you know what time of year this is getting to be....

Yeah, we had snow. Already! Enough to hang around for a few days! I was in line at the post office the other day and the girl (anyone  looking more than 10 years younger than me now falls in that category!) in front of me was wearing a cute knitted headband. I struck up a conversation with her to pass the time and she had hand knit it herself and in fact, was mailing a package to a friend with another one she had knit. It was garter stitch in a heavier-looking, earth-tones yarn that I figured to be alpaca – she did tell me the yarn and that it was quite expensive but it went over my head. It was about 4-5 inches wide and it had what I thought was ruching at the front. Turned out to be a simple cable twist and it got me thinking, I could make something like that on the LK. Of course I ruled out the garter stitch, as it was knitted widthwise (stitches were the width, rows the length) – she did tell me she knit 9 inches, made the twist – she didn’t even realize it was a cable until I mentioned that word – and knit another 9 inches. I then said oh and you grafted it at the back? She looked at me like I was from outer space and said no,  just seamed it – I couldn’t tell because she had a high pony tail that covered the back seam. 
Back at home, I did a tuck stitch swatch, trying to come up with the texture of the garter stitch but it didn't go what I wanted - I tried a 3X3 cable, it was difficult to do and looked ugly anyway. Then, I remembered the supercable from 'Knit Big or Go Home' from KW#36. Actually, this spring a new-ish machine knitter contacted me about that pattern - she had tried it out and was having a problem - I checked it over and there was an error! I was devastated! Obviously no one else tried this or even worse, they tried, it didn't work and they never asked! The really sad thing is, I did make this sweater a few times and I never caught the mistake! yikes!

Anyway, here is the correction:

Supercable: 16 stitch shortrowed cable, positioned at 8-0-8 ns. CAR. RC000. Set to hold. Bring left of 0 to hold. K1R.
Remove/turn off row counter. Bring all right of 0, except 1-8 to HP.
Put a claw weight under the 8 working sts.
K6R on these sts only, ending CAL. There are 7 rows on right side of cable.
Put all to HP. Break yarn, leaving 3 inch tail at centre – this will end up on left side of cable later.
Place CAR. Bring 8-1 left of 0 to UWP. With new yarn, K6R, ending CAR.
Do not break yarn, but remove from feeder (it will be easier to move cable).
Pick up the 8 sts at left and the 8 sts at right.
Put the right hand side down to left first and then place the left side to the right of 0.
Bring ns out to D. Return all cable sts and left side to UWP.
Put yarn in feeder and knit row. This completes the row at the left side so there are the same number of rows on the garment piece on either side of the cable.
Replace row counter, cancel hold. K19R. RC020. Repeat these 20 rows for pattern.
There will be two ends of yarn at either side of cable. Use these ends to close up gap at sides of cable while darning them in.

Headband

YARN: Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca Grande, finished weight, 60g/2.1 oz.

MACHINE: LK150

11-0-11 ns to work. Cast on waste yarn, knit several rows. Ravel cord, K1R. CAR. RC000.  MC, T9, K2R. At each side, drop 2nd st from edge and reform to purl st. Drop 3rd st, reform. Do this every time CAR to make garter stitch border – no need to do on outside edge stitch.

Knit to RC010. *Make Supercable as above. K20R.* Repeat 5X in all and end with 10 rows stockinette. Remove on waste yarn. Graft ends to join or as desired.

 

It makes a great neck warmer if you don’t want it on your head!

 

celebrating....

I was out visiting little sis, Marnie – we were celebrating her 20th year cancer survivor (see KW#44, 'making a theme sweater' and 'Dog-On' - she has since had two stem cell transplants!) and this was the first time in several years that I’ve been out there when she hasn’t been sick, so it was really nice (and the dogs are fine!). She was also getting a 25-year service award for her job and we had an invitation to an evening at Government House in Victoria, BC – that’s where they entertained the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their last visit to Canada and is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. La-di-dah!
Marnie had an extra ticket, her friends were fighting over it and I won because a sister has dibs on things like that! She had received an invitation that outlined what was happening, when and where and a note of what to wear – it said, ‘wear your best, time to show off!’ Now, this has different meanings – she just wanted to be comfortable and her idea of dressing up is clean jeans and maybe a better pair of sneakers and I was kind of worrying about what she would pull out. When I was packing in Thunder Bay, I had resigned myself to wearing pants – no point in me dressing to the nines if she wasn’t, so I figured my red lace ‘Canada. Eh?’ would be fine with black underneath and just to be on the safe side, I packed the Church Pullover just in case she might wear it. I didn’t want to be too big-sister bossy, but I wanted to be prepared. Anyway, when we were in the hotel in Victoria getting ready, she put her outfit on, I pulled rank and made her put on the pullover. It looked great and she didn’t even fuss! Her co-workers (also getting awards) were amazed and impressed. We all were comfortable and had a fun time!
Why am I’m telling you? I wanted to show off my design and tell you the pattern is ready! And, my sis and I are basically opposite shapes – I’m always saying that I like the A-line shape because it balances off my top-heavy figure and hides the fact that I have no hips. The ‘Church Pullover’ is quite A-line and it was perfect for Marnie too, where she needs the extra volume in the hip/tummy area. And wouldn’t you know, they had a Canada 150 frame for us to stand behind for our photo!
If you missed it (or forgot), find the stories behind the 'Church Cardi', put 'church cardi' in the search box at the top of the blog page!
So, in case you hadn’t noticed, the ‘Church Cardi and Pullover’ pattern is now for sale. It is done on the mid gauge machine (I used the LK150), no ribber required and there is a fair amount of hand-transferred lace patterning.

High-hip length, open front cardigan, long, set-in sleeve, roll collar, knit in hand transferred lace with purl stitch ridges. Back lace inset is A-line shaped. The front is combined with side panel, wider at hem and shaped at back side to add to the A-line. The Pullover version, a little more A-line, with a wider hip measurement, is made with a back and front panel of lace with underarm/side panels in stockinette with the lace border at the hemline. The sleeve can be knit in stockinette or lace, your choice and either fits either the cardigan or the pullover. Knit in Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima cotton.

FINISHED SIZES, Width, underarm at bust,
84 (96, 120, 144) cm/33 (38, 47, 57) in.
Back Length, 61 (62.5, 65, 67) cm/24 (24.5, 25.5, 26.5) in.

Circumference at hem: 124 (136, 160, 184) cm/48 (53, 73, 72) in.

The PDF comes with written pattern for both cardigan and pullover, with schematics, stitch charts and written instructions for all the lace patterning. Cost is $12 – see the button at top right of this blog – and I will email the files to you! Thanks for your support and interest!

multiple choice...

OMG! You spot a mistake in your lace transfers 6 or 8 rows below! What to do, what to do?
A. Thank the knitting gods you spotted it so soon!
B. Quit and drink wine!
C. Try to rip back only that section.
D. Rip back all 8 rows.
E. All of the above.
I went with E but not in that exact order. After spotting the mistake, I did try unravelling just the stitches of that portion for 8 rows but by then, you’ve got strings all over the place and you’re not quite sure what’s what, especially on this particular pattern because it’s a 24-stitch repeat. The hard part about ripping back lace knitting, whether it is hand transferred or lace carriage, is that you need to untransfer/put the stitches back to the row before, rip out 2 rows, untransfer, rip out 2 rows and keep track of what row you’re going to be on when you finish ripping…

For this project, I actually have 3 row counters, two on the machine and one on my KR11, which is connected to one of the row counters. Sounds complicated but I’ve got a problem with my row counters. Now, bear in mind they are getting quite old, at least 20 years on one anyway. One of them doesn't recognize the cable going to the KR11 but it counts reliably. The other one addresses the KR11 properly but it advances weirdly starting at row 19. Instead of clicking up to 20, it goes to 29 and then 39 and then randomly and if you're not aware of it, you'll never be able to figure out what row you're on! I have taken them apart to see if I could spot the problem but couldn't....I'll be ordering a couple of new ones! Anyway, when I'm ripping out, after pulling out one row, I pull out a needle at the end of the needlebed. Rip one row, pull out another needle...count the needles at the end and turn back the row counter.

 

Long story even longer, just to be safe, I did rip back all 8 rows, fix the mistake, reset all the row counters and continue!
P.S. If you have a question for me that you would like an answer to, please email me privately – I do not answer comments. ;-)

 

missteps...

You probably think I have the lace denim jacket well underway, maybe close to done…I did spend a couple of days reviewing my design and found a few flaws. I did not plan a hem with that fabulous lace, I was so excited that it worked, I just jumped right into the swatch! I wanted a ‘nothing’ hem, but all those transfers just naturally create a scallop and, trying to reduce that, I added a chain across the bottom on my swatch but it did not do quite what I anticipated. Maybe a reduction in the number of stitches might work? I also had this crazy idea of making a horizontal buttonhole in a tubular band for the fronts because all denim jackets seem to have horizontal buttonholes. I did finally manage one but it certainly did not look as spectacular as my mind had imagined and it was extremely difficult, not worth the effort! I'm not even going to bother telling you how...
I pulled out half of my knitted wardrobe, trying things on to make sure I had the correct length in mind and all that and discovered that I have eight denim-y cardi/hoodies (including Denim Bling, KW#47) that still look pretty good and I began to re-evaluate life in general. I looked at my to-do list. I have had a cardigan for Rhiana at the top since June (not done yet); my niece Karen is having a baby (gender unknown) in November, blanket required; Christmas is coming, socks etc. required; and I’m going out to Vancouver next week to spend Thanksgiving (our Canadian version) with baby sister Marnie - will be gone two weeks! I realized that a new denim cardigan for me would simply be gratuitous knitting! I need to get my priorities in line! I'm back to working on Janet's Church Pullover, planning Rhiana's cardi (may add a dress to that seeing as how it could be her Christmas outfit) and then the rest... 

swatched and ready...

You know me, when I get an idea in my head, it becomes a compulsion – I have to follow through. I figured I may as well tell you all about it.
After my sketch, it became clear to me that I wanted a lace pattern with verticals – you know how I’m always trying to look taller ;-)! I looked through all my stitch pattern books and came up with a couple that I liked, but ruled them out as being too finicky. I am going to do a fashion lace  design which is a little trickier than the plain lace that I most often use with the Silver Reed. Plain lace is as easy to knit as stockinette because the Silver lace carriage transfers and knits at the same time but if you want movement in the lace stitches, similar to full-fashioned decreases, then you need to change the cam setting to P, take the yarn out, transfer according to the pattern (a specific number of rows), rethread, set the cam to Lace (or back to stockinette which I prefer as a safety net – if you happen to be on the wrong row, it will at least knit all the stitches instead of dropping them or messing up what you already have transferred) and knit two rows. Because of this, I like choose a fashion lace pattern that has the same number of transfer rows throughout so that you can develop a rhythm to the knitting of yarn out, transfer 8 rows, yarn in, reset cam, knit 2 rows, yarn out, transfer 8 rows…
I swatched two that looked promising. Keeping in mind I don’t want to be wasting my good yarn and knowing that this 4 ply acrylic, Tamm Trenzi (I am using orange because I am not likely to ever want to knit anything real with this) usually lace knits at T5 without any issue, that’s what I began with. Looking at the bottom of my swatch, I want to say I did this on purpose so you could see what my stitch pattern looked like, but, truth is, I was so excited, I just began knitting lace, without transferring  first – so now you know if this is what your lace knitting looks like, you did something wrong. Realizing I was in error, I knit 2 plain rows and then began the real thing – I did 14 rows in the orange which means, 8 transfers, knit 2 rows, 14X (I did tell you, this is not real quick) and I could see everything was working well, time to throw in some similar cotton! The blue is Bonita, which I have used extensively with my lace carriage so I do know it works but I don’t remember using it for fashion lace. It is working beautifully also at one full number higher (T6 – see Tumbleweed, Knitwords #53). My heart is pounding! I’m so excited. I put in the other pattern (there are 10 transfer rows between each 2 rows of actual knitting) and again in the orange acrylic, things are going smoothly. I switch to the Bonita and all is well. With this one, there is a space in the patterning of 6 plain stitches and I think, that’s kind of boring, how about we try a 2X2 cable in there? It works too, but I decide that would just be asking for trouble or showing off. I knit enough so I can get a good look at the right side and opt for the first one. I’m ready to commit! I love the verticals of lace and the way the transfers are making the biased lines up toward the two-centre-stitch lines. I had been contemplating doing the sleeves in lace also, but I think I’m going to stick with my original sketch for now. I’ll keep you posted!
P.S. I found another small part cone!!! I’m making the real swatch!

regifting...

It’s a good thing! Especially when you were the original giftor and are now the giftee! Here’s the back story…Several years ago, when Yeoman Yarns denim cotton 4 ply was plentiful and life was good, I sent my friend Cindy two part cones (same dyelot, 550g total) of said yarn with the thought that she would have plenty to make ‘Denim Chick’ From Knitwords No 34. It was my design/pattern for what I thought at the time was like a denim jacket/cardigan in a tuck rib stitch. When we were in Monroe in July, while I was modelling my 'Dreamcoat'  [ http://knitwords.blogspot.ca/2010/09/september-update.html ],


Denim Chick #34

I said that yarn was probably my all-time favourite and I really missed it as it had been discontinued shortly after, around 2005. I had used it in 8 or 9 garments in Knitwords but was surprised after checking the index that I hadn't used it for lace - mostly stockinette, tuck and tuck rib - was I not so in love with lace then or did I love tuck rib too much? Who knows? Obviously I still had a bit of a stash because I made the 'Dreamcoat' in 2010 but that was pretty much the end of my stash. Cindy, being the good friend that she is felt bad that she had not knit up my fave and gave it back to me, after checking that I would not be offended! OMG!
All the way home from St Cloud, I've been running design ideas through my head. When I got back, I found, to my amazement, another small cone, (same dyelot!!!) so I have about 700g.

Here’s my preliminary sketch of my current ideas – now, I need to swatch up some lace and see which one suits my fancy!  Of course I won’t be wasting my good denim yarn in the swatching – I’ll use something else to play around with and only revert to the good stuff when I’ve finalized my lace pattern. And who knows what other textures may show up - notice, I said preliminary...
I’ve have plenty of time to mull things over as I finish up Janet’s Church Pullover!

use it or lose it....

Gosh, I feel like I’ve been sweating over that freakin’ pattern for the Church Cardi for the whole darn month! What’s the big deal? Between visitors, our crappy summer and family stuff, it’s been hard to concentrate and when I look back, it’s been a while since I’ve actually written a pattern from scratch. It was like I forgot what to do. I almost gave up but that’s not my nature and I did promise, so I knew I had to deliver. I was having trouble deciding on the sizing and then my numbers weren’t adding up. The break-through? Yesterday, it dawned on me! Just draw the darn thing out and you’ll be able to see what the problem is – oh man, then it was a cake walk! I used the full width KR half scale paper that is charted in half scale centimetres for the Silver Reed charting device and had green, black, blue and red ink lines for each of the four sizes and I feel so good and virtuous – this pattern will be perfect!
I even knit a sleeve to check the final lace pattern details and I know you’ll be happy with all the extras! Truth, of course, I didn’t just happen to have enough of the same yarn just laying around and, I didn’t want another one for me, but, since sister Janet booked our next hiking holiday to Ireland for next June, you know it…Janet is getting a Church Pullover for Christmas! ;-) I’d hate to waste a good sleeve! I’ve had this huge cone of cashmere/wool in ivory – yeah, I know it’s not her favourite colour but if she really doesn’t like it, I’ll dye it for her and likely, she’ll love it just because it fits! You may remember, she’s a little vertically challenged and before I started knitting for her, she’d never had a sweater that had the right sleeve length!
I know you might not have the exact yarn either so here’s my stashbusters tip. My original yarn is Cascade Ultra Pima, a 100% mercerised cotton with a beautiful drape and sheen that I used at T3.5 stockinette for a gauge of 23 sts and 30 rows to 10 cm. This is an unknown cone that I’ve had for eons and who knows what yardage or whatever it is, but it looks like about the same thickness. I knit 3 swatches, starting with T4 (because I could go up or down from there) and it seemed a little tight to knit and I didn’t want to have to sweat that much, so I made one at T4.5. After I washed and dried those I saw I still had a little leeway – T5 proved to be the magic number – my gauge is exact, it was smooth to knit and the finished, washed swatch is lovely, with a nice drape, so that’s what Janet is getting! I know I’ll be regretting giving up this lovely yarn but there should be an expiry date on some of this stuff anyway!
The Church Cardi/Pullover pattern is ready! I’ll post it here for sale, next week when I get back from St Cloud!