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4/16/2007 10:57:39 AM
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What`s on the needles?
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I`m working the decreases up the neck edge on the second front of the Wren. Back`s done. I`m really watching the yarn, but if 3 balls will do the sleeves I should be fine.
Then I have that Zodiac! DS did my taxes whilst he was here on Easter Weekend. The Zodiac was my reward. No matter how well I think I have done putting receipts into envelopes by categories AND keeping a ledger, he always wants more - spreadsheets this time! I have to sit and nod humbly and agree with what he says, so that he`ll keep working on them. Some of the receipts for meals for the house-searching trip in Wales in October were written on little squares of newsprint about the size of a post-it. He was not impressed - get asking for awkward things like date, location, and restaurant name.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/16/2007 10:57:39 AM
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What`s on the needles?
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I`m working the decreases up the neck edge on the second front of the Wren. Back`s done. I`m really watching the yarn, but if 3 balls will do the sleeves I should be fine.
Then I have that Zodiac! DS did my taxes whilst he was here on Easter Weekend. The Zodiac was my reward. No matter how well I think I have done putting receipts into envelopes by categories AND keeping a ledger, he always wants more - spreadsheets this time! I have to sit and nod humbly and agree with what he says, so that he`ll keep working on them. Some of the receipts for meals for the house-searching trip in Wales in October were written on little squares of newsprint about the size of a post-it. He was not impressed - get asking for awkward things like date, location, and restaurant name.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/16/2007 10:57:39 AM
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What`s on the needles?
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I`m working the decreases up the neck edge on the second front of the Wren. Back`s done. I`m really watching the yarn, but if 3 balls will do the sleeves I should be fine.
Then I have that Zodiac! DS did my taxes whilst he was here on Easter Weekend. The Zodiac was my reward. No matter how well I think I have done putting receipts into envelopes by categories AND keeping a ledger, he always wants more - spreadsheets this time! I have to sit and nod humbly and agree with what he says, so that he`ll keep working on them. Some of the receipts for meals for the house-searching trip in Wales in October were written on little squares of newsprint about the size of a post-it. He was not impressed - get asking for awkward things like date, location, and restaurant name.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/16/2007 10:57:39 AM
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What`s on the needles?
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I`m working the decreases up the neck edge on the second front of the Wren. Back`s done. I`m really watching the yarn, but if 3 balls will do the sleeves I should be fine.
Then I have that Zodiac! DS did my taxes whilst he was here on Easter Weekend. The Zodiac was my reward. No matter how well I think I have done putting receipts into envelopes by categories AND keeping a ledger, he always wants more - spreadsheets this time! I have to sit and nod humbly and agree with what he says, so that he`ll keep working on them. Some of the receipts for meals for the house-searching trip in Wales in October were written on little squares of newsprint about the size of a post-it. He was not impressed - get asking for awkward things like date, location, and restaurant name.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/16/2007 10:57:39 AM
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What`s on the needles?
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I`m working the decreases up the neck edge on the second front of the Wren. Back`s done. I`m really watching the yarn, but if 3 balls will do the sleeves I should be fine.
Then I have that Zodiac! DS did my taxes whilst he was here on Easter Weekend. The Zodiac was my reward. No matter how well I think I have done putting receipts into envelopes by categories AND keeping a ledger, he always wants more - spreadsheets this time! I have to sit and nod humbly and agree with what he says, so that he`ll keep working on them. Some of the receipts for meals for the house-searching trip in Wales in October were written on little squares of newsprint about the size of a post-it. He was not impressed - get asking for awkward things like date, location, and restaurant name.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/16/2007 11:42:28 AM
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Need help with yarn choice for next project.
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Hi Connie
Top should be fine in Baby Silk. It would be possible to knit the skirt in Baby Silk too BUT: Knit a larger size in a firm gauge - 7 st = 1 inch to get the measurements you need. Do not attempt to knit it looser on larger needles to get the sport-weight gauge. AND line it to below the start of the pleats with high quality, heavy weight lining material - ie a good taffeta that`s non-static. Then you should be fine. I wore a knitted suit in fingering gauge for years and years and years in the days when I wore `city clothes`.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/17/2007 5:46:20 PM
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Who@@@s making the Adara shawl?
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I haven`t got there yet but was wondering about it.
The facing may give it weight to sit well on the shoulders. Maybe ACB will answer.
Post what you decide.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/17/2007 5:50:10 PM
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directions
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You are making a hole and adding a stitch to be knitted (or purled) on the next row. Try to be consistent so that all your holes look the same.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/18/2007 11:25:01 AM
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HELLO! I have returned from the humid to the dry...
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Good to hear that you are back safe and sound, Jamie. I watched the storm going over Maryland on the weathercast and hoped you didn`t get too much of it.
It`s time for spring to come to Colorado!!!
Do take a couple of days just to relax.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/18/2007 6:35:00 PM
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The Peeks... ideas?
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Doubled will give you about 26st = 4 inches, between a fingering and a sport weight.
4 strands will be about 19st = 4 inches, worsted weight.
Think about what you can do by stranding four different shades together. Look at your Adara sample and you`ll see what I mean.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/19/2007 10:23:18 AM
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Did anyone else have internet trouble yesterday?
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Yes, mine was very slow - other side of the continent. Maybe all the Americans on the island were busy filing. Started out slow this morning but is better now.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/20/2007 10:29:34 AM
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Wren looking good Jayne ...
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One sleeve to go and the collar to finish! Are you adding a tie to the inside front? If so, I-cord, ribbon, or what?
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/20/2007 10:39:35 AM
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Some sad/bad news and good news!
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Very sorry to hear about your MIL.
I`m sure your SIL will feel your love and support everytime she wears your gift.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/21/2007 10:14:20 AM
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Berroco Cotton Twist - perfect for Wren?
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Should be fine for Wren, Benne. Good colour combinations.
As the pattern is in stocking stitch with a bit of ribbing, it`s easy to adjust the size if the gauge is not right on. I`m knitting mine in DK and added bust darts with short rows as well as increasing the length before the first shaping. I picked up the sleeve stitches around the armhole and am knitting downwards - I was afraid that I was going to be short of yarn, but no. One sleeve has taken slightly less than a ball and I have 2 1/2 balls for two sleeves, so I may make them a little longer.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/22/2007 12:44:24 PM
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Berroco Cotton Twist - perfect for Wren?
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To knit sleeves downward: a great technique if you don`t know how long you want your sleeves, not sure about the amount of yarn, want to make sure the underarm fits, don`t like sewing in sleeves, etc.
3-needle bind-off the shoulder seam.
With a smaller needle pick up stitches around the armhole - 1 for 1 for the initial cast-offs on the back/front and then pick up 2, skip 1, pick up 2, skip 1, etc around the rest of the armhole. Try to have the shoulder seam as the centre point and the same number of stitches each side of this centre point.
With your needle for gauge, purl to the centre stitch, then 1/2 of the stitches of the flat part of the cap in the pattern [For Wren in the middle size, the number is 19, so knit the centre stitch plus 9 more. Wrap and turn, knit to the centre stitch plus 9 more. Wrap and turn.] After the first two wraps are completed [the purl row and the knit row], purl across, pick up the wrap and purl with its stitch [count as `stitch 1`], and purl two more stitches, wrap and turn. Knit across until you come to the wrapped knit stitch, knit it together with the wrap, and knit two more. Wrap and turn. Keep going back and forth moving along 3 stitches at each end until you reach the stitches picked up on the underarm cast-off. Knit these all in one bite.
Now you are ready to knit down the arm. You will probably find that you have more stitches than the pattern says for the last row before the cap of the sleeve. This can be a good thing if your arms are rounder than the model`s. Measure around your arm where the top of the sleeve will fit [be honest], add ease, and translate this into stitches. Figure out how many `extra` stitches you have. If you are `short` a stitch or two, pick up half of what you need from the side seam edge at each end of your row.
There are several ways of dealing with these stitches
a) if your prefer a larger circumference, do nothing, and decrease at the intervals the pattern calls for for increasing [for Wren it`s every half inch, so every 3 1/2 rows, which is a little tricky to work out if you want your decreases all on knit rows - if you don`t care, then it`s Row 4, Row 7, Row 11, Row 14 etc.].
b) Decrease more frequently - I decreased at both ends of every RS row for Wren.
c) decrease the extra stitches evenly across a right side row, and then proceed according to pattern instructions, but decrease where you are told to increase.
I chose to knit 3 stitches more on each short row because I don`t like puffy sleeve caps. If you want a fuller cap, try 2 stitches. I decreased very second row going down the arm to have extra ease in the underarm area and a snugger fit farther down my arm.
Hope this helps. Do repost if it`s a bit confusing.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/22/2007 1:08:32 PM
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Ernest Question about wearing lace shawls
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Benne`s right, you have to think like a shawl wearer. She wears shawls beautifully, and so does Jamie.
Victorian women learned how to manage them - for a long rectangular one, it`s all in how you hold your elbows, but the art has almost died out.
When I was a teenager at a girls` private school in Victoria BC we were the end of an era - we had to practise walking down the stairs at the boarding house wearing high heels and a `stole` (as shawls were called then) until we mastered both at the same time. Years later when I was costuming at a community theatre, I found the kids could be taught to manage shawls elegantly but not the middle-aged women! They insisted upon wearing them like potato sacks clutched in anxious grasping hands - fine for Transylvanian peasants in Dracula, but not good for period pieces.
Shawls need to floooow!
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/23/2007 10:00:45 PM
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Shall we count `em up here?
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I can`t remember when I couldn`t knit, sometime before I started school though. So that makes it 55-60 years. We knitted squares for afghans for refugee camps when I was in grade 2 and then knitted animals and stuffed them for the children in the camps a year or two later.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/24/2007 9:39:31 AM
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In the never-ending Wren saga..
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I`ve finished the green cotton one - just needs to be blocked. I think I`ll attach a ribbon to hold the under front in place. This is going to be a useful garment.
Have cast on the back in Zodiac to knit on the way over to Victoria (Big Island) today. Won`t knit the collar so deep this time.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/26/2007 11:19:23 AM
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How would you improve construction?
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Bets, try the following. Read right through as some parts are done at the same time.
Slope the shoulders of the front and back panels with short rows before the 3-needle bind off.
Knit the front longer than the back - about 2" for a C or D cup, less for A or B. Mark the bust point on the front panel - same place both sides.On the side panel, decrease (K2tog or SSK) just below this point on right side rows (or all rows if need be) to reduce to the same number of stitches as the back side panel from hem to shoulder. Knit 2 together at the shoulder in the middle of the side panels to continue the slope. Stop about 1 1/2 inches before you reach the full width at side seams.
Measure around your arm/shoulder at the point on your body that the panel reaches to. Add a little ease. Convert this measurement into stitches. Put a marker at each end of these stitches. Start the sleeve decreases within these stitches. When you get beyond desired body width, continue on the sleeve stitches. At the same time start short rows from the armhole downwards to bring in the waist a bit.
You may find it easier to transfer the sleeve stitches to a separate needle and knit the sleeves. Then go back to the body stitches and knit into the ends of the sleeve rows as you come to them - this forms a little gusset so that you can move without excess bulk.
Depending upon length, you may need to add some short rows to provide hip room.
Remember that all your shaping except the shoulders is in the side panels. Draw on paper, cut out of newspaper, etc until you can see the shape you want. Without shaping, there`s a tendency towards the sack-look on anyone larger than Twiggy.
Post again if this doesn`t make sense.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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4/26/2007 11:27:26 AM
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Fear and Loathing of CeCe
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If you are not sure, chart it out on graph paper. Takes a bit of time, but you learn a lot about the pattern doing it. You can work in the stocking stitch pieces as Amy suggests or work through the pattern to the edge. Then you have it visually in front of you.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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