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Slip Stitch Strategy: Using Up Yarn Bits
By Kristin Roach
Often it's those last 10 yards that are the hardest to find uses for. What the heck do you do with those? Thankfully there are many answers to that question! But today I am going to just focus on one: Slip Stitch Knitting!
Traditionally, fair isle work using up more yarn - so creating a complex color pattern can actually suck up more yardage than say just straight knitting. Well, fears be put to rest! You can have fancy color work and as much yardage as possible!
I love slip stitch knitting patterns for 2 reasons. {coffee cozy pattern above}
1. They use significantly less yarn than fair isle patterns because you do not have to carry the yarn along the back side of your knitting.
2. You only work one color each row.
So working in the round means you just drop the color at the end of the row and pick it up again when you need it again. Soooo nice.
It does make a tighter fabric. It also uses more yarn than straight knitting. And you can not slip a color more than two rows without the fabric starting to pucker.
The first slip stitch pattern I ever used was the dish cloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitters' Guide. I love that book and I have made that dish cloth a million times over.
A Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker has a great collection of slip stitch patterns.
Knitty.com has a great article on slip stitch knitting and even two example patterns. The author also links up to a few of her favorite books on the topic.
I have been having so much fun knitting up a slip stitching storm lately, so expect some new knitting patterns next month :) I'm excited about it and I know you will like them as much as I do!
To finish reading Slip Stitch Strategy and for the Tea Pot Cozy pattern head on over to Craft Leftovers. We are also excited to announce that Kristin Roach will be guest blogging here on CRAFT all next week!
About the Author:
Kristin Roach of Craft Leftovers teaches fiber art classes full time, while also hosting the local Sewing Rebellion. You can find her current class schedules, free patterns, and links to all her online projects at http://krostudio.com/blog.
