What I like best about this time of year is
the idea of promise. The promise of spring.
The promise of sun. The promise that SOON
you'll be wiggling your piggies bare naked
in the breeze. The promise that you'll be
throwing all caution to the wind and maybe
having to reach for a nice little sweater
to wrap yourself away from the promise of
chill, because it still lingers just around
the corner.
The
light gets brighter and our clothes follow
the sun. Dark colors give way and we crave
COLOR. Now is the perfect time to make the
transition from cool to warm and get your
needles flying!
If
you've never knit with cotton or the wonderful
new blends all over the yarn landscape, take
a chance and try something new!
If
you're still stuck in a lingering winter,
chances are your projects are languishing
as well and your cabin fever is at an all
time high! Not even the promise of anything
is moving you to finish OR start anything
at all.
SlumpBuster #1: Tired of the
seed stitch cardigan you thought would be
a breeze? Put it down! Take a little break
and make a fun, little project. A small purse
or eyelash yarn scarf can put you back on
track and revive those creative juices.
SlumpBuster
#2: Learn something new! I recently
learned how to knit socks after resisting
for almost two years. Not only was it intriguing,
it had that small-project magic from SB#1
and was totally fun! Here's something you
can pick up, knit a few rows, and recharge
for those other more demanding projects. Since
socks take relatively little amounts of yarn,
you can dare to be more colorful and bold.
SlumpBuster
#3: Yarn has no expiration date! If
your project is really getting you down and
you don't have a deadline for it, put it away
for a while. Maybe even marinate it until
next year if it's getting too hot to knit.
Putting some distance between you and your
creation might revive your interest at a later
date. My all-time personal best is 12 years
to finish a project. I even hid it up at my
mother's house, forgot about it, and then
finished it when I suddenly found it years
later. Yes, it was intarsia...
From
Marc K: Am I the only man knitting
out here or are there others? Some discussions
make me feel like a total freak. My wife tells
me not to worry and knit her more lace.
La
Bonne: Heck no, you're not the only
man who knits.
I'm
sure you know the first commercial knitters
were guild knitters in Mesopotamia and Egypt
who made garments for royalty and the wealthy.
It is thought that traders and sailors spread
the craft around the world. Men knit; women
spun. I have a couple of good books about
this. It wasn't until knitting became more
mechanized that men went on to make their
living doing other crafts.
There
seems to be a renewed interest in knitting
by both sexes. We have guys in our knitting
group [although one crochets] who are wonderfully
talented. Get out of here with the freak thing
- I'm an Urban Geek Knitter and I say fly
your flag high!!!
In
my opinion, you have an intelligent and
peaceful mind to follow your path. Any other
guys out there want to chat it up?
From
Christine L: I just recently started
knitting and I have been able to pick up most
things either in books or resources from the
internet [i.e. casting on/off, increasing
and decreasing stitches, etc.] but I am stumped
as to how to "pick up # of stitches and
knit" since I am knitting a sweater that
requires that step to knit the collar onto
neckline. So far my search for decent
illustrations on how to pick up and knit has
resulted in pictures that don't explain very
much.
La
Bonne: The very best way to learn
how to do this [and many other thrilling techniques]
is to find another knitter who would be willing
to show you *hands on* how to do this.
If
this is not an option, here's how I like to
do it. Usually,
you use a needle two sizes smaller than the
needles you used for the body of your sweater
[or whatever your instructions call for].
You
want the collar to ease into the knitted piece
without bunching or gathering and be a smooth
transition. You also want to have the proper
number of stitches to work the pattern the
instructions call for. For example, if you
are making 2x2 rib [K2, P2] you will want
to have a total number of stitches that is
divisible by 4 [2+2=4]. This is called a pattern
repeat and varies according to the direction.
This information is usually supplied and will
be written as "over blah-blah number
of stitches". If it isn't, count the
number of stitches in the pattern design you
are working and make sure you have the correct
number of stitches to work complete pattern
repeats.
This
sounds more complicated than it is. If you
have access to a library, have them help you
find Vogue
Knitting: the Ultimate Knitting Book.
It has a great section with color pictures
on this topic that is very helpful. It is
well worth it to save your money and get a
used copy if you can. I use mine almost every
day!
From
Carol S: I made my husband a vest
with some great Berroco Wensleydale Longwool.
It looks fine but the fit is, well, not so
good. It is decidedly wider than he is. If
I resew the side seams to make it narrower,
won't I end up with a lumpy bit of extra fabric
stuck in there? Can I [dare I say it] steek
it and then trim off the extra? Or will the
whole thing unravel if I try this?
La
Bonne: If you have access to a sewing
machine, you can stitch a
seam, stitch another seam within one-eighth
of an inch of the first seam, and trim the
excess then zigzag the cut edge with a tight
stitch setting. Be sure to measure twice,
pin, then baste the seam-line and sew the
seam very slowly with matching thread. Take
extra care at the armhole edges and bottom
edges so everything matches up evenly.
Most
commercial sweaters are cut and sewn with
sergers which *bind* the cut edge. Wool fibers
tend to grab onto each other so you have very
little unravelling. I've even done this on
a cotton sweater which I've since washed and
dried in the dryer countless times.
Good
luck, Carol! Let us know how this turns out!
Next
Issue: Short Row Shaping for Shapely Forms!
