Robin Hunter: Summary

Robin Hunter was the guest speaker at our January meeting. She talked about the joys and perils of working with variegated and hand dyed-yarns. 

Here are some tips from Robin's talk:

• When selecting yarn unwind it and look at the colours and length of the repeats. 
• The number of stitches and gage make a huge difference, if the yarn isn't showing nicely consider changing the number of stitches or gage.
• Short repeats of 3-6 inches tend not to have pooling, and longer repeats of 20 inches or more are more likely to pool.
• Try mixing solid yarn with your variegated yarn to break up the colour pattern.
• Use a purl stitch to add texture and soften the transitions. 
• When purchasing your yarn make sure that you have enough for your project in the same dye lot.

Check out Robin's blog on her talk for additional information and links to resources.

Stitch of the Month: Basket Weave

The basket weave is a great way to prevent pooling and striping in your patters.

Multiple of 8 stitches

Rows 1, 3 & 5: K4, P4
Rows 2, 4 & 6: P4, K4

Rows 7, 9 & 11: P4, K4
Rows 8, 10 & 12: K4, P4

Based on “The Burger and a Movie Scarf” from Never Knit Your Man a Sweater (Unless You’ve Got the Ring!) by Judith Durant (Storey Publishing, 2006)

– Erin Howe