Mistakes

Wow. That's what I thought when I walked into my LYS and saw this leaflet next to the sample garment. I snapped Noro 24 (the leaflet) right up. This weekend, it crawled out of the want pile, and wriggled over next to some Needful Yarns I got on a raging good sale at Elann. So I cast on.

Now, I am a competent knitter. I can follow instructions. On the pattern set up row (Row 8), it has you reaching back "4 rs" to make a loop. On subsequent pattern rows, it says do loop stitch.

I looked up loop stitch, which was [knit tog the next stitch and the corresponding purl loop form previous row on the right side of the work]


My work looked like this. It was totally kicking my ass, so I drove to LYS and looked at the sample garment. (40 miles, dontcha know)



Well, the 4s were the problem. The first row needs to go back MORE than '4 rs' and subsequent rows just reach back to the previous garter ridge.

Well just say so, already.

The project that ate my time!

I finally finished a project. I say finally, but really, I have knit it one and a half times (at least), frogged it, and it spent a lot of time in time out-that was several short time outs, not one protracted time out. It's Shirley Paden's cardigan from VK S/S 2004, #11, knit in Elann's Camilla yarn.

To make this easier for you, I recommend-

1) Photo copy the chart and put it in a document protector. Use a Post-it to move up the chart as you work. Write down each row as you finish it. As soon as you finish it. Store the pen in the document protector so you don't have to look for one at the end of the row.

2) Buy deluxe post-its. The super sticky kind. This is no time for shoddy bargain post-its.

3) Mark the "right side of the garment" with a safety pin, a scrap of yarn, SOMETHING.

4) Since the entire garment is knit by the charts, I found I did better when I was alone.

5) Knitting the sweater body takes about 250 stitches a row. It could be that 2 rows may be all you can manage in a session, and then you have to put it away! This is why good record keeping is essential.

6) There were times when I picked it up and could not understand where I was in the pattern. Some days it took me 10 minutes to see it. If you can't see where you are in the chart, just sit with it in your lap. If you can't see it in 15 minutes, just put it down. It is not your day to work on it. I had trouble reading right to left, and then left to right on the pattern. This is true lace!

7) This is not a forgiving pattern. It's extremely linear, and a stitch out of place SHOWS. Fudging doesn't work well. Since the pattern changes every row, I found it difficult to memorize.

8) There is a big paradigm shift on the facing. Study the chart before you begin, and notice how it differs from the main chart-look at how the diagonal travels, and what happens in the wake of the stitches. (Yes, I reknit this portion.)

9) I knit facing A and facing B separately up to the slant points. Then I photocopied charts A and B and taped them together. Then, I worked them concurrently, using markers to designate the increase sector (which I just worked in rib).

10) It might be easier to knit the sleeves in the round. I think I would like it in wool.

Edited to add: I slipped the first and last stitch of every row on the collar and front opening to give myself a springboard for a 3 needle bindoff to attach the collar. It worked great.

I did the same thing at the under arm, and that about killed me. The jacket had a very narrow armscye (is that the right word??), and the sleeve top was fairly wide. I just about screwed myself there.

Fairy Sprite

Oh, looky! Pretty, isn't it? My summer secret knitting project is revealed! You can see it on Elann.com.

I had a few specific pattern tips--and Blogger is not letting me cut and paste. Dang it.

This can be a simpler to knit top-it's rated as expert, but really shouldn't be-it's knitted as a lace sampler, and everything is knitted in bands separated by stockinette.

1-On the sleeves, the pattern calls for 4 bands of stockinette, then starts a lace pattern AND the underarm decreases on the same row. Bad planning. It would be simplet to just do an additional 4 rows of stockinette and do the major decreases there.

2-Knit it double stranded. Judging from the yardage required for size M, I think they left that out of the instructions. I knit this in two balls of Elann Super Kydd on US 2s.

3-Knit the front and back concurrently, and work the sleeves concurrently.

4-The pattern tells you to cast off with an oversized needle. The knitter should cast ON with the same oversized needle.

5-The stitch counts worked on the bodice, but didn't mean a thing when you are working the main lace pattern in the sleeve.

6-Add a selvedge stitch to the sides.