I have spent all morning on my blog - changing colors, updating tags, deleting a few posts that no longer make sense. I went through my Inspirations links to make sure they are still active; many bloggers I used to follow are gone; many more no longer have this feature, but I always like a good recommendation. I hope you'll find something new to check out!
For remaining knitting friends, a long-overdue update on my Autumn 2019 knitting follows.
In August, most knitting hours were spent on a lovely blue-green sweater for a client. She sent pictures and links for several cardigans; I liked this one for the cables. However, none of the yarn options would be the right gauge; a dk weight yarn was the closest, so I ended up re-gauging the whole pattern for this piece. I charted each piece (back, fronts, sleeves) on Xcel - back to basics for me. I don't have all the details of this sweater for you - it's freeing to eliminate the task of keeping track of every last nuance, tag and modification for a project! I did build a chart. The sweater, modeled by my form above, has long since been sent to its new home. There is a cozy hood. The buttons are vintage; I don't always put on notions but they were needed this time as I made simple YO buttonholes that were hard to keep track of.
The sweater turned out so well, that I decided to make one for myself, in red, of course! However, the red swatch turned out to be a different gauge again, so I made another chart. Then some style alterations... we'll see how it turns out. The cable panel is a Saxon braid, there are several variations easily found online, including charts.
The sweater turned out so well, that I decided to make one for myself, in red, of course! However, the red swatch turned out to be a different gauge again, so I made another chart. Then some style alterations... we'll see how it turns out. The cable panel is a Saxon braid, there are several variations easily found online, including charts.
Building a sweater from scratch is not an easy option for most knitters, I realize. First, let me say how valuable a real knitting class is. Secondly, I didn't reinvent the wheel. I took the pattern that was already chosen, and "built" it on Xcel row by row. If you're interested in doing this, here are a few principles I use:
- Make a nice big swatch, soak and block it, and measure it. Put your gauge measurements in the top left box, or somewhere easily found.
- I change my Xcel chart column width to 3, so that the boxes are much closer to square.
- Start with an outline - if the CO is 82, use the Cell Border function to outline 82 squares.
- Mark the center column of the chart if the CO is odd, center two columns if the CO is even.
- The 'h' in the Marlett font makes a good purl dot as seen on many American charts.
- Whenever possible, use the drag option to duplicate rows/stitches.
- Use different fill colors for increases, decreases, binding off, etc.
- Make sure to save it! If you work from PDFs, save that way, or print it to get away from the computer while you knit.
To alter something:
- Find a pattern you've used before, and like; the gauge doesn't have to match, but it helps if you've done the construction before, i.e. set-in sleeves, raglan increases, etc.
- If you change your mind about some things, start a new tab, and copy and paste everything to the new tab before making changes. You can save different iterations, and if you change your mind about changing your mind, you'll still have the previous version to refer back to.
I find this process really helps me to visualize what the final piece will look like, and then when I want to do something like add 2", it's easy: find the row gauge - for my red sweater it's 7.75 rows per inch. I can look at my chart and decide the best spot to add length, probably below the waist shaping if there is any, definitely below the armhole bind-off, unless I want to have a low, loose sleeve. Now all I need to do is add 15 or 16 rows (2 x 7.75 = 15.5). My cable chart is 16 rows, actually, that makes it easy to decide! You can fudge a few rows either way, if necessary, to make the best use of a pattern repeat; or add it to the ribbing, or change where the cable motif ends.
Where might I go wrong with the red sweater? I'm not the best with "designing" sleeves, and I'm so far from the original pattern gauge at this point. My preferred "set-in sleeve" method is to sew the front and back pieces together, and pick up sts around the armhole. Starting with short rows at the top of the armhole, and working more and more sts until the top shaping is done, then working even to desired length. I don't like tight sleeves. If you're middle aged, you know what I mean, and even when I was young, it would drive me nuts to wear a shirt underneath whose sleeves bunched up under layers. I work sleeves pretty even, and if I want the cuff tight, then I decrease st count, work in ribbing, go down to a smaller needle, or some combination of these three.
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I made a hat for my son who was heading to the mountains for time with Grandpa and Nana. I could NOT find my go-to basic pattern. We have a few around the house, so I used them for the starting point. Yarn used, Cascade 220 Superwash Sport; it's soft, washable, and comes in lots of colors. The put-up is 136 yds and it's been a long time since I knit a hat with it. I ran out of yarn, ripped out the decreases to start them a little sooner: then I had too much left over! In the end, it worked.
- Make a nice big swatch, soak and block it, and measure it. Put your gauge measurements in the top left box, or somewhere easily found.
- I change my Xcel chart column width to 3, so that the boxes are much closer to square.
- Start with an outline - if the CO is 82, use the Cell Border function to outline 82 squares.
- Mark the center column of the chart if the CO is odd, center two columns if the CO is even.
- The 'h' in the Marlett font makes a good purl dot as seen on many American charts.
- Whenever possible, use the drag option to duplicate rows/stitches.
- Use different fill colors for increases, decreases, binding off, etc.
- Make sure to save it! If you work from PDFs, save that way, or print it to get away from the computer while you knit.
To alter something:
- Find a pattern you've used before, and like; the gauge doesn't have to match, but it helps if you've done the construction before, i.e. set-in sleeves, raglan increases, etc.
- If you change your mind about some things, start a new tab, and copy and paste everything to the new tab before making changes. You can save different iterations, and if you change your mind about changing your mind, you'll still have the previous version to refer back to.
I find this process really helps me to visualize what the final piece will look like, and then when I want to do something like add 2", it's easy: find the row gauge - for my red sweater it's 7.75 rows per inch. I can look at my chart and decide the best spot to add length, probably below the waist shaping if there is any, definitely below the armhole bind-off, unless I want to have a low, loose sleeve. Now all I need to do is add 15 or 16 rows (2 x 7.75 = 15.5). My cable chart is 16 rows, actually, that makes it easy to decide! You can fudge a few rows either way, if necessary, to make the best use of a pattern repeat; or add it to the ribbing, or change where the cable motif ends.
Where might I go wrong with the red sweater? I'm not the best with "designing" sleeves, and I'm so far from the original pattern gauge at this point. My preferred "set-in sleeve" method is to sew the front and back pieces together, and pick up sts around the armhole. Starting with short rows at the top of the armhole, and working more and more sts until the top shaping is done, then working even to desired length. I don't like tight sleeves. If you're middle aged, you know what I mean, and even when I was young, it would drive me nuts to wear a shirt underneath whose sleeves bunched up under layers. I work sleeves pretty even, and if I want the cuff tight, then I decrease st count, work in ribbing, go down to a smaller needle, or some combination of these three.
-
I made a hat for my son who was heading to the mountains for time with Grandpa and Nana. I could NOT find my go-to basic pattern. We have a few around the house, so I used them for the starting point. Yarn used, Cascade 220 Superwash Sport; it's soft, washable, and comes in lots of colors. The put-up is 136 yds and it's been a long time since I knit a hat with it. I ran out of yarn, ripped out the decreases to start them a little sooner: then I had too much left over! In the end, it worked.
I also thought I would whip up some cute, little, secret projects for everyone in my family for Christmas. Hmm. Not as quick as I thought. Still deciding on whether to pursue this, but I think it is so fun to have holiday knitting! For now, I am blocking the second piece of my red sweater and mulling over whether to pursue the secret projects.
Do you make gifts for the holidays? What do you have in progress these days?
OhMyGosh -- what an amazing post! I LOVE all the info you gave about charting -- what little I've done, I just do on graph paper -- I'm a software person, why didn't I think to use excel? Duh! When I first started reading, I thought I was going to have to tell you we need a video, but as I read more, it started making perfect sense. Well, until you started talking about the sleeves and short rows -- then my eyes glazed over LOL. I wish I could have a class with you. I tend to migrate to raglan type sweaters, cause they are easy to put the sleeve stitches on a holder and then pick up later -- but I much prefer the set in style -- especially as we age. I LOVE LOVE your beautiful knits (and your gorgeous photos, as always -- that header!) and, while the blue sweater is really pretty, I think it will be amazing in the red -- can't wait to see it! Thanks for the Fabulous Update!!!
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