A leash for Ralf
I like to knit while Fred drives. Looking for a project recently I realized I had some leftover cotton yarn, a pair of number 7 double pointed knitting needles and Ralf could use a new leash. Cool beans. Here’s what I did:
Got a clip hook at a hardware store. I used a bowline knot (recommended by Fred, the former sailor) to attach the yard to the clip hook’s base, keeping it fairly loose.
Next, I wound five very loose loops around the base. Here’s comes the hardest part. Holding the loose loops in place with a couple of fingers, I knitted five stitches using those loose loops. This might have been easier using a #5 needle but only had #7 needles. Done! Now just knit, knit, and knit a tube.
A reminder of how to knit a tube – knit straight across the stitches on your double-point needles. When you get to the end, leave the yarn in back of your work and start knitting at the beginning of the row. There is no flip, turning, and messing around. In two or three rows you’ll see the tube begin to form.
When the tube was about five feet long, I switch to the traditional knit a row/purl a row pattern for a few rows. On a knit row, I knitted a stitch on the front of the loop and knitted a stitch on the back of the same loop. This back stitch was slipped onto a holder, giving me five stitches on a needle and five stitches on the holder. I continued with a purl row/knit row pattern for another 15 to 17 inches.
Holding wrong sides together, I used the Kitchener method to weave the two sets of stitches together. For a little extra insurance, the sides were whipped the edges together.
Doesn’t Ralf look handsome wearing his new leash?
