEEK
I had a special request to do a video on the M1o increases used in mitten cuff in Level 1 of the Master Hand Knitting Program.  I ran this past the co-chairs first as I tend not to do things that directly related to the program.  Since the mitten was an addition to the program after I completed it, I am ashamed to admit I have never knit it.  I really wondered why people had trouble with the increase. M1o increases are just about the easiest to work.  You just knit into the horizontal strand between the two stitches.  After knitting it, I see why.  The cuff is a traditional Estonian (?) technique that produces an entrelac effect.  The reason the increases are hard to see is that they are worked between a regular old knit stitch and a knit stitch created on the previous row as an M1o.  The horizontal strand is hard to see.  The next two photographs show the needle lifting the horizontal bar.  I used two photos.  Hopefully, you can see the strand.  You really have to dig for it.  The key thing is to make sure it is the strand coming out of the stitch on the left needle.  

Here is the video:  Open M1 in Level 1 Mitten

The other common mistakes in the mitten is that the knitter ends the cuff after Round 16.  There are 20 rows in the cuff.  Make sure you complete all of them.  Another mistake is not to measure accurately.  Remember to follow the pattern exactly.  That is the test.  Don't adjust it to fit your hand.

CURRENT PROJECTS
As the photos above show I haven't been knitting much.  I have been making labels, measuring yarn, winding balls, etc.  One of the things we are doing for this conference that we haven't done before is to have a kit for sale which features a pair of socks using the official colors of the conference.  (To see these colors, go to the website.  We worked with Kate from A Hundred Ravens to come up with the right colors.  She did an amazing job.  I got the test yarn this week.  The kit will come with the yarn and two patterns...socks and matching fingerless mitts.  There is enough yarn in the kit for both. The photo below distorts the colors somewhat but you can get a general idea.  Since one of the designs we use for the TKGA booth is a chevron, I used the pattern for my Rick Rack Socks in the Summer issue.  

I plan on finishing the other socks and the mitts at TNNA so I can send them off to the office for photography.

Remember, I won't be posting again until two weeks but I will have a report about TNNA.

Right and Left Slanting M1 Increases

I didn't think I would make it but I did get everything finished for the photo shoot.  I did quite a few videos of the shoot which I have included in my blog for the TKGA site.  It should be posted next week some time.

I am going to start posting every other week, starting in two weeks.  My next entry will be May 29,  right before I go to TNNA in Columbus.

STUDENT NEWS
I think I will start tracking how long it takes for lessons to arrive from outside the US.  I can report it takes almost two weeks from Chile.  I think the best service is from Japan.  I feel like a broken record but it is a good idea to photograph your swatches, front and back, before sending them to me.  I send my letter by email the day I review the swatches but it can take weeks for the lesson to get back to you!

TIP OF THE WEEK
The tip this week is about Right and Left Slanting M1 increases.  The"right" and "left" do not refer to the side of the piece where they are placed by rather the direction the top leg of the increase slants. To make an M1 increase you use the horizontal strand between two stitches.  If you just knit into it, a hole results.  It produces a small yarnover, basically. To make a right or left slanting M1 you need to twist the horizontal strand.  Look carefully at the photograph below.  Notice that all of the increases are mirrored.  The first three increases at the bottom have the right slanting ones at the right and the left slanting at the top.  The top three increases reverse this.   



If you have trouble seeing the increases, this photograph has them marked.  



This photograph indicates the type of increases.



Unlike the lifted increases, I think both placements look pretty good.  It is just a matter of personal preference.  Here is the video which discusses this and shows how to make them.  Right and Left M1 Increases

CURRENT PROJECTS
I did finish the jumper in time for the photo shoot.  Here is a photo on my dress form.  

This photo is from the photo shoot.  We include 360 videos of the garment in the on-line version of some of the garments.  This is the set up shot of the 360.  (The model doesn't normally look so stiff!)

Notice I am not including any photos of things I am knitting as all I am doing right now is getting yarn ready for the Yarn Tasting.  I took 9 boxes of yarn for the goody bags up to Zanesville with me. Now I have to organize the tasting yarns.  (I've got 22 different ones so far and more boxes are arriving every day!)  Charles Gandy, Suzanna Bryan and Binka Schwan (who will man the Brilliance Bar at the conference) are helping me wind the balls.  Since we upped the number of participants to 100, this is quite a bit of work!

No Post This Week

I was so busy finishing off things for the photo shoot on Tuesday I didn't have time to make an entry this week.  Next week I will be back!

Right and Left Slanting Lifted Increases

It was a productive week.  I feel much better about having things ready for the photo shoot for the Fall issue.  I shipped off three garments & accompanying patterns...Wine Dark Sea, Long and Loose Cardigan and Easiest Sweater Ever!.  I've started the jumper which I think I am really going to like.  I will have more sense not to propose so much for the next issue.

STUDENT NEWS
Lessons have been arriving regularly and so far, I've been able to send them out the day I receive them.  I may procrastinate about many things but never my correspondence course lessons.  I think my students want their feedback immediately.

TIP OF THE WEEK
Last week I discussed right and left slanting decreases since my students had some difficulties with them.  This week, I will do right and left slanting lifted increases.  I have done several videos on how to make these increases so you may want to check the index page for more blog entries if you haven't used this type of increase before.  

Right and left lifted increases get their name from how they are made.  Right slanting are made in the right leg of the stitch below the stitch on the needle.  The opposite is true for the left slanting. When they are mirrored, the right slanting is worked on the right side of the piece and the left slanting on the left side.  I never reversed this until today.  Here is a photo of how they look with the right ones on the right and the left ones on the left.  



Notice how the right leg of the stitch used for the increase is elongated and how these elongated legs form a line slanting towards the right.  The same is true on the left.  These increases should be mirror images of each other.

Here is the swatch where I worked the left ones on the right side and the right slanting on the left side.  I was surprised.  It doesn't look all that bad.  The overall effect is the same until you look closely.  The right slanting side looks pretty good.  I like the ropey look to the left side.  However, you can't mirror this on the right side with the left slanting increases.  It just looks different.  The video discusses this further and shows how to make the increases as well.  Right and Left Slanting Increases



CURRENT PROJECTS
Here is the Long and Loose Cardigan, back and front.  The band around the neck and fronts is a reversible cable pattern. 

This is the Easiest Sweater Ever!, the Confident Beginner pattern.  The front and backs are just rectangles.  There is some shaping for the sleeves.  All the edges roll.  It is a quick knit.  The article focuses on how to finish it.  I wanted a very wide boat neck but you could make it more narrow.

I'm making progress on the jumper.  There is a Half Linen Stitch bottom band which will match the pockets.  Anyone who has done Level 2 of the Masters Program will recognize the pocket technique. There will be exposed zippers at the top of the pockets.  I should have it finished by next week.