This clue took me longer because I got sick! Ug! I think I have my daughter to thank for it, since she returned to school a little more than a week ago, and we all know schools are basically Petri dishes of germs.
Off to clue 5! Hopefully I can zip through it!
Notice the brown line? That’s a lifeline! See? I do use them! 🙂
I made the above stitch markers to help me keep track of individual stitches as I knit. I find them really helpful, especially in patterns when the stitches are really small. They are real helpful when designing your own pattern!
They aren’t hard to make, nor are they terribly expensive. All you need are shrinking plastic, permanent markers in several colors, a single hole punch, scissors, Locking stitch markers, and a shape to trace that is about two inches by two inches (I used a salt shaker which has an octagon for the bottom).
So, yesterday, I talked about what a lifeline was and why it was important. I failed to mention how to insert a lifeline.
You’re thinking there is only one way to put in a lifeline, right? Thread a needle with some contrasting color yarn (I use lace weight yarn! You can use dental floss, embroidery thread, etc, what ever you have at hand!) and carefully weave it into all the live stitches (missing ALL of your stitch markers, don’t forget!). You can certainly do it that way, the hard way, but some interchangeable needle companies have come up with cheats.
A lifeline is a scrap piece of thread or yarn, threaded through your work, as a holding point. It is used to protect your work from dropped stitches, and if you have to frog your work back if you have an error.
Here is a youtube video by Knitpicks.com that goes through exactly what it is and why a lifeline is important:
Here is part of side one. It is two repeats of the ten. I did the close up shot so you can see the details better. The length of the entire clue is about 30 inches. Now onto clue two!
One of my favorite knitting activities are MKALs or Mystery Knit alongs. I’m currently in one by The Unique Sheep called “Once and Future King” which started on July 17. The way a Mystery Knit along works is you get the pattern piecemeal, usually bits of it a week apart, giving you time to work on the bit you were given. I’m a little behind on this MKAL, as I’m still working on the first clue, and the second clue was released on the 24th. Once I get the clue done, I’ll post a picture of the completed clue.