Creativity in Knitting

I have been a busy girl; the creative juices have been flowing!  I haven't written a blog entry in a while, but I have added more content to my blog.  I have been busy preparing to begin my knitting and crochet classes in August.  My class schedule and information is now available, just click the 'classes' link at the top of the page.  I have been knitting and crocheting like crazy these last few weeks!  I wasn't even sure what I should share first, so I thought I would start with my most recent project, 'knitted creativity'.

I was trying to come up with a creative idea for my display to promote my classes.  I wanted to share with others why I love knitting and crochet, because the creative possibilities are endless.  For me, knitting is not just a way to make warm winter garments, it is a form of expression.  I love to use the numerous textures and colors that the yarns of today have to offer to express ideas and feelings; simply put, I love Yarn Art! Then it hit me, what better way to show that than to literally put 'creativity' into my knitted sample.

There are a few ways to go about adding letters to your knitting.  You can use duplicate stitch, waste canvas(like in my free tutorial), or you can use Stranded Knitting, like I did here.  You can also use a technique called Intarsia to add color and images to knitting.  Intarsia, is a technique where you can add blocks of contrast color by having a separate strand of color for each section, usually held on bobbins on the wrong side of the work.  As you knit along, you simply pick up the contrast color when you reach that section.  I opted to use stranded knitting for my project rather than Intarsia because my sections of contrast color are quite small and Intarsia works best if you have large blocks of alternating colors.  Perhaps if my letters were bigger and bolder I would have chose Intarsia.

Stranded Knitting can be a bit tricky, especially when doing letters, because the pattern of alternating colors is irregular.  In traditional Stranded knitting(Fair Isle), the pattern of alternating colors is usually repeated several times across a row.  Such as for this Cowl pattern (from the Discover Gifts Class curriculum at http://www.craftyarncouncil.com)





When the color pattern is repeated regularly the strands are carried more evenly across the back of the work, and not usually carried across more than two, maybe three stitches.  When using stranded knitting for letters, as I have done, the alternating colors are not in a regular pattern, across the work.  This makes the color work a little more tricky, but I love a good challenge!

As you can see in the back of my swatch, there is a lot more white than the front, because I carried the White more often than the pink across the back.  I love the way stranded knitting looks on the wrong side too!  Stranded Knitting can be a bit time consuming, but I love to do it because I look at as a puzzle to be solved.  I started my project with this chart.

After I plotted my letters on my knitting chart, I followed the chart in a zig zag fashion, going from right to left on the knit side of my work and left to right on the purl side.  Stranded knitting is also easier to do when knitting in the round, because the strands are carried in the same direction as you work around.  When working on a flat piece you have to carry your strands up to the next row, so you have to be mindful to carry strands loosely as to not cinch the stitches.  I enjoy stranded knitting in the same way that crossword puzzle addicts enjoy word games.  I get great satisfaction from seeing my idea go from paper to yarn :)  Stranded Knitting, one of many techniques I use to express my "creativity" with yarn :)