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Thursday, September 2, 2004

The Scoop of the Scoop du Jour is well, SCOOPED!


Who’s the Boss!?

Drafting several necklines this winter and spring has pushed me to try even curvier, faster curves. Step on it, lead foot!

I wasn’t convinced this was going to work – if you look at the picture from yesterday, you can see the narrowness of the shoulder piece. I wanted to use WIDE chunky rib at the neck and that needed a WIDE SCOOPER-Doo…

This means I had to leave a curved *hole* so to speak, that I was going to *fill-up* with rib.

But ya really don’t know until you get your hands (face, feet and NECK) dirty in this PROCESS so in I dived. I picked up 5 sts for every 6 on the edge.

My RULE of THUMB for edgings is thus: note your Row Gauge. Then subract 1 stitch from whatever that number is, so in this case it is 5 because this is an Aran weight yarn with a gauge of 6 rows per inch. I picked up 5 sts for every 6 stitches made along the edge (pick up 5, skip 1, pick up 5, skip 1, etc). This is called a 5/6 ratio.

If your row gauge is 7 rows per inch, pick up 6 sts for every 7 along the edge. For bulky yarns with a row gauge of 4 rows per inch, I pick up stitches in a 3/4 ratio.

The mistake I referred to on Tuesday was that I picked up stitches in a 6/7 ratio or 6 sts for every 7 on the body edge, and ended up with too many stitches. This made the ButtonBand flare out! I could see it in the picture, but didn’t spot it in person! I have no idea why I broke my own THUMB! A BB (and all edgings) need to be slightly smaller than what they are edging so they CONTROL the edge itself.


Dog is in the Details

Other Finishing FUN!

— I always slip the first stitch of the row of a band for a smooth edge

— on the Buttonband, on the last bind-off row, on a RS row, I bind-off all stitches knitwise for a cool, little chain edging on the band. This is firm and controls the roll…

— on the neckline, I started out with needles that were two sizes smaller than the body needles. Half-way through, I switched to three sizes down from the body; on the last two rows, I used a needle 4 sizes down. This gave me a nice sublte curve of its own with no pesky decreasing – which is always hard to do on a ribbed section.

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Wednesday, September 1

Split Knitting Personality: knitter who really enjoys using machine knitting and hand knitting in the same sentence, oh, same garment!

If you’ve been a subscriber of any of the knitting tomes, sooner or later you’ve come across an article about the Process vs. Project (I think I got that right) Schools of Thought about Knitting.

Some knitters just enjoy the Process of the deed itself – the stitch by stitch relaxation, watching the garment Grow under your hands, the visceral, organic connection one makes with FIBER…

The Project Folk are goin’ for the Gold – a race to that new jumper! Something to brighten up the grind of the Daily Landscape – a Fashion Statement that needs to be spoken sooner rather than later…

I would put myself 99% smack dab in the Project group. I consider my Stash and the End Results of my Labor as PURE WARDROBE ENHANCEMENT! If I’m not going to wear it, I won’t waste my time making it.

This does NOT, however, mean I don’t ADORE the Process.
I am truly under its spell…

How I get that hot little item in my hands is where the Split Knitting Personality comes in…

Hand Knitting — Process
___________+
Machine Knitting — Product

ADD the two together and VOILA!

WARDROBE!

Nothin’ crazy about that!

AND nothing too far afield of the Sanctity of the Process…

After I machine knit the Stockinette parts of the garment, they are all finished by hand knitting.

Many people refer to their hand operated Knitting Machines as Stockinette Looms – and believe me, while you’re moving that carriage back and forth manually there is a *weaving* type vibe going on. Instead of stitch-by-stitch knitting that is accomplished with traditional needles, you are making row-by-row progress.

…to be continued

read the Complete Notes: Machine Knitting HERE

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Tuesday, August 31, 2004


Scoop du Jour! Machine knit fronts – one with hand ribbed edgings

If one could be said to have a Split Knitting Personality, I am GUILTY! The cool thing is that it goes right along with the Split Weather Personality of CHICAGO these days – one day is very cool and rainy – then the next, is tropically TORCHED!

My dilemma? I can’t stand to touch WOOL right now…

So off the Chopping Block of WIPs comes the Fern sweater.

AND, in it’s place goes:
Scoop du Jour!

I’ve had a bag and a half of Rowan All Seasons Cotton (my very favorite yarn) languishing in the Stash Palace for quite awhile. I was clueless as to what to make from it – the original idea died a lingering death and vaporized some time last year or thereabouts…

But I love this yarn’s subtle varieagation – Grey on Grey – and saw a Utility Sweater in my FUTURE!

Now that Rapunzel and Wavy Bulb are history, I’m set on the FANCY PANTS Front for quite awhile and can make some WORK CLOTHES!

YES! I work for a living – 50-60 hours a week on my regular photojournalist gig.

And I need clothes – cool clothes – I am caught in an endless round of T-shirts and GASP, Parkas and my head is just reeling with the threat of another Autumn looking like a UPS Delivery Guy.

OH WAIT – I just bought this activewear jacket to work in because it WOULD make me look like…

Anyways, in a fit of extreme energy, I pulled out my freshly acquired knitting machine (similar to the one in this auction) this weekend and whipped out most of the body parts of this sweater. Then begins the hand finishing – which for this garment is fat, chunky ribbing on all the edges.

It has a wide scoop neck, with deep ribbing on the bottom and less deep ribbing on the trim.

Just the Saucy Sassy Cardi that BUSTS the Parka/Tshirt tyranny!

Can you see the mistake with this piece? Ahhh, the power of cheese, the photos never lie!

I’m going to have to RIPPIT! Hey Froggy, once again I’m following your mantra!