space cadet...

lace stitch pattern

Squared Off

That’s me too, totally out of touch with reality! The success of that new trim went to my head, what can I say? In such a hurry to get on with knitting, again, not looking, examining and checking, I blithely picked number five off my PE1, thinking it looked like the 1RT (one-row-tuck)  that I had used for Squared Off from Knitwords #50 and just started knitting away. I was halfway up the back before I realized it wasn’t a true 1RT. And how did I finally come to that conclusion? Well, a real 1Rt has a plain row and then a tucked row and you can hear the difference as you knit but for some reason I was in ‘power-knit’ mode which isn’t really my style. I was decreasing one stitch every 20 rows and at the beginning of the pattern, the tuck row was on the to-the-left pass so I was doing the decrease when the carriage was on the right because there would (should) be a plain row with no

one-row-tuck stitch pattern

tucks every time you’re on the right, right? Wrong…like I said, at about row 100, I was going to do the decrease and there were tucks. What the?? I looked closer and realized I chose the wrong stitch pattern. This one was from that black lace cardigan, https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2019/01/unfinished-business.html, Becca, I did last year but it was also the same one I used for that purple tank with the lace motif  https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/06/purple-peril.html  from just a few weeks ago – boy! short-term memory loss!

Now, in my defense, the window on the PE1 shows only 10 rows by a single width repeat at a time so it is sort of easy to make a mistake like this. Anyway, the purl side of the fabric looked fine on the machine as I was knitting it, so I finished off the Back.
Then, I did some research, found the right stitch pattern and for some strange reason decided to use it for the Front. Do you think she’ll notice?

that knot...

In the original instructions for that #34 ‘chained picot knot’, there were 2 extra needles chained over and dropped to make the ‘knot’. Looking at my original swatch, because this top is more of a tunic, I thought it might look nicer with a bigger knot, so added an extra needle/stitch to the mix and I like it. Be sure to add a little extra to the amount pulled off for the double-stranded chain – you really wouldn’t want to run out of that extra strand before the end on this one! Notice I also added that chained line above the transferred stitches that make the scallop, to divide the trim from the tuck pattern – I think of this as a row of top-stitching to add an extra defining detail and so happy with that too!

Oh man, I’m such a greedy little thing! Joined the shoulders, finished the neck and slipped it on and this is too cute! So what if it’s a little big? An oversized sleeveless tunic is perfect for this way-too-hot weather! And I love the colour! Quickly decide she would prefer a short sleeve, work those up and get them on before I can really fall in love with this!

in the name of research...

Just wanted to let you know I’m ok! Summer finally came so it’s cutting into my production time a bit but I'm still knitting away!

Number 13 is done except for the final seaming.I was going to call this a short-sleeved T-shirt, but a little research told me it wasn’t a Tee because of the set-in sleeve. What I did was start making this for baby sister Marnie and after thinking about it while knitting the front and back, I decided she would likely prefer a short sleeve instead of the sleeveless version. No problem! I’m using that one-row-tuck technique again, mostly because I need a little extra width and guess what? MAO did a pattern, Body Basic, using the 1RT/WCD, with a short sleeve back in Knitwords 42, Autumn'07

Tuck stitch pumps up the volume. Take a thin yarn with a stockinette gauge of 9 sts per inch and add tuck to get 7.5 sts per inch and you get a much wider fabric, increasing the size range. Knit side as right side has subtle stitch pattern for a smooth fabric face. Basic fitted top, with either vee or round neck, short, set-in sleeve, circular bands. No-ribber hems also given.
And it’s sized up to a finished hip of 52 inches! What could be easier?

I only had to change it a bit - made an A-line instead of the shaped version, added some shortrows just above the hem to round out the A-line and used another variation of that 8-stitch repeat hand-transferred trim.
On the turquoise one, I did it as the book should have said, with the multi-strand ewrap and the tuck-stitch dividing line. For Thirteen, I used the chained cast-on and dividing line from #15 (mixing the 2 edges from my last post) and it looks great!
No need to get bored here!
Stay safe! Be kind! Be positive! Knit!

saving grace...

I’ll be honest here. I was hoping to make two tanks from this olive garden yarn, and I did. I started off to make for Agnieszka and in the back of my mind, the second one would be mine. Here’s what actually happened. I did make a swatch, I showed you! But in my excitement, of course I didn’t let it rest enough. I finished the top and was pleased but thought, this will never fit her! It would be perfect for Rhiana though, a size down from the one I thought I planned. Oh well, no worries, I’m sure (not really) they’d like a mother/daughter combo or at least I figured Mom would. Not so certain about my 13 year old! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In for a penny, in for a pound. No guts, no glory. You know what I mean!
Used the automatic picot hem, #3, from Knitting on the EDGE by MAO, the orange book, http://www.knitwords.com/bookstore.html did the A- line shaping from the original black tank, cut in the back armhole to make it more

summery and edged the armhole with #23, ewrap on vertical edge from 50 Ways To Love Your Knitter (the green book) by the same – I haven’t used that one in ages and oh my! impressed myself all over again how well it works. It has the look of that crabby-stitch crochet thing but done on the machine and doesn’t take all day and all night to do it! The auto picot hem worked beautifully for the neckline – no reduction in the number of stitches because of the width of tuck patterning in the body but you need to add an RTR (remove, turn, rehang) in there after hanging the beginning row (only for the neck, not the bottom hem) because there is a right side and wrong side to the band.

Quick knits, both of them in one day!
Look at those beautiful, weird little argyles! If you could only get that all-over!

change is as good as a rest...

You know, I’m loving this hand-transferring lace stuff, but I have this leftover variegated WCD. I used it for the hood and sleeves of a remake of Omega, part of the last Serial Stuff, No 4.
https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2017/01/camo.html
The thing about variegated yarn is that it kind of does what it wants and, as you knit and change the width of the piece, the colours stack in different ways, making weird diamonds and doing random things not always what I’d like. I have really enjoyed my ‘camo’ hoodie and get lots of compliments on the colours. There is quite a bit left over, almost 400g and I think my daughter-in-law, Agnieszka (cover of #53, frontline worker and wonderful Mom of my two grandkids) would/might like it but doing hand transfers in this multi-coloured fabric would be a total misuse of time and, I’m keeping busy, not just wasting time!
You might recall one of my absolute favourite techniques, after lace, is One-Row-Tuck. https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2010/08/things-im-doing.html
I’ve used it many times and talk about it a lot - put ‘one row tuck’ in the search window at the top of the page and see what else comes up! I’m going to experiment a bit here, use the one-row-tuck (1RT) at a looser tension, T8 instead of T6 – this will make a thinner fabric for a summer top, the tuck will make a wider fabric and control the biasing tendency of the loose tension and hoping for the best on how it will effect the colour stacking. I’m anticipating the yarn will go further and maybe get two tops out of this. Fingers crossed! And I’s getting’ a little bored with this hem, going to try out another and I have a different trim in mind to finish the armhole…see ya in a few! I did make a quick swatch…
P.S. Happy Queen's birthday or whatever you call it!

new-to-me machine...

You might have been able to read between the lines and see that I was in a pickle – my beloved SK580 that I purchased brand new back in 1989 – yeah, like 30 years ago! and it has like the equivalent of a hundred thousand million miles on it, gave up the ghost. Tried everything I could think of but, finally, reality sucks! What to do? what to do? I could just continue knitting stockinette and stripes and the lace carriage still works but I will really miss that one-row-tuck technique that I used for the E Fisher knockoff and for many other lightweight garments.
https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2018/06/fingers-crossed.html

Made some calls and there is no cheap fix, but long-story short, finally settled on a used SK840 which is the same machine as mine, without the built-in electronics. I thought what that means is I have to go back to knitting with DesignaKnit for patterning, I think and, that means purchasing a new cable…
I’ll be honest here. Before I left, in one last attempt to figure out what was wrong, I actually knit a swatch (you hear that, I did make a swatch!) for my own E Fisher knockoff (Wool Crepe Deluxe in Tacoma – love the fabric and the colours, sort of camo-ish), everything worked fine. I made the sleeves (no longstitch, just main bed patterning), everything worked fine. When I set up to knit the Back, and engaged the rib bed, nada! Tried that several times, ate half a jar of peanut butter. Changed up and was going to use different edgings that did not require the rib bed. Several more attempts, the rest of the PB, and had to face the fact the carriage was dead.
Back to yesterday and I have this ‘new’ machine. My mind is telling me that the 840 carriage will work on my old 580 bed but I can’t find anything in print that says that. I reasoned that the LC580 lace carriage works on both beds so why would the knit carriages not be interchangeable.


Plug your nose and jump in! That’s what I did. Rather than take the time to dismantle the whole 580, I just took the ‘new’ carriage, plugged it into the 580 bed and began knitting! It worked! OMGG! Got both the Back and Front made, no problem! I had briefly considered making a new swatch but in the excitement, tossed caution to the wind! As I was putting the pieces altogether, it did seem a tad bigger than I thought but oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained…it’s knitting in pattern! So happy!

fingers crossed...

Just to have something to do while I’m waiting for my CT8 order without a lot of thinking and prep work – let me back up a bit. The ideas, where do they come from?
On the way home from Toronto last week, I was wearing my blue 1Rt Linen Hoodie   http://knitwords.blogspot.com/2017/07/road-trip.html - it was quite warm and I was loving the hoodie. I had a black camisole under it with my light jeans and I felt cool and good. I caught a couple of glimpses in mirrors and liked the sheer-look of the fabric and it struck me I could knit a dress of the same fabric. Last year, for a special family occasion, I had sewn a dress of a sheer fabric with a bias-cut slip in black underneath instead of lining the dress and I could use that under a sheer-knit dress. http://knitwords.blogspot.com/2017/05/cross-training.html  


So, here goes! In KW#46, I did a four-panel fitted dress called Fit ’n Flare – it still fits me! I dug out the schematic/mylar that goes in my wonderful little KR11 knit radar. I have the exact same yarn, Sari – I originally had two cones of the same dye lot and the hoodie hardly took half of one. I had very good notes of the swatches, both unwashed and washed although, in a purging frenzy earlier this year I had trashed the actual swatches. To check the validity of my washed swatch numbers, I measured the actual garment and checked my row count numbers, and yeah, it looks pretty accurate. The only thing I forgot to note was which stitch pattern I had used. Because it is so loosely knit, it’s sort of hard to tell by looking but I feel certain that it was the one from Big Sister, KW#42 – hope that’s not subliminal just because someone mentioned that pattern in an email recently…
Within minutes of deciding to go for it, I was casting on and knitting! It’s a pretty quick knit, even if there are almost 400 rows to each piece and there is shaping happening all over – I got all four pieces knit in one day and even remembered to hang yarn marks at each edge every 10 cm/4 inches – these are long seams and that will be invaluable in making sure the seams are properly matched. Sort of cheating, instead of the fancy double bed hem, I just used a 3-strand ewrap – the fabric is light and floaty and if that doesn’t work, it’s easy enough to rehang and add one of my other edges to it.

on a mission....

I know you're dying to find out how my swatch went, so just quickly, here it is, hand washed and laid to air dry. I've settled on the T10 swatch - it is still nice and loose and airy - I hope you can see in my photo here, it's fairly see-through-ish and I like that. My final gauge is 23 stitches and 38 rows to 10 cm so quite a bit looser than the washed gauge of 28 sts and 43 rows of Linen Spin at T8 and the yarn will go further this way. I could get really anal and figure out the square inches of the swatch versus the weight and the square inches of the garment and be closer to knowing how far this yarn will take me, but that would take the thrill and suspense out of the project! I know you're going to join me and do this too but I'm just going to forge ahead and work at my own speed and you can catch up or not! BTW, I did also decide to make one size bigger than my original GFH because  looser is better for the summer...oh, and either side can be right side - I'll leave you guessing as to which one I choose!

fingers crossed....

There is a group of knitters in the Maritimes, Nova Scotia actually, and they are doing a Knitalong using an old pattern of mine, called Hood'sUp from Knitwords #22, Autumn 2002 - here's the link I gave you back in 2014 to their initial blogpost:

http://mkkal.blogspot.ca/

When they first asked for my permission back in 2014, they seemed to start off with a bang and then I never heard from them. http://knitwords.blogspot.ca/2014/02/remake-of-remake.html
A couple of weeks ago I got an email titled Adventures in Machine knitting and what do you know? it was those knitters resurfacing and getting going again! They now have a ton of very interesting information about swatching, cleaning your machine etc that you might find interesting. The premise is not everyone has the same machine or yarn etc and they plan to explore options and all sorts.
 Anyway it seems whenever I join a KAL, it never works out or I just get tired of waiting for everyone else to get knitting so I'm going to just pretend to do this on my own and tell you about it here...
You may recall in the past year or more I had become obsessed with hoodies or was it that stitch pattern? ;-) Anyway, I took a hiatus from both and now I ready to go again! I want a light, summer-weight hoodie that I can use as a cover-up so I've inventoried my yarn stash and came up with some options - several lightweight cottons, linen blends and linen. Now, I don't want to have to re-design the original - I want to use the same shape file and the basic techniques, but I don't need to match the gauge exactly because I'll be working with my knit radar and all I have to do is plug in my new stitches and rows. BTW, I'm using my Manfriend Hoodie ( http://knitwords.blogspot.ca/2015/06/manfriend-hoodie-pattern.html ) pattern (the girl version because this is for me!) - it is actually the updated 2015 version of Hood's Up. I ruled out the really fine stuff because it would be too complicated and have to totally be redesigned. I took the linens and the biggest problem is the amount required. I did use this yarn twice before - KW#47, Just the Flax (used 460g for the 4th size) and #49, Linen Spin (410g for 2nd size). Both of those, I used one of my one-row-tucks knit fairly loosely. Here's the link to one of my previous posts explaining 1RT: http://knitwords.blogspot.ca/2014/03/1rt-raglan.html
Now, I had initially thought of lace when I decided on a summer-weight GFH but the linen is not conducive to lace carriage (too stiff - it does soften up nicely when washed though)) and I'm really not up to another Battenburg experience!
When I was in Dallas last month, one of the really great questions I got was 'how do I know how much more yarn I will need for swatching, planning etc?' Even though I've settled on this Linen - it's from Silk City/BTYarns/Knit It Now - 100% linen, 1750 yds/lb - I have a cone of brown and one of cilantro, each weighing 540g and I have a leftover 240g of the beige. I'm calling it lightweight because I am knitting it quite loosely - I did one swatch at T9 and another at T10, washed them and will wait for it to dry before deciding which to go with. I swatched with the beige, not wanting to waste the good yarn because I will be lucky (actually, really lucky) to get a hoodie out of one colour. My backup plan is to use a different colour for the bands - brown with beige bands would be fine and I have an almost-exact-colour match in Skinny Majesty for the cilantro linen. So my answer to the question was to use some other yarn to make sure your stitch pattern is good and then hopefully use another colour leftover of the same yarn for the actual swatch and also, have a backup plan in case you still do not have enough (shorter sleeves and optional hood!)

One-R-T...

I'm feeling the pressure! The 15th of the month is coming and I know I gotta do that red scarf thing and I hate to disappoint - I know you're anxious with anticipation and, I'd like to get it out of the way because I have other things to put on this machine. Rhiana, my granddaughter, was over the other day and asking for her panda sweater! I was hoping to put it off until the fall - thought it might be a back-to-school thing for her but she wants it now and was giving me a gentle reminder. I also figured she wouldn't like the yarn I chose - I thought it was going to be too green, not turquoise-y enough but she loved it! It's the same colour as her soccer uniform! What was I thinking? And, I have a couple of ideas for a new dress that I want to get to for going to DFW in October - don't worry, I am working on the Church Cardi so this is just in-betweens!
One-Row-Tuck - this is such a great technique, one of my favourties! It has a nice texture, looks good from either side and with the plain longstitch bands on each side to finish the edges automatically, I think it makes a nice scarf and a great learning project if you haven't tried either of these techniques. I think I've talked about both here (one row tuck and longstitch facings) before so do a search to find more if you're intrigued.
I have included my chosen stitch pattern here - if you want the DAK file, email me at knitwords@shaw.ca - I won't hold my breath though!
So here's the Red Scarf for Aids Awareness for June! I'm calling it

 'One-R-T Scarf for June'.

End needles on RB. Use number strip on RB to select needles, and count needle spaces on RB only. MB sts are included as they occur within outside RB needles. Either side can be right side. Pattern is tucking on MB to left and knitting all sts to right.
Program as below. Set cam lever to tuck.
Punchcard 24 sts X 48 rows, make as shown, making holes for grey squares and leaving white blank, adding double row of holes top and bottom to join card.
Circular Hem. Swing H5. Arrange for full needle rib, end ns on RB. Cast on WY. Knit several rows. Set to circular. T4/6, ravel cord, K2R. Move carriages to left without knitting. Bring ns all out. This will cancel the circular setting and make a zigzag row (without having to change the settings back and forth). MC, T2/2, K1R. Hang comb and one weight. RC000. Knit circular, grading tension by increasing one full number for each row to T8/10, RC014. Swing P. Transfer sts to MB, leaving outside end sts on RB for longstitch facings as directed. Swing H. Program pattern and use next row to read/select. T9/7, K1R. RC000. Set to tuck.

Plain Longstitch. The stitch is single bed tuck on the main bed, but longstitch self-facings require a few (6-7 at each side) sts on the rib bed. Knit with RB engaged. The longstitch is created by needles on RB knitting in one direction only, when carriage is passing to left in this case. MB, set as for pattern (tuck).
RB Settings for Longstitch:
Silver, left set lever 1,  right set lever 0.
Brother, left cam lever to N, right cam lever to PR.
Yarn: Yeomans Panama - I would stockinette this at T7 but with adding tuck, wanting the scarf to be soft and making the yarn to go further, I'm knitting the main bed at T9. The longstitch facing is variable depending on your yarn - I used 7 on the rib bed because they are knitting only every other row - try it out first of course ;-) - if the facing is too tight it will be shorter at the sides than the main fabric. If too loose it will curl inward.
SCARF: Bring 25-0-25 ns to work on main bed. Set to H5 and bring ns on ribber to work so outside ns are on ribber - one more than knit bed. Cast waste yarn in zigzag, hang comb and 1 large weight. Knit several rows, ending CAR. Switch to circular for the ravel cord, K2R. Move carriages to left and make hem as above to RC014. Transfer sts as above. Download pattern (read punchcard or set up for pattern knitting as above). Knit 600 rows or desired length (150 cm/5 ft), ending CAL after the plain row. Now, this is the only hard part - we need to get everything back in work to make the circular hem. Bring the rib bed needles to work to fill in between the facings. Not really hard, I should have said just a little bit of work. Set the ribber back to Swing P so the needles are directly opposite and using the single prong tool, hang the heel stitch from the main bed stitches on the opposite rib bed needle - you could just do a zigzag row at low tension over the whole thing and hope for the best - it will work, but won't look so great - your choice! After you have all the rib needles filled in, set to circular. T8/10, K2R. Grade tension down by one number to match beginning hem. RC014. Cancel circular. Zigzag, T7/7, K1R.
With WY, T5/5, K20R circular knitting. FNR, K2R. Remove from machine. Steam WY to set stitches. Remove last two rows to open the end. Fold waste yarn out. Using latch tool, start at side opposite to yarn end and chain cast off by picking up end stitch, put behind latch. Pick up next stitch from other side of WY and pull through. Continue going back and forth across row. At end, pull yarn end through to anchor. Remove waste yarn. Darn in ends.
Analysis: This was a very quick knit! I did find that yarn spray helped eliminate/reduce the clunking at the left side on every other row when the rib bed needles were needed. No close knit bar was required. I have used these techniques on multiple garments/patterns both in KNITWORDS and in my Serial Stuff series. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Red Scarf for Aids Awareness count: 7

Things I'm doing...

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...