Page 11 - Knit Now - Issue 112 (January 2020)

ASK THE EXPERTS

Anna asks…

I love knitting simple
striped hats in the round
to use up my leftover yarn,
but I don’t like the jump
where I change colours. Is
there anything I can do to
create a smoother line?
Knitting teacher Debbie says...

Absolutely! The two-stranded jogless stripe technique is
really easy and satisfying. Circular knitting is a subtle spiral,
as there is always a slight step between the last stitch of
one round and rst stitch of next round. Barely noticeable
with ne yarn and plain knitting or multicoloured yarn, this
step can be more obvious with stripes. Referred to as a
‘jog’, there are several ways to minimise the visibility of this
jog effect. This method works better with two similar colours
and can be bulky with thicker yarn , but is simple and quite
neat. On large garments where shortening would be more
noticeable, this method is a good choice.

Step 1: In colour A (pink),
knit required number
of rounds.

Step 2: Change to B
(blue), but knit next
Karen asks… stitch with both A and B.
Pull old colour (A) to back
and continue knitting in
My friend and I were looking
new yarn (B).
at a ‘Tencel’ blend yarn she
bought recently and we were
wondering whether it’s a
natural or synthetic bre. Can
you help? Step 3: Having knitted
the rst stitch with
Technical Editor Tricia says… both strands, both will
be visible, however, this
is dealt with on the
That’s a good question! Depending on your
perspective it is both. Tencel is made from next round.
regenerated cellulose bres, normally wood pulp.
Essentially the cellulose (plant bre) is broken
down by a series of processes into a ‘goop’. This
is then extruded through a spinneret (a bit like an Step 4: At end of round,
industrial shower head) and drawn into a bre. This bre is then used to knit strand in old colour
make Tencel yarn and fabric. Rayon, Lyocell and viscose are also produced (A) together with new
in a similar way and surprisingly, some have been around since the early colour (B). Continue
1900s! So, to answer your question, Tencel starts life as a natural bre knitting as normal.
but has to go through many of the processes similar to a synthetic bre in
order to turn it into yarn, hence why some knitters regard it as a synthetic
whereas other consider it to be a natural bre.

Got a kni ing dilemma for the team? Email expert@knitnowmag.co.uk with your questions!

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