Monday Yarn

What could be better to brighten up a dreary Monday than yarn? Not much.

Last week, I fell in love with Teva Durham's new pattern book from Tahki Stacy Charles. It just so happened that I had a gift certifcate from kpixie left over from Christmas too. Christmas? Yes, Christmas. Keep in mind, I haven't been doing much "me" knitting lately!

So my package arrived today (with an autographed copy of the pattern book, none the less). I ordered a kit for the Slip Stitch Jacket, it's rated "experienced". That makes me so happy, you have no idea! Now if I could just get these secret projects out of the way, I could start! If deadlines make for some purposeful knitting, adding a project that is actually for me is like dangling a tasty carrot at the finish line.

I am also dying to make the Rib Leaf Cardigan, but one at a time, one at a time.

Stitch n' Pitch at Shea

Last night I met up with the Spiders for a night of knitting and baseball at Shea Stadium. It was so hot, but the night was still enjoyable - and the Mets won! I heard that there were about 800 knitters there. That's pretty impressive.


A long line of spiders, you can't even see them all!
Even though there were 800 knitters there and 2 of my fellow LIC knit girls bought their tickets weeks after me, we had luck on our side last night. Dana and Colette just happened to be sitting in the row directly behind us. What are the chances of that?


Colette and Dana
Have to admit I'm not much of a baseball fan, in fact, this was the first game I have ever been to. I'm just more of a hockey kinda girl. With that said, it was much more interesting than watching it on TV and if I did have a free night, I would probably consider going again. Maybe even before a Stitch n' Pitch 08? We'll see!

Anyone Seen the New Rowan?

My coworkers just got back from a shopping trip in England and they brought me back a present from Liberty, the new Rowan 42. If you've shied away from the last few issues because the designs and/or photo styling was a bit weird, those days seem to be gone!

I was so pleased to see a return to the old days with beautiful sweaters! I wish I didn't have so many deadlines, I would cast on right away! Just when I thought I had kicked my Rowan addiction........off to Ravelry to put them all in my queue! Maybe it's time to renew the subscription too........hmmm.

Updated to add link for a peek!

Secret knitting is going well. At the moment I'm working on a project for Yahaira (Pure Knits 2nd book). I had 2 projects picked up (yay!) and the first one is off the needles and in the publishers hand already. I think the release date isn't until 2009 though, so it will be awhile before you can take a peek. Sorry!

Sunshine Tank Reveal

Here's a peek at my newest pattern available from One Planet Yarn and Fiber!

Sunshine Tank
by Melissa Wehrle

DIFFICULTY
Advanced Beginner

SIZE
XS (S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest: 24.5 (27.5, 30, 36, 38.5, 44, 46.5)"/62 (70, 76, 91.5, 98, 112, 118)cm
Length: 18 (18.75, 18.75, 20, 20.25, 21, 22)"/46 (47.5, 47.5, 51, 51.5, 53, 56)cm

MATERIALS
- Yarn Botanika Radiance, Fingering Weight (50% Merino/50% Tencel, 100g/3.5oz, 400 yds/366m) 2 (2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4) skeins Snapdragon
- 1 pair US size 4 (3.5mm) needles or size needed to obtain gauge
- 1 pair US size 3 (3.25mm) needles or size needed to obtain gauge
- 2 US size 3 (3.25mm) double-pointed needles
- Tapestry needle
- Clear elastic thread (optional)

GAUGES
28 sts and 32 rows = 4"/10cm in St st on larger needles
32 sts and 36 rows = 4"/10cm in Wave st on smaller needles

You can purchase the download pattern on the sidebar or at One Planet. In fact, One Planet is offering 10% off the yarn used in this pattern, just enter the code SUNSHINE at checkout.

Stuck in Secret Knitting Land

Far from being sworn off knitting since finishing my long languishing fair isle pullover, I've been swamped in secret knitting for the past few weeks - and will be for the next 2 - 3 months. I would list it all out, but making a list will only further my anxiety. It's best to just think about one project at a time!

I got my refill skein of Lanas Puras for grannie #2 a few weeks ago, but had to set it aside for my latest secret knitting. I just need to pick up some buttons and finish the band. I made an exciting discovery this week just in time. A cheap button place in NYC! The store is called Pacific Trimming and it's on 218 W 38th street. I bought 6 buttons and it only cost me $3. I love M&J to death and all, but I would have paid at least $3 per button instead of 50 cents. Oh and Pacific has so much more than just buttons! They have ribbon, elastic, purse handles, buckles, too much to even list. My mind was just spinning with all of the possibilities.

And finally, I should be revealing one of my latest projects sometime next week, so stay tuned!

Remember This Project?

Does anyone remember this project?


If you don't, well it's been hanging around for about 2 years or so. It's been bugging the heck out me and challenging me, mocking me almost - at least when it wasn't buried under books, yarn, patterns, etc.

So I finally decided to do something about it.

Meet FairIsle Pullover (#30)





Fair Isle Pullover (#30) from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2004/05
Needles: US 6 & 7
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca (colors as pictured in magazine)
Started: 2005?
Finished: July 4, 2007

This was my first ever fair isle project, although my second fair isle project was finished way before this one ever was. It was quite enjoyable, although I could have done a little better job with my tension. My biggest problem was figuring out how to anchor the yarn at the end of the row when the design no longer went close enough to the edge.

One reason this project languished so long was the fact I had done my decreases differently on each sleeve cap, so one of them needed to be undone. I ripped it and reknit it only to realize I had made myself a note that I only had 62 sts at the muscle instead of the called for 68. So it sat for another year. The ends were also a factor. Ugh! The weaving in of all those ends! Luckily I seemed to have done it in stages over the last 2 years. When I picked it up for finishing last Wednesday, I only had the ends from one sleeve left to weave in.

Overall, I'm very happy with the final result. It fits well (modeled pic to come soon) and it will be all ready to face the chilly weather in the fall!

The Design Process - Sweater Finished!

Sorry to keep you guys waiting so long, but here is the long awaited picture of the design process sweater!


It's not the best picture in the world, but you get the idea. Here's a details shot:


And now we can compare the sketch to the final product. How did I do?


I decided to leave the pockets off after all. Part of it was laziness, part of it was not wanting to add any bulkiness to the sweater. I also didn't want to mess up the pretty lines of the lace pattern.

I'm in the process of writing the pattern now, so once it's finished I will be putting it up for sale here on the site. (For anyone who was wondering!)

A Helpful Finishing Link

Seems I'm not the only one posting about the importance of finishing at the moment! The Knitting Curmudgeon is starting a finishing series with Part I up here. She also has a great little PDF in her sidebar links "Blocking for Blockheads". Take a look, you won't be disappointed!

I hoped to have a finished pic of the design inspiration project today, but the photographer was in a cranky mood this weekend. And just to tease, I have to say it looks super cute and I think it may be my favorite design so far. Maybe I'll snap a quick pic tonight......

Grannie Smith #2 is in the finishing stage and the much needed emergency yarn to finish the buttonbands is on the way! Yay!

The Design Process - Finishing

I felt so bad about my design process project sadly sitting on the couch, all hidden away. So I did something about it. I got out the tapestry needle and started sewing!

And now we enter into one of our last installments on the making of the garment. My next topics will briefly touch on the pattern writing process. I say briefly because a lot of it is the same as making up the first sample, just repeating it how ever many times for the total amount of sizes. Since this project has been put on hold for a few months, I'm so thankful that I wrote down everything I did here! It will make it much quicker to piece all of my info together. Anywho, let's get to it!

Finishing

When I put up my survey for neoknits a few months back, it was interesting to see that a lot of your "perfect patterns" would have more detailed finishing instructions. Finishing a sweater seems to be the other boogyman of the knitting world, right behind math. Yet, it's the most important part of any project. You can knit the most beautiful thing in the world, ripping back for every mistake, but if you don't take the time and care to seam it up properly, disaster can strike even the most unsuspecting garment! With the right tools, reference books, and a little bit of patience you'll be on your way to finishing your sweaters without tears in no time.

When getting ready to seam up a project, after everything is blocked properly of course, I line up the two seams and secure them every 2" or so with removable stitch holders. You could probably even use knitters safety pins. This makes it easier to handle the pieces and insures you won't have 2" extra on one of the seams.


From there I carefully mattress stitch the two seams together between the edge stitch and the next stitch. This is where edge stitches come in handy on garments with a special stitch design. Lace can be very hard to seam if you don't leave 1 or more plain stitches at each edge. You'll be cursing much less if you follow that simple rule when knitting up each section.

Can you find the seam?
Finishing encompasses so much more than just seaming though. It really includes cast on edges, bound off edge, button bands, pockets - anything that is added onto the garment after the main pieces are finished. Most of areas I covered in other previous installments. There is much more I can cover, but that would take hours! If you want to know more, you can pick up a good finishing book to help in your time of need.

I know there are several finishing books out now, but my personal favorite is The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman. It has very clear pictures and it also gives Pros and Cons for using each technique. If you struggle with finishing your sweaters and don't like the results you are getting I would highly suggest buying a finishing book for your library. It just might be a sweater saver!

Now the sweater just needs some buttons and it will be all ready to go! Sorry to make you wait for finished pics, but we need to develop that patience for finishing your projects somehow! Every little bit helps ;)

Somewhat Personal Knitting Continued

And we have a sweater! Well, almost:


I swear the sleeves are the same length, really! It's been very enjoyable knowing that there is no deadline to be seen for this project. Trust me, there is enough on the horizon right now - all due about the same time that will keep me in check for the next couple of months. Again I will stress what a welcome break this is!

There's just one problem:


This is the only yarn that is left. For some reason, my knitting does this to me all the time. I always just keep knitting along, hoping for the best. I only have the neckband and buttonbands to go, but it's going to be really really close. Stay tuned and wish me luck!

Somewhat Personal Knitting

I'm taking a short, very short much needed break to work on something that doesn't involve a deadline. (Lisa, if you're reading this, you might just want to click that little "x" in the corner now!) I'm really supposed to be working on 2 other projects right now, but shhhhhh! You guys won't tell, right? ;)

I'm remaking Grannie Smith in Lanas Puras Melosa and it's flying off the needles. I love KSH, I really, really do! Sometimes a girl just needs a yarn that goes on the needles, comes off the needles and behaves when you want it to. This fingering weight yarn is a bit thicker than the KSH, but it gives the sweater a completely new look - and did I mention it knits up at the same gauge?


Also, our company is doing a little construction to our showroom for the month of June and July. Take a look at my new view from the 24th floor!



It's a far cry from my dark dingy cubicle on the 7th floor! There are 8 of us crammed in this conference room (including our boss!), but honestly I don't want to have to move back! I have a river view for goodness sake!

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting

I finally got around to going to the Museum of Art and Design last Thursday to see Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting before the exhibit closes on June 17th. It was just one of those things when it opened in January, "Ah, it's around til June, I'll wait til the crowds die down." Well, I waited and waited and waited.....and I almost missed it! And that would have been very, very sad!

This said, I enjoyed the exhibit immensely. In fact, my fiance enjoyed it too (it's so nice to have someone to share all this knit stuff with!) The knit pieces were very nice, but I have to say that the works using other mediums to create lace like structures were what really caught my attention. I really wanted to take home the fabric with the hand cut lace pattern - and the car parts with a lace pattern cut out with a lace pattern in the dirt around it! Loved it! I wish I had pictures, but I wasn't sure if cameras were allowed and I forgot to bring it anyway :(

If you live in the NYC area and haven't seen it yet - go! You won't be disappointed!

Lucky Clover Corrections

What seems like years ago, Debbie Stoller contacted me frantically to make some corrections to my Lucky Clover Wrap from SnB Nation (which were not my fault btw). So I traded in some knitting time to fix er' up and redo all the math (which wasn't fun!) Anywho, for whatever reason, these were never posted in the errata section on Knithappens.com???? Actually, I stand corrected! They are posted and can be found here.

Anywho, I thought the corrections were lost forever once the Lucky KAL was gone, but I found them! When I was searching for something on my computer tonight, I came across them and would like to post them here just for knitters sake. I know some of you out there in blog land have had a terrible time with muscle sizing issues and I apologize! I'm not sure what happened on the publishers side, but I guess stuff happens.

Corrections for Lucky Clover Wrap from Stitch n Bitch Nation

Right front:

Pattern reads: Inc 1 st at waist edge of next row, then every following 7th row 6 times more – 94(107, 120, 133, 146) sts

Pattern should say: Inc 1 st at waist edge of next row, then every following 7th row 6 times more – 64(73, 86, 98, 112) sts

Sleeves:

Pattern should say:

With smaller needles, CO 86(88, 89, 93, 97) sts.

Work 6 rows 1x1 rib.

Change to larger needles and working in clover lace patt, dec 1 st at each edge of every 25th(25th, 32nd, 32nd, 32nd) row 2( 2, 4, 4, 4) times, then every 26th( 26th, 0, 0, 0) row 3( 3, 0, 0, 0) times – 76( 78, 81, 85, 89) sts.

Work even in pattern until piece measures 17 ½” from beg.

Shape raglan cap:

BO 7 sts at beg of next 2 rows.

Dec 1 st at each edge of every 4th row 9(10, 14, 9, 9) times, then every 6th( 6th, 0, 6th, 6th) row 2( 2, 0, 4, 6) times. BO remaining sts.

New final measurements for sleeve cuff opening: 13 ¼(13 ½, 13 ¾, 14, 15)
New final measurements for muscle: 11 ½(12, 12 ½, 13, 13 ¾)

Deadlines Are A Bore

Deadlines and secret projects are a bore....for this blog at least! Just thought I'd check in with a little sneak peek of my next secret project for One Planet. It uses Yarn Botanika Radiance, which is a pleasure to work with and has such a nice shine! Stay tuned for the finished product, it's blocking as I write.

7 Random Things

I've been tagged! I'm guessing this has been going around, but I'm 653 posts behind on bloglines! So please excuse me if I am way behind on this.

7 Random Things about me:

- I grew up in a small farming community in South Jersey
- I've managed to survive in the Fashion Industry for 5 years
- If fashion didn't work out, I wanted to be a drag racer
- I've been on the stage at Radio City Music Hall (Receiving BFA medal at graduation from FIT)
- I took ballet for 7 years before quitting to study guitar
- I've lived in NYC for 8 years and have probably spent no more than 25 weekends here in that time (I enjoy my SJ quiet country time!)
- My fiance and I share the same birthday

If you would like to do this, consider yourself tagged!

I hope to have some knitting content soon! Sorry to be MIA!

Green Living

I came across this post today from Right Out Loud about living greener. I just figured I'd share on behalf of Knitters Against Global Warming.

This also makes me think about what I have done to live a little greener since I started this little thing back in January. Well, being in the city it's easy to utilize public transportation, so that feels like cheating. But I have contacted the electric company and changed to wind generated power, buy local when I can and only drive my car sparingly when I am back home in Jersey. Every little bit helps right!

If you have posted about living greener on your blog (even if it hasn't been recent), drop me a line and I'll post a link here. Sharing ideas is just one of the many ways to help make a difference!

Been Awhile

Feels like I haven't updated in so long! Things have still been crazy at work and my free time has been spent working on several secret projects that are in the works. So with that said, don't know how often I'll be able to update over the next month or so. It's nice to have the work coming in – I just hope that I haven't gotten in over my head!

I've also been working on formatting quite a few new patterns for One Planet, getting our designs started for fall and helping decide on a few new yarns to add to the lines.

I'm still working on the design inspiration project, but I don't know the next time I will be able to post an update. I hope some of you are still interested! I know it's taken a bit longer to go through than I would have liked. It's such a cute sweater and now I just can't wait to get it finished up. It's almost a shame it's too warm now to wear!

And on a completely different note – just won tickets to go see Elvis Costello and the Impostors this weekend! It will be a much needed night out, I can assure you!

P.S. If you guys have heard of Ravelry, I have one invitation up for grabs if you are interested. Just email me at neoknits AT yahoo DOT com and I'll hook you up. They opened up a sign up list recently and were swamped with over 2,000 requests at last count! So if you check it out and aren't quick enough to email, be patient, they are busy getting ready for everyone!

The Design Process: Buttonbands

Finally! I am nearing the end of my little series. Not that it's a good thing, it's just exciting to finally be able to show you the final project and compare the original idea to the final product. I have to say, I think it's going to be pretty close to the original concept, which is not always the case with these things. I still have not seamed the sides or sewn on the buttons! I need to get on that!

So on to buttonbands!

I don't really use a set number when figuring out how many stitches to pick up. Usually I divide the number of rows by the numbers of stitches to get a ratio, but sometimes I don't. For this project, I decided to go with the ratio of 4 to 5. So out of every 5 sts, I pick up 4 of them.

For this design, I was able to pick up stitches continually from right bottom hem to left bottom hem, which makes things a lot easier! Whenever I hit a change (placket to neck, front neck to back neck) I placed a stitch marker so I can easily count the stitches to fill into the pattern.

Once stitches had been counted, I needed to figure out the placement of the buttonholes before proceeding. I counted up and had 92 sts from left front hem to the beginning of the V neck. So........

First you figure out how many stitches your button will need to pass through and how many buttons total will be used. I need 5 buttons and 5 sts for each button, so that will take up 25 sts (5x5).

I also need a few stitches at the top and bottom of the placket. You can't start buttonholes right at the edge! So I choose 4 for the top and 4 for the bottom.

Now we need to figure out how many stitches are in between each buttonhole. So we take 92 sts - 25 sts = 67 sts - 8 sts = 59 sts. Now we divide that by the number of spaces: 59/4= 14.75. Hmm, not an even number. So we add 2 sts to the top and 1 st to the bottom to make it an even 14.

So we have 6 sts for the bottom, 5 sts for each buttonhole, 14 sts between each and 5 sts on top!

Now that I have that info, I can figure out how many rows I'll need (9). And I decide to use a 1 row buttonhole, so I place it after the 4th row to keep things looking even.

Next up: Pockets? We'll see!

Getting Back on the Ball

Many thanks to everyone who has answered my survey so far! The feedback will be very useful for my future plans - especially your pet peeves! Most of what bothers you is eliminated in my patterns, but there is always room for improvement and I am certainly taking them to heart. I would like to have at least 30 10 more people take the survey so I have a good selection of knitters covered, so if you haven't taken it yet would you put down your needles for just a few minutes for me? I know it's a lot to ask, but I will be so appreciative! Survey is now closed! Thanks for all your help!

Looking at all the responses actually has me feeling a bit better about things and has put a new fire under my bum. And just in time too! I found out yesterday that Debbie Stoller is finally ready to bring the Advanced book to the front burner so that project will now added to the list. I also have 3 projects in the works for One Planet and just might have something else in the works for Sundara. As I always say, when it rains, it pours!

I have finally finished the button band on the design inspiration project! Yay! Now I'm debating if I still want to put the pockets on it. I'm going to sew it up tonight if I have time and maybe I'll take a picture and do an informal poll: pockets or no pockets? I'm leaning towards pockets, but we'll see. Button placket how to post coming soon!

Too Tired to Knit + Knitting Survey

I just can't seem to get past this lull I've been in for the past month or two. The knitting mojo is definitely suffering from the long hours spent at work everyday and it's getting quite old! I miss my knitting!

I've been trying to finish up the "design process" sweater and write up my last few installments in the series, but every time I try, I get delayed a bit. Not much is left on the sweater! It's soooooo close! To keep this from being a completely picture-less post, here are some buttons that I picked up from work last week for the sweater:

It also didn't help much that I came down with a horrid cold two weeks ago due to the crazy rainy weather we've had here in NYC. However, with the weather warming up, I finally felt better just in time to catch Lolly on her visit to The Point last Friday. We've been attempting to meet up for about 2 years now so it was nice to finally cross paths.

I hope to have another installment in the design series to post this week, but in the meantime would you guys mind helping me out by taking a little knitting survey? I've been thinking a lot about my designs and expanding my pattern business lately and any incite into your knitting minds would help so much! It's short and should only take about 5 or 10 minutes, but if you're a busy bee like me and can't fit it in - could you help by passing it on to another knitting friend? Many thanks and good knitting karma will be sent your way :) You can find my survey here.

The Design Process - Blocking

As promised, I finished up the left front this weekend and am finally able to proceed with the series. I know I had mentioned talking about picking up stitches, but how could I leave out the very important process of blocking! Shame on me!

I know there are people of both the wet block camp and steam block camp out there, but personally, I belong to the steam block camp - for the most part anyway. There is just something about putting your brand new sweater in a tub of water that really scares me! In fact, washing my sweaters brings about so much anxiety that it's really not funny.

So I start by grabbing my sweater parts, pins, blocking board and measuring tape. I lay everything out matching the measurements from my sketch book to the sweater and pin everything down. The blocking board makes this process an absolute charm, by the way! I used to pin everything out on a towel on the floor, which worked, but I hated it and it took double the time. In fact, honestly, before the blocking board I have to admit I didn't really do too much proper blocking to size. It would get a shot of steam from the iron to smooth the edges for seaming, and that was about it. Don't have a blocking board? You know how you never know what you want for your b-day/Christmas/Hanukkah/other holiday? Exactly! :)


So we have everything pinned down and even, so now I hit it with a good amount of steam being careful not to touch the iron to the surface. Sometimes with stubborn seams, you'll need to use the tip of the iron a bit but try your best not to make contact if you don't need to.

After steaming, the pieces will be a tiny bit damp, so I let them dry for a bit before unpinning them. And after unpinning, I still let them sit for a half hour or more just in case the knitting wants to pull back to shape on it's own. Trust me, being patient will pay off in the end! As with swatching, proper blocking is very important for a pleasant outcome of your garment.


Next up: picking up stitches for the neck and buttonband and placing buttonholes.

All Finished!

The Pea Pod Baby Set is all finished! After washing, the yarn turned out super soft and I'm very pleased.

Pea Pod Baby Set by Kate Gilbert
Size 6 needles
Rowan DK Wool: 3 balls Avocado
Started: March 23, 2007
Finished: April 3, 2007

I am very happy with the final outcome, but I had a hard time getting into this project for some reason. Maybe I just don't like deadlines that don't have to do with design projects? I don't know. But for such a small project, the knitting sometimes almost drove me up a wall. This coming from the girl that thinks a Stockinette Stitch garment on size 2 needles is a good idea!

So now I can get back to the "Design Inspiration" project, which has hit a snag for the past 2 weeks or so. I did something when increasing in pattern on the left front and I couldn't figure it out for the life of me! I ended up charting it out and ripping back quite a bit (I was about 1/4 the way done the sleeve). But it's back on track now and I hope to have the left front done by the end of the holiday. Once that is done, I can continue my series with calculating stitch pick up for the front button bands and sleeve cuffs. Also, I'll show how to calculate evenly spaced buttonholes.

Finally got around to checking bloglines today, and I was surprised to only see 410 posts waiting for me. After not checking in for several weeks, I was dreading how much I had missed, but apparently you guys are just as busy! Hope everyone has a nice relaxing holiday!

Pre-Block

Here we have the Pea Pod Baby Set pre-block:



After a little bath and 6 buttons, she'll be all ready to go for the baby shower in 2 weeks. Apparently baby couldn't wait til her due date in May though. There were a few complications and mama had to have a C section yesterday. Baby unfortunately only weights 3 lbs, so it will be a little while before she can fit into her little outfit. Send good wishes her way!

The Design Process - Finished, no - more math, yes!

Yay! The back is finished and I'm ready to move onto the front! If this was a pullover, I could just cast on the same amount of stitches and follow the back numbers until I got to the front neckline, but no such luck. I need to figure out how many stitches to cast on for each front taking into account the button placket.

I cast on a total of 95 sts for the back, so we'll start by dividing that in half which gives me 47.5 stitches. Don't like that, so I go down to 47. 47 doesn't work with the 2x2 ribbing, so I go down one more to 46. But I also have to account for a button placket here, which will be 1.25" wide which would take up about 6 stitches. The 6 stitches then are divided in half (the placket sits evenly over the center front) so we now have43 sts to work with. Again, this doesn't work with the 2x2 rib, so let's try 42. Now I need to check and see if the 42 stitches work with my lace pattern (42-4=38, 38/7=5.42......) nope. So I figure out that I either need 39 stitches or 46 stitches. I decide to go with 46, even though it's 1/2 of my total back. It's always better to go bigger with a button placket since they tend to pull.

So I cast on, work my rib and pattern til I have 15" worked. It's now time to figure out the neck decrease frequency.

On the half, I have 24 neck stitches to decrease and 14.5" to work them, or 116 rows. If we divide 116 by 24 we get 4.8333333.... hmm, not so even. So what do I do? Well, we have a special formula for uneven, unruly numbers like this.

1. I take the 2 even numbers that are closest to the 4.8333 - which are 4 and 6 (these are your frequency numbers).
2. Next I multiply the total number of decreases by the first number which is 4 (24x4=96)
3. Now subtract 96 from the total number of rows (116-96=20)
4. Divide 20 by 2 (20/2=10)
5. Multiply second decrease number (6) by 10 (6x10=60 rows)
6. Subtract 60 from 116 (116-60=56 rows)
7. Divide 56 rows by 4 (56/4=14)
8. Divide 60 rows by 6 (60/6=10)

So after all that, I determined that my decrease frequency is every 4th row 14 times, then every 6th row 10 times. I'm sure this might not make much sense, but if you pick up Maggie Righetti's book Sweater Design in Plain English, it will make MUCH more sense.

At the same time I'm doing all this neck decrease business, I'm also following all the underarm shaping and shoulder shaping as established on the back. And here's what I end up with:

A left front! ok, there was supposed to be a picture here, but things have been a bit crazy around these parts lately! I don't want to delay the post any longer, so please us your ultra creative mind to picture a left front :) (I actually wrote this on 3/15!)

This is it for the math for awhile - at least until I get to the button placket. The second front will be knit up exactly as the first. To make absolutely sure they actually do knit up the same, I keep a small 3x4 notebook handy to mark all of my decreases and rows. It's especially important in this case since I am working in pattern and would like it to match up evenly at the side seams and across the front. The little book also helps when you put the project down for a day or week or year or two. It's always easy to pick up where you left off.

The Yarn Harlot visits FIT

I'm a bit late with this post, but when I had gotten home from the event on Thursday night, my computer would not boot up. Apparently the technically challenged DB had succeeded in giving my computer a nasty virus. He won't be allowed near my computer where all my precious knitting pictures are stored any time soon....

So the Harlot. It was a pretty full house and she talked for about 2 or 2 1/2 hours about how knitters are misunderstood and why we should commend respect from the muggles. Various good deeds were done for the night with knitters working away on squares for Warm Up America, hats were collected for babies in other countries, and money was collected for Doctors Without Borders. I could go into more detail, but I'm sure the event has been covered sufficiently elsewhere.


Full House


Bad blurry picture of the Harlot

There were quite a few knitters who had come from long distances, which was pretty impressive: England, Switzerland, Virginia, California - just to name a few. I was even recognized by a far away knitter from (I believe) Switzerland - or at least she recognized Tatami. It was kind of neat!

Preparing for "Represent"

The Yarn Harlot will be at my alma mater, FIT tonight to kick off her new book release! I wish I could join in on more festivities of the day, such as a sock picture in the park, being in the crowd at the Today Show, or participating in a yarn crawl - but this girl's gotta work for a living and taking off for the day is not an option. I'm happy enough to be able to join the (hopefully) 750 knitters in the auditorium at 6pm. It's going to be great!

Speaking of work, it has been crazier than normal lately. We are preparing for Holiday 2007 market and the new sweater designs have been flying off the imac the past week and a half. I estimate my assistant and I have put out another 100-75 sweater styles in just this short time. I need a vacation!

The upswing in my full time job has put my knitting on hold for the minute, hence delaying the "series" a bit. I'm just way too tired when I get home to even think about picking up my knitting, let alone writing a blog post about math. I'm sure you all sympathize!

I need to get back in the swing of things soon though, I have many projects on the horizon. Take a look at my newest yarn shipment from One Planet:


This will eventually become 3 secret projects. Yes, we will be back in the secret phase soon!

And I also received my Rowan DK Wool for the baby project. The color is a bit brighter than I expected, but since I'm a green person I don't mind! I need to get this on the needles quick and find out when the shower is. That's the problem when it's the boy's family - info doesn't get passed down quite as quickly!

I hope to see some other NYC knitters tonight! Represent! :)

The Design Process - Yet More Math

After working the bust increases, it's now time to shape the underarm seam for the doleman-like sleeve.

Instead of using a set formula for the increases, I drew out a chart to make sure the shape is what I wanted. I wanted the increases to be worked over 2", which according to my row gauge is 16 rows total.

So I got out the trusty graph paper and started drawing. Here's what I came up with:

So I'm increasing a total of 11 stitches over 15 rows (1 stitch every other row 4 times, then 1 stitch every row 7 times) - close enough to my 16 total.

After working my underarm increases, I now need to figure out how many stitches to cast on for the sleeve at both ends of the back.

I want the sleeves to be about 10 1/4" long from the shoulder to the cuff. So 10.25 x 2 (sleeves) =20.5" + 9" (neck) = 29.5" wide. Then I subtract the body 29.5" - 18" = 11.5" for the underarm seams. But I have 2 underarm seams, so I need to divide by 2 = 5.75" for each side or 31 stitches wide (5.75 x 5.5=31).

I already increased 11 stitches for the underarm shaping, so I can subtract that from the 31, so we have 20 stitches to increase.

But before I cast 20 more stitches on for the sleeve, I need to make sure the total number of stitches follows our stitch repeat numbers (7 sts + 4). 99 sts + 22 sts + 40 sts = 161 sts total. 161-4=157, 157/7= 22.428...... = not going to work! So I messed around a bit with the numbers and figured out I needed to add 15 sts on each side (99 + 22 + 30=151 sts. 151 -4=147, 147/7=21 repeats). The sleeve will be about 1" shorter on each side, but having the numbers work out makes it easier to place the repeats correctly so I can live with that.

After casting on the extra stitches, I was able to veg out for awhile and knit even for 7 1/2". Once I hit that point, it was time to think about the shoulder shaping.

I decided I wanted to try some short row shaping on the shoulders since I've never done it in a design before. Well, I wanted to do short row shaping, but with the lace pattern going on, I ended up with a lot more stitches than I was supposed to, so out it came! I did a traditional bind off instead and slipped the first stitch of each bind off row to avoid the ugly "stair step" edge you get if you don't do this. To figure out how many stitches I needed to decrease, I subtracted the neck opening stitches from the sleeve stitches and have 51 stitches to decrease on each shoulder over 14 rows. Because I can only decrease one side per row, I actually only have 7 rows to decrease over. So 51/7= 7 with a remainder of 2. So I'll be binding off 7 stitches 7 times and then have 2 sts at the end left over.

There will also be a bit of back neck shaping involved which will involve separating the back at a certain point, but I think it's safe to say that I'm pretty sure you just want to see a progress picture by now:


Next up: Math for a cardigan front and neck decreases - fun!

Thanks to everyone who made a suggestion in my time of crisis! I decided on the Rowan DK Wool from elann.com for the baby goods. I love Rowan and hey, it was cheap! If it wasn't a budget project, I probably would have gone for the Zara, but I'm sure there will be a next time!

Help!

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a nice DK weight yarn for a baby sweater. I'm making the Pea Pod Baby Set from Interweave and don't really want to use the Debbie Bliss it calls for. Does anyone have a suggestion of something that is machine washable, is soft and holds up well without pilling? Oh, and did I mention cheap?

I ordered some Jaeger Baby Merino DK from Webs and they totally disappointed me. I placed the order on Sunday and today.......3 days later......they email me to tell me it's out of stock! Meanwhile, I go back to the website and it says they still have 6 skeins in stock (they had like a billion when I ordered). Hmm, needless to say, I don't think I'll be ordering anything from them EVER again! So I'm in panic mode now and don't know what to do. I know it's not that big of a deal and I can get this yarn elsewhere, but I lost 3 days on a tight schedule project! And now I'm not so sure I want this yarn now since I'm going to pay much more somewhere else. Sigh.

The Design Process - More Math

Sorry for the delay in the series! Last week, I was so busy with work (it's market week - ugh!) that I was hardly able to knit a stitch. Even if I had tried to knit a stitch, I was so tired I don't think I would have been able to. Buyers zap the energy right out of you!

When we last left off, I had explained a little bit about the math that needed to be done to get me up to the waist point. I also had to make a decision about the chest and if I wanted to decrease or increase at this point.

I decided to increase for the bust and I changed a few measurements around. So here's the updated schematic:

For the bust to measure 18", I need 99 sts. There are 95 sts on my needle, so I need to increase 4 sts total - 2 sts on each side (99-95=4, 4/2=2). Now I just need to figure out the spacing of those increases.

I have 2 increases to make and 24 rows to work them. To keep a nice slope, you need to space the increases out evenly or your side seams can look a bit odd. In this case, since I only have 2 sts to increase and it's actually pretty easy to figure out. I increase the 1st stitch after completing 15" of the body, then I increase 1 stitch more 24 rows later.

Not too much math involved on the increases on this sample, but what if I wanted to increase more stitches over the same 3"?

Just for example's sake, let's say I needed 4 increases on each side instead of 2 and had the same 24 rows to work with. I would divide 24 rows into 3 intervals (space between each inc) and would get 8. So I would need to increase 1 stitch every 8 rows 4 times. This works out perfectly and each increase is on the right side (since it's an even number). It doesn't always work out so easily and sometimes the numbers need to be fudged a bit, but we'll leave that for a later lesson - like the neck decreases.

Next up: shaping the underarm seams and shoulder decreasing

The Starla Cardi Revealed

I'd like to introduce another Secret Project: The Starla Cardi! Knit up in Lanas Puras Melosa - Worsted Weight, it's sure to fly off your needles.

If you head on over to One Planet Yarn and Fiber you will find details how to purchase the yarn for this project at 10% off!



Starla Cardi
by Melissa Wehrle

DIFFICULTY
Beginner

SIZE
2/4 (6/8, 10/12, 14/16)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Chest at Underarm: 21 (24.5, 28, 31)"/53 (62, 71, 79)cm
Finished Length: 17.5 (18, 18.5, 19)"/44 (46, 47, 48)cm
MATERIALS
- Lanas Puras Melosa - Worsted Weight
(100% Merino Wool, 3 oz, 215 yds), 3 (3, 4, 4) skeins Margarita
- One 24" (61 cm) or longer US size 8 (5 mm) circular needle or size to obtain correct gauge.
- Four stitch markers
- Three stitch holders
- Tapestry needle
- ½ yd 7/8" wide ribbon
- Six ¾" diameter buttons

GAUGE
18 sts and 25 rows = 4"/10 cm in Reverse St st with US size 8 (5 mm) needles or size to obtain gauge

The body is worked in one peice up to the armholes. Each section is then split and worked separately to the shoulders.

More on the design series soon, hit a little snag with the armhole increases, but we're all good to go now!

The Design Process - Math

Math, the bogyman of the knitting world! I'll try to explain the best I can, and I hope it is somewhat understandable. Instead of doing everything at once, I'll try to break it down into smaller pieces and only as I work on each section. My numbers tend to change as I'm working anyway, so this is probably the best way to go.

So we're back to the trusty schematic. I've added in a few more numbers since we last saw it:

To start, I needed to decide whether to make the sweater in one piece or three. I decided to make it in three pieces for two reasons: #1 Seams add more stability to a garment and #2 it would be difficult to continue in one piece when I got to the sleeve section.

With that decided, I can now begin to figure out my numbers.

To sum up the process in very simple terms, I need to multiply all the horizontal measurements by the stitch gauge and all the vertical measurements by the row gauge. But with this sweater, it's not quite that easy.

For example - Bottom hem: I want it to be 17 1/2" wide. Multiply 17.5 x 5.5 (st gauge)=96.25 sts. I round this down to 96 sts, but this still doesn't work. My lace stitch pattern is a multiple of 7 + 4 sts. This means that my cast on number must be evenly divided by 7 and then 4 sts need to be added to keep the pattern centered. So I play with my number and come up with 95 sts to cast on (95-4=91 then 91/7=13).

So I have 95 sts to cast on, right? Well, not really. I decided to start the hem with a 2x2 rib whose stitch multiple is 4 + 2 sts. In order to center the rib up correctly, I couldn't do a correct pattern repeat. I decided on 96 sts (k1, (p2, k2) to last 3 sts, p2, k1). When I get to the pattern portion of the body, I'll just need to decrease 1 st to get back to 95 sts for the correct pattern repeat. I make a note of this on my schematic so I don't forget.

Next I usually figure out the decrease and increase frequency along the side seams, but since this body is fairly straight, I haven't really decided on the decrease points yet. I decided to cast on and think about where these points may be as I go along.

I cast on for the back on Sunday night and I have about 11" done so far. I haven't quite figured out where I want to start my shaping yet. I'm also wondering if I should start increasing instead of decreasing as I originally planned........hmm. I better decide soon though, I really don't feel like ripping back because I've gone too far!

Stay tuned for more sweater progress and math! Can I hear everyone say "yay! math!"?



P.S. Speaking of numbers changing - at about 5" in I realized that my row gauge was actually 8 rows per inch instead of 7. I did recheck my gauge swatch in the beginning, but it just goes to show that you can't always rely on them 100%. Always check your knitting!

The Design Process - Gauge

Let's talk about gauge. Now I know what some of you are thinking - ugh! not another lecture about gauge! Well, yes and no. When designing a pattern, a gauge swatch is the key to all my numbers. Without it I would be completely lost, have to rip back 50,000 times and would probably be committed to the loony bin before you could say "knit". So let's get started, shall we?

To make sure I get accurate gauge, I try to make my swatches a bit larger than normal - at least 6"x6". When knitting over a larger area, it's easier to knit at a normal tension that is comparable to actually working with a larger piece of knitting. I usually have a pretty good idea how many stitches to cast on to get at least 6" across and if I'm working in a pattern, I make sure to cast on the correct number of repeats + any extra stitches if needed. A larger gauge swatch also makes it easier to learn the pattern so I don't have to rely so much on a chart or written instructions once I get started on the actual garment.


Flame Chevron Stitch in Fable Handknits 100% Baby Alpaca

As you can see, my gauge swatch is all knit up, blocked and ready to be measured. It measures 5.75"x5.25" (32sts x 36sts total) which gives me a gauge of 5.5 sts and 7 rows per inch on US size 5 needles. I always make sure to double and triple check all the measurements and stitch counts - trust me - I found this out the hard way! Patience is key when working with gauge! Even though I'm usually anxious to get started on a new project, I try to let the swatch sit overnight and recheck the measurements when I get home from work. Also, late nights and figuring out gauge don't mix!

So I have some stitch and row numbers to work with, but now what? This is where my rough schematic comes in.

I keep all my design info at hand in a small notebook I carry around everywhere. On the page opposite the schematic I keep all my gauge, needle and stitch information.

As you can see, I only have a few measurements written in for now. They constantly change as I knit the garment and the only thing I really need to worry about for the time being is how many stitches to cast on, how many rows of rib to work, when do my decreases need to start, how many do I have to do and how often. I know that sounds like a mouthful, but it's not too bad, really!

Since I've probably bored you enough talking about gauge, I think I'll save the math stuff for the next installment! Stay tuned!

Two of a Kind

Look for part 2 of "The Design Process" soon, but in the meantime.......

We have 2 finished Anemoi mittens!


Pattern: Anemoi mittens by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Fortissima Socka 1 ball Olive and 1 ball Cream
Needles: Size 0 and 1 dpns
Started: Jan 26th
Finished: Feb 19th

Pattern Notes: I just LOVE these mittens! Unfortunately I finished them just in time for the weather to warm up a bit! It was almost 50 degrees today! I'd hate to even say this, but......I hope we have a few more chilly days so I can wear them! The pattern was pretty straight forward, but I still don't know how Eunny managed to turn the mittens inside out with 2 dpns sticking out of the top to do the 3 needle bind off! The first time was all cursing, the second time I was smart enough to put the stitches on waste yarn. The first time was also done at 2am - not so smart.

And why did my mittens take me so long? That is thanks to the pink thing they are sitting on, and I don't want to talk about it! Let's just say that the pink thing used to be a brown maternity sweater.....in a way. And no, I haven't found a magic way to turn dark brown yarn into pink either.

The Design Process - Inspiration

Welcome to my first installment of a glimpse inside my design process! I will begin with a very short summary of where I find inspiration and then talk a bit about sketching and swatching the initial design. I also include dates so you can get a general idea how long the process can sometimes take.

Working as a full-time designer, I am blessed with having tons and tons of inspiration surrounding me practically 24/7. We subscribe to trend and color services, shop Europe and NYC, and look at magazines. Sometimes I am inspired by a particular stitch, other times by a great silhouette or even by a great yarn.

In this particular case, I was inspired by some beautiful yarn - Fable Handknit's 100% Baby Alpaca. This yarn deserved to be turned into something that was classy and sophisticated, yet fun and up-to-date.

Finally in the beginning of January, I got around to sketching a few ideas here and there. I sketched about 10 designs and let them sit, looking over them occasionally. Finally they were narrowed down to about 4 and left to sit another few days. Usually, I will also get outside opinions of fellow knitters and designers to help me decide on the final project. I don't think the creative process should happen in a total vacuum, and comments from outside sources are a very helpful tool when making my final choice. And the winner was.........

A deep V tunic cardigan with short doleman sleeves (selected Jan 13th):

Once the design was chosen, I set to work trying to find a stitch pattern that both complimented the yarn and the silhouette - which is not always an easy task! After pouring over several stitch libraries, I selected a few to swatch. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. For this particular design, I picked about 5 stitch patterns and 2 worked with the alpaca.





I went for something with a little texture, but with a hint of lace (finished Feb 1st):

The top of the swatch was done in an interesting pointelle/rib like pattern. The bottom is Flame Chevron.

I carried the swatch around with me for about a week before finally deciding on the Flame Chevron. I thought it would work well with the design and add a bit of texture without being overwhelming. I really liked the top pattern also, but felt it might look a bit too busy, thick and vertical for a long tunic. So this stitch will probably become inspiration for another design down the road.

Inspiration - check.
Design - check.
Stitch pattern - check.

Next step: figuring out the gauge, yarn requirements, and the measurements of the finished garment. Stay tuned!

New Design Project

I've been working on a new design for neoknits that I'll actually be able to share! The design has been in the works for a month or so, but I just finalized all the details today.

As I'm working on the project, I hope to be able to explain a little bit about what goes into creating a design, how long the process takes, and what type of snags can taunt you along the way. After being unable to share all my "secret projects" for so long, I hope this will be something that may interest a few of you out there.

So stay tuned! I hope to begin this little "design series" on Monday and update at least 2-3 times each week, depending on my progress. I'm sure other projects might interrupt, but I'll give it a good try!

And no, my other mitten isn't finished yet. Back to knitting!

Brrrrrr! Chilly Weekend!

The temperature just keeps falling, falling, falling and my mittens aren't getting knit quick enough! It took me just a few extra minutes getting out of the house this morning so I could get to work. Who likes 15 degree weather? Not me!

Yesterday, DB and I ventured out into the 28 degree weather to visit the Merchants House Museum and then some lunch and shopping in Soho. If you are into the Edith Warton era, you HAVE to go to this museum. The house was built in 1832 and purchased in 1835 by Seabury Treadwell. The house was sold in 1933 when the last surviving daughter passed away and has been a museum ever since. All the furniture, clothing and linens in the house were owned by the family and are original to the house. It is a time capsule that remained unchanged for almost 100 years while occupied!

Here is a bad picture of the outside, the sun wasn't co-operating and I was too cold to be a perfectionist!


Afterwards, we got a bite to eat and then headed over to Purl Patchwork. I couldn't resist getting some fabric for the Weekender Bag pattern I had bought last summer. I love the little bees and Anemoi does too! The polka dots will be for the lining and the straps.

I think I have become obsessed by sewing again. I spent all weekend looking through Sew U and dreaming of new clothes. I even went so far as to grab my patternmaking book and old notes from class at FIT. But it might be too early to tell, the machine is still yet to come out of the closet. I'll keep you posted on this one!

Mittens and a New Look

I was finally able to change over to the new blogger. Man, this so much easier! I'm in heaven. I was getting a bit sick of all the green anyway. I'm feeling the clean lines now.

I actually had some time this week for "free knitting", knitting for myself that is! This yarn was originally intended for Eunny's End Paper Mitts, but because of the recent cold snap, the Anemoi mittens just seemed much more useful at this time. I started them last Friday night and have made fairly good progress, but I want them done now!

There is tons more stuff going on behind the scenes which have kept my speedy fingers from finishing the mittens quickly. Lots of interesting stuff going on with One Planet, developing swatches for new designs, and sketching, sketching and more sketching!