The Ring Cycle

I wrote about how I use ring markers. Here are more details.

First of all, I put tails on them.

Here's how to add the tails. Cut a short length of yarn, fold it in half, and put the folded half through the hole of the ring.

Now you have two choices. You can pull the loose ends through the yarn loop.

Pull and tighten.

Or else, you can fold the loop down on the tail.

Now take the ring and pull up away from the tails, which will tighten it..

Either way, you end up with a nice tail.

Here's how it looks on the needle.

This way, the loop never jumps off your needle.

You can use the tail for counting rows. For example, when I am making right angles in stockinette stitch and have to decrease on two out of every three rows, I use the tail to help me count, weaving it in front on two rows, and then behind on the third. That way, when I put the piece down, I always know where I am on the decreasing.

The tail can be used similarly for counting for cable turns, or for counting to make two sides equal. When I am making zig-zags, or segments with several angles, I use red rings for increase points and blue rings for decrease points, so I always remember what to do.

In the meantime, here is my current progress. I thought I was going to make this three squares tall, but two seems large enough.

It's going quickly. The green has been surprising -- even though I am knitting with two ends, they have turned out to be in sync, so it looks like one yarn. The long color change also makes each segment look different. However, now that I have several segments, I like the effect.