old yarn...

The weather has  definitely turned – no sleeveless and something warm required! Really like the shape of that tunic so my next attempt is same but different. A bit longer, with long sleeves. In checking over my wardrobe, I realize I have nothing very casual and zero in the way of a pullover/old sweatshirt sort of thing so, here goes! Pulled out 2 cones of Forsell Suva Nights in midnight, black and dark navy, really old stuff, wool with a cotton slub, knits as 4 ply. Used this yarn lots in the past but it was discontinued long ago so this could have been on my shelves 15 years or more. I want to knit the 1RT (one-row-tuck) loosely again to create a thinner fabric and I go back to one of my favourite Knitwords patterns, ‘Caped Wrapper’ from #43 https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2013/01/hybrid-knitting.html Swatched, making sure to use waste yarn before the ribbed cast-on because this yarn is already on the soft/not too strong side, without factoring in the age thing. Got the swatch made, with T9 and the second set at T10. After getting it off the machine, I could see there were a couple of breaks in the rib but because it was Full Needle Rib, it picked up and knit without me noticing, not something you’d want to happen in a garment but the single bed stuff knit perfectly. I determined that the loose tension on the rib was the source of the problems and after washing and drying the swatch, jumped into full garment mode in spite of the few little breaks. Using a tighter tension for the rib worked fine and I had the Back done in no time. In case the yarn breaks across the row, here are a few tips: https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2019/05/even-i-had-my-doubts.html Another thing I do is the position of the machine: https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-sound-of-silence.html Long story short, on the Front, the yarn broke once, but the ‘thwack’ alerted me in time and no problem. Feeling confident, and knitting slowly, the first sleeve just about did me in - I stopped counting after 9 breaks, but persevered because it was always happening at the end of the row and nothing was lost, didn’t have to rip out or rehang anything. By this time I was contemplating sleeveless but determination kept me going and what do you know, the second sleeve came off like a dream, no breaks! Got it finished up, washed and dried and love it! It will be my Thanksgiving dinner outfit.

PS  Blogger has changed things and I'm not figuring it out...

easy bind edge question...

I got an email the other day and thought it would maybe help others out.
Greetings Mary Anne,
I’m not sure how I’ve lived my machine knitting life without knowledge of your blog, but I just found a small book in my inherited collection called
50 Ways to Love Your Knitter and between that and your blog I feel like I’ve gone to MK Nirvana.  
Anyway, I didn’t immediately see the way to search your blog for this edging, is there a YouTube video maybe?  I am a hand knitter and have been converting patterns for years, so the step 3 is throwing me. Pick up from edge (1/2 outside edge stitch) and put onto every other needle.  It’s the 1/2 I don’t get.
These edgings are fab, I’ve been looking for ways to make my garments more interesting.  I’m trying to make my Gran a tuck st poncho but I wanted a nice edging and this #26 should look lovely.  
Thank you in advance for any clarification you can offer, I’m so excited to delve into your blog.-KVT

Dear K, I don't do YouTube but hopefully I can help. On the selvedge, only pick up the loop/bar/half-knot (whatever you call it), the single piece of yarn, not both sides of the actual stitch. I’ll do a blogpost for you!

from 50 Ways to Love Your Knitter:

26.  Easy bind edge: Use on vertical edges, great for uneven fabrics such as tuck & slip; looks good on both sides.
1.  With wrong side of fabric facing, pick up edge, without stretching.
2.  MT, knit 3 rows.
3.  Pick up from edge (1/2 outside edge stitch) and put onto every other needle.
4.  Carefully push needles out, putting knitting behind latches.
5.  Close latches.
6.  Knit 1 row loosest tension, latch tool cast off.
Steam and pat flat.

So, I found a swatch from ‘Neck’s Best Thing’ by MAO (#26 1X1 Rib with Swung English Rib) and tried out this  Easy Bind Edge, using  pink for the purl side application and blue for the knit side – thought it would show up in the photos with more detail than if it was same colour.

Hang side evenly without stretching

What it should have said:

Easy bind edge: Use on vertical side/selvedge, great for uneven fabrics such as tuck and slip but works for stockinette and others too! Looks good on both sides and finishes sides neatly.
1.  Place carriage at left ( so final row  for the chain cast-off will be knit from right to left which is the easier way for most). Hold piece up to needle bed without stretching to determine number of needles required. With inside of fabric facing you, pick up edge, whole outside stitch.

pick up top side of selvedge onto EON

2.  Bring ns out and close latches (this prevents the carriage jamming up when you try to knit across without closing the latches because the open latch could catch in the selvedge). Carriage at left, Main Tension, knit 3 rows.
3.  Pick up from same edge, but only half of the outside edge stitch, and put onto every other needle. Doesn’t matter if it’s the top bar or the bottom, but be consistent. This is a single-prong tool job. There will be 2 loops on EON and only one stitch on the other.

using carriage to knit loosest tension on right;
switch to manually knitting loose row at left

4.  Carefully push needles out, putting knitting behind latches.
5.  Close latches.
6.  Knit 1 row loosest tension (or manually knit row very loosely if you can’t dial up at least 4 full numbers higher), latch tool/chain cast off.
Steam and pat flat.
To Add to open stitches:
Reduce by 10%, e.g. if original number is 70 sts, multiply by .9 = 63. Bring 63 ns to work. Rehang cast-on sts from waste yarn, gathering evenly to reduce. I picked up 2-3 sts from the trim on the selvedge.  Knit side or purl side as above. Knit the 3 rows. Pick up sinker loop of original row OR sinker loop of first row of trim, either, again be consistent and do #6 to finish.

pick up knit side facing, stockinette and
 chain stitch shoa on knit side

pick up with knit side facing,
purl/tuck-look shows on stockinette side

Oh my, I feel like I just taught a workshop! Wish I could pass this swatch around the room!

the latest...

I finished that tunic quickly, without really looking it over before putting it together and what the hay? The second cone…it made a line, a definite colour change. I hadn’t checked the dye lot before I started but they were the same. What could have happened? The outside of the cone changed/lightened – yarn sitting out on shelves for years! Ar-r-r-rr-gh! I should have started the second cone at the beginning of the front, instead of just adding it in where the first cone ran out which has always been my standard operating procedure when I know the dye lots are the same. What to do now? Hope for the best in the laundry but if it is still evident after the wash, I’ll give it a quick over-dye!
https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/colour-purple-not.html
Still love it though! And get real, who’s gonna see it? ;)
Then, sort of tidying up and with the weather turning much cooler, I finished that tweedy poncho from last March.
https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/03/purls-of-joy.html

Without swatching first, I had knit it quite loosely, hoping for a good shrink on the finished project, just banking on my experience to be able to pull this one off. Wow! I should have tried to get a photo before the wash – it was humongous! Like almost below my knees and we won’t even talk about the sleeve length! Feeling quite certain I would be donating this to a much taller friend, I tossed it in the wash and then into the dryer. Oh! My! Gosh! It’s perfect! Just like the felted blanket I was hoping for!
Have a great long weekend! Happy Labour Day!

a little reminder...

It may be time to change your sponge bar! It doesn’t happen often here – it’s hot and muggy - so I kind of forget but if your lace isn’t lacing or your tucks keep on tucking, not knitting off when they should, the problem is likely the sponge bar https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2016/02/mental-note.html

– and this can happen on the LK150 too! https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/murphys-law.html

I was reverse shortrowing the curve of the hem for my olive tunic – I started that after completing the hand-transferred Triangles of Lace. Planned to add 10 cm/42 rows from the centre out, beginning with 10 sts in work at centre, adding  5 sts back into work alternately on each side, every other row, using holding position. Because of the curve you need to keep adjusting the weights and I noticed the tucks weren't all knitting off properly. At first, I blamed it on the weights but as it kept happening, it finally dawned on me, it's that freaking sponge bar! Sure enough, it was virtually flat and I'm blaming it on the weather! I changed it out after finishing the shortrowing - don't try to do it in the middle of the shortrowing, wait until you have every thing back in work. I took the piece off on the garter bar to make the change.

 

You might wonder how I arrived at the 10 cm? I’m sort of copying a bought top that I love the shape of – it fits nicely at the top and bust and then is quite loose and swingy, fingertip length with an exaggerated A-line, nice and airy for hot weather. I laid it out and measured across the width at the bottom – notice the tape measure below the red ruler to record the depth of the curve.

dissect that...

swatch! Look at the cast-on first. The chain cast-on, double-stranded, alone, can be a tough one to knit over and when you have a somewhat soft yarn like this, expecting it to knit over those picot knots…hum-m-mm. (Tip: if the yarn breaks easily when you yank it between your fingers, it will likely break when there's extra pressure when knitting across the row.) Sometimes it will work but when you’ve invested the time in doing something fancy like this over the whole 200 needles wide who can afford to have the yarn break on the first row? It pays to knit it manually rather than hoping you can fix the broken yarn scenario because the yarn break may not actually release until the 4th or 5th row and then you’ve really invested some time that you can’t get back. Just saying…
20 stitch repeat, right? Place the picot knot away from the end needles, centring the pattern/picot knot at #11 right instead of #1 right and remember to flip (#11 left instead of #1 left) that in the layout of the second piece so it matches better at the side seams. Both sides won’t be perfect on 200 needles wide because you’ll be one stitch short, but it’s not worth making it 9 stitches less wide.
In the swatch, I experimented a bit with that garter stitch ridge – did one as the tuck rib like in Hodgepodge but I thought, over the 20-st repeat, there are less garter stitches to reform across the row than in the 12-st one and if you can’t go the extra mile for something for yourself when will you? I really liked the extra definition that the garter stitch added – maybe just the colour difference makes it show up better? When I was making the second piece/Front, I remembered something!

I had a seed stitch tool - would it work for garter stitch ridges so I could save some pain? I knew I had a standard gauge one somewhere… the jury’s still out on that issue, but it did work!
Back to the swatch, used two different stitch patterns just to see if the width changed greatly with more tucks per row – 2.4 sts to 10 cm as opposed to 2.5 sts on the one with less tucks – not really a factor and the row gauge was the same on both swatches.
P.S. The mid gauge seed stitch tool is great, it’s worth having! Tell Lea-Ann I said hi!
P.P.S. When you have two cones, you don't have to worry about measuring out a certain amount and doubling that over - you can just use 1 strand from each cone! Breakthrough of the century! ;)!!

i made a swa-a-at-ch....

Omigosh! It’s been ages since I did that! I’ve come to the end of my list of making tops for family and I have been feeling a bit left out. It’s time for one for me! My knitting friend Peg got me thinking about a tunic and I’ll admit, I’ve been trying those last ones on and seeing what shapes I like. And, that #10 band,Triangles of Lace from Knitting on the EDGE, that turned out to be a 20-stitch repeat that I didn’t do for Vickie’s tank http://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/07/half-cocked.html is still niggling me. Wow! If you followed all that, wait to see what else I’m gonna tell ya! I need to do what I meant to back then, using that trim but changing the cast-on to a chained picot knot so that’s what I’m starting off with now. Search my stock of summer-weight yarns – not much there, but I did find 2 cones  of Silk Denim, a cotton/silk blend with a sort of gimp (not exactly smooth - https://textilecourse.blogspot.com/2018/04/types-fancy-yarns-uses.html) in a strange, khaki, green-ish colour that was labeled olive which is likely why I ordered it but the yellowy cast to it kept putting me off . I dialed up the KNITWORDS index to do some research – know I’ve used this yarn before, but it turns out, mostly stockinette although it was used in Groovy, one of my favourite all-time jackets (cover of Knitwords #47) https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2008/11/groovy-re-do.html. Because I want the extra width that the one-row-tuck provides, here’s me, swatching!

sorry to leave you hanging....

We are having the summer of a lifetime! The hottest it’s been since 1921! Too hot to knit most days and I’ve been having to get out real early to get my 8 km walk/hike in before the day really heats up but it’s going to cool a bit for August so I’ll be back at it! Took a couple of days to sew some more masks – they are mandatory for public indoor places here (the kids need them for back-to-school) and I like to do my bit to help others! Just finished reading William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace – I laughed, I cried, my heart hurt and I didn’t want it to end! If it was for myself, I would never have told you the story of Vickie’s tank. Would’ve put it together and held my head high as I walked away but for some reason, I can’t do that for a gift. I almost had enough yarn to remake the Back again but did unravel half of it and reuse – I wanted to save part as evidence that I did re-do! Think Vickie will be pretty happy with this, walking back or forward! Stay safe, smile and do your part! P.S. just one more excuse...blogger has made some changes I'm not exactly happy with but I'm trying ;)