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!!

how to save a sweater

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about a sweater I was knitting as a sample for mum's sweater. While mum's sweater turned out okay [read the full story here if you haven't heard it already] the child's sweater did not.

But it has been saved! After a swim in the frogpond [where it was reduced to a body and two stumpy arms] it was kissed knitted again by a beautiful princess never-say-die blogger into this:


And just because it's my blog and I can show off if I want to to - some texture in the form of mock baby cables:

That's the end of the blue Panda "Baby Lustre" 8ply but I still have 500g of the mauve to use! Just as well it is knitting up more softly!

How not to knit a poncho

1. Don't knit harsh yarn on too small needles unless you want the poncho to stick straight out like wings front and back!



2. Don't increase eight stitches every two rounds unless you are really knitting a flamenco skirt for a very thin woman!



3. Don't even increase eight stitches every four rounds [incarnation 2] - unless you want to poncho to look like a bell tent!*

4. Don't overcompensate and increase four stitches every six rounds unless you want your poncho [incarnation 3] to fit a barrel!



5. Don't stay up till 1:30am to finish those last few rows unless you're sure the poncho will be as wonderful as you imagined! Frogging is a poor choice at that time of morning!



6. Don't put your stitch markers in the wrong place unless you want the centre line of your poncho [incarnation 4] to end up looking like this!

The yarn is Panda's Baby Lustre 8ply which I picked up in the bargain bin at Wangaratta last year for the enormous sum of $12 a kilo [or $0.60 per 50g ball]. It's certainly not a soft yarn and I wouldn't use it for anything a baby was going to wear close to its skin but for a little girl's poncho that bit of sparkle is 'just right', even if the centre line isn't; I'm hoping it won't look so bad once it's on a 3D person!!

It's completely knitted in garter stitch [despite those seemingly interminable rounds of purl - especially in the "bell tent poncho"]; only one row in four has *yo, K2 tog* to make the holes. The pattern is mine, designed on the needles from a vague idea in my mind's eye. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't! LOL

*picture of the bell tent from surplusandadventure.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apologies to everyone whose feed readers told them I had published several times - I wish I saw all my mistakes before I hit "publish post"!

gauntlets or sleeves with no sweater!

Once upon a time, in the twentieth century, lived a young teacher who taught in the public school system. Her classrooms generally had gas heaters but they didn't always work effectively. Being part of a team in the NSW system, the young teacher was not only expected to teach but also to keep law and order in the playground in twenty minute blocks at least three times a week. And sometimes supervise students as they waited for the bus to whisk them off to their homes.

Now this young teacher was also a knitter. Every year she knitted herself one new jumper [sweater] to add to her collection. She also had a mother who knitted. This mother knitted the beautiful young knitter/teacher three twinsets, consisting of a vest and a cardigan. With this ample supply of warm sweaters in her wardrobe and a collection of gloves and scarves, our young teacher was able to make it through even the coldest of days on playground duty.

After a period of time, our young teacher gave up her career for the more difficult task of raising a child. After five years at home, the young mother was pushed by "the recession we had to have" back into the workforce and those handknits became her staple winter wardrobe. After five more years teaching the leaders and educators of the future, our not-so-young teacher decided enough was enough and took down her shingle [no, teachers don't have one but you know what I mean].

In the following years she worked in the job network assisting the long-term-unemployed re-enter the workforce. She did her best to train them in skills like punctuality, attitude and anger management. She also spent three years at university becoming qualified to teach English to adult learners from other language backgrounds, hereafter known as TESOL.

After several years away from formal education, our decidedly-middle-aged educator applied for and was accepted to teach English in the largest registered training organisation in NSW, hereafter known as TAFE. Things had moved into the twenty-first century in her absence. Educational facilities, at least for adults, now had air-conditioning, rendering classrooms impossibly warm in winter and unbearably cold in summer! Our not-so-young-but-still-enthusiastic teacher found that, although it was cold outside, she only needed a short sleeved tee-shirt in the classroom during the winter months.

This would have been no problem, except that our intrepid teacher had to travel to work in temperatures less than 10*C [50*F]. She needed to be warm while travelling, especially on the days when the air-conditioning on the train was non-existent or, worse still, set on cool! Wearing long sleeves to work then changing was a hassle but still our cold-is-my-worst-enemy teacher needed warmth. Was there a solution?

**light bulb appears above her head**
Why not knit some sleeves with no sweater? "Gauntlets", said the shivering teacher's Wonderful Man.
"Gauntlets with no hands" she replied. "Or sleeves without a sweater."
They must be knitted in something soft [no wool against bare skin] and light so that they can be worn under a jacket. And removed without undressing.
...Hmm. Alpaca? Silk? Bamboo? Cotton?...

She raised the matter in an email with another knitter, who likes to be known as Doctor Bones. Her friend advised, "Cotton and bamboo don't have a lot of stretch recovery, don't know how well they'll stay up."
"Good point", thought our erstwhile gauntlet-without-hands knitter. I must think on it some more.

And so she did....

[Comments appreciated]

Happy 75th Birthday Mum

Some of you may have thought that I have been a bit quiet on the Textured Knitting front lately but I was working in stealth. Sometimes my mother reads my blog.

Last week was mum's 75th birthday and this was my gift:

It was knitted in Bendigo Rustic [colour Aran!] 8ply and I used a little over three 200g balls. It was started on Wednesday 21st April but some days no knitting was done - days when I just couldn't face the cable needle again. There are a lot of cables in that jumper, believe me! Two trees of life on the front and back plus two on each sleeve.

Moss [seed] stitch diamond panels on all four pieces plus the lobster claw cables.

Phew - textured knitting indeed.

I started it in the round but then realised I would have to knit back and forth above the armholes. I decided to knit the sleeves flat because I figured I could seam it more easily that way. Remember the child's sweater that found its way to the frogpond? It was the trial version for mum's jumper. Was the child's version worth knitting? Well, I did do short row shaping and a three-needle bind-off for the shoulders so some of the lessons I learnt were applied. Also the lesson of not adding the sleeves one row to one stitch was carried through! [And that child's sweater was almost finished on the trip home so you'll be seeing it here fairly soon!]

The knitting was finished on 31st May. It sat for a few days while I waited for some dry weather to block it [that never happened; it rained all week]. While I waited to block, I contemplated it - I thought the neckline was wrong but DD tried it on and it looked okay. On the eight-and-a-half-hour trip to my parents' place, I seamed it and sewed in all the ends. Mum never blocks her knitting so she wouldn't notice but I sure can so please don't look too closely!!! I wasn't happy, something was niggling away at my brain, but I couldn't put my finger on the problem.

Mum loved the jumper [sweater]. She was so excited! As soon as mum tried it on I saw it - the neckline was too low in the front and way too high in the back! But no-one would let me take it apart to fix it!! :-(

So mum has the jumper and I have the pain of knowing it's not right!! She'll wear it one cold day and find it uncomfortable and, because we live so far apart and she thinks I'll never know, she'll never wear it again. Or, worse still, she'll try to take it apart and correct it herself! I hope not because I've used techniques [three needle bind off, knitting in the round, mattress stitch] that she's never heard of let alone used!

Superficially the jumper looks great and mum is really happy. Just remind me to get my hands on that neckline next time I visit them!!

Happy birthday mum!

"Winter of Textured Knits" KAL May 2009 Gathering #3

The third and final Gathering for May

From very cold rural Victoria we have our first offering from Susan to keep us warm [it's versatile too!]
But wait, there’s more; Susan may have just joined the KAL but she has been busy:

These may be more lace than texture but they’re worth admiring!


...as is this on the same page:


...and these small items:


From small items to much larger:


Susan didn’t knit all these herself but I thought they were worth showing:


In what I assume is now very cold Tassie, Tinkingbell is busy with bigger items:

...and here:


The two above were knitted for Tink herself but Tink’s Princess wasn’t to be left out:

Finally, these last two are not knitting but I love the textures so wanted to share them with you anyway!

From Catsmum whose blog is called “Susan in Stitches”


And from Pins and Needles [aka Where’s the Knitting? LOL]


Come back tomorrow when the secret knitting is finally unveiled!

Enjoy the cooler weather -- I'm off to knit under my nice warm blankie [gratuitous 'old' textured photo - read about it here]!


Happy knitting / crocheting / crafting!

"Winter of Textured Knits" KAL May 2009 Gathering #2

Are you ready for another collection of gorgeous textures?

Paisley Womble has been busy with the needles. Her most recent effort is our first picture:


I absolutely love the colour of this:


I suspect Paisley Womble went shopping especially to match her knitting!



I hope Lorelle hasn't washed away in all the rain in south-east Queensland. She's had time to produce these Thanks, Rell, for including photos I didn't have to crop!! ;-):




This offering is from Rose Red [scroll down]: it's not blocked in this photo so the texture is fairly strong even though the picture is very small!

Then we also have this offering from RoseRed [swing, swing, swing, J!]:


RoseRed would also like us to know these [first seen last month] are finished [thanks Nora3]:


And our final knitter today: Knitter Sue. This will keep someone warm:


What a buzz this one is!! LOL


I'll bet you'll never guess what this is [unless you've visited her blog of course]:



Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the final installment for this month!

"Winter of Textured Knits" KAL May 2009 Gathering #1

Whoa! You knitters are getting too enthusiastic! LOL Any more of this and I'll have to limit the "Show and Tell" [or Chantelle as Susan so nicely puts it!]

So, here is this month's gathering of textures [not all knitting - oh my!!] In the interest of fairness, the pictures are presented in the order of the file names I gave them after I cropped them! You will see them over three exciting days: there are way too many photos for one viewing!!

Firstly, in cold Canberra, Bells is keeping someone special warm. I know its lace but there's garter stitch in there too!


And some more garter stitch from the same post:


Then there's this photo Bells took of a much larger gift for another someone special. Thanks to the Raveller who helped her finish it!


And look at this gorgeous texture [which also includes some lace].


And finally, something warm [in colour and yarn] for this winter:


And in chilly rural Victoria, Carol has stopped digi-scrapping [her layouts are beautiful] long enough to contribute these to winter warming [which team does her someone special support?]


Over in the USA, where winter [we hope] is a distant memory Delighted Hands has been crafting all sorts of goodies, including this:



On the northern side of the beautiful city of Sydney, Jan's been playing with some stitches and knitting up some samples.


Jan has been busy knitting for charity. My cropping doesn't do the work justice but I didn't want to give too much away!


I love the ridge of texture along the line of eyelets!


Be sure to come back tomorrow for the next Gathering!

Do ponchos like frog ponds?

Do you remember the poncho I began a couple of weeks ago?

Well it's now in it's second incarnation. I had to rip if off the needles [I needed that particular circular needle] and I realised that I was doing the increases too close together - every second row. I decided to rip it back and do the increases [eight stitches] every fourth row.

The new version is looking really good and has hours of work in it; even though the yarn is harsh and plasticky and I really don't like knitting with it. The poncho is now 13 inches from the cast-on neckline to the front 'point'. I've realised that it's too big for a child [although children's heads are big in proportion to the rest of their bodies] so it could easily be an adult's poncho except that I was never going to have enough yarn for an adult poncho. Even if I pull out that disastrous sweater I attempted to knit as a trial for a larger project.

So right now the poncho is in the "I'm not sure what to do with this" corner. I have three choices:

1. keep going and make it a child's poncho i.e. 16 inches to the 'point' - I may have enough yarn to get that far
   
2. try to buy some more of this awful-to-knit-with yarn [Panda Baby Lustre 8ply] and make an adult poncho which I'm sure someone will love - it's a nice design for a poncho, the yarn is a pretty colour and has that fashionable 'bling' with a sparkly thread through it; it just doesn't feel nice when knitting!
   
3. rip it all out and use the yarn [must I?] for something else

I'll let you know what I decide!

PS Sorry, C. no photos - I haven't taken any. I'm writing this at 12:30am and I have to get up early for my Big Day Out!