When Carter and Herbert discovered the entrance to King Tut’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings (1922), they knew they had unearthed something important that had to be shared with the world. They didn’t build or invent the tomb, only uncovered it for the rest of the world to appreciate.
That’s how I felt when I discovered a new knitting technique that I call Invisible Stranding…only on a smaller scale. Okay, a much smaller scale. Okay, the analogy is overwrought and ridiculous. BUT, I felt really excited about it and wanted to share it with the world. Okay, the knitting world.
Invisible Stranding allows you to carry yarn across any number of stitches without catching the floats. Catching floats creates a visible pucker in your knitting and often allows the other color to show through. Invisible Stranding eliminates these problems and leaves the knitting smooth.
I was particularly interested in this method because of the Dale of Norway sweater I have been working on for the past few years 🙁 . The carries on some rounds were greater than 30 sts and that was a problem. Everything I tried looked awful. But then I used this technique and it worked perfectly. No dimples, no puckers, no color showing through.
In order to share my discovery, I needed a vehicle, so I decided to design a hat pattern. Hats are small projects. 🙂 I used worsted weight yarn. 🙂 And only two colors. 🙂 My goal was to focus on the technique, not get side tracked with other design elements. Plus, Malabrigo Merino Worsted feels like cashmere. 🙂
The result is my It’s Not About the Hat Pattern which is available on Ravelry.
The pattern comes in 5 sizes, and both standard and slouchy fit. I charted the color motif and also wrote it out line by line. There are YouTube video tutorials for all aspects of the technique.
So this is what I have been working on the last few weeks! It feels good to get it off my plate and out into the world! 🙂
Response to question from PurrlGurrl: PurrlGurrl asked if a newbie to fair isle/stranded knitting could attempt this project. I agree with what Sally said about it being for people who are already familiar with stranded knitting. No attempt is made to walk the knitter through stranded knitting. It is only meant to introduce people to an advanced, additional approach to the knitter’s toolbox.
BUT, that said, there is nothing stopping someone from trying it!! There are multiple youtube videos that demonstrate the entire process start to finish!
