Whew!
Even in the multiple WIP deadline reality over here at Studio Chic, we’ve had to make time lately to get our space ready to move.
One of our friends has been working with us to de-clutter the whole house and it’s kind of amazing what keeps surfacing.
In the middle of all this, because even a work horse has to occasionally stop moving so much and chew or flick, I’ve been making progress on my cotton/wool Vonica.
It’s at about 3″ after all the yoke pieces are joined together and now that there’s some fabric to work with, it seemed like the natural time to STOP and check the garment dimensions.
Here’s how I do it:
– I almost always knit things using circular needles, preferring them because they allow for a comfortable, flexible pile of fabric that can rest in one’s lap, even when something has lots of stitches.
– To get this ready to measure, I took another needle and knit half the row. Doing this allows the fabric to really spread out and not be all bunched up. Some folks like put their stitches on some scrap yarn to do the same thing, but since I had an extra needle, this saves that tedious task of putting the stitches back on the working needle later…
– Then, I spread it out on a cushion. Using my hands, I position and pat out the fabric so it’s as flat as I can make it, rolling the excess whose bulk rather anchors the fabric.
– Now, the garment is secured at several points with one of my favorite tools: corsage pins.
– Then, using my trusty tape measure, I check the cross-back measurement.
This wonderful fabric tape measure popped up while I’ve been de-cluttering the studio. It was in a box I’d dragged home last year from my mother’s house and it had: my first communion purse (that had a little prayer book inside); my junior high school clarinet; my high school year books; and a wicker sewing box full of this and that.
What makes this sort of incredible is that it is actually from my sophomore year Sewing Class!
Mrs. Patten was my teacher and the class was in Room
Hee.
But I digress…
Back to my knitting: it was with great pleasure and relief to read the result on the tape.
Since I’m making a finished measurement of Size 36, the Back would be 1/2 of that or
Oh yeah…
Thank you for your tip of knitting half a row on another needle so the fabric will lay flat for measuring. I always read your blogs hoping for the tips you put into them.