Labor Day Knitting With Hudson River View

Hudson River View from High Line

To mark the close of summer, my husband and I took advantage of the good weather to watch the sunset over the Hudson from the new High Line Park.  Three flights above the westside of Manhattan, the High Line Park has been created from the remains of the old railroad tracks. It runs from the middle of the West Village to West 20th Street. The landscaping has integrated the sense of the old tracks.

The path snakes along and is covered at places with cultivated wild flowers. It includes limited seating with a good view of the Hudson River. We watched the setting sun as it sank into the New Jersey skyline melting into an orangey puddle of color.

I brought my Fushia Nightsong Lace Shawl and added some length to the piece. It’s a great project in terms of portability. Since it’s the second time that I’m using the pattern, I have a sense of the lace repeats.  In general, I try to stick with more mindless knitting for my portable projects.

Due to the brisk air, my husband donned his wedding sweater. It was more of a decoration than a garment but hopefully you can see the pattern.

Jean Moss Inspired Wedding Sweater

Nightsong Shawl with Hudson River View

Submitted by Knitted Yarns Editor-in-Chief

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