Photos from Knit Natters last Saturday

Repeat announcement: In November, Knit Natters is attending Kid 'n Ewe instead of our regular meeting.

Great club Saturday! Let's see, we had Barbara, me, Pat, Sara, and Mary, with some folks under the weather or otherwise engaged. Barbara's had a tough month with some skin cancers removed, but hostessed us anyway. I've had the tooth, but I did bring some Boy Scout green bags to give out (I work at a Boy Scout council) and I brought along some of my projects I've been doing with videos. s

Here's Pat Tittizer's new handknit sweater. I don't think the pic is showing the subtle colors to their best advantage, plus this is one of those natural fiber creations that's nice to feel. The striping pattern is a Fibonacci sequence of five with four repeating colors.

Mary brought some scarves she's finished, and I goofed and didn't get a picture.



Austin is home to the University of Texas and FOOTBALL is a very big deal here! In fact, I've been told it's a religion, but really, attending games is a very social, fun thing to do in Austin.

When Sara started hand knitting a UT blanket, she got begged for more, and I got a sense that one of Sara's immediate goals is to stop knitting Longhorn blankets! Sara was in the crochet-it-together phase on this one.

Sara found the hard-to-find burnt orange at Hobby Lobby in worsted I Love This Yarn. I think it's showing darker than it is in the picture. She used Red Heart for the black and white because she couldn't find that in the same yarn. Her mom (Pat Tittizer) did the charts. Sara twists her carried color floats as she works, so the back looks great and won't snag.

You must use your imagination, because lovely young Sara is hiding behind the blanket! Last month, I got her to poke her head above the triangle shawl she brought, but no such luck this month.

When You Can't Get Gauge

Knitting teachers tell people to knit swatches until they match the gauge in a pattern, but sometimes you absolutely can't get that gauge. It's not necessarily your fault -

• The yarn might be discontinued
• You might have yarn you want to use - it's suitable for the project, but that yarn just won't get this gauge.
• Sometimes one color of yarn, or batch of yarn, knits a different gauge from another

One thing you could do is strive to get the stitch gauge, then adjust the pattern for the row gauge. This is an especially good solution for very similar yarns.

If that's not an option, you could refigure the pattern by doing the math. I've got a shortcut that I've used many times:

Your stitches DIVIDED BY Pattern's stitches = ______

The answer is the conversion factor (or, technically, your "magic number"). Multiply it by stitch counts in the pattern. For instance, if you are getting 25 stitches in 4" and the pattern says to get 20 stitches in 4", then 25/20 = 1.25. Use that 1.25 times the number of stitches to cast on, the number of stitches at the shoulder, etc., and you've got the number of stitches you need to use in each of those places.

You have to figure out the rows, too. You can't use the conversion factor for the stitches to figure out the rows! You need a magic number for the rows:

Your rows DIVIDED BY Pattern rows = ______

And there's your magic number for the rows. In the example, above, suppose you were getting 32 rows in their 4" gauge square and the pattern says 28. Divide 32 by 28, and you get 1.14. Multiply that by the number of rows when the pattern specifies rows, and that's the number to use.

It stands to reason that if your stitches or rows are smaller than the pattern's, you need more stitches or rows to make the same size piece of knitting.

Maybe your stitches are larger. If so, you can use the same method. Say the pattern is telling you to get 5 stitches per inch, 20 in that 4" gauge square, but you're getting only 16. Take yours and divide by the pattern's: 16 / 20 = .8. If they tell you to cast on 100 stitches, you multiply that by .8 and get 80. You need to cast on 80 stitches. Because your stitches are bigger, you need less of them for the same size piece.

For hand knitters, I suggest at least a 4" gauge square. Cast on more than enough stitches and knitting more than enough rows, then measure 4" in several different places on the swatch.

Gauge swatches are NOT a waste of your time or your yarn. You can reuse the yarn in your project, and besides, your gauge swatch will help ensure your success.

Machine knitters should make a bigger swatch, because it takes so little time. After all, the more accurate your measurement of the gauge is, the better your results will be.

Photo of Pam's First Sweater

Check out the sweater Pam made, and what a wonderful job she did.

Her little grandson steals the show, of course!

This is the beginner's v-neck sweater that I taught with videos to be used after after the beginner video knitting course. It does not require a ribber, but is all main bed work. There are two patterns, one for a standard gauge and one for a bulky machine. I also did filmed lessons on sewing the sweater together.

Important to Read

Thoughts about the individual mandate in the current Baucus bill:

http://volokh.com/2009/10/10/fined-for-inadequate-insurance/

Knit Natters

We had a good knit club meeting today, and I did get a few photos, which I will upload later on.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Knit Natters will go to the Kid 'n Ewe fiber festival near Boerne, Texas for our November meeting instead of the regular meeting! If you're interested, contact me. Some are meeting at my house and carpooling, and others will meet us there.

Another Honeycomb Dishcloth

This honeycomb dishcloth pattern is sportweight cotton yarn, called "I Love This Cotton," from Hobby Lobby. (I have no affiliation with Hobby Lobby, but there is one nearby, and I like the store.) I grabbed two skeins of it the other day because it has a wonderful, soft, silky hand for 100% cotton.

I used the bulky machine with the ribber again. The stitch pattern you need is:

x o x o
x o x o
o x o x
o x o x

In other words, birdseye double-height but not double-width this time, because this dishcloth is on every needle. I think it'll work on 1x1 ribbing on the standard as well, but I haven't had time to try it.

Cotton is not the easiest yarn to knit. It has very little stretch and it doesn't run quite as smoothly as other fibers. To knit with cotton, be sure to do the following:

• Rewind from a ball to a center-pull skein, or else work with coned cotton. Trust me, not rewinding your yarn is not a worthwhile shortcut, no matter what skeined yarn you use.
• Use wax in the wax holder on the machine.
• Don't go with a thicker yarn than your machine can handle easily.
• Avoid lace stitches or any stitch that requires elasticity.

Great Links

I made this list of links for the Knit Natters site quite a while ago - and I still think it's one of the best machine knitting link lists on the net:

http://www.knitnatters.com/links.htm

Cool Post - Triangle Lace Shawl

From Knotty Knits and Knotty Kids:

Shawl!

http://tracykm.blogspot.com/2009/10/shawl.html

Honeycomb Dishcloth, and Another Version Coming

Here's the still closeup of the dishcloth.

Knitting dishcloths is a great mystery to a lot of people, as in, "Why bother?"

Even though I started out with that philosophy, I have spent a lot of time figuring out ways to machine knit dishcloths, and I hand knit a lot of them, as well.

The reason is simple: people want the dishcloths, and people want to know how to knit them.

This honeycomb stitch dishcloth is knitted from Sugar N Cream self-striping yarn, and I got the video up last night despite my having ten thumbs and no energy. The knitting wasn't difficult. I was the problem. At one point my husband overheard me and said, "Did that bad word get on the video?" and I acknowledged that I wouldn't include it in the video and it's a good thing I can edit the videos.

Ah, victory at last - no bad words and a video I think you can easily follow if you want to make this, or just use if you want to learn to do the honeycomb stitch.

Now, here's the important part of the post - as I was shopping, I found another brand of 100% cotton yarn that I think will make excellent dishcloths and is a sport weight, so I'll do a second video showing how to do that one on both the bulky and standard machines. In fact, this other yarn has a very good hand and would make nice garments, but I haven't tried that yet.

Honeycomb Dishcloth - Easy Ribber Project

This dishcloth is knitted from Sugar N Cream yarn on the Brother 270. It's a simple project, and an opportunity to try out the honeycomb rib I showed in a prior post.

Things I'd like to do...

http://katcampau.blogspot.com/

30-step gradation dyeing? Well, anyway, it's beautiful.

I love to dye yarn with Kool-Aid, and my favorite socks are knitted from it. It would make a great video all the same!

Ribber Swatch #3

Pictures are acting wonky on Blogger, but here's a lacy tuck stitch that I think has interesting possibilities. Flat it's a tuck stitch we've all seen before, but since it's based on a 1x1 rib, and blocked open just a little gives a knit-and-purl lacy stitch. It's very fussy, though - a little goes a long way visually, at least in this big gauge.

Pattern 125 in my Stitch World, only the out-of-work needles are ribber needles:

o x o x x x o x

o x o x x x o x

o x o x x x o x

o x o x x x o x

x x o x o x o x

x x o x o x o x

x x o x o x o x

x x o x o x o x

Here's a concept - try any tuck stitch that's intended to have out of work needles (a tuck lace) and make the out of work needles be ribber needles instead of empties.

I probably can't get any video done tonight - too many other things on the schedule, but I do have plans involving this stitch, too.

More Swatching - Honeycomb Ribbing

Well, ho hum, we do this all the time on the Passap...

But, most people don't do it on Japanese machines! I knit it quite frequently, and here it is on the bulky, a very thick, warm version. I have a project for this for an upcoming project video, and I plan to use a mohairish yarn.

Here's how I did this:

1. I set the end needles to not select automatically (see the manual).
2. I used a double with, double height birdseye pattern (checkerboard). That looks like this:

x x o o
x x o o
o o x x
o o x x

3. In my case, pattern 112 in the Stitchworld did the job.

4. Cast on and knit 1x1 rib on T3.

5. Select needles.

6. Set main bed to tuck stitch, both directions.

Swatch - Bulky Racked English Rib

I've been swatching so I can video some more easy ribber projects. I'm trying for things that will make good gifts.

There's nothing unusual about this technique - but it is really very fat done with a bulky ribber!

Here's how to do it:

1. Cast on for 1x1 ribbing
2. Set the ribber to tuck leftward, when you're on the right
3. Knit 2 rows
4. Rack over until the ribber stitches have moved to the other side of the main bed stitches
5. Knit 2 rows
6. Rack back to the original sides

Repeat rows 2-6. This was a light worsted on T3.

Round Lace Blanket, Machine Knitted

Hat tip to Heidi's Knitting Room:

http://heidisknittingroom.com/RoundLaceTablecloth.htm

I know I've knitted something like this as a doily. I think it's in a published knitting book.

This one's hand manipulated. I've made up a bunch of 'em using DAK and my lace carriage. I got fascinated at the time and couldn't stop, kind of like eating potato chips. One of these days I should do something about those patterns...

Yarn and Knitting Machines

I get questions about what yarn to buy and what knitting machine to buy.

I've done most of my videos on a Brother 270, which is a "bulky" knitting machine, because it's the biggest gauge I have and therefore allows the biggest pictures and clearest closeups.

I'm not a good person to ask which gauge machine to buy because I believe I need them all! You could ask your dealer to show you things made by the different machines and look through the knitting books to compare the results. Then there's the cost issue, and the visibility issue, and the versatility issue. I did post on this a while back: http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2009/08/choosing-your-first-knitting-machine.html


As for the yarn question, please don't get the idea that you can use a lot of fancy, bulky handknitting yarns on the "bulky" machine. It takes up through worsted weight yarn and not much thicker at all. If the yarn is hairy, furry, eyelashy, bumpy, kinky, uneven, that makes it knit up much bigger. I urge you, as you're learning, to use smooth, thin yarn, thinner than you think is necessary, so you don't have a struggle caused by the choice of yarn.

For the midgauge (6 or 6.5 mm) you need sport-weight yarn or thinner.

For the standard gauge machine (4.5 or 5 mm) you need thinner than sport-weight yarn, fingering weight, lace weight, or industrial/machine knitting yarn.

The process of learning machine knitting and choosing what to knit is kind of like looking for clothes. If you go to the store searching for a red silk wrap dress with a swingy skirt, you're unlikely to find it. If you go to the store determined to try on available dresses and see what looks good on you, you'll find a dress.

If you start machine knitting by following machine knitting lessons, books and patterns, pretty soon you know what the machines will do, and you're bursting with ideas. If you go into it wanting to duplicate Aunt Irene's handknit Celtic sweater, you'll be frustrated and miss most of the fun.

Photo of the Luxury Throw

Butter-colored chenille throw that I made in the last video:

Luxury Throw - A Beginner Ribber Project

Here's an afghan made on the ribber using English Rib, also known as half fisherman's rib. I've reversed the pattern from the knit to the purl side, every 20 rows, to make it reversible.

I was going fror the look of a luxury throw, the kind you see in decorator and gift shops, and specifically hoping for a very nice gift item. The beauty of this project comes from the yarn, so look for a luxury/novelty yarn but make sure it's thin enough to knit in full needle rib on your ribber, and double-check by making a good-size swatch. I used rayon chenille - which is elegant but not sturdy - that had over 2,000 yards per pound. In the video, look how skinny it is next to my hand.

The chenille I used was rather soft and floppy. Now the machine needs a thorough brushing and vacuuming, as it always does after any large project or any yarn that sheds. I am thinking you could use a very thin hairy yarn, or two or three strands of very, very thin yarn like 2/30 for color depth - experiment with your swatches. A few years ago I found some yarn that was half wool and half cashmere, which would be wonderful for this project.

You could make it bigger, especially for a man. Mine came out 35" x 54" with the width on the machine actually being the longer dimension - it grew width-wise as soon as it came off the machine, and that's the long side of the rectangle. I used a whole cone of yarn that I already had on hand. I might try this with all 110 needles for a longer throw.

The video had to be divided into two parts because I couldn't show everything and bring it in under ten minutes, but still, it's not too long.

Part 1 of 2:



Part 2 of 2:

Ribber Lesson 25 - Slipped Ribbing

In this video I show how to do slip stitch ribbing. It's a variation of the pintuck lesson, but it uses a punch card or electronic pattern. I did full needle rib, so I used a fairly thin yarn. You could do this in 1x1 ribbing by using a double-width button.

I also lengthened the pattern (by pushing the double-height button, or on a punch card machine, you could change the setting on the card advance) to make deeper tucks.

A Treat From Oz

Feast for the eyes:

http://ludmillasblog.blogspot.com/

Talented Australian knitter Ludmilla has a marvelous knitting blog, and I hope she doesn't mind my linking to it! She does wonderful machine knitting pattern work and has lots of terrific pictures of different techniques. She also has a handknitter's sensibilities and does conversion from hk to mk.

Ludmilla loves lace, as do I, and she has a great lace work on the blog as well as all kinds of other pattern work, including garter carriage, ribber textures and double jacquard work.

Ludmilla commented on the basic drop stitch lace video I just put up this week, so off I went to check out her knitting, and really, it's a treat, a "don't miss!"