Is It Monday Already?

Thank you all so much for the kind comments on my little cutie. He is an amazing person and I am learning so much from him. So now that he is the ex-Dr. Destructo, what nickname shall I give him here? Any ideas? Let me know, 'cause I am fresh out of cleverness, I'm afraid!

Onward. :)

This past weekend, I took a Busman's Holiday of sorts. I decided that I have had way too little lace knitting time lately. And definitely not enough kidsilk haze in my life. So instead of working on what I really should have been working on, I knit something else. But I can't show you yet. My decision to submit it for publication was an important one, because I really couldn't have taken my little knitting holiday any other way and not felt overcome with guilt for slacking! But I really really really needed a break, and I haven't had a day off in a very long time. So I fudged it. :)

What I can show you, however, is my favorite provisional cast on technique: crocheting onto a knitting needle. So today is Tutorial Day.

To begin, choose a smooth cotton yarn. I suggest a color that is fairly obvious against your knitting. In other words, don't use black cotton if your main yarn is black. I use mercerized cotton from the local craft supply store. Do not use dishcloth or non-mercerized cotton. The fibers catch on your main yarn and you can have big problems untangling it when you rip out the crochet chain.

With a crochet hook, chain two or three stitches. Use one that feels comfortable to you; don't worry about size of the the hook.

Next, lay a knitting needle alongside the hook and wrap the yarn over both needle and hook. I hold the yarn in my left hand while doing this, and the needle and hook are both in my right hand.

Pull the yarn through the loop on the crochet hook.

You are basically just making a chain, but with the needle held together with the hook. (In the next picture, everything is in my left hand so I can take a picture with my right hand!)

When you are finished, just knit into the stitches on the needle with your main yarn, and you're off to the races!

Can I just tell you how much easier this is than picking up stitches from a chain? I could never get the correct loop, and then I would have to cut pieces of the chain out when I tried to unzip it. This chain just comes straight out with no problems, and when I go back to pick up the stitches from the cast-on edge, I just unzip the chain one stitch at a time and stick the live stitches, one at a time, onto my needle.

So there you have it. :)

I may be a bit quiet this week, but I'll try to drop in a few times!

Have a great week, everyone!