Pastel Nordic sweater and a better bunny

I spent last night knitting with friends. They are the salt of the earth. If you aren't part of a knitting group, do not rest until you find one, for you learn more by sharing with other knitters in real time than you can imagine. Knitting can be a VERY social activity, and I although I suspect it is pastimes like these that keep isolated people sane, they also enhance group get togethers.

At any rate, I love my Knit Night friends. I LOVE THEM!!!

When I chose colors for this next Nordic sweater, I went with my favorite blue and yellow, which makes me feel good when on anyone, especially a wee person. The white was hard to decide on, and many of you came into the shop and voted for the peach (!), but my hand put the white in when I wasn't looking.

The bunny has become less stylized, and the stripe placements altered so the color exchange flows, but other than that, this is the same sweater as the red one.

EXCEPT, I am using two strands of Dale Baby Ull.

The gauge is ALMOST the same, a tad bigger, and I am using the same size needle as with Heilo. Dale Baby Ull doubled wants to be 5 stitches=1", and I am knitting at 5.5 stitches=1". We will see what happens when I wash it. Because of the superwash treatment, superwash wools tend to stretch once wet.

Little Red Nordic Sweater
Topic: nordic knitting

The third time is always the charm in necks, I have found. It's nice to know this up front, so you don't mind ripping back a little to get it right. Even non-experimental knitting patterns sometimes need to have the neck redone to look good once on. So, when you are making a neck and you think you are done, you are NOT done, so don't cut the yarn yet. Loop that last stitch on a stitch holder and try it on first with the skein dangling.

This little sweater looks a little oversized for the neck, but it is an outdoor sweater, and bigger is better when dressing a tot. I love the neck hem finish!

The second Nordic sweater is coming along in a pastel color combo, and I have started to write the pattern. It is MUCH faster to just knit, but writing as I go makes the pattern a little more readable.

The weather has been just beautiful lately, and I am spending a lot of time outside in the Rabbit Barns, so knitting takes a back seat! Once it gets too hot to work outside, I'll be logging more hours on the needles.

Neck shapes and sizes
Topic: percentage knitting
I have ripped out the neck of this sweater 5 times. After the third time, I took it to a 6 month baby for trying on. I was glad to see that my intuition is right, although it has been a LONG time since I dressed such a cherub, and I cheerfully(?) made the neck smaller on the final reknit.

Babies come in all sizes, but the one thing they share is a proportionately larger head than adults. Thus, when figuring the over-the-head neck fit, one has to take this into account. Add to that the ordeal of getting the sweater on a cranky tot, and we see that the bigger the neck, the better.

I fashion a 50% neck for little kids (1/2 their body measurement) and that works well. However, I made the MOST ADORABLE hemmed neck and it simply does not stretch like a ribbed neck finish. So, I ripped that back and made a 55% neck and it looked dreadful. At that point I found a wee one to try it on, and have decided the 50% neck is JUST fine, even with the non-stretchy hem finish.

I am knitting and sewing down the hem for the final (5th) time. It has been a long time since I sewed hems, and my skills were rusty, so this has been good practice. As soon as I get it wash-blocked, I will post a final picture.

In the interim, I cast on for the next sweater in pastels...baby blue, baby yellow and white in a double strand of Dale's BABY ULL. I have that hem done and am working on the bunnies at the border already.

Immersed In Nordic Color Patterns
Topic: nordic knitting
I spent last night with my charts, my sweater and the SciFi channel.

I really, really love knitting with color. I have kept myself tied down to aran and gansey knitting for the last 3 years and I am DELIRIOUSLY happy with the change. The next two sweaters are evolving as I knit this one, and I cannot WAIT to get to #2.

Last night I pondered how to raise the back of the neck with a few short rows. Normally, I put them all in the collar, but I will experiment and see if I can live with them in the yoke.

By 10:30, my eyes were blurry, and the chart reading was getting muddled, so I took out my post-it-notes and blocked out everything but the row I was working on. (This is quite necessary when you have to keep one eye on Battlestar Gallactica, which repeated an episode I MISSED last time around.)

Yoke Join and Even Decreases
Topic: nordic knitting

Jenny wants to know how to make all the yoke decreases happen and still keep pattern chart continuity.

It's relatively easy to figure it out for one size. It gets harder to make it work for all sizes.

Yoked sweaters (traditionally)only require 3 rounds of decrease spaced equally from the midway depth of the yoke to the neck. However, having made a number of these, a la, Elizabeth Zimmermann, I know they do not fit as well as they could. So, going with Meg Swansen's altered method, 5 rounds of decrease will be employed. This last shaping allows for a more gradual stitch number change, and better fit, IMO. My Sheep-In-The-Round and Icelandic Flecks and Diamonds sweater patterns are made that way and I adore wearing them.

I have fallen in love with the look of the traditional "liced" Sedestal sweater. Most of them are drop shoulder, steeked affairs, and that will be an added step that goes beyond the scope of this pattern. But that does not mean we cannot borrow the wonderful stitch patterns that we find on them! Putting Sedestal row patterns on a yoke sweater design means having the luxury of solid color rounds in which to work non-interfering decreases. Voila! Problem solved. Now only stitch numbers/repeats will be an issue.

The yoke pattern I am working with has the following repeats: section 1: four; section 2, sixteen; section 3, eight; section 4; four. So, after each decrease round (and there will be 5 of them), I need only remember to check that the decrease round results in a number divisible by the following section. However, I have discovered an interesting characteristic of the 16 stitch chart...I can safely eliminate 2 stitches per section about 2/3 of the way through it. This will allow the 5th round of hidden decrease to happen at a nicely spaced spot.

Moving right along...
Topic: nordic knitting

The sleeves in this size take so little time. I normally hate working with two colors on double pointed needles (although I LOVE my Crystal Palacedouble pointed bamboo needles), but with the more efficient use of my right hand it is now simple.

I finally got the tension I was looking for at the beginning. I knit on the loose side, but it is easier on my back, which likes to spasm when I do too much knitting and not enough exercising. (I come from a LONG history of left shoulder/back issues and have learned how to TAKE CARE)

My biggest challenge has been to figure out where to go from here. I designed a yoke chart last night that totally charmed me, and now the trick is to make it work along with the shaped decreases AND for 8 sizes. Stay tuned!

Nordic sweater #1...stitch dominance
Topic: nordic knitting

It's been a while since I did a lot of two handed stranded color knitting, and although I am pleased with myself for learning to use my right index finger better, I always forget which hand will allow the color used to dominate. I have to relearn with every project. I sure could use a cute trick to remember if anyone wants to share.

At any rate, the bottom of this sweater (the entire bunny chart)was knit with the white color in my right. The top part (licing) was knit with the white in my left, which allows the white stitches to POP OUT, which is what I am after. I believe the explanation is that the left hand allows the yarn to hum along UNDER the stitches, and the right hand OVER the stitches. At least this is true for how "I" carry yarn.

But, since I am planning to knit 5 sweaters before I write the pattern, this is fine. I will leave this snafu in this adorable sweater (I love red!) and it will be a springboard for discussion at the retreats.

St. Andrew's Cross
Topic: nordic knitting
What is it about traditional stitch patterns? I have spent weeks poring over Nordic books and magazines and web pages. I have looked at old, new and new age sweaters. I keep going back to the early stuff. For some reason, it feels right.

So, I have decided a good chunk of the yoke will be the ever present St. Andrew.

And licing. This (these) sweaters will be all liced.

I feel better. I can now cast on.

The baby sweater will be first. Stay tuned!

Gauge hat that was a long time coming
I am still looking for inspiration for my sweater, and I am getting closer.

The hat has turned out to be exactly what I don't want and the hem is way bulkier than I want. BUT, it was/is useful for a number of things.

I have never learned to knit really well by throwing with my right. I do know how to throw, and that is how I knit for years, but I throw with my entire hand, and it is very slow. SO, I practiced throwing with my index finger. What a kick it was for this old dog to learn a new trick! As a result, my tension was wonky for a while, and this hem, along with being too thick, has a bell jar curve at the base.

I got some great tension swatches for measuring, and I am finding that I like the feel of this fabric when knit on the loose side. And I found out I am not really as crazy about the checks pattern as I thought I was.

My son loves this style of hat, and this was the typical early English knit cap style (Gunnister?) dating to 1500, I believe. So, as there is value in anything knitted, I may see Bob with this on yet.

At any rate. It is too dark and there is not enough contrast. I simply had to get it out of my system so I could move on. My next attempt will be a high contrast job. I am hunkered down with NORDIC KNITTING by S Pagoldh. I love the pictures in this book and I think I will run with their aura.

A new sweater

Nordic color stitch patterns have always attracted me. The sharp contrast between light and dark, and the "licing", or sprinkling, of light/bright against the dark background is the first thing that catches my eye. I have had a love affair with this type of design from day one of my knitting journey.

As I begin the study of actual stitch patterns and ideas for this next sweater, I am spending time with my collection of knitting books, magazines and patterns. This will probably take a month to wade through. But, last night as I sat watching INDEPENDENCE DAY for the 6th time this month (GREAT movie to knit through), I decided I just had to start playing with my HEILO yarn collection. So, with a #4 circular 16" Addi Turbo needle, I cast on 120 stitches in charcoal heather for a hat.

Many of Elizabeth Zimmermann's ideas are firmly mine now, and I always make many hats before I make a sweater. Hats are the best gauge swatch for seeing what the yarn does in the round for GAUGE and stitch sampling. I will start with a long tail cast on so I can finish the edge as a HEM, and she explains exactly how to do this in KNITTING WORKSHOP, page 63.

The first 5 colors that are charming me

are charcoal, light olive green, cadet blue, dark gold and natural. Stay tuned.