Monday, March 30, 2009

SSK love.

I have always hated my ssk sock gusset sides. As a matter of fact, when using a k2tog decrease on one side of something and a ssk on the other side...I have never been satisfied with it. The k2tog is always so neat looking...but I just could never get a nice even leaning ssk line. Well, not until now!

With missing out on the friday knit and chats last week, I had to make up for the time. I met some ladies at starbucks in the morning for just that. Karen from SWK came out and was talking about Cat Bordhi's neat and tidy ssk method. Hmmmm. Makes sense...this may work!

Nonno knits did a little experiment with left slant decreases way back when. I remember taking a look, trying a couple, but still not getting that perfect line. I have tried the slip one knitwise, then slip one purlwise....no good. I tried knitting tighter on the ssk line by working them at the tip of the needle...no good...but on the right track! You see the magic is worked on the line before the row!

I have not seen anything that compares to Cat Bordhi's technique demonstrated in this video.

Absolutely brilliant.
Watch it a few times. At first you may be thinking
"seriously...you want me to remember doing something a stitch before the ssk...and on the round before."
Don't worry, after doing a couple rounds it actually becomes habit.

I had just turned a heel (one I didn't really love) on the yarrow ribbed socks. So, I decided to rip back a bit and reknit the gusset...CB style! The results are just outstanding.

CB ssk

I actually can't tell the difference between the ssk side of the gusset and the k2tog side.
(I also changed the heel a smidge...bringing the leg pattern down)

k2tog ssk

I am totally amazed...this is the best thing that has happened to my knitting in a long time. Some of you may not be bothered by the sloppy look of a regular ssk gusset...but for those of you who are a little OCD or who are perfectionists....this is the technique for you!

Oh the benefits of Knit and Chats! Everyone has something to offer...the smallest thing can make your day!
Thanks Karen...and Cat Bordhi!

14 comments:

grumperina said...

As you know, I'm an OCD knitter, and the video about the Hungry Stitch was very interesting. But you know, I don't think I'm insane enough to actually put this into practice, haha! Out outshine me, Carolyn!

Stephanie said...

Well, ... wow. I love that. I'm anal enough to actually do that. I'm not ripping out the sock I'm currently working on, but I will be trying it on my next sock. That Cat Bordhi always comes up with the best techniques (her short-row wrap picking up directions made a huge difference for me).

Dianna said...

Awesome! HS on my next socks! Never to get fed new yarn.....

thank you for bringing it to our attention.

Brenda said...

I'm in SSK heaven. Thank you for sharing.

Annette said...

Thanks for sharing!

DPUTiger said...

Cat demonstrated "Hungry Stitch" in the workshop I took with her back in November. Thank goodness her philosophy is that "everyone should know the good stuff" rather than "you must pay to learn this directly from me."

I want to be Cat when I grow up.

Oh, and I successfully executed Hungry Stitch while knitting flat on my vest-in-progress. Yay!

Ühltje said...

I am soo going to do this on my next pair of socks!

Cloudberry said...

I've never liked my ssk either.
Thanks for sharing, I'm going to try this on my next pair of socks :)

margaux said...

Ahh the Hungry Stitch!! Excellent!

Maureen said...

Love this technique...I'm a perfectionist (which means I frog more than I knit some days!) and I can't wait to try this! Thanks so much for sharing!

Anonymous said...

This is the best idea ever. I won't rip out any of my projects now but I'll certainly start using it for the SSK's I need in the future.

Patty said...

Oh I generally hate they way the gusset looks too! Thanks so much for the post!

KeanaLee said...

this post just went to my favorites for future reference

Anonymous said...

Gave it a try on a sock toe, and finally contented myself with only knitting the next row of the ssk through the back loop. It still leaves the previous stitch a little loose, but the result is better and good enough for me for now. Maybe on a sweater I'd try the whole megillah, but a sock toe? Thanks for the connection.