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4/23/2004 12:58:16 PM
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Stopping bottom edge from rolling??
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Yes, I have to agree with Cate... if the sides are going to be seamed together, you don`t need to do the slip stitch thing... in fact, I don`t think you would want to... it will make your seams ever so slightly wavier, I believe.
And I agree with what Marion said about the rolling... if the pattern shows that it`s "supposed" to be a rolled edge, but you don`t like them, just pick up the cast on stitches and add an edge that you do like. If you go with garter or seed or moss, you will still have the same straight shape to your edge. If you like the slightly pulled-in look of ribbing, you can have fun picking from a zillion pretty ribbing or cable styles. If you want the edge to flare out a bit, pick a stitch that has a lacey look... something with yarn-overs in it.
A pattern is pretty much like a "serving suggestion" on the back of a can of soup. It`s only one possible idea. Changing little parts like the edging is addictingly fun!
Post a picture when you`re done!
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4/23/2004 2:12:34 PM
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Top-Down Tanks FAST Pattern
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Top-Down Tank Tops Pattern
Cast On 6 sts for ea shoulder, from separate balls of yarn, and knit back and forth for about 1".
For ea shoulder, increase 1 @ neck side every even round and 1 @ armhole side every 4th round.
At some point (depending on desired neck shape, see note below), you will drop one ball of yarn and join the two shoulders across the neck hole to make one solid front of the tank top.
Continue until you have enough stitches to equal your gauge x chest measurement and knitting is long enough to go from shoulder to armpit.
Break yarn strands.
Pick up cast on stitches at shoulder and repeat the process for the back, shaping neck back as desired.
Knit across all back sts then all front sts, joining all for one large tube shape. Knit down for as long as you want in any patterns of your choice, remembering that cabled patterns will pull in the body diameter and lacey patterns will flare it out.
Afer binding off, you can go back and pick up neck stitches to make a turtleneck or hood or any other shape. you can also pick up the armhole edges to make some decorative edging there, or even sleeves if you want.
Note on Neck shaping: Continue increases in this manner until they are wide enough (4" for sz small child) to join together and drop one of the balls of yarn. This would make a V-neck. Stopping the decreases after a few rows and casting on new stitches from one ball of yarn while dropping the other, to join the shoulders, would create a sqared neck hole. Any combination of the two will create varying degrees of rounded necklines.
I drop one ball and join the neck when the shoulder pieces are about 4" long and about 3" wide, and I cast on about 2" worth of stitches between them for a total of 8" across the garment at the bottom edge of the neckline. That works for a size small child.
I came upon these measurements by just laying the knitting on top of one of her T-shirts and making the knitting scoop a bit deeper than the T-shirt does. You could do the same for any size. There is really no way to screw it up (the small child size will fit over an adult head, but you would want a deeper neck line, since this would pretty much hug your neck), and you can even make further changes afterwards by picking up the stitches around the neck hole and knitting or crocheting an edging.
BTW... the one in Sonata used slightly less than 2 balls of Sonata and only a tiny bit of Esprit.
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4/23/2004 3:09:17 PM
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Top-Down Tanks FAST Pattern
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I just started another one in Turquoise Sonata and have found that you can get a little more shape to the armhole by joining front to back at about 12-16 sts shy of your total, and cast on 6-8 sts between front and back at ea armhole, as you get to it.
I`m attempting the Gingerbread Castle on the belly of this top, so this one will be a little slower. But I`m going to start another quick one out of that nice, soft Piccadilly in just a minute... as soon as I`m done typing.
I keep saying I will make one in plain stockinette stitch to see how fast I can do it... but the temptation to try out new stitch patterns always gets the better of me. Gosh, these are a fast cute little way to use a couple of balls of yarn! maybe one out of all Esprit would be cool, too! That Esprit sure shows stitch patterns better than I ever expected for a textured yarn... anyone else finding that to be true?
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4/23/2004 3:13:17 PM
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Wow! MacChick
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Thanks... Now here`s how tresfoil eyelets work for a boy: you put them in beside an intarsia picture of a cannon and they look like little piles of cannon balls... extra ammo... very boyish!
(Now I feel quite lucky to have a girl!)
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4/25/2004 4:35:04 PM
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Wow! MacChick
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All of your comments were very kind... I just see this as a sweater that survived to completion inspite of me!
Les and Pat... sorry... I REALLY meant to specify the yarn... it was the Peruvian Collection 100% Alpaca... and I must say it really held up well to all that frogging. And it is such seemingly soft and wispy stuff that I was afraid I was going to ruin it one of those times, but not even any fuzzing or splitting or any ill effects at all... and I mean I truly did lose count of how many times I ripped it out!
Pattern? LOL! Well... you start with Casual Cables, then you rip that out and start it over with different cables, then you rip that out and start it from the neck instead of the bottom, then when you get down to the armpits, you rip that out and change to a yoke shaped design, then when you get down to the armpits again, you rip that out and re-do it with a design in the yoke, then when you get down to the cables, you rip back as far as the yoke and re-do the belly with a bit of shaping, then when you get almost to the bottom hem, you rip back to the belly to change the alternating cables again, then just before you bind off, you rip out the moss stitch on the bottom and put ribbing instead, then you cut up the middle of the front and start knitting Marion`s Eyelet cable plackets, then when you are almost done with the button hole side, you rip that all out and re-do it with an extra row between the eyelet rows for button holes... you get the idea... those are the major "pattern elements" for the body as I recall them (the sleeves had other issues... at one point they were going to be puffy sleeves, gathered at the top, but that looked limp and weird).
Go to a library and borrow a copy of B. Walker`s "Knitting From the Top," though... because if you just stick to one idea, her method is VERY quick and you will love the no seams and no sewing... after you bind off, you are ALL DONE (unless you rip that out and...)
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4/25/2004 4:53:13 PM
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Araucania
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I love it, too! I`m making a "Beach Poncho" for my daughter out of it... started with a neck and am just going down from there. Initially, I was using size US 10 needles, but that was to "holey", so I ripped that out and went with US size 6, and that wasn`t quite as soft a hand anymore, so I ended up going with size 8, and I`m liking that very much. What size needles are the rest of you using with this yarn?
I guess I`m teaching my daughter to be a reckless frogger, too, because when I got this beach poncho thing down to her hips, we both decided it should have a row of rosebuds back at the shoulders to make it look more girlish, and ripped it back to just below the neck. Happy to report that this yarn holds up well to the abuses of being ripped out. I`m thinking of soaking a bit of the turquois in a mild bleach solution to see if I can get a pale shade of turquoise... just enough for a couple of stripes of it... might have to try it with the raspberry, too.
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4/25/2004 4:53:13 PM
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Araucania
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I love it, too! I`m making a "Beach Poncho" for my daughter out of it... started with a neck and am just going down from there. Initially, I was using size US 10 needles, but that was to "holey", so I ripped that out and went with US size 6, and that wasn`t quite as soft a hand anymore, so I ended up going with size 8, and I`m liking that very much. What size needles are the rest of you using with this yarn?
I guess I`m teaching my daughter to be a reckless frogger, too, because when I got this beach poncho thing down to her hips, we both decided it should have a row of rosebuds back at the shoulders to make it look more girlish, and ripped it back to just below the neck. Happy to report that this yarn holds up well to the abuses of being ripped out. I`m thinking of soaking a bit of the turquois in a mild bleach solution to see if I can get a pale shade of turquoise... just enough for a couple of stripes of it... might have to try it with the raspberry, too.
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4/25/2004 4:55:34 PM
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Stopping bottom edge from rolling??
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Yea, that`s a very cool trick!
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4/25/2004 4:58:01 PM
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You all are such great knitters!
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And, of course, we all give each other little certificates that say: "You are hereby directed to buy yourself an extra order of yarn this month."
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4/25/2004 5:00:06 PM
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MacChick-you`ve been so quiet
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Well, and a mountain of sewing that I am under, and then there are these Harry Potter books... we are almost through with book 4 now...
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4/25/2004 5:18:42 PM
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Macchick & the chicklet
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I`m getting really good at ripping stuff out now!
Seriously, I used to have to put it aside for awhile, out of discouragement, and knit on some other projects, at least for a few weeks, before I could look at the ripped out one in a positive way again.
But now I get these really excited adrenaline-rush feelings when it first starts to dawn on me that a MAJOR chunk of knitting should probably be ripped out... it`s kind of this wild feeling of, "Nobody would rip this out at this point just to make this one change... NOBODY... but I`m GOING FOR IT!" And once I`ve weighed the odds of just finishing the piece as-is and incorporating the "new idea" into a future project vs ripping out, and if the final decision is that the current piece is unacceptable as-is and ripping is needed, then the next wave that hits me is one of excitement... first I focus on the ripping and the rewinding of the yarn, then on the picking up of the stitches (a danger-risky-thrill sort of fun now), then the thrill of diving in again and just KNOWING how MUCH better this will be this time!
I actually question my most recent rip-out of the Araucania beach poncho... I mean I had just run out of yarn, the remainder will probably be waiting for me when the Post Office opens on Monday morning, but I was loving knitting with this, and I ripped out about three and a half hank`s worth of it at the slightest suggestion of a design change, and even as I settled joyously into the re-knitting of it, I found that voice inside my head asking, "Did you rip that out just so you could keep knitting with that yarn???? `Cause you know you have a dozen other knitting projects... and that did not REALLY need to be changed..."
It is starting to become a thrill-seeker thing, ripping out just for the danger of living on the edge, I think... DH says I really need to get a life!
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4/25/2004 5:25:46 PM
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I agree!
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Well, you HAVE to at least have some WIPs that are portable, for in the car or misc waiting situations; and some that are not portable, for working on before bed time; and some that take lots of concentration, for when you want to take your mind off other things; and some that are "mindless," for when you want to be able to watch a basketball game or carry on a conversation...
And Corinna is just fooling us... I am sure that girl has at least one that`s portable and one that isn`t... going on all the time!
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4/25/2004 5:54:21 PM
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Calculating yardage-formula
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Also go here:
http://www.fiber2yarn.com/info/conversion_chart
Print Out their chart.
It gives estimates for how much yarn it takes to do a variety of items (sweaters, socks, hats, scarves, mittens, etc.) in various sizes (from small child to adult) and in various yarn weights. It also gives estimates for how to adjust yarn amounts for allover stitch patterns, adding turtlenecks, converting a pullover to a cardigan, etc.
I use my copy of this chart all the time! i cannot ever seem to "leave well enough alone" when it comes to patterns, and this chart is a lifesaver for guestimating how much yarn I will need for "my version" of a pattern in whatever yarn weight I want to use!
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4/25/2004 5:56:41 PM
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Eileen_How`s the cold and the Spiders?
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I`m picturing her armed with a cordless portable dust-buster... and those spiders better run for cover, if they`ve been keeping her away from her tea!!!!
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4/25/2004 6:03:51 PM
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knitting magazines
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You know, I`ve been wondering about that Interweave Press mag... good to hear some thing about it from somebody here... I love all their books so much... and their ad ("Do you knit in your dreams?") just really speaks to me (not that has a THING to do with the mag!)... and I`ve been thinking about giving that one a try one of these days...
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4/25/2004 6:17:59 PM
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Reinforcing & repairing socks
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For yarn, I try to pick a yarn that has some nylon in it. Even better if it also has some linen in it.
Sometimes I run a knitting needle through the stitches before the ruined part and re-knit the part that is ruined.
Sometimes I do that "duplicate stitch" or "swedish embroidery" thing where you just embroider over the stitches that have worn away, and it still looks like knitting.
For bulkier socks, I embroider over the ruined part with a double strand of heavy yarn and a big satin stitch. This lasts virtually forever, but the sock won`t fit inside a shoe very well afterwards.
If I`m angry at the sock for wearing out too quickly, I just use an iron-on denim patch, and a mad laugh, and say, "THERE! Now nobody will even WANT to wear YOU!" But this method is counterproductive in the long run, as you really cannot ever get all of that iron-on goop out of the fibers.
My number one most favored and oft-used method is to put the socks that need to be darned into this lovely wooden bowl near the bed, and tell myselft I will work on them as soon as all of my other knitting projects are done. Every now and then, I wash them again and fluff them around a little, and tell them how this long wait is actually going to extend their lives, probably by years or even decades...
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4/25/2004 6:50:18 PM
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"Don`t Forget Your Girlfriends"
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This place is everything a legendary Local Yarn Store should be, or used to be in days of old... a place where you come to get help with any problem, not just knitting; a place where you come to gab with your girlfriends; a place where you come to share everything from philosphy to comedy, a place where you can announce the births, deaths, hopes, fears, and brag about your kids without ever fearing anyone will groan, roll their eyes, and say "Oh here we go AGAIN..."
A friend just sent this to me in an email, so maybe you`ve seen it, but it just reminded me of this place, so I have got to post it here:
A young wife sat on a sofa in Bukit Timah on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her Mother.
As they talked about life, about marriage, about the responsibilities of life and the obligations of adulthood, the mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully and turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter.
"Don`t forget your girlfriends," she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass.
"They`ll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you`ll have, you are still going to need girlfriends.
Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them. And remember that `girlfriends` are not only your friends, but your sisters, your daughters, and other relatives too. You`ll need other women. Women always do."
`What a funny piece of advice,` the young woman thought. `Haven`t I just gotten married? Haven`t I just joined the couple-world? I`m now a married woman, for goodness sakes, a grownup, not a young girl who needs girlfriends! Surely my husband and the family we`ll start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!`
But she listened to her Mother; she kept contact with her girlfriends and made more each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, girlfriends are the mainstays of her life. After 50 years of living in this world, here is what I`ve learned:
Times passes.
Life happens.
Distance separates.
Children grow up.
Love waxes and wanes.
Hearts break.
Careers end.
Jobs come and go.
Parents die.
Colleagues forget favors.
Men don`t call when they say they will.
BUT girlfriends are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girlfriend is never further away than needing her can reach.
When you have to walk that lonesome valley, and you have to walk it for yourself, your girlfriends will be on the valley`s rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and
waiting with open arms at the valley`s end. Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you. Or come in and carry you out. The world wouldn`t be the same without them, and neither would I.
When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we
would need each other. Every day, we need each other still.
Pass this on to the girlfriends who help make your life work.
I just did.
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4/25/2004 11:51:00 PM
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Hanks of wool
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O.K., what is a Shardigan? My curiosity is peaked... a cross between a shawl and a cardigan? The much-needed evolution of a shrug into something that covers more than just the shoulders? What? What?
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4/25/2004 11:53:55 PM
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Top-Down Tanks FAST Pattern
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I`m betting that once you`ve done 2 sleeves simultaneously, you`ll never do them one at a time again! Post a picture when you`re done! I can`t wait to see it!
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4/26/2004 12:18:22 AM
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So what are you working on THIS week?
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So now I have this mental picture of everyone at the yarn show in undies or Disney pajamas and flip-flops of assorted wild designs! And then, back in the hotel room, of theresa holding up her sore arms saying, "I guess I will be the yarn swift..." while everyone else is knitting various appendages of the sweater... You guys are going to have such fun and laughs!
Theresa... I`ve read that in the old days, they used camphor to keep moths away. The only camphor I know about is for toothaches, but maybe somebody else knows what that was all about or whether it was a potent solution for the moth problem?
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