The last few days here have been pretty much dedicated to my Twisted Vines sweater. Having finished up with all of my Christmas knitting, my knitting schedule is pretty much unoccupied right now.
A few months ago, I was smitten with this pattern and thought that it might work well with a few of the new yarns that I have to sample….so on the needles it went.
I had thought that this would be a great pattern for my Tranquilo alpaca yarn, but as you can see the pattern was much too loosely knit for this yarn. I suppose I could drop down a few needle sizes, but that would greatly reduce the size of the shawl, so I decided to try the pattern with another yarn.
This yarn is a sea silk yarn that I picked up a few months ago and truly this pattern would be perfect for this yarn……except I can not get past the sloppy edge I am getting on the left side.
Each side starts with a K1, YO and ends with a YO, K1. On the beginning of the knit side row, I can get the tension right and it looks neat, but at the end of the row with the YO,K1 and then turn to purl, it is just sloppy looking 😦
I spent the afternoon scouring shawl patterns and this is the one that I would love to use for the sea silk, so I am hoping that a few of you may have some helpful hints to send me on tightening up that left side edge. 🙂
The Woolen Rabbit 
Your Twisted Vines Sweater looks lovely! What yarn are you using for it?
I’m not experiences enough with knitting lace to offer any suggestions but I’m curious to hear what anyone else suggests for tightening your left edge.
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Are you slipping the first purl stitch? That might make a difference and clean it up a bit…
That sea silk is beautiful!
My knitting schedule is clear too and I’m having a heckuva time deciding on what to knit next!
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Off the top of my head I would twist the purl stitch and on the following row knit that stitch through the back of the loop to untwist it. Or add an extra stitch on each side so there are two edge stitches.
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I like the idea of adding another stitch to each edge and make it garter, OR-try working that yarn over in the opposite direction, instead of taking the yarn under the needle and over, take it over the top of the needle and then knit the next stitch. It will result in a yarn over that is seated backwards on the needle, so knit or purl into the back of it so it isn’t twisted. This yarn over will use less yarn in the making and maybe tighten up that last stitch a little.
Loving the sweater!
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Agree on the combined technique attempt.
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What a lovely sweater. Sorry about your left edge woes…but at least the yarns you were playing with were scrumptious! 🙂
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I, too, love that pattern. I’m spinning some beautiful cria/camel mix that I hope to knit it with. For the edge I would say if there is any way possible to slip the first stitch of each row with the yarn in front, it gives a lovely clean edge. With the YO as the second stitch you might want to add an extra knit stitch to both sides also. Good luck!
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I’m rather inept with sea silk. Twisted Vines is looking so good. That’s going to be one lovely sweater!
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I doesn’t even look sloppy to me, so I’m no help. Hope you get it looking like you want it.
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Kim- Any lace in progress is SO exciting.
…I have to go lay down now.
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Catching up on your posts – happy holidays to you!
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The easiest way to make the edges match is to just start every row with K1, YO, and end each row with K2 on the knit side and P2 on the purl side. You get the same visual effect on the edges, without the wafflies.
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I hope the above have help you sort out your edging worries. I think the extra stitch is the most likely option I would choose. Hope Christmas was fun fun fun.
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I don’t have any suggestions for tightening up your stitches, but I do have one for a shawl to be made with your sea silk. I knitted the Diamond Fantasy Shawl (the scarf version) with that yarn and I absolutely love it! It would be gorgeous in your colorway. Just a thought if the other doesn’t work.
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