Friday, August 24, 2007

Unexpected delay

Fortunately, everything is fine here at chez TECH (and many thanks to those who have written to inquire!) However, due to unexpected delay in managing the non-knitting parts of life, TECHknitting will, regretfully NOT resume right after Labor day, but will resume instead on September 20.

Stay tuned for 2 new ways to create beautiful left-leaning increases.

Have a good rest of the summer, and knit on.

--TECHknitter

Friday, August 3, 2007

Gauge, again--a cautionary tale

Dear readers: here is a little summer interlude in the nature of a cautionary tale. TECH- knitting's summer break has allowed time to knit on a big project--a sweater. The body is made with a circular needle, but the arms with dpn's. I forgot, but now remember (the hard way!!) that gauge can change EVEN when you use the same size needles. Knitting with dpn's requires the gauge to be tight enough to prevent the needles falling out of the work, while knitting around with circulars does not present the same issue--you can knit a lot looser because the circular needles aren't going anywhere. Moral of the story: Check your gauge when you switch from one kind of needle to another, regardless of whether the two needles are the same size. That way, you can avoid being an idiot like me--who had to knit a three-armed sweater.

--TECHknitter