Mom’s Improvised Sweater – Knitting Instructions Included

 

Mom's Improvised Drop Shoulder Ribbed Sweater

To show that I come by my ability to visualize and adapt knitting patterns naturally, I am showing off my mother’s grey improvised sweater. 

I gave my mom this wonderful grey linen blend which contains flecks of white since my mother always has room for one more grey item in her wardrobe. One of my uptown knitting buddies had given it to me when she was destashing. It seems that my knitting friends all know that I can envision how to turn some longer cherished stash into something wonderful. 

Since there was sufficient yarn for a sweater, my mother decided to adapt a simplified pattern that she had used before. At its core, the pattern consists of two rectangles which are sewn together at the shoulders forming a boat neck. Then stitches are picked up for sleeves which are knit down. This has the great advantage of allowing the knitter to measure the length as she goes which is good because the sweater has a dropped shoulder.

Before she started, my mom knit a swatch and we measured it. The swatch allowed my mom to try out a couple of variations of stitches. Then I took her measurements and applied some easy math to get the basic cast on. And she was off and knitting. 

You’ll note that my mom used a variety of ribbed stitches to make the sweater more fitted. 

If you’re interested in trying it, follow these easy steps:

1] Knit a swatch of at least 20 stitches using the appropriate needle for the yarn and your gauge.

2] Take your measurements. Add 2 inches to your widest measurement and divide that number by 2.

3] Multiply the number of stitches per inch by half of your measurement to get your cast on number of stitches.

4] Knit 2 rectangles to the length that you want your sweater to be. My mom knit about 24 inches.

5] Sew the shoulders together (Take the measurement from step 2 and subtract 8 inches. Then divide by 2 this is the number of inches that you need to sew on each shoulder.)

6] Pick up stitches at the armhole. My mother used 8 inches * her stitch gauge (with half of the stitches picked up on either side.) She then slowly decreased to her wrist. I usually decrease every 10 rows a couple of times, then 8 rows a couple of times, etc. until I have the appropriate amount for my wrist.

Happy knitting!

Montauk Bound – Beach & Fountain Pen Shawl Knitting

 

Train knitting - Fountain Pen Shawl in Black Malabrigo Sock Yarn

Since Purl By the Sea is closing, my husband and I are heading out to Montauk to take advantage of the great ocean beach and the friendship that we’ve build with the other knitters at Purl By the Sea. 

My husband treated me to a wonderful trio of knitting books including Volume 2 of Barbara Walker’s stitch dictionaries and her Knitting from the Top Down. With Nora’s great array of books, it was a tough choice. 

I used the train and beach time to work on my Black Malibrigo Fountain Pen Shawl. While the Malabrigo  merino sock yarn is great to knit with (although I would caution against using black. In my defense, it was a choice of black or white since I waited for The Point to put it on sale.) It is light enough to be able to knit on the beach which is good since the sun light makes the knitting easier. 

As a pattern, here are the advantages and  drawbacks of the Fountain Pen Shawl:

• For knitters, like myself who use stitch markers to measure each pattern repeat, the shawl required re-arranging the stitch markers at the beginning of each new set (or every 16 rows.) 
• The patten wasn’t sufficiently interesting after the first set of repeats to keep my attention. Please note that this may be a plus for a new knitter.
• The shawl used nups which are a sign of a hand made piece but do so sparingly for those who dread them or once per repeat.

 

Yarn Harlot Inspired Shot of Black Malabrigo Fountain Pen Shawl on Montauk Beach

Fountain Pen Shawl Detail on Beach - Note how each repeat looks like a pen nib?

 

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Purl By the Sea is Closing

Yarn draped above the knitting table at Purl By the Sea

It was with great sadness that I read Nora Franzetti’s email announcing the closing of Purl By the Sea in Montauk. While it’s difficult to call a yarn store that’s a 3 1/2 hour trip from your home a LYS, Purl By the Sea is such a special place where everyone’s always glad to see you. Further, as a knitting haven, it has a great assortment of yarn for the budget conscious as well as the yarn snob. To add to the benefits, Nora added a broad selection of knitting books, with many that I had wanted to add to my knitting bookshelf.

Since Purl By the Sea is closing my husband and I decided to trek out to Montauk every weekend that we didn’t have other plans this summer to get our dose of beach time and yarn store time.

I hope that other knitters on the east end of Long Island make the trip to experience the warmth of this cozy store.

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Polly’s Pink Sweater

 

Polly's Sweater at the pool in York Maine

As a rule, I don’t knit for children. Despite the fact that you use less yarn, the items seem to take just as long as an adult project. 

 

Good friends of ours had a baby girl last summer and I decided to make a sweater instead of buying a baby present. I took the one year rule. I figured if it works for weddings, it is good for children. Besides, based on the experience that my siblings had with their children, many  baby gifts either don’t fit and never will or are out grown with record speed. Therefore, I decided to make a child’s sweater so that Polly could grow into it. 

I must  admit that I was enticed by the sample of the Eloise sweater in the Lion Brand Studio. It’s make from recycled cotton which comes from t-shirts. The recycled cotton contains about 25% polyester so that it’s machine washable which is a must for any children’s project. They’re dirt magnets and ease of cleaning is important to all parents. Further, the material was soft and there was an enticing pink that looked like a candy cane. 

One of the advantages of visiting the Lion Brand Studio is that they have a computer where patrons can download their patterns. In addition, there’s a yarn station where customers can test a variety of Lion Brand yarns. I hear that it’s very popular with FIT students. The store well lit and has special new yarns that Lion Brand is testing but are not available elsewhere. 

Having swatched the recycled cotton, I was on target for their gauge. Of course, I had to use a different size needle! 

As a small project, I brought Polly’s Sweater with me to Maine to start. My guess was that this small sweater would be done in a week. I underestimated that since I was using cotton, I made sure that I pulled each stitch tight. This added effort made my stitches more consistent but took more time. 

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Maine Bound Knitting

Visiting our friends in York, ME has become a mid-July event where we combine great friends, ocean air, good food and knitting. 

As a surprise, I brought my friend Amanda the set of Heirloom Lace Placemats. Unfortunately, I miscalculated my knitting time and was shy of finishing the last placemat. Despite my efforts to knit on the bus, I wasn’t able to finish in time. I still wrapped the blocked mats and plain black napkins as a house warming gift. To further complicate matters, I ran out of black yarn so that I had to rip back a few rows to make the mats match.

While the placemats make a decorative home-related gift, I found that knitting four of the same pattern got boring. I would suggest using related lace patterns in the same color yarn as a variation.

While the weather was uncooperative for a summer weekend at the beach, we used it as an excuse for heading up to Bath, ME to check out Halcyon Yarns. Halcyon Yarns is a great haven for fiber artists. It’s like a clean warehouse chock full of various fibers and related tools. The sales folks are really knowledgeable about the intricacies of knitting. Plus there’s a room filled with books like a small knitting library.

There’s so much wonderful yarn that it’s difficult to decide what to buy. I was swayed by a small producer named Swan’s Island which is a real location off the coast of Maine. My family stayed there for a summer when I was a child. I bought a skien of a blue-green sock yarn to make a shawl with.  Additionally, I bought a couple of books on making gurnseys which were difficult to buy elsewhere. That too was a hard choice but the women who helped me tracked down the books that they thought were best including a small one from the UK.

 

Welcome to Halcyon Yarns - Bath, ME

Outside Halcyon Yarns

Knitted Garments on Show at Halcyon Yarns

Swan Island Organic Merino at Halcyon Yarns

Isles of yarn-eye candy

To my surprise, we made a stop on the way back at Tess Yarns. For anyone who hasn’t had the joy of experiencing the lush hand dyed colors, I strongly recommend a visit to the shop or a yarn festival. While the price of many of the types of yarns can be rather dear, there are some well priced yarns such as the merino superwash. My biggest challenge is finding enough yarn of the color I want. This trip I kept being attracted to by the same greens I bought at Halcyon. 

 

Tess Designer Yarns -Portland, ME

Welcome to Tess Yarns-Weren't you here last summer?

 

Color, color & more color abound at Tess Yarns

 

 

 

In the end, I did something that I rarely do. I bought a single skein of a wonderful purple/magenta sock yarn for a small shawl. Despite searching the entire store, three wasn’t another skein to be had. In addition, I bought two other skeins of a blue for another shawl or short sleeve top. (I must confess that I have several other purchases from Tess lurking near the bottom of my stash waiting to be knitted.)

On the way back to York, we stopped for a wonderful lobster roll by the side of the highway out of Portland. It was a cute stand where we were the only patrons (which was no surprise since it was late by the time we finished shopping.)

 

Lobster Roll near the Portland Maine coast

Botanica Medallion Progresses

Tahki Cotton Classic in white, aqua, & blue-green

Over July 4th weekend, I bought some more Tahki Cotton Classic at Purl By the Sea for the Botanica Medallion Vest from Vogue International. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have sufficient cotton for the edging. In addition, I bought a skien of darker blue-green in case I decide to switch to a different lace pattern for the medallion.

I started the center medallion. After knitting several other doily patterns, this one is relatively easy. Unlike doilies which have a lot of open work lace, this medallion is knit fairly tightly since it makes a flower. The flower is reminiscent of the blue starfish (yes you read that correctly) that we saw in the Cook Islands on our honeymoon. 

Unlike other doilies that I’ve knit, the medallion has created a bump in the middle. I am concerned that it will not block out. 

Medallion in progress - Side view of bump

Center medallion in Tahki Cotton Classic

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Heirloom Lace Doily Placements on Long Beach

 

Knitting on Long Beach, NY

After being stalled on the train home from Montauk last weekend, my husband wasn’t up for making the trek out to the beach. Instead we went to Long Beach which is about an hour from New York City. This still allows us to get out of the city and experience the sandy beaches of Long Island without the 3+ hour train ride. The downside of Long Beach which is a short few block walk from the train station is that there is no delightful yarn store in the middle of town like Purl by the Sea. 

Since the Heirloom Lace Doily Placemats are a gift, I am on a deadline to finish them. While I set myself lots of deadlines with my knitting, I don’t like to feel pressured to knit something. Life’s too full of pressures to add to them voluntarily! 

Despite this, I’m knitting like a fiend to finish these mats. I think that the second sleeve of sweaters and the second socks are boring…with this set of placemats there are 4 of them!

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor in Chief

Swatching – A Necessary Evil

Blocked Cotton Swatches

I always swatch before starting projects which need to fit (clothes versus warshrags and shawls). As recommended, I then wash and block my swatches. While I don’t always make my swatches to a minimum of 4 inches by 4 inches, I do test the various repeats.

For the next attempt of the Botanica Medallion Sweater, I need to re-swatch since I am using three different colors of Tahki Cotton Classic in white (from a yarn swap), aqua (from Purl by the Sea in Montauk) and forest green (from Purl by the Sea in Montauk). As a result, I want to ensure that the colors don’t bleed which would ruin the top. In addition, I am going to increase the size of my needles to make the top more lacy. Hence, more swatching.

While I’m swatching, I am also preparing for another project, the Eloise Sweater which is a free pattern from Lion’s Brand. This sweater was on show in the Lion’s Brand Studio and looked multi-purpose. Further, the pink Lion’s Brand Recycled Cotton has a candy cane impression (from the Lion Brand Studio) so I am hoping that this will be fun to knit and a great gift for a little girl.

I strongly recommend swatching and getting projects ready in advance while you’re working on or finishing another project so that you’re ready to just start when the spirit moves you. This prevents lustfully starting to knit only to find that you’re way off in your gauge on the real thing!

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Hemlock Ring Blankie Ruffles – Opps!

Hemlock Ring Blankie Measures 36 inches

My Hemlock Ring Blanket is making s-l-o-w progress. This is attributable to the fact that as the blanket grows so do the number of stitches.  

Further, since the Hemlock Ring Blanket has gotten too large to be contained on my longest 10.5 needle, I have switched to Denises where I can keep adding to the length. The bad news is that the joins have a propensity to come undone in the middle of rows. As a result, I have to stop and readjust the needle and stitches. Fortunately, there haven’t been any lost stitches yet (fingers crossed!)

While I was chugging along on the train back from Montauk, I had ripped and had the needles break. Leaving me too frustrated to continue.

After undoing one row twice (an evening’s work each time!), I have decided to take out the needle and lay it out on the bed since I think that there is a problem.

 

I was right (I am sorry to say. I would much rather put the stitches back on the needles and call it a day! But my stitch counts were off by way TOO much and I couldn’t get the pattern in line with the previous stripes.) There are ruffles where the YOs gather. Opps!

My husband counseled me to declare victory but the lap blanket is a mere 36 inches and there is more than 2 balls of yarn left which I wouldn’t use for anything since it’s very thick.

So a careful frogging we will go and hopefully I will only need to undo one stripe! This time I am going to be careful about counting the number of stitches in each repeat (reminder to self!)

Knitting Hints:

1. Consider the length of the largest edge of live stitches to ensure that you have needles that can comfortably accommodate your work. Flexible needles such as Denises or KnitPicks can be very helpful.
2. Check your stitch count at regular intervals to reduce frogging. Had I counted the pattern row (which is every 5th row, I wouldn’t have needed to rip. The time re-doing and ripping far exceeded the time saved by not counting each pattern.)

What do you do when you get into this type of situation? Declare victory? Rip? Let it sit in your knitting bag?

Until next time, happy knitting.

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Montauk Bound With Knitting

Montauk Sweatshirts for Sale

 

We love the beach in Montauk which can be relatively empty (at least by New Yorkers’ standards) on holiday weekends. It’s a wonderful expanse of beach with rolling waves that make for peaceful rejuvenation. Of course, it’s not every Manhattanite’s idea of a “local” beach but my husband and I make it an adventure and it beats battling the local airport or driving out of town.

The over 3 hour train trip from NYC’s Penn Station to Montauk gives us an opportunity to sleep, read or knit. We enjoy bagels and coffee on the train and are ready to hit the beach by the time we get to Montauk.  There are a variety of local taxi companies that meet the infrequent trains making getting to the center of town a breeze. From there we can walk to the beach, food and Purl By the Sea.

Atlantic Ocean Beach - Relatively Empty at Montauk

Kite Surfers at Montauk Use Strings Differently from Knitters

I always love visiting Purl By the Sea. While most knitting stores attract wonderful knitters and crocheters, there’s always laughter around the knitting table at Purl By the Sea. It sends out such good vibe that my husband likes sitting in the spouse rocker and hearing the joyful chatter.  

 

Entrance to Purl By the Sea with Flowers Blooming

On July 5th, there was a local spinner giving a demonstration and selling her roving and yarn, both merino and alpaca. The spinner’s wares were spread through out the store.

Spinning demonstration at Purl By the Sea

Spinner's Wares at Purl By the Sea

 

Local Spinner's Roving at Purl By the Sea

Additionally, Nora Franzetti, the owner of Purl By the Sea, had been to TNNA and stocked up on new yarns and wonderful books. She brought back samples of yarns and books that she’s considering. She showed me a stack of signed knitting books to make any knitter jealous.

Since I am still swatching and testing the Botanica Medallion from Summer 2009 Vogue Knitting, I bought more Tahki Cotton in aqua and forest green to add more color to the top.  I was lucky that I picked a color that many of the Purl By the Sea knitters don’t like!

For me, the entire day was a knitting adventure. I had time to work on several projects including the Fountain Pen Shawl and the Hemlock Blankie which has been a great beach project. 

Hemlock Ring Blankie on Montauk Beach

 

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief