[Nfb-krafters-korner] starting at the beginning

[Deidre Muccio]

	Whew, this is going to be an adventure alright. Just the thought of
dropping stitches as something to be counted on, is a bit disheartening!
We'll see. I liked the brief description of the beginning knitting class
which touched on this in a way. What a great resource you all are.

	Deidre  
-----Original Message-----
From: Nfb-krafters-korner [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Cathy
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2012 6:11 PM
To: 'List for blind crafters and artists'
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] Knitting Life Line - WAS: silky twist
yarn and greetings

Here is Annette's post.

When knitting, I use a life line.  This is when you use some type of line
inserted into your stitches on your needle.  I use a 00 circular needle that
is 48 or 60 inches long.  I slide it into each stitch on my needle and just
let it dangle while I continue knitting.  I like to insert it along either
the last row of the pattern repeat or the first row.  If something goes
wrong while I am knitting the next repeat of the pattern, I can rip back to
the life line, insert my working needle into the stitches on the life line
and start re-knitting.  

I sometimes work with 2 life lines.  For example, if I am working with a
pattern that has a ten row repeat with the even rows being purled, I will
complete the pattern once.  I then insert the life line through the stitches
of row ten that are on my needle.  Now I knit the pattern for the second
time, and insert a second life line through the stitches of row 10 that are
now on my needle.  After I complete the pattern for the third time, I pull
life line one out and insert it into row ten of the third pattern repeat.
After I complete the pattern for the fourth time, I pull out the life line
that was inserted into row 10 of the second pattern repeat and insert it
into row ten of the fourth pattern repeat.

If you do not want to buy a very thin very long circular needle, you could
try using some type of yarn that feels different than the yarn that you are
knitting with.  While this technique is easier to insert, I find it very
difficult to pick up my stitches off of it when I have to rip back to it.  

HTH,
Annette