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.

I suffered from extremely crooked teeth as a child.  I had braces for four years and several oral surgeries.  I even suffered through a second round of braces in my 60’s!  No, my teeth still aren’t perfect, but the point is I don’t like crooked teeth.

I also don’t care for “crooked teeth” in my knitting.  You know what I mean.  Uneven stitches.  I have been knitting for a long time and have spent no small part of that time trying to improve the appearance of my knitting.  I have come to realize that it isn’t always my fault.  For instance, the choice of knitting needles can produce different results.  Another big factor is yarn.  Some yarns knit like a dream — stitches smooth as silk!  Oh, how I love knitting with that kind of forgiving, beautiful yarn!!

Some yarns on the other hand are known for their tendency to be unforgiving.  Linen is one such yarn.  But linen in summer is a wonderful thing, so I am currently working on a cute little cardi (Flora Cardi) in Classic Elite Firefly (75% Rayon, 25% Linen / Flax; 155 yards / 50 grams; color Capri).  My knitting needs braces!

I love this yarn, even though the knitting looks horrible.  But, I have hope.  I have a beautiful garment gifted to me by my fellow blogger and sister knit in Firefly, called Claire de Lune by Carol Sunday.  She called me quite a while ago now and said she had tossed her Claire de Lune in the trash without even seaming the underarms!  Ack!  I told her to drag it out of the trash and give it to me!  It is now one of my very best favorite summer tops.  It just didn’t fit her.  The waterfall fronts come almost to my knees, and Surly is 7 inches shorter than I am, so it looked ridiculous on her.  Yay!!! 🙂

Hmmm, I wonder if she’ll knit this one for me…

One of the few blogs I read is Mason-Dixon Knitting.  I know.  As a blog writer I should be a blog reader… 🙁

ETA (June 6): Mason-Dixon Knitting just announced that they have changed their name to Modern Daily Knitting.  Dana’s post and the comments by others opened their eyes to the racially charged subtext of their name.  Good change!!

Today’s MDK post by Dana Williams-Johnson is gut wrenching and a must-read.  I “met” Dana at last January’s Sweater Camp hosted by Darn Knit Anyway.  I was late to the Jelly Bean party, but started following Dana on Instagram after that introduction.  She is a prolific knitter of very vibrant hues.  Not my usual palette, but quite fetching.  Her dog Jelly Bean often has a matching ensemble, for which Dana is renowned.