Alligator Scarf from Knitting Under the Influence of Nancy

When you say...

So I'm knitting an alligator.

Let's just start with the entertainment value of that sentence.  It's grand fun to say, although it does get you funny looks.  Good thing I'm used to funny looks.  The novelty comes from the dichotomy between the basic images that come to mind when you say knitting (warm, cozy, comforting) and when you say alligator (predatory, man-eating, sneaky reptile).  You run from alligators, not knit them.  Unless you're an old lady from the 1920's, in which case you make purses from them.

But I digress.  Which I'm good at.

At first glance, this looks like a complex project.  You're essentially knitting in three dimensions, which always feels like it will make your head hurt.  Fret not, for this alligator doesn't have much of a bite--the impressive effect is achieved with mostly garter stitch and simple increases and decreases.  Okay, there's a tiny bit of cast-on in there, too.  As a matter of fact if you have a young person who is ready to take their knitting beyond just knit and purl, this would be an ideal project for mastering increase and decrease skills.

I do find the hollow eyes a bit creepy.  If I catch this out of the corner of my eye, I think the thing is looking at me.  I don't mind gazing at my knitting, but I take issue when my knitting stares back.  I've been considering finding some google-eye buttons, but I can't decide if that would make it better or worse (feel free to chime in with your opinion).

Knit Along: Noro Legwarmers from Yarn Company - Day 3

Stitch literacy...

Especially with a simple pattern, it’s fun to get to the point in your craft where you don’t have to keep staring at a paper.  It’s rather like that magical moment where you can cook without a recipe...it somehow feels more like art, less like science when you’re not continually peering at written instructions.   

Memorizing a simple repeating pattern is only half the battle.  You’ve got to be able to look at your knitting and see where you are.  My friend calls this “stitch literacy.”  

These leg warmers are a perfect example.  “Increase one on each side every 10 rows” (or in the case of my chunky calves, every six rows) doesn’t tax many brain cells.  You can either employ a stitch counter--and there are scads of adorable or practical ones--or you can learn to count your rows visually.  

Here my needle is pointing to the knit-one-in-front-and-in-back increase.  It’s that purl-looking loop snuggled in between the two columns of knit stitches below it.  Now, if you go by my favorite adage that “knit stitches wear v-necks and purl stitches wear turtlenecks,” you can count the v-necks up from that loop to know you’ve done your six rows.  

Remember, however, to count the stitch on your needle.  This means five v’s in your knitting with the sixth around your needle.  Here I’ve simulated that so you can count up yourself.  See?  It’s not that hard.  And you’ll feel oh-so-skilled when you can pick up your knitting and know exactly where you left off--even if your toddler has made off with your stitch counter because it’s shaped like a sheep and he was playing farm.