How long could it possibly take to knit a cap sleeve slightly cropped sweater with color work in the yoke?  A very long time if you go by my Lovebirds sweater.  Of course, knitting the yoke 2 1/2 times didn’t help!  Here’s the saga of my Lovebirds.

I saw this pattern on Ravelry and loved the original color way, which you can see here.  I went out and bought the exact same yarn.  (I already knew that I liked knitting with Spincycle’s Dyed in the Wool.)  After knitting most of the yoke — this is a top down sweater — I didn’t love how it looked.  The Sunset Strip color way was simply too yellow for me.  Yellow is one of those colors I just can’t wear easily.

Here’s a photo taken after I had started to rip it out.  I was much further along.  There’s nothing wrong with the color; I just wasn’t happy with it on me.

I put Lovebirds aside for a number of months and then discovered a color of Spincycle — Midsommar — that was similar to Sunset Strip but had more pink than yellow in it.  I wanted the hearts to pop and so I used some Spincycle Dyed in the Wool in the Devilish Grin color for those.  (It was leftover from my knitted clock.

I started over.  I finished the color work.  I separated for the sleeves.  One of the design options for the body of the sweater is to add cables.  As I was about to start the first cable row, I realized that in my size the center cable was not going to line up with the row of hearts that finishes the color work.  Moreover, now that I was looking at it more closely, I realized that none of the motifs lined up down the center as they had on the pattern model.  Was it me?  Had I screwed up?  I looked at some of the other finished sweaters.  No — it wasn’t me.  I had assumed the motifs would line up on all sizes and had been so busy knitting away I hadn’t noticed that they were off.  (I do not have a photo of what the sweater looked like at this point.)

Let me say that there is nothing wrong with the other sweaters I looked at.  The overall pattern is happy and fun and the finished sweaters looked great.  But as longtime readers know, Susan and I are perfectionists.  I wanted my motifs to line up!

I couldn’t bear to start completely over for a third time.  My solution:  rip out to just before I separated for the sleeves, then shift the sleeve placement so that the patterns lined up the way I wanted.  No problem — except that this is a top down sweater that uses short rows to raise the back neck.  If I simply moved the sleeves, I’d end up with the neck short rows draped over one shoulder.

I decided to cut off the yoke above the color work.  I found the new center of the front and placed the sleeves accordingly.  Then I re-knit the short rows and neck ribbing from the bottom up.

The removed original neckline

Checking to see whether the motifs are lining up and the short rows are working

New neckline finished and knitting the body

It worked!

I hope you’re not tired of ganseys and baby knitting because I’ve just finished two projects using Susan’s new gansey hat and sweater patterns.

One of my nieces had a baby girl last February.  I started knitting a dress for her in the winter but didn’t like the yarn and so I put it aside.  I still needed to knit something for her and the Baby Gansey sweater designed by Susan was perfect.

I used BeWoolen’s Merino DK in the Fate color way — a light pink with gray undertones.  For the trim, I used Mrs. Moon’s Plump DK in Earl Grey (leftover in my stash).  I wanted it to be feminine but not overly girly.  Success!  I’ve decided it has a sophisticated Chanel vibe — don’t disabuse me!

I added a bead to each button.

It’s not a challenging knit, but you do need to pay attention to the pattern.  The directions themselves are very clear.

Next up, I wanted to knit a hat for a friend’s new grandson.  By this time, Susan had finished her Gansey Hat for Everyone pattern.  I used the same gray yarn from my stash that I’d used for the sweater trim.  There’s a choice in her pattern of 3 gauges and 8 sizes.  The baby is only two months old, but I decided to go for the 6-12 month size in the 5 stitches to the inch gauge.  The red trim is some Neighborhood Fibre Worsted in the Cooper Circle color that I stole from my stash.

I added an extra pop of color between the patterning and the stockinette.  To do that, I knit a row in the red and then purled a row.  (If you start by purling, you’ll get bumps of the first color which will spoil the look somewhat.)  I used the method recommended by Susan in the pattern for eliminating the jog when using a color — as you can see from the photo of the back, it worked perfectly.

Both presents are winging their way to the recipients as we speak. Whew!

Hey, remember me??

Last you heard from me I had just launched my Baby Gansey Sweater and Hat Pattern.  I was inspired to keep going with the hats and make the hat versatile enough to fit everyone — over 3 different gauges!  8 sizes and 3 gauges (5, 5-1/2, and 6 sts/inch).  That adds up to 24 options!  You should be able to make this work for anyone.  It’s 20% off on Ravelry through next Saturday!

Gansey Hat for Everyone

I just released my pattern!  It’s called Baby Gansey Sweater and Hat Pattern on Ravelry!!  Yay!!  To promote the launch, it will be 25% off through September 24!!

Oh my.  I have been knitting baby sweaters like a fiend!  I finally finished the last sample!

As I said in an earlier post, this new baby sweater, called Baby Gansey, is actually a reinterpretation of a sweater I knit almost 30 years ago for my eldest daughter.

The sweater was a labor of love then and now!  It was supposed to look like a onesie, with the overlapping shoulders to make it easy to get over the head.  It was knit in pieces.  Seamed.  Sleeves sewn in.  In those days I was a one-trick pony and the only seam I knew how to do was the backstitch.  So the sleeves were backstitched into double fabric!!

I love the design and wanted to preserve as much of the concept as possible, but wanted to modernize and simplify the construction so I could write it up for others.

The sweater comes in four sizes and the matching hat has five:

The hat pattern is free with the sweater!!

So, that’s the story.  I am leaving tomorrow morning to visit my dad with my brother and sister, Surly.  I may not be able to get this completely together until I get back…stay tuned!! 🙂

Is this the longest and strangest year ever??

In case you had any doubts, I’m the one on the right!! 🙂

Sally and I have been doing some knitting.  I am also on a potholder high!  I’ve been cranking them out for my dad, my daughter, and myself.  They are such a dumb little project — kind of like knitting dishcloths — but they are practical and necessary.

My first attempt was a fail.  When I got to the last edge to bind off, the lack of tension caused the whole thing to disembowel.  SO, I came up with an idea to use knitting needles to hold the tension on the bound off sides.  These are super long, strong DPNs, but I had planned on using old straight needles, which would have also worked.

I am also knitting.  When my daughter was a baby, I designed and knit her a baby sweater (she is 30 now).  I have planned for 28 years to recreate the sweater for others and sell the pattern.  It is in process and may take another 28 years at this point!! 😎

Blocking is magic.  Blocking makes things happen!!  And thank goodness for that!

I started the “Stars and Stripes” Wrap designed by Carol Sunday last April.  The lace work was challenging and the stripes boring, so I set it aside for a while.  After finishing my Sandness and Flora Cardigans, I had nothing fun on my needles, so I picked it up again.  Still challenging and it looked hideous!!

I soldiered on, but had my doubts.  I made some changes to the ends: I substituted a crocheted, scalloped edging that wasn’t flared like the original.  I also did a “pick up/bind off” edging on the long sides of the wrap to give it a cleaner look.

But just how much difference could blocking make?  I mean, if it was a full on lace shawl I would have no doubts whatsoever, but this wasn’t full on lace!

Mount Vesuvius??!!  Kilauea??!!  What the beep??

I really didn’t think the miracle of blocking could fix this thing…but, I gave it a go.  Blocking wires assured a straight edge and consistent width:

Mount Vesuvius disappeared!  The color in the next pictures is very true.

So, blocking took it from hideous to gorgeous!  Yay!!  Speaking of gorgeous, the Together Apart Shawl that Surly made me arrived on Monday.  So stunning and more than thoughtful.

Two FOs for the price of one!!

PS to Heather T.: The “pick up/bind off” method I used is very basic.  The edge on this wrap consisted of k2, p1.  Using the same size needle as the wrap, I picked 3 sts for every 4 rows into the left leg of knit st number 1.  This left me with an unbroken knit st to follow.  Then I bound off with a needle one size larger, as to knit from the WS.

For the Weather Scarf, blocking alone might be enough to smooth out the edge.  I don’t know what yarn you’re using, but I had a tough time blocking my Tukuwool.  It ended up looking very nice however!

Melanie Berg is a prolific and talented shawl designer.  I saw her Together Apart shawl knit and loved the  lace pattern and the colors Melanie used (Tosh Merino Light Copper Pink solid with Phantasm stripes).  I bought the identical yarn and began to knit.

About halfway through the knitting, I began to feel guilty.  In her description of the pattern, Melanie wrote:  “Knit two shawls in inverted colorways and send one to your friend! The intertwined colors are a reminder that even when we’re apart, we’re still a part of each other’s lives.”

During the course of this never ending pandemic I’ve had to cancel four trips.  I missed a family vacation (where I’d get to see my son, who lives in Seattle), a baby shower in Minneapolis, a charity gala I attend every year with dear friends, and knitting camp.  I’m lucky that my daughter lives here in town, but I miss my friends and family deeply.  Susan is both my sister and my best friend.  Not being able to visit in person is no fun!

So I bought more yarn and when I finished my predominantly pink shawl, I knit one for my sister in the reverse colors.  It took me about two weeks for each shawl.  (It just felt longer.)  I popped Susan’s in the mail today.

Here are photos of the two shawls.  Someday soon, if we’re lucky, they (and we) will be Together Again instead of Together Apart.

Happy Knitting and stay safe everyone.

PS from Susan: My shawl is stunning!  I know the lace was not a simple pattern and the shawl is very generous in size, so I know how much work was involved.  Whew!!  I can’t wait to get it!  Sally said she had a little trouble trying to figure out the best way to wear hers, but I love this shape and I love the colors!  Thank you to my lil sistie!  I dreamt last night that she popped into town to surprise me.  Even though she spilled the beans about the shawl during our virtual camp Zoom call, it still is like a surprise visit from Surly!

As promised, a discussion about that wonky thing that happens with short rows on a circular sweater!!

Many sweaters are now made in one piece, either topdown or bottom up.  There is usually shaping at the neck or somewhere near the yoke to raise the back neck.  The shaping is done using short rows.  This means that your “knit in the round” sweater needs to be worked back and forth to complete the short row section.

Short rows come in many varieties and seem to go in and out of fashion: wrap and turn, yarnover, Japanese, German.  Right now German short rows are quite popular.  I myself usually prefer Japanese.  Be that as it may, no matter what type you use they have the same issue.  Short rows like to be resolved in the direction they were created.  In other words, a ‘knit to the turning point and turn’ short row is best resolved by knitting.  A ‘purl to the turning point and turn’ short row is best resolved by purling.  This works great in flat knitted pieces.  But a problem arises when the short row section is completed and it is time to go to back to knitting in the round.  Knitting the last purl short row is wonky.  Major wonky.  Really, really distorted and pulled out of alignment.

I have tried many different short rows to minimize this issue and none worked very well.  I even asked the big knitting brains at Meg Swansen’s Knitting Camp which method worked best and no one had a solution.  I am currently working on Sunshine Coast — knit in the round but for the short rows.  I tried using a German short row for the final purl turn, but it looked terrible.  Somehow my inner brain remembered a rather obscure (or should I say, lesser known) short row method that I thought I would try since I had already decided that I needed to restart the sweater anyway: Shadow Stitch Short Rows.  I don’t even know how I remembered this method, but I thought the double shadow stitch might be less prone to distortion.

I actually used this method for both my knit and purl short rows.  I love it!  When I changed from back-and-forth to knitting in the round, the transition point distortion was minimal!  Yay!!  Here are some not very good pictures:

Here are the knit-wise short rows – they are in the 10-stitch section between the pins:

Here are the purl-wise short rows, including the transition to circular knitting:

I think it looks great!  Much better than usual.  This is what I love about knitting.  There is always something new to learn and new tools to add to the toolbox!!  You can even use your favorite short row method all the way through and just use this for the last purl short row.

I showed you all a picture in process of the terrible crooked knitting of my Flora Cardigan.  Well, the cardigan is done and blocked.  Blocking is magic, people!!  It looks so much better!!  But, boy, did it shrink!  I had to really tug and stretch to get it to size.

It is very lineny and drapey!  Lovely fabric!

I tried something new (to me) to join the shoulders: Russian Grafting.  You use a crochet hook and no working yarn.  You set it up like a 3-needle bind off, with wrong sides together.  Then you pull one stitch through from the front, and then one stitch from the back.  It creates a rickrack appearance and is very flat.  I did not find it to be any stretchier than a 3-needle bind off, which was my first concern.  I will use this again!!

The other thing I did is what I did with my Big Love Cardigan.  Even though this is knit bottom up and Big Love was top down, the construction is similar in terms of the shoulder positioning.  I knit the fronts 2 inches longer than the back.  The diagram below shows what I mean, and this link to Big Love goes into more details.

Stay tuned for another post about that wonky thing that happens with short rows on a circular sweater!!

PS regarding the shrinkage: I read up on viscose and it recommends dry cleaning store bought garments.  The yarn label said to handwash in cool water.  I wanted to aggressively block because of the poor appearance of the knitting, so I machine washed it on gentle in tepid water.  This definitely improved the knitting, and when I laid it out I was thrilled…until I measured.  It was 3 inches shorter and narrower!  Stretching brought it back.  Then it took days to dry!

I miss my sister.  She’s my partner in crime, my best friend, my knitting buddy, my surrogate mother . . . you name it.  I had planned on flying her out here for a mini-break, but that idea has gone out the window for obvious reasons.

Today is her birthday so, as part of an annual Rainey Sister tradition, I’m dragging out this photo of us.  Still one of my favorites.  I won’t tell you how old it is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG SISTER!!!!

As long as I’m here, I’ll share a work in progress.  Like my sister, I’ve been working with a summer yarn.  Mine is Malabrigo Susurro, a blend of 50% silk, 25% linen, and 25% merino wool in the color Pearl.  It has a lovely sheen.  I’ve knit with it before and I know all the irregularities in the raw knitting will block out.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself.  One skein got me to two or three inches below the armhole, which is a nice bonus.

The pattern I’m knitting is Sunshine Coast by Heidi Kirrmaier.  It’s a great pattern — well written, simple but with some nice styling details.  There’s a reason it’s so popular on Ravelry.

It’s a good thing I have a nice view since I haven’t been able to go anywhere since early March!

Stay well and safe everyone, and please wish Susan a Happy Birthday.