Blueberry for Scotland

How do you choose a pattern?

Is there some logic or serious deliberation involved in your decision or you just see a picture on Ravelry or in a magazine and start looking for a suitable yarn?

Normally, I spent quite some time thinking about my next project. Usually it happens while I finish the previous one and generally it has to be something practical, that someone really need and that will be worn often. Sometimes though it is hard to make only things that are practical and needed (socks, I am talking about you!). Then I have to coerce myself into working on them by promising to make something easy and fun afterword. That’s how I ended up making my Margaux Red after a two month marathon of gift knitting.

Yet, sometimes a pattern just calls me and I cannot resist. That is what happened with this sweater by Tomoko Noguchi from Daruma pattern book 3. It has all my favorite things: unusual and interesting construction and ribbing. Plus it is a Japanese pattern and I enjoy making them since they are always so well explained and charted.

The only yarn that would go with this pattern was this dark blue variegated one from Rowan that I bought to make an afghan for my new house about 3 years ago. Unfortunately, I have not much information about the yarn since the labels and tags got lost somehow. It is thick wool that is extremely soft and warm. However, it turned out that a wooly and warm blanket isn’t needed here in South Florida. If one day I decide to finally make one it will be from cotton or acrylic.

This is how I ended up with quite a lot of this dark, multicolored wool in my stash. I tried several different yarns when swatching for the ribbed sweater from Daruma. Because as soon as I got the magazine I just had to swatch for it – my hands were itching. It is not easy to find a yarn that would consistently look well in simple ribbing – not brioche stitch, or fisherman rib, or any other type of fancy ribbing. And this yarn was just flying from the needles, it was a pure joy to work with.

Now it was only one small thing left – to persuade myself that I really needed this sweater because, well, why would I? My kids keep asking for socks and cardigans, they don’t want sweaters so it had to be for me. And winters in South Florida are rather mild.

Then I remembered how cold it was last year in Scotland and thought that this sweater would go well with my waterproof pants and jeans. Yes, I definitely needed to make it for our trips to Scotland.

After the decision was made it was all smooth sailing. Despite its highly unusual construction the whole pattern is clearly charted and easy to make. My only little problem was with its size. It looks long and oversized on the pictures. Yet, the back part seemed to me rather short when I came to the armpits and I decided to make it longer. Therefore I made the front longer as well. After washing both parts, I blocked them according to the dimensions given in the pattern.

It turned out rather fitted. The model in the book must be really diminutive because the sweater looks roomy on her. And the reason she is wearing it with a skirt is because the original is rather short, almost waist length.

I already made it longer, now my goal was to make it roomier. It is not a big problem when you are dealing with thick yarn and ribbing. After finishing the sleeves (these I made shorter intentionally for my extra-short arms) and sewing all parts together (if you like puzzles, you are going to love assembling this sweater) I washed and stretched it width-wise.

My only other change was tubular cast-on and cast-off for the collar.

I highly recommend the pattern. Just bear in mind that it is supposed to be short and fitted, so if you want something roomier pick a thicker yarn or bigger needles.

Lengthening the body is easy – just keep knitting till the desired length (in my case I had to make only 8 additional rows). Shortening the sleeves was also not a big deal. Since you pick up two additional stitches around 11 middle stitches in every other row and the sleeve increases are happening only in every 5^th or 10^th row (I don’t remember anymore), you have to decrease 2 stitches at the beginning and end of every other row to compensate for the increases. As soon as I had 61 stitches total required for the sleeve (73^rd row in my case) I casted off all stitches.

Oh, and use a stretchy cast off everywhere if you want your sweater to move and stretch with your body.

More pictures on my Ravelry page. I called this sweater Blueberry because I couldn't translate its Japanese name.

Boredom (part II)

Look around when you are in a restaurant, on a train, or at an airport gate. Everyone (or almost everyone) is on a phone, madly scrolling down.  Nobody wants to be bored, even for a little bit. Yet, according to some research, boredom is actually good for our brains, because it makes us more creative, learn new skills, and develop new ideas.

For me it’s definitely true. I am talking about the creativity part. As soon as we come back to the little island in South Florida, I start bursting with ideas and am not afraid of trying anything.

Are you afraid of boredom when you pick a new project? Do you have a “boredom index” so to speak?

Well, for me on a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is the maximum boredom possible, shawls are definitely 11. I believe I’ve told you how much I dislike making shawls here. I made my last one about 10 years ago as a gift and then just stopped.

However, my first project of a new year was… a shawl! Why? Because I fell in love with the designer! Emily Greene is my favorite now and as soon as I see her new designs I want them. They all look modern and at the same time intrinsically wearable. This is why I bought her designs for shawls and even talked myself into making one.

The yarn – Isager Tvinni wool – was initially acquired for a cardigan but I decided to sacrifice it for a shawl because of its color. It is a combination of yellow, grey, and brown with a touch of green -- one of my favorite colors and extremely trendy this year.

I didn’t have any problems with the pattern or yarn and the shawl was growing slowly but steadily. Shawls can be tricky. They require all your attention and concentration because one mistake, one forgotten “yarn over” or “two together” and you are stuck and have to unravel many tiny stitches to fix your error and move on.

I couldn’t take a shawl to a knitting club, a trip, or a doctor’s appointment. It was too risky. I didn’t want to make a mistake and then unravel 400 stitches for several rows, thank you very much.

So I picked another project, mostly stockinette, from Phildar fall-winter 2018-19 magazine Nos Fils Essentiels.

It is called Pull Lou and has an unusual construction: it is made out of 6 separate parts sewn together. This construction was what initially attracted me to the pattern.

The yarn that I used for this sweater – Rowan’s Cashcotton – has been in my stash for about 10 years. It didn’t want to become any of the several projects I planned for it. So I left it alone and then forgot about it. Somehow it came back from oblivion last fall and I started looking for a project for it – again.

I had almost the same gauge with this yarn on US 2 ½ needles as is required for Lou. There are two gauges in this pattern – one is for stockinette, another – for 2 k rows, 2 p rows, called the “point godron”. And they both matched. It doesn’t happen often so I took it for a “sign” to finally start working with this yarn.  I had enough to make the smallest size.

I was working on this sweater while watching TV or in the knitting club. It was growing fast and I was already looking for another simple project when it came to a halt on sleeves. The sleeves for this pullover are a bit unusual and I couldn’t even imagine how they would fit with the body. I knew that I had to make them shorter – I always shorten my sleeves for my short arms. Otherwise, I followed the pattern but felt completely in the dark. At this moment my enthusiasm for the sweater started to fade.

It is hard to keep being excited making something that doesn’t excite you anymore. Looking at my needles I saw a weirdly shaped ribbon-like thing that didn’t make much sense to me. As soon as the first sleeve was finished I put together the front, back, one of the side pieces, and sleeve. It took me 5 attempts to do it but eventually they all fit together and I was rewarded with a nice looking and well-fitting single-sleeved sweater. Score for me!

Yet, there was another quite unexpected problem. The yarn was shedding mercilessly leaving fuzz all over my clothes. I didn’t notice it before because when I started making this sweater I was mainly wearing white shorts and t-shirts. However, the Arctic vortex brought colder air everywhere, even to Florida. As soon as I put some pants on, the messy yarn situation became quite obvious.

I went online to look for a solution and found not one but two. The first one – putting yarn and sweaters in a freezer for several hours – worked for me to some extent. After two nights in a freezer, my new sweater stopped shedding so much. But there was still some fuzz visible on most of my black pants (except the ones that I was wearing for the photoshoot).

The second solution was to hand-wash the sweater and then air dry it in a dryer for 10-15 min. Even though I didn’t find any fuzz in the filter after air drying the sweater, it seems definitely less fuzzy than before.

Besides the fuzz, I love everything about this sweater. It is modern looking, flattering, and easy to wear with anything and excellent for winters in Florida.

I made a special effort while finishing it and spent about 3 hours on YouTube to learn how to make its collar look less handmade and more professionally finished (this video can be useful only for the Russian speakers because it is in Russian - sorry!). I am so glad that I decided not to cut corners with this one. More pictures and words on my Ravelry page.

As for the shawl, it got finished as well. I had 4 balls of yarn and used 3 full balls and just a bit of the fourth ball (more – on my Ravelry page).

This shawl could be worn in many different ways and the color would brighten up any outfit. Yes, mistakes were made – they are almost unavoidable in a handmade garment. But I think they give more character to it and if I don’t notice them, no one else will.

As to what is next in my knitting plans, I started two more boring projects. It looks like boredom and I are becoming BFFs. Get ready for a creativity blast!

Boredom (Part I)

Oh, the excitement of picking a pattern among many and finding a suitable yarn with a similar gauge, the excitement of starting a new project! Nothing can be compared to this happy feeling of anticipation, hope, and certainty that this one is going to become your best ever.

However, after making some progress and maybe even finishing a part (or two), doubts start creeping in: have I made the right choice? Have I picked the right size? Is it going to fit my body?

You feel much less excited and more worried, hesitant, and uncertain. You get to your most vulnerable point when, if something goes wrong, you might stop working on the project or even unravel the whole thing altogether.

And some projects become unbelievably boring when you are actually working on them: a mindless repetition after only few rows makes you antsy and restless, ready to start doing anything but staying in place and knitting.

I think that boredom is a major killer of projects. They die “in utero” not because they are too difficult, or a pattern is not clear enough, or there is not enough yarn, time, or space for working on them. They die because of boredom. Those who can find their way back to their work and overcome boredom become knitters with lots of finished projects. And those who can’t, quit knitting altogether or become “process knitters” with lots of unfinished projects.

I prefer to finish my knits, yet, since I am only human, in many cases boredom gets almost unbearable. Over the years I invented some tricks to make myself pick up the stitches and finish a boring project. Until recently I didn’t even think about them as tricks, so much they were ingrained in me like a long-standing habit.

However, recently I 1) had to work on several really boring but useful garments; 2) read a book Atomic Habits by James Clear (great book, highly recommend); and 3) watched the second season of Patriot on Amazon Prime. These three incidents made me seriously think about boredom in knitting and how to deal with it. And now I decided to share with you some of my ideas.

But first, what Patriot has to do with knitting? Nothing, of course. If you don’t count that I absolutely loved the first season which allowed me to tolerate the second season that wasn’t particularly good. At some point in the second season the main character, an unlucky CIA operative, played by adorable Michael Dorman, explains how he accomplishes some grueling and painful tasks that come up in his line of work. “I go 50% plus one step in and then there is less than half left and it would be faster to get to the end than to turn and go back. This is how I get to the finish”. I am not sure the quote is correct but you get the point. And it does apply to knitting and finishing directly.

Sometimes it is enough to finish a back and half of the front to feel morally obligated to finish the whole thing as soon as possible. I use a row counter when I knit and as soon as the back is finished I know how many rows approximately will be in the front. So I just summon all my willpower and get to the middle of the front plus a bit more – and voila! It is faster to finish. Of course unraveling is faster, and sometimes it is necessary, but you can talk yourself into believing that from now on it will go faster and if you are good at self-persuasion, it will. Fake it till you feel it, or something like this.

The book Atomic Habits is about developing good habits and getting rid of bad ones (again, it’s brilliant, highly recommend). One of the ways of stopping procrastination and starting doing something that you don’t want to do is to attach this action to something enjoyable. For example, I need to swim as much as possible because of my bad back, and I am not a big fan of swimming. So I bought an MP3 player for swimmers and listen to music while I swim – much more fun.

The same with knitting. Some boring parts can be done while watching TV, or talking to friends, or listening to a book, music, podcast, or radio. Some people can knit in a car while on a road. I personally get carsick but sometimes, rarely, I have to do it in a car just to get to 51%.

Sometimes, when it is only stockinette, I knit and read a book. It works well when the book is captivating otherwise you'll fall asleep even faster.

My last personal trick is to give myself a day's goal, to decide how much I should accomplish in a day before I even start knitting. And this goal must be real and doable. For example, "knit 20 rows of the back". Or "get to the armholes on the front" etc. Keeping your eyes on a reachable target makes you move ahead steadily without being distracted by doubts. 

One more thing. When I start knitting, I take very few brakes. I am not the one to stop and admire my handywork every five minutes. That is why there are few pictures of my work in progress. I hardly ever photograph my projects before there is some progress made.

Can you think of any other tricks? If you do, please share them with me.

Here is my first project that would put me into sleeping coma after a row or two.

It is a Japanese pattern (you know how much I love them) from Daruma pattern book 2. 

The pattern is easy and straightforward. It is made on big needles with thick yarn. There is a clear chart with all the rows, increases and decreases. My only problem was the different row gauge. While making the back I kept measuring my work to figure out where to stop and change needles or do decreases. Probably, that is why the back was finished quickly enough. But then it was fronts’ and sleeves’ turn and I started moving at snail’s pace.

At first, I was really annoyed with myself: why couldn’t I finish this whole thing faster – it was so easy. Yet, every time I’d pick up the needles, after a row or two of plain stockinette my eyes would close of their own volition. 

Fortunately, there weren’t that many rows and I managed to finish all four parts at the end of December. The assembly process was more complicated, and, therefore, more enjoyable. Since the yarn for this cardigan is extremely soft and fluffy, I put extra thought and effort into the bands’ ribbing: used twisted stitches, slipped last and first stitches on both sides – so it would help to keep the cardigan’s shape. For the same reason I cast off the shoulder stitches on the back and two fronts and sewed them together instead of using Kitchener stitch. 

This cardigan is all about little details: a V at the back of the neck, balloon sleeves, and a bit balloonish body shape make it subtly unusual and interesting. It has no buttons but I like it this way. And it can be closed with a pin. 

The yarn – Wool And The Gang’s Feeling Good Yarn – was bought as a kit to make a totally different cardigan. Yet, after careful consideration, I decided not to make it and used 5 out of 6 balls for my Margaux Red (the yarn color is called Margaux Red, hence the name). I’ve worn it many times and so far there is no peeling, or shedding, or any other unpleasant surprises. The yarn does feel good and I loved working with it. I would love to use it again in future.

As usual, you can find more pictures of the cardigan on my Ravelry page.

To be continued…

Belated introduction (no, not really!)

 “I don’t know why people are so keen on putting the details of their private life in public. They forget that invisibility is a superpower”.

Banksy

Happy New Year, everyone!

Every now and then but especially after New Year celebrations, people on social media put some “introductions”. You know how it goes: “Thank you for reading this… I have more followers now… Let me re-introduce myself…” and so on.

Every time I see it I feel bad since I am on social media as well. Sort of. At least I have this platform, whatever it is. And I do get feedback from people on a regular basis. Which is why I keep writing. Because at some point I really wanted to stop doing it altogether.

I didn’t introduce myself when I started this blog and I don’t feel like introducing myself any time soon. Well, from my perspective I gave away enough information about myself that anyone who is not my close relative needs. Yet, reading all the “introductions” and “re-introductions” recently I figured that I need at least say something about it, to clarify my position once and for all, and never get back to it.

When the first knitting blogs started to pop up on the Internet in the early 2000s I became an avid follower and reader. Why? Because suddenly it was obvious that many people shared my passion for knitting and were going through the same struggles. And I could learn a lot from them about new techniques, new yarns, and new patterns. Some bloggers were great photographers themselves or had someone professional around so the pictures were amazing (I believe the expression “eye candy” became extremely popular then).

At the time, I didn’t even consider doing anything of the sort. Moreover, I didn’t think of photographing my finished projects. It seemed totally silly. Who would want to look at my work? Where people would find time to do such meaningless thing? Silly, right?

Yet, the Internet started taking up more and more of our time and playing more important part in our lives. And suddenly, more people started spending quite a big chunk of their day online just looking at pictures.

Yes, we were given some buttons to show our “likes” and “dislikes”, to comment, to put on an emoji or a sticker, to make it feel less silly and more interactive. At first, I thought that it was just a fad and it would quickly go away. It didn’t. Then Ravelry appeared out of nowhere. Again, I wasn’t a big fan at first and decided to join only when pretty much everyone I knew in the knitting community was there and I felt left behind.

Even after joining Ravelry, I couldn’t make myself develop a profile and put pictures of my stuff there. I didn’t have a good camera and never learned how to make good pictures (and most likely never will because I don’t want to). There wasn’t anyone who would take pictures of me in my clothes. And I couldn’t even think of doing it myself – usually I don’t like how I look on pictures and try to keep them to a minimum. My children at the time wouldn’t model anything for me because, honestly, mom, why would anyone do such a stupid thing?

And I am a very private person. Like really, really private. I don’t like sharing more information about myself than is required. I am from a different generation, a generation of non-sharers.

Changing my attitude toward Ravelry, taking and putting up my pictures there and on other platforms, starting this blog was a huge leap for me. Do you know which part was the most painful? No, not pictures. Apparently, I am not that vain after all. Emojis. When the “J” and “L” started to appear in e-mails, I had to ask my daughter about their meaning and then, when she enlightened me, launched into a long monologue about how a person should be able to use words to express everything. Well, it turned out that emojis can be handy and a person can go without using too many words to express everything.

Anyway, back to my non-introduction.

I started writing here for myself and some of my knitting friends who couldn’t see my knits in person anymore. From the beginning my goal was to keep it as honest as possible. It is hard to be honest when you talk about yourself. We all have this tiny voice in our heads that keeps telling us how and why we are doing things, making our messy and illogical life into a coherent and smooth narrative. Because, who wants messy and illogical? People love stories. So we make them for ourselves and others. And it is hard not to get into this storytelling mode when talking about your life. Which is why I try to keep it to a minimum and stick with knitting. After all, knitting is objective. I made this or that and I did it this or that way. Period. If you are interested, you’ll save it somewhere and use later, if not – there is plenty of other stuff on the Internet.

I don’t try to sell or buy anything. I am not looking for clients, or fame, or likes. Well, I like to be liked but I try to block this part of my brain because I know how the algorithm works and it doesn’t work in my favor. I know what has to be done to get more eyes on what I write and I am not in the mood to do it.

So let us continue as before. I’ll describe my knitting process, patterns, and yarn. Sometimes I can share a “lifehack” or two. I myself love learning new techniques and some of my readers like it too.

Knitting isn’t my only passion in life. I try to write about it as often as I can but get constantly distracted by other things. Don’t expect daily posts from me. I am not cut out for this. I never had a journal and I can write only when I have something to write about.

Now, after explaining all this as clearly as I could, happy New Year again and I’ll be back with my new finished projects soon.

Finishing touches

Can anything be compared with the excitement of a new project? When yarn is picked, a swatch is done, needles are ready... Usually I cannot wait to start, already mulling in my head how I’d be wearing this particular item of clothing when it is finished.

And then the actual work begins and sooner or later the excitement is gone, and instead I feel impatient. I can’t wait to finish this one because there is another one, much better, more interesting, and most importantly, much more needed in my wardrobe. Sometimes, it requires all my willpower and self-discipline to finish a project, especially when a thing or two go wrong. By “going wrong” I mean situations when I have to re-knit, unravel, correct, or totally forget pattern’s directions and just improvise. In these cases it is especially hard to stay the course and finish the garment. Really, really hard!

Yet, as I discovered many years ago, when I just began getting serious about my knitting, finishing is a very important process in creating an item of clothing. Probably even THE MOST important process. As the saying goes, God is in the details. All these details – seaming, edges, buttons, pockets and collars, washing and blocking – make or break our knits. They either look professionally done and sophisticated, like designers’ clothes, or crude and amateurish, handmade in DIY kind of way. Finishing needs some special effort and determination. And where can you find them if all you can think at the moment is the next project?

Do you have this problem as well? Please, admit that you do, that I am not struggling alone.

My “rule of thumb” for the good finishing is to separate washing/blocking and seeming stages of the process. In my experience the more time you put between them, the better is the end result.

Exhibit 1 – Dark Walnut cardigan that I made for myself in October.

The handspun yarn used for it was given to me by my daughter. She brought it from her trip to the island of Lewis and Harris where she had bought it from a woman on a street selling her own handspun by weight. And this was the only marker that I ever had about this yarn – its weight. It looks rustic and heathery, and very “handmade” but lovely. The color is dark brown with some rare blue specs – extremely difficult to photograph. I had this yarn for a couple of years and couldn’t find a fitting pattern for it.

The best way to showcase the yarn was to make something simple, with straight lines. The yarn was chunky weight to knit on big needles. A sporty style and handmade wool seemed to me a good combination. Add here my infatuation with biker jackets and military style and you’ll understand why I ended up making a bomber. I measured my favorite leather jacket and calculated the number of sts needed according to my gauge. The best bomber pattern for this gauge was found in an old Phildar magazine for kids. I don’t give any link to it because I used the pattern only as a suggestion and mostly improvised. I added pockets, an i-cord finishing, and changed the collar. I also added some narrow strips to hide the zipper from inside.

I finished the second sleeve the day before we left for a short trip, washed (with a lot of fabric softener) and blocked everything, and went away. In a week I was back and getting ready for another trip. There were tons of things to do, yet, I managed to finish this cardigan. And I absolutely love it. It fits me the way it was supposed to fit, it became much softer after washing, it is warm and sturdy, and can be worn outdoors. My perfect bomberJ))

I believe, the reason I managed to put everything, including a zipper, well together, is the fact that I wasn’t exhausted from making this cardigan, took some time off, and was really looking forward to finishing it.

Exhibit 2 – Periwinkle family jacket

Remember, in June I wrote about a jacket that I made as a gift for a girl and didn’t have time to finish since we had to leave Florida?

Well, as soon as we got back, I finished it. I wasn’t in a hurry anymore and decided to finally learn how to do a tubular cast off for 2x2 ribs. It made it look so much more professional! Now, I am glad that I didn’t have time to finish it in June. When I gifted the jacket (it fits perfectly, yay!) I felt really proud of my work.

Fortunately, sometimes we don’t need much space in between the process of making and finishing. It happens, for example, with hats and scarves. I made two scarves as gifts over the last two months – the red one from the handspun yarn brought from Scotland and Rift from the leftovers of Cascade 220 Heathers and Berroco Ultra Alpaca that I used for a sweater and a hat for my daughter.

The red scarf was not difficult to make, just tedious and time consuming, since it was knit on 2,5 mm needles.

Yet, the tubular cast on and cast off definitely added some sophistication to it. And I spent quite a lot of time blocking it properly after washing.

Rift was a quick and unplanned project.

I didn’t expect to have so much leftover yarn and really wanted to get rid of it. And I’ve been in love with this pattern for some time (actually, I have to make a confession – I am in love with all the patterns by Emily Greene, she is my favorite designer “du jour”). I knew that I didn’t have enough yarn in one color to finish the cowl but decided to go for it anyway. I figured that my daughter wouldn’t mind two colors (even if she would, I wouldn’t, I can always keep it to myself) and if I like the end result I could make it again in one color. You can read my notes about Rift here. What else can I add about this pattern? It was challenging, definitely not for TV knitting, but fun to make.

I also made several hats for gifts this fall. One of the hats – Dipyramid, also by Emily Greene – to go with the Periwinkle jacket.

It has a tubular cast on and a nice neat pompom and is rather cute.

Another hat I want to talk about is my Tensho hat made to compliment my Tensho pullover. The idea of making this sweater came to me when I finished the Clear Creek Cardigan. Looking at the leftovers of Berroco Ultra Alpaca I realized that it would look fabulous together with Cascade 220 Heathers in light grey that I had in my stash. Killing two birds with one stone, I could make a Christmas sweater for my younger child and somewhat reduce my stash.

The pattern for Tensho pullover is one of the best that I’ve used lately.

The only reason I didn’t follow it to a T was the fact that I don’t like seamless garments especially for my children. Sweaters with seams have longer life and don’t stretch that much after washing. I explained all the changes that I made to the pattern on my Ravelry page. It was a very quick and satisfying project and I would love to make this sweater again one day.

I used the same colors for the Tensho hat but reversed. And I finally learned how to secure the floats that are too long in fairisle knitting (there is a link in the pattern to a tutorial and a video) – double score!

My last gift was a sweater that I made for my older daughter. The pattern and yarn were picked for some time but with Thanksgiving preparations and another short trip abroad I didn’t have much time to focus on it. As a result, I started knitting Janus pullover at the end of November and had to finish it by December 11 (the day my daughter was coming home).

This project was a big challenge for me. At first, I decided to follow the pattern which tells you to make the body in the round, sew the shoulders together, then pick up sleeves around the armholes, and make both sleeves in the round. I didn’t have much time to recalculate everything.

When I came to the armholes and the moment the body is divided in two parts, I tried it on myself for the first time and, frankly, got scared. The body hugged me like a corset, but it was a corset with lots of cables that make it look rather like an armor. Who wants a corset from a thick yarn with intricate cables, raise your hand! Not flattering, not even close to flattering((( I couldn’t unravel and start over with a different pattern, so I decided to continue with the sweater hoping that a good steaming and blocking will help with the corset problem.

My second hiccup was at the armholes. I was making the size for 40” bust and the numbers didn’t add up. I had to improvise to get the final number of stitches for my size.

My third problem was the front and back side cables after armhole decreases. I had to figure out how to situate them so they wouldn’t look like broken sticks and would complement the main cable pattern. I believe all sizes in the pattern but the first would have this problem so, if one day you decide to make this sweater, be extra careful and try to figure out the direction of your side cables ahead of time.

Do you understand now why I decided to abandon the pattern and make sleeves differently? Plus, I almost never make sleeves in the round – it is awkward and time consuming. It is much easier and faster to seam them later. And I wanted the purl side to be the right side – I thought it would work better with the sweater body.

You can find all the details and numbers for the sleeves on my Ravelry page. After washing and some very aggressive blocking I steamed the body trying to make it as loose-fitting as possible to avoid the corset effect. Here is how it looks on me.

My daughter has yet to try it on. Hopefully, it fits and she likes it. Anyway, next time I’ll need to start making my gifts much earlier to avoid stress and frustration.

I know, the best way to avoid stress and frustration is not to make handmade gifts. Yet, I still cherish the fact that my kids wear my clothes, like them, and keep asking for more. And I don’t need warm sweaters for myself so much anymore. So, most likely, I’ll continue knitting for other people.

The main take-away of this whole story is that since having more time for each project is certainly advantageous, I will have to plan accordingly.

Now the gift knitting is done. I can relax and enjoy the holidays with my family. Happy holidays to all of you! I’ll talk to you next year.

Anna

A Knitter's Lament

What is one of the main reasons of knitters’ frustration? What is the worst thing that might happen while you work on a project? To be completely honest, what is your greatest fear when you embark on a new knitting adventure?

UNRAVELING!

At least for me, this is the worst that can happen… Because it would mean that hours and hours of work (and subsequently hours and hours of my life) were spent in vain. And I have to start all over again. As much as I love starting a project I definitely prefer one successful start to several failed.

And what are the reasons for the need to get back to the beginning?  

1. False planning

Yarns could be capricious and cranky and refuse to become a garment that you want them to become. Let’s face it! If your yarn doesn’t cooperate, it won’t look good no matter how skillful a knitter you are and how much heart and soul you put into your work.

Last May I had to unravel 4 times in a row 4 different projects because my yarn just didn’t want to collaborate (meaning, my creations looked just ugly).

Then, I wanted to make a colorful round yoke cardigan with Rowan Fine tweed and ended up with something quite different for the same reason. My last project for #summerofbasics was supposed to be a cabled sweater and eventually became a plain V-neck cardigan with pockets (via another sweater, this time lacy).

Rule # 1 – do not start planning a project just looking at a pattern. Yarn comes first. From now on I will play with the yarn before deciding which pattern to make out of it. I need to make several gauges, try different designs, wait, and see which one will agree with the yarn and my current needs (because some yarns want to be hats or scarfs when I need a sweater or a cardigan).

Therefore, I probably won’t be participating in a #summerofbasics knitalong in the future. Because this knitalong involves explaining the planning process with notes and drawings. I figured out this is not the best planning process for me: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Last summer it worked about 50% of the time. From now on, no more #summerofbasics for me (sigh!).

2. Mistakes in a pattern

Yes, they happen quite often and we, knitters, better be prepared. Yet, even after so many years of knitting, it takes me by surprise every time.

Slouchy cardigan that I eventually picked to make out of my marled Colormart yarn, looks amazing on the model. I was instantly attracted to it: a stylish garment with modern shape, V-neck, and side pockets seemed the epitome of practicality.

Actually, the final result didn’t disappoint.

I’ve been wearing my Slouchy for a month now, mostly inside to protect myself from air conditioning (we still have pretty high temperatures in Pennsylvania). However, the process of making it was a real struggle.

My first problem with the pattern was a row by row instructions. It is literally row by row – almost every sentence starts with “Next row”. It didn’t bother me that much while making the back, but, after finishing the left front, I discovered that I missed several rows at the bottom of it. I had to unravel, knit it again, and then unravel again. Finally, frustrated beyond words, I printed out the pattern (I was using it on my tablet while traveling), enumerated all rows, and got a second row counter. Then and only then, I could finish both fronts. Why two row counters? Because there are many short rows that should be counted separately. And no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t succeed in getting the right amount of total stitches at the end. I decided to leave it as it was because nothing is perfect and one or two stitches more or less are not that important in the grand scheme of things. Honestly, I was just tired of being wrong.

And then I came to the sleeves. The pattern’s drawing of a sleeve doesn’t correspond with its verbal instructions. Simply speaking, if you knit it as explained you won’t make a sleeve shown in the schematic drawing. And I already made the back and two fronts (one of which 3 times!!!). At this point I was really frustrated… No, let’s be honest, I was angry… Nonetheless, my anger couldn’t help me finish my cardigan.

I described in details what I did for the sleeves on my Ravelry page. The goal was to make the decreases as inconspicuous as possible, and to avoid holes while decreasing in order to make the seams neater. I think my goal was accomplished. The yarn and the pattern were the perfect match even though some of the finest pattern’s details were lost on the marled fabric.

How to protect oneself from mistakes in a pattern? 

Rule # 2 – either wait till several knitters make it and explain its mistakes on Ravelry or get ready for a possible failure due to the fact that the pattern as it is written cannot be executed properly.

Actually, this rule – to be always prepared for a possibility of a failure – is one of my major life rules. Failures are inevitable; you cannot live without them like you cannot live without air or food. Admitting this simple fact makes it easier to go on with less bitterness and more determination, I think.

I hope I don’t sound preachy here. This is also one of my greatest fears. I used to be a teacher and I know that teachers often have a tendency to do just that. I don’t want to look like I am on a higher moral or other ground that anybody else. And I am not giving anyone any advice for that matter. My only aim is to share my thoughts and opinions and it is for you to decide if I am right or not.

My next pattern was supposed to be something that would be more straightforward and less complicated (I don’t think anyone would blame me for taking an easy route here!). Strangely enough, the inspiration for it came during our trip to Scotland. On the Isle of Skye there were some yellow flowers (I am blissfully unaware of their name) that reminded me of this yarn from my stash. Many years ago I made a bright yellowey-greenish sweater. I wore it for a while before my youngest child took it. A couple of times I tried to make something from the yarn leftovers but it didn’t work and I totally forgot about it till I saw those flowers.

The last couple of Kim Hargreaves’ books have several designs made using different sized needles. This technique produces a stretchy, drapey, and porous fabric and doesn’t require a lot of yarn.

I really liked Subtle from the book Pale for its neckline and an unusual form of the raglan sleeves. And I made it quickly from the leftover yarn without any changes to the pattern. This one doesn’t have any mistakes and was delightfully easy. Just what I needed!

The only problem with this garment in my view is the neckband. It should have been a little tighter. If one day I make it again, I’d pick up 4-5 less stitches at the back.

Yes, it is extremely stretchy. But I can live with it and it will look perfect in Florida.

Since working on Subtle didn’t require a lot of brain power, I started another project for myself from the new yarn that I bought in Scotland. I fell totally in love with this yarn – Illustrious by West YorkshireSpinners - and I believe I picked the right pattern for it – Early Morning by Yuko Shimizu. It is a gorgeous cabled sweater made in the round from the bottom up using lots and lots of short rows. It looks rather intricate but its puzzle-like construction is clearly explained and is fun to make.

After more than two weeks I made to the armholes and one bright morning (after all it is called Early Morning) I decided to try it on. And I decidedly didn’t like what I saw in the mirror.  The asymmetric hem made my butt look too low and the shape was wrong for my short frame. This wonderful pattern that was a perfect match for my new yarn just didn’t fit me well. Needless to say that I was almost in tears while unraveling it.

3. Some patterns don’t work with our body types. 

This is the last reason why sometimes we need to frog our work. At least as far as I could figure it. Do you know any other reasons?

Anyway, now I  am working on small projects – socks and hats – and it turned out to be really soothing.

So I’ll probably stick with gift knitting for a while. Everyone needs a confidence boost from time to time.

Talk soon,

Anna