Question from Kniterary on Monday

A new member of Kniterary asked me a couple of questions on Monday night, and although she didn't want to ask the group, I thought it might be helpful to answer here anyway.

Question Number One
She had a pattern for a cable knit sweater worked flat (front, back and two sleeves), but the materials called for a circular needle 24" long. Why, she wanted to know, would it call for a circular needle if the pattern was knit flat? Could she be missing some important part of the pattern that would require her to join in the round?

Answer
The pattern is entirely knit flat, but working something larger than a scarf is often easier to wield on circular needles. Sweaters, shawls, blankets, etc, become very weighty when you have a substantial amount of knitting finished. Holding your knitting on straight needles forces all of the weight of the item to pull down on your wrists. By using circular needles, much of weight hangs onto your lap or tabletop. It causes much less strain on your hands and wrists, thereby allowing you to knit more comfortably and for longer. And who doesn't want to knit for longer amounts of time!?


Question Number Two
Okay, so if the pattern is knit flat then why does the cable chart read as if you are just looking at it from the right side?
This isn't the chart, but this is an example of what she was asking:

As you can see, there are columns of knits and purls that form the pattern. But if you are working flat (reading the chart on row 1 from right to left, then row 2 from left to right, etc), wouldn't you be working knits on the right side and purls on the wrong side...and vice versa? Yes, which is why the legend states "knit on RS, purl on WS" and "purl on RS, knit on WS". They use the same symbol for opposing stitches to make the chart more visibly logical.

Does that make sense?

Please post your questions or comments and I will endeavour to answer any and all....if I can't, I'm sure that someone can!

We're not new...but our blog is!

The Peterborough Public Library has been host to the Kniterary Nights since December of 2009 when Kate Siena and Kelly Plunkett decided to start a regularly meeting place for local knitters. The Kniterary Society meets on the last Monday of each month (save for December, when we generally host a special "Panic Holiday Knitting" on the first Saturday afternoon) in the auditorium of the library from 7-9pm. We have been privileged to hear speakers on a huge variety of fibre-related themes, from lace, colourwork and socks, to charity knitting and running an alpaca farm.

The evenings are absolutely free, with free refreshments (coffee, tea, cookies) served and are open to the public. If you are an expert and would like to come a knit and maybe learn about a new craft, or if you are an absolute beginner and need helping starting, Kniterary Nights can be your regular knitting evening out.

The Kniterary Society also has its finger on the pulse of the fibre community. Any fibre-related events, new businesses, and fund-raisers can have announcements made and are more than welcome to discuss presenting about their interests.

Please feel free to contact Monica Vereana Williams (monicavereana@sympatico.ca) or the Peterborough Public Library (libraryinfo@peterborough.ca) for more information.