Fiber Club!

I always cast on 50 stitches and do 5 garter stitches on each end, and a few garter rows to begin with. When I cast off, it keeps my swatch from curling. Especially in Stockinette. I recently learned the value in swatching…usually I don’t mind, as I knit stuff for DD so if it’s bigger, well she can wear it longer or next season. But this…[Read more]

Did I mention math is one of the things wrong with knitting? Too much math.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been knitting for years, just a lot less once the kids got bigger. Because sewing is more practical, useful and faster too. I mean, people just don’t wear hand knits. Even when it all works out perfectly, I never end up wanting to wear…[Read more]

Did I mention math is one of the things wrong with knitting? Too much math.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been knitting for years, just a lot less once the kids got bigger. Because sewing is more practical, useful and faster too. I mean, people just don’t wear hand knits. Even when it all works out perfectly, I never end up wanting to wear…[Read more]

Linda is spot on. The only thing I would add is that some yarns are inherently very firm and some grow/bloom in counterintuitive way so also block your swatch. Even a half or a third of a stitch off (in width — row gauge is better handled in inches, I think) can add up so much more quickly than it seems it should.

Thanks Linda! This is helpful. I usually do a smaller swatch (varies in width, but probably closer to 4 inches in length) and then count stitches for an inch and multiply. It sounds like that may not be the most accurate way of doing thing. I am entirely self taught (via internet and a stitch book that I have) so I am often guessing and doing…[Read more]

For best results, make your swatch about 6″ square. This allows you to measure out a 4″ square to count your rows and stitches more effectively. The reason for not just making a 4″ square swatch is that the edges will be uneven, making it difficult to count precisely. Even being a few stitches out can affect the finished size of your garment. For…[Read more]

Sarvi- how big of a swatch do you make? Thanks to all of your lovely BT inspiration, I am about to start a Brooklyn Tweed project(Bernice Pullover)and I am a little nervous! I want it to go well! I have been swatching and blocking my swatches lately, but I never make them very big.

yes, I just saw a pattern on knitty.com and when I read the designer works behind the scenes at Brooklyn tweed, I added it to the “safe” list. I do like Ann Budd, her sweater books have been extremely useful. But I don’t do sweaters any more. Her sock book is very good too, but I despite everyone’s warnings about how addictive they are, I only did…[Read more]

Ha! EZ is definitely … well, perhaps an acquired taste. Ok, then maybe the freeform style is not for you. Brooklyn Tweed is more than just Jared Flood, a lot of other people design for them as well. Another designer you might like who writes in a very detailed stitch-by-stitch style is … I forget her actual name, she goes by 6.5stitches on…[Read more]

I used to knit a lot. But sewing is so much faster. I never really learned the faster method of throwing the yarn so I never got fast at it.

I’ve thought of knitting recently too, though, as I’d love to make my son a sweater. I made a sweater for my now-15 year old when she was 2 and she wore it for 3 years! She loved that thing. I used a yarn…[Read more]

oh how I hate Elizabeth Zimmerman! I waded through the February baby sweater and it was such a horrible ordeal I can’t even think about it. However, the damn thing was cute once I finally got it done. I simply can’t stand how vague and unspecific she is. Her instructions are horrific.

Good to know about Brooklyn Tweed. I was eyeing up a few of…[Read more]

Ooh, Sarvi, I love Cat Bordhi too- got her sock books, the woman is a genius! I learnt to knit socks on circulars from one of her books. Socks are one of my favourite things to knit.

Ooh, Sarvi, I love Cat Bordhi too- got her sock books, the woman is a genius! I learnt to knit socks on circulars from one of her book.socks ate one of my favourite things to knit.

With shawls, I am finding that I am not an agressive enough blocker So they come out smaller.

As for hats—2 very l9vely patterns that were quick knits—windshief, & Beeswax(cables). beeswax looks so complex. But the patternis SO intuitive.

And sometimes you just have to out the needles down and walk away for a bit. Thdre is nothing…[Read more]

Oh, and just to add, I’ve been very happy with the Brooklyn Tweed patterns thus far, everything works out pretty well. I had a lot of growth in a pattern where I didn’t block the swatch but obviously that was my fault. Blocking is quite the art form in itself, I might add. It’s *very* easy to undo months of good work with improper handling of a wet piece.

I really feel your pain on this one. I also feel that knitting is so labor-intensive, it’s not worth it to use yarns you don’t love, so even a small project gets very expensive very quickly. The problem is that swatching it so much slower and more expensive than doing a muslin for something sewn. You have to knit a big swatch, using the same yarn…[Read more]

I can’t say I’ve found knitting patterns across the board to be unreliable, but I do think that there are so many factors that can affect how a project turns out – gauge, needle size, changes in yarn after blocking, etc. It is easy to get an off result. I went through a shawl phase a couple years ago and I found that it was more difficult to get…[Read more]

well that’s what this was supposed to be: fantastic yarn and a pretty easy pattern. I gave up knitting sweaters ages ago when the kids got too big for quick and easy. And when I realized that I just don’t wear sweaters I make for myself. Especially when I can just get one from Anthropologie for less money and effort. I only buy nice yarn anyway,…[Read more]

I am also an obsessive reader of project notes on Revelry before starting something – I usually at least scroll through every picture on the project pages and click on a few. I love it when people leave really detailed notes about finished measurements so I try to do the same with my projects. With shawls I think I have found that I needed to do…[Read more]