Rhythmic Knit Along Hints and Tips - Week Two

I would be lying if I said I found this week of the KAL easy. At first sight this is a simple fair-isle square but wow what a tangle I made of it! 

You follow a chart for this square. Charts can be very divisive however I love them. They provide a visual representation of the stitch pattern making it easier to understand and follow. Plus they are quicker to memorise when compared to written patterns. If you are nervous about charts in knitting then this simple square is a great place to start. Please don’t let charts stop you making a project. 

1.  I worked my squares using the two handed fair-isle technique on knit rows and then a clumsy picking up and dropping yarns on the purl row.
2. Remember when using a chart, always read them from right to left.
3. Again my yarns were tangled on the purl row so untwist them at the end of every row.
4. I caught the yarn float (the colour you are not using) every three stitches initially. However I realised I was then pulling the yarns too tightly. So I simply stranded across the five stitches after this and it gave me a much neater square.
   
   

One of the joys of this blanket is that you are only making a few squares of each. So if one of the weeks of the Rhythmic KAL is not your thing you will soon be moving on to another pattern.