Monthly Archives: February 2016

KTFO-2016.2 : Bob’s rollneck sweater

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KTFO-2016.2 : Bob's rollneck

I can’t believe it’s the end of February and I’m just now posting my second FO of the year. There are three more things completed since #1; it’s just taking me a bit of time to get them written up! Anyway—

For a long, long time, as many of you will recall, Bob and debated what kind of sweater I should make him. His favorite sweater of all time is a charcoal grey rollneck from J.Crew from six or eight years ago — you know the one; it comes around every ten years or so. It fits him perfectly, looks amazing on him, but he almost never wears it because it’s heavyweight, very densely knitted, 100% wool. It’s super hot, and the weather is rarely cold enough (in either CA or TN) for him to wear it — which is a shame, because it’s so perfect. So in the end we decided to try to make the closest possible replica, but more wearable. The yarn is O-Wool Balance (in Emerald), which is as ideal for husbands as it is for babies: It’s an organic, machine-washable yarn (nothing at all like those superwash wools) that is 50% cotton and 50% wool. And it’s what I would consider light worsted weight. So this sweater is thinner and less hot than his beloved charcoal sweater, and it can go in the machine — which, I should note, it will need to do a little more often because cotton does tend to bag out a bit in the wearing.

The key difference between the green replica and the original is that greenie is raglan sleeved, whereas the J.Crew classic is saddle-shouldered. Knowing how picky Bob is about fit, I was determined to knit it top-down so I could put it on him and check it and get his buy-in at every step along the way. And while it’s possible to do a top-down saddle-shoulder, I’ve not done it before, and for this one I wanted to stay on known ground for the best chance of a solid outcome.

KTFO-2016.2 : Bob's rollneck

I’m giving myself a B- on note-taking on this one — there are a few details I failed to record in my notebook along the way — but for anyone who knows how to knit a top-down sweater and wants to recreate this, these top-line specifics should get you there.

PATTERN

Improvised

GAUGE

5.25 sts and 7.25 rows = 1″, measured over 4″ in stockinette, knitted on US6 needles

TARGET MEASUREMENTS

44″ chest = 238 sts
14″ upper arm circumference = 74 sts (76 with selvage sts)
9″ cuff circumference = 48 sts (50 w/selvage)
27″ total length
2.5″ front neck drop
9″ yoke/armhole depth
19″ body length (3″ hem ribbing)
19″ sleeve length (3″ cuff ribbing)
3″ rollneck

DETAILS

– Wanted 6.5″ back neck measurement = 33 sts, plus 10 for each sleeve, 1 for each raglan and 1 each at the front neck

– Thus CO 59 sts, divided with markers as follows ( 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 )

– Planned on 16 sts cast on at each underarm

– Increased (kfb) on each side of the raglans and at front neck every other row, casting on front sts to match back count and joining in the round when back measured 2.5″ deep

– Before going too much further, knitted the neck — picked up sts exactly as if I were ribbing the neck band (didn’t record st count, sorry) and worked in stockinette for 3″, decreasing twice along the way, in line with each back neck/shoulder seam (total of 4 sts dec)

– Continued increasing sleeve sts until 58 each (+16 cast on for underarm = target of 74) and increasing front and back until 103 sts each (+16 = 119 each; front + back = target of 238) (counted raglan sts as body sts)

– At 9″ yoke depth, set aside sleeve sts, cast on the 16 at each underarm, marking the center stitch (side seam “basting stitch”), and joined body in the round; from this point worked the stitch at the side seam as a purl stitch to be mattress stitched later

– Can’t remember if I decreased at the side seams once or twice as I headed toward the hem, but I think just once; worked 1×1 ribbing for 3″ on US5 needles, I think (maybe 4s?)

– Opted to knit the sleeves flat (turning the work to knit back and forth) and seam them — picked up one extra stitch at each end of the armhole cast-on and those were my selvage stitches; decreased every 8th row until 50 sts (48 cuff sts plus 2 selvage); worked 1×1 ribbing for 3″

– Oh, and there is that one teensy mistake no one will ever see.

The sleeves have been seamed, obviously, but I haven’t mattress stitched the sides yet. I also am reserving the right to seam up that single stitch at each raglan if the sweater appears to be bagging out in the yoke at some future date!

We’re both really happy with the sweater — and you can see in the photo below how well I managed to match the original’s dimensions. In most ways, the fact that this sweater is lighter and thinner is a plus, but it’s proving to be not ideal for the rollneck. The fabric just doesn’t have enough body to resist the roll, and wants to roll all the way down pretty quickly rather than standing its ground a bit, so there may be a neck band alteration in its future. Other than that, four thumbs up!

KTFO-2016.2 : Bob's rollneck

PREVIOUSLY in FOs: Wool gauze pullover

Elsewhere

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Elsewhere: Yarny links for your clicking pleasure

There were so many great responses to my question about worthwhile podcasts last week. One that got a lot of mentions and that I’ve really been meaning to listen to is Stuff You Missed in History Class. I’ll have to start with the House of Worth episode. And (major tangent but) that reminds me — if you’re lamenting the end of Downtown Abbey and haven’t ever seen The House of Eliott, make haste! It’s been 8 or 10 years since I watched it; think it’s time to watch again.

– Monday is Leap Day — here’s a great idea for what to do with it

– Good wool hunting in Shetland (via MJM)

– And a day in the life of a Bodega Bay sheep farm

– Love this Japanese short rows method

– Levi’s boss on why you should wash your jeans less

– Using “risk management” to make better stuff

– The power of buying less by buying better

– Fantastic interview with Jamie & the Jones, some of my local small-batch fashion friends

– And and in-depth podcast discussion on the birth of Tamar, a fascinating new British yarn I’ve had the pleasure of petting

– The hero of this video game is a piece of yarn

– Delightful tiny video (press play) from —WARNING: NSFW— the most provocative Instagram knitting feed I’ve seen

– Quite the back story on this beautiful quilt

– And some truly stunning macramé (she calls them “weaves”)

IN SHOP NEWS: The wooden gauge rulers are finally back in stock! While the sale shelf is getting verrrry sparse.

Thanks for all the great conversation lately, everyone! Have an amazing weekend—

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PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere

Photos (l to r) from Kelbourne Woolens, Fibershed, Style Bee

Next of the Best of Fall 2016: M. Patmos’ blanket-cardigan

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Next of the Best of Fall 2016: M.Patmos blanket-cardigan

Um. Now normally I’m sort of allergic to a hyphenate. But this cabled ivory blanket-wrap-cardigan — a big rectangle with pockets and a button band — is so good I don’t even know what to say about it. Other than well played M.Patmos, well played.

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PREVIOUSLY in Fall 2016: Hat hair

 

Queue Check — February 2016

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Queue Check — February 2016

So since my January Queue Check, I finished Bob’s rollneck sweater and started and finished my black raglan. (I posted a sneak peek by the way.) While both sweaters were drying on my dining table over the weekend, I had this moment of pause and relief and thought, “wow, so all I have on the needles right now are those two hats!” Of course, before the sentence was even complete in my head, I remembered ANNA! The thing about Anna is the stitch pattern is so mesmerizing I fall into a trance and forget I’m even knitting. Then I remembered, uh, I have a couple of other things going as well. Actual current WIP tally, top to bottom:

1) Anna Vest, begun in October and saved for the Anna Vest Knitalong, now going strong. This pic is the back piece, and the two fronts are where they left off after my inset pockets tutorial. By the way, there’s plenty of time to join the knitalong — just tag your posts wherever with #annavestkal. [yarn is Fibre Co. Terra in Coalwood]

2) Grey Sawkill Farm sweater (no pattern), sleeves knitted in November and then set aside to make way for Bob’s sweater and my black quickie. This one will probably get knitted here and there over the course of the next few months, ready to wear by fall. No rush. [yarn is Sawkill Farm from Rhinebeck]

3) Penguono, cast on in January among friends doing the same. Really love this photo, but really not feeling this sweater. I’m not sure what will happen next, but how gorgeous is that Camellia handspun? [a gift from Rebekka]

4) Seathwaite Hat, still waiting for me to sit still during daylight hours and do the brim join round. [yarn is YOTH Father in Saba, a gift from Veronika]

5) 1898 Hat, just waiting for some attention, any attention! [yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Soot]

I’ll be getting back to both hats soon, because while I don’t really think I’m about to knit 5 more stockinette lopi sweaters, I do think there’s more stockinette in my future (a nice plain cardigan, a simple sleeveless linen something for summer), and the hats will be the much-needed spice in that rather bland knitting diet.

After all the wardrobe planning and the last few makes (both knitted and sewn), I’m feeling for the first time since the purge like I’m able to get dressed in the morning, and for different seasons, and am not in such a panic about filling wardrobe holes. Also feeling more like I have a sense of where my wardrobe is heading for the foreseeable future. So whereas my Queue Check posts have mostly been me obsessing about the five next things I want to make, right now I’m just gazing casually out across the year. And the only thing I’m really feeling particularly driven about is finally casting on that Channel Cardigan I’ve been plotting for two years. If I can decide about yarn, I’ll cast on this spring and work on it in a leisurely fashion, with the anticipation of wearing it, too, this coming fall. Doesn’t that sound lovely?

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PREVIOUSLY in Queue Check: January 2016

The ultimate handknit sweater, $28

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The ultimate handknit sweater, $28

Oh, you guys, I can’t even think straight! I blocked my black lopi raglan sweater to make sure it really needed a revision to the lower body, and it turns out it’s PERFECT. And I don’t just mean it doesn’t need any more work, I mean it is the perfect sweater.

Imagine if I said you could knit a sweater in two weeks or less that is thin and light as air, but very warm. That is durable — as in, it will last for decades. [ETA: Judes makes an excellent point below.] Knitted from totally ethical, traceable farm yarn. And which would cost you well under $100. (Mine cost about $28.) You’d ask if it was spun whole by bluebirds from fairy dust and unicorn hair, right? But that’s exactly what this sweater is. (I promise I’ll take FO pics and show it to you ASAP.) Lettlopi aran-weight Icelandic wool knitted on US10 — or even 10.5 — needles is pure unadulterated genius, brought to my attention by Mary Jane Mucklestone and her Stopover sweater. Little did I know, the day I put on Kathy’s for that photoshoot, that it would change my entire knitting worldview.

I’m so driven to distraction with yarn love that instead of writing the post I meant to write for this morning, I’m back on Tolt’s Lettlopi page fantasizing and picking out colors for five more sweaters. Because all I want to knit now is every archetypal sweater in Lettlopi stockinette at 3.5 stitches per inch—

– Basic crewneck cardigan : Color 56 (silvery grey)
– Hip-length boyfriend cardigan with inset pockets : Color 1402 (sky blue)
– Short, long-sleeve v-neck pullover: Color 1400 (camel)
– Crewneck pullover, long full sleeves : Color 1413 (lilac)
– Short, elbow-sleeve crewneck pullover (same as the black one) : Color 9421  (army)

Along with the black (Color 0005), that’s my whole life palette right there, by the way — it doesn’t seem to ever change.

Look, I have to say this: This yarn is not for everyone. If you like gooey soft marshmallow yarns, you probably won’t like lopi. It is soft, but not that kind of soft. It’s airy and hairy and does magical things when you soak it — at least (or especially?) at this gauge. It’s fascinating.

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Lettlopi photos © Tolt Yarn and Wool

How to account for gauge differences

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How to account for gauge differences

Over the weekend, I got a gauge question from someone planning to join the Anna Vest Knitalong, and since it’s a universal question, and a conundrum that I see people struggling with a lot, I thought I’d write it up for the blog. The question is: If you’re knitting at a gauge that’s different than pattern gauge, how do you figure out how big the garment will turn out?

Long-time readers know I rarely, if ever, knit a sweater at pattern gauge. We have it drilled into us as knitters that you have to match pattern gauge or your finished object will not match the pattern dimensions, which is absolutely true. If your stitches are bigger, your garment will be bigger; if your stitches are smaller, your garment will be smaller. So we swatch, and we measure. (See How to knit and measure a swatch.) And if our gauge is off, we dutifully swatch again on a different needle until we “get gauge.” Unless you’re like me, and you rarely use the recommended yarn, and you’re more interested in getting a fabric you like than in matching the pattern gauge, in which case you swatch to get your desired fabric and its measurements. However, going rogue means you’re going to have to do some grade-school math. (Watch for my upcoming post: Does getting gauge mean never doing math? Not if you care about fit.) (Actually, see How to start knitting a sweater for that.)

So Jennie swatched for the Anna Vest and she likes the fabric she’s getting on size 6 needles, which is giving her 22 stitches per 4 inches instead of the pattern gauge of 20 sts. She’s a 34″ bust and would have chosen to knit the size 34 vest (for a zero-ease fit), but given her smaller stitches, knitting the 34 would result in a garment that’s too small. The next size up is 38″ at pattern gauge, but what size will it turn out if she knits it at her gauge of 22 sts?

There are a couple of different ways to look at it:

1) Stitch count ratio: 20 divided by 22 is .909 — we can round that to .91 and say that Jennie’s stitches are about 91% the size of pattern gauge, so her sweater will be 91% of pattern dimensions. If she knits the 38, she’ll wind up with a sweater that’s about 34.5″ circumference. (38 x .91 = 34.58) Perfect!

2) Actual stitches per inch: 22 stitches per 4 inches is 5.5 stitches per inch. (22 divided by 4 = 5.5) The back piece of the Anna Vest in size 38 is 97 sts, 2 of which are selvage stitches (i.e., they’ll disappear into the seam at the end) so really it’s 95 stitches across. 95 sts divided by 5.5 sts per inch = 17.27 inches. Double that for the circumference of the garment = 34.5″. (That number being the cast-on count, it is the hem circumference. In this case, the body is straight-sided — no waist shaping, A-line shaping, etc. — so it is the same circumference at the hem and chest. If you’re working with a shaped garment, you’ll need to read into the pattern to find the stitch count at its largest point in the bust, usually right before armhole shaping begins, and use that number to calculate your adjusted chest circumference.)

Easy, right?

SOME CAVEATS

To be thorough, don’t just look at the chest circumference. I’ve given a very detailed schematic in the Anna pattern, for instance, so take the time to calculate the changes in all of the widths and make sure there are no other areas of concern, such as shoulder width, neck width, etc. (Especially if you’re knitting a garment with sleeves — make sure they won’t wind up too tight or too loose.) If you decide to adjust stitch counts anywhere, bear in mind any necessary matching of stitch patterns at the side seams or stitch counts at shoulder seams, where it needs to match up with the back piece.

And there’s the matter of ROW GAUGE, the most critical factor in knitting that gets the least attention. Presumably Jennie’s row gauge is also tighter than pattern gauge. In the case of the Anna Vest, it’s not a significant concern. The lengths for the body and armhole are both given in inches rather than number of rows, so she’ll still just knit to those lengths — it will simply take her more rows to get there. All that will be affected is the few rows where the shoulder shaping occurs, which will be slightly shallower but not enough to make a meaningful difference in the outcome. Her neck shaping on the fronts will also be completed a little sooner than it would at pattern gauge, leaving her with a few more work-even rows at the top than she would have had otherwise, but that’s not a problem. For a pattern with more instruction given in rows than inches (or where a stitch chart is involved), there could be some concern about the armhole depth getting too shallow. If there were a sleeve cap involved, that might be cause for concern, as sleeve cap shaping happens over a greater number of rows, and you could wind up with a cap that’s a bit shorter than the armscye it’s meant to fit into. So just be on the lookout for anything where a difference in row gauge might be cause for adjustment.

And the number one thing to look out for if you’re knitting at a rogue gauge is if your row gauge is bigger than pattern gauge (fewer rows per inch). Shaping is nearly always distributed evenly over the length of an area, such as a body or sleeve, and nearly always given as “work the inc/decrease every Nth rows, X times.” If your row gauge is bigger — it takes fewer of them to make up that length — you’ll have fewer rows in which to complete those inc/decreases. So tally up the rows and shaping and make sure you can fit it all in, or recalculate the shaping according to your gauge. (See the Sweater math section of this post.)

It’s a big subject and I’m trying to not write a novel here, so I’m happy to answer further questions in the comments!

(Pictured is my original gauge swatch for the Anna Vest, along with the book Farm to Needle and Thirteen Mile Worsted. Bento Bag and wooden gauge ruler from Fringe Supply Co.)

In defense of top-down sweaters

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In defense of top-down sweaters

Here’s the thing. I’ve written before (albeit in somewhat sideways fashion) about why I believe in top-down knitting, despite its detractors; about how I think it’s the gateway drug to sweater knitting; and even how to solve the inherent problem of the lack of seams. (It’s all in this basted knitting post, if you haven’t seen it.) But I think, even in defending top-down, I have failed to properly acknowledge one of its greatest merits, which is the capacity for trial and error. In that regard, none of the other sweater construction methods can hold a candle to it.

When you’re knitting a sweater top-down, you can play around with the raglan placement, play around with sleeve shape, whatever it might be. Try out ideas and see how they work. Since you can put the sweater on and see how it’s turning out, and can easily rip back and make changes, you’re likely to actually do that. Right? It’s not only flexible and freeing, it leads to good results. Consider the sweater above, which I’m currently in the midst of. The body is “done” but I think I’d rather it was a little bit A-line and maybe without so much ribbing, so I’ll rip it back and redo it — no big deal whatsoever. (Especially at this gauge!) But if it were a set of bottom-up pieces, which I had blocked and seamed together before deciding I wanted the shape to be a little different? Let’s face it, game over.

Up until these last two sweaters (Bob’s and this one), it had been quite awhile since I’d knitted a top-down, and I’d forgotten how fun it is. Yes, it gets cumbersome the bigger it gets, but I don’t know if I’ll ever not find it magical to watch a sweater being born whole on the needles in front of me. This one I’ve been having extra fun with — bending the raglans for a more satisfying fit and unintentionally knitting my first V-neck. Plus, this time of year, having a whole wool sweater in your lap is a feature, not a bug.

Of course, if I want to wear it this winter, I better hurry up and be done with it, so that’s my goal for the weekend. How about you?

UPDATE: For those asking or who haven’t seen it, there’s a whole top-down tutorial here on the blog.

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