Garter striped baby jacket
I’m still here, just not knitting much. Summer successfully zapped my desire to knit! I will return when I have knitting to share. Until then, just a quick post about a long term purse project that finally came off the needles last week.
Pattern: DROPS b14-27 baby jacket (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Uni Solid 4 ply in 1418 (the teal color) and 1261 (Deep Chocolate)
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm)
This pattern has interested me ever since I saw the version Kelp! made a few years ago. However, I am not usually game for baby knitting with sock yarn. Then, last January, I decided to find other purposes for my sock yarn stash, as it was clear that I no longer knit socks. I cast on, hoping to use up 800 g of Opal stewing in my stash. Sadly, I have about 400 g left (nearly equally distributed between brown and green) so it looks like there will be some striped socks in my future.
The knitting was unexceptional, which was precisely what I wanted for a project I toted about to meetings. The results, I would have to say, are fabulous. I love this little one. I might need to make a larger version with worsted weight yarn for Beatrix!
Maritza once told me knitting with Opal was like knitting with twine, but after a few washes, it softens up enough to make the knitting experience almost worth it. Besides, everyone knows Opal and Regia will outlive all of us – that is hard-wearing yarn! Hard-wearing enough for some baby, I hope.
Yarn Forward patterns: Green Day and Scoopneck
Filed under: FOs, My Patterns, baby knits, child, lace, stash busting, sweaters |
Comments(28) 
Copyright St. Range Photography
I have been waiting months to post about these two projects! Back in December, I submitted two project proposals to Shannon Okey, the editor of Yarn Forward Magazine. They were accepted, but I needed to turn around both projects in 6 weeks! Indeed, this winter’s frantic knitting frenzy partly explains the major burnout I feel now. Or more likely, finishing the Katharine Hepburn Cardigan crushed my will to knit.
Pattern: Green Day Cardigan, in Yarn Forward Magazine No. 13, May 2009, shown in 22″ size
Yarn: Dale of Norway Heilo
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm)
I intended this to be a functional, unisex baby cardigan. All of the pieces are worked flat and seamed together, although it would not be hard to knit this seamlessly in the round. I used some Dalegarn Heilo I bought last fall while visiting my parents on Cape Cod. Heilo offers wonderful stitch definition for cables!
Unfortunately, Beatrix was not at home when Green Day came off the blocking table and since it went straight into the mail, I do not have modeled photos of this!
The second pattern, Scoopneck, is due out next week in the next issue of Yarn Forward. I designed this specifically with wearability in mind. The yarn is one of my favorites (Harrisville Designs New England Shetland); it is light and airy but offers a tremendous amount of warmth with really wonderful drape. Besides, it comes in 56 amazing and tweedy colors. What’s not to love?
Copyright St. Range Photography
Pattern: Scoopneck, from Yarn Forward Magazine No. 14, June 2009, shown in 35″ size
Yarn: Harrisville Designs New England Shetland, in “Topaz”
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm)
The lace pattern is simple and easy to memorize but does not interfere too much with the body and arm shaping.
Scoopneck is knit in the round to the armholes, when the sleeve caps are worked back and forth; the shoulders are joined by a three-needle bind-off to minimize seaming.
This project was actually the first one in which I used Aaron’s set-in sleeve calculator. Not a bad fit, eh? Math is brilliant when someone else does it!
Although a British publication, Yarn Forward Magazine can be found at Barnes & Noble and some LYSs in the US; copies can also be purchased online here. When the pattern rights revert to me later this fall, I will offer the pattern for sale here.
My albatross
This cardigan has plagued my knitting basket for such a long time (since October 2007) that I know not what to say about its completion. Good riddance, perhaps!
I cast on while studying microbiology, and it immediately became clear that this pattern would never be a good study companion. The 12-row pattern repeat is simple – dull, even; however, it is just complicated enough to command attention. Since I almost exclusively knit while doing other things, the Katharine Hepburn Cardigan languished 18 months before I finally finished it.
In fact, I would say that I only finished it out of spite. The color is beautiful, but it really is not for me. I am not even so sure the style is right. This might have to stew in the cedar chest until I forget my complaints with it.
Pattern: Katharine Hepburn Cardigan by Kathy Zimmerman from Lace Style
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in “Chuckberry”
Needles: US 3 and US 5
The only modifications I made were to lengthen the body a little, knit the sleeves to full length, and reshape the sleeve cap a little bit.
Although the knitting proved miserable, the pattern itself was very clear, well written, and accurate. The faults are entirely my own, not the designer’s. I should have known better than to jump into this one. Lesson learned the hard way.
Set-in Sleeve Calculator
Filed under: FOs, My Patterns, Resources, lace, stash busting, sweaters |
Comments(42) 
Although raglan and yoke constructions (and even Elizabeth Zimmermann’s set-in model) are seamless, I regrettfully find them ill-fitting on my body. Like it or not, traditional set-in sleeves just fit me better. However, calculating the armhole and sleeve cap shape is time consuming and rather unwieldy for patterns with multiple sizes. This winter, I designed several garments for publication with set-in sleeves. I created an Excel spreadsheet to calculate the armscye measurement, the perimeter of the armhole. Still, the spreadsheet required tinkering here and there and was not a very good solution. When I explained my frustration to Aaron, he decided there had to be a better way. Using Jenna Wilson’s (girl from auntie) impeccably thorough armscye tutorial in Knitty as a guide, he wrote a web application that would take in the necessary information regarding gauge and armhole shaping to produce meaningful information about sleeve cap shaping.
The application can be found for free here.
It may seem complicated at first, but I think his Help! pop-ups explain the inputs pretty well. Here are some sample inputs, taken from the lace pullover shown above.
By leaving the final output as the number of decreases and the number of rows remaining before the cap bind-off(s), the calculator provides the designer with enough freedom to play around with the curve of the sleeve by varying the rate of decreases.
I relied heavily upon Aaron’s calculator for this simple lace pullover. Although the body largely came to life during a fit of insomnia, the sleeves dragged on interminably in part because I ran out of yarn and needed to alternate between multiple skeins to hide the variation between dyelots. The yarn is yet more stash leftover from my Ivy League Vest, which called for far more yarn than was actually needed.
Pattern: The vine lace stitch pattern is an easy 4-row repeat from Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns; the sleeve calculations came from Aaron’s armscye calculator
Yarn: Harrisville Designs New England Shetland
Needles: US 8 (5.0 mm)
Since this was another stashbusting project, I’d say it was almost free! One thing is for sure: because I used a light sport weight (fingering, really) yarn on US 8 needles, the project required minimal yardage – only 570 yds for a finished bust of 36″ with 3/4-length sleeves!
This is the fifth garment I’ve knit using the calculator and every single sleeve cap has fit into its corresponding armhole flawlessly. Here are a few examples of the other garments:
I hope others will find the calculator equally useful.
Perhaps it’s time to give set-in sleeves another go?
Relaxing Vine Lace
As other, more important project deadlines mounted a few weeks ago, I decided to cast on for some mindless knitting to help calm my nerves during a bought of insomnia. Some might find this a waste of already precious time; you know better, don’t you?
As far as I am concerned, there is nothing quite like an easily memorized, repetitive pattern to cure insomnia.** Consequently, the body of this pullover knitted up in lightning speed; however, the sleeves languish partially finished as their master has recently rediscovered the merits of sleep.
The yarn is Harrisville Designs Shetland (in White), leftover from my Ivy League Vest last winter. The lace pattern is a 4-row repeat from Barbara Walker’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.
This is destined to become a scoopneck tunic with no waist shaping and as little sleeve shaping as possible, mostly because the combination of shaping and lace renders this no longer mindless. Perhaps that is a better reason for why the sleeves remain unknitted?
**Except when it doesn’t, and the knitter is forced – forced! - to stay up late to knit obsessively on a project about which she cares nothing. Ahem.
Chevron Love Mittens
Back in the Great Mitten Swap of ‘08 in Boston, Julia Vesper made Maritza the most divine pair of handspun, hand-dyed, hand knit (and lined) chevron mittens. No one could leave them alone! We were all so very jealous of that lucky Maritza! You can imagine how excited I was to test knit her beautiful Chevron Love Mitten pattern last month! When she told me to pick any eight colors of the Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport line, I floundered. I think it’s safe to say that I have a problem with this yarn. Did I not recently write about this large Nature Spun remnant stash consisting only of reds/oranges and blues? What colors do you think I picked for my mittens?
As if I could resist…
Pattern: Chevron Love Mittens by Julia Vesper (pattern available on Ravelry, kits sold out but soon to be available again in the Knitterly Things shop)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport
Needles: US 2.5 (3.0 mm)
Aren’t the chevrons just lovely? The mittens and the free matching hat pattern also warm my stashbusting heart. This is a fantastic way to use up scraps. I would recommend Julia’s clear, straightforward patterns to anyone. Also, the color pairings she put together in her kits are truly inspired.
Although I have yet to block my mittens, I am thrilled with how they turned out. I should say, I had intended to soak these in a large wool wash this weekend to pack away my winter woolens, but then it snowed. Lesson learned. Never pack away wool before summer.
Ultimate Stashbuster Vest
It’s done! And I love it. I was worried it would be an eyesore but I could not love it more. AND, it was free. Well, almost. I had to buy one skein of yarn because I ran out. A $3 skein hardly counts. At the outset, I had 11.5 oz of yarn in my stash, now I have 3.0 oz left. The remains will likely go into hats and mittens here and there.
Pattern: I cobbled this pattern together as I went. None of the peeries are the same but many of them are variations on one basic pattern. For the stacking of patterns, I followed a few general rules. For example, every orange and white peerie is followed by a tan and red peerie, with occasional 3- or 5-row peeries thrown in for better transitions. Because the pattern repeats are all relatively small, I did not concern myself too much with centering the patterns. The exception, of course, was at the base of the V-neck. I made sure the last peerie before the neck shaping centered directly below the V. I thought about offering the pattern for this but since I made up instructions as I went, I can offer no information about standard measurements and yarn usage. Here is the chart image, feel free to use any or all of the patterns as you see fit. I also have the chart in Excel; please email me if you would prefer the Excel copy over the .gif file.
Yarn: 8.5 oz Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in six colors – Bev’s Bear, Roasted Coffee, Bordeaux, French Clay, Sunburst Gold and Natural
Needles: US 4.0 (3.5 mm)
Gauge: 28 sts and 32 rows = 4″
To fit this to my 34″ bust, I made a 32″ size for 2″ of negative ease. Eunny Jang’s Ivy League Vest taught me some important lessons last year about fitting a vest to one’s body. Primarily, a vest like this should not have any positive ease. I am much happier with how the garment feels with a full 2″ of negative ease at the bust. For the record, there is no ease (positive or negative) at the waist and hip, only negative ease at the bust.
The vest is knit entirely in the round. The armholes, neck opening and back neck shaping are all steeked open. Since Brown Sheep is not particularly good for steeking, I used the crochet method but reinforced the steek edges with machine stitching down the sides. I had intended to hand sew; however, machine sewing was much faster and I was desperate to be done! I took care to ensure the floats did not catch in my sewing machine, my greatest fear. After I added the edgings and blocked the vest, I tacked down the facings with a big blanket stitch. This last step is hardly necessary (especially with sewn steek reinforcements) but I like knowing that my facings will not move around.
The steeking process is far easier than it seems it ought to be. I would encourage anyone to give it a go! I think my last few posts have linked to Eunny Jang’s steeking chronicles but it’s worth doing again. She takes the mystery out of cutting one’s knitting.
The edges are done entirely with 3×1 corrugated ribbing for about 3/4″. I am particularly happy with how the pattern at the shoulder join looks – it is almost seamless! I thought about grafting it together for a completely seamless look but decided the seam would provide important support at the shoulders.
For more photos, see the Ultimate Stashbuster Vest folder on my Flickr account.
Grow Like a Weed Jacket
Thanks to a great collection of test knitters - Andrea, Danielle, Erin, Jennie, Mai, Svenja - the Grow Like a Weed Jacket pattern I previewed last fall is now ready!
I hope this heavy sweater will last two winters. It will be a little long the first winter, with sleeves cuffed. The next winter, it should fit as a sweater might, with the sleeves left uncuffed. Both the cabled and the twisted 1×1 ribs have incredible stretch to them and will expand to fit a growing child’s arms and belly.
The garment is knit from the bottom up in the round and then steeked open. The sleeves are knit first and then joined to the body. I largely followed Elizabeth Zimmermann’s saddle shoulder construction for the armhole and shoulder shaping. The text is wordy but it should be clear once you begin the decreases. The neck opening is a bit wider than average and the back neck is shaped by short rows, with the cabled and twisted ribs extending up to form a collar. Rolled edges are knitted on to provide a place for the sewn in zipper.
Those unfamiliar with crochet steeks are encouraged to read Eunny Jang’s definitive steeking tutorial before proceeding. Only feltable wools with plenty of grip should be used for steeking purposes. Neither superwash wools nor plant or synthetic fibers will hold. Although it would be easy to modify the pattern to work back and forth without steeking, the instructions are written for construction in the round.
This pattern is available as a Ravelry download for $5.00.
Difficulty: Advanced
Skills used: knitting in the round, increasing/decreasing, reading a chart, cabling, steeking, picking up stitches, stitching down facings, and hand sewing a zipper
Sizes:
1 yr (2-3 yr, 4-5 yr, 6-7 yr)
Finished Measurements:
Gauge:
21 stitches and 26 rows = 4” in cabled (body) pattern when stretched
24 stitches and 26 rows = 4” in 1×1 rib (sleeve) pattern when stretched
16 stitches and 24 rows = 4” in stockinette
Yarn:
Ram Wools Selkirk (100% wool; 272 yd [249 m]; 4 oz), 2(2, 3, 4) skeins
Needles:
US 8 (5.0mm) circular needle, length appropriate for size
US 8 (5.0 mm) double pointed needles
Materials:
Separating zipper, size as needed
Crochet hook, any size between 3.25 – 4.0 mm will do
Small amount of sport or fingering weight, sticky wool for securing the steeked edge.
tapestry needle
needle and thread
Enjoy!
Down the rabbit hole
Filed under: My Patterns, UFOs, fair isle, stash busting, stranded, vests |
Comments(18) What started as a casual, ongoing, secondary project quickly grew into a terribly addicting, compelling project not long after I wrote about it.
It was bound to happen. I wanted my stashbusting vest to be a project to work on slowly throughout the year, adding scraps as they became available. Well, let’s face it: there is no shortage of Nature Spun Sport scraps in my house. Shortly after I posted about my Ultimate Stashbusting Vest, I felt a tremendous urge to FINISH! Right away! Sadly, a stranded vest with six colors and no repeated peeries requiring large amounts of math at regular intervals does not make for a good portable project. Alas! I have been dying to finish this for six weeks. Now, it is almost ready!
With the major knitting done, I steeked the vest yesterday and picked up stitches for the first armhole edging this morning.
The other armhole and the neck edging remain to be done. Oh, and then there’s this little matter of weaving in ends…
Pod of Cetaceans Cardigan
Filed under: FOs, My Patterns, baby knits, child, stranded, sweaters |
Comments(23) 
Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1980s, I have many memories of nautical themed sweaters, with boats, anchors, captain’s wheels, or whales forming the yoke. With these sweaters came Nantucket jewelry baskets, alligator polos (collars flipped up, of course), plaid pants, embroidered pants, and any other garment with the shape of the Cape Cod arm littered gratuitously about.
This cardigan was inspired by a pullover my mother started for me and finished several years later for my brother, if I am not mistaken. I thought it might be a fun design to revive. Since winter is almost over and I will soon be packing away her size 2 winter clothes, I knit Beatrix the size 3-4 yr for next year. The garment is knit from the bottom up in the round and then steeked open. Those unfamiliar with crochet steeks are encouraged to read Eunny Jang’s definitive steeking tutorial before proceeding. Only feltable wools with plenty of grip should be used for steeking purposes. Neither superwash wools nor plant or synthetic fibers will hold. Although it would be easy to modify the pattern to work back and forth without steeking, the instructions are written for construction in the round.
Note of caution: Any knitter who chooses to abuse this pattern by making matching whale sweaters for the family Christmas card should be flogged, or at the very least have his/her knitting needles confiscated.
This pattern is available as a Ravelry download for $5.00.
or add to cart
Difficulty: Advanced
Skills used: knitting in the round, increasing/decreasing, reading a chart, stranded knitting, steeking, picking up stitches, hand sewing facings, and optional duplicate stitching
Sizes:
0-3 mos (6-9 mos, 12-18 mos, 2 yr, 3-4 yr, 5-6 yr)
Finished Measurements:
Gauge:
17 stitches and 24 rows = 4” in stockinette on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles
20 stitches and 25 rows = 4” in stranded pattern on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles
Note: Swatching the stranded pattern in the round is imperative. I chose to cast on 36 stitches for three whale pattern repeats plus 7 stockinette stitches for a steek. In addition to checking gauge, this extra swatching will provide a valuable opportunity to practice steeking.
Yarn:
Harrisville Designs New England Highland (100% wool; 200 yd [183 m]; 100 g [3.53 oz]): 1(2, 2, 2, 3, 3) skeins #33 Midnight Blue, 1 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) skein #44 white, 1 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) skein #7 Tundra.
Needles:
US 7 (4.5mm) circular (length appropriate for size) and set of DPNs
US 6 (4.0 mm) circular needle (length appropriate for size) and set of DPNs
Materials:
Crochet hook, any size between 3.25 -4.0 mm will do
Wool waste yarn in contrasting color (not superwash wool or any plant fiber)
tapestry needle
5 (5, 7, 7, 9, 9) 3/4″ buttons
Shown here with optional duplicate stitched water spouts over each whale:
The steeked facings are tacked down with a simple blanket stitch.
