How to Use a Lifeline in Knitting

If you’ve been knitting for a while (or a LONG while, like I have) you may understandably feel pretty confident in your skills. If you are like me, this might cause you to be a little cocky when it comes to trying new things, sure that not only will you get it on the first try, but it will also be easy for you.

Sometimes this will work out fine, and sometimes karma will come back to get you.

You can probably guess what kind of project I’m talking about right now.

I offered to knit a special project for someone, using a stitch pattern I probably never would have chosen, and while it probably shouldn’t have been as hard as it was, I just kept messing it up. And because it was a pattern full of yarn overs and slipped stitches, when I messed up I’d have to rip all the way back because every time I tried to pick up stitches I just messed it up more, or started knitting again on the wrong row and messed up the stitch pattern.

I was humbled.

Also, I was reminded of the knitter’s best friend in situations like this: the lifeline.

A lifeline is just a piece of yarn or thread that you run through your stitches, just below the needle, on a row you know you’ve worked correctly. If or when you make a mistake in a future row, you can easily rip back to that row that you know is correct without any fear of dropping stitches or losing yarn overs or other fancy stitches.

This is a great thing to do when you are learning a new to you technique like cables, lace or brioche. (The pattern I was struggling with was a brioche variation.) It gives you a little insurance that your mistakes won’t be fatal, and it helps you keep track of your progress, which can be super motivating when learning new things.

Check out how to use a lifeline over at Our Daily Craft. I’d love to hear your stories about using a lifeline, especially if you have a “should have used a lifeline” story, too!

Next Pattern:

You probably know by now if you’re a regular reader (and if you’re not, welcome!) that I love a knitting pattern that’s a little silly or a little different from the usual. Classic patterns are great, too, but sometimes you just want to make something with a bit of whimsy. And when it’s super functional, too, that’s even better.

That’s the case with the Bananen-Socken pattern from Susanne Shahin. These banana socks are one of those patterns no one seems to be totally sure where it came from, and this free pattern on Ravelry explains how she makes them based on how she learned it.

It’s a sock that’s curved and when not on a foot it looks rather like a banana. There’s no heel, and you can use whatever number of stitches you need to make it fit your foot. If you’ve knit enough socks to know how many stitches you like you can just use that number, or the pattern notes include sizing charts to help. (It needs to be multiples of 2 for the ribbing.)

After working a traditional cuff, the body is made with ribbing on the back and welts (or what the pattern calls horizontal ribbing) on the front, which is what gives it the curved shape. There’s no heel, but there is toe shaping, but for the leg and the foot you just keep working the same pattern as long as you like.

I’m a little skeptical about how these socks will feel with ribbing on the bottom of the foot, but I’m definitely intrigued and will probably give them a try.

The pattern notes are available on Ravelry in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. If you head to the pattern page you can see a photo of what it looks like on a foot, and it just looks like a normal sock.

Have you ever knit banana socks or do you want to now? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Susanne Shahin]

Next Pattern:

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