knitting books

Welcome to my four new followers! If you came in from "Grow Your Blog", here's my "this is me" post. Thanks for dropping by.

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I received only one stitching-related book for Christmas. It is The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges, by Ann Budd.

There are several patterns in the book I like. I have only shown you details of the patterns but I have provided links to the garments where I could. If you are not a member of Ravelry, I apologise that you can’t access some of these links.

Alpine Tweed By Jared Flood (from his website)

Fibonacci Rings by Ann Budd (Ravelry link)

Cable Love Henley by Ann Budd (or here for Ravelry link)

India Print Henley by Anne Hanson (modelled here by my blog friend Jocelyn, from Knitting Linguist)

Feather and Fan Flare by Ann Budd (Ravelry link)

I don’t know if I would wear either of the first two, I am too well endowed to want to draw attention to my bust area (says she whose Westall cardigan has lace panels you-know-where) but I certainly can admire the designs.

DD borrowed French Girl Knits (by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes) from the library. I have fallen for a couple of the patterns, particularly Anjou and Celeste.

 

Have you seen any new-to-you stitching books lately?

children's jumpers

Over the past few months I have knitted several child-size jumpers [sweaters] for charity. I have been practising and refining my knitting-in-the-round technique and designing some successes and some failures.

One of those failures, although I didn't realise it when I posted about it back in June, was a sweater-without-shoulders. Thanks C. for your honesty; you made me look at the jumper again and of course you were right. Having started from the top down I was reluctant to fix it but it was very obvious that it couldn't be worn in that state so, after some thinking time while the jumper lay in the naughty corner, I came up with a solution. I snipped one stitch just above the armhole and slowly, carefully and painstakingly took out all the stitches in that row. It took a couple of hours but I finally separated the yoke from the body. I then picked up all the stitches of the body, ripped out the yoke and proceeded to knit a new one paying carefully attention to EZ's numbers!

Here is the same jumper - version #2.


This jumper has a sister [also knitted top-down]. Here she is:


Her very plain raglan cousin in 5ply acrylic:


And her very fancy cousin:


who, of course, insists in me showing the detail!

How to knit a circular yoke sweater top down

Above all, don’t think it through, just cast on and design on the needles making decisions as you go! [yeah right!] And if you must take this approach - keep a pattern library [I use Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches] and these two books within easy reach:

Knitting Without Tears Elizabeth Zimmermann [Schoolhouse Press]

Top Down for Toddlers Deb and Lynda Gemmell [Cabin Fever]

1. Using a size larger needle than you intend to knit with, cast on the number of stitches required to go over the head of a child of, say, 6 years old [in this case 96 stitches; which is actually big enough to go over my head!!]


2. Change to correct size needles to obtain gauge [I knit with a size that makes the knitted fabric feel right in my hand - not too stiff, not too drape-y for the project-in-hand]


3. Knit K2 P2 rib for required number of rows [I like to fold my neckbands and stitch them down so mine looked like a turtle neck for quite a while]


4. Do six rows of short row shaping across the back of the neck starting with half the number of neckband stitches plus 12** [1/2 of 96 is 48 + 12 is 60] then 2 less, then 2 less, etc [i.e, rows getting progressively shorter: 60, 58, 56, 54, 52, 50]
   **This is the reverse of EZ's no-seam sweater which is knitted from the bottom up


5. Find four or five ways that don't work to avoid little holes at the end of those short rows


6. Rip all the short rows out and start again, this time knitting the end of the short row with the stitch below the next stitch [see EZ "Knitting Without Tears"]


7. Knit one row then increase in next row by *K3 M1* repeat to end of round [I now had 128 stitches]


8. Determine the depth of the yoke [in my case: 20cm/8inches; I found this figure in "Top Down for Toddlers"]


9. Choose a lace pattern for knitting interest and work in the round until yoke is 1/4 of its depth


10. increase this time by *K2 M1* repeat to end [192 stitches]


11. Decide that the pattern is too fussy and doesn't sit right and modify it to suit own needs



12. continue in stocking (stockinette) stitch until yoke is 1/2 its depth


13. increase as in step 10 [288 stitches]


14. continue in whatever pattern takes your fancy until yoke has reached desired depth [a modified eyelet pattern]


15. *knit 82 stitches, slip the next 62 stitches onto waste yarn* repeat for remaining stitches [modified figures from "Top Down for Toddlers" to suit my 288 stitches]


16. cast on 8 stitches at underarm, knit across to the other underarm, cast on eight stiches


17. continue on these 180 stitches in desired pattern until work measures finish length desired minus length of bottom band [I changed to pencil point ribs of my own design]


18. decrease ten stitches evenly around the body in next row


19. knit band desired length in K2 P2 rib


20. pick up 62 stitches for one sleeve on dpns


21. pick up and knit eight stiches from cast on stitches


22. put a stitch marker where the underarm seam would be


23. knit 7 rows in stocking stitch


24. in row 8, K1, SSK, K to last three stitches, K2 tog, K1


25. continue decreasing in every eight row until 46 stitches remain ["Top Down for Toddlers" recommends never going below 45 stitches for a 6yo's sweater]


26. knit the band in K2 P2 rib for desired number of rows


27. cast off loosely


28. repeat steps 20-27 for the other sleeve


29. look at finished sweater and realise the sleeves look too long


30. measure with a tape measure - yep, too long by about 9cm! [3 1/2 inches]


31. decide that's not too bad, it’s for charity not someone specific, it would surely fit someone [a chimpanzee maybe]


32. continue the internal debate: one could live with that, one may even grow into those sleeves [and out of the body width and length]


33. struggle some more with oneself for a few minutes [maybe twenty!]


34. wait until it's past bedtime [with work paid employment the following day] to decide to frog!


35. pick up the stitches, reknit the bands to desired length


36. cast off loosely


37. Try not to be concerned that it looks out of proportion - the measurements are correct!


38. look the sweater over and make a list of all the things to do differently next time!


• since it’s acrylic and it won’t block, don’t use the first stitch pattern at the beginning of a circular yoked sweater because it will never lay flat


• find another way to do short row shaping on the back of the neck


• decrease more frequently on sleeves – decreasing every eight rows doesn’t work when starting with 70 stitches and need to get to 46 – do the maths BEFORE you start the sleeves!


39. Share with readers the trials and tribulations of trying to reinvent a top down sweater [which someone with far more experience has already done!] the design process!!