(I forgot to take a picture before diving in to try it – you’ll see the missing hook and cord in the next picture ^_-)

Before I started, I consulted various videos and blogs on the subject, so I was going in with several different techniques in mind.

My goal: a stockinette swatch with a garter stitch border. This is how far I got:

It’s important to understand that even though you use a crochet hook, this is actually real knitting. It’s not an immitation like Tunisian knit stitch, or slip stitch crochet; it’s knitting. The cord holds the stitches (and acts like the left knitting needle), while you use the hook to work the stitches (which acts like the right knitting needle).

It seems like the entire point of knooking is that it makes it easier for crocheters to knit. It’s hard to say for sure with just this little swatch (so look for further blog posts about it!), but so far I’ve found that while it makes the knit stitch easier (and more familiar!) to a crocheter, it makes the purl stitch ridiculously harder than with needles.

I followed the instructions in the book (at least, I think I did…), and the purl stitches ended up twisted (which is why the first few rows of V’s look kind of wonky). So I followed the instructions I found in a video and that worked much better – by which I mean, the stitches looked right. It was a huge pain to do it that way, though. (And that last sentence is now nominated for the Understatement Of The Year award.)

The up side? If you are a crocheter and have always wanted a Doctor Who scarf, you can now easily make one using this technique. That scarf uses only knit stitches, and knit stitches, as I said above, are very, very easy with knooking.

One last thing: the knooks are crochet hooks with a hole in the end that you can feed a cord through. If you can’t find a knook, or can’t afford to buy more tools, you could easily use a long cabled tunisian hook with the stopper removed , or a locker hook instead.

ETA: I just tried a different way to knit and purl that made the purl stitch a lot easier and make the knit stitch a little harder. The real problem seems to be that the stitches I’m working into have a tendency to shrink on me. I’m not sure what would cause that – I’m still investigating.

The motivation for learning how to knit was actually borne out of my desire to figure out how to do crochet entrelac properly. I thought learning how to knit it would help things along. So, once I had the basics of knit and purl down, I tried out knitting entrelac. I learned how to increase, and decrease, and how to pick up stitches (though, I’m not convinced I’m doing that right yet – entrelac should look like rectangles not trapezoids). I taught myself how to do cables and knit in the round and change colours, too.

With all of this knowledge, it’s only natural that my very first finished knitting project be…

Wait… garter stitch?

Yes, my first knitted item ended up being a Doctor Who scarf for my brother-in-law.

For those not familiar with this pattern, it is the knit stitch, worked over and over and over again until the scarf is freakishly long (and then you add tassels). (Specs: Vanna’s Choice yarn in Brick, Burgundy, Charcoal Grey, Beige, Toffee, Mustard, and Olive. 4mm circular needles)

Even though I had to go out into the main hall of our apartment building to get a picture that showed the length, the scarf did end up a bit shorter than the authentic one worn by Tom Baker (the fourth Doctor). It was supposed to be 20 feet long, but mine is only 14 feet. I do believe it’ll stretch out over time, though!

Come to think of it, taking pictures of this thing was quite a challenge. Usually to display scarves I employ the services of my trusty sidekick, Roopurt,

but…

In a neat turn of good luck, a few days after I finished the scarf, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee was launching her new book here in town. I, of course, brought the scarf to show her:

I think she was impressed. ^_^
(Also, I love that the people in line behind me are knitting while they wait to have their books signed!)

It took more than two and a half months to complete. Weaving in the ends took longer than the actual crocheting part! Would you believe that there were a whopping 1040 ends to weave in on this blanket? 1040. Crazy.

It is made up of one-round granny squares, joined using this join-as-you-go method (because if I had to make all of the squares first and then join them all together afterwards, this blanket would never have been made!).

The real challenge here wasn’t the many, many ends to weave in. It was actually the lack of real estate to actually do the weaving. One of the benefits of using that joining method is that any square can be removed without disturbing the surrounding squares, which would be ruined by traveling the ends from one square to another. So, each end had to be woven in with only 12 stitches to work with. 1040 times.

But you know what?

He was over the moon about it!

Totally worth it. ^_^

This is one way to make an invisible join when you finish a round of crocheting. Usually the instructions tell you to join with a slip stitch, but that leaves a very different looking area that may not be desirable when working the final round of a border on your project.

One thing to note before going in: this join makes it look like there is an extra stitch (and so, in that way, it’s not actually invisible). This won’t matter at all if it’s the final round of your project. If you’re doing this on a round that isn’t the last one, just keep in mind that this creates an extra V you might accidentally work into.

You need: a darning/tapestry/sewing needle (the same kind you’d use to weave in your ends)

Here is a one-round granny square that I have added a sc border to. I’ve done all of my sc stitches and am ready to join:

Start by cutting the yarn and pulling the loop out:

Thread this end onto a needle:

Insert the needle into the first stitch of the round under the two arms of the V in exactly the same way as you would if you were crocheting into it:

Pull the yarn all the way through.

Next, go back to last stitch of the round, and insert the needle under the back loop of the last stitch, in exactly the same way you would if you were doing a “back loop only” stitch. This was tricky to take a picture of, so here are two:


Pull the yarn all the way through.

Now it’s just a matter of pulling on that yarn until the V-shape you just made looks like the others around it:

(The needle is pointing at the join)

All that’s left is to weave in the end! Try not to tug too much on the stitch you just made while weaving the end in.

Below the cut, you will see the items I have made so far, but with no names attached. If you are on my gift-giving list and want to be surprised, I recommend that you do not continue with this post!

For the rest of you, I’ll include the pattern source when possible. ^_^

Spiderman Blanket This took six days to make.

Crayon Blanket (made it up as I went!). This took seven days to make.

I’m particularly proud of this one for the amount of thinking ahead I did – I wanted to match the sc border on each of the crayons to the colours in the crayon AND whip stitch the crayons together using the same colour again, so when I changed colours for the black stripes, I left super duper long ends. I then used those ends for the sc border and for whip stitching.

Star Blanket. This one only took two days.

All blankets used Bernat Satin and a 5mm hook.

I’m on fire!

Here we have a sc tube and are ready to do a decrease:

(I’m using a different colour for the decrease; you would normally just keep going with the same yarn. ^_^)

Start by inserting your hook into the front loop of the next stitch:

Do not yarn over! Instead, insert your hook into the front loop of the next stitch:

Technically, you’ll have three loops on your hook at this point: the loop you started with, and the front loops of the next two stitches.

Now yarn over:

And pull through two loops:

Then finish the sc as you normally would by yarning over:

And pulling through two loops:

Now we’re at the part of the tutorial where I show you what the finished technique looks like… which is a bit of a problem with something with the word “invisible” in its name. So, here is the invisible decrease along with the regular decrease.

The hook is pointing at the invisible decrease:

Now it’s pointing at the regular one:

Hmm… ok, here’s the back, then.

The invisible decrease leaves the “back loops” visible on the back, so look for those when trying to spot it:

The regular decrease doesn’t have such obvious markers (figures…)

Perhaps it’ll be easier to spot the differences if I stack them over several rows…

Ah, yes. There we go. The invisible decreases are on the right (the hook is pointing at where I think they are), and the regular decreases are on the left (roughly on a line with the tail sticking out of the bottom). What the picture doesn’t truly convey, is that the regular decreases form a bit of a ridge, whereas the invisible decreases don’t. Which, I suppose makes them invisible to the blind, as well. :P

The Crochet Cast-On is a knitting technique that we’re totally going to steal and use for our own purposes! Specifically, for use in Tunisian crochet and Crochet-on-the-Double. If you are a knitter, you may find this tutorial useful, too! Just substitute in your mind – replace “afghan hook” with “knitting needle” and you’re good to go.

In Tunisian and CotD, you typically start with a base chain, and then go and lift up a loop in each chain. As with regular crochet, though, starting with a base chain can cause problems – sometimes they’re too tight, they aren’t very stretchy, it’s a pain in the butt to work into them – and sometimes you just really want to extend a row out to the left of your work. For regular crochet, you can use Foundation Stitches to address all of these issues.

For Tunisian and CotD, you can use the crochet cast-on!

You need: an afghan hook (or double-ended hook… or knitting needle… depending on what craft you’re doing), a regular crochet hook in the same size (or a bit bigger), and your yarn.

In these pictures, my afghan hook is metal and 9mm, and my regular hook is bamboo and 10mm.

Start with a loose slip knot on the afghan hook. You would benefit by making the slip knot in the opposite way you might usually, and have the short tail be the one that makes the loop smaller when you pull on it.

Hold the afghan hook in your left hand, and the regular hook in your right hand. Insert the regular hook into the slip knot behind the afghan hook:

Working behind the afghan hook, chain 1:

Now move your regular hook to the front of the afghan hook with the yarn still behind it:

Yarn over:

Pull through the loop on the regular hook:

Now move the yarn back behind the afghan hook:

Put your regular hook in front of the afghan hook again, and repeat the process (yo, pull through, move yarn to back and hook to front) as many times as needed:

Stop one loop shy of what you need. Here is what the row of chains will look like:

Take the working loop and put it over the end of the afghan hook to form your last loop:

Go ahead and work the loops off as you normally would and now you’re good to go for your next row. One warning: the vertical bars don’t line up *quite* the same way as they do when lifting them up from a base chain (this becomes particularly apparent when doing Tunisian Knit Stitches), however, you can still do any stitch you want to do, you just need to be a little careful with it.

Some extra benefits I’ve discovered so far with this technique are:
- In crochet-on-the-double, it helps make a nearly-invisible seam when making a tube (such as with mio’s hat)

- When working with a fuzzy yarn, one that makes it difficult to see your stitches (such as a boucle), using this technique makes it a LOT easier to be sure you’re starting with the right number of stitches.

As it turns out, I am one of the folks being laid off.

Now, several weeks ago I was thinking about my stash. Those of you who have been following this blog for a while have a pretty good idea of the sheer hugeness of my stash. (Click on “Yarn” up there at the top for a better idea if you’re new!)

But how much *time* does the stash represent? If I didn’t buy another ball, how long would what I have last me? After some quick math, I concluded that with my current work schedule, it would take me less than 2 years to go through all of it. I’m as shocked as you are!

Anyhow, with the news of my upcoming unemployment, I thought, what if I don’t find another job right away? We’re in a very comfortable financial situation right now, but what about the stash? Without having to stop crocheting long enough to scan books, how long would the stash last then??

My course was clear.

As it would happen, the TTC Knitalong was being held the first weekend after the bad news was announced at work. It was the perfect opportunity to stock up!

Here are the adventures of Team Red:
(Click on a picture to see it in a larger size)

We gathered at Passion Knit

where I met a truly lovely woman who teaches crochet there. I think (hope!) I was able to convince her to join our crochet guild.

This is also where we received our swag bags. Here’s mine:

That Mary Maxim coupon is going to see some really good use! I’m thinking birthday shopping…

Speaking of Mary Maxim, that’s where we went next! It seems I forgot to take a picture while we were there. I was pretty busy, though – more on that later!

Then it was time for lunch! We went to the food court at the Younge-Eglinton Centre and freaked out some muggles:

And here we are on the subway, freaking out some muggles:

Next, it was on to Knitomatic

My favourite part of this stop was how we freaked out *other knitters*. A couple of times someone would open the door, and see this:

and say something like, “uh… I’ll stop in on the way back…”

We were feeling rather under-caffeinated, so we decided to occupy a nearby Starbucks:

Now fortified, we headed to our last yarn shop of the day: Romni!

I was pretty tired by this point. More on that later!

We decided to walk over to the Rivoli, which is where we were meeting up with the rest of the groups to compare notes, win prizes, knit some more, and drink. (It’s ok, it’s not like any of us were driving… we all took the TTC! lol)

Prizes, you say? Well, first of all, Team Red very nearly swept the awards. We had the Youngest Knitter, some award about “Interspecies Relations” (there’s a story there about one of our group making friends with the bird at Knitomatic), the Bought The Least Amount award, and the winner AND runner up for Needs A Sherpa (bought the most yarn). Oh, and one of us won the draw that one of the shops was having, too!

So, what did I buy?

Bernat Satin, of course. This is why I was so busy at Mary Maxim!

Lots of Bernat Satin (of course!).

I had known going in that there was an award for having bought the most yarn, so I had come prepared:

Would you believe that the 60 balls of yarn I bought weren’t enough to win me the prize? I was the runner up! The winner had 62 balls. So close!!

We were an interesting pair, her an I. I was preparing the stash for potential unemployment, and she was gearing up for 3 months off of work due to surgery. On her foot. The lucky duck!

Anyhow, I did get a prize for being runner up:

Pretty sweet!

Oh! And the whole point to this adventure (other than buying lots of yarn) is to knit while riding transit. Of course, I crocheted instead:

Not bad for a day’s work!

Thank you so much to the organizers, donors, and participating yarn shops. I had a blast!

I’ve been frustrated by this myself, but it seems to me that the knitted swatches are done on a machine and thus can be manufactured en masse. Crochet can’t be done by a machine, and it would cost them way more money to pay someone to do it for them.

While at the Michaels in Calgary, though, I saw this:

And this:

And this:

Isn’t that fantastic?

Kudos and our thanks to Loops & Threads and Bernat!

That’s my outside-in granny square. It looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

While in Calgary (and hiding from the rain and cold), I decided to try this on a grand scale. My goal: to make a one-big-granny-square blanket working from the outside-in.

I went to Michaels (did you know that Calgary has at least FIVE Michaels stores? Five. For the record, that is 5 times as many as Toronto has, and we just got ours recently.) and picked up some Bernat Baby Jaquard yarn that had blue and green striping in it.

If you look closely at those last two pictures, you’ll see how I ran out of the blue/green yarn (which should have been my first clue something had gone awry… 3 balls should have been enough for the size of blanket I was aiming for) and I had to buy more yarn. They were out of the blue/green, so I picked up some blue/white and kept going.

*sigh*

That crazy folding going on in the middle? It seems that the angles on my blanket are not 90 degrees like they should have been. They were more like the kind of angles you might find on a hexagon… except that there were only four of them, and not six.

I don’t know why this happened; I followed the same pattern I used on that little red square at the top of this post. Was it the yarn? I don’t know.

The real question here, though, is: how on earth did I get so far into making this before realizing that it just wasn’t laying flat? I was taking pictures during the whole process, which involved laying the thing out on the bed at regular intervals.

The answer can only be: denial.

The up side? Apparently even when suffering from denial, you can end up with a quirky poncho!