Wedding Sweater Finished!

I finished my husband’s wedding sweater with days to spare! My husband is delighted with the way that it turned out (although he would prefer if the sleeves were a bit shorter.) 

I love Jean Moss’s patterns in Sculptured Knits since they have unusual pattens that are knit into the fabric. The Klimt Vest pattern contains a variety of triangles that are interwoven like one of those intelligence tests. I modified the neck line from a V-neck to a shawl collar which my husband prefers and I added sleeves using the pattern stitch just above the cuff.

The color is a rich navy blue that looks wonderful in the sunlight even next to black (my husband’s favorite color). It’s knit in Austermann’s Korfu which is a cotton and wool blend that’s light enough to wear in the spring and fall.

Note: Photos will be added later when my husband is in a modeling mood

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Wedding Sweater-Klimt Vest Needs Sleeves

Wedding Sweater Sleeve from Jean Moss Klimt Vest

One of the problems with using a vest pattern to make a sweater is that you need to reassess the armholes to ensure that they work for a sweater and that you’re on your own for knitting the sleeves. This is the challenge that I face with Jean Moss’ Klimt Vest. 

To help me, I used Interweave’s Handy Book of Patterns. It’s a great resource for those of you who enjoy modifying and creating sweaters that have your own personal touches. Since I have been adapting sweater patterns to fit me, I have a good idea of how they work. I am particularly fond of set in sleeves which  have a good fit and give a more tailored look. 

For the Klimt Vest, I used the chart on the set in sleeve pattern to develop the armhole on the back. I will use this pattern of decreases on the front of the sweater and will have matching decreases for the sleeve.

In terms of determining the number of stitches to cast on and increase to the widest part of the sleeve, I use the book’s charts for the number of stitches per inch and the intended wearer’s size. Since the people I knit for tend to have long arms, I generally work out the sleeve increases so that they happen at regular intervals that make sense for the wearer. I have had sweater patterns that wind up with weird upper arms since the pattern states keep knitting for longer sleeves. In reality, you need to keep increasing at a slower rate so that you don’t get little bat wings. 

Sleeve Cap Detail for Klimt Vest Wedding Sweater

Since the Klimt Vest has intense patterning across the front and back, which changes on both the knit and purl sides of the knitting, I decided to use one repeat of the pattern after the mosaic ribbing and to continue the sleeve using the mosaic ribbing. This simplified the knitting for the sleeve since I didn’t have to worry about maintaining a complex pattern as it changed on both sides of the sleeve. 

Wedding Sweater Wrist Detail from Klimt Vest

I love the way that this sweater is turning out. Since I need to finish it before our one year anniversary, I am bit concerned about the fact that it is taking longer than an average sweater to knit.

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Knitting Math for Wedding Present Sweater (aka Klimt Vest)

 

Klimt Vest Knitting Pattern

I am knitter with a mission: to finish my husband’s wedding present sweater before our first anniversary, a mere five weeks away. The sweater is based on the Klimt Vest from Jean Moss’ Sculptured Knits.

 

I am modifying the Klimt Vest pattern as follows:

1] Fiber. I am using Austermann’s Korfu.

2] Size. I knitting the wedding present sweater to fit my husband’s measurements in terms of width and length.

3] Sleeves. Since the pattern is for a vest, I am adding long sleeves, This requires modifying the armholes as well as figuring out the dimensions for the sleeves. 

KNITTING MATH

For those of you interested in understanding how to modify a pattern to fit your measurements or swatch, here’s what I do.

1] Knit and wash a swatch of the fiber I want to use. I recommend blocking the swatch. The goal is to get your stitch gauge for your wool and appropriate needles. 

2] Measure the number of stitches in 4 inches of your swatch. Then divide the number of stitches in 4 inches by 4 to get your number of stitches per inch. Note: It’s important to measure more than one inch since the tension, etc. may vary.

3] Divide your stitches per inch by the pattern’s number of stitches per inch. This result is the number that you use to adjust your number of stitches relative to the number of stitches in the pattern. If this number is less than one, you should have less stitches than the pattern. If this number is more than one, you should have more stitches than the pattern. 

4] Follow this process for all of the numbers in the pattern.

5] For areas such as the armholes and necklines and sleeve increases, check your results using Interweave’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.

Note: This book is a great reference since it gives a very broad list of sizes and stitches per inch. This allows the knitter to check her math and to use their number of stitches for difficult areas such as the armhole.

Fortunately for me, the Klimt Vest has a 14 stitch repeat which had a multiple that was close to half of my husband’s measurement. Otherwise, I would have had to use part of a repeat at each end of the garment. This would have added complexity to my knitting. 

To date, I’ve knitted the back and front until the armholes. In planning the armholes, I checked my stitch projections against The Knitter’s Handy Book and made some modifications to simplify the pattern. (This pattern changes on both the front and back of the knitting.) Wish me luck as I start the armholes!

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

Wedding Sweater Inspired by Jean Moss Klimt Vest

 

Wedding Present Sweater-Inspired by Jean Moss Klimt Vest

For our wedding, I promised my husband a sweater. While many of my knitting friends would say that he’s gotten his share of knitted goods including a Honeymoon Vest in Noro Sakura, I am making him another sweater. As with any wedding present, I’ve allowed myself a year to complete it. This would be good if I hadn’t been knitting others sweaters and other knitted pieces.

Since I want this to be a very special sweater, I’ve spent lots of time looking through my knitting books in search of the perfect sweater. This is one of those times when I had to choose a pattern and stick with it. I’ve selected the Klimt Vest from Jean Moss’ Sculptured Knits. It’s a great book for knitting with textures. As usual, I’m adapting the pattern. This is to ensure a good fit and make a vest into a sweater 

To ensure that he gets maximum use out of the sweater, I’m using the navy blue wool and cotton blend that I bought at the Joan Vass sale last spring. The yarnis Austermann’s Korfu and I have 20 balls which should be sufficient. It’s wonderfully soft although it requires size 3 needles and I’m probably knitting it too loosely as it is.

Submitted by: Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Cheif

Jean Moss Saffron Tunic in Beige Cotton

Knitting a wool sweater during the summer  is difficult, even if it’s August and stores are starting to show the next season’s rich colors. It’s still too hot to think about heavier fibers and, if you knit on the beach as I do, using wools and other winter fibers makes your hands sweat (sorry to bring this point up!) Therefore, for my next sweater project, I decided to make a cotton sweater which has the great advantage of being easy to cope with in the heat from knitting perspective and can span multiple seasons as a finished product.

For this project, I decided to adapt (my knitting friends would say that I rarely knit a project as it’s written!) the Saffron Tunic from Jean Moss’ Sculptured Knits.  The pattern is great since the stitch looks like it’s made of cables but in fact it’s a fairly easy lace pattern. The  major change that I made to the pattern was to make it work for my measurements since it’s really a girl/teenager pattern.

I am using the new Jaeger Sienna in beige that I bought at our Webs Detour last month.  As with many of my projects, I have to start knitting the body and check my gauge despite swatching! This sweater was no different. Often, this translates having to rip precious work.

Philadelphia Yarn Adventure-Rosie’s Yarn Cellar & Loop Yarns

My friend Amanda and I use our speaking engagements as an excuse for knitting and scouting out new shops. Our talks at the TS2 in Philadelphia was no exception!

 

You must understand that the journey itself is an excuse to get knitting done in planes, trains, and automobiles. Before leaving, it helps to plan your knitting so that you have travel friendly supplies that pass TSA scrutiny and an extra project in case you get stumped or bored. I always use circular needles in bamboo or plastic for plane travel. 

 

Since I was meeting Amanda by way of Omaha, I had started work on the Saffron Tunic, a pattern from Jean Moss’s Sculptured Knits. As written, the pattern is for a girl but the measurements could easily be adapted to fit me. Since the pattern called for another type of Jaeger cotton, I thought that it would be a perfect project for the Jaeger Sienna that I bought at Webs.  

 

I had researched Philadelphia yarns stores online. I was enticed by the book offering and the Wednesday knitting circle at Rosie’s Yarn Cellar off of Rittenhouse Square. The store beckons from its slightly below street level entrance way. The display of Koigu in the main room was enticing but I was lured into their backroom which was filled with books. It was my first exposure to such a selection of Japanese knitting books. I found Heirloom Knitting, a book that I wanted. It’s subtitled A Shetland Lace Knitter’s Pattern and Workbook.

 

Rosie’s Yarn Cellar – Street View in Philadelphia

 

 

Rosie’s Yarn Cellar’s Quirky Door Sign

 

Rosie’s Yarn Cellar displays its woolly offering

 Amanda and I took out our knitting to join the growing circle but I must admit that there was a chill in the air despite being the end of July. One of the members was knitting a scarf out of cat hair (I kid you not!) for a neighbor. The collective opinion was that memories of the cat had to be better than the yarn!

 

After our talk on Thursday, we packed our bags and grabbed a taxi to Loop Yarns, where the staff was much friendlier. The yarn in Loop is attractively displayed and there are a set of couches in addition to the work table. Like Purl Soho, it has a sister store focused on quilting next door. Although I was enticed by the Smooshy name, I bought two skeins of Koigu in pinks and purples to make a Lace Ribbon Scarf.

Light blue and white Loop Yarns Sign

 

 

Colorfully displayed skiens at Loop Yarns

Loop Yarns provides a wonderfully airy place to knit and think

Loop Yarns offers Smooshy Sock Yarns

Loop Yarns gives you a wonderful project bag with every purchase

Despite the rush hour crowd, we managed to add some more knitting time on the Amtrack train north.

Windsurfing Widow – Windswept Knitting

Since our Bonaire vacation is a birthday celebration for my finance who is an avid windsurfer, I spent most of the time on the shore with the Windsurfing Widows, a crowded area with lounge chairs and brightly painted wooden chairs that are hard on your butt. While the water is a beautiful blue-green and waist-deep for a long distance, Jibe City focuses on windsurfing so that the water is cluttered with surfers who go back and forth preventing any other water activities.

What I overlooked is that it can be windy on the shore. So I found myself seating on a bench with a balcony view where I could wrap up (since I didn’t think to bring sweats) and knit. My Woodstock Sweater is making progress while I sip pina coladas.

Due to the freedom to knit something unwedding-related, I am making quick progress despite needing to rip out an occassional few rows since I misread the pattern.

Vacation Knitting-Woodstock Sweater

So far this year, I haven’t been knitting at my usual knitting output. I attribute this to my upcoming wedding and the fact that I have tried to knit things for my wedding and honeymoon. Several of which have taken time in terms of swatching and abadon projests. I think that the emotional stress of the wedding is seeping into my knitting. I gave myself permission to take a vacation for knitting white and wedding things.

For spring break, we’re headed to Bonaire which is north of Venezuela for my finance’s birthday where he can windsurf and I will sit on the beach and knit and read. Since Bonaire tends to be less tourist oriented unless you dive, snorkel or windsurf, it requires multiple planes and long connection times which translates more knitting time!

For my vacation project, I’ve chosen the Woodstock Sweater from Jean Moss’ Sculptured Knits. It is a cropped short sleeve top. The pattern calls for mercerized cotton and luckily I have sufficient amount in my stash in a pink sand color acquired last year at Silk City Fibers.

The Woodstock Sweater is great for it’s wave pattern that’s knit in a combination of stocking knit, reverse stocking knit and K1P1 rib with some yarn overs for decoration. This gives the knitting a three dimensional look. Since my gauge is larger, I am making the top longer which I think that I will like better.

Jean Moss’ Sculptured Knits Discovered

Rains have swept through New York City and between the rain drops the sky is gray as it was blotted with grey cotton. I had harbored hopes of heading out to Paterson, NJ where Silk City Fibers is having their monthly sale but the weather is a deterent (as is the pile of midterms that need to be graded by Tuesday!)

After several hours of being bound to my desk wading through exams, I trekked down to The Point to meet my Saturday afternoon knitters. The store  was relatively empty due to the weather.

Synchroncity hits. I have some of my Noro Lilly in orange and varigated orange/red/blue in my bag to wind. I figure that I’ll make something for my honeymoon. As I’m about to settle in, my friend Enid steers me to the sale bin where the remains of the orange Lilly are piled. I’m enticed and buy 2 more skiens so that I have some extra to play with.

Having spent the  afternoon trying to find the right pattern, none called to me. So, on my way home, I stopped at B&N on Fifth Avenue, the one that specializes in college textbooks. I discovered that they had a great selection of knitting books and the woman working in the department was knitter to boot!

I happened upon Jean Moss’ Sculptured Knits which is a treasure of a book. It is packed with great patterns and there are stories that associate each with art and related trends.