New Videos Today - Entrelac Introduction

I love to knit Entrelac.  It's fun, and it makes fascinating designs.  While I realize not everyone is an Entrelac nut like me, I think most people would enjoy knitting it - a lot - if they'd just give it a try. 

Now that I've demonstrated it live a few times, I've watched the reaction most knitters have - they're surprised at how easy it is.
I've got a video up today with a little project especially for people who have never tried Entrelac. 

There are two basic methods of machine knit Entrelac that I use.  There's the "no waste yarn" method which I used in "EZ Entrelac." The "no waste yarn" method uses needles in hold and stitches on a stitch holder.  After lots of experiments, I hit on the idea of using a fine gauge circular needle for a stitch holder.  This is fast, and it works so well, I wrote a pattern book to teach it.  That book has 2 hours of hi-def video with it, and I needed it all to show how to do the blocks, triangles all around, and making up of the project, which is a lined tote bag. 

Then, in the book "Wear Your Diamonds" uses another method - the waste yarn method.  This method is popular, and I use it in certain situations.  You'll love this method for very large projects that won't fit across the knitting machine, and also for knitting Entrelac without side seams (a big tube), which is basically what the circular yokes are.  The waste yarn is not the mess you might imagine - you keep recycling the pieces.

"Wear Your Diamonds" teaches shaped Entrelac, where you vary the size of the blocks to change the shape of the knitting, and it teaches a special transition from stockinette to Entrelac which conquers the gauge problem (Entrelac is super wide).  It has a cute hat project, where you learn the technique, and then you dive into the circular, round yoke pullovers. 

I re-edited the hat video, which is the simplest Entrelac project in that book, and couldn't get it down to less than 3 YouTube videos (10 minute limit). 

So, I came up with a new project.  I'm using the waste yarn method because it's the fastest to demo, and I'm just making a square pillow.  Bulky yarn.  Simple, simple, and not a huge time commitment to knit (I made two of them in three knitting sessions).  This video was short enough, under 14 minutes, to split into two brief videos.