So, I get home from work tonight and am eating my dinner when I get this idea, more of a vision actually. I'm lying in bed with the lamp on my nightstand turned on. In my lap is a book, open to a certain page and a skein of yarn, some previously used and rewound skein of so-so yarn from the stash and I'm holding in my hands my favorite set of bamboo US 9s. This is knitter's school.
From time to time (and especially now that I'm the midst of large knitting projects only), I like to teach myself something brand-spankin' new. I'm not talking about having to re-teach myself the damned Kitchener stitch every single time I finish a sock; freshening up on the details of a long-forgotten lace chart; or looking up how to do that one finishing edge you love to do as often as possible but not often enough to remember. No. I'm talking about something you have never, ever done in your whole, entire knitting life: a new stitch...how daring! A new picot edge...bold and, well, edgy! A new yarn, a new color, a new needle...anything brand new! This is knitter's school.
Tonight's little lesson, should you choose to follow along: Herringbone. Specifically, I'm referring to "Herringbone I" from The Harmony Guides: Knit & Purl by Erika Knight, page 32. If you have the book, run and look it up. If you don't have it, why not? It's a superb resource to have if you're into improv knitting. Remember, patterns are only guides and are always ready for a little improv-ing. In any case, if you don't have it, I'm including the stitch below**:
Herringbone I - Multiple of 2. 1st row: K2tog tbl dropping only 1st loop off L needle, *k2tog tbl (rem st and next st), again dropping only the 1st loop off L needle*, k1tbl. 2nd row: P2tog dropping only 1st loop off L needle, *p2tog (rem st and next st), again dropping only 1st loop off L needle*, p1. Repeat forever...or until you're done.
And to think I despised the linen stitch, with its back-and-forth slaloming yarn in and out and around each stitch. Compared to this, linen was a walk in the park. I cast-on 34 stitches and knit 1 row, you know...just to set up the stage, so to speak. Knit two together...through the back loop...okay, no problem...got it. Drop only the first loop off the left needle...okay, I...whoop...caught it. Yeah...that's going to be the challenge with this stitch, fellow knitters. K2tog tbl isn't a problem when the combined stitches get slipped at the same time...but when you have to stop and split them apart after you just bound them together...
Just be careful to not drop a stitch. I also learned, the hard way, that herringbone does not tink so easily. It's a lot like tinking an ssk, wherein you not only transfer the stitches from right back to left, but you also have to reverse the twist on each stitch...except it's nothing like that. Tinking herringbone is like trying to solve the Great Puzzle Knot of Egypt. It simply cannot be done by mere mortals...though Elizabeth Zimmerman probably could.
After 30 minutes and 3 failed attempts, I put the lesson down, but not before I saw what was supposed to happen. I just needed a break, so...I came out to the dining room and I'm telling you all about it. In my first attempt, I was just dead wrong in my execution; attempt two was a dropped, though recovered stitch; and the third involved a dropped stitch, the Great Puzzle and much furrowing of my brow. I wish you the best of luck on your attempt. I'm going back to try again. I'll let you know how it goes.
UPDATE: After another hour and 4 perfect rows, I've decided that I love the effect and finished look of herringbone...but the amount of finagling and canoodling needed to achieve those results is just preposterously absurd, truly. I've put everything away and I think I might be ready for an early bedtime.
UPDATE: After another hour and 4 perfect rows, I've decided that I love the effect and finished look of herringbone...but the amount of finagling and canoodling needed to achieve those results is just preposterously absurd, truly. I've put everything away and I think I might be ready for an early bedtime.
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