Knitting Minutiae

Here's my version of the little garter shawl that was all the rage at Knitting Camp this year. Cheryl Oberle handed out copies of the pattern last year and several knitters had made and were wearing them this July. And, I watched as flying fingers Marge knit hers in two days flat and was able to wear it home. More copies of the pattern were made for some of us first time Oft-timers. I cast on the night I got home, but obviously, mine took awhile to finish.

The yarn is Meg's new alpaca/wool blend in a heathery purple mix color. It is very soft and even though I'm not ready for summer to end just yet, I'm looking forward to wearing it on the first crisp fall day.
The shawl has a very clever way of fastening--a tube of ribbing that allows for one of the shawl ends to slip through.

It's knit from one shawl end (or tail) to the other with some short row shaping around the neck garter edge. The original version was more of a shoulder shawl. It only reached about elbow length and had more of a straight edge across the back as the stitch count didn't change once you got into the body of the shawl. I made mine according to Marge's modifications (with some input from Charlie Hada, I think) and the gentle sloping shape are formed by making additional increases across the back.
The additional increases were made with the new unvented increase that Meg showed us how to do. She said she learned it from Shirley Grade of the Yarn House in Elm Grove, WI--a long standing Milwaukee area knit shop. As with any increase, there are certain instances it will be more useful for than others, but it's just another example of the knitting minutiae that campers partake in. If you've no interest in technique, then read no further.

I'm not sure just who named it, but several campers were calling it the Wisconsin increase, I guess because that's where it was unvented. As an aside, I love that word--unvented.

It's worked similarly to a bar increase. You know the one--Knit into the front, then the back of a stitch.
For the WI increase--Knit into the front of the stitch, then places the tip of the right needle into the back of the stitch (or as to purl, it will turn out the same) but instead of knitting it, just slip the loop off the left needle and onto the right one.
On the next row, you'll need to work that increase part of the stitch (the loop you just slipped over) through the back of the loop. Otherwise, it will look like a big mistake in your knitting and you will be unhappy.

If worked properly, the increase is hidden nicely behind the stitch it is made from as you can see on the swatch on the right. I'm not sure I would always use this increase, but it does eliminate the purl looking blip which occurs with the bar increase used in the swatch on the left. So, in some instances where that specific increase is called for, the WI inc would be a good substitute.

Since the shawl was only increased along one edge, it didn't need a corresponding mirror but this is how I'd work it if I wanted one. It's a little different than what I have written down in my camp notes, but it's a definite possibility that this is what was said at camp and I just wrote it down wrong. :) For the mirror of the WI increase--Place the tip of the right needle into the next stitch as if to knit and then keeping the right leg of that stitch on the right needle, rotate the tip around and insert it into the stitch again and knit it. Of course, do not exaggerate the motion this much or you will have a very distorted stitch.

My notes say to go into the back of the stitch twice and then knit it the second time, but this leaves a twisted stitch in the row below that doesn't make me happy. Of course, a mirror isn't always needed, and if it is, there are other increase options.

And, isn't it always good to have options.