Needles to say...

practise what i preach...

2012-02-10T16:56:00.002-05:00

You know, I’m always saying to place yarn marks at the edges of your work as you’re knitting - it will help greatly in the putting together part of things and I’ll admit, I don’t always do what I say (I get to a stage where I figure I’m okay and I can do without them and every time I do that, I wish I hadn’t) - and it’s not a big deal to add them as you go if you’re properly prepared from the start.

Why bring this up now? you say... well, this is my second time knitting this wonderful lace cardigan, and I’m working with a very fine mohair yarn that is almost thread-like - the putting together is key here, for matching up when seaming and it is virtually all done on the machine, so the more help you can get, the easier and better it will be.

Usually I’ll say to hang yarn marks every 10 cm/4 in. - it’s easy to just take your row gauge and for this one, every 40 rows, hang the markers. Reason being, it’s easy to calculate and remember and because I’m usually working with my knit radar, the 10 cm increments are simple to see. Also, if you were blocking and steaming, that 10 cm mark is good for keeping the measurements in line. Another reason if you're not already convinced is the seaming - the 10 cm marks are easy to convert into the stitches from your row gauge for the seam line if need be. But, there are always exceptions to the rule and for this garment, I decided that the pattern repeat (24 rows) was the best place to have those yarn marks - the 10 cm increments are a little long - trust me on this. Putting the facing together to get the lace holes to match up, it is pretty nice having the yarn marks close together.
To get the yarn marks hung quickly, without too much bother, while you’re lace carriage-ing, have a bunch (like, lots) of 4 to 6 inch pieces pre-cut (you’ll need 22 for each piece of knitting basically) and on the 24th row, loop the yarn on the hook of the needle and clip it below with these nice little clippy things (electrical department at the hardware store) - the clip adds enough weight so the yarn mark knits along with the main yarn, doesn’t get tangled and is easy to pull out later. 24 rows later, the clip is just hanging there, waiting to be put on the next yarn mark and it can also be a reminder to move the edge claw weights up.

Happy yarn marking! - MAO

duh...

2012-02-06T15:26:00.002-05:00

Last week, when I was thinking about knitting lace, I remembered blogging about casting on single bed using the ribber comb but I couldn’t remember exactly what I did. I figured, well, just go to the blog and look it up - I couldn’t recall exactly when it was and it took me a while to find it. (it was back in 2008 under wasted...not!) Then I thought, hummm, there is a spot for me to enter key words or labels or whatever when I’m posting the blog, so if I entered something, I might be able to find things faster - because, I’ll be honest here - this isn’t the first time I’ve spent some time looking for my own tips...
So later that day, I spent a couple of hours entering a bunch of what I thought would be good key words. When I was finished I thought, okay, now what? Then I noticed the search bar at the very top left hand side of the page - there’s the B for Blogger symbol, and a white rectangle with the magnifying glass symbol...so if you know what I’m going to say and are laughing already, I’m glad, I hope I made your day!
Anyway, I typed in one of the ‘labels’ I’d been adding to the past 3 years of posts and the stuff that came up wasn’t only the labels that I’d added. I realized that it was word searching and well, I guess the outcome is the same. I could have just sat here and not owned up to it or I could have gone back and deleted the labels, but at least I learned how to search for something!! Enjoy! BTW, you can enter one of the labels and see what else comes up - have fun, I did!
Hugs to all, MAO!

lacy daze...

2012-01-31T15:05:00.003-05:00

I just finished my prototype for the next design in the current Pattern-of the-Month/Serial Stuff series - I had promised a lace cardigan with a vertical shawl collar (see blogpost - ‘ideas, ideas' Jul 24/11) - now, I hope you realize, nothing is ever carved in stone with me...What really struck me with this design was the vertical shawl collar. I did see another episode of that show and I think the cardigan I saw was actually a dressing gown - she had been in a bad confrontation and was almost raped, managed to escape and it showed her later at home with this thing on, so that’s why I think it was a dressing gown - you know, something cozy and comforting....Anyway, it was the collar that really stood out - so my guest began with the lace stitch pattern - I like geometric lace and usually what I do is play around with something and see if I can expand it or whatever...
5 trial swatches later, I had what I wanted.

I liked the idea of a luxury fibre for this - I love some of the old yarns that are NLA (no longer available) and Forsell’s Naturell was a real classic - I had enough leftovers to do my test garment and OMG, I love it!! Changed the shape of it a bit - went with an exaggerated A-line for the body which creates these great ’points’ at the side seams. The collar/front/facings is fab!! I’m so pleased - it is knit separately from the fronts, but in one piece and attached very neatly on the machine - great techniques here, even if I do say so myself!! It was a challenge to figure out a way to get a nice fold line for the edge, in order to make the facing and collar in one piece, but it’s beautiful!

I am making the real thing using Cigno Super Kid Mohair (cream) from Yeoman Yarns - it’s a very fine mohair/nylon that is quite soft (not scratchy) but strong and quite a bit thinner than the finished look of the Naturell prototype - available from http://www.knititnow.com/ (US) or http://www.cardiknits.com/ (Canada) - so be warned - check your stash or order what you need - the Cigno comes on a 300g cone, but there is a ton of yardage, so 1 cone will do whatever size you want and the pattern is written for the gauge of the Cigno (25 sts and 40 rows over the lace pattern at T5) - if you happen to have some Naturell laying about, my finished cardy is 275g (T5 lace, 25 sts and 45 rows)...the pattern, called ‘Gossamer’ will be ready next week.

- MAO

out of steam...

2012-01-29T15:27:00.002-05:00

my faithful old iron finally packed it in...OMG, what will I do? The poor thing was over 20 years old - she was the old breed, you know - BASO (before auto shut off). She sat on my ironing board, forever ready; once turned on, she remained on until I decided it was time for her to cool off - there was no four-letter wording, no coaxing, waiting, frustration building, water spotting...but, technology gets in the way now...I’ve already tried two other newbies, varying prices, to no avail. The new faces just aren’t the same - the new models are streamlined, they have no weight behind them, like they’ve been on a diet too long - and what the heck are all these dumb symbols? And white on white!!! like, who can see that even if they know what they mean??? so much for the T-Fal one - maybe I can give it to someone who never really irons...

It's been a traumatic couple of weeks but I found another candidate.
Next in the line-up is a Sunbeam (Turbo Steam Master Professional is her full name) - well, at least it has an actual on-off switch and it has the words: linen, wool, silk, cotton, syn - things are looking up...oh my! When I plug her in, she has nice lights that make sense!! Red means not ready - green for go - how much easier can you get? I’m half way there!! The burst of steam is really a burst of steam when I want it, not after I lift the darn thing up! This may be the start of a beautiful relationship!

year of the sleeve...

2012-01-23T11:59:00.001-05:00

I was just reading that 2012 is the year of the dragon, well, actually the year of the water dragon and it sure sounds promising! You know, the Chinese astrology thing...
I’ve been thinking of 2011 as the year of the sleeve - I seemed to have had lots of sleeve issues in 2011 and was hoping that I’d left them behind...well, this new KnS project I’m on - I just finished my fifth sleeve!! And, thanks, I’m pretty sure I’m done now... The first one was perfect, and yes, it was the first piece I made - using my own advice to check the stitch pattern on a small part, made the sleeve first...but then, after I did the back and the 2 fronts, I decided that I wanted 2 repeats of the pattern for the sleeves, so proceeded to make 2 more sleeves (count ‘em, we're up to three, now!) the same length as the first.
Now, I’ll tell you, when I’m knitting for myself, I usually know what size I want and how it should fit. Here - I know, I’m making excuses, but - I’m making it for an unknown model who is supposedly a finished chest of 36", but taller than average - after all, she’s a professional model...they say to make the sample longer by 1 inch...
My original plan - it’s a summer cardigan, so I’ll make a short sleeve and for me, a short sleeve means to the elbow, and without really thinking it through, that was what I did here with the first three. When I got to the putting together, let’s face it, a finished 36 isn’t going on me, so I had one sleeve attached with one side seam done and tried it on...yikes, what was I thinking??? (the visuals, huh! sorry..)
But, I’ve really become attached to this stitch pattern, I love it!! Finished the two new sleeves, got them on and it’s perfect! I know I can’t salvage the sleeves unless I order more of this same colour, but we’ve been over this before - it photographs well, what can I say! But I will be making this again in MY size (and my colour)!!

angled with attitude...

2012-01-19T11:22:00.001-05:00

Thought I’d put up these photos so you could get a better look at this cardigan. This is ‘Angled with Attitude’ the Pattern Of the Month for January. You can click on the image and enlarge it for a close-up of the details. I have to admit, the earlier photos - the ‘flats’ from Jan 5th, the cardigans weren’t quite finished - the buttons are just laying there and the fronts weren’t stitched down. You might notice I used only one button on the ‘willow’ version

The accompanying article has notes on decreasing methods, raglan shaping, garter bar techniques and a few notes on choosing your size and how much yarn you need. If you’d like to purchase the new series, get it at www.knitwords.com

thanks!

purging and stuff...

2012-01-18T10:50:00.003-05:00

I had some technical stuff - telephone/cable/internet service changes- to take care of which meant moving stuff around in my office - always a slightly traumatic experience - cables and phone lines getting rerouted here and there means moving things that have been in place for a long time - good excuse to carry it a bit further and purge a bit - get rid of stuff I’ve been meaning to but have been putting off...I went through my yarn stash and came up with 3 large boxes of stuff I’m never going to knit - I took the easy way out and called Lucie, from our local machine knitting club and asked her if I could donate it all to the club - they could use it however for some sort of charity fund-raiser - she said yes and by the time she got here, I have 5 boxes of stuff!! Oh, this feels so good! Now I have room on my shelves for more - new colours, new yarns and I don’t have to feel guilty about not using all that other stuff!

I just checked the Knit’n Style website - http://www.knitnstyle.com/ -

the new issue is out! And they didn’t use my title for the new series (W5) - oh well, no big deal - I guess it was too out-there for them...but anyway the new issue is available and early again!! Kudos to them - I am working on my #180 garment - I think it’s for the August issue that comes out maybe in June??? - I’m doing a summer cardigan with a hand-transferred lace border, using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece DK in peridot which is a nice mid-green shade. I love this yarn. It gives nice definition to detailed stitches and is perfect for the border pattern. Needles are left out of work for a few rows after the transfers and then are brought back in on every other row - pretty easy to do and I like the wide-open effect - after several swatches to nail the edging combined with the border lace, I just need to work on the closures/buttonholes...

The swatch at the top is a 14 stitch repeat with a picot hem, similar to one I did on the standard gauge machine a few years ago, but this yarn doesn't do well with the picot so I played a bit and decided the chain cast-on was more effective, altered it to a 12 stitch repeat - I'm happy!

yarn shortage anxiety...

2012-01-13T13:36:00.001-05:00

Just finished up knitting my third cardi for the POM - talk about cutting it close - I made it to test out the final pattern and to see how far a 500g/2000m cone will go... the first 2 were my size, so no problem, even with making bands and collars a few times, I had plenty leftover without having to ravage my swatches, but on this one, I’ve made a size larger and added an extra 2 inches to the length of the body and the longest sleeve version - I’ll confess, same yarn, didn’t make a swatch...so I didn’t have that to fall back on, but as I was making the second front, I was thinking ‘contingency plan’ in my head - you know, how would this look with, maybe a navy or black collar and front bands? Fortunately, we won’t know, but it was close!

Here’s my quick course on how to salvage a running-short-of-yarn project.

1. Get a good scale that will accurately measure small amounts. I have an electronic postage scale that is good up to 5 lb/2.2 kg.

2. Get the KNITWORDS index which will quickly help cross-reference other patterns using the same yarn and find the amounts used for comparable designs. This will give you an indication of how far the yarn should go. Keep in mind some stitch techniques use more yardage than others. For example, allover plain lace will use less yarn than stockinette, while a tuck fabric will use significantly more (1.5 to 2X more) than the same size and shape in stockinette.

3. Keep notes of your own projects and weigh each piece before assembly. Having this information is invaluable. I can usually tell from the weight of the back how much more I will need - approximately 2.5 to 3 times that again at least for front, 2 long sleeves and finishing (if back weights 130g, multiply by 2.5 = 325 g more needed) . If the back is done and you then realise there may be a problem, there is still time to revise the design and reduce the amount of yarn required. Changing the neckline, opting for shorter or more-fitted sleeves and the type of bands used for finishing are three ways of conserving.

4. If in doubt, start all pieces with waste yarn instead of making the band. This gives you the option of choosing bands that will consume less yardage or perhaps, using a contrast colour for the edges. Though it will change the finished look somewhat, at least you won’t be in the impossible situation of abandoning the project midway through the final piece. Unravelling and re-knitting an entire project is not my idea of the good life.

5. If you need to re-use the yarn from a laundered or steamed swatch, it will be virtually unnoticeable when incorporated into the bands, after the final garment has been laundered.

a new pattern-of-the-month...

2012-01-05T11:52:00.002-05:00

I have a new standard gauge set of designs for the pattern-of-the-month. The subscription means that you pay $25 in advance (one time) and then each month for the next 3 months (January, February March) you will get the new pattern with the techniques article emailed to you in pdf format. The subscription can be purchased now and the first pattern will be emailed on the 15th of the month. It’s easy to purchase from our website, (go to http://www.knitwords.com/ - refresh your browser if it doesn’t come up right after the opening page). You can use Paypal OR visa or mastercard through Paypal.
If that doesn’t work for you, you can send a check/cheque or money order, along with the order form (found at the bottom of the bookstore/back issues page - click on the appropriate icon and print out the order form, make sure to provide your correct email address, and write in NEW POM, please).
The pattern for January is a raglan cardy (A-line) with lots of options - a really cute collar/neckline with buttoned closing at neck only (optional of course!), opposing facings (inside or outside) instead of bands for the fronts which takes away the ‘sweater’ look and 2 sizing/fitting options - one for ‘busty’ gals like me and the other for less ‘gifted’ figures. The accompanying article has lots of techniques for raglan decreases. I’ve made mine using Forsell 4 ply Pure New Wool - check out http://www.knittinggallery.com/ . - they still have some colours or Yeoman Yarns Sport from http://www.knititnow.com/ or http://www.cardiknits.com/ can be used.
For February, the pattern will be a lace cardigan with vertical shawl collar - my take on something I saw on a tv show (see blog, July 24/11, ideas, ideas...).
The March pattern will be a double bed design, a simpler version of ‘Granville’ (see blog, Granville, Sep 27/11 and before and after).
Hope you like them - keep checking back here for more updates!

knitwear, 5 stars!

2012-01-03T14:11:00.003-05:00

Went yesterday to the movies to see ’the girl with the dragon tattoo’ - I’ve read all the books and enjoyed the first two immensely - the third one, not so much - I thought there was too much recap and not enough new Lisbeth stuff, but that’s just my opinion - it was okay, just not as good as the first two...I did see the Swedish movie version of the first one and was quite disappointed in it for several reasons which I won't go into because this isn’t really a movie review although this new version is very good!!
One thing that really interested me was the knits - Mikael/Daniel Craig had several, very masculine sweaters - they were mostly cardigans but some were hard to tell - one was a charcoal ribbed raglan with shawl collar, another lighter grey one with cables and he had a fluffy, mohair-ish thing in a very dark colour. The older girlfriend/most-time lover (can’t remember her name off-hand) had a great, long cardigan with ribs and pockets that looked elegant and sexy in a work situation and, his daughter, who only appeared in a few frames, had a very interesting lacy mid-gauge sweater with large holes that I definitely wanted a better look at. The movie takes place in Sweden and it seemed to be cold and damp there so maybe that’s why all the knitwear and everything was quite dark, but I will be renting the video as soon as possible and hopefully watching it at someone else’s house where they have a really big screen and picture in a picture or whatever so I can enlarge the knits! will let you know how I make out!
Oh, yeah, Happy New Year!

working for someone else...

2011-12-28T14:39:00.001-05:00

Sometimes being the boss is not always the best thing...but, now, working for someone else, it’s harder when they get to say and make the rules - like, now I have to remember someone else’s abbreviations and preferred spellings, never mind the American spelling!!! Yeah, I’m working on my next article for Knit’nStyle and you know, before, I didn’t have to worry about the min/max thing - I could keep talking/writing until I decided I’d said everything I wanted to say. Now, I have to stay in their guidelines and not go on and on....I had gotten into the habit of doing articles that were 1500 to 2500 words (tell me that’s not too much!) and now I have to keep it preferably under 1000 words (not a lot, really, like barely a page) with, maybe 2 to 4 swatches or photos - apparently the powers that be say that you are not interested in anything over 800 words - they say you lose interest and won’t read any more than that anyway...they also don’t want two-part articles (the reason being that people complain that it makes them buy another issue to get the rest of the story, but I always thought that was a good thing), so I have to pick smaller topics - I am working on a new series of techniques articles, aimed at beginners - the idea is to give 3 or 4 ways of doing something (What?), and then tell you When? and Where? to use Which one , Why? and maybe, Why not? - that I’m calling W-5 -- the first one was on cast-on methods for the LK150 and will be in the next issue, #178, out in late January, I think - this is my second article but I don’t know if they even kept my title or changed it - I was going to do increases and decreases, but quickly realized that I could only address one or the other half decently, so this one is on decreases - my garment for this issue is a raglan, and as they kinda go together... and the increases will have to wait for next time...

Oh, hey, did you notice there was a survey in the last KnS (Feb’12 Issue 177)?? Did anyone fill it out and send it in? You get entered in a draw for a $200 shopping spree and you won’t even have to answer a skill-testing question! You still have until January 31, 2012 to enter - I hope they let me know what the answers are!

back story

2011-12-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

I got this cute card from my friend Vickie and I had to share it with you - I laughed and laughed! She is a long time machine knitter who recently decided to learn to hand knit and she’s told me her tales of woe - $80 for the sock class - I think that included the yarn and maybe the needles but don’t quote me on that. I believe it was a 4 week class - she did eventually get the socks knit but also got the ‘need to learn to hand knit’ bug out of her system. She then turned to making socks on the machine from the free patterns I’ve given (LK150, see blog in September and double bed sock pattern at www.knitwords.com under freebies) and she proudly reports that the LK150 socks are the best slippers she’s ever had!! and she has several pairs under her belt! Happy Holidays!

more slip cord experiments....

2011-12-22T09:43:00.001-05:00

I did some more experimenting and used some of the other Slip Cord edges from 'Knitting on the EDGE' by MAO - then I wanted to make something that I could use the original knot loop edge - it should be added to a selvedge instead of open stitches so I made a triangle and added it - the first one didn’t work very well (Berroco Boboli - leftover from KnS#177 project) because my cast-on wasn’t loose enough and it restricted the drop of the triangle and the triangle was a little small- but my second one (see below) came out perfect!!! Looks good from both sides and much easier than the pompoms I’ve seen - have fun, I did!!

Triangular Shawl/Scarf

MACHINE: LK150 mid gauge

YARN: fine alpaca (lace weight, used double stranded).

75-0-75 n’s. Cast on WY and ravel cord. This will be the outside edges of the Vee of the triangle and it needs to be very stretchy or it will shorten up the selvedges. To get a really stretchy cast-on for the main yarn use double e-wrap: Bring n’s out, CAR. Starting at left, loop last needle and take yarn under and around second needle and back into hook of first. Manually knit the stitch back, making extra large stitch. Take yarn under and around third needle, back into hook of second stitch and knit it back large. Continue across to right. Put yarn into feeder. Carefully bring n’s out to make sure everything knits. T7, K2R. ( I knit this very loosely because I wanted it thin and drapey and I knew it would 'full' somewhat when washed and alarger stitch would allow for that). Carriage at right. Set to hold. RC000. Place left side except #1 left to HP. K1R. Place right side except #1 right to HP - 2 n’s in work. Knit to right. *at side opposite carriage, return 1 needle to UWP, K1R*. Without wrapping, repeat from * to * to all n’s in work, RC152, end CAL. Cast off very loosely.

Knot and Loop Edging ( #11 from Knitting on the EDGE by MAO!)

Slip Cord: Set carriage to slip to the left and knit right - LK150, left side lever forward.

1. Cast on 3 sts with WY. Knit several rows.

2. MC, T4, K1R. Set for slip cord. K24R. CAL.

3. Pick up first row in MC and hang on same needles to make loop. Put back stitches behind latches and front set in hooks. Push back on needle butts to knit through.

4. Working from right to left, with knit side facing, pick up selvedge edge (because of the double e-wrap, this is not exact, but just push the 3 prong tool in the edge to pick up whatever, just be consistent), onto another 3 needles to right.

5. Pick up cord sts, place over edge sts and pull through so open sts of cord are in hooks. CAL, bring needles forward to ensure next row knits. Always put empty needles out of work.

6. K30R (loop).

7. Turn shawl to knit side. Poke tool into the selvedge and hang on 3 new n’s to right of cord, leaving about half an inch from last edge pick-up. Put cord sts onto edge needles and knit through. Bring needles out.

8. K24R (knot).

9. Turn shawl to purl side. Pick up cord with transfer tool.

10 . Pull the last loop made (that is already attached - the 30 rows knit in #6), open, bring forward and to the right so you are looking at the purl sts of where you joined it to the edge in #7. Pick up the same edge sts (or as close as you can) that you joined loop with - the joined loop will be under the tool as you are picking up this part - this makes the knot.

Repeat #6 to #10. Always stop with CAL and bring needles out after knitting through so that you get a row of knit stitches after the join.

You will keep moving along needle bed. Every so often, as in #9, move back toward centre of needle bed. Try this out on a solid colour first to get the hang of it and after you know what you’re doing, you’ll be able to eliminate hanging the edge on new needles. Pick up the cord, put a finger over to hold the sts on the tool and go into the edge so the edge is hung first and the sts of cord can be pulled through selvedge...

garter bar practise

2011-12-19T06:28:00.001-05:00

I liked the knotted loops so much, I decided to go all in and make an adult scarf!

Knotted Loops Adult Scarf for Mid Gauge by Mary Anne Oger

DK yarn, scarf looks same on both sides and doesn’t curl - not so quick and easy, but fun! Knotted Loop Trim from Mid Gauge Magic by MAO!

Finished size: 6 inch wide; length, approx 44 inches.

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Tonas Silk, DK weight (83% Peruvian Cotton, 17% silk) 100g/337 yds skein

Machine: Mid gauge 6.5mm, LK150 used.

Knotted Loops Edge, 8 stitch repeat.

Make cord: WY, cast on 5 sts. K10R. CAL, break WY. Put CAR, MC, T3. *Set to slip (left side lever forward to circle, so that carriage slips to left and knits to right). Bring needles out past the latches so first row will knit. K42R. Take out MC without breaking and anchor at right side. Put CAL. Cancel slip. WY, K8R. Break WY. Put CAR, rethread MC. Pull up on yarn as you start to knit across so no loop occurs between this and last part of MC knitting*.

Repeat from * to * 4 times more for 5 knotted loops. Remove on WY. Cut MC and make second piece same.

20-0-21 n’s in work. Starting at one side, hang last end of cord, the way it came off machine, on 5 n’s. Remove WY. Make knot in that section, by pulling entire cord through. Hang other end of this 42 row section, putting edge stitch on last needle used. There are 2 stitches on the 5th needle from edge. You will be able to tell which way to turn the cord to hang as the link of yarn between the waste yarn won't allow you to hang it the wrong way. After it is all hung, remove all WY. K1R This is wrong side facing. Bring n’s out, sts behind latches to make sure all knits. MC, T3, K1R.

RC000. *K3R. RTR (remove, turn, rehang). K3R. RTR. K2R. From right, take 3rd and then every other stitch to right for EON lace, empty n’s in work. K3R. RC011*. Repeat these 11 rows for pattern. Knit 300 rows (or more for desired length), ending row 11 of pattern. RTR. K2R. Remove on WY.

To get the knotted loops sitting right for the last end of the scarf, you need to make the knots and then graft the whole thing onto the scarf:

Using second set of cords, hang and make knots same as beginning. MC, T3, K1R. Remove on WY. Putting knit side to knit side of last rows, graft together.

This is really cute!! And it didn’t really take that long, but I do have a mid gauge garter bar... I'm going to have to make another one - this isn't long enough to wrap around neck and have tails hanging in front - need another 50 rows or so for that...measurements from the hand knit pattern must be wrong...or I have a fat neck...

last minute idea...

2011-12-15T18:40:00.001-05:00

I received a hand knit pattern by email yesterday from MistiAlpaca.com- I guess I’ve ordered yarn from them and they automatically put you on their mailing list and every couple of days, I get a new blurb, glance at it and then delete...anyway, this latest one had a scarf with these knitted balls as an edging. I read the instructions and thought, ‘good luck with that one!’ Although I can hand knit basics, when reading instructions, sometimes it seems like reading Greek to me. Making 7 stitches out of one stitch and knitting a few rows and then decreasing back down to one stitch, repeated across the row sounds a lot easier than it really is after I sorted through it a few times...But I was intrigued with the idea for having a different edging on a scarf. After the edging, there were 2 rows of making eyelets then 3 rows of stockinette, 3 rows of reverse stockinette and this was repeated throughout to make a scarf that was same on each side - nice idea, but I wanted something easier. I was going to make my granddaughter, Rhiana, a scarf to go with her new winter coat - the coat is grey with large, bright pink polka dots and I had some leftover yarn that would be just perfect. I know, my knotted loops edging would be cute added to a quick tube that would make it finished both sides! - Here’s a really quick last minute gift! Make it wider and twice as long, for a grown-up!!

Child’s Tube Scarf for Mid Gauge by Mary Anne Oger
The variegated or space dyed yarn adds lots of colour and the drop stitch technique makes big stitches and large colour blocks. Super easy and super fast! Knotted Loop Trim from Mid Gauge Magic by MAO!
Finished size: 3 inch wide; length, approx 40 inches. This one is child size, meant to wrap around neck once with knotted loop edges hanging in front.

Yarn: Coats & Clark Moda Dea Sassy Stripes, 100% acrylic, 1 - 135 m/50g ball.

Machine: Mid gauge 6.5mm, LK150 used.
Knotted Loops Edge, 8 stitch repeat.
Make cord: WY, cast on 5 sts. K10R. CAL, break WY. Put CAR, MC, T3. *Set to slip (left side lever forward to circle, so that carriage slips to left and knits to right). Bring needles out past the latches so first row will knit. K42R. Take out MC without breaking and anchor at right side. Put CAL. Cancel slip. WY, K8R. Break WY. Put CAR, rethread MC. Pull up on yarn as you start to knit across so no loop occurs between this and last part of MC knitting*.
Repeat from * to * 4 times more for 5 knotted loops. Remove on WY. Cut MC and make second piece same.
20-0-21 n’s in work. Starting at one side, hang last end of cord, the way it came off machine, on 5 n’s. Remove WY. Make knot in that section, by pulling entire cord through. Hang other end of this 42 row section, putting edge stitch on last needle used. There are 2 stitches on the 5th needle from edge. You will be able to tell which way to turn the cord to hang as the link of yarn between the waste yarn won't allow you to hang it the wrong way. After it is all hung, remove all WY. K1R This is wrong side facing. Bring n’s out, sts behind latches to make sure all knits. MC, T3, K1R. From right, transfer 2nd st and then every other to right. Leave empty n’s in work. RC000. Knit 150 rows or until you almost run out of yarn. Save approx 60 inch to seam with. Don’t cut it!
From right, drop second and then every other stitch. Put empty n’s out of work.
Take off on WY, turn and rehang, still on EON. Bring empty n’s to work.
Using second set of cords, hang and make knots same as beginning. T9, K1R. Chain off. Piece will be approx 20 inches long.
Pull on fabric to unladder dropped stitches down to cast-on side.
Use tails to seam fabric into a tube. I found this easiest to do from purl side, taking half outside edge of ‘knot’ stitch of one side to next ‘knot’ stitch on other side. Turn scarf to right side.
Abbreviations
CAL (R) - carriage at left (right)
EON - every other needle
K1R - knit 1 row
MAO - Mary Anne Oger
MC - main colour
WY - waste yarn

it's better to give...

2011-12-13T16:49:00.002-05:00

I feel like such a spoiled little kid - you know, the one who doesn’t want to share...I’ve finished making this ‘Let’s Swing Again’ (KW#44) for my daughter. I always say I’m not a ‘navy’ person and this is French navy wool crepe deluxe and I don’t want to give it to her!! I want to keep it and it’s not like I need it or anything - I’ve already remade it for myself 3 times, so I have the original and the black (see blog, Sep 6/09) and sand dune (see blog June 15/11) - I changed this one up a bit, made the sleeves full-length, added the cuff from ‘Rich Raglan’ and lengthened it by 3 inches and it looks totally different again! I’m going to call her and warn her it’s a limited time offer - she’d better come over and pick it up right away. (what a hard garment to photograph!!)

time flies when you have excuses...

2011-12-08T11:54:00.001-05:00

When I came back from the west coast, what with changing back to standard time too, it took me a long time to get over my jet lag. Then I had some tooth issues and had to go on an antibiotic which of course, I became allergic to - that was another week of grossness, itchyness, not nice. Then my daughter-in-law asked me to go to SeaWorld with her and Nate and Rhiana - I couldn't refuse - another week gone, what can I say? I did my shopping for my Christmas family (instead of stressing out over what to buy my grown-up family, I use that money and sponsor a needy family through Children’s Aid - it’s much more fun) so now, I’m back, ready to knit.
Before going out to CA for Newton’s, I did a remake of ‘Rich Raglan’ (from Serial Stuff 2) in plain black WCD - I specifically made it for my daughter, who has moved back to TBay after being away for 10 years - I have often said I was making something for her - she needs a longer sleeve length than mine, but somehow, after it was done, I never quite managed to get it packed up and sent off to her before I was tempted to wear it once or twice with the sleeves pushed up - well okay, several times, and then I felt like I couldn’t give it to her used...the really funny thing is that I’m now used to over-long sleeves and make them like that for me most of the time...
Anyway, last weekend, I did give her the black RR, unworn - she called me last night to say how much she loved it - it's perfect, fit exactly right, felt great to wear and is breathe-able!!! She likes it so much she wore it two days in a row! Well, if that wouldn’t make one feel worthwhile! The thing was, when she called, I was wearing my own red and black RR! I understand!
So, I now have 4 more projects for her in the queue and the hardest part is going to be deciding what colour to use for which! She likes true colours, more like what you’d find in the winter palette or what I call jewel tones, whereas I prefer off-colours or autumn shades but we are both good with red and black. The line-up: LSA (let’s swing again from No 44) maybe in french navy; Jazzy Jive (Serial Stuff 1) without the box pleat on the sleeve and a regular buttoned closing - I’m thinking poppy; Sophisticate (SS1) with long sleeves; and get this, Granville, just plain , maybe carob - wow, that’s easy - she likes the shape and feel and all, but doesn’t get the texture thing, wants it just plain. I’m not arguing, just plain knitting!

wonky shoulder...

2011-11-15T15:32:00.002-05:00

When knitting stockinette and making a set-in sleeve with shaped shoulders, here’s my tip-of-the-day - add a second row of stockinette after the shortrows. This will get rid of the wobbly line in the seam!

wonky seam

Normally when doing a shaped shoulder, it’s likely that you’re shaping on the last inch of the shoulder to create the slope, so let’s say there are 30 stitches and 6 rows to make the slope. Doing the math, I divide the 30 sts by 4 instead of 3 ( hold 8 sts, 3X = 24 with 6 remaining in work) because there will be nothing left to hold on the last row if you divide by 3. Then when the carriage is back on the appropriate side, cancel hold and knit a row over all to get rid of the wraps before taking the shoulder off on waste yarn - it will be a lot easier to rehang when there is a clean row of stitches on the last row. But, even with switching up the second shoulder and changing where the wraps are, the join or seam line will be wonky. So, I’ve been experimenting on my last few projects and I decided that adding the second row of stockinette hides the shortrows on each side and makes the shoulder line much nicer.

So, do the shortrows, stagger them on the second shoulder if you remember (or not), and now add a second row of plain (on both shoulders) before removing on waste. Then to join, rehang, putting right sides together. Pull the front set of stitches through the back ones to make the join and do your cast-off. Nice straight seam line!!

BTW, this only applies to stockinette - don’t do it with a pattern stitch.

nice!

For fairisle, shape the shoulder as above and at the end, knit the plain row in the background colour and remove on waste - do both front and back the same. When rehanging, the first shoulder will be knit side facing; hang the last row of stockinette. On the second shoulder, hang the last row of stockinette - it will be much easier than hanging fairisle and then rip out that last row - it will be purl side facing , so this is easy. Now, the last row will be fairisle - it gets pulled through the plain row on the first shoulder and eliminates the stripe - now, cast off... Same thing for tuck or any purl side facing fabric, knit the last row plain and rip out the row on the first side because it will be purl side...

more sleeve issues..

2011-11-11T12:26:00.003-05:00

What happens when you don’t swatch? I have the same yarn and it’s my pattern - using the same machine...what can go wrong? Why did I get a ginormous sleeve? So, okay, let’s analyze this. The original yarn was 2.2 Softball cotton and the pattern ‘Opposite Attraction’ was in No 39 KNITWORDS Winter 2006 - the garment is a favourite of mine and I’ve worn the original continuously over the past several years, washing and drying it often. I had a cone of poppy red on my shelf that I’ve been meaning to use and pulled it out yesterday - looked over the pattern, checked my original notes and figured I was ready to go.

Took my own advice and made a sleeve to start - got it finished and think, wow, it looks huge, but the pattern does say that this yarn will shrink a lot and it recommends machine wash and dry, but whoa, this is a really BIG sleeve...since I have no deadlines anymore, I say what the hey? and toss the huge sleeve in the washer/dryer - gosh, it’s still humongous!!! The original called for 29 sts and 50 rows to the 10 cm square and from my ‘cheating at swatches’ yarn marks, this one measures 27 sts and 38 rows after the machine-wash and dry.

I look a little more - the only other time I used this yarn was in the same issue - a tunic top called ‘Hip’ - same tension on this one says the gauge for stockinette is 31 sts and 45 rows - that was a big difference, but this is more...

I check the two yarns again, side by side - it was described as 100% cotton with nylon binder - in the photo, you can see the nylon thread coming off the end of the beige yarn and notice how crinkly the beige one is compared to the red yarn - I think this is the answer...

funny, it’s a discontinued yarn...maybe that says something...anyway, gotta use it up now - second sleeve knit from cheat-swatch numbers...

button tricks

2011-10-17T16:54:00.002-04:00

I’m finally getting around to doing the buttons for ‘Granville’ - I wanted 3 or 4 large buttons just at the top but large buttons seem to be very hard to come by unless you have access to a good button shop which I don’t - we’re down to the local Fabricland as virtually the only source for buttons - even Wal-Mart doesn’t have them any longer....so, not much to choose from. And, when you have an off-colour like this ‘mushroom grey’ it’s really limited. Even discounting the size I wanted, it was tough - pewter was the closest thing, but size-wise the largest I could find were 7/8"/23mm - not big enough. I did find some reasonably-priced large black ones, but they are pretty boring and black buttons would limit what I could wear with it...I had some pearly grey buttons that were big enough and sort of the right colour, but they're really ugly and cheapened the finished look...what to do?

What to do? I didn’t want to wait for my next trip out of town to maybe get lucky, so I put two buttons together! The trick - line up the holes for sewing, of course and with my trusty, hot-glue gun, put a dab of glue on the bottom button, press the top one in place and hold for a second or two...

Most buttons are not totally flat, either top or bottom and, the bit of wax/glue makes a cushion between - what I did was...on a piece of Styrofoam, pin the buttons with two darning needles to align the holes and hold the buttons in place. Angle the needles out slightly so the top button can be pulled up to apply the glue and then quickly press down to flatten and set. If you mess up, it let cool completely and use a flat blade to pry apart, pick the glue off and try again...

told ya I was fickle...

2011-10-13T16:54:00.002-04:00

Today, I’m test knitting the next POM for November - it’s a raglan cardigan - so my favourite tool today is the adjustable 7-prong tool. The raglan shaping is emphasized by using a wider decrease - I like the outlined 6 to 5 - yes, it is a little more work, but after all - most of us are knitting for ourselves and if you’re not going to do the best for yourself, who’s going to? And if you’re making it for someone else, you should still be doing the best!

I’m actually making this one for my daughter - yeah, I know, there’s been quite a few times when I said that and she never actually got the sweater, but now she lives here and she reads this, so she’ll know... also, she’s a bit taller than me and needs a longer sleeve, so I’m working that (but it is quite nice even with the sleeves pushed up)... making it in black WCD - I already have a new black WCD cardigan and tank - that lace remake of the cover of No 20 that I did a few weeks back, so I don’t actually need another black WCD cardigan, but this is a really nice design...
Anyway, back to the decreases and tools...the decrease is what I call ‘outlined 6 to 5' which means that from the edge, pick up #6, put on #5 and then move the last 5 in one space. The decrease is on the fifth needle from the edge and by putting the decreased stitch (#6) down first, it outlines or emphasizes the decrease. So, it is very helpful to have a 5-prong tool to move the 5 stitches in one space at one time, rather than having do it with a 3-prong and a 2-prong. I do have this 5-prong tool that someone gave me - I decided to give it a try, instead of my usual adjustable 7-prong... used it for the back and cripes! talk about feeling like I had 2 left hands or something...I kept getting hung up on one needle or worse, dropping the doubled stitch - I did not remember this being such a pain on my original red and black.
Went out to my Zumba class and thought about it - came back, got out the 7-prong tool and compared them - well, the tips of the 7-prong are nice and flat and they are relatively flexible. The 5-prong is very stable but the ends are thick and not as nicely tapered...
Changed to the 7-prong, with 2 pushed in, of course, and whipped up both the fronts, not a snag or dropped stitch in either piece!

Just a simple trick with the adjustable tool, after you select the needles or arrangement you want, press the prongs on a flat surface to even them out and holding flat, tighten the screw to hold them in place. This will align the prongs and make the transfers go much smoother!

Boy, I must have been upset - can’t find that 5-prong thing anywhere!

one of my favourite things...

2011-10-06T15:39:00.002-04:00

When someone asks me what my favourite of anything is, I usually say whatever I’m currently using and it changes frequently - does that make me fickle? Or indecisive? I don’t think so - I just like to like lots of different things... Anyway, I thought I’d share my current favourite tool with you and, coming off the intensely ribbed garment that ‘Granville’ turned out to be, maybe you can guess - aw, it’s okay, I’ll just tell you - it’s my special DETT - that stands for double eye transfer tool - you get one with your ribber and it’s used to transfer stitches from the main bed to the ribber or vice versa. Now, you may not know this, but not all DETTs are created equal and I don’t mean for different gauges - I have a small collection of these little gems - here’s a scan of 4 of them, all for standard gauge - check out the shapes of the tip (some are more pointed and if you happen to drop a stitch, the narrower, flatter tip makes it much easier to snag that l’il bugger before it gets away); the size of the hole and how close it is to the end ( the smaller hole closer to the end tends to hang up on the hook of the needle); some have a groove running from the tip, through the hole and out the other side; and on my favourite, notice the flat spot in the centre of the tool. I love this thing!! The others are all a round rod with the ends flattened. The flat spot on this one seems to stick in your fingers better and makes the flipping of stitches that much quicker because the tool is not rolling on you. So, next time you’re going out to a seminar where they may have Passap tools for sale, look for one of these - that’s where I got it from, a Passap dealer - Newton’s may have them - I’m going to call ahead and reserve a few extras...

Here’s me - impressed!

2011-10-04T14:09:00.004-04:00

I’ve almost finished up ‘Granville’ - the knitting anyway - still have to darn in a few ends, do the buttons (that was holding me up - deciding what to do or use) and give the final wash, dry and press, but speaking of press, I’m so impressed!! This thing is so pretty and the details!! Worth every second I’ve spent on it! I’ll do the final and give you a photo later in the week. This one is for me!! The current issue of Knit’nStyle finally arrived - impressed again! My ‘Cable Gal’ hoodie looks really nice - the photos in the magazine do it justice and they had enough space to put 5 photos - count ‘em, FIVE - oh wait, the one on the back page is a repeat of the large one... maybe it’s just a new format - some of the other patterns got 4 different views too...you can check back in this blog (July 8, 2011 - a true oxymoron) and see my flat photo - the hood turned out really great and they - KnS - have a couple of good shots of it - I’m so proud - the editor just forwarded me an email she received from a reader (she did put her real name):
To: readersvc@allamericancrafts.com
Subject: Mary Anne Oger's patterns
Hurray for you! I love the addition of Mary Anne Oger's machine patterns included in the magazine. Although I do knit some sweaters, I also love to interpret them onto the machine. The articles inspired me to purchase yet another machine, the LK150, which Mary Anne is so fond of. I used to get her "Knitwords" magazine and miss them, but am so happy you brought her on board. Pls include more. The pattern in this new issue of the alpaca cable sweater is fabulous!
Thanks again,
CH, Montana

The time line is still hard for me to adjust to - I am sending off my next garment today and you won’t see it until #178 which is due out late January - I promised them a beginner series but decided to add a few extra details for the more adventurous knitter - the yarn is City Tweed DK from Knit Picks and I love it - the colour (it's actually a little darker than this photo, called 'desert sage'), the tweed, the blend (55 merino wool, 25 superfine alpaca and 20 donegal tweed) good yardage (50g-123 yds) and really good value - completed the finished chest 36" garment, swatches and some left over with 10 balls - you’ve got it! I’m impressed, again!
OMG, I just realized, I think this is the first pullover I’ve made in over a year and you know it’s not for me...

time out!

2011-09-28T11:16:00.001-04:00

And here’s another lesson...when do you rip out and when do you abandon ship? I was on the second front, totally big-headed and over-confident after such success - 4 pieces perfectly executed and here I am on RC037, carriage on the left and going to bring up the needles to create the loop for the cables on the next row and I look at my cheat sheet and I need to be at RC039 to be doing this, but I know I am about to knit the sixth row...something’s wrong...I drop one side of the bed and recount - yes, this will be the sixth row, but I can’t see any further. So, do I rip out 6 rows and hope for the best? No, the mistake must be below that, because it looked okay. Now, I have 20 minutes on this piece - ripping out (which I hate!!) and un-cabling 12 rows will likely be at least 20 minutes and I still won’t be at the problem...Answer - cut your losses, drop it from the machine and start over. Turns out, it was a good call, my FIRST error was 18 rows down...cabled the wrong side and then had only 4 rows to the next cable...

'Granville' notes

2011-09-27T13:24:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I made the back and it’s beautiful! Even though it seems like a lot of cabling - 320 turns, actually, on the back - it went fairly quickly and I had the back done in about 3 hours with a few breaks. As I was working, I was considering whether I’d make the vertical opening front pockets. My confidence was saying, oh, yes, do it!! After I got the back off and steamed, I could hold it up and re-evaluate the situation (one of reasons for making the back before the fronts). Holding it up in front of me and looking in the mirror, I could tell that with the weight of this finished fabric, the pockets would be too much and possibly add bulk in a place that I don’t need or want it. I could see they were not needed , especially now that I’ve changed this into a indoor-weight jacket.

Some things for you to think about before it’s too late...

My braided cables are turned every 6 rows, so make a quick cheat sheet and hang it right in your face - I set mine up so that the right hand cable row number was on the right side and the left side number is for the left turn. And it is a 3X2 turn, similar to half of the cable from Dream Coat, so on the row before the cable is turned, bring up the empty rib needle that is between the 3 & 2 of the cable to make an extra loop of yarn to make the cross of the cable easier and be sure to put it out of work after you drop the loop. If, inadvertently, a not-required rib needle gets into work and stays there without you noticing, don’t just drop the stitch - it will make an elongated line of stitches that will show - you can of course rip back, but I don’t bother - get real, this is ribbed !!! I just transfer the stitch to the main bed and put the needle out of work - this will show on the back side of the knitting, but won’t affect the front...

Begin and end the cables on the 4th row of the sequence, so think about where it will end at the top, before you have to transfer sts to the main bed.

The stitch gauge for the stockinette yoke is slightly different than the cable piece, so make up the difference when doing that RTR at the top of the cables, before you set up for the yoke. Also, I used the stockinette gauge for my sleeve because it only had the one cable in it.
Weighting your pieces...On the back, I had 3 large ribber weights across the bottom, after the first 3 rows of the cast-on and I added a claw weight to each side and moved these up every 20 rows or so. For the sleeve and the front, one large ribber weight and the claw weights managed fine - most people tend to over-weight, IMO anyway...but, I do tend to babysit my rib work - I use my right hand to pass the carriage and with my left hand, I move the fabric back, beneath the rib bed, at the same time, watching for the odd tucked stitch which will happen, predominantly at one side or on the second row after the cable...

a sleeve pandemic

2011-09-24T12:26:00.002-04:00

I’ve got 3 sleeves done...let me explain...actually, the first one was chocolate brown and took forever! Now, the sleeve is supposed to be purl stitches background with a single, braided, knit-stitch cable running up the centre of it. For the body of the garment, on my swatches, the cables are on the main bed and the purl stitches are on the rib bed (side away is right/outside), so it made sense to do the same thing for the sleeve. Actually, let me back up a bit again.
Often, I start by making the sleeves of a garment - for a couple of reasons. First, when trying out new techniques, it is usually easier to master new stuff on the sleeve rather than the back which is a whole big, piece. The sleeve, being smaller, allows you to work out the quirks of the technique or the design without it being a major deal, like for example, figuring out how to change from one needle arrangement to the next, between the cuff area and the main part. And if it doesn’t go well, not too much is lost, time-wise. And if you do make a few changes, it will be less obtrusive on the sleeve and you can usually get away with minor stuff.
So, I was using the chocolate brown and though I did get a perfect sleeve off, it took forever. Turns out that shaping on the rib bed is much more time consuming than if you were working the other way around. My end stitches were on the ribber, so the increases and sleeve cap shaping were all ribber stitches. I did shortrow some of the sleeve cap, but it was tricky. I was going to make the second sleeve in brown, the other way, using the main bed for the purl stitches and the rib bed for the cable (side facing is right side), but when I looked at the finished chocolate brown sleeve I decided that with this much work involved, I wanted people to be able to see the detail from more than 6 inches away!
I switched back to the mushroom grey and whipped off 2 perfect sleeves with the cable done on the ribber in half the time!
Funny how things come back to haunt you - I remember once saying that I’d never turn cables on the rib bed....turns out, it was quite easy...
I know, I know...remind me later to tell you how to re-use that chocolate brown, after all, it is real wool crepe deluxe!

caught stealing again...

2011-09-22T10:16:00.003-04:00

I’m back home and re-bonding with my metal bed machine - swatching madly...I saw the cutest jacket/cardigan - by the way, what’s the difference? What makes it a jacket? What makes it a cardigan? Anyway, this knitted thing that opened in the front - I tried it on and loved the style but it was made out of junk (in my opinion) but with a price tag of $79, I guess, what do you really expect? So I studied it and tried to commit to memory the details and when I got home, dashed off a sketch - I really wish I had learned to draw properly but at least I can sort of put down enough stuff to help remember the real thing - I don’t have a cell phone and I’ve never worked up enough nerve to carry my digital camera, so I have to rely on this method...

swatch1

swatch2

The jacket - it did seem heavy enough to be more like an outdoor-weight and with the big collar, I’ve now decided it was a jacket/coat - had tons of stuff going on, but it all came together. It was a dark charcoal tweedy yarn and I put it on with a black pencil skirt and even with bare legs, I thought I looked okay and of course, the clerk, hoping to make sales is telling me how stunning I look - who wouldn’t believe her? In my mind’s eye, I’m narrowing the bottom of the sleeve and, thinking the hem is sort of bulky - it was 1X1 rib, folded under, doubled, to add weight to it, maybe, but to someone as discerning as moi, it was crude - I could do better...and forget the outdoor version, I’m going to use Wool Crepe Deluxe and work on changing the big collar...

So, with my swatches, working first on the hem, I did full needle rib and then went to 1X1 on main bed only - now, how to get to the

9 X 8 wide rib without too much trouble? Some experimenting with bringing needles back to work quickly - I think I have it worked out by the 4th swatch...then, trying cables - Here, I chose 9 sts for the knit part where I was doing 3X3X3 braided cable, making the cables every 4 rows - too much work and too tight and with bringing up the extra needle on the rib bed on the row before, it makes too big a loop that shows...

swatch3

swatch4

Next swatch, change up the rib and have the 1X1 part knitting only every other row - nah, that’s not what I want -

8X7 needle arrangement works better, but 6 rows between elongates the cables out too much.

No 3 swatch: narrowed the cast-on and went back to 1X1 look for hem, tried 3 different cables - too much going on and I lost track...

No 4 - changed colour, tried a racking cast on (yes!) , did my own braided cable 3X2X3 and by gosh I think I’ve got it!! See you in the ribber class at Newtons!!!

Heads Up...

2011-09-13T14:32:00.002-04:00

Crochet-Look Skullcap (revised from KW#26)
If you hate the ‘c’ word or are just crochet-impaired like me, you’ll love this! Some great stuff, even if you don’t want a skull cap. Take time to do a few swatches and experiment. A little manual knitting on the machine to make different size stitches across same row; lace made with shortrows; a bit of every-other-needle tucks and eyelets; a few RTR’s (remove, turn and rehang) to get the purl side showing for a few rows and you’ll be amazed at the crochet-look your knitting machine can produce!
Machine: 6.5mm. Silver Reed LK150 was used. Finished size, head measures 55 cm/21.5 in.
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, 74% cotton, 26% polyester, 1 - 50g/175yds ball.

45-0-46 n’s to work. Using MC double stranded, loosely chain across. Anchor last loop on end needle. Single strand, T4, K1R.
Manually knit next row, one tight stitch, 5 very loose (Put yarn into hook of needle and pull needle back to A position); repeat across row, ending with one tight stitch.
The 5 big stitches now need to be gathered and put on centre needle of each group. Starting at right side, manually knit very small stitch in end needle. Next 2 n’s are empty. Bring out and wrap them one at a time. Knit small stitch through all 5 loops on next n and then another very small st again to ‘tie’ it up; wrap next 2 empty n’s, individually. Repeat across to left side.
T5, K1R. Wrong side/purl side is facing.
Tucked Eyelets: RC000. CAR.
T9, K1R. Set to hold. From second needle from left, bring EON (every other needle) to HP (hold position).
T5, K3R. Cancel hold. Carefully bring all n’s to D position (to make sure they all knit).
K1R. Beginning with third stitch from left, transfer to EON, picking up untucked stitch onto tucked stitch, empty needles in work.
T9, K1R. T5. Set to hold. Bring EON (loops) to HP.
T5, K3R. Cancel hold and bring all n’s out. K2R. RC011.
RTR (Remove, turn, rehang). Repeat 11 rows of Tucked Eyelets.
RTR. CAR.
Shortrowed lace, 2 sts and 3 rows across: Set to hold. Bring all n’s to hold. At carriage side, return 3 n’s to work. K4R. Return next 2 n’s at carriage side to work. K1R. Put first 3 n’s to HP. K3R. Bring next 2 n’s to work, K1R. Put last 2 in hold. Repeat across row, doing 4 rows on last one. Cancel hold. K2R.
RTR. Outside is now facing.
Repeat 11 rows of Tucked Eyelets.
RTR. Inside is facing. Repeat 11 rows of Tucked Eyelets.
RTR. CAR K1R. Set to hold. Bring EON to HP. K3R. Cancel hold. T9, K1R. RTR. Inside of hat facing you now.
Repeat Shortrowed Lace, 2 sts and 3 rows.
RTR. K1R. Outside is now facing. Decrease 15 sts evenly spaced across row. This is every sixth stitch.
To do this:
Starting at right side, pick up 4th stitch and move to 3rd needle. Count over and pick up next 6th stitch (leaving 5 in work) and move to right, all across row. Put empty n’s out of work. MC, K1R. Remove on WY or garter bar. Bring 30-0-46 n’s to work and rehang.
RTR. Wrong side of hat facing.
Shortrow lace, 3 sts and 5 rows across the row: Set to hold. Bring all n’s to hold. At carriage side, return 4 n’s to work. K6R. Return next 3 n’s at carriage side to work. K1R. Put first 4 n’s to HP. K5R. Bring next 3 n’s to work, K1R. Put last 3 in hold. Repeat across row, doing 6 rows o last 3 n’s.. Cancel hold. K1R.
RTR. K1R. Transfer to EON. K2R. RTR.
Dec 24 sts across row. That is every third stitch to 6-0-46 n’s. K1R.
Repeat Shortrow lace 2 sts and 3 rows across sequence. K2R.
Shape Crown: transfer to EON. Put empty n’s out of work. K2R. 26 sts. Remove and rehang, decreasing every third stitch (i.e. 1 st; 2 together; 1 st; 2 together, across row) to 0-17 sts. K2R.
Transfer to EON. Put empty n’s out of work. T3, K1R. Rehang again, decreasing every other stitch. T3, K1R. Cut yarn leaving 24 inch tail for seaming. Thread tail in blunt end needle and remove remaining stitches, tie off.
Seam to form into hat/touque/whatever. Darn in ends.
Feel free to use this pattern for personal use and maybe mention where you got it, thanks!

baa, baa, black sheep...

2011-09-10T16:34:00.001-04:00

On Thursday, two days ago, I went to a yarn shop here in Vancouver. My sister asked me to make her a hat like the ‘crochet-look skullcap’ from KW#26, so I figured, okay, least I can do, right? Check on the internet for LYS and find ‘threebagsfull’ not too far away. Go in and look around - the original yarn was a Debbie Bliss wool and cotton that, of course, is long gone. I found a Rowan yarn called ‘Calmer’, a cotton/polyester blend that I think will work, hoping that one ball would do it - I forgot to check the pattern before I left. Even though this one has good yardage, the sales clerk talks me into getting 2 balls, telling me I can return the second one for an in-store credit if I don’t need it. We had enough of a conversation for me to tell her I was making a lacy-type skullcap and she even let me take 3 colours out to the car for Marnie to choose which she wanted. She does choose the one I thought, sort of a plum shade, and I come back in, get the 2 balls and go to the woman at the cash register and it’s like $35 - yikes!!! Sticker shock or what! But it’s for a good cause. So I come back here and knit away and soon realize that this yarn, being much softer than the original, needs about 2-3 inches added to the depth for it to work. I have a part of the first ball left to work with and I begin again - I don’t want to unravel my first attempt just yet, because I can use it to figure where and what to add. I get it well underway and know what I need to do before I have to undo the first one to finish up - figuring I can take the other ball back and exchange it for the next colour choice and make a second one.
Now, today is Saturday. I go back to 3bagsfull and there’s something happening at the store. There’s a dude at the door handing out big green shopping bags - a sale, apparently...and a line-up around this small store, customers waiting to check out with their green bags. I say to the girl at the till that I just want to exchange this ball for another colour and she says okay - I hand her the original ball - the receipt is tucked into the ball band and I go and quickly grab the new colour. She says ‘wait a minute’ and she starts doing something on the computer and I figure she’s having to adjust for inventory so I wait and then she gives me $3.35 back in change with a new receipt and tells me it’s now on sale...I walk out of the store, saying to myself, G, someone could have told me 2 days ago that they were having a big 20% off sale today...doncha think? Or do they have enough customers already?

Freebie for mid gaugers

2011-09-09T18:15:00.002-04:00

I was playing around with this nice sock yarn and decided that the LK-ers should have socks too - I thought they turned out pretty good - they are a little heavier (thicker) than I would wear with shoes but they are nice to wear around the house insteads of slippers or to wear with sport sandals - and there are a lot of good techniques for beginners! Try them out!
LK150 Socks
Ankle sock, knit flat, with heel and toe shortrowed. Stitches are grafted over top of toe. Seamed on one side to make a neat, one piece sock.
MACHINE: 6.5mm flat bed, sample made on Silver Reed LK150.
Level - Beginner
YARN: Plymouth Yarns, Happy Feet DK,
90% superwash wool, 10% nylon; 100g/262 yds.
GAUGE: Stockinette, T3, 22 sts and 35 rows to 10 cm/4 inches.

SIZE: Ladies 7.5, med-wide foot. Adjust as necessary for your correct sizing.

LEFT FOOT
1. 26-0-26 n’s. Cast on waste yarn. T3, knit several rows, ending carriage at right. Ravel cord, K1R.
2. RC000. MC, hold 24" tail (use to seam side later), K19R, ending CAR.

3. Shape heel. Set to hold - russell levers both to l. Bring all left of 0 to D (hold position). RC000. Working on needles at right of 0 only, at carriage side, bring 1 needle to hold, K1R, 16X to 10 needles in work. RC016.

4. Reverse shaping. At side opposite carriage, return 1 needle to C (upper working position), K1R, 16X, ending CAR. RC032.

5. Cancel hold by returning russell levers to ll. Reset RC000. At centre, pick up heel stitch (purl bump of row below) from #1 left ( the held stitch) and hang on #1 right to fill in hole from shortrowing. K1R. All needles back in work. Knit to RC050 (or desired length), ending CAR.

6. Remove left side on waste yarn: set to hold. Remove MC and set aside without cutting. Place right of 0 to hold. Thread up waste yarn and K6-8R on left side and drop from machine.

7. Place carriage at right. Rethread MC and shape toe by repeating step 3 and 4. Measure out MC 4X width of needles in work to leave tail of MC (to graft toe) and remove on waste yarn.

To finish top with stockinette roll: rehang cast-on side, purl side facing. T2, K14R. T9, K1R. Chain off stitches.

To finish top with 1X1 rib: rehang cast-on side with knit side facing, have an uneven number of stitches. T3, K14R. T9, K1R. Drop every other stitch for 15 rows -down to the beginning of the knit stitches and reform with latch tool, then chain off - this will make a ribwise cast-off.

Make sock for right foot, opposite to above, exchanging right and left, so seams face each other on inside of foot.

Graft toe stitches.

Try my modified mattress stitch to seam sock. This makes a very neat, flat, almost invisible seam with no ridge inside. Thread yarn into bodkin. Working from knit side, go into half outside edge on one side, across to corresponding row on opposite side; move up one row on same side; across into stitch one row above previous stitch on same side; up one row on same side, across, etc. Or another way to put it, go from the knot on one side to the loop on opposite, up into the knot on same side, across to loop, etc.

To adjust for size, use one or two less stitches each side for a narrower width and add/subtract 3 to 4 rows per half size in length before making the toe part.

NEW POM

2011-08-28T12:42:00.002-04:00

The New Pattern of the Month subscription available now! See it at http://www.knitwords.com/ It's a new standard gauge set of patterns for Serial Stuff.
The subscription means that you pay $15 in advance and then each month for the next 3 months (September, October and November) you will get the new pattern with the techniques article emailed to you. The subscription can be purchased from now until September 30, 2011. It’s easy to get it from our website, using Paypal OR visa or mastercard through Paypal.

If that doesn’t work for you, you can send a check/cheque or money order, along with the order form (found at the bottom of the bookstore/back issues page - click on the appropriate icon and print out the order form).

The pattern for September is ‘Lacey Blue’ which is the standard gauge version of ‘Two Step’ that I’ve talked about previously - it is the same stitch pattern as in ‘Two Step’ but using the lace carriage to do the work instead of manually transferring the stitches. The accompanying article has lots of techniques for the lace carriage, for both Brother and Silver Reed, including shortrowing and how to deal with patterning at the edges. I made mine using Bonita from Knitcraft - it’s a 100% mercerised cotton - if you can’t find it from your local dealer or online, contact me at knitwords@shaw.ca

For October, the pattern is ‘TuckRib Cardi’, a double bed long cardigan which is a version of my Suva Dress that I wore in Portland at Pacifically Passap Plus, with a bonus pattern for little girls , sized 4 to 10 yrs - see Rhiana’s in the post from July 5 -‘you’ll love this’. I included this because if you’ve never knit a tuck rib, it’s a nice way to ease into it before tackling the adult version and there are great, new ‘putting together on the machine’ tricks that you can try out on the small version, then decide which method to use on the good one.

November’s pattern is a raglan, another cardigan/ of course!!

Oh and we have other new stuff on the website - a new freebie - my circular sock pattern is set up as a pdf for you to download - we’ve updated a few other things - take a look around and come back often!

window shopping...

2011-08-26T16:21:00.005-04:00

Went out for a quick look on Granville Street and saw what looked liked a fairisle machine knit sweater from the early ‘80's - back then, someone had given Princess Diana a red sweater with white sheep marching back and forth and there was one black sheep. It became all the rage and duplicate sweaters showed up all over England, both hand-knit and machine-knit. I did see some of these machine-knit in fairisle with huge, long floats all over the inside. I knew an English lady, Muriel, who used to custom knit for a ‘bloke’. She lived on a farm in England and, to earn some extra money, she did sewing, alterations and machine knitting for the man who owned the local sewing shop. He would provide her with the yarn, the punchcards and the pattern written out in whatever sizes he wanted and she’d knit up the blanks or pieces and deliver them on her next trip to town. He had someone else to do ‘the making up’ or finishing work of seaming and cut’n’sew neckline. Although she made many of these sheep pieces, she never learned to properly make a complete sweater and was afraid of necklines! He only taught her what she needed to know to do his jobs.

Anyway, back to the sweater here, it had rows of white foxes (I think) going back and forth and then, at the bustline, there was a full row of black sheep going across...it was enough to catch my attention and make me go in to investigate. Don't get me wrong - it was pretty yuccky! It was a fine to standard gauge weight made with a harsh scratchy wool and had a cut'n sew neck with a button placket on one shoulder (making me think they didn't know how to do necklines either!) but, I was surprised to see that on the inside, it was made like I did with Marnie’s ‘DogON’ cardigan from KNITWORDS No 44.

Marnie's had some lettering, some plain stockinette rows and some rows of fairisle with furry yarn that caused some trouble. I used a variety of tricks to deal with the long floats and particularly, I found that switching to a method I call semi-jacquard did the job for the fairisle rows - most importantly, did not alter the gauge or the thickness of the fabric.

Semi-jacquard can be introduced anywhere in the garment without too much trouble. Bring up the rib bed and use only every 5th or 6th needle on the rib bed, set to knit on every other row only, providing a good method of tying up the floats. The knit carriage is set to slip/jacquard and the rib bed is set to knit only every other row, therefore a vertical line is not made on the front of the fabric which an every row rib stitch would make. I manually changed the yarn which I felt was quicker and simpler than setting up the yarn changer. For more on this, look in No 44, ‘making a theme sweater’...

I forgot to look at the tag and see where that fox and sheep thing was made...
Anyway, if you google ‘Princess Diana’s sheep sweater’, you’ll get lots of variations...that's were I scooped the princess sweater photo...

PS. My LK made it safely, everything’s intact. The girls at Westjet in Thunder Bay got a big kick out of my gun case and they loved the ‘I (heart) Machine Knitting’ sticker. Coming soon, an LK version of socks!

Other news...

2011-08-21T09:20:00.001-04:00

I will be at Newton’s Fall Festival in Anaheim, CA, October 28-30, 2011 - they have 3 days of classes! Keep checking their website at http://www.newtons.com/ for the list of classes and what else is going on - and I’ll have new stuff to show off - I’ve been working hard all summer on some new Serial Stuff for the standard gauge - keep watching here for more details.
I just got an email:
Hi Mary Anne,
Thought you’d like to know about our club’s entries in the Wisconsin State Fair this August in the machine knitting garment category. Lori K won 1st for a MAO pattern from the cover of Knitwords No. 51, I won second with the pattern from the cover of KW #53 (boy, was that a challenge!) and Jean G. won 4th with a MAO pattern from your 3 patterns sold separately, I think the one called Reddyware for the mid gauge.
So, the bottom line is -- keep those patterns coming! - Mary H in WI
Congratulations Ladies! It’s a deal - you keep knitting and I’ll keep writing!
Another booking, I’ll be in Broomfield, CO, May 5, 2012 for a one day seminar for the local club - watch my website for details later.
An update with Knit’nStyle - I do have a new contract for the coming year, per issue, for an article and pattern on the LK150 - I will be working from a more beginner/techniques angle - in the last issue of Knitwords, I had the start of a series called W5 - what? when? where? which? why? - the idea was to give 3 or 4 methods of doing something, (for example cast-ons) and then tell you when and where to use which one, why and why not. The garments will reflect some of the techniques in the article. I will not be doing any mk translations of other people’s designs - I found it created more trouble and confusion for me than it was worth.

have gun case, can travel...

2011-08-20T17:21:00.004-04:00

I’m packing to go west and I have this nice little gun case that is perfect for my LK150 - I bought it a long time ago - they used to be available at Wal-Mart in the USA, but someone told me they are no longer there - I did check on-line and this one is still available in Canada anyway - at Canadian Tire, of course!

This one is the perfect size for my stock LK150 - it is almost the exact size of the original box - I’m a box saver, what can I say! I’ve been pushing the envelope to see what I can really pack into this thing...getting all the essentials plus whatever else will fit in.

When I got the gun case, I cut away the ‘egg carton’ portions to make it fit (click on the photo and it will enlarge) - notice one side is almost all cut away and on the other side, I just made a slot for the width of the carriage.

So in goes the machine, the hanger combs are underneath the bed and all the little bits, like claw weights, 2 row counters, tension mast, clamps, etc are around the edges - it all looks good, but I need something to knit, so might as well see how much yarn will fit - it should compress when I attempt to close - ah! good, enough for a garment project and a couple of skeins of sock yarn from Plymouth Yarns to experiment with - the wool winder, some waste yarn and my tool kit can go into my suitcase - I’ll let you know how I make out at the airport on Monday. I have some electrical tie wraps to ‘lock’ it but I’ll see if I can do that after they check it in security...

a black hole?

2011-08-08T18:01:00.002-04:00

I have just put the buttonHOLE band (in BLACK) on for the third time...I should say I have re-knit the entire thing with 7 - count ‘em, SEVEN!!! buttonholes - like completed one whole band, attached it with a garter bar - remember, I’m talking black at T5 - didn’t like it, picked it off; made the second one, attached it, darned in the freaking ends - still didn’t like it, unpicked it off...same problem as with the first one! My newest, totally awesome, bound-looking buttonholes have a problem with a loose thread on one side...and I couldn’t figure out what I was doing that caused it...well, finally on the third time, I realized that when I was casting off the stitches, beginning on the right, after transferring the 2nd stitch to the 3rd needle, I was wrapping the yarn, coming from the right, under the needle and then into the hook from the left side - almost like wrapping the needle first, instead of just taking the yarn from the right and putting it directly left into the hook to cast off the next stitches - this little 'faux pas' was making a looser stitch that was really noticeable (to me anyway) after it was all done and off the machine - but, the good news! - if you were actually casting off stitch by stitch and needed it a bit looser - this would work! who knew? oh, don’t answer that....

Here's the buttonhole instructions from Simple-icity:
Buttonhole band. As for button band, making 7 buttonholes spaced as desired, as follows:
Cut a 3 yd length (3X width of n’s in work) of MC and set aside. As for button band, to RC007. Bring out 4 n’s for each buttonhole (for 20mm/7/8 inch button). Make a note of needle numbers. Ravel cord, knit by hand the buttonhole sts, leaving n’s in work. K7R. RC014. Fold row, T10, K1R. Knit to RC022. Bring buttonhole n’s slightly forward. Pick up sinker loops of MC (above ravel cord - there are 5). Place on n’s above, starting one needle to right of noted n’s. With extra piece of MC, from right, knit sts on first n, leave it in place. Knit next doubled stitch, then transfer it to left, leaving empty n. Repeat on next 3 n’s, to 4 empty n’s. After last transfer, knit and leave in place to anchor end of hole. Carry extra yarn to next buttonhole and do all buttonholes in this manner. Go back to right with extra yarn, chain across empty n’s (in hooks), anchoring yarn by wrapping on either side of buttonhole. The extra strands will be encased in the band. Pick up sts below ravel cord, hang on previously empty n’s. Pull out ravel cord. Pull loops through chain. On each side of buttonhole, wrap next stitch/needle and bring all n’s out, pushing work behind latches. Knit to RC029 and finish as for button band, attaching to right side of garment.
I could show you how nice it looks in black, but you’d just have to take my word for it! I'll tell you later what the band was being attached to....

pet peeves...

2011-07-30T12:21:00.004-04:00

Doncha just hate it when you make a swatch with some lovely natural fibre but you’ve used an acrylic/nylon for the waste yarn and when you go to press/iron (one of the real reasons why I use said fibre) the freakin’ acrylic marker row melts onto the iron! *#?&%*
Visible gum chewers - at a seminar - think about it - do you chew with your mouth open, gum snapping and popping and the occasional spit ball escaping? How attractive is that? I get a headache just watching you - and you’re sitting right in front, apparently hanging on every word I say and I’m trying not to stare at you, hoping you don’t choke, and still trying to concentrate on staying on topic!! arrgh!!!
Working with a variegated yarn that is supposed to be dye-lot-ed and every piece looks different....
Making something when you have 2 - 500g cones of the same colour, same dye lot and you only need like 50g of the second cone - what are you going to do with that leftover 450g???
Attempting to make something out of the 450g cone and you run out on the last sleeve - bummer!!!
People who email with a question and then don’t even acknowledge the answer, never mind say thank you....
People who email with a stupid question with not enough information for me to answer... and then wait 5 days to reply to me and don’t include the first part of the question....
Trying to be politically correct- yeah, I know, you’re laughing at that one!!!
Those automatic checkouts at the grocery store....
Shade cards/colours of yarns on websites - how useless!
Underarm deodorant that promises to be invisible - yeah, right - and then it doesn’t even do the first job properly!
People who re-use waste yarn! what the heck is that all about? I know you have more yarn than you can ever possibly use in any way...
People who call me Mary...
People who don't really get me....

what's in a number?

2011-07-25T13:50:00.004-04:00

When I’m at a seminar, I usually advise people to purchase a new needle number strip for their machine - well, actually I tell them that I use a strip from a punch card machine - why? because I find it easier to position my stitch patterns on the machine from the punch card strip. On electronic machines, they just give you the centre and then count the 10’s out to the edges. It’s like you’re supposed to know everything. And I guess the real reason for this is that on an electronic machine, the stitch repeat can be virtually any number and it can be positioned to start anywhere you want. On a 24-st punch card machine the 24 stitch repeat is set across the needle bed, centring the 24 stitches at zero, between 12 left and 12 right and it cannot be changed. On punch card machines, the needle strip has not only the 24-st repeats laid out across the needle bed, but the halves are marked as well, so, you can very easily see where the pattern match will be at the edges or at the centre and you can decide to add a few extra stitches (or less) to make that match. It also has a nice little inverted vee above #21 on each side to remind you when making a tension swatch that’s the needle to hang the yarn mark on! It doesn’t get much better!!
The past few things I’ve made on my electronic Silver Reed, I’ve had a hard time figuring out where to put things and I realized that the ‘0’ is worn off my top strip - looking a little closer, the strip on the ribber is in tatters!! It’s not that important, but it would be nice to have an even edge on it!!

I changed mine - what a treat!
Make sure to get the proper one for your brand of machine - they differ slightly between Silver Reed and Brother - although they are interchangeable and you could use either one and it wouldn’t really matter, if you’re used to the Brother strip, the number is in a slightly different position from Silver Reed as the SR number is on the outside of the needle (away from zero) and on Brother, the number is 2 digits, one on either side of the needle. The Brother 970 has yellow on one side and green on the other and I’ve always had a hard time reading the yellow numbers especially. As you can see, the Silver Reed punch card strip is in this nice bright red - so easy to see! In the photo below, the red strip is for the main bed - the diamonds indicate the 24-st widths; the ‘X’ is the half pattern. Another really cool feature of this strip - you won't be able to see it here (if you click on the top photo to enlarge it, you might be able to see the space), but the outside edge is clear so it makes a line where the white starts that is about 1/8 inch from the edge and that gives me a spot that when I'm manually knitting a loose row, I pull the end of the needle back past to measure the size of stitch... The grey number strip is the electronic one and just fine for the ribber - you never really count stitches on the ribber anyway. You be the judge which one you want.

One last tip: put a tiny dab of glue under the strip at each end and one in the centre to hold it in place, making sure you have it centred first, of course!! And I don't have to tell you to let it dry before using...

ideas, ideas...

2011-07-24T20:27:00.002-04:00

I just caught the tail end of an episode of ‘The Closer’ - I like the show - never seem to catch the whole thing though - not sure when it’s on - I think she wears some weird stuff sometimes... too fancy and fussy for me and I’m not sure it really suits her profession or her personality... but in the final scene, she was talking to her mom and she was wearing an awesome sweater!!! It was camel-coloured, and soft looking, like it was cashmere or at least a fine alpaca...and the stitch pattern was a fashion lace design - very pretty! It had snug-fitting, long, set-in sleeves and a shawl collar, (I love shawl collars!!) but the collar was made of the same fabric/stitch pattern as the rest of the sweater - quite unusual - mostly a collar on a sweater like that would be a ribbed thing, worked horizontal, but this was knit vertical...got my gears spinning...stay tuned! I told you, I’m on a lace kick!

cross-knitting

2011-07-21T09:45:00.002-04:00

The perfect black cardigan! the ultimate in knitting, right up there with that LBD thing. My LSA in black is pretty perfect (Sep 6/09 - what's happening) - I love the yarn - wool crepe deluxe from Silk City Fibers in 002, jet black - and the style, but you can never have too many of a good thing, so, my quest for the ubiquitous black cardigan persists and now that I have the perfect black yarn...

In the past, I avoided knitting with black - when making something for a pattern and publication, there is no point in using black because the detail does not show up in photos. So, I knit in other colours simply for the need for detail in photography. The thing about a black garment - you want it to stay black and, many yarns, especially with a cotton content, will become charcoal or

gray-ish, no matter how careful you launder them.

Looking at past patterns I would have liked to have in black - I’m on a lace kick right now and the cover garment of No 20, Spring 2002 - wow! my notes say I made that one on Nov 22/01...Anyway, that garment was knit in a mauve shade of sable crepe and I was doing a plus-sized series, so that particular ‘Lacy Twin’ was made for someone else. I did re-knit it at the time, in the black sable crepe in my size and loved it the first time I wore it. The love affair was short-lived...the thing about acrylic, that one did stay black, but it also became fuzzy...and fuzzier and was soon relegated to the back of my closet - not sure why I even kept it (probably to remind myself never to use that again!).

So here I am, today, knitting a black lace piece on the standard gauge electronic and then changing it up with a stockinette piece on the LK150 - really what I should be concentrating on - my next project for Knit’nStyle... the yarn is ‘Boboli’ from Berroco, so colourful!

addendum

2011-07-15T18:12:00.002-04:00

Knit’nStyle #175 is out!! The new issue is on their website and again, I’m happy! My design, ‘Lacey Blues’ (well, actually, they changed it - I called it ‘Lacy Blues’) looks great. Of course, I’ll have to wait to see the actual magazine in print, which should be on the local newsstand pretty soon, before I’m totally satisfied. The yarn is Misti Alpaca Tonas Pima Silk, a cotton and silk blend, DK weight that knit beautifully and had a very pretty bluesy colourway. The yarn was in 100g hanks, which is great - less ends to deal with and I like that! I loved the feel of the finished fabric - adding silk to cotton is a really good mix because the silk is less heavy than cotton and it makes a lighter garment than pure cotton.

The accompanying article on manual lace patterning has some great tips for following the charts and what to do to make the edges and seaming go well with lace patterning but I had more to say than they had space for so I’m throwing it in here!

Just a short note on that Every Other Needle Hem - to make sure you are hanging the right stitches to the correct needles, start a little bit over from the right and say, on the fourth loop - pull the bottom edge down and follow the hole up to the correct needle, hang that one and then back track to the right - you don’t want to be out even one stitch because that will make the hem hang crooked. So, the loop you’re picking up should go on the stitch/needle directly above the hole/empty needle of the picot. Hope that helps!

a true oxymoron?

2011-07-08T13:38:00.004-04:00

Now, seriously! is it 'ravel' or 'unravel'? 'ladder' or 'un-ladder'?

I’m working on my article on cables for Knit'nStyle - this will be in #176, Dec 2011 - I’ve made an cute cuddly cabled cardigan using some absolutely awesome alpaca from The Alpaca Yarn Company (http://www.thealpacayarnco.com/) - they will actually cone up your order for you!!! no ends - get it? How good is that? Anyway, I made the garment, wrote the pattern and now am trying to finish up the accompanying article - making a bunch of swatches to show different cables on the LK150, of course, and mulling it over in my mind - sometimes it’s good to do a little research...I go on the ‘net and check out ravel and unravel - it doesn’t seem to be clear - you’d think one would be the opposite of the other, but not really. I decided 'unravel' must be an oxymoron - usually it takes two words to make a true oxymoron, but, checking the list, ‘unravel’ is not there - no knitters were on the selection committee - but, ‘unthaw’ is! So, even though ‘un-ladder’ and ‘ladder’, ‘ravel’ and unravel’ are almost exactly the same, I’m clearly confused. In my unbiased opinion (it’s really an educated guess) it’s the same difference and my only choice is to make a deliberate mistake, act natural and rephrase.

Some of my favourite oxymorons:

- ribbed stockinette

- stockinette rib
- natural synthetic
- loose knot
- user friendly
- one size fits all - ha!
You can probably tell I'm wasting time....

you'll love this

2011-07-05T15:29:00.003-04:00

I do! Rhiana, my granddaughter, is such a cutie! and a real little clothes-horse! I showed her this new cardi and she begged to put it on immediately - even though summer finally arrived and it’s pretty warm here (and the buttons are not on yet)!

This is a version of the coat/dress (see May 17/11 - Previews) that I made for myself to wear in Portland. I did another adult version - long sleeved, tunic length - that will be part of the fall ‘serial stuff’ and I thought it would be a great ‘school’ cardigan for Rhiana - she’s going to JK in the fall - wow, where did that time go??? Anyway, I also thought it would make a great trial pattern for knitters who are new to tuck ribs - it’s actually a pretty quick knit, with tons of techniques, to get you up to speed with your double bed and a slew of putting-together-on-the-machine stuff - I’m writing up the girl pattern in 3 sizes (4, 6 and 8 yrs) and it will be a free-bee along with the adult version. Mine is done with Yeoman Yarns Panama in green/khaki (name pending - Green Geezer; Shrek-ed Out; Green Is Not Just For Ogers).

I do like the idea of using the child-size pattern to get you ready for the adult version - it is a little stripped down to ease you into the full-blown techniques of the ladies’ cardi and besides the tuck rib thing, topics include seaming purl side fabrics, both by hand and on the machine; tubular band with vertical buttonholes, attached on the machine (you’ll be amazed); tips on making one cone of yarn go farther and using leftovers; and more...

We had a movie night - Shrek the Third - it was a winner!
PS - this is my 100th blog-posting!! more fireworks, please!

spoiler alert!

2011-06-25T15:13:00.001-04:00

I cracked it! You probably don’t know what, but I did it!!! Let me backtrack a bit...back in March, I think it was, I was doing that green lace hoodie on the LK150 that was a hand-manipulated lace pattern - you can check it out in the archives at the right side of the screen here - click March and ‘on designing’ and read up to ‘the hood’s up’.
Anyway, I had several people ask if this stitch pattern and garment could be done on the standard gauge machine with the lace carriage...well, mostly, I said yes, but you’d need to know how to program lace and I vaguely filed it under my ‘to do’s’ list.

I did get everything finished on the old list, even that pesky accounting stuff that I usually manage to put off for almost anything - the deadline for filing is June 30, so I’m ahead of the game! And, my walking partner and I are up to 12 km this week...

Well, yesterday afternoon, I had nothing specific to do besides waiting for a couple of swatches to dry and that lace idea came back to my mind. I thought, might as well give it a shot - it turned out to be easier than I imagined (either that or I’m just getting better - no comment necessary, really!). I got it on the third try!! (just before I got carried away and accidentally dropped it off the machine...that brings you back down to earth real quick!)

Now, I’ll figure it for the Brother machine -that won’t be too hard because this is fashion lace on the Silver Reed machine and it only takes a tad of tweaking to make those work for Brother! This will be one of the new Serial Stuff patterns, starting in September - stay tuned!

And guess what colour I’ll use? you’re right, not peach or purple!

my two cents...

2011-06-23T16:21:00.002-04:00

I was asked recently what advice did I have for new machine knitters - here it is (you can judge whether it applies to you)
1. Work with what you have - don’t run out and buy everything there is right away - don’t become a collector. I’ve seen them come and go - they start off with one machine and next thing you know, they have another and another and they never seem to get familiar with any of them - Too much too soon is not a good thing - you’ll get overwhelmed and confused and that generally leads to loss of interest.
2. Same thing with accessories - most famous is the yarn changer scenario - and I’ll admit, I fell into this trap, way back when. Without really understanding the purpose of a yarn changer, I bought the one for my machine, thinking that it would make changing colours for fairisle quick and easy - NOT!! I had a punchcard machine at the time and I was making multicoloured fairisle sweaters - no one said that the single bed fairisle card had to be redesigned for the yarn changer (punched in reverse, in fact) and of course, no one pointed out the reality that colour changes would only be on even numbered rows...duh!! So my yarn changer sat in the back of the closet for a long time - I did take it out briefly to do some double bed jacquard and quickly realized that was a fabric I could mostly live without - back in the closet went the yarn changer... Buy an accessory when you’ve learned about it and can’t live without it - and remember, all accessories are not for everyone - just because your friend has one does not mean it’s for you.
3. Do not overstock on yarn - I can hear you laughing - now she tells me, you say! Only buy what you can use in the near, foreseeable future. There is no use stocking up on something you’ve never used before but buy because you think it’s on sale or was a pretty colour (or not, even worse!) - what if you don’t like it? What if it turns to junk when washed? What if you don’t have enough for a whole project? Don’t buy mystery yarn - it will only lead to frustration, so leave the mystery yarn to the more experienced - you’ll notice they aren’t buying it because they know better (or should if they are truly experienced).
4. The best advice I can give anyone who wants to become good - Make the same pattern over again a few times - I don’t mean make it, rip it out and re-knit it - I mean choose a good, suitable pattern, (find one for your machine and use the recommended yarn - don’t begin by making a whole bunch of changes to the style and size) work through it and hopefully learn something. Analyze your results. Make it again and you’ll be able to fix something that went wrong, either because you didn’t understand the instructions or because you didn’t read it correctly. And then, if you like it, make it again (give one to your sister if you have to) and you’ll be amazed at the confidence builder this is!
5. If you have a real question for me that you want a real answer to, send me the question in an email to me at knitwords@shaw.ca - don’t put it here as a comment...

80's revival

2011-06-17T15:25:00.002-04:00

My daughter-in-law is going to an 80’s theme party on the weekend and was looking for some leg warmers - somehow, I must have missed that part of the 80’s...Anyway, I offered to whip her up a pair - her theme was black, silver and pink. Well, as you may know, my shelves are not exactly full of any of those colours, but I did have a partial cone of something called ‘spring garden’, a black, pink, blue and white acrylic mix left over from the Nomi Lee days, that looks kind of tweedy, and some metallic thread that might fit the bill (or is it ‘fill the bill'?). With no criteria, other than she would be wearing black leggings and high heels, I thought they should be ribbed, sort of slouchy with maybe a fold over cuff and go from ankle to mid calf...
Here’s what I came up with and she loved them!
After I was done, I realized this would make a great beginner ribber pattern.
So, the yarn was a slub, thick and thin, that would stockinette at about T4 or 5 on the standard gauge machine and I added a strand of metallic royal blue thread (run it through the other side of the tension mast and join it with the main yarn in the feeder).
Legwarmers
Set up for full needle rib, Swing H5, all needles in work, both beds, 35-0-35, end needle on main bed at right and on rib bed at left.
Cast on waste yarn and ravel cord as follows:
T5/5, K1R. This will be the zigzag row. Hang the comb and 1 small ribber weight in the centre. K10R, ending carriage at right. There is no need to do anything else - the cast-on will look awful but we don’t care, it’s just waste yarn, right? and it does the job.
Now, to knit ravel cord (I use disposable ravel cord, somehting that is smooth, hard twist, strong and is thrown away - Bramwell Artistic or crochet cotton works well) that can easily be separated later: Set to circular - don’t be lazy, look it up in your manual (good practise for when I’m not here telling you what to do). Thread up the ravel cord and knit one row - this will be a row of stockinette on the main bed side. Reach up at left side with the latch hook and catch the ravel cord and pull down about 4-5 inches and, leaving hook hanging there (this will make a loop that you can cut later so there will be 2 ends of ravel cord at each side making it easier to pull out), knit the row, making a row of stockinette on the rib bed side.
Thread up the main yarn. T5/5, K1R. Rack to H4. Carefully bring out the needles. K1R. Rack back to H5, bring out the needles again and K1R. This is the racked cast-on - Pretty easy, nothing else to do and it makes a stretchy edge, unlike the circular cast-on that is in your instruction manual. The racking back and forth criss-crosses the stitches and forms a fixed edge cast-on - for full needle rib, it’s great - later you can fool with the tension and change it up for whatever you want - I use it many different ways in various edges and trims - see ‘Knitting on the EDGE’ and ‘Band Practise’ (see your copy or the bookstore at http://www.knitwords.com/ to order - this has been an unpaid, unsolicited commercial for MAO!) for more of my variations of this.
Now, getting back to the legwarmers, set RC000. Add 1 large rib weight to each end of comb. Go up one full number to T6/6. Knit to RC130 - as you are knitting, everycouple of rows, give a tug on the centre weight to make sure that everything is going well and nothing is caught up where it shouldn't be. At RC130 or more if you want them longer, set to tuck on ribber for English rib: main bed knits all stitches both ways and rib bed knits one way and tucks the other. K30R (or more, as desired or as amount of remaining yarn allows). Cancel tuck. T10/10 ( or as loose as it goes on each bed - Brother ribbers only go up to T8), K1R. Transfer all sts to MB. Leave everything as is, weights, comb and all. Leave empty rib needles in work. K1R. Drop loops off rib needles, by unlatching carriages and running rib carriage over rib bed only. The loops from the rib needles go into the main bed stitches, making very large stitches on main bed. Chain off the stitches - this gives a really loose cast off! Seam the side to form the tube!
The English rib will fold over automatically for the cuff at the top of the legwarmer!
You could use more stitches, less rows of plain rib, more rows of the English Rib for a neck warmer...This will all work on any double bed machine, any gauge...

My tricked-out LK!

2011-06-16T11:10:00.002-04:00

I got this cute email the other day:
Dear Mary Anne, I had a question I hope you could find time to answer. I follow your columns in Knit N Style magazine, and notice you use the LK150 for your featured projects. I wondered if you do anything to your LK150 to "beef" it up?
I've heard of people putting stronger magnets on the bottom of the carriage, so I wondered if you had any similar mods to your machine? My LK150 seems kind of cheap and flimsy after knitting on steel bed machines so maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to the different feel of a plastic machine.
Thanks and keep up the good work, I look forward to the wonderful projects you come up with.
Sincerely, Linda J

Hi Linda, I use the LK150 for KnS because I want to show hand knitters what they could do with a machine and I know they are not ready for standard gauge garments! By taking the same yarns they use with sticks, I can produce a garment they can relate to and want to make, rather than the finer knits we, as machine knitters, are used to - hand knitters look at them and say’ ‘that looks store-bought’ and they make it sound like not a good thing, if you know what I mean.
The only 'mods' I have on my LK is a second row counter (when doing a hand-manipulated pattern I use one to keep track of the pattern rows and the other to keep track of the garment rows) and a second tension mast/assembly (for 2 or 3 colour work and then you always have waste yarn ready - I do this on my other machines too) - otherwise, I think it's perfect the way it is.
As for the magnet thing I haven't heard this and don't know what it would do - I would be leery of making a change like that - but notice, I do stick with light DK to DK weight yarn, maybe occasionally a worsted weight but nothing heavier (I’d use a bulky machine for the thicker stuff). I like yarns that knit in the T3 to T5 or 6 range and I think that is optimum for the LK150. You are right - there is a big difference between a metal bed and the plastic machine (my son used to call it my ‘fisher price knitter’!), but when you stick within that range, it is lovely and a pleasure to use (especially when the foam strip/needle retainer is good!), in my opinion!! Also, notice the heavier the yarn, the more weight you will need for it to knit properly. I am lucky in that I do have all the ‘toys’ for my little baby - an intarsia carriage, the fairisle carriage, the 8 st-needle selector, a weaving tool, 9/18-st EON tools and the old garter bar (nah-nah-na-na-nah!!) and of course, my favourite accessory, the KR11 knit contour. When I was at the North Carolina seminar in May, I was totally excited to find an adjustable 7-prong tool that the dealer told me was a 6.5mm gauge and I scooped it up. It turned out to be a 7mm tool from http://www.dknits.com/ but it’s close enough that it does work!
Hope this helps and answers your questions.
-Mary Anne

Stuff...

2011-06-15T08:32:00.001-04:00

I did get my ‘LSA’ finished and the button on - the one I thought was going to be the perfect one wasn’t - it was a bit too light in colour but I did have the perfect one, just didn’t remember it until I went to my button basket!

The original pattern was in KNITWORDS No 44, but I shortened the sleeve and didn’t add the cuff. The yoke is knit sideways and one sleeve is knit up and the other down so to get the same edge on the cast-on side as the cast-off side, I began the first one with waste yarn and then the end one had waste yarn also. To finish it, I used the main yarn doubled and e-wrapped the same number needles; hung the open stitches wrong side facing; pulled the open sts through; knit a loose row and chained off. Beautiful!

My daughter, Laura, was home for a few days and I can only say the reason I still have this cardi is because beige is not her colour, but she did place her order for one in black, along with a plain straight dress to match - good choice, girl! She’s looking for a new job and thought a dress with the long sleeve version would make a great interview outfit instead of the stuffy ‘old-lady’ suit she bought in desperation a couple of weeks ago which she said she’d never wear, but paid $1200 for - yikes!! I’ll do it in bits and bites and have it done in no time, once I get the yarn!

I have a friend’s birthday this weekend and it was a toss up what to make for a gift - a shopping bag or maybe a pair of socks?...I may have given her a shopping bag already, so I rooted through my sock yarn stash and found a ball of Fortissima Socka Mexiko Cotton Stretch - a 100g/460m ball in the right colours for her - it’s superwash wool, cotton, nylon and polyester and oh, they knit up nicely - using my circular sock pattern (it was in the handout packet at PPP) - I made the cuff only half the depth I usually do for winter socks and I’ll probably have a hard time giving these away - they are so nice - good thing she’s a good friend!

reasons to knit...

2011-06-13T09:37:00.003-04:00

A letter came the other day, rather fitting, as it’s been a year since the end of KNITWORDS magazine. Barbara Davis of Chicago often wrote a letter, along with her renewal. I have never met Barbara, but she wrote as though we were friends. In this letter, she began by telling me that she had been shocked and unable to respond at the time because her husband was ill - he passed away in November. She told me: ‘when I was unable to knit because of duties and caring for several ill family members at once, I would read the magazine and try to plan some time to knit. I remember an article you wrote about using small periods of time and I used that to plan and start learning to use my machine.’

Later, referring to a series where I would make a garment for my grandson and explain the techniques in an article and in the next issue, had an adult garment using the same techniques, she went on to say how she was really hooked with the idea of small articles/projects that took less time - it took small amounts of yarn and fit in small time periods. She mentioned how she ‘watched Nathan grow from a baby to a little boy with lots of hoodies knit by Grandma who adores him.’ I had a huge lump in my throat.

She went on to tell me: ‘You fulfilled your mission - you educated, encouraged, inspired and excited the subscribers. You gave patterns, diagrams and special articles to help beginners and seniors like me. The photography was excellent. The one ingredient you sent that was priceless was LOVE - it came in every issue! Thank you, Mary Anne.’

Thank you, Barbara! After I got over my tears I thought I would find that article and share it with you. From KNITWORDS No 31: it was my ‘editorial’ column - I always called it my ‘reasons to knit’ letter.

It’s been said, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’. Or is it? The comments I most often hear when I go to workshops and seminars are, ‘the garments look so much better in person’ or ‘the photos don’t really do justice to the garments’. I say thank you, because it would be terrible if it were the other way around and we get into a discussion about how can we make the photos better. I conclude we can’t. I think they are very good. The photo is flat, with no dimension, there is no getting around it. We do try to show the flow and drape of the fabric and the shape of the garment in the pose. The viewer needs to have an open mind and look at the overall information and analyze it. Combine the photo with the details in the pattern, the schematic, the close-up shots and the yarn information and other than a real live trunk show, it doesn’t get much better than that.

One of my favourite topics is a discussion of the quality of our finished product. I feel very strongly that in order to end up with a quality garment you need to have first rate yarn to begin with, and, good techniques and finishing methods to take care of the final details. I frequently hear the knitter has been unhappy or dissatisfied with her end product and, after seeing our garments, comes to the conclusion the reason for her own disappointment is the yarns she has used were not up to par. Been there, done that! I don’t understand the idea of wanting to make a garment or whatever for $25. You have spent good money on the equipment to work with, yet are afraid to commit further with good materials. Why invest in machines, software, training and most important, your time, to make a item that can be purchased at Wal-Mart for $30?

Here’s another remark. ‘I don’t knit anymore because I have no time.’ Set your priorities and make time. Instead of trying to set aside an entire day of the week just for knitting, which can be frustrating and counter-productive, take small bites. Knit a swatch one day. Set up your plan of attack for the next day and get your pattern ready, whether you are working from scratch or working from a written pattern, prepare everything and get organized. Try the 15 minute approach. Have it all ready to fit 15 minutes of knitting in here and there. Knit a sleeve in 2 or 3 fifteen minute periods throughout the day, between other chores or whatever. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish and how much more fun it will be. Enjoy the smaller successes and they will quickly add up to a finished product.

Does any of this strike a chord? Ask yourself these questions. Why are you knitting? What are your expectations in this craft? Your answers may help you gain some satisfaction.

Snippets

2011-06-05T13:00:00.001-04:00

A knitting friend gave me the cutest card...

Inside it says ‘I walk the line. ~ Johnny Cash’

I laughed and laughed!

Here is a portion of the sleeve on the hoodie I told you about the other day. This motif is repeated vertically up the sleeves and in the centre of the front, but on the front the holes are not all cut out, I guess, because of the zipper.

Now, to get this look with knitting, I had been mulling over different ideas. My first thought was to make the large diamond opening in 2 sections by holding one side, and knit the first side, decreasing and then increasing the centre edge. Then, place that side in hold and repeat on the other side. But what would happen in the centre? I didn’t want to do a lot of messing about and definitely no sewing - I would like the centre to be sort of filled in loosely somehow. So, my next thought was to shape both sides of the diamond opening at the same time and, to get long-enough-to-do-something-with strings in the centre, leave the empty needles in work each row, but drop the loops before knitting the next row. Then when I began to close up the diamond somehow latch up the strings to fill in the centre. Here’s what I got:

Problems to correct or overcome: somehow stabilize the inside end stitches of the diamond opening - either using some of the existing strings to e-wrap or use another piece of yarn.

I had 11 empty needles at the centre of the diamond so I only reformed 3 columns of stitches, doubling the yarn in this part - maybe change that into seed stitch? And, make the diamond bigger, of course - this was just a let’s-see-what-happens? swatch.

Make the shaping of the diamond opening more interesting - maybe make a mini cable in the travelling stitches, like the detail in the raglan shaping of ‘ReddyWare’ (February Serial Stuff for mid gauge) or ‘Crosswise’ (No 48).

My young nephew was over last night - he’s admittedly somewhat of a geek and he was showing me a little gadget that was the Blackberry version of the ipad (I think) that he was setting up for a local businessman. Without thinking it through, I impulsively asked him for some help or suggestions with email and address book stuff because I wanted to know if I could have several and separate address books to send out emails only to certain people. He went into my office and he laughed and he laughed. Apparently my office computer is a little out of date - I have a 12 inch monitor and my operating system is Windows 2000 - he laughed some more! He tried to convince me that I needed to upgrade. As he left, he said, 'don't pay me too much attention, I'm just a whippersnapper’ - I think that was a low blow!

freakin' frogs

2011-06-03T13:49:00.001-04:00

you’ve heard that old saying, ‘the hurrier I go, the behinder I get...’ well, yes, I’m rushing, trying to get this beige thing finished so I can move on to the more important job of experimenting. Sure enough, I blow right past the neckline shaping and I’m at the top of the piece, RC170, before realizing I forgot to stop at RC135 and begin the shaping at the centre side for the vee neck...dirty, rotten &%*?!#...., I do so hate ripping out! But, I though, oh well, when life gives you lemonade, add vodka and have a drink - is that what they call a mixed metaphor? don’t answer that!
Maybe my new young girls don’t know how to rip out quickly - so, if you’ve heard this before, forget I said anything!

Keep weight on the work, evenly - notice I still have the ribber comb in the bottom of my piece even though this portion of the front is stockinette - I leave the comb in to make it easy to weight evenly, but I have the work coming over the front of the rib bed - I think it is easier to do shaping when the work is out front and you can see better, watching for mistakes or floating and tucking stitches - now, carefully bring the needles out, leaving the stitches in the hooks. When you pull sideways, drawing width-wise on the yarn to unravel, the stitches flip back and one row is pulled out in less than 10 seconds!!

The biggest problem with unravelling is keeping track of the number of rows - what I do is use the empty needles at the opposite end to count with - so, pull out 2 rows, bring out 2 needles, rip 2, count 2, etc. It’s not totally foolproof, but it works for me - if I didn’t have empty needles on the main bed, I’d count on the rib bed. Then when my selected needles show that I’ve ripped out the required number, I turn back the row counter.

Happy frogging!

west coast swing!

2011-06-03T09:20:00.005-04:00

I’m back from the west coast - that 3 hour time difference is a bit of a deal, but I survived. Pacifically Passap Plus was great! Thank you, Pat and crew, for allowing us ‘flat-bedders’ to come to your party! There were familiar, friendly faces but most importantly, there were new, young faces!! I was so pumped! Hi to Irina and her red-head friend (sorry, I didn’t catch your name), Melissa (31 yrs young!!!!!), Anne, Norene, and Jodi and the others - it was a pleasure to meet you all - hope I was able to properly inspire you to keep machine knitting!

Leaving Thunder Bay, it was quite chilly - right on the freezing point - in fact they had to de-ice the plane - I thought my season of wearing ‘In the Tweeds’ was over, but I put it on to get to the airport, thinking I’d leave it in the car - my suitcase was already overfull. At the airport, it was still pretty chilly, so I kept it and thankfully so - I wore it in Vancouver, I wore it on the drive to Portland - we stopped on the other side of Seattle and visited with Morgan Hicks and I got to see his store - All Points Yarn in Des Moines, WA (http://www.allpointsyarn.com/). A great place and, the yarn!! wow - if you’re in the area, it’s a must-stop! Morgan is very knowledgeable about yarns, mk-ing, hand knitting and crochet - he is so enthusiastic and inspiring to talk to! And Morgan, even though you spelled my name wrong, I still love ya!
My free day in Van was spent window shopping on Granville - one of my favourite things to do - it’s a great mix of high-end and really high-end retail and I get a chance to check out the good stuff and get tons of ideas of things to try - I made little notes and then emailed it to myself so I wouldn’t forget by the time I got back home - they may not make any sense to you, but I can picture the garments from reading my notes:
things i saw on granville st:
-very loose knit, vee at hem, like shortrowed to a point, tension changes, very loose, transferred to make big holes then brought back to work and knit tighter
-open front cardigan hoodie in Lucky Jeans - mesh knit like 'spots in dots' without the spots - very lightweight cotton.
-open cardigan, knit in rayon - bands of stripes created with say 20 rows of 1X1 eng rib so it was vertical looking then transfer all to MB and do a slip & tuck stitch???
-battenburg-look lace work and tons of white cotton eyelet looks.
I did buy a hoodie at Lucky Jeans, with full intentions of giving it to my daughter but what can I say? it was cold and I needed something other than ‘in the tweeds’ - it has this really cool open work on the sleeves - a combination of devoré and maybe battenburg - a knitter came up to me in Portland wanting to know if I had knit it - I told her I’m going to find a way to get the look of it with knitting - I was daydreaming about it on the long plane trip home, dying to get to my machine and make a swatch or two - lots of ideas - I’ll keep you posted!

Summer knitting???

2011-05-24T17:10:00.002-04:00

The other day I was chatting with my MK friend - she lives in a fairly summer-warm climate - we were discussing summer knitting. Now, to be honest, here in Thunder Bay, I just think of summer knitting as something you do in the summer - like today, it’s the 24th of May and it’s 8C - that’s like 45F - we think a hot summer day is 75F - anyway, my friend was saying that she thinks with this hobby, and her investment, both in time and money, and fairly hot weather over 6 months of the year, she would like to have her machine knit wardrobe extend farther than it does right now. So I was recommending some of my past KNITWORDS patterns I thought would be suitable for her and actually, I realized there are probably more knitters out there who may want to do this.
Our criteria was upper arms covered and a garment that wasn’t too hot to wear in the 90F+ range. Most DK weight/mid gauge stuff is out because the yarn is just too thick and therefore too warm and, although I’ve made many lace cardigans of mercerised cotton, most of them have long sleeves which rules them out.
I mentioned a few things that I have worn in the past when I was in Minneapolis or anywhere in the Midwest for that matter where they have that awful humidity....
Here’s the short list:
1. Tutti Frutti from No 49 - it was a sideways knit lace cardigan with a short, extended-shoulder-sleeve made from 2 balls of Tofutsie sock yarn - I really think it was the yarn that made it so warm-weather-friendly - a blend of wool, soysilk, cotton and chitin (whatever that is!). l felt good, covered, and cool wearing it.
2. Linen Spin, also from No 49 - the yarn again was the key - it’s just a loose, cool-ish coverup, that can be worn over a tank, dress or cami and skirt. The yarn is 100% linen and because the jacket style with 3/4 sleeve is loose & drapey, it’s like wearing a linen jacket, but more casual.
3. Go Vogue - a skirt from No38 - I remade this in black Bramwell hobby - the original is Skinny Majesty rayon and I’ve worn them both many, many times!
4. PurlyGirl from No 45 - a nice, button front sleeveless cardy made from cotton that I wear over a short sleeve tee.
5. Mazatlan from No 45, a short sleeve lace cardy knit in mini dina, a cotton/rayon blend I made for the Mexico cruise I did back then - I’ve had tons of compliments and worn this so much!
6. Wild Side from No 50 - a short sleeve deep vee neck cardy that's been fun to wear!
My final thought was my remake of ‘Let’s Swing Again’ from No 44 - (see blog Sep‘09 - what's happening) - that black one, I’ve certainly had my money and time’s worth out of it! I decided this would be my new summer re-knit in a lighter colour - I have wool crepe deluxe in sand dune that will be just the ticket - it’s a pretty quick knit - and short, loose and cool! I’ve got the back and fronts done already (I used it as my test/trial/get back to knitting before the seminar thing because it has double bed bands and will get me thinking for the ribber classes!)) - just the top yoke section to do - I’ll show you next week when I get back from the west coast! I think I have the perfect big button for it already!

previews....

2011-05-17T12:03:00.003-04:00

Hey, I just found out, the newest Knit’nStyle is out!! Subscribers get it first and then it goes on newsstands around the 25th of May - I don't have a copy yet, but you can see it on their website - check it out at http://www.knitnstyle.com/ ! I have to be honest with you, the only thing I’m really interested in is that my garment looks good and they spelled my name right! And yes, they did and ‘Faux Crochet’ looks really nice (how can you tell I’m a bit of a control freak? - it’s hard not having that option)!! This is an A-line cardigan, 3/4 sleeve, sideways knit on the mid gauge LK150, a hand-selected tuck stitch with loose tension rows - I made it back in February and had a bit of separation anxiety when I sent it off and realized I wouldn’t get it back - I did make it again just to have (didn’t have the same yarn so had to come up with a substitute). I had put it aside and forgot all about it till now!! I'll try to bring it to Portland, but that suitcase is getting pretty full!

Speaking of KnS, I’m working on my next project for the December issue - it’s called 'classic alpaca' 100% alpaca, a DK weight from The Alpaca Yarn Co - http://www.thealpacayarnco.com/ - talk about colour selection! Wow!! and beautiful yarn! If you haven’t treated yourself to an alpaca sweater, it’s time - wearing this feels like you’re wrapped in whipped butter! AND I got it on cone!!! how’s that for treating me right! Instead of 50g balls which would mean tons of ends, they sent me a huge cone with enough for my entire project - guess what? another cardigan, with cables this time.

I was trying to keep my head down and on task - I think I did pretty good - didn’t make it through that whole list - I still have the year-end stuff looming over my head! I admit, I can be a first-class procrastinator when it comes to office work - good thing there is a final deadline or I’d put it off forever.

And, I did get a new dress/coat/whatever done for Portland - not sure what it really is, but I’m going to wear it as a dress. The button front and the vertical lines are totally slimming and I feel taller wearing it, even without the shoes! It is the same shape in the body as ‘geezer chic’, just longer. The elbow length sleeve means being able to wear it while knitting without worrying about catching it. The jury is still out on the ivory shoes - they are perhaps a bit over the top but I do have lots of other choices, trust me!

justified!

2011-05-05T09:58:00.003-04:00

Let’s face it - I’ve got wardrobe coming out the ying yang - It’s not like I need anything new - it’s been 3 years since I’ve been to Portland so I’m sure I have lots of stuff to show and wear, but this is Spring - well, it may actually be Spring then (see http://www.pacificallypassap.com/ Memorial Day weeekend in Clackamas, OR)

In case you’ve never been to an MAO seminar, I generally do a mini fashion show in each class. I usually wear a black dress, pretty plain (think ‘My LBD’ from No 52) or a black top and skirt (think ‘Body Basic’, No 43 and ‘Tiers of Joy’, No 47) then, anything I put on over it looks good. As I’m talking through techniques, I put on the garments and show how they look - I guess that’s why you come to a seminar.

I’m used to producing and I always have new stuff to wear no matter where I go - there are 3 weeks before the Portland do so why shouldn’t I have something totally new?
It’s not like I have nothing else to do...here’s my ‘quick’ to-do list:
-finish article for KnS
-finish workshop notes for Pacifically Passap Plus
-do the business end of the business and take to accountant for year end

-get training for the half marathon walk in September

-do the mk conversions for the KnS hand knit patterns
-oil wooden lawn furniture

-cook dinner for company coming tonight

So why am I swatching tuck ribs and thinking I need something new for Portland? what the heck? I don’t have to justify it, I can just do it - in the back of my mind, it’ll be one of the Fall patterns!

I’ll give you a few hints - I love the Geezer remake but it’s dark - burgundy - not a spring colour - it does look great with black but it'll have to wait for Fall. I’m thinking that shape, but maybe a bit longer so I can pull it off as a dress, but lighter, colourwise. (I do have some great ivory, high heel sandals, new, never before seen!) Maybe an elbow-length sleeve... that won’t get caught when I’m knitting...and I may as well throw in a few more ribber techniques...did you know you can use a tuck pattern on the main bed and have some tucks on the rib bed too?

I like the deep, full needle rib hem - that's a racked cast-on edge...

Yarn Anxiety

2011-04-23T12:57:00.002-04:00

Geezer Chic from No 50 was one of my favourite garments - I loved the shape, style and drape (and the name), but the yarn certainly didn’t stand up to any wear at all, even though it was quite expensive. I’ve kept wearing it, sort of privately, because I still like it - I wore it for my road trip to Indiana last week and it’s so comfy, but I finally realized that I do need to retire it. I had it on the other morning when I answered the door - it was early but not that early! The woman took one look and apologized for waking me up - heck, no make-up yet, but I didn’t think I looked that bad ! Then it dawned on me - she saw my ratty sweater and figured it was a bathrobe or something! Okay, I get the point!
The original was made with a 2/18 wool/silk blend used doubled - most of it is stockinette - so that’s pretty easy, but what really set it off was the bands - full needle rib for the hemline that added just the right weight to hold the stockinette fabric down and add swing to the A-line shape and the front band - a wee bit tricky, knit circular, with great vertical buttonholes - I have to say, the instructions are excellent!!
So, what to substitute?? I decided to go with a burgundy 2 ply cotton, Brittany by Yeoman Yarns - I had just used that yarn for Simple-icity and seeing as it was stockinette, double stranded, figured it was okay to shortcut the swatching process. (With the same stitch count, but more rows to the cotton because of shrinkage, 46 rows as opposed to 38 on the wool/silk, so adding the extra rows will require more yarn.) These cones have been on my shelf for some time - they are the older version of 350g/3000m cones which I always thought to be adequate. The newer put-up is 450g/3850m cones - the original stuff was pretty big cones with tons of yardage - the point is, I didn’t want to be wasting yarn on swatches if it wasn’t necessary.
I made a sleeve and weighted it - 74g. Okay, the back was 196g. It could be close, so no pockets - that will save a bit. All 5 pieces done, just the band left - I did need to make a swatch and wash and dry for the shrinkage factor and I have 40g left on each cone. It’s really hard to tell, but before I got this far, I was consoling myself that the new ‘geezer’ wouldn’t look bad with a black band. I've already taken those killer black leather old man buttons off the original to re-purpose them on this one and make it impossible for me to continue wearing the grey one...if it turns out, I'll wear it in Raleigh!

just call me Miss Conception....

2011-04-19T10:09:00.002-04:00

I’m home for a few days...boy, I have no idea how I used to manage seminars, magazine production, knitting and travelling, etc, etc!! I’m worn out!! But it’s all good!
Last week, on my way back from Westchester, NY, I had the day from hell - my flight from NY to Duluth, MN, via Detroit - the scheduled 3 hour layover in Detroit turned into 8 hours (weather delays was the rumour) and the airport was 90 degrees! It was awful - when I finally got to Duluth at 10 pm, no luggage - I still had to drive 200 miles home through rain, fog and deer. I had 2 days at home before driving 800 miles to Peru, Indiana, hoping that my luggage was waiting for me to pick up on the way - it was, fortunately, and this trip was relatively uneventful except for the seminar.
Charlene and her family (the Shafers own the Knit Knack Shop in Peru, IN) sure know how to put on a seminar. They are organized, friendly, knowledgeable and accomodating. It was a great show - thank you for inviting me!
The knitters told me they really missed KNITWORDS magazine; they didn’t know about my ‘Pattern of the Month’; they didn’t know about my blog; they didn’t know I was still knitting and teaching...gosh, there must be more rocks out there than I realized. So, they all promised to keep up with me by reading this (Hi!).
Anyway, I did tell them they should email me privately if they had a question they wanted an answer to - I have never replied to the comments people are allowed to put on this blog because I felt they are just that - comments, and, in my mind, do not require me to respond. The truth, I couldn't figure out how to! This morning I found a ‘comment’ from a lady who was at the seminar in Peru and she even put her name, address, email and phone number on here!!! I deleted it for her because she obviously did not know what she was doing - she didn’t say anything bad but I didn’t know how to edit out her personal information.
PLEASE, if you need to contact me and can't find my email address - it is at the top of any and all handouts I provide at seminars and workshops, go to http://www.knitwords.com/ and click the ‘contact’ button on the top menu and it will bring up an email form that will get to me privately and I will answer. OR, you can click on 'view my profile' here and get the same deal.
One lady told me she figured out why the magazine failed - our pictures were no good. She went on to say that every time she saw my garments she was amazed at the detail and quality of my work and this did not come across in the photos in the magazine. I’m glad I stopped doing that!
I did agree to reconsider the 'pattern of the month' thing, maybe for the Fall - please keep checking back! Thanks for reading! See you in Raleigh!

it's all about the shoes...

2011-03-30T11:20:00.004-04:00

The final Patterns of the Month are finished and are going out email today and tomorrow. I think these are both great Spring projects!
‘Simple-icity’, the standard gauge pattern is totally stockinette and the article with it has a ton of information about planning your garment and tips for finishing, such as when do you need to add a stitch for seaming or not and of course, those great patch pockets and details like the buttonholes and even tips on sewing on buttons.

‘Two Step’ is the mid gauge pattern - hand transferred lace with a ton of techniques and the article has tips on hand transfers, planning your lace garment and the actual hand manipulations - it fit Agnieszka perfectly and looks great on her - now, she’s my daughter-in-law and I love her, but, look at this picture! While talking on the phone and setting up this little photo shoot, she’s asking what do I want her to wear and I say, oh, just jeans and a black tank and she says, what about shoes? and then she answers herself - oh, I know it won’t matter because you usually chop it off just below the hem. So, there we are, in front of the camera and I’m saying, ‘what the...?’ We are actually the same height!

Anyway, thanks for subscribing - the patterns can be purchased as singles, either as a pdf emailed to you or snail-mailed on a cd. I've had people asking about renewing for the next batch and I just wanted say that this was a trial - limited to the 3 month deal, so I could judge what I was letting myself in for - I hate to say this but the response was rather poor and I found myself again working for peanuts, so I will not be continuing on a subscription basis. I may have more patterns offered as singles in the future - please keep checking back to see what's up. April is a busy month, with the seminars - hope to see you at one of them!

the hood's up...

2011-03-22T16:19:00.001-04:00

I had a little time on my hands over the weekend and just couldn’t help myself - I knit the green thing again, for me! I had emailed Sonia at http://www.knittinggallery.com/ and got her to send me some more yarn, but I couldn’t wait - I had a full cone and a bit of Thistledown Silk in this nice, subtle, pale blue shade - it’s the lighter, fingering weight of Touch of Silk and I used it double stranded - this gave the same gauge as the green one.

Now, I always say ‘I can’t make the same thing twice.’ What’s the point? I guess I need to keep experimenting!’ So, I changed up the stitch pattern slightly - added another eyelet to the top of the motif and took out 2 rows of the plain knitting so this one’s a tad more work, not a big deal and it doesn’t really change the garment too much. Overall, not too many people would spot the difference between them, other than the colour.

Now, the green one is a hoodie and I know, not everyone likes hoodies, but have you seen the younger girl’s closet lately? They usually have 30 to 40 hoodies on the go at any given time, so what’s the big deal? Well, anyway, I decided to add the option of a plain neckline for those who don’t appreciate the hoodie fashion statement and I finished mine with the picot band around the neck, but I did knit the hood and once the photos are taken, I’ll be changing it.
The patterns are almost ready - hope to have them out late next week.

you'll be green with envy...

2011-03-16T10:38:00.003-04:00

I’ve finished the green hoodie - it’s so cute! the only thing I don’t like about it, it doesn’t fit me! Because the colour isn’t really me, I made it to fit my daughter-in-law, Agnieszka (cover of No 53 and Mom of Nathan and Rhiana). She’s just enough smaller than me, that it’s too snug, especially you know where. But, I have to say, I impressed myself and I’m going to make it again in another colour! The techniques are amazing and I finished up with coming up with a great little buttonhole that is awesome!
The hem and bands are started with every other needle, for two reasons - to create an easy picot hem, but also to reduce the thickness on the back side of the hem - the EON will make it lay flatter and be less bulky, which was great until I came to make the buttonhole band. I thought bholes would be a snap because I only needed a one stitch hole for the 15mm buttons I had - they are a nice pewter shade and surprise, I happened to have 9 in my stash - because the band is narrow - only 4 rows - I wanted a small button and lots of them would do the job nicely. I already had the holes in the lace to test out for size - what could be simpler? well, think again, MA!

The first swatch, I merely transferred a stitch over on the top side of the band, figuring that with the EON on the back (facing) side, the hole would go right through both sides - Not! On my second attempt, I decided I needed to incorporate the buttonhole into the facing and use 2 stitches - the hole was way too big, lumpy, stretched out and was awful. Okay, so rethink and play around a bit - the lightbulb came on and it was absolute brilliance - well, I’m not going to go on and on - you’ll see when you get the pattern!
Anyway, check out the lace - there’s another special technique here, where, to keep the pattern going near the edge of the knitting, you still want the travelling path of the stitches when they are moved with the 3 prong tool, but you don’t want a hole near or at the edge of the fabric, especially where the front band will go - it will all be in the pattern - I promise it will be ready for the end of March. The yarn I used is Touch of Silk, a DK yarn by Forsell from http://www.knittinggallery.com/

Rant 2011

2011-03-11T12:01:00.004-05:00

Let’s get some stuff out in the open! For those real mk-ers out there who know and love (?) me, regarding my ‘contributions’ to Knit’nStyle....
Ya know, it’s not just the fact that reading is mandatory, but, you should be semi-conscious when you do read! And as for just looking at the pictures, don’t you think it’s kind of weird that there are no photos of the MAO version of the HAND KNIT PATTERN....that’s because I did NOT design that garment - I did NOT KNIT that garment - I did not even test knit that garment or that yarn - chances are, I’ve never seen the yarn!!!
I am given the hand knit pattern and a photo of it on a hanger and asked to re-write it so machine knitters might be able to use it! In most cases I do get to choose which patterns to CONVERT or REWRITE and that’s usually based on:
1. whether it can actually be machine knit EXACTLY as the hand knit one, providing the user is able to match the gauge given and the gauge is one that I think can be achieved on a machine with the specified yarn.
2. whether I think a mk-er would actually knit it - I may be able to come up with the translation of a lace pattern but are you going to do 400 plus rows of hand manipulation? - I think not - that’s why we have machines - we’re lazy!
3. the gauge of most of the hand knits are either mid gauge or bulky, which means hand transfers - not that I have anything against a few here and there (see previous post) but if it’s going to take as long to machine knit as hand knit, why bother?
I have tried to add a few machine knitting techniques, like the use of shortrowing and waste yarn for shoulders, but due to space limitations, I’m not allowed to make too many changes - and why would I? I’d sooner start from scratch and give you a true machine knitting pattern, hoping to be able to inspire you to get outside of your comfort zone and learn a little something, expand your mk-ing repertoire...
Here’s a clue - if my name is at or near the top of the page in large letters or my picture is there somewhere, and it says, 'design by MAO' you can bet I did it all by my lonesome!

On designing....

2011-03-08T15:24:00.004-05:00

When I’m drawing a blank on what to make next, I fall back on my old standard question - what kind of garment would I like to pull out of my closet right now? How can I put a different spin on yet another cardigan on the mid gauge? Spring is coming, I’m sure, and I love lace and doing it on the mid gauge means hand transfers. Therefore, I don’t want anything too complicated. I looked through some old hand knit magazines for some inspiration for a lace pattern - I wanted to avoid vertical and horizontal lines and have a pattern that wouldn’t take forever to do.

I found a fairly simple one that in hand knit was a 12 st X 18 row pattern - in hand knits they do yarn overs and K2tog, which make the eyelets, on every row. In machine knitting, transfer the stitch to the next needle and leave the empty needle in work does the same thing. As a machine knitter, being basically lazy, I generally try to set up patterns that require transfers on every row - I find it’s easier to follow, less chance of error and it gets the job done quicker when you can knit 2 rows between the work.

So, my first try resulted in this (the blue) - it looks very close to the hand knit version, but I found it
kind of boring - after I got the piece off the machine to really look at it,
I’m thinking, what can I do to spice this up??

I decided to go with a 2-step full fashioned transfer - so, in the green swatch - still did the very same eyelets, but took the 4th stitch from where the hole was to be, moved it one needle toward the hole needle, then took 3 stitches with the 3 prong tool and moved them together away one needle space to make the first hole (like what I call an 'outlined 4 to 3 full fashioned decrease'). Knit 2 rows. Did the same thing on either side of the single hole, K2R and repeated that again to make the bottom V. Then on row 8, put 3 sts on centre needle of the motif, making 2 more eyelets. Then knit six rows (this can be varied, less if you want more holes in the piece). Repeated the motif but offset it to be between the first set of motifs. Notice how the travelling stitches between the motifs create a new dimension to the fabric - it reminds me of paper lanterns. I also played with the bottom pattern to make it match better with the overall pattern. My overall pattern ended up to be a 12 st X 24 row repeat with transfers on 8 rows, so it is still a pretty quick knit but with a nice overall effect.

Now, shall I do make it a hoodie or not?

Button detail

2011-03-05T14:19:00.003-05:00

It’s buttonholes time...some people dread this and actually make it much more difficult than it really is - they try formulas and all kind of math things that are way too hard. I find the easiest way and stick with it!! No calculator needed, I guarantee it!

So, I’m doing a stockinette hemmed band, knit horizontally - so you know exactly how many stitches in the length of the band. Make the button band first to be sure it works and then you know you’re not experimenting with the length of the band and putting all the work of buttonholes into it if it’s not going to be right (been there, done that!)

For this style (and to make it even easier) I’m going with an uneven number of buttons - that means a centre one and the end ones are going to be the same distance from each end (this will give you a little room to adjust if necessary) - I think you call that symmetrical but I didn’t want to get too complicated-sounding.... it’s easy so far... so, I pull out those needles slightly so you can see where they are. On the end ones, making them the same distance from the end means you don’t need to worry about which is the top of the band and which is the bottom...

So, I’ve got exact placement on 3 of the 7 buttonholes and 2 more to go between the end and centre on each side. Rather than counting (and re-counting) needles, I use the ruler marked on the straight side of the needle selector to measure the spacing between needles - it’s much quicker to adjust and get the spacing exact this way. Now all I have to do is finish up!!

Maybe I should tell you, this is going to be the March pattern for standard gauge - tons of details to make planning, altering, knitting and finishing go easier, like when do you need an extra stitch for seaming or not. The yarn is Yeoman Yarns Brittany, used double stranded, so get 2 cones! I see Sue at http://www.knititnow.com/ is going to be bringing Yeoman Yarns to the US - Pat Holbrook at http://www.cardiknits.com/ in Canada.
About those buttons, I know what you're thinking - what's she thinking? - I had 7, the approximate size, but I agree, they really don't anything for the cardigan... wait and see!!

(bet you didn’t expect to hear from me again so soon! oh, and in case you haven't figured it out yet, if you click on the photos, they enlarge.)

Fourth time’s a charm...

2011-03-04T16:57:00.002-05:00

I’m working on a patch pocket...now, I’ve made them before and I want it fairly basic - it’s just plain stockinette, so I’m curving the bottom corners, by shortrowing - oh, I should say that I began with a chained cast-on, using the yarn double stranded because I know it will look nice - the top of the pocket is finished with a narrow stockinette band, made separately from the pocket - a few less stitches and a slightly tighter tension to draw it in a bit so the top won’t flare out.

The first pocket was not wide enough.

The second one was just right, but as I looked at it I thought, G! that chain would look really nice if I could make it go up the sides too.

Then, I measured the chain from the bottom, to figure out how long it needed to be to go up the sides and added that to the width of the pocket. So, instead of casting on 18-0-18 n’s, I cast on 25 sts extra to each side, chaining across using the main yarn double stranded. Then K1R, single strand. Then I took off the 25 sts each side on waste yarn. Now, I’m knitting the pocket, shortrowing the bottom corners for the curve, 1 stitch on every other row, 4 times for each side. Okay, row 9 and now I should start adding the chain up the sides....think about it for a bit and I want the chain to be on the front, like the bottom, (when the knit side/side away is the right side, what you put on first will be on the outside - like doing a cable, the stitches put down first will be on the outside) - so, I take the end stitch off, hang the next stitch of the chain and put the end stitch back on. Yes!! it works! I soon realize it’s easier to do each side on opposite rows so you’re not fighting against the yarn on the carriage side - no big deal, I was joining it on every other row anyway. As I get closer to the top, I realize I have too many chained stitches left - G! Can I attach it to the edges of the top band?? The band is made separately and hemmed into the bargain, so this method of attaching won’t work... I take the pocket off and make the band, pondering the problem as I make the band on auto-pilot. Attach the pocket to the band and yes, I have it! Hang the end of the band, pick up the stitches holding the chain, pull them through, cast off and Bob’s your uncle!!

Heh, heh! still a few extra stitches of chain... no problem, just knit a new one with less chained stitches - really think about it this time - only need 1 chain stitch for every other row of the depth of the pocket and don’t forget, you shortrowed those 4 sts/8 rows and the band was 8 rows=4 stitches - just happens to be the same as the shortrowed part - have I lost you yet??? The pocket was 40 rows, so all I need is 20 chained stitches each side!!!

I love a challenge!

The em word...

2011-02-25T16:34:00.002-05:00

It happened again!! I was in the grocery store yesterday, going over to the fruit and veggie section - there was a log-jam of people trying to get by this old gal who thought she was the only person in the store. The lady behind her, coming toward me, was rolling her eyes and making weird faces at me - I thought she was just expressing her exasperation at being held up. Amused, I stepped aside to let the old gal by and stayed there to let this lady go - she abandons her cart in the middle and comes over to me and grabs me!! I was shocked - she started blabbering about beautiful colours and sock yarn and as I got over being accosted, I realized she was a hand knitter who was attracted by my sock yarn scarf - you may remember, back in No 46 of KNITWORDS, Ev McNabb had made the ‘Two Left Feet’ scarf using leftover self-patterning sock yarns. Ev’s was done on the Passap and I thought it was cute, a real novelty and I liked the fact it had a lot of teaching techniques and I did have a ton of leftovers myself so I made my own version and wrote the pattern for the Japanese machines. I did wear it in the magazine - Lindsay and I modelled them together - at the time, it looked okay with a jean jacket, for the magazine, and like I said, it was a novelty item. Afterward, I did put the scarf on a few times to wear it in cold weather, because it is actually nice and warm, but it was a little too out-there for me and I couldn’t go out in regular public with it. Since then, I revamped my scarf, cut out the heel and toe, and grafted it back together to make it just plain and straight -and I have worn it quite a bit - it’s still long enough to fold in half and draw both ends through the loop on one side.

So, anyway, here I am in Safeways and this woman is acting like I’m Nicki Epstein or whoever - she’s saying how she’s used that stuff for socks but hadn’t thought of making a scarf and she’s yanking at it and going on about all the different colourways and then she says, that must have taken you ages to knit and, without thinking, I said oh no not really I used a machine. You’d think I said the ef word - she dropped her hands, turned, went back to her cart and dashed off. I felt like I should have been ashamed of myself...

Button Day

2011-02-21T14:46:00.007-05:00

Actually, today in Ontario, is ‘Family Day’ - a new stat holiday I think only us in Ontario - and Alberta and Sask- maybe - get, because some politician was looking for votes - kind of dumb, I think because everything is closed (even Home Depot) so what are you supposed to do - can't even go stateside because it's Presidents Day and the post office is closed...I did go out to go snow shoeing with my niece and saw our poor mail carriers doing their routes - ha! ha! they are federal employees and don’t get this day off (yet)!

Just finishing up the February Pattern of the Month designs - this means all the little finishing details, darning in ends and sewing on buttons - and doing the final tweaking of the actual patterns. Thought I’d give you a quick preview of what’s coming if you’ve subscribed to my Serial Stuff (thanks if you have - if not, you still have a week to get on board!).

Marsh Print (working title) is a new sideways knit, for the standard gauge - well, actually I did wear it last fall in Cleveland so it’s not really new, new - everyone loved it, but I didn’t have the pattern ready then, so if you’ve been waiting, here it is. The yarn is woolray/velveen, aka Wool Crepe Deluxe and Sue at ‘Knit It Now’ (used to be BT Yarns) had it on sale again, I noticed... anyway, this design features back and front knit cuff to cuff - I’m giving several variations - I’ve actually knit it 4 different ways, playing with sleeve length, and size and placement of the gores which add fullness in the hip region - this variation has a box pleat 3/4 length sleeve - I also made it in Mini Dina and in Tamm Diamante - I did get same gauge with each of these yarns, so you’ll have a variety of yarn choices. The pattern will include various edge finishes and different bands. On this marsh print, I used the purl side as the right side, because I liked it better - I thought the purl side didn’t look as stripey - but the other versions use the knit side as right side. The full-peplum-look from waist to hem is created with gores and again, I experimented with a very large gore (this one) to a much smaller gore, resulting in a less full bottom. This garment can look very fancy or relatively casual, depending on how you pair it.

For mid gaugers, the Red Raglan (working title) is it for February - an A-line shape cardigan with fancy detail in the raglan decreases and rib and cable combination hand transferred hems, cuffs and collar - lots of nice details for the intermediate/advanced knitter - there is a plain version for the beginner knitter - knit in a DK weight wool. A great button loop technique that really makes the front band outstanding, will solve the buttonhole dilemma for many. It’s always a challenge to find the perfect button to go with something you’ve made - one tip - I am hardly ever able to find an exact colour match for buttons, so I usually opt for metallic or wooden buttons - these buttons are just laying on the garment right now - I’ll look at them for a bit before deciding - I usually pin them on and try on the cardigan to get a better idea - my other option is a flat wooden button the same size that I’ll paint to match if I don’t like these...

Yardage isn’t everything...

2011-02-15T16:54:00.002-05:00

So, I mailed my garment off to Knit’nStyle for the August issue and belatedly realized I’d never see it again - they keep it. So what? you say...well, it's totally full of great new techniques and now, I'll need the garment for some of my classes at the upcoming spring seminars:

Knit Knack Shop’s 33rd Annual Spring Fling in Peru, In - a good, little seminar in the middle of the country, very budget friendly - get a road trip going and see you there!! check it out at http://www.knitknackshop.com/ - I’ll also be at the Carolinas Guild Seminar in Raleigh, NC; and at the Pacifically Passap Plus, teaching Japanese machine stuff, of course, near Portland, OR on the Memorial Day weekend - check out my seminar list at http://www.knitwords.com/ for links and dates - east coast, west coast & the middle!!! don’t miss them!

So back to the problem at hand - I figured I may as well knit it again right away while it was all still fresh in my mind (also wanted to check my pattern and wording by re-knitting it before submitting it) - of course, I don't have the same yarn - I used Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima Cotton in a bright corn yellow, 7 skeins, 100g/220yds - I know, you’re going to say that’s not really an MAO colour, but I don’t always get to choose, I take what’s given - it has a lovely sheen and drape and I knew my stitch pattern would show up well in that colour - so, checking my stock on hand, found 14 balls of Eqyptian cotton, 50g/105m and it has the same recommended gauge as the Cascade, so I figure I’m good. I shorten the sleeve and length, because this is to fit me while the sample I send off to KnS is for the size I wish I was - 5’9, 36 bust (in my dreams is right!!) - and I get one front done (1/4 of the project - it’s a sideways knit crochet-look cardigan on the LK150 in a hand selected tuck stitch - not exactly a quick & easy project) and I’m already into the 5th ball - I know I’m not going to make it. Abandon that...

Next plan - with no other hand knitting yarn of that amount or likeness around here, I decide to put together 2 finer coned yarns that are leftovers from standard gauge projects - a linen and a Mini Dina in the same beigy shade - WOW, something more to add to the workshops - how to substitute successfully!!! I’m only telling you this now because I have it all finished, bands and everything and there's at least 3 yds of the Mini Dina left! Darn lucky, I’d say...

Murphy's Law

2011-02-12T09:58:00.003-05:00

How do you know when it’s time to get a new sponge/needle retainer strip for your LK150? Murphy says usually when you’re under the gun...I have been thinking lately that my beloved LK wasn’t quite performing up to par, but I’m so adaptable that I adjust to almost anything. Karma Chameleon could be my theme song!

Yes, the last 2 garments - I haven’t actually been zipping through them like usual and, yes, I have been hand knitting rows that should have knit just fine at a loose tension, usually - but I’ve been chalking it up to other things (not enough weight, hard twist to the yarn, wrong tension) - truth be told, I’m sure I haven’t changed this thing in at least 5 or 6 years - it isn’t really something I think about a lot...anyway, here I am working to someone else’s deadline - the yarn was a scramble to get and was left last minute and they needed this garment in their hands by the 10th of this month...I made my swatches for this project last November and have knit 5 other projects on my baby since then...

I remember now, thinking when I did the test samples - I was doing 3 rows of 1X1 tuck using hold, which means you bring every other needle out to hold, set the levers to hold, knit 3 rows and then cancel hold and knit 1 row and then throw in a loose tension row - something’s not quite right. Well, what’s happening now is that most of the row doesn’t knit, it floats the stitches and makes a lot of clinking and ticking noises as the carriage goes across - the clinking and ticking is the latches touching the magnets in the carriage because the foam strip is not holding the needles as firmly, and, generally floating (not knitting) and dropping some stitches too...what a mess...
Good thing I have a replacement sponge strip in stock...or do I? Hummmm...there are lines on the ‘new’ sponge strip...oh, gosh, it’s not new - the lines are from the needles!! why would I keep a used sponge strip??? Oh well, I did get the job done by working carefully and adding extra weight and I’ve ordered a couple of new sponges just to have!

Jaded...NOT!

2011-01-31T12:56:00.003-05:00

Did you ever feel like you know it all? Once in a while, I feel like I get sort of complacent - or maybe, in a rut, I think , and it’s not like I think I know it all, but I think I’ve been knitting so long that I’m not really going to learn anything new...Ha!!! I love it when I do come up with something new - or is it that I knew it already and just forgot???....I hate when that happens!!
Okay, I’ll be honest - I was trying to ‘fix’ something - you know, try to get away without having to re-knit the whole thing because I never should have added those extra stitches to the front anyway without thinking it through...you probably think I’m rambling here and you’re right, I am - I’m trying to say something without full disclosure, but it’s not working... but the point here is what I learned!!!

Did you know that when you chain cast off, the nice line of the chain lies on the side away from you? Well, I know that. Sometimes it doesn’t matter - in fact most times, it doesn’t. Getting back to my fix-up, I added a strip of stockinette to the front side of this piece, in an opposing direction - like, I’m adding a strip of stitches to the row edge and making a facing on the outside of the piece - the first side was okay, but after looking at it closely, I thought, G! that would look so much better if the final chain was on the front of the outside edge. So, I still had to finish, er, fix the other side, so while I was making the stockinette strip, I 'm running it through my head and trying to figure out what to do. I want the stockinette strip on the knit side of the piece, so I hang the selvedge edge -

(can you believe it?? almost the only thing they changed in my KnS article was the spelling of selvedge - they changed it to selvage - hummmph... Americans! always dropping letters! I never knew there was a US spelling for that...)
-knit side facing me, hanging the whole outside edge stitch (which means both sides/the whole stitch!). Then I hang the open stitches of the strip, knit side facing me, pull the open stitches through the closed edge. Now, here’s the problem. If I just knit my loose row and chain off the stitches, the chain lies on the side away...the light bulb comes on!!! If I take it off now, turn it around (one of those RTR's!!) and then knit my loose row, the chain will be on the KNIT side. OMG!!! Life is good - you better write this down because I may forget about it!

Looking at those swatches, you might think I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but you gotta trust me here, it does looks better in person!

Mission Accomplished!

2011-01-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

Well, Knit’nStyle magazine April 2011 has hit the streets - I finally got my copy so I could see what they did with my stuff - I was okay with it except that they chopped one of my photos in the article, eliminating the most important part of the photo...oh well, it’s tough not being in control!

So, I get an email from the assistant editor of Knit’n Style - guess what? She said:
Hello Mary Anne,
I knew this would happen. You cannot have a sweater as cute as yours in the magazine and not expect to hear from the hand knitters. This morning I received an e-mail from a knitter who wants to know if there is a hand knitted version of the Swing Cardi pattern? I told her I could not make any promises but I would check with you. Thank you for your time and attention.
Vickie
I loved it!! I was LMAO!! Sorry, but no hand knit version - tell her to buy a machine!

Since then, there have been several more requests for the same thing!
Ha! Mission Accomplished!
Also, we finally got the POM thing up on the website - you can check it out at http://www.knitwords.com/
- hope you sign up! I’m busy working on the February stuff - sneak peek - the mid gauge thing will be a raglan cardigan with tons of cute little details - of course you could do the stripped down version...

minor alterations only...

2011-01-21T15:44:00.002-05:00

Well, I’m trying to come up with something catchy to call this pattern of the month thing -
Serial Stuff
Monthly Mentor
Blueprint Knitting
Knit & Learn Monthly (yikes!)
Recipes for MKers
- it reminded me of the time I bought a coat because it had my initials on the tag - really! It actually had ‘MAO’ on a printed-up tag hanging from the sleeve - I thought it was a sign from the style gods that this coat was made for me - later found out that MAO stood for ‘Minor Alterations Only’ - I still liked it though!

Anyway, we are about to post the new ‘pattern of the month’ series and I thought I’d explain what you would be signing up for. Each month will feature a new pattern in the usual MAO style along with a mini-article pertaining to the pattern and techniques. Patterns will be in 5 sizes, ranging from finished bust 36/38 to 48/50 in. and of course, you get all 5 sizes. The format will be similar to what was used in KNITWORDS magazine, without the space restriction, so: few abbreviations, lots of extra tips and techniques, explained as you go, great professional photos, schematics and stitch charts if necessary, set out in a pdf file for you to print out yourself, sent to you by email. Designaknit stitch files will be included in the email if applicable.
There are two different series, one for mid gauge machine knitters and one for standard gauge machine knitters. The cost of our 3 month trial offer is $15 for each series which means you will get one pattern/article per month for the next 3 months for whichever series you choose - you can purchase both - it’s a different garment/pattern/article for each machine.
The patterns will be available as individual patterns for $7 each, emailed, or the option of a cd of the pdf mailed to you for $8 each. All of these options will be available on our website, through PayPal.

Update on the tiger top - I soaked it in a vinegar solution - about 1 C vinegar to 2 gal. water, let it sit for a bit and then washed it in ‘Eucalan’. Some colour came out in the first part, but not a lot and the water was clear in the washing. I put buttons on it and modelled it for my seamstress girlfriend - she thought it was wonderful, so I took it along to Bill’s when I went to get my photos done for ‘In the Tweeds’ and ‘Sophisticate’ for the POM.

stuff...

2011-01-10T17:22:00.005-05:00

Well, it’s late Monday afternoon, in the already second week of January - OMG - where is the time flying to?? I just finished my article for the June Knit’nStyle - I’ll give you a hint - it’s about tuck patterning on the LK150 and there is a garment pattern to go along with it - I’m having a hard time keeping up with their schedule - they work so far ahead compared to what we did at KNITWORDS!!! Now, I have to get moving and do my garment for their August issue - cripes, it was hard enough thinking summer knitting in March and April in Thunder Bay, but it’s way too cold here!! One of the other things I do for them is to translate 4 or 5 of the hand knit patterns to machine language and I picked a pattern from Jodi Snyder that I was intrigued by. A couple of the ones I did in the February issue were pretty simple - I can’t change too much and I’m trying to convince them to do something different, but anyway - I learned some stuff from Jodi’s pattern! I used to be a hand knitter, way back in another lifetime, before knitting machines. So, now, what I do is knit - that should read HAND KNIT - a swatch - using a similar weight yarn, just to get the pattern in my head and then I can figure out how to do it on the machine - I think that makes a lot more sense than just taking a stockinette sweater and telling you to use the hand knit version of bands and finishing etc...Back me up on this one, people!!!

Here's my machine knit swatch after I knew what was going on - check out the tuck at the top of the swatch - I'm not saying too many machine knitters will do this, but it's what was in the hand knit instructions, in my opinion anyway - I may just check with Jodi befoire I send it into KnS. Anyway, I love a challenge and this is working for me!

I’ll tell you what I do have almost ready - it’s the Pattern of the Month things I promised to start in January. There will be 2 different ones available each month. One on the mid gauge/LK150 and one on the standard gauge - different techniques and different patterns.

For January, the standard gauge one is called ‘Sophisticate’ and is made with Zephyr Marl from Silk City Fibers (or the old BT Yarns/Knit it Now) and is using One-Row-Tuck with ribber for the longstitch facings and hems. I wore it to Inspiration ‘10 in Cleveland so if you were waiting for the pattern, it’s ready - we just have to finalize the details of getting it up on the web.

For mid gaugers, I did a sideways stockinette jacket that is a grown-up version of Rhiana’s ‘Red Riding Ruffles' from No 52 - my daughter, Laura, saw that one and loved it and ordered one just like it - the yarn was discontinued, so I had to find something else (BTW, Laura was here for Christmas and I didn’t even show it to her because she can’t have it) - I added some shortrowed darts to make an A-line shape to the body of it -I settled on a hand knit yarn - Tatamy Tweed by Kraemer - it’s a DK weight tweed-look cotton/acrylic, not too pricey, good yardage - that I just loved working with - knits beautifully and easily on the LK150, it washed up great and LeaAnn McGregor at http://www.knittingtoday.com/ has agreed to offer kits for this project, so you could check it out and be ready to knit! I think it’s really cute on!! and you'll notice how well it blends in with my livingroom carpet!

Stay tuned for more details of the POM - they will be pdf’s available for download only, I’ll let you know more - when, where, how, and cost, soon! I'm planning to run a 3 month trial.

a tiger in my sweater?

2011-01-04T13:26:00.003-05:00

Hi! No, I haven’t died, but I’ve been dyeing! Well, sort of...

I started off making ‘Side Steps’, my newest pattern. I did the shaped version (Mulberry) and I used Yeoman Yarns Silk Bourette on purpose. Silk Bourette is a 4 ply weight fingering yarn of pure silk that only comes in the natural shade. It just begs to be experimented with. In the past, I have done some painting and dyeing experiments using this yarn - most recently, see ‘Woodstock’ from June. I finished the garment, only leaving the underarm seam open because I figured it would be easier to work with it still flat.

For this project, I wanted to make a ‘print’ fabric and what could be easier than an animal print - I’ve always liked them and have seen sweaters in the shops lately, but never anything that I totally loved, enough to buy anyway!

Here in Thunder Bay, we are kind of limited for supplies - Michael’s is about the only craft supply store left and I was through with the Tie-dye phase. I wanted to retain some of the original natural shade, add 2 or three more colours and have the colour to soak into the fabric - not harden it like fabric paints will. After reading labels and directions in the store, I came home with 3 shades of my old standby, RIT. I had camel, cocoa and dark brown. The instruction sheet had a short blurb at the end:

‘To dye-stain unfinished wicker, rattan, baskets, wreaths, wood accessories and natural craft materials: Dissolve 1 pkg RIT in 2 cups very hot water; apply 1-3 coats with sponge or brush....’
That was enough for me!

I found that to completely dissolve the package of dye I had to boil the water in a saucepan and stir for a bit with the heat on to get it to dissolve completely.

Practising a bit with a sponge brush, it was hard to control spots and dabs while letting the dye soak into the fabric. Changed to a 1 inch angled paintbrush worked better.

After applying a base of the camel shade - unevenly on purpose, of course ;-) and letting it almost dry - I was anxious to get on with it - I brewed up the dark brown - and quickly began making strokes and convincing myself that I had planned to make a tiger print all along. Let it dry completely, took some photos along the way and all is good. I finished the underarm sleeves, held my breath and put it in to wash! I'll let you know what happened soon, I promise!

Fame AND Fortune!

2010-11-18T12:57:00.002-05:00

I’m kind of excited - for a couple of reasons. First of all, I have an announcement to make - well, actually, maybe a couple... KNIT’nStyle magazine has my name in it!! Honest, it’s there, under the masthead credits, in the February 2011 issue,
Machine Knitting Technical Editor
Mary Anne Oger

Spelled right and everything! I’ve even received my first pay check from them and have signed contracts!! In case you don’t know, KNIT’nStyle is an American hand knitting magazine that is distributed worldwide and can be found at almost any newsstand, magazine rack, virtually anywhere - the grocery store, Wal-Mart, all over - I haven’t seen it in airports but I’m working on that! It is available on subscription too.
They have asked me to do a new column on machine knitting for the coming year in their magazine. This past year, they have been featuring Kathy Perry and the Bond knitter. Now, I’m taking over - well, actually starting with the next issue, No. 172, April 2011, which will be on sale January 25, 2011 - I will have a column called ‘Mid Gauge Machine Magic’ and a garment to go along with the article. So, starting with basics, it is an introduction to the LK150 which is the best little hobby machine and a perfect segue from hand knitting to machine knitting. Also, they have decided to add some machine knitting to the magazine by translating some of the hand knit patterns to machine knitting - so that’s why my name is in this issue already, because I was responsible for giving machine knitting instructions for three of the hand knit patterns. Bear in mind, I’m working with what they give me and space limitations - I hope you can give me some support in this and let the editors (and me, of course) know what you think and what you’d like to see more of.
Secondly, I am currently tossing around a few ideas, like a ‘pattern-of-the-month’ club kind of thing - still in the development stages but I just wanted to put it out there that I am percolating a few things and hope have them available for January 2011 - I am open to suggestions.
For starters, there will be 2 different series, one for mid gauge/LK150 and one for standard gauge knitters. As a trial, I will be offering a 3 month or 6 month sign-up, prepaid - price TBA - the patterns will be in pdf format, emailed to you, keeping it simple, but you can expect the same quality and detail of pattern that you know from me - well, maybe a little more detail - I’m not restricted to page limitations anymore, so the sky’s the limit! Watch our regular website at www.knitwords.com for more details, coming soon!

Oh, and one more thing - with the holiday season coming up, remember others less fortunate, please! Last year, instead of stressing out and spending big bucks on stuff for my grown children who are well-able to buy whatever they want/need for themselves, I spent that money on providing a local CAS family with their Christmas hamper, anonymously, of course - when I told my kids what I was doing, they all jumped in and added to it - it was a great feeling and resulted in further family bonding and certainly boosted my holiday spirts. We are doing it again and getting a lot of joy from it. Please share in what ever way you can.

September update

2010-09-15T15:49:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I’ve been kind of busy, but thanks for coming back! I know I left you hanging on several projects I was working on and I do apologize....

I went over to Bill’s (our KNITWORDS photographer - he shared the cover of No 34 with me) this morning and got some photos re-taken for my newest project, a couple of sideways knits that I’m doing up the patterns for to have ready for Cleveland - you know, that hair and make-up thing still gets me!!! it is much easier working with models than being the model myself - actually I’m probably way more critical of my own photos than of anyone else, but oh well...

Things worked out and I had finished up the dream coat this past weekend - figured I’d give you a bit of a preview - too bad if you’re not coming to Cleveland and can’t see this for real, but I’m totally happy with how it turned out and I figured it would 'kick it up a notch' for the ribber workshop. It actually didn’t take that long to make, but I had to put it aside for the paying projects - this was just for fun!

The bottom has a border of the little lace motifs and the 3X2 cables and I made a chevron/yoke effect in the back and front with the cables, bordered by the lace motifs - if you click on the photo, it will enlarge to let you take a closer look - lots of things to remember and lots of stuff happening at one time, but I’m really pleased with the outcome - now I just need to get it to fade a bit!

Also, I did promise, way back in June, to show you my finished ‘woodstock’ version of ‘A-shirred’ - we had such a warm summer that I really didn’t get to wear it till now, almost forgot about it, but I brought it along to Bill’s to get a couple of shots to share with you - hope you like it, but I really can’t say it will matter if you don’t because I do and Bill loved it, so there ;-))!

Hey, I’m walking the half-marathon on Sunday morning - pray for no rain, please!

Dream Coat Notes - day 1

2010-08-27T19:32:00.001-04:00

I’ve settled on a wide rib - 7 stitches for the main bed rib is more conducive to a variety of hand transferred lace and cable stitch patterns than an even number would be, especially for the lace.

So, actually the needle arrangement on my main bed is 7 working, 5 not and with half pitch (H-5), the rib bed is 6 working, 6 not - it makes sense to me.

Now because of the 7/5 on the main bed, and to have 3or 4 needles in work at sides on main bed for seaming, I like to even it out by beginning with an even-number-stitch rib at the very centre (6 sts, 3-0-3 n’s) so the same needle numbers will be in work at each side - the ribs will then match at the shoulder without having to worry about using an uneven number of needles and then remembering to flip the needle arrangement used on the back for the front.

This way, I think it is easier to check that you have the correct needle arrangement and not one skinny or one wide rib somewhere randomly - putting it in the centre (not shown in my swatch) will not be noticeable and for the front where the piece is divided, it gives you the same number, even stitches for each centre front edge.

To lay out the needle arrangement, I begin by bringing 3-0-3 n’s on MB to work. Then, working to right, 5 out, 7 in, 5 out, 7 in to edge - the width of your garment may be decided by where you can end with 4 in work - in my case, I want the width at the bottom to be 30 to 32 cm, so I’m either stopping at #84 or pulling another 12 n’s (96) to end with the 4 in work again. Another way to do this would be to simply add the 4 needles in work at the outside edge for the width you want, regardless of the needle arrangement but I like the look of my way because I am shaping the sides - A-line-ish.

I want to have a no-hem look, just use the manual wrap cast-on, but over this needle arrangement, it could be tricky, so I’m going to cast on with waste yarn (WY) and ravel cord before using the main yarn for the wrap - this way, I can hang the comb and weights in the waste yarn without worrying that the wire/comb will damage the yarn in the cast-on row, making sure everything is working before getting to the real deal. I am not going to hand wrap the WY (too much unnecessary work) and if I cast on full needle rib, there’s too much transferring up and down and making up new stitches and then worrying about the needle arrangement being correct again - Here’s the trick - after setting up my needle arrangement, I rack the rib bed (RB) until the needles on RB line up with the in-work ones on main bed (MB), to get a zigzag row....H-11 does it. Now bring up one needle on the RB at the left of each group of in-work needles and at each end look at what needs to be brought into work for the ends. WY, T5/5, K1R. Hang the comb and 1 weight. K1R. (this sounds ugly and clacky while you’re doing it because of the wide space of needles out of work - not to panic!) Rack one space to H-10. K1R. Begin getting rid of the extra unwanted needles at the ends by transferring the sts back up or down after each row. By the time you’re back to H5, it begins to sound better and you should just need to transfer that one extra ribber needle of each group to be at the correct arrangement. Check it a second time, add extra weights to balance everything out and end with the carriage at left. Knit the ravel cord ending at right. Bring all the n’s out, manual wrap with the main yarn and Bob’s your Uncle!!

If you want a review of this cast-on and decrease method, see Ribber Rules 5 & ‘Just Ribbing’ in in KNITWORDS No 50.

reading is still mandatory

2010-08-14T14:30:00.002-04:00

One of the most repeated comments from your letters and emails from the past 2 months is that you’ll miss reading my editorial - I always hesitated to call them editorials because I felt like it was just my opportunity to say whatever - some think of it more as a rant.... One of the most commented ‘editorials’ and my personal favourite, appeared in No 17, Spring 2001. I felt it was appropriate to let it go again - here it is:

WARNING: the editor wishes to advise that failure to read the entire contents of this magazine, from cover to cover, including all advertisements, patterns and articles will result in the suspension of your subscription. Skimming will not be tolerated. No just looking at the pictures!

I was recently doing a two day workshop, where I have a captive audience and they have to listen to only me for the duration. I really like doing this type of seminar because it gives me a chance to show off and entertain and generally have fun. I usually show a few garments, talk about them and the features and then knit a bit and demonstrate some of the techniques. I try to mix it up so no one gets too bored or boggled or whatever. Anyway, at this particular show, during the coffee break on the second morning, one of the participants comes up to me and said she had some 'constructive criticism' for me. Sometimes I don't take this very well, but she doesn't know that yet. Caught off guard at the word 'criticism', I struggle to remain calm and try to appear interested and open to what she has to say. She tells me there is a big problem with the magazine and I need to let people know they have to read it. I am sort of puzzled. You mean, the readers aren't really reading, they are only skimming or worse, just looking at the pictures? Yes, it seems she herself is guilty of this. For example, I had just held up a nice turtleneck done on the double bed and explained all the techniques in the garment and another knitter, writing furiously, wasn't keeping up with what I was saying. I told her not to worry, it was all written in the pattern already. Well, apparently they didn't know the patterns were full of tips, techniques and generally great stuff. Now the 'cc' lady is explaining the reason she just looked at the picture and flipped the page, was this particular garment was sleeveless and she would never be knitting anything without sleeves and had therefore missed all the good stuff in the pattern. By this time several others have joined in and are nodding; they too have been guilty of the same thing. Now, how can I possibly save this situation? They are telling me that I have failed to tell them they need to read the magazine. It puts me in mind of the warning labels on certain products and of the concessions made to handicapped people. I know, we'll offer the magazine on audio cassette, for the visually impaired, taped in the voice of either Truman Capote or HG Wells. This will be a limited time offer, redeemable for 246 bar-coded labels from your favourite natural fibre coned yarn, along with a dead sponge bar and six broken needles from your least-used knitting machine.
Now, seriously folks, it's also come to my attention that you didn't know about our webpage or the fact that all the stitch patterns from each issue are available for the current issue for free download in Designaknit format and have been since issue 12. HEL-LO! it's me, Mary Anne...

Things I'm doing...

2010-08-13T17:50:00.002-04:00

I am working on a cardigan/jacket out of BT Yarns Zephyr Marl (guess I’d better get in the program and start calling it ‘Knit It Now’) - I did sort of promise Sue J that I’d have a new garment for her to wear at the Inspiration 2010 seminar in Cleveland in September - that’s the trouble with doing something - you do it a second time and it becomes a tradition ;-)) (I’ve made her things before - in ‘08, we had matching skirts - Tiers of Joy & Just the Flax, a linen cardigan - both were in No 47 and in ‘09 she got ‘Frill Ride’ No 52 & ‘Same But Different, No 51).
But I’m making mine first - that way I can iron out all the kinks, if any, before I get to hers...actually, by making mine first, I know I'll have one anyway - sounds like a good plan to me...

So, this one is a take-off on a ‘designer’ garment that I saw in Macy’s in the spring - it was knit in plain stockinette, straight, low-hip length cardigan, short sleeve with a front piece that sort of acted like a shawl collar - my friend and I both tried it on in our sizes, but strangely, it didn’t fit either of us over the shoulders and arms properly, no matter which size we put on. What was nice? It was beautifully finished and made with a lightweight linen yarn that had a lovely drape.
I figured Sue’s Zephyr Marl, being a fine linen/rayon would make a good substitute. If this were just recreational knitting, I could make it in stockinette on my fine gauge machine, but not many people have that machine, so, with pattern writing in mind, to get the extra width needed, I’m using what I call a one-row-tuck (1RT) stitch pattern - I like 1RT because it adds a nice texture - on the knit side it looks almost like a garter carriage design but flatter and more subtle, while on the purl side the design is more distinct with a lacy touch. 1RT is much more fun to knit than plain stockinette with the added benefit of the tuck stitch creating a wider fabric than stockinette would. At T6, my gauge is 30 sts and 50 rows to 10 cm/4 in, while stockinette at T5 produced a gauge of 34 sts/10cm, making a pretty narrow fabric and limiting the size range. I did an article and 3 garments using One-row-tuck in No 50 if you want to go back and check it out and learn more. It also stops fabrics from biassing and doesn’t look as blistery, bubbly, baby-blanketish as regular tuck.
You know, Zephyr Marl is on sale right now - check it out at http://www.knititnow.com/.
And, you know, I really doing this to stop myself from obsessing about the dream coat, but I've made more swatches - more about that later!
Nathan & Rhiana are coming for a sleepover at Grama's - got to tidy up my sewing room - for some reason, they think it's their bedroom...where do kids get these ideas?
You know, I forgot all about it being Friday the 13th...

past, present & future

2010-08-11T17:00:00.003-04:00

Last night I had THE most weird dream - so strange, I felt like it was really real...I woke up remembering all these details and they’ve been running through my mind all day and won’t go away!! Maybe if I tell you, it’ll disappear and not turn into a fixation.
It started when an old customer - well, I mean she wasn’t old, just I haven’t seen her in years - anyway, she had bought a knitting machine from me with the idea to design her own line of clothing - she was a handknitter and had seen me at a local fall fair, somewhere in the early 90's. She was very talented and artistic and came to her second lesson with a completed kid’s garment - wow!! I was blown away then and always impressed with what she did, but she’d moved away and I haven’t heard from her in probably 15 years, so why did I dream about her??
So, she has a problem with her knitting machine and brings it to my shop (that I had at the time) and I mean, brings it to me - still set up with the ribber and all and half her garment hanging off the machine - just dumps it down and yells, ‘fix this thing!’ I look at the knitting and I'm totally amazed at what she's creating... it’s wide rib with little random cables and hand transferred lace stitches, tons of stuff happening - the whole piece just enthrals me but I'm trying to pretend like I don't really notice - I can’t believe the time she must be spending to make this when she usually does fairisles with like about 19 colours with maybe a little intarsia motif - you know, usually you’re either a texture person or a colour person, not both - she tells me it’s the ‘city style’ that all the girls are crazy for right now - I don’t know what she means but turns out that’s the length of it, just above the knee, so I'm thinking 'Tumbleweed' from No 53 - she’s using a silk wool yarn that I’ve made a couple of things with (but not back then) but have since found it pills like crazy and I won’t use it ever again. And in the back of my mind I’m saying to myself, I’d try something like a denim cotton and, while she’s still there, I realize I’m planning to steal her design!! huh?? what’s that all about? yeah, and I looked like I did back then and of course, so did she because I don't know what she looks like now - crazy, right?
She eventually leaves with her machine - I’m not sure if I ever fixed it or not - and I wake up - now, I’ve got this design playing over and over in my head - it’s like an indecent obsession - okay, I’ll admit it, I do have 2 cones of a discontinued denim cotton I’ve been saving for something special and heck, with no deadlines anymore, what’s to stop me from just playing around with this....and I could use it for that ribber class at Inspiration 2010 in Cleveland in September.
You know, maybe it’s the weather - maybe it’s heat stroke or something...did I mention we’re actually having a REAL summer - days on end of 90F plus - usually, here in Thunder Bay, we say that this year, summer was on Tuesday...
My swatches are amazing!!!

sh-h-h-h....

2010-07-16T16:59:00.002-04:00

whatever you do, don’t tell Marnie!

I’m taking off next week to visit my little sis (see No 44, ‘Making a Theme Sweater’, ‘DogOn’) in Vancouver for a week, so you know what I should be doing - yep, making a couple of shopping bags (funny - weird, I mean - it’s in No 44 also, ‘Take An Old Bag Shopping’). I still owe Marnie & friend, Anna, one each - they missed out at Christmas time! I find it fun and yet, a bit of a challenge to see that I can get the bag off the machine without forgetting anything and, picking out the right colour specifically for the recipient is most fun. I’m usually bang on!
Anyhow, before I do that I thought I’d also surprise her with ‘A-shirred’ from No 53. I need it a bit bigger than the largest size in the pattern, so I chose a yarn (Yeoman Yarns Twister) just a bit heavier - a very pale blue I think she'll like -and put my stitch size one dot higher, but did the same stitches and rows as the largest size - my ‘cheating at swatches’ swatch is 29 sts and 42 rows/10 cm instead of the 30 sts and 44 rows the pattern calls for. Because Twister is wool, I won’t worry about the row gauge, it’ll pull up that bit with washing and then the shirring can take care of any extra length.
My friend Cindy told me she made this and it was such a good pattern, she zipped right through it without any questions or problems. It is a pretty quick knit and most of the putting together is done on the machine which makes it neater and faster, I think. The hood is optional - it’s actually all finished, as is the neckline and then just handstitched inside - you might think that was an afterthought, but I did it like that in the pattern on purpose to give you the choice of making the hood or not - and now, it seems like a good idea because I’m not sure how far my yarn is going, being as I substituted and am making a larger size...
Well, there’s not enough yarn to make the hood - maybe Marnie won’t notice...I'm taking my 'painted' 'A-shirred' (see below, Woodstock) - maybe we'll get someone to take a photo of us together!

Reno for Spots in Dots

2010-06-30T14:28:00.001-04:00

‘Spots in Dots’ from No 50 - loved the stitch pattern, loved the trim, loved the yarn... You may have noticed I don’t often make pullovers. The reason - they make me feel chubby, so, if I do make one, it’s usually something that is for outerwear and a little oversized.

After the photo shoots are over and I decide who gets to keep what, I really wanted ‘Spots in Dots’, but it was a little snug in the bust and I knew I wouldn’t wear it like that, so, I figured for a challenge, I’d cardiganize it.

Now, a very open lace fabric and cut & sew doesn’t usually make for the easiest thing to do. And, I’d have to come up with a band to cover the cut & sew edge, work in some buttonholes and make it all wide enough to compensate for the cut edges and to add a little extra width in case I did want to button it. I promised the gals at Peru, IN at the Spring Fling in April, that I tell about it here, so now you’ll have the rest of the story...

Method

- find centre of front and run contrasting basting thread by hand to mark it.

- using matching thread and the 3 stitch zigzag at a narrow width with sewing machine, stitch on column of stitches on either side of basting line and then on next column, either side, so there are 2 rows of zigzags on either side of centre line.

- very sharp scissors, carefully cut directly along basting line. (see swatch - click on it to enlarge - I know you probably still can’t see it very well because my sewing thread was such a good match, but you can see the basting thread and trust me the stitching is there!)

- make button band...see below and attach to left side of front...

- make buttonhole band.... and attach to right side...

- find suitable buttons... or should that have been back at the beginning....

Cut & Sew band - hold garment up to needle bed to determine number of sts, stretching slightly and add 1 stitch each end for seaming ends of band.

Knit a stockinette strip as follows: on same number of needles as length of band, on MB, cast on WY, knit several rows, 1 row ravel cord. MC, T7, K5R. Remove on WY or garter bar.

Button band - (66-0-66 n’s is what I used.) Cast on with WY, 1 row ravel cord. RC000. MC, T8, K1R. Tighten by 1 dot, K7R, to T5... at RC008. T10, K1R. T5., K1R. Plus 1 dot, K1R, knit to RC017. Hang hem. T8, K1R.

Hang stockinette strip on same n's, purl side facing you.

T7, K5R. RTR. K1R. Remove on garter bar - you have an envelope now, to stuff the edge into!

Hang cut & sewed edge, right side facing on same n's, leaving end n's empty.

Turn and hang band, putting right sides together, open sts in hooks. Close latches and pull open stitches through closed edge.

Pick up stitches from strip. Remove WY. Manually knit 1 row loosely and chain off.

Buttonholes, same as used on ‘Purple Purls’, No 52.

Have to say, this was pretty easy, looks great - I can hardly wait to wear it....and I can use this application on another garment I’m planning - maybe something ribber-ish for Sue J to wear in September at Inspiration 2010 - see http://www.btyarns.com/!

gossip, gossip, gossip...

2010-06-29T13:16:00.004-04:00

The rumours are flying, speculation abounds - some say it's written in stone, they heard it from the horse’s mouth and all that crap!

Normally I don’t pay any attention to gossip and hearsay but again I have to say something.

I don’t want to lay blame on anyone and I’m not mentioning any names but... I’m upset by the misinterpretations that are going on out there.

It has been said that the demise of KNITWORDS is due to the poor ‘Canadian’ economy - I never said that. It is not the Canadians’ fault.

It has been reported ‘With the downturn in the economy, too many businesses stopped their advertising. Not enough ads, means not enough money coming in to continue to afford publishing KnitWords.’ I never said that. My advertisers were very loyal, they were there to the end and I thank them all, again - it was maybe the non-advertisers...

My subscribers and supporters have been wonderful and again I thank them - maybe it was the non-subscribers...

My designers and contributors, loyal and supportive, much appreciated - if I didn't pay top scale, at least I did pay what I said I would and could.

Everyone wants to cry and lament after the fact when, if they said what they had to say when they should have said it and supported good things when they are available, those good things would remain. Get off the internet, quit your bitching and crying, go and actually knit something, stop giving things away for free - what the heck is all that free UTube stuff about?? Stop copying and sharing. Support the remaining good people or you’ll have nothing...

The truth - I stopped the magazine because I simply could no longer afford, both emotionally and economically, to subsidize a magazine for an ever-decreasing audience...

sorry about the rant, but I feel better... there I go, just like a real Canadian, apologizing again...
thanks again...

If you’re crying, press 3 and leave a message...

2010-06-26T22:07:00.002-04:00

The past few days have been very hard. Your responses have overwhelmed me and I feel like I have to say something. First of all, I’m okay - this is not due to illness or accident or anything like that.
I’ve never been a crybaby. I don’t think I’m a whiner. I haven’t given any excuses and I won’t now, other than to say, it is true and KNITWORDS is over.

I thought I would share some of the messages I’ve received by email...

'I am so sad. I hated your letter. There isn't a magazine out there ANYTHING like Knitwords, and I will miss it terribly....’

‘So sorry to hear that Knitwords is no more. I do not need any credit for paid issues, I am sure we all have gotten enough of your blood, sweat and tears over the years. Your patterns were always wonderful and written beautifully. I will miss your editorials and watching your cute grandchildren grow up.'

‘Thank you for your consideration. This is not the first time this has happened to me. The embroidery company that went defunct, which was purchased by another company. The other company, which was suppose to take care of fulfilling the subscription, never did.’

‘Say it isn't so. However I can understand as I am sure in this economy, publishing such a specialized magazine just "ain't what it used to be". I am sooo sorry, but I have to say you have been an inspiration to so many. I feel as though I have been with you all these years and feel privileged to have gotten to know you. Good luck on whatever road to plan to travel now-- I am sure you will be a success. Take care-- I do hope you stay in touch with the knitting community.’

‘Have just received a letter about the end of Knitwords and wanted to tell you how sorry I am that such a great magazine has to come to an end. I attended a seminar in Seattle where you were conducting a number of the classes a few years ago and started subscribing. I really enjoyed those classes and the subsequent magazines. I have a grandson younger than Nathan and all the 'boy wear' patterns knitted to your instructions have been a great success. It is not easy to find knitwear patterns that the younger generation is keen to be seen in and the sizing is just spot on. As are all the adult garments I have tried.
I wish you all the best for the future. You will be missed!!’

‘Rumour is going around that you are closing up? Say it ain’t so!! I was just going to send in my renewal and get the two I missed….sigh.’

woodstock...?

2010-06-12T13:22:00.001-04:00

Last year, I was in the USA on the anniversary of Woodstock. I was amazed and intrigued by the number of people sporting their tie-dyed shirts - you could tell some were new and some looked like originals, the wearers included, if you know what I mean. Anyway, since then, it seems to me there has been a revival of tie-dyed stuff, some good and some not so good, some psychedelic and some subdued.
I have always been a fan of random prints and batiks but they can be hard to come by. I made ‘A-shirred’, (the pattern is in No 53) in a raw silk yarn that only comes in the natural colour, with the idea that I was going to get creative and somehow paint/dye/embellish/whatever and do something to my finished garment as my statement on the influence of tie-dye stuff.
Kelly Ripa on the morning show has been wearing this lovely dress by Michael Kors that is a very subtle abstract print blend of pale blues and greens, more pastel-y than I prefer for myself but I found it very attractive. I wasn’t sure what I really wanted the finished product to be, other than an experiment. And I figured, what the heck? if I didn’t like the result, I’d go buy some more ‘Rit®’ and over-dye it (VBG)!!
A couple of good friends who sounded like they knew more about it than I did, took me to a craft store to shop for supplies. After reading labels and debating among ourselves, I ended up with this tie-dye kit (it is actually called ‘Tie Dye Kit by Jacquard, for use with natural fiber fabrics’ - which my friends both seemed to think was a good brand) and a bunch of kids’ paint brushes in various sizes that I could use to ‘paint’ on the dye. The kit chosen, was supposed to, we thought, have red, yellow and blue powdered dye that, in theory, I could use to mix any colour I wanted. At home, reading the ‘fine print’, I had turquoise, fuschia and yellow - yes, those true psychedelic colours!!

Well, undaunted, this morning, with no home-dinner dates planned, I jumped in!

A couple of weeks ago, I had purchased a new grill and while unpacking it for assembly, I realized I could use the plastic bags the pieces were packed in as filler for my dyeing project, so I saved them all - there was one big enough to put over the top of my round dining table for protection. I had an old padded tablecloth, previously ruined in a past experiment (No 32, Leaf It To Me) - that time I was using fabric paints and working on dry fabric, but this one was a wet job. I began by soaking the finished garment, my original tension swatch, and an extra hood - the first was too short and I’d made the second one without having to unravel it. The garment & swatch had been laundered already, but the extra hood had not - I don’t know if it made a difference, but washing out whatever sizing, wax, etc wouldn’t hurt. The kit included a packet of ‘soda ash’ to pre-soak the items to make the dye hold better. We had chosen this type of kit/dyes, because there seemed to be no need to ‘heat-treat’ the final thing. So, while the items were soaking for 20 minutes in the soda ash, I began mixing colours and soon realized nothing much is going to take the turquoise (a colour I loathe) out of turquoise and there was not a great amount of each coloured powder. So, after messing and mixing with tiny, weeny dibs, I came up with several colours, shades of greens, blue, brown and a pinky-red, to experiment with on the swatch and felt that I could live with them.

I stuffed the extra hood to plump it up and practised a bit - I had this vision of sea anemones - I don’t even know what they are, but that came to my mind - that I thought I could manage to paint on my sweater. I’ll admit, it was a fluke - my brush dripped on the first try and I drew a line to connect the dots....

Anyway, I stuffed the garment with plastic bags, I even blew up some zip sandwich bags - that worked really well - because the garment was wet, and I didn’t want it to bleed through, I wanted each layer/side to be separated, stuffed the sleeves as well - then I began painting my vine-y anemones - I thought it was really cool how the colour bled and aura-ed at the edges and I was pretty psyched as the project progressed - the plan was to be able to leave this thing to dry undisturbed for 24 hours, so I had to make sure no portion of it was overlapping - as I finished a sleeve, I wrapped it in plastic so I could manouevre the whole thing, flip it over and work on the back without worrying that the sleeve would infect another part... how’s that for confidence - I actually started on the front - well, really, I had planned to start on the back and work out the kinks - who cares what you look like when you’re leaving anyway? - but in my hurry to begin, I forgot...

I’m finished, pretty happy and tomorrow, I’ll let you know...

how many sleeves does it take to make a sweater?

2010-05-26T15:44:00.003-04:00

yikes...I’m knitting and knitting and getting nowhere fast...yesterday I swatched and swatched and swatched and because I’m working with cotton, I had to make a couple of swatches of my final stitch arrangement at different stitch sizes to compensate for the shrinkage factor. I do keep really good notes of my practises because if you don’t know what you did and what stitch size was used, there’s not much point in swatching - you may as well go for the ‘whoever it fits’ theory.

Okay, so everything was washed and dried and I made my choice of the final stitch and needle arrangement, ready to get knitting on the real thing this morning. I sat down and rather quickly knocked off the first sleeve - I did have to stop and make notes, because I’m going to be using all of this for the hands-on ribber class that I’m teaching at Lea-Ann’s do in Indiana at the end of July - check out http://www.knittingtoday.com/ if you want more details - she's having some beginner classes running at teh same time as my 2 days and then finishing up with Susan Guagliumi doind 2 days of her hand manupulated stitches, hands-on too!- so, an hour for a double bed tuck rib sleeve, that’s not bad. Do the final cast-off and take it off the machine - hummm...feels a little stiff...(4LW) I used the wrong tension!! I wanted T8/6, not T7/5. Oh well, what’s an hour...

I did make what I think is an important break-through. As I said, I’m doing a tuck rib, where I have all needles in work on the main bed and a tuck stitch happening and I made up an irregular needle arrangement on the rib bed that breaks up the tuck to add vertical lines on the front of the fabric with the ribber stitches. Oh, and yes, I started with the sleeve because I find that it’s a smaller piece, goes more quickly and if things go wrong while you’re getting used to new techniques, it’s not as bad as making the entire back and then finding out that you went wrong....also, on the sleeve you can work out all the details of increasing and then decreasing and shaping for the sleeve cap.

Getting the correct needle arrangement on the rib bed is key here - screw it up and it won’t look right and it has to correspond with the tuck pattern on the main bed and each piece needs to be the same. On the first sleeve, it’s only 50 stitches wide, so after the hem, I took the time to look at the tuck pattern and figure out the ribber arrangement, but another problem occurs as you’re increasing to make sure that you’re continuing the proper sequence - I had a brainwave and got a piece of card stock, held it up to the existing needle arrangement and marked two repeats (this one is a 15 st repeat) so I could simply move the card along to match up with the next 15 needles to see what would next be brought into work. You could use this idea for anything requiring an odd needle arrangement, like tuck lace...

So, now, I double check my notes and get going with the right tension this time. Finish up and as I’m casting off, look down and see this solid line running up the centre...(several 4LW’s!!) I can see where, on the first row of patterning, I didn’t bother to re-check and an empty needle came up into work, spoiling my pattern....

I hope I haven’t scared you off if you were thinking of taking the ribber class - I’ll have ironed out all the kinks by then! And we’ll use an easier stitch pattern.

Knitting machine = LSD?

2010-05-18T13:36:00.002-04:00

I was at a concert last weekend and while waiting for the performance to begin, I couldn’t help listening to the conversation between two men seated behind me. When I heard the one guy say something like ‘I love LSD!’, my ears perked right up! Turns out he was a car guy and was describing ‘stuff’ in his garage that he called LSD - ‘labour saving devices’... it works for me!

Sitting in MSP airport recently, wearing ‘Tumbleweed’ from No 53, with 3 hours to kill between flights, I was stitching in ends on two ‘take an old bag shopping’ bags that I was finishing up to give as hostess gifts (my bag count since the pattern came out in No 44 is up to 29!). Anyway, this gal came rushing over to me to see what I was doing, all enthused to find a fellow knitter. She gushed over my cardigan and was particularly interested in the edging I’d used on the hem and cuffs - she couldn’t identify it. I admitted that I’d made the sweater and it was my own design. She picked up my finished bag, marvelling over the evenness of the stitches. She began asking me questions about where I got my yarn - she said she was from Winnipeg - I admitted to being a fellow Canadian and we shop-talked the Winnipeg knitting scene. She even exclaimed over my use of the thread cutter on my letter opener that I was trimming the ends with so I didn’t have to worry about them taking away scissors. When she asked me what size needles I used for my cardigan, our relationship was over... as soon as I said ‘knitting machine’, I may as well have used bad language in public. She dropped me like a stone, just when I thought I had her hooked! I had put off using the ‘M’ word as long as possible but sadly she was one of those purist-snobs who believe that stitches should only be made the old-fashioned way. As she flounced off, I wanted to yell, ‘yeah, but...you liked me okay at first, before you thought I was a cheater.’

(oh, quick comeback, MA!)

Now that I got that off my chest, back to cheating...er, knitting with my LSD!

Preview No 53

2010-04-27T17:08:00.006-04:00

Just got No 53 from the printers! Wow!! I hope you like it as much as I do!
This is my beautiful daughter-in-law, Agnieszka, (yes, she's the Mom of Nathan and Rhiana) on our cover, in Nancy Roberts’ design. I really liked this cardigan the moment I saw it and as I proofed Nancy’s pattern and read over the various techniques she used so cleverly, I liked it even more. I called it ‘The Chronicle’ after that old joke about what’s black & white and read (red) all over...
We have a great variety of knits in our Summer 2010 issue:
- A mid gauge oversized pullover from Susan Guagliumi using the bridging technique from her new book, ‘More Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters’ - hope her pattern and article will inspire you to get your copy soon.
- A new designer, Alice Tang, whom I met in San Fran last fall - she has some great ideas and her ‘Rib’n Shrug’, done on the bulky machine with ribber is sure to be a hit - it could also be done on the mid gauge, but I’m going to use the schematic and try it out on the standard gauge (hope this is not an idle promise).
- Mar Heck, in addition to her regular 'Do It In DAK, came up with a great collection of scarves, not only to get you ready for gift-giving, but they are good learning patterns as well as great stash busters!
- Eileen Montgomery has our most summery features, a very cute cotton top if you want quick and easy, and a nice, short-sleeved cardi in lace with a tie neckline.

That’s all for now, I gotta get finished packing up for the mail out tomorrow!

The colour Purple - NOT!

2010-04-21T15:53:00.004-04:00

'Purple Purls', in No 52 KNITWORDS, is a beautiful lace cardigan with some really nice details, not only a pleasing stitch pattern, but the bands and collar are pretty nice too, if I do say so. The yarn is Yeoman’s Cannele which I have used extensively (I get it from Cardiknits at www.cardiknits.com) - it is a crisp, mercerised cotton that has a lovely sheen. In reality, bright purple is not a colour that I would choose for myself. I had been wanting a plum shade, ordered ‘iris’ which turned out to be more of a bright royal blue - see ‘Spots in Dots’, No 50. My next order was for ‘aubergine’ which didn’t thrill me either - it was more reddish wine than eggplant - and I traded it sight unseen, by mail, with a friend in exchange for ‘cardinal’. My friend had described ‘cardinal’ as a really pretty purple - when it arrived, I kind of grimaced and looked at it for several weeks before gathering up the courage to use it. I loved the finished garment, but I still didn’t feel warm and fuzzy about the colour. I forced myself to wear it 3 different times in an attempt to become more purple-friendly. One time was lunch with my highschool girlfriends - they are always very complimentary of anything I wear, probably because they know I made it and maybe just to be nice, but they always say something. This time, nada! Not a word. Hummm....The last time I put it on, my son had taken me out for lunch on my birthday. He doesn’t normally say anything about anything that I wear but at the end of the lunch he looked at me and said, ‘That’s not your usual colour, is it? It seems a little bright for you.’ That did it! I was either going to have to give it away or burn it!
Now, several times lately, I’ve been meaning to experiment with over-dyeing a finished garment. The sour apple wool crepe deluxe of ‘Frill Ride’ (No 51) was going to be in line for the experiment, but Sue J at BT Yarns said she would wear it, so I gave it to her. Anyway, last week when I was packing up to go to the Knit Knack Shop’s Spring Fling in Peru, Indiana, I held up the purple thing and made a snap decision. I dashed to the grocery store and grabbed 2 boxes of RIT dye in navy blue - they only had 5 colours. I read the instructions...put on rubber gloves, got out my very big soup pot, put 8 litres of hot water in, heated it on the stove just a bit, maybe 5 minutes. Dumped in the dye powder from both boxes and a cup of regular table salt - I did debate for a second whether it would make a difference if it was kosher salt - I had a lot more of that on hand, but went with the regular - the water looked black! Threw in the purple peril, unbuttoned. With a old wooden spoon, ruined in a previous experiment, I stirred a bit, maybe 2 minutes total. It looked really black but that was okay by me. I took it off the heat and dumped it into the sink. Rinsed it several times in cold water, until the water was clear. The sweater still looked black. Then I washed it with ‘Eucalan’ like I normally would, rolled it in a towel to remove as much moisture as possible and laid it out to dry. The next morning I was ecstatic to see it had dried to a lovely deep plum.
The knitters in Peru were shocked and amazed!
Boy, do I have plans!

Groundhog Day

2010-02-03T16:32:00.003-05:00

I guess you’ve seen our preview of No 52 - I think it looks pretty good. And, I got my subscription copy in the mail yesterday, already! nah, nah, nah-na! So you shouldn’t have to wait too long - I always send myself a copy in the bulk mailing - the Canadian subscriptions are sent out from Winnipeg via Canada Post, and the US subscriptions go out from a tiny place in North Dakota just across the border, via the United States Postal Service, 4th class mail. I always mark the date I receive my subscription copy just to keep track and this is the earliest ever - Feb 2, Groundhog Day! It is usually around the 7th to the 9th that mine comes, so, although I didn’t hear the official Groundhog Day ruling, I’m going to take this as a sign of an early Spring - might as well be positive!
After the dust has settled, my favourite garment is ‘Purple Purls’, After the dust has settled, my favourite garment is ‘Purple Purls’, After the dust has settled, my favourite garment is ‘Purple Purls’ - (I couldn’t resist - I can’t think of ‘Groundhog Day’ without thinking of that movie - Bill Murray wakes up and every thing is repeated over & over...guess you had to see it) - even though it is not exactly my favourite colour, it’s a great cardigan and I’m sure I will come to enjoy the colour because of the garment. The drape of this yarn - it’s Yeoman’s Cannelé - and the sheen of it, combined with the stitch pattern makes a really nice fabric and there is a ton of good techniques. On one of the mk-chat lists recently, they were talking about lace and shortrowing and a lot of misinformation was going around - reading this pattern should clear up some of those misconceptions, but the key is (at least) reading.
Actually my thoughts are already focussing on the next issue which is Summer and what do I think of? Lace and lacy fabrics and crochet-look things. I’ve spent the past week or so brainstorming, planning and plotting out the next year of KNITWORDS. I think it’s finally time we have a series on the yarn changer, so you can look for seasonal things, starting with single bed yarn changer, maybe a lightweight shawl or wrap in a mohair and rayon bouclé along with a lesson on getting started with the yarn changer - following issues will take you through projects showing the various techniques and types of double bed jacquard.
Another idea I have is for a series called W5 (or something - that’s my working title so far) - which will be say, 3 or 4 methods of doing one thing (What) and then, When, Where, Why and Why not? to help you decide how to apply it to your knitting - what do you think? any ideas for topics? I got a couple, but I’d like to hear what you think/want to see...so email me if you don’t want to respond here.
This is the start of our 14th year of publication. Today, I’m beginning the knitting on a knee-length lace duster in a light tan-coloured, mercerised cotton on the standard gauge machine - loose and airy with a vertical, viney-looking stitch pattern I’m hoping will add inches to my vertically-challenged frame...

the importance of actually reading...

2010-01-22T18:02:00.003-05:00

I told you about the WCD cardis that are in No 52 and how I was going to remake the green one for myself - well, I did do that, using that beautiful light olive colour I had. Now, here’s a perfect example of what happens when you don’t read the instructions because you think you know what you’re doing!
In reality, I made both of the ruffled cardis back in August last year. They were held over to this Spring issue because there were too many patterns to all fit in No 51 and those two were the most appropriate to hold over for the next issue. So, when it came to remaking this pattern, it was a case of - I wrote the pattern, I know what I’m doing! - or I thought I did anyway.
I did make a few changes - who doesn’t, second time around, but the changes actually involved using vertical darts in the body of the sweater - instead of shaping the garment by decreasing and increasing at the side seams, I did vertical darts, to test out my theories and to have another sample for some of the workshops I’ll be teaching this year. I have an article on darts in the new issue, called ‘Darting Around’, dealing with horizontal darts - used in the bust area - and vertical darts, in plain stockinette AND in patterned fabrics - be sure to take a look at it - you might be surprised. Anyway, I made this olive cardi with vertical darts using the garter bar to move stitches over after the decreases and increases - that part went well.
When it came to the bands, I vaguely recalled making quite a few swatches - the bands are knit circular on the double bed and there is a really cool chained edge to it that is actually started off with a very loose row on the cast-on, and chained after the piece is removed from the machine. Anyway, the buttonholes were a bit of a challenge - because of the circular - I think this is my first time to come up with a technique for my no-sew buttonhole that worked for circular on a horizontal band. So, now, I ‘skimmed’ the instructions, made the band, attached it and got the garment off the machine. It was only later when I was chaining the edge that I realized my clever buttonholes had failed! What the ??? I looked at Sue’s cardi (I haven’t given it up yet!!) and her buttonholes are beautiful! Mine aren’t closed up on the last side.
Now, I specifically recalled remaking her buttonhole band and rewriting the instructions - what happened?? I’m sort of panicking at this point - the magazine is printed and on it’s way to me - I can’t change anything!!! I went to the instructions printed from the pfd proof copy I got back from the printers that I used to reknit from - what a relief!! the correct instructions are there - I just didn’t read the whole thing, figuring I knew what I was doing - huh! After casting off the stitches for the buttonhole, I was supposed to bring out ONLY all the EMPTY needles, which would cancel the circular setting just for those needles and give me a zigzag over the buttonhole needles, which would then be lifted off and twisted to ‘e’ wrap back on - this is what closes up the second side of the hole - so watch out! Be sure to read all the directions and apply them in the proper place! Let me know how you make out!

happy new decade!

2010-01-11T15:28:00.005-05:00

It’s a new decade! What do we call it? - I’m going with ‘twenty ten’! We’ve come a long way and a lot has happened since Y2K. Did you notice we even have Paypal on the KNITWORDS website?
Knitting has come a long way from what the world thought of as something only grannies did to keep themselves busy - did you know there is an app for knitting that you can get for your iphone or ipod touch? It’s called ForgetMeKnit ($2.99, sites.google.com/site/kromsware) - I’d guess it’s actually for hand knitting, but I’m sure you could use it as a machine knitter as well - you can keep track of concurrent projects and save notes about each project. Of course, since I neither have a cell phone or even a plain ipod, I won’t be using it, but I have learned to never say never - who knows, I may even get on Ravelry one of these days!
We’ve wrapped up No 52 and got it sent off to print last night, so today’s a ‘clean up the office’ day - boy, I sure have a lot of jobs I don’t really like...stuffing envelopes for renewal notices is another biggie on the ‘do not like’ side...but somebody’s gotta do it.
Right after I get this done, I’m going to do something I do like - remake one of my favourite garments from No 52 - since you don’t know too much about what’s in there yet, you probably won’t be able to guess what it is, but I’ll give you a hint - it has ruffles, it’s a cardi and I made the original for Sue J at BT Yarns - I made sure to use a colour I’d never (there’s that word), trust me, ever wear - it was called ‘sour apple green’ and I think of it as wow, in-your-face-acid-green, but lots of people like it. Sue had it on sale and I was originally going to try and over-dye it, but when she said she liked it and would wear it, I made it for her and now I’m sorry, because I still want one, only not that colour, so...I do have a really pretty, my colour of green (olive, of course), WCD still on my shelf that I know I’ll get a lot of use from, so here goes.
I think I’ll break down and give you a little preview - I actually did 2 little cardi’s in WCD - that’s wool crepe deluxe in case you’re wondering - for No 52 following on the theme from No 50 when I had ‘Wild Side’ and ‘Flouncing Around’ (see ‘the same but different’ below) - then as now, I took the same basic shape, but changed up the bands and edges to show how it could be optioned to make it look quite different. One thing to note about these patterns, they are all interchangeable and you can take the size from one and make the other - for example, 'Peachy Keen' is sized for finished bust at 34.5 (38, 41, 44) inches and 'Frill Ride' is sized at 36 (39, 42.5) inches, which means there are 7 sizes for each
pattern, but I split them up so it would be easier to follow. So, in No 52 we have a fitted round-neck cardi, set-in sleeve with either plain bands and 1X1 rib for waist and sleeve edge or a very nice double bed hem with a chained edge that gives a more tailored look. Ruffles are all the rage right now, so, added bonus - two styles of ruffles that are hand sewn on the fronts so they can be removed later when everyone is tired of ruffles - or just plain don’t make them if you don’t like them - and you’ll still have a great little cardi that’s a true classic.
Hope you like!

unfinished business...

2009-12-31T16:05:00.007-05:00

I wouldn’t want you to think I hadn’t finished up the remake of ‘Little Scrapper’ - in spite of running out of yarn and having other stuff to do... the yarn had come in early December, but I was kind of tied up by then knitting things for No 52 and other editorial chores, as well as trying to get a few presents made - I managed to get the fronts done and get it all put together on Boxing Day - I didn't have anything to box up and return ;~)!
We did a photoshoot for No 52 this morning and since both Nathan and Rhiana were modelling their new duds for Spring ‘10, I figured we’d finish up the shoot with a couple of shots of them in their matching - not exact - hoodies from No 51 for proof. Rhiana has her first big girl haircut and I think she's adorable!
Oh, and I have to admit, I didn’t quite get all my shopping bags done - I did get 12 finished and I lost my list of who they were for - I made a new list and came up with 20 and figured, what the heck? I’m obviously being way too generous - some of them can wait for the next occasion!!
In No 52, we have hoodies for almost everyone in the family, cardigans galore, ruffles every which way, buttonholes like you wouldn't believe and just lots of really good stuff!!
Happy New Year!

Christmas cleaning?

2009-12-16T15:05:00.006-05:00

well, I don’t really want to give you the wrong impression and if you’re kinda squeamish about grunge, click off right now. Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you...the other day, I was swatching for a lace garment for the next issue and I was using my favourite machine, my standard gauge Silver Reed - I knit most of my stuff on this machine and if you’re actually counting, that’s at least 20 plus garments just in the past year. Now, lace can be a bit temperamental, I’ll admit, but once you get everything right, it’s a walk in the park.
So, with the lace carriage, if the same stitch/needle is dropping or hanging up over the gate peg, first thing to do is change the needle. Well, I had two stitches, same ones, that kept messing up on the swatch, so after taking the swatch off, I went to change the needles, even though they looked fine. So, pull out the sponge bar, pull the needle forward, close the latch, push down on the hook end of the needle to push the other end up through the needle slot and yank it out... there’s gunk (gunch? how the heck do you spell that word?) on the end of the needle, like fluff, but worse! yuk! oh, oh! (grimace)
I belong to the school that believes if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! if it still runs, run it, faster, even! You know, change the odd needle, add a drop of oil here and there; once in a blue moon, you might need a new sponge bar - but save the old one, just in case. So, I do know it’s been quite some time since my baby’s had what you call a deep cleaning where all the needles come out and it gets serious.
Now, coincidentally, I have one of those Dyson vacs that has the clear, see-through canister that you can see all the crud that you’re vacuuming - it’s quite fascinating in a disgusting sort of way at first - and I had (seriously, this is no joke) cleaned IT out, washed the canister and the filter last weekend after doing my weekly household chores - not that I do that on a regular basis, don’t get me wrong - I was probably trying to avoid doing something else requiring a little more brain concentration - and did it just because. The only reason I mention this is I brought the super-clean Dyson up to my knitter, thinking I could just give it a quick suck job and things would be cool - oh my, stuff started coming up, but I could see that it was stuck around the needles - no help for it but to pull them all, because no matter how powerful the suction, the crud is wedged under the needles. I even had to use the latch tool to dig in and hook stuff out... well, after all 200 needles were out and not a single scrap of lint left in the needle slots, I looked at the vacuum and couldn’t believe what came out of my poor machine...
is this what they call over-sharing?
Anyway, the purple lace cardi is done - it's beautiful, and me and my baby are happy!!

grinchy stuff...

2009-12-07T17:57:00.008-05:00

I’m not exactly the grinch, but I have not liked Christmas for a long time - there always seems to be way more hype than it’s worth and all I really want is to spend time with my family. My kids and their SO’s are all grown and are financially stable and when they want something they buy it so it has become increasingly difficult and stressful for me to put together Christmas, between trying to think of something they’d like, finding the time to shop and all that (not to mention getting a magazine ready at the same time). I decided to simplify Christmas this year and, instead, sponsor a local family through Children’s Aid and be a Secret Santa – the money I would have spent on my family, who doesn’t need it, can be put toward a very needy family. One of the best things about it was when I told my boys and their wives, they were all enthused and asked if they could help too! So we sort of divided up the list of essentials and the secret family’s wish list - the top of the list was ‘food is highly needed’ - and it’s put a whole new meaning on Christmas this year.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Dana told me he was going to make shopping bags (Take an Old Bag Shopping, No 44) for everyone on his Christmas list, 20 in all - I thought, boy, that’s a big list and a lot of knitting, but, you know, I think it’s one of the best gifts I ever given - everyone I gave one to has just totally loved it and mentioned it several times, so what? - I’m in! I started making my list of people who would deserve, like, and appreciate one and before I knew it, I had 16 people...I rounded up all my part cones of Cannele and Bonita -some bags may end up striped - but I’ll have depleted a shelf and made room for new stuff! I can make a bag in 50 minutes (45 min. for a boy bag - no picots and usually a darker colour, brown or navy - I’m already out of black - and actually I’m favouring the boy bags myself) so I’ve made a pact with myself to either make one at the start of my knitting day or at the end - and if I don’t have time for the entire bag, I’ll make handles and stockpile them on garter bars - they have to be made before getting into the bag and by doing a bunch in a row, it makes it quicker....6 down, 10 to go...I’ll keep you posted!

I haven’t had a Christmas tree for the past 15 years and guess what? well, I didn’t actually put up a tree, but I went out and bought some fairy lights to decorate something, out on the deck in front of the patio doors. My little ones, Nate and Nana, will love it!

A new way to graft...

2009-12-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

I was in San Francisco last month to teach a workshop - we all had a great time. I felt like a rock star - no, really - Betty rigged me up with a cordless headset microphone and it was wonderful. Usually at the end of 2 days of talking to a large group, my voice is stretched to the limit, but this was a piece of cake. Met some great people, had some great food, the weather was wonderful - a girl from Thunder Bay can’t ask for much more than that!
We also did a one day hands-on ribber workshop, just making samples and learning cast-ons and stuff, finishing off with the making of my circular socks because it is a great way to learn a lot about your ribber. So in preparation for this, I had made a couple of pairs, to be ready to show the finishing, seaming the ribbed cuff and grafting the toe. Of course, in a one day workshop, things never get finished off anyway and I came home with 5 socks that needed grafting.
The sock is started off with 2X2 (2X1) ribbing that makes a nice stretchy, comfortable cuff. Then the stitches have to be re-hung for the circular portion of the heel and foot of the sock, ending with the toe being shaped with full fashioned decreases on each bed, to the point where 10 sts on each bed remain. This is taken off on waste yarn and hand grafted. The small opening and the multi-coloured sock yarn make it hard to find the edge stitches to begin the grating and I had missed the edge stitches on a couple, which you don’t see until the waste yarn is removed and leaves holes at the edges - not good... So after rehanging, fixing and reknitting a couple of times, I thought, there’s got to be a better way of doing this...so, I figured out how to do the grafting on the machine, without the waste yarn in the way to obscure the edge stitches. I think it works great - I wouldn’t want to do more that a small section like the toe, because usually hand grafting from waste yarn works well for me, but this method is foolproof, I think.
So, my sock pattern is in No 39 - try it out and then try this method of grafting:
Waste yarn, K16R. Release from machine. Sock will be right side out.
To graft on machine: turn sock inside out and bring tail of MC to this side. On main bed, hang one side and then hang second side on top of the other, right sides together, with tail of MC at right side. Remove the waste yarn.
Leaving sts on n’s, with tail of MC threaded in a darning needle, go through first front stitch (closest to you) from back to front.
Go though both sts on first needle back to front.
*Go front to back through front stitch on second needle and back stitch on first needle.
Then, back to front through both sts on second needle*.
Repeat * to * across, making each stitch snug but not too tight.
The spacing of the needles will help to keep sts even.
At left, go front to back on back stitch of last needle. Pull off and darn in end.
Ha! 2 Christmas presents down...

Wrath of the MK gods?

2009-10-29T15:16:00.005-04:00

Well, I said I wasn’t superstitious...maybe I should be or maybe I spoke too soon. It’s probably just the machine knitting gods doing a little pay back. I haven’t said anything for a while, hoping it was just my imagination. BUT... now that No 51 arrived, safe and sound from the printers with no mixed up or missing pages, I can finally talk about it.
Not to alarm you, but it was touch and go for a while. Some things that were promised fell short at the last minute, but we had enough to fill the magazine, no sweat. Then it happened. Rick and I were in the middle of layout and we both had computer glitches - ohmigosh, talk about a little stress.
He had updated one of the programs we use for layout, to the latest and greatest. Everything was going tickety-boo and all of a sudden, the program kept shutting down. He decided to go back to the original program and I went home early. We re-convened the next night and I spent an hour watching his hunched shoulders and listening to ‘computer-speak’ as he vainly tried this and that to no avail. I went home early again, trying not to panic.
I had sent my desktop computer out the previous month to be tuned up. After getting it back it took a while for me to realize that although it was speeded up there were a few quirks, such as I was unable to burn a cd - it kept telling me that something was unhooked or missing...I had spent a bit of time trying to figure it out on my own to no avail. Needing to make some disks to go out in the mail the next day, I thought to use my newer laptop which had a cd burner but, the information was on the desktop machine. The cd drive on the desktop would read, just not burn with the program that was installed on it. I knew there was a drag-to-disc thing and attempted to use it. Having successfully loaded the stuff on a cd from the desktop, following instructions carefully, I took the new cd to my laptop, got the information installed on the laptop, and checked to see that it was there. Opened the cd record program, told it what to do and then went to eject the cd to put in a new, blank one - got a blue screen with a very scary message - I had heard other PC-ers describe this but never experienced it - the message said to shut down immediately, that everything was lost and if it failed on re-boot, oh well, too bad - or at least that’s what I thought it said. I tried to shut it down - nothing worked, just this awful blue screen with the same words over and over again. Because it was running on battery, I couldn’t even unplug the darn thing. I just left it bluescreening in the dark and went to bed.
Next morning, it was just sitting there, black. The battery had run out. I thought, okay, what’s the worst thing that can happen if I turn it on - it already told me it was done, so I had nothing to lose. I pressed ON and it booted up like nobody’s business and acted just like nothing happened. I burned my cd’s and went to the mail.
Meanwhile, back at Rick’s, he’d finally sorted out the problem and we were able to finish up No 51, leaving it a little tight at the printer’s end to meet our deadline. But all is well and we did it!!
Meanwhile, I realized I had made Nathan’s hoodie (Little Scrapper) too small - what was I thinking? - oh well,I’d make another - it was using leftovers so I didn’t even really think about it - Panama has great yardage, right? I did the back, the pockets, the sleeves and the hood and now, the fronts which are plain, are left and I’m down to the cone showing through and a swatch from his vest from No 49....this never happens to me!
You can see, the ‘happening’ (see below) made our front cover, renamed ‘Preppy’. Hope you like!