Archive for January, 2008
January 5th, 2008 at 08:26am
Under Knitting and Crochet News+ Updates+ New Crochet Patterns
Here’s the latest project off of my crochet hook. I’ve been wearing it out lately and getting so many great compliments.
It’s actually crocheted from the neck down since my latest obsession are seam-free patterns! The top half is a pretty lacey shell stitch that has subtle differences that make it different from any basic shell stitch. The lower half is a more open crochet lace for contrast. The sleeves are 3/4 length with a slight flare at the cuffs.
The jacket is finished with GORGEOUS horn-like buttons with faux leather stitching on the front. An assymmetrical closure gives this jacket a beautiful look buttoned-up. Looks great open as well. Coming soon….
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
January 4th, 2008 at 01:44pm
Under Knitting and Crochet News+ Updates+ Yarn Store News
Visit the Knit Cafe here in Los Angeles and see my Lace Knit dress up close!
This is the Silk Evening Gown I designed and knit for Suzan’s Greetings from Knit Cafe book, which came out last year. It’s a great book and I’m thrilled to have worked with Suzan as a contributor.
So, if you are in the area, go check it out, as well as Suzan’s beautiful, cozy shop. The Knit Cafe is located at 8441 Melrose Ave., just East of La Cienega. More on the Knit Cafe at: http://www.knitcafe.com/
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
January 15th, 2008 at 11:00am
Under Knitting and Crochet News+ Updates
Dear Katherine,Attached are some photos of myself wearing the sweater knitted from your pattern, which I loved doing!
It was great fun, in part because your instructions were extremely detailed & clear all the way. I knitted it in Merinos Otto “Shadow”, an extrafine merino.
Oddly, I needed only about 800 yards, although I got the gauge you suggested. Also - I ended up modifying the neckline in a couple of ways; it felt too loose & floppy knitted in the same needle size as the body of the sweater, & the decreases at the front looked too angled…….so I did it over in 2 needle sizes down, twice as many rows, with decreases on alternate rows rather than on every row. It came out fitting perfectly.
I would note that I have felt like a walking advertisement for your website. I have had at least half a dozen women ask me how to get this pattern; I also had one offer to buy my sweater on the spot (the answer was no, but thanks…..).
I look forward to knitting more of your designs.
Pamela Yu
knitter in Austin, TX
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
January 15th, 2008 at 11:39am
Under Knitting Questions and How to+ Crochet Questions and How to+ Ask SweaterBabe
Here are two recent questions emailed to me. The second one on “reverse shaping” applies to knitting as well as crochet. . .
Dear SweaterBabe,
I recently bought a booklet with patterns. Currently I am knitting mittens and they say to knit 4 inches of stocking stitches. What is a stocking stitch?
– Francois C.
Dear Francois,
I believe Stocking Stitch is the same as Stockinette Stitch. So, it is just alternating knitting a row (on the Right side of your work) and purling a row (on the Wrong side of your work).
If you are working in the round, and the Right Side is ALWAYS facing you, then just knit every stitch on every row to get Stockinette Stitch.
– SweaterBabe
Dear SweaterBabe,
Hello! Please explain reverse shaping! Thanks!
– JoAnn S
Dear JoAnn,
Yes, the dreaded “reverse shaping!” When I see this in a pattern, I often cringe, even if just a little (because it means a little extra work for me!).
For example, if you just completed the LEFT FRONT of a cardigan, the instructions for the RIGHT FRONT may just simply say “Work as for LEFT FRONT, reversing all shaping.”
Yup, so now what?? Hopefully the shaping is not too complex. . .
First, I would hope (and strongly suggest!) that you keep good notes as you do the LEFT FRONT. Jot down EXACTLY which row you did the first bind off or decrease for the armhole (for example). Then, also jot down every row that you do any further decreasing or shaping for the armhole… Do this for any waist, neckline, shoulder, and any other shaping that is done in the pattern.
Then, when you do the RIGHT FRONT, you can easily refer to your notes and see that on Row X, you began shaping the armhole, then on Row Y you decreased some number of stitches at the armhole edge, etc.
To “Reverse Shaping”, you just do the same bind offs and decreases (or increases) at the same times, but on the other edge. For example, the “armhole edge” on the LEFT FRONT is the beginning of the row when you are on the Right Side of your work. The “armhole edge” on the RIGHT FRONT is at the END of the row when you are on the Right Side of your work.
So, if the armhole shaping starts with some initial bind off (like bind off 3 sts)… and you did this on Row 50 (a Right Side Row) of your LEFT FRONT… then you would be doing this on Row 51 (A Wrong Side Row) of your RIGHT FRONT.
Why? Because this initial bind off is only done at the beginning of a row. Staggering it by 1 row will not be noticable and this will mimic the “bind off 3 sts at the beg of the next 2 rows” that most likely started the armhole shaping of your BACK piece.
Then, if you did a decrease on every row 3 times, then every other row 3 times to complete the armhole shaping, you can go ahead and do the same now for the RIGHT FRONT, but be sure to do these decreases at the armhole edge, which is now on the opposite edge (of what it was for the LEFT FRONT).
This “reverse shaping” instruction can also appear for shoulder shaping. Same idea. Just do the same shaping steps, but do it at the other edge of your work.
Hope that explains it well enough! The key is really to keep good notes on the shaping as you go.
– SweaterBabe
Got a knitting or crochet question for SweaterBabe? Please email it to advice@sweaterbabe.com. Please do NOT post it here, as I can only answer those emailed to the address above.
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
January 23rd, 2008 at 09:56am
Under Knitting Questions and How to+ Ask SweaterBabe
Dear SweaterBabe,
I am knitting a cardigan and am working on the back piece from the bottom up. I am now starting to shape the armholes on both sides.
The instructions say to “Dec 1 st at the end of the next 3 rows, then on following 3 alternate rows, then on every following 4th row until 95 sts rem.” I understand the first 3 row decreases but what does “on following 3 alternate rows, then on every following 4th row” mean?
My interpretations skew all the decreases on one side which is not right. The decreases should be even on both sides. I would appreciate any help you can give.
Thank you. Emily W.
Dear Emily,
First, I actually think there is a typo. Most patterns will say “Dec 1 st at EACH end of the next 3 rows” so that shaping is happening on both ARMHOLES at the same time. If that is assumed, does it all work?
Assuming there is that typo, let me explain the rest.
Let’s pretend your first armhole shaping row is Row 100. This is what the instructions tell me to do:
“Dec 1 st at EACH end of the next 3 rows,…”:
Row 100: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
Row 101: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
Row 102: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
“then on following 3 alternate rows,…”:
Row 103: No decreasing.
Row 104: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
Row 105: No decreasing.
Row 106: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
Row 107: No decreasing.
Row 108: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
“then on every following 4th row until 95 sts rem.”:
Row 109: No decreasing.
Row 110: No decreasing.
Row 111: No decreasing.
Row 112: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
Row 113: No decreasing.
Row 114: No decreasing.
Row 115: No decreasing.
Row 116: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
Row 117: No decreasing.
Row 118: No decreasing.
Row 119: No decreasing.
Row 120: Dec 1 st at EACH end.
… etc. until you have 95 sts left. So, keep decreasing every 4th row (Row 124, 128, etc.) until you have 95 sts left.
I hope this then makes sense! I’m pretty sure that the typo is part of the problem…
Best,
SweaterBabe
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
January 23rd, 2008 at 08:53am
Under Knitting Questions and How to+ Ask SweaterBabe
Hi SweaterBabe,
I have just finished he main body of a baby cardigan and now have to pick up the stitches to make a border. I understand how to pick the stitches up but how do I start? How do I join on the wool in the first place? Thanks for any help.
– Caroley
Dear Caroley,
To begin picking up stitches, there are 2 ways I can suggest.
You can make a slip knot with the yarn from your ball. Then, use your knitting needle to pick up the first stitch by pulling the slip knot loop through the fabric. This is then your first picked up stitch.
OR, you can skip the slip knot. Just insert your knitting needle where you with the pick up the first stitch, wrap your yarn around the needle tip (as if you were knitting), and pull it through. You are almost just hanging the yarn from the needle tip and holding it tight enough so the needle tip can get it through your fabric.
With this second method, the yarn will be loose (not anchored in any way). Just keep picking up stitches and the tail that is left behind where you started is just another loose end that needs to be secured and woven in during the finishing step of the sweater.
Hope that explains it well enough!
Happy knitting.
SweaterBabe
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:29am
Under Knitting Questions and How to+ Crochet Questions and How to+ Ask SweaterBabe
Dear SweaterBabe,
I know I am in over my head, but I can never seem to understand some patterns.
This is for an afghan.
Cast on 219 sts. work seed st for 2 (I am guessing this is 2 rows.)
Next row; work 7 seed sts over next 205 sts, increasing 21 evenly spaced;(where did the 205 sts come from I thought we were working with 219 sts?)work 7 seed sts–240 sts.
Help !! I thought myself to knit and for some reason I really have a hard time with some patterns, what am I missing?
–Brenda Morton
Dear Brenda,
I’m wondering if your pattern is just missing a LOT of punctuation!
Here is my best guess to what it is saying:
Cast on 219 sts. work seed st for 2
I think it might mean 2″ OR 2 Rows. Is there no photo to go with the afghan? You should be able to see if there is a 2″ seed stitch border at the beginning or what just looks like 2 rows.
Next row; work 7 seed sts over next 205 sts, increasing 21 evenly spaced;(where did the 205 sts come from I thought we were working with 219 sts?)work 7 seed sts–240 sts.
This reads to me: Work seed st over next 7 sts, then increase 21 sts evenly across the next 205 sts, work seed st over the remaining 7 sts.
The 7 sts on either side are for the seed stitch border. Assuming this is probably close to 2″, I actually now believe the first instruction above is to do seed stitch for 2″ to get a border that is the same width all around.
To calculate how to increase 21 sts evenly across 205 sts, you need to do some math:
205/21 = 9.76. So, if you were to increase after every 9th st, that would not be so even since 21 x 9 = 189, which still leaves 205 - 189 = 16 sts to work. Looks like you need to do something like increase every alternating 9th and 10th stitch to have it be more evenly across. [Note, at this point, if you are not so concerned about it being SO even, you can do the increase after every 9th st and be done with the math.] ALSO, when I say “increase after a stitch,”, I am assuming the “make 1″ increase technique.
If you map that out, it looks like this:
Seed st for 7 sts; [work 9 sts, m1, work 10 sts, m1] 10 times, work 15 sts; seed st for 7 sts.
I would probably take the 15 sts at the one end and the 9 sts at the other end and split it out better…
Seed st for 7 sts; work 12 sts, [m1, work 10 sts, m1, work 9 sts] 10 times, work 3 sts; seed st for 7 sts.
I’m saying “work” because I’m not clear from the pattern if you are still in seed stitch for the 205 sts or in some other stitch pattern!
Unfortunately, this seems like a poorly written pattern. I would not be surprised if you encounter more confusing instructions as you keep going. I HIGHLY recommend that you read through the rest and see if it makes sense. If it really doesn’t, consider finding another pattern! To me, it’s not worth the aggravation to work through a pattern that is just NOT written with clear instructions.
Hope that helps!
Best,
SweaterBabe
By Katherine aka SweaterBabe