| Anne Scott-James RIP |
[16 May 2009|12:45pm] |
I loved this paragraph from her obituary this week, about her first job at Vogue magazine in 1934
She got the job none the less, on the strength of her claim (untrue) to be an experienced knitter. An early assignment was to unravel and remake a baby's knitted jumper sent in by an irate reader; the jumper had been made without a hole for the head because of an error in the Vogue knitting pattern. Soon she was unravelling and reknitting all manner of misfits. Later she became beauty editor.
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| Dipping into pattern design |
[01 May 2009|11:32am] |
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mood |
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 confused |
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Recently, I was asked to design some sock patterns for an acquaintance. Now, I've written my own patterns before, taught classes on sizing and designing socks, and feel pretty confident about the whole thing, but the (ought to be) simple process of converting a written pattern (a la Barbara Walker) to a circlular chart is driving me up the wall! There's a section on how to do this in Cookie A's Sock Innovation, but the book is at home and I'm at work with a lot of downtime on my hands. Can anyone recommend a good online explanation, because my Google-fu is failing me at the moment.
I'm also curious if any of you own a copy of Knit Visualizer. I have the demo, and I quite like it: I'm just wondering if the full version is worth the money.
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| pattern/advice request |
[30 Apr 2009|09:57pm] |
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music |
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How I Met Your Mother - Slapsgiving |
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A friend recently observed that I knit and jokingly requested I make him a "mansie" -- an adult onesie:
I tried searching online, but I don't know, I guess union suits aren't cool? And I've never tried designing my own pattern before (let alone for a 6-ft-tall guy), so I'm wondering if anyone out there has any ideas? I mean, I know I can do the top half like a sweater, and the feet like socks, but the pants part? Plus he wants a butt flap and a zipper fly :P
We just started grad school and graduate in 3 years, so I have some time, but I might as well start researching in case our other friends take me up on my condition that they buy the yarn :D
Suggestions, tips on forming the crotchal area, any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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| ISO of charts for Schachenmayr Princess Vest |
[29 Apr 2009|11:51pm] |
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Elann's free patterns are not up forever. The Archive.org does not archive images when it archives the HTML. I did write down my modifications in a locked LJ post but really, blue sweater Back of sweater is 7 repeats now. Needs to be 6. Fronts are 4 repeats. Needs to be 3. So 12 on either side. Need to remember to use two outer stitches. is NOT enough information to be useful when the Archive has http://web.archive.org/web/20040611151415/secure.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=23024 just the text and the pattern was mostly in the chart images. What I had done was knit the sweater (probably 5 hours of work) then took it apart when I realized it was too large so I don't even have the original to compare to.
Does anyone have the charts and are able to scan and send them to me? Failing that, does anyone know where I can go to find the charts as Googling as gotten me nothing but mentions of the pattern.
Thank you.
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[21 Apr 2009|08:31pm] |
Hi everyone! I'm looking to design my own three-dimensional toy pattern, and I'm looking for a few tips as to where to begin. I'll be looking at a picture of what I'd like to design, obviously. As far as I can tell, the pattern shouldn't end up being too complex, but I'm really not sure where to begin as far as working out the shapes I need and such...I hope this makes sense? Basically, what I'm asking is, are there any special techniques out there for knitting up something three-dimensional? Can you sort of chart it out on graph paper or something, or is this going to basically be a trial and error sort of thing?
Thank you for any help!
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| Teach me something about fibres, please! |
[19 Apr 2009|03:29pm] |
I've been an avid knitter for years, but it's only recently that I've really started taking this hobby seriously. In the last couple of months I've produced two half shawls (one of which was frogged to provide yarn for the other, which is nearly finished), one brioche beret, and one Fair Isle tam (or hat - I haven't decided how to block it yet). In the past I've mostly used standard yarn types that I found at my LYS, but now I've come into possession of some more interesting yarns. The problem is that I don't know what to do with them: knowing very little about fibres and what everything is appropriate for, I'm at a loss.
Firstly, I have an unknown amount of angora (rabbit) yarn (50% angora and 50% sheep wool) in two colours (white/undyed and green). It is handspun and lighter than the sportweight wool yarns I've been working with before. Recommended needle size as stated on the label is 3.5-5.5 mm. I took a chance and knitted one of the Three Tams using the needles stated (3.5 and 4 mm), and it turned out fairly shiny but slightly small (maybe 5-10% smaller than I expected).
I also have five skeins of homespun, personally dyed wool all in different colours (using natural dyes from plants and things - that was fun!). I don't know how much is in either of them, but my guess is that it's a fairly significant amount. For this yarn I don't know anything about what size of needles I should use or anything like that.
So my first question is what types of projects are appropriate for each type of yarn. I'm leaning towards making more tams with the angora yarn, but I have no idea what I want from the wool (experimenting and learning, most importantly).
I would also like to know what methods there are for determining what "thickness" a yarn is - using Ravelry I've come across terms such as "-ply" and "wpi", but I don't know what they mean or how to use them.
Finally, I'm Swedish so I don't have all the technical vocabulary down. I'm also young, so I don't have all the technical vocabulary down in Swedish either. But I'm eager to learn, so! I'd appreciate anything. Information on websites or book recommendations are welcome.
Thanks in advance!
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| Pattern help: Knitty's Spirogyra round count. |
[11 Apr 2009|10:36am] |
I'm knitting Spirogyra from the Knitty website. The pattern is a 10-round repeat with even numbered rounds being plain knitting. You work the sleeve and the wrist and then the directions are as follows:
Using larger needles, work 19 rounds in pattern, ending with Round 9.
Okay, that makes sense: you knit one repeat of 10 rounds and then the first 9 rounds of a second repeat. Then:
Place Thumb:
Slip last 12 sts of last round worked to waste yarn. 36 sts on needles.
Next Round: Work Round 10 of pattern to end; CO 6 sts and join to resume working in the round. 42 sts.
This is a plain round, and as stated in the pattern it is Round 10 of the second repeat.
Palm:
Work 18 more rounds in pattern, ending with Round 9.
Here is where I'm stumped. How can you start with a Round 1, work 18 rounds and end with Round 9? I checked for errata and left a message on the Ravelry page for this pattern, but I'm not finding an answer.
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| Purl Panels |
[08 Apr 2009|10:33am] |
I'm working on a panel design and I need help.
I'd like the purl panels to sink down behind the knit columns. The sides do this just fine. However, the purl rises above the bottom and top knit separators. The 7 rows of stockinette do tend to want to sink a little by the sides but slipping them on the knit row and purling them on the purl row brings them back up. I don't like the look of the panel separator if I slip knit, slip knit, all the way as if it were a heel flap.
The knit separators are 7 rows tall. The purl panels are 30 rows tall by 16 stitches wide.
My gauge is 6.5 stitches to the inch and 10 rows to the inch. Red Heart Super Saver (No Dye Lot) on US size 2 needles.
Does anyone have an idea? Will blocking help? (I know you really can't block acrylic but maybe I could very gently iron down that purl row on the back side to make the front knit pop?)
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| sock help |
[26 Mar 2009|11:26pm] |
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music |
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Bad Girl-Madonna |
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Okay, here's the deal. This is my first attempt at socks [okay, don't tell me how crazy I am to have my first sock attempt be with a Faire Isle pattern, I'm just crazy like that. ^_^], the pattern that I have is from the cuff down. The only problem is, that my decreases are not working out [I'm supposed to be down to 55 stitches, at 14 inches. The closest I've come so far is 65 at just past 14 inches].
1)I've done swatches...twice! [yes, I said twice, during the course of this whole trial/error thing, it seems I loosened up enough to actually have to go *down* a needle size, usually I have to go *up*] The gauges have matched.
2)I've tried at least three times [the second time I thought I might have had the wrong size needles, as the pattern is a bit unclear in how they label the American vs UK], the third time has been the closest so far.
3)if it makes any difference to know, I'm using double-pointed needles.
4)the pattern is from an older book "Knit your own Norwegian Sweaters" by Dale Yarn Company. My Google-fu has come up with nothing so far to see if there might be an errata page for this book or not [had that happen with one of my other pattern books. heh] to see if it might be the pattern and not just me being stupid. >_<;
The section I'm having problems with is as follows: Dec. 1 st. [k. 2 tog.] within the first and last st. every 8th rd., 16 times, until 55 sts remain.
Now, I took this to mean that I was to knit 2 together at the beginning and end of the round, every 8th round. Is this correct? I really don't want to play with it too much because 1)this is the first time I've ever done socks [well, stockings, I guess, from the pics these are supposed to be knee length and the pattern refers to 'em as 'stockings'. heh] and 2)this is for a trade, so I don't want to mess it up. ^_^
Any help would be appreciated [and apologies for the potentially unneeded information, I've gotten too used to having as much info as possible to diagnose a problem, having lived with a computer programmer for over 15 years. hee]
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| raglan increases where knit meets purl |
[23 Feb 2009|05:14pm] |
I have a quick question for you kids. I'm trying to knit a top-down raglan with stockinette front and back and reverse stockinette sleeves (they're cables with purl backgrounds), and I'm having trouble finding the prefect increase.
A visual of the problem area:
K, K, KFB (m) PFB, P, P, PFB (m) KFB, K, K
So, the issue is that the increase on the right, where I KFB and then PFB is ending up looking messy and kind of loose. But when I do it in reverse on the left side of the sleeve, it looks perfect and tight and smooth.
I tried a little swatch and messed around with a few different options, like knitting a stitch after the marker and then doing a M1 increase, or just doing KFB, KFB and then the purl area but nothing is really looking that great. And it's always on the right. No matter what I do on the left it looks fine.
This isn't a giant issue since in 20 or so rows the sleeve gets wider than the cable and turns back to stockinette on both sides, and the paired KFBs after that will look good. But I'd love for it to all look neat if it's possible to do something else instead.
Suggestions?
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| Neck Steek tutorial? |
[04 Feb 2009|02:05pm] |
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mood |
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 curious |
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My husband wants a Fair Isle patterned vest with a v-neck. I haven't done a neck steek before, and though I've pored through all my home resources, I can't seem to find any clear directions for designing and steeking a v-neck. Can anyone out there point me to a resource? I don't mind buying a book, but I've been all through Starmore and Feitelson and McGregor with no luck.
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| Please point me to a challange |
[05 Mar 2009|06:59pm] |
Hi all,
I am constantly looking for new techniques to try out. I'm currently dabbling with double knitting, and that's very fun, but I keep craving starting something very very challenging.
I would love if you could share which interesting knitting techniques you've encountered and conquered. Please, if you have a couple of minutes, share and inspire :)
Thank you,
Spoiled_Saint
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| Converting a shawl pattern into a stole |
[22 Jan 2009|02:42pm] |
I was looking at the Melusine pattern in the last post and it occurred to me that there are many pretty shawls out there, but I don't wear triangular shawls. On the whole, I think I would prefer a stole with pointy ends, sort of like Knitty's Juno Regina, but with more interest in the middle bits.
My question then, is how do I start a shawl and choose which pattern row to repeat to get a stole without a wonky transition from increases to final width? Any shortcuts to figuring this out in general?
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| My first sweaters! |
[03 Jan 2009|04:23pm] |
I made my first sweater a few weeks ago, for my now two week old cousin Sophia. I realized I didn't have a baby present, and figured that I'd wanted to learn to do sweaters, so now was as good a time as any.
I used mostly EZ's bottom up seamless raglan, with the difference that the sweater is totally symmetrical (no neck shaping) , and that the neck is basically the width of the shoulders. I figured that would make it easy to dress the kid. I didn't have a lot of problems, though I hate grafting with a passion, and I don't really know what to do with the gaps at either end of the underarm grafting. Any thoughts from more experienced sweater makers?
I don't have pictures of the first sweater, as I needed to get it in the mail before I could find my camera. I do however, have pictures of my second sweater, made for a rather misshapen stuffed dog. I used the same pattern, adjusting for the fact that the front legs of the dog are two different lengths, and that there are no shoulders to speak of, so the decreases happened more quickly.
Pictures here
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| dyeing yarn |
[22 Jan 2009|08:33am] |
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music |
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Coldplay - The Scientist |
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I have a cone of Jaggerspun 2/18 Zephyr, but unfortunately it's pink, which is so not my color, or really anyone else's that I know of. So I'd like to dye it, probably to a darker red or maybe a purple color, but given that a cone of the stuff is something like 5,000 yards, I'd really rather not have to wind it into skeins for the dyeing. I'm not altogether sure on how advisable it is to dye a knitted project. I've got a shawl in mind for the yarn, specifically Kristi Geraci's Sarcelle, which would mean the finished project would still be pretty lacy and open.
Would you say knitting it and then dyeing would be OK?
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| a question about over the knee socks, construction and, well, everything. |
[17 Jan 2009|03:02am] |
Ok, at first this might not seem like an ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) advanced_knit question, ( but after turning this over in my mind, I think i need more help than <lj user= knitting can give me. )
thanks for reading the teal deer. and i apologize for the long explanation, but i feel like i needed to get it out there, so that it wasn't one of thos no, i hadn't looked and no i haven't googled. i have. i amd sure i missed things, and would be more than happy to have them pointed out to me.
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| Classtc Elite Bazic? |
[06 Jan 2009|12:00pm] |
Has anyone here used this yarn and would you share your opinion on it? Specifically, I wonder how it washes and wears, and does it pill awfully? Alternately, I would be grateful for suggestions for hard-wearing superwash wool worsted/aran weight yarns with a good range of adult/masculine colors (i.e. blues/grays/browns/greens -- not pastels and primaries). I have used Cascade 220 superwash and find it soft and cozy but prone to pilling, ditto Elann and Knitpicks superwash worsted offerings. I've tried Brown Sheep's superwash worsted but only recently, so I'm not sure how it will wear in the long term.
Thanks for your help!
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| Origins of knitting needle sizes. |
[21 Dec 2008|09:04pm] |
Can anyone explain to me the origins of the sizing system used in the USA? I've googled but all I can find is conversion charts.
Metric sizes are simply the diameter of the needle in mm.
The old English system was SWG, which is how spools of wire are still sold.
But the USA sizing is neither AWG nor, as far as I can see, is it a measure of diameter or cross sectional area. So what is it?
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| Hoods |
[26 Dec 2008|10:57pm] |
A few years back, I made a cardigan for myself that had a hood. I fouled up the pattern somehow (I can't quite figure out how), and ended up with a really large neckline and a correspondingly large hood. We're talking a Sith Lord, down-over-the-face hood. Despite its other flaws, I was happy with the cardigan and wear it proudly.
Now my husband has fallen in love with the huge hood and wants me to make him a something similiar. However, I can't figure out how to make a sweater with a huge hood and a normal sized neckline. I know that I could make gradual increases along the hoodline, but he wants something big and floppy, that starts large at the neck and then drapes over the face.
Any suggestions?
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