two sides to every story...

With sand dune/tan Wool Crepe Deluxe, I did the second piece, planning a shallow scoop, with a 6 cm depth. Working on auto-pilot, did the same shortrowing just after the hemline, shaped the sides and just as I got the underarm shaping almost finished, I thought to myself, self, this isn’t a sprint, you’re basically trying to fill in time here, so why not put a little effort into maybe doing a little hand-transferred lace? After all, that little diamond lace motif on the original black one is quite nice. I saw that it was too late for that because it needs to be done over 40 rows and at RC207, I was 7 rows past. Rip out? nah! make up something new! Using the same two-step technique from the original, start with a hole at #1 right to begin the same diamond motif and continue that to row 8, where there are 5 plain sts between the eyelets, add the start of another vee – I made a new chart for you (small pat on back) and just continue it up to where your neckline shaping begins.

After the neck shaping, again, I wanted to have a plain, no-finish edge, so picked up the stitches at each edge up to the top of the shoulder and then knit a loose row across all and chained off, similar to the vee technique.
Now, join the shoulders and you know, I just thought of something that I’ve been doing and haven’t talked about for a while, but check this out – https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/wonky-shoulder.html
it makes the shortrowed steps of the shoulder shaping look better when you knit two rows after the shaping.

Because of the two colours, make sure and join each side the same, hang the tan/lighter colour first then the darker one, pull the dark sts through the light set and then make the chain with the same colour (light). That way, they both look the same on the outside.
I still needed to add a band/hem to the armhole – it was too gapey without anything. I like mine close-fitting and I thought you might be a little afraid to do this, so I took some photos. When the armhole was held up to the needles to determine the size, I got 72 -0-72 sts.  

MAO told you originally:
Armhole bands. Hold armhole evenly up to needle bed without stretching, reduce by 10% to determine number of needles required. Approx 50 (54, 58, 62, 64) ns each side of 0. Right side facing you, hang garment over same needles, gathering to fit if needed. Turn band and rehang from garter bar, with right sides together. Pull open stitches of band through closed edge of garment. Manually knit very loose row and chain cast off.
Based on that, 10% less would be 65-0-65 ns. Going by my notes from the black one, the armband was 60-0-60 ns and it was good. When hanging the armhole, it looks rather scary in this first photo – like, that’s never gonna fit right! Hang the shoulder seam at 0 and then start hanging the straight part, evenly, without gathers, leaving those to the actual curved, underarm area. It won’t show after the band is on and you’re wearing it, trust me!
I’m ready for another! you?

backtracking...

That sample thing from the other day? The point of it was to create two different slopes in the one sample so you could judge how big the manually-knit stitches for the chained cast-off should be. On the first side, decreasing/shortrowing 1 stitch on every other row means it will take 60 rows to get rid of 30 stitches. On the second side, 3 stitches in 4 rows means it will take 40 rows to hold the same 30 stitches so the slope/slant on each will be a little different. On the first one, the loose stitches have to be a bit bigger to allow for the drop in the slope. Hope this makes more sense, but maybe you don’t even want a vee neck – no biggie, I was just adding a bit of a challenge for myself!


To figure out which one to use, based on the stitch and row gauge of your swatch (mine is 34 sts and 50 rows to 10cm/4 in.) 9 cm for half the width of the neck is 30 stitches. Using the EOR option means the neck needs to be shaped over 60 rows which would be (60 divided by 5.0 = 12 cm) and that was deeper than I wanted. Using the second method of 40 rows results in an 8 cm drop. Going with the 40 row plan, look at the row count of the top of the shoulder and work back from that to find your starting point for the vee. I found a way to get the chain stitch going all the way from top of one shoulder, down the vee and back up to the other shoulder:


side of the vee, to be added

CAR. Set to hold. Bring left of 0 to HP. Knit, wrap, knit (KWK). At right of held sts, hold [1 st, KWK, 2 sts, KWK] 10X, to 30 sts at right of 0 in hold. This should be done about the time the shoulder needs to be shaped. Leave the neck sts in hold and complete and remove the shoulder without wrapping at the shoulder side. CAR. Return left side to UWP. Main yarn, K1R to left. Shortrow the left side of the vee in reverse and do the same, finishing off the shoulder. Once that is removed, there are 30-0-30 sts in HP and there might be an inch or so from the last needle held up to the top of the shoulder. That is part of the neckline. Stretch it our slightly and hang on 3-4 ns at edge. Repeat on other side so now there is 34-0-34 ns. Manually knit loose row over all and chain off. 

Making the first piece, in tobacco brown, I added some shortrowing just above the hemline to compensate for the lack of a bust dart. This might sound really weird but, because I did not want it to show, I spaced it out with two plain rows between each shortrow set like this: K2R. CAR. At side opposite, hold 15 sts, knit, wrap, 2X. Bring side opposite back to UWP, knit, wrap, 2X. K2R. At side opposite, hold 25 sts, knit, wrap, 2X. Bring side opposite back to UWP, knit, wrap, 2X. K2R. Repeat this again, increasing the amount of held stitches by 10 sts each time, so I was adding an extra 10 rows at the centre but spread out so you didn’t get a line from the wraps of the shortrows. It actually works very nicely.

i lied...

every other needle beginning

I was going to totally cheat my way through this project but couldn’t help myself. I swatched a new, quickie hem and a small sample of the vee shaping for the neckline. What can I say? Old habits die hard!
The hem – just needs to hold down the bottom of the sweater – it’s not really going to show too much, I wanted it quick and easy, not something to add after which takes time and, not too bulky and didn’t want to use the ribber.  The EON for the pickup row reduces the bulk on the joining row and helps it lay flatter.
The neckline – going for that shortrowed decrease hack, and hoping the final cast-off edge will suffice with no further added finishing required. Again, quick and easy!


swatch 1

Swatch 1.  20-0-20 ns. Start off every other needle. Cast on waste yarn and ravel cord. Main yarn, T5, K1R. Bring all ns to work, K10R. Hang loops from first row on every other needle and remove waste. T6 (main tension), K10R. Here’s the vee part. CAR. Set to hold. Bring left of 0 to HP. Knit, wrap, knit (KWK). Hold 1 st to right of held sts, KWK 10X. Cancel hold, K1R. CAL. Bring all right of 0 to HP, set to hold. KWK. Hold [1 st, KWK, 2 sts, KWK] 5X (this will make a wider, shorter slope), ending CAL. Cancel hold and K1R. Unravel the last 10 sts at right so the yarn is on the last decreased stitch at right.  Looping yarn on next stitch at right, manually knit loose row over all previously held sts, making slightly larger loose sts at right of 0 and then a bit smaller for the ones at left of 0. Chain off. Finish each side as you would for shoulders or whatever – it’s just a swatch and you're practising the techniques!
Swatch 2. 25-0-25 ns – make this one bigger so it’s easier to distinguish one swatch

swatch 2

from the other when using the same colour. Start off every other needle. Cast on waste yarn and ravel cord. Main yarn, T2, K1R. Bring all ns to work, T5 (MT-1) K12R.
Hang loops from first row on every other needle and remove waste. T7, K1R. T6 (main tension), K10R.  The vee part. CAR. Set to hold. Bring left of 0 to HP. Knit, wrap, knit (KWK). Hold 1 st to right of held sts, KWK 10X. CAR. Return these 10 ns back to UWP and K1R. Manually knit large loose sts on these 10 sts and chain off. Complete right shoulder as desired. CAR only left of 0 remain in work. K1R. At right, hold [1 st, KWK, 2 sts, KWK] 5X (this will make a wider, shorter slope), ending CAL. Cancel hold and K1R. Manually knit loose row over all previously held sts, making them a bit smaller (this side doesn't need to drop as far because of the number of rows) than the right side. Chain off these and finish left shoulder.
Thread a blocking rod through the hem, tug it lengthwise to set the stitches and steam/press both swatches.
MAO analysis: I like the hem on the second swatch, it lays just a little nicer. For the neckline, I could live with either one but am sort of favouring the first one with the continuous line of chained off stitches. On to the real thing!

two-faced...

I tried on that black tank. My version of it is shaped through the body, making it a bit slimmer in the waist than an A-line and I had a bust dart (not in the original pattern) in the Front where the hand-transferred lace diamond is. I pulled it off and switched it around, back to front (now the dart at the back) and it looked fine but slightly pulled up in the now-front. For the sake of experimenting, I’m going to stick with a bust dart on one ‘front’ and add shortrow shaping at the hemline of the second piece – notice the angled, dotted line at the bottom of the new schematic – that’s hopefully going to compensate for the added rows from the bust dart, just putting it in a different place. Don’t panic, just to clarify, not everyone needs bust darts. I’m adding it here because I’m making a fitted garment – in the Aline version, you don’t really need the dart unless you’re larger than a DD cup. A little added depth to the centre front and back by shortrowing at the hemline is usually what I do to compensate for the A-line. It adds a slight curvature to the hemline, so it doesn’t look like your top is pulling up.
Back to the neckline, after putting the black one back-to-front, it still looked good and has the coverage I’m looking for in the new front.
I’m going with tan/sand dune WCD with a high, ‘round’ neck and tobacco brown with a high vee neck to match/wear with The Skinny. More on this next post!
P.S. Binged Netflix’s Unbelievable the last two nights. WOW! Incredible acting. The young woman, Kaitlyn Dever, played Eve, the youngest daughter on ‘Last Man Standing’. In an outstanding cast, she is amazing!
P.P.S. Be kind, smile and thank the people on the front lines, from the security guards to grocery cashiers. Stay safe!
P.P.P.S. Thanks for all your great emails, encouraging and keeping up my spirits!

lost your knitting mojo?

I’m hearing that a lot – what to do? Some suggestions:
1.  Pack it all up, sell off stashes and find a new hobby.
2. Not quite ready to give up? Think about your reasons to knit. To use up stash, keep busy, produce something pretty and useful and/or feel the sense of achievement and satisfaction! Pick one or more!
3. Finish off old or forgotten projects - there's gotta be something!
4. Remake a pattern you are familiar with.
5. Try out an easy, small project to get your confidence back.
With thoughts of the last point in mind, I’m offering a free pattern of my ‘sleeveless shell’ from 2012. Here’s the link to the PDF of that pattern: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I_hfE-nw23Zb6kgaeb_0oFIaKGACu80g/view?usp=sharing
It is a plain shell with simple stockinette bands that could be made on any single/flat bed standard gauge machine, using Wool Crepe Deluxe or any suitable dress weight yarn to get gauge (try Bramwell Sable Crepe, Tamm Diamante, Silk City Mini Dina, Marbella, etc.). My plan is to knit a few for myself, changing the necklines, adding shaping through the body instead of the A-line and I’ll tell you what I did and how to do it, sort of like a ‘knitalong’ but just me and you – you can email me with any questions knitwords@shaw.ca and I’ll try to answer as quickly as possible or when I get back from my walk, whichever comes first! http://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/03/schemeing-vees.html

The point of this shell is that it’s worn under a cardigan, jacket or whatever, never alone so no one will know but you that it’s a Two-Faced Tank!


two-faced tank

For starters, line up your yarn – here’s my WCD leftovers.  I need 255g/9 oz. for the shell in the 2nd size. If making two different colours, you’ll need 125g of each colour. Weight all the cones and then decide. I do have almost 400g of the tan so I could save that for a bigger project. All the other colours range from 40g up to 230g – don’t forget to take that 25-30g cone out of the totals - that could be the make or break difference! Lots of options here – a few stripes on one side changes it up, no need to duplicate for the second side.


I’m also posting my new schematic here – you can print out both and think about any changes you might like. Talk soon!

P.S. changed out to flared jeans for my walk and it worked perfectly! no need to pursue gaiters at this time!

Stay safe!

spats or gaiters...

jenjoycedesigns@snowmeltgaiter
 

It’s finally nice enough to get out and do a bit of walking – although the wind is still chilly, the warmth of the sun makes it nice. The snow is slow melting this year  but I found a circular track at one of the local golf courses that’s perfect for winter walking, weather cooperating. It’s a two-km loop and three times around in one hour gets your heartrate up there nicely and fills the bill for daily exercise for people of my age bracket. Today I switched from my ankle hiking boots with ankle length skinny jeans to walking shoes but there is so much grit, sand and debris on the road  from when they sand for the ice situations that I got tiny pebbles in my shoes, not a good thing as my feet are quite susceptible to the least irritation and blisters can quickly come up out of nowhere! Half way round the first time this morning, I remembered seeing a hiker in Ireland wearing things that I would call gaiters –  they were a lightweight canvas-type material, waterproof, with an adjustable elastic at the top which she wore over her pantleg, extending down, flaring out over her boot. She said they kept the debris out of her boots. I spent the remaining walking time designing some knitted shoe toppers. I could just knit my regular sock, with a bit longer cuff, go into circular, do half a heel and cast off – this would give me the flare to cover the ankle part of my shoe where the tiny stones were getting in.

Or, I could just switch to flare jeans that are a bit longer…

purls of joy...

I'm back at the LK150, making this tweed Thunder Bay Poncho [https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2018/10/rib-recap.html]  (if you're interested in more details of what I did, check out other posts on either side of that link - go to October 2018 at the right side drop down menu on this page) from the good stuff that I'd been saving forever. I have an affinity for the purl side of a slubby or tweedy fabric. It always looks more attractive to me as the colours and slubs show up better than on the knit side. Had already convinced myself to use the knit side because of the pouch pocket and as I am preparing to seam the first shoulder line, I’m saying to myself, that’s hanging there and if the purl side is the right side, I could just do the join right now without having to take it off, turn it and rehang…the true machine knitter in me opts for the easy way! Isn’t that what we are all about, cheating our way through one knitting project after another! Purl side is now the right/public side!


bring ns back to C makes it
easier to hang second set of sts

Here, for the seam, the held stitches are all there. Cancel hold and knit a row over all to get rid of the loops/wraps from the holding. Bring the needles out and using the main yarn doubled, chain across from below - this will make a nice dividing line between the Front and Back and the chain will show on the outside of the garment. Now, you need to hang the first piece and with the needles sticking way out, it will be rather difficult. What I find helps is to move the needles back to UWP/C – use the flat side of the needle pusher and carefully push them back, leaving the latches open. Now it is much easier to rehang the open stitches off the waste yarn, putting these stitches in the hooks of the needles. Once that is done, push back on the butts to knit the front set of stitches through the chain AND the back set of stitches, leaving one set of stitches. Now, knit a loose row and chain off. Look at that seam! Nice!


long shoulder seam with chain st

centre Back seam, with outside seam

For the centre back/front seam, try this reverse seaming technique. Hang the first side, wrong (knit side here) side facing, picking up only the half outside edge of the stitch. Hang the second piece, right (purl) side facing – both knit sides are together - again half outside edge of stitch, matching yarn marks and top and bottom. Manually knit very loose row (slightly larger than T9 would be) and chain off. The chain will be on the outside and add a nice detail while the loose row allows each selvedge to lay flat without adding more bulk to the seam! And it looks neat and tidy from the inside too!