A Bit of Bragging

Not to brag, but nona has greatly improved her ribbing.  I hate to admit it, but for years I've had a problem with saggy, loose knit stitches.  The culprit stitch has always been the knit stitch just preceding a purl stitch.  Luckily, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts alerted me to my problem.  In her insightful book, Knitting in the Old Way, PGR discusses the "three fundamental approaches" to creating knit fabric -- much talk about stitch mounts and working methods -- a must read.  Anyway, most of us in the US use the "Western" method of knitting.  In this method, the right leg of the knit stitch sits in front of the needle and the knitter wraps her yarn counter clockwise.  According to PGR:

When you wrap a Western knit stitch, the yarn comes in a straight line from the last stitch made; when you wrap a Western purl stitch, the yarn must cross the needle at an angle.  Thus the amount of yarn wrapped for a purl stitch is slightly longer than that for a knit stitch.

Light bulb!  Perhaps my ribbing problem was due to the purl stitch's extra bit of yarn allowing my knit stitch to get baggy?  To make a purl stitch using the same amount of yarn as a knit stitch, wrap the yarn in the opposite direction -- clockwise.  Wrapping clockwise causes the new stitch's left leg to sit in front of the needle.  So be careful, the next time you encounter this stitch, you'll need to knit (or purl) it through the back loop.

So listen carefully and I'll tell you my ribbing secret.  When purling the first stitch after a knit stitch, wrap the yarn clockwise instead of counter clockwise.  And remember, when you encounter a "twisted" stitch -- a stitch with its left leg in front of the needle instead of its right leg -- knit (or purl) that stitch through the back loop.

Why all this talk about ribbing?  Well nona has finished the big chunk of 3x3 ribbing in her Leftover Vest and is onto the first stripe color.

Ribbing done, time to start the stripes.  Let the fun begin!