Friday, February 10, 2012

In Praise of the Lowly Garter Stitch!

I found myself today at the doctor's office. We won't dwell on the utter pain in the nether regions it is to drive down to Hartford, find a spot in the hospital ramp garage, and then sit around for ages, waiting for my doctor. He's an absolutely wonderful neurologist, but today he was running woefully behind schedule...

Anyway, I had brought (yet another) Special Olympics scarf to work on (thank heavens, as I definitely had the TIME). I decided to use up the last remaining yarn by doubling it and making my infamous "Scarf from He**" which can be found at:

http://wildknitter.blogspot.com/2011/04/scarf-from-he-finally-done-pattern.html

I have to say, it looks really nice in red and blue--I figure I'm going to trim it in the red.

ANYWAY, I was happily knitting away when a woman came into the doctor's office and remarked favorably on my scarf. Immediately, instead of simply thanking her, I had to launch into a lengthy dissertation to defend my choice of garter stitch. "Really," I declared, "I'm really capable of much more complicated work! I can cable and everything! I make socks, too! I'm just doing this because I knew it would be a quick knit..." I went on and on.

Afterwards, I had to stop and consider. WHY am I defending my great love of garter stitch??? I know it's the stitch of grade-school children, but it's also the basis for Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch, Inspiration & Instruction. I think we can all agree that she turns out a mean pattern. I just love the soft, bouncy, squishiness of garter stitch. Blankets, scarves, and casual sweaters made from it are just so cozy. I love to make scarves where I stripe garter stitch vertically, which makes a nice effect. I'd love to try a log cabin afghan someday, as that's more garter stitching!

So, what is your favorite knitting stitch, and why?

P.S. I was mortified to find that if you Google "Scarf from he**" and "WildKnitter" my pattern comes right up...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 comments:

  1. You know, I'm falling more and more in love with garter stitch too. I love how different it can look depending on how you use it. I recently joined the For the Love of Garterstitch group on Ravelry and I'm finding the projects of others so inspiring. I recently finished the Sothia Shawl and I'm planning to do Salene next. And actually, I think that the reason some people don't like garter stitch is because they don't do it well -- there's a knack to getting a smooth garter stitch and when you do, the results are wonderful!

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  2. Don't forget Knit One Knit All.

    I would have to say that my favorite stitch would be feather and fan, even if it isn't the most used.

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