Look Ma! No Holes! Part Two

Used to be, way back in the Dark Ages when I first learned to crochet, that the way you worked decreases was simple: You just skipped the next stitch and worked your next stitch in the one after. This resulted in the tiniest of holes, but that was no matter, because crochet is about the holes, sometimes, and that was the way it was and everyone was used to it.

OLD WAY-

Ready to begin a decrease row:



Work the first stitch, skip the second:



How the fabric looks with the 3rd and 4th stitches then worked:


A bit of a hole there, huh, between the first and second sts worked?

So with the recent proliferation of new crochet books and magazines, I have been seeing a wealth of new techniques for conquering the same old tasks. I love this one for making a decrease but keeping a nice, evenly textured fabric. It couldn't be more easy!

NEW WAY-

To work a single crochet decrease, draw up a loop in the stitch to be decreased:



Draw a loop up in the stitch to be worked:



Yarn over, and draw through all loops on the hook:



Decrease accomplished, and a neat fabric results:


That one stitch where the decrease was worked is a tiny bit thicker looking that the others, but we know that because we're looking for it. Otherwise, it is absolutely perfect!

Well, as I write this, I imagine things are absolute pandemonium at Kiwi right now. Today is the last day of the Anniversary sale, and if yesterday was any indication while I was there for Knit Doctor, then I cannot imagine how busy today is! Mind you, I and everyone else even remotely associated with Kiwi LOVE this! My selfish reason is that I get to have a yarn shop that I love to both shop and work in. My selfless reason is that I think Lynn is wonderful and I wish her all the best. As anyone who has had a small business can tell you, making it through those first three years is critical, and now Kiwi has done that, and more.

I've told you that when Lynn first opened Kiwi I was working at another yarn shop that has now closed. I heard about Kiwi, and didn't even pass Go, let alone wait to collect $200. I called my husband up on the cell phone, swung by the house to pick him up, and we went straight down to Kiwi. I really loved the feel of the shop, and Lynn was so friendly, that I found myself offering to hold the fort and keep the shop open when she went to her daughter's wedding (I think it was her daughter... was it her son? Hmmm...) up in the cold northern reaches.

One of the three days I was there, a few women came in - all separately - and at some point in their wanderings around, they started a conversation in the front room in front of the register. It turned out that they had children's ages in common, schools in common, and who knows what else! They stayed and chatted for over an hour, and I just knew right then and there that Kiwi Knitting would be a great success. I've worked in a lot of retail and service business in my time, and I know that a place that creates a sense of community is rare, and that anytime you make people feel at home in your space, you've got a winner.

So, speaking for myself - but I have no doubt Lynn would agree - I thank you all for being part of making Kiwi what it is. It is such a pleasure to meet so many wonderful people as part of my work experience, it is so much fun and so darned interesting to be part of your projects and processes, and it is such a privilege to teach you, and an honor to turn more of you into fiberholics every day. I also thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such faithful readers of the Kiwi blog.

If you have any questions for the Kiwi blog, or suggestions for topics, please drop me a line at Lynda@Kiwiknitting.com