unravel?

you’re really not going to believe this…I am unraveling a sweater and going to reknit the yarn! Did you hear me? MAO is unraveling…yes, it’s the truth! Why, you ask? Well, it’s not because there is a shortage of yarn at my house, trust me – sure there are the odd Lego starship and princess castle pieces on the yarn shelves, but really, I still have plenty of good, quality yarns. And, I just finished up my KnS project for #187, which is a zippered jacket and wrote an article on zipper installations in knits and it got me wanting to do another zippered project for me – I don’t get to keep the KnS one.  ;-(
Here’s the thing. I’ve been wearing my casual hoodies to death lately and my totally favourite one of all time, ‘Hoods Up’ (photo of KJ wearing) from No 22, Autumn ’02 – that’s 11 years ago and I have really worn that thing – is still okay, made with beautiful red Honiburd Cotton 4 ply, but getting on the shabby side. It has some totally cool techniques, with the seaming on the outside which gives nice detail on the shoulder and top of sleeve and the zipper method is really neat – you actually sew the zipper on a band with the sewing machine and then attach the band to the garment on the knitting machine which makes the machine sewing invisible – I didn’t do that for the KnS one because it doesn’t work well for the heavier gauges.
Then, I have this other sweater in one of my all-time favourite yarns, Yeoman’s Indigo Denim cotton 4 ply in the dark wash – I had remade the man’s vee neck, ‘Faded Favour’ from No 39 ( Winter ’06), rashly thinking I needed one of those for myself (when the yarn was still available and I had a couple of extra cones), but it was a pullover and I had briefly forgotten how very seldom I wear a pullover. I did wear it a few times initially and washed it a couple of times, but it has been languishing in my closet for some time. Boy, I really am going on and on – it’s like I haven’t talked to you in weeks!
Now, unraveling it is one thing - I’m secretly hoping for a distressed look – the original was tuck stitch which simulates a seed stitch, using the knit side as right side and you can see a bit of fading on the top outside part of the stitch. I’m going to knit the new ‘Hood’s Up’ in stockinette, but I can’t really cheat like I have been doing lately on my swatches – sure, I’ve used this same yarn in stockinette – Nate and I had matching ‘In Da Hood’ hoodies back in No 37 and 38, but those swatches were knit in the raw cotton, knit slightly looser to allow for the inevitable shrinkage, washed and then gauged (then the garment is too big when finished, but works out after the laundering to do the shrink – hope you’re getting all that!). This yarn is already preshrunk, so I should make a new swatch but I won’t have to worry about laundering it ahead of measuring. Yeah, you caught that ‘should’! Now I’m really cheating – when I unraveled the sleeve, I left the hem and rehung that. Now, based on my expertise, gathered over years of knitting , instead of knitting at T8 which is my usual stitch size for this yarn, I’m dialing down two dots and using T7. for this which I figure will compensate for the pre-shrunk factor, and again using my vast experience, I figure I can plug 30 sts and 42 rows in as a semi-close gauge.  Now, doing my little ‘cheating at swatches’ thing from back in (see  April 2008)  where I just hang markers on the first 60 rows for a swatch check-up, I get going on the sleeve. After I get so far, I can measure the pretend swatch and re-adjust if necessary!
Heh, heh, haven’t lost my touch!

snow days...

really? snow in May?

I thought April was bizarre enough – we had a snowstorm on the 19th of April that shut down the entire city and that was the 4th storm of the month! I’m sure we had more snow here in Thunder Bay in April than we had in the entire winter…and then to wake up on the 4th of MAY to this??? Oh well, it has to stop sometime and what do you do in the mean time? Knit, of course! Anyway on the 19th, I figured I may as well make myself a spring jacket – nothing else to do, so I pulled a cone of red Bonita (100% mercerised cotton, 4 ply weight) off the shelf and proceeded to knit, using my new technique of no swatch needed because I’ve used this before…plugged in my stockinette swatch numbers from an old stockinette Bonita pattern and used my ‘Side Steps’ mylar pattern – I have worn the khaki wool one many, many times and always get compliments on it – I think it’s because the button/button loops catch people’s attention. It’s easy wear, throws on with jeans or a skirt and just goes, casual or dressed up. It is a sideways knit cardigan,  made A-line by adding gores or darts from the bottom edge to just under the bust and it is a quick, easy knit - you can do the body/sleeves easily in a couple of hours and finish up the bands the next day. I figured doing it up in the red would work well for spring, if it ever comes, but I knew I’d have problems matching the red for buttons, so I used black for the chains in the front and neck bands so black buttons should work and it does! While I was sewing on the buttons and loops, I thought, hummm-m-m, maybe here’s something I should say or tell you – if you already know, okay fine, but – I sew on the top button first and then do the bottom one, making sure the top and bottom of the garment line up properly with the other side. Button up both and stretch out the garment between – then do the next one from the top, the next one from the bottom, alternating, buttoning and smoothing out in between. This way, you’re making sure it all lines up and will lay flat and even in the end. I find this works better that starting at the top and working down or worse, just measuring the distance between…

 Happy spring!

Notes for flared body

Back to that Rib'nShrug thing - I decided to make one for me and experiment with making the body a bit longer and adding an A-line flare…sorry it took so long to get this up…I've been wearing it and forgot to tell you about it! On the seafoam one, I ended up putting the ribbed section from the shoulder, down under the arm, around the back, up under and around the other sleeve, leaving the back neck with no ribbed section (the original had the ribbed piece going all the way around so the ribbed edges met at the centre back neck). This looked real cute on Wendy and didn't have so much extra overlap in the front so I did the same for mine. I'm really happy with it and you could put a shawl pin on to close it up but it doesn't really need it and looks good with the bottom portions folded back, no overlap.

For the ribbed piece, when laying it out, at each side, have single end needle on main bed and then whatever needle arrangement you want. This will make a neat edge both for the seaming side and for the unfinished bottom edge.

To make shortrowed darts – CAR, turn off row counter. Bring all to hold except 15 at right – have last needle in hold (the one that gets wrapped) on main bed – this will work better when returning the needles to work – I have found if your wrap is on a ribber needle, it tends to drop when being returned to UWP…oh, so the dart was hold 15 sts, KWK, 5X; cancel hold; knit to next dart. I added 7 darts across the back – total length of the ribbed piece was 450 rows, darts not included, so first dart was at RC075 – I turned off the row counter for  the dart – dart was every 50 rows to RC375 for last one.

Make sure when sizing up that you estimate correctly for extra yarn needed. The seafoam one was the XS size and  weighed 275g. For my olive one, I made the largest size yoke and to the body, added 10 sts at each side and 7 gores of 10 rows X 60 sts and thought, oh, that shouldn’t take too much more  -  wrong! I had done the yoke/sleeve portion first and I got a little more than half way through the ribbed body portion – it seemed to be just eating up that yarn ! Sure it was a part cone, but I had weighed it before starting – 370g and I thought that would be plenty. Now, how likely is this? I would have not only another part cone of the same colour but a part cone of the same dye-lot?  Yes, there is a knitting god! My final garment weighs 410g…
Now, shall I keep on experimenting and extend the ribbed, flared body into a circular piece that will come up over the back of the neck for a shawl collar/hood effect?

next...

The ribbed body section is done – that was easy! Now, looking at the schematic for the sleeve/yoke section, when it gets right down to it, there are some details and measurements missing. I suppose I could just wing it, and reknit if it doesn’t work out, but I like to plan and have a little more accuracy. Here’s what I did: I use the KR11 for my sizing and shaping, so I drew the basic outline using the measurements given, but the actual angle of the decreases from the underarm to the back neck and how wide the back neck should be are not given – there is also a shortrowed dart thing on the other side to shape the back underarm area. I set the mylar in the KR11 and programmed it for the stitches and rows in the actual pattern (16 sts and 26 rows to 10 cm) and manually advanced the rows and plotted the decreases (shown in the green dotted line – the dart is the green dashes) according to the original instructions. Now, all I need to do is set in my stitches and rows from my stockinette swatch (I'm cheating here - didn't make a new stockinette swatch - used the numbers from my 'Angled with Attitude' - same yarn, same application, fairly recent, I'm sure it will work) for the standard gauge machine and this great little gadget will do the rest!! So cool!

analyzing...

OR, how many swatches does it take to steal an idea?

I’m ripping off another design – well, whatever…it was originally done on the bulky machine and I always thought it would make a nice standard gauge cardigan – ‘Rib’nShrug’ by Alice Tang, from Knitwords #53. My niece, Wendy modeled it and it looked so nice on her – really, I have been meaning to make it for her – she’s coming over next Friday, the 15th, and I’m going to commit to it right now.
Now, how do you take something designed for one gauge and re-design it for a finer gauge? We have the schematic but obviously swatches need to be made and new calculations for the new gauge. The body seems pretty simple – it’s actually a ribbed rectangle used sideways – can’t get much easier than that. The rectangle works simply in this design because of the ribbing – it will make a flat piece with no need to worry about facings or edgings as long as the cast-on and cast-off, which form the front opening edges, are done properly and kinda sorta match. Ouch? Not much information in the pattern – it just tells you to cast on and cast off – how did I let this get by? Oh well, sorry…
So, the original is K3, P1, K3, P2, K3, P1, K3, P2, K3….
Swatch #1 (right) To start, I arranged the needles and did a wrapped cast-on, hung the comb and T7/9, knit 20 rows. T10/10, K1R. Transferred sts up and chained off. My thinking was that I needed to have a  looser stitch on the rib bed to match the main bed stitches so it wouldn’t pull in too much – wrong! – the rib bed stitches distorted and looked ugly. And the cast on and off were bad. Swatch #2 (centre) I chained on, main bed only, knit one row. Brought up the rib bed and transferred to my needle arrangement. Had a time hanging the comb, not acceptable – work on that later.  T7/7, K20R. Transfer up. T7, K1R stockinette. T10, K1R. Chain off.
Well, the rib is better, but maybe it should be thicker/wider and the start and finish need some work.
Swatch #3 (left)  - K3, P2, K3, P3, K3, P2, K3, P3, K3…
Just on the main bed, cast on with waste yarn and put in the ribber comb – (see how to do it – wasted…not! Nov 25/08).
Then with main yarn doubled, I chained across loosely. T7, K1R. Transfer to new needle arrangement. T7/7, K20R. Transfer up and knit a row of stockinette. Main yarn doubled, T10+, K1R and chain off – too tight? Huh! Actually the cast-off is good (it’s holding the length of the rib better), the cast-on side is too loose (it’s waving with the rib), but we’re on the right track!
I chose this pretty seafoam 4 ply wool – I think it will look good on her – I made an executive decision to widen the background for the ribs and I’ve changed it to K4, P3, K4, P2, K4, P3, K4, P2, K4 etc…oh, and side away is right side, shown in blue swatch - talk to you later!

Contrasts...

 It crossed my mind that it was about time for a new issue of Knit’nStyle – I clicked through and sure enough, there it is! # 185, the summer edition. I’m pretty pleased with the photo they have – check it out! I talked about the yarn (Linsey Berroco – see ‘light bulb moment’ Nov 18/12) earlier. I finished it up and shipped it off to KnS in late November – I got this note back:

Top arrived yesterday… hung it up and everyone walking past my office is in love with it…Thank you!

 I figured it was because they needed something bright to cheer them up – it was just after the bad east coast storms – their office is in NJ and the area had been hit pretty bad. Anyway, check it out - I was happy with my finished product, but seeing the finished thing in the magazine is nice too! I wonder if they will translate this one into a hand knit version?
Speaking of hand knitting, is it stealing if I see a hand knit garment and make a version of it on the machine? No answer required, but here’s what I did – the new Vogue Knitting has a pattern called ‘Tie Back Top’ – I was not really inspired by it until I went to their website and checked it out in the VK360 – they have a video of a model in the garment – shows so much more than the photos in the magazine!! I thought it was really cute and would make a nice coverup for some cute, tiny gal for a warm vacation or it could be worn as evening wear with a cute bra top or tank. The one in VK is hand knit in a DK yarn and has a stockinette front and very open lace back – I made this one on my standard gauge machine with lace (Silver Reed) carriage using Silk City Zephyr, a fine, linen/rayon with a beautiful sheen  - it’s actually the leftover from my ‘Sophisticate’,  which was in the first ‘Serial Stuff/POM’ collection – it is very lightweight, drapy and the perfect weight for warm weather. I made it with the lace neckline lower than the other and made deep armholes, all edged with my XOXO trim from ‘Band Practise’. The lace pattern is from ‘Me Cozy’, Knitwords #48 – I gave the brother version of my stitch pattern there too. Didn't bother with the ties because I think this is a closer fit through the upper body and really only flares from the waist. Finished, ready to wear in 2 days!! I had to make Sunday supper…

I'll call it inspiration - I'm not writing the pattern!

addicted to yarn spray!

  Yeah, that’s me! I admit it…over the past few years, I’ve developed a yen for yarn spray. It came on gradually – I started off using it on the fine gauge machine – it was almost impossible to get anything done on that machine without yarn spray. I was using it with WCD on the standard gauge...if you’ve never used yarn spray, let me explain – the carriage seems quite stiff and hard to push; you may have ‘floating’  or tucked stitches – where part of the row does not actually complete the stitch, the yarn is only caught by the hook of the needle and looped above the stitch of the previous row – some of this is caused by having the stitch size smaller or tighter than the machine actually wants to perform at. Most times a hard twist yarn - particularly rayon and cotton - is more difficult and troublesome to work with and yarn spray takes the hassle out of it. Also, it will generally sort out any static problems. So the increased use, I hardly noticed, until one day I realized I was putting it on almost everything. It became my secret ingredient, like grainy mustard. 
Now, I was using Lori-Lyn- it had a distinctive vanilla scent that I did enjoy and I thought maybe that was contributing to my incessant p-s-s-s-t-t, p-s-s-s-t-t! Came the day that I used my last little shot of LLYS and found to my dismay that it has been discontinued, out of production, NLA…rats! What will I do? It may be the end of my machine knitting career!
Then one day I called Mike Becker at Distinctive Knits – www.dknits.com – actually, to wish him Happy Birthday – he always wonders how, or more to the point, why, do I remember his birthday? I’ve never told him, but it is the same day as my favourite Granny’s birthday (who has long past but never forgotten) – don’t tell him, let him think whatever – anyway, in the conversation, he told me he had a new product – YARN SPRAY!! OMG Mike, it’s a good thing many miles separate us! ;-))
I got my order from him just before Christmas – 2 bottles of the precious liquid, a couple of new sponge strips for my LK150 and a few other goodies – I could hardly wait to give it a shot – get it? Give it a shot, press the button, a little burst of TLC…
So, the new stuff, called ‘Super Industrial Yarn Spray’(SIYS), is non-aerosol, a good thing. It comes in a nice little 10 oz bottle with a pistol grip trigger spray, with a stop/go control – no odour, stainless, no silicone, washes out easily – it’s all good! The label states: yarn and sewing thread spray lubricant eliminates friction and static…keeps yarn running smoothly! What more could you want? I did want to give it a good testing before I gave it the MAO stamp of approval and here it is, kids! I love this stuff – I even used it on a mercerised cotton on my LK last week – I did a little cardigan for KnS in an all-over tuck with a finer-than-usual-for-me yarn that was misbehaving – I was knitting it  at T3 if that tells you anything (pretty tight, small stitches) – that, combined with the hand-selected tuck was giving me fits until I grabbed Mike’s little bottle of magic – hey, I think he should rename it! – and sh-s-s-s-t, sh-s-s-s-t, problem solved!
I used it on the 4ply wool Geezer remake, sailed through that with no aching shoulders and this week tried it on a slub cotton project that made the knitting a breeze – my little tip: put the yarn in a plastic bag, pull the bag open, give it a quick blast of the trigger on either side of the cone, push the bag back up and knit 40 rows or so – the machine will let you know when it needs another shot!
And I don’t miss the vanilla flavour – light a candle if you want that! Tell Mike I sent you but don’t mention Granny…

KnS - knit'nstyle magazine

LLYS – lori lyn yarn spray
NLA – no longer available
OMG - oh my gosh
TLC - tender loving care
WCD – wool crepe deluxe
MAO – mary anne oger