Lifeline

As soon as you put it in, you know you won’t need it.

Believe it or not, I have been a knitting fiend recently, just not much I can show. Hopefully the above picture is “artful” enough that you cannot really tell what is going on. You can tell it is two color, but hopefully that is it.

A third color? Oh yeah, that is my lifeline. I rarely use lifelines, and usually only after I needed them about an hour ago. But I decided to put this one in because the ending to this shawl just wasn’t working out for me. When I started this piece it was pretty much charted out completely – but the ending just didn’t cut it.

There is only so much I can do in the planning stages, some things just have to be worked out on the needles. Doing things this way I am often surprised. Sometimes the surprise is pleasant. Sometimes I need the lifeline.

If you have never put in a lifeline, it is pretty easy. I like to use mercerized cotton because it is pretty slippery, cheap and in an obnoxious color that rarely matches my work. To put a lifeline in you simply use a tapestry needle and run the waste yarn through the stitches in the row that you just finished.

Always insert your needle purl wise and avoid going through any stitch markers you might be using. If you go through a stitch marker, well, you will know it on the next row. I don’t bother with trying to measure out an appropriate length of yarn. I simply use the end while it is still attached to the ball and then cut it off when everything is said and done. Also, leave plenty of “tail” hanging out either side of  your piece. You don’t want the stitches to work their way off the end of your holder.

Easy peasy.

What exciting things have you been working on?

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