There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
I’m using Malabrigo sock in Azul Profundo and Cascade Heritage in white on US0 9”- circulars.
Being diligent about making sure yarns are held for the desired color dominance, and I am trapping floats on the following row to see if that reduces puckering. Beautiful design as always from Erica Heusser. Look at the detail of the bird wing ❤️
Almost at the top - twisted rib and then will use the invisible rib bind-off! Love that bind-off - one of my faves and so clever!
Trapping on the following row is definitely less prone to the situation when you trap the float in the same column on multiple rows. I have done that so many times unintentionally - and then you DEFINITELY see the other color. So annoying!
So here is my take of the Pro's of trapping on the row itself: * Floats seem "tidier" on the back. It's the WS, so maybe no one will ever look at it, but I will - ha ha - so I still notice it. * Easier to keep track of the floats bc you force yourself to trap them as you go along.
Con's: * I think I knit more tightly when I trap on the row itself. The mittens seem less stretchy. This might actually be a plus if you want the knitting to be snugger. * When I trap on the row itself, even when the float is "loose," there is still a pucker on the RS. It's more apparent on the lighter color (which usually for me is the CC). Darker color looks ok. For all I know, there's pucker on the darker color, but I just don't notice it bc the yarn is dark.
Pro's of trapping on the following row: * Seems to have less pucker / tension appearing on the RS (but strangely my overall knitting seems a little less consistent) * Less susceptible to trapping in the same column on successive rows
Con's of trapping on the following row: * I'm used to trapping on the row itself, so when I am supposed to trap on the following row, sometimes I FORGET and then i have knit many rows before I realize it and have super long floats. Boo! I've never ripped back to catch floats I missed, so I just end up tying it down at the end. Totally defeats the purpose of catching the floats in the first place! * Trapped floats look a big jumble
Whoa - I wrote a novel. People's preference might be different if you carry both yarns two-handed (English and Continental) vs always using the same hand. Let me know if this makes sense! Better techniques and feedback always welcome!
(Oh yeah - full confession, I trapped floats on the FOLLOWING ROW in the bottom 1/2 of this mitten and then went to trapping floats on the row itself on the top 1/2 because I wanted the mitten to be a little tighter around the hand. You can see the pucker(or rather, the divot) near the armpit of the birdwing. There... I've confessed. I feel better now!)