Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

This was my first sweater. It wasn't knitted from a pattern, but it wasn't my own design. It was copied -- cloned -- from a commercial sweater that a college friend had handed down to me. I had worn the original until the cuffs were becoming threadbare and I was wondering if it could survive one more trip through the laundry. I decided that, well, it was knitting not brain surgery, right? With my trusty Reader's Digest Complete Guild to Needlework , I cast-on with practice yarn and knit until I thought I knew what I was doing. Today, I'd recommend Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts & Deborah Robson Knitting in the Old Way expanded edition from 2004. Like the yoke sweater, this one is cast-on in the round at the bottom and worked upwards with little or no shaping. Were I to knit it again, I'd put the patterning on both the front and back. As this is a copy of a commercial sweater, the back and sleeves are all seed-stitch. I'd also drop down onto a smaller needle for...

The top-down approach to a sweater is wonderfully and thoroughly covered by Barbara G. Walker in Knitting From the Top , originally printed in 1972 but widely available in the Schoolhouse Press reprint from 1996. A top-down yoke sweater is just a bottom-up sweater in reverse. Depending on the pattern, one direction or the other can be a better choice. In this case, you'd cast on at the neck, and work a few short rows. Then work round and round, increasing an average of 4 stitches each row (8 stitches every-other row). At the underarm, the stitches are divided. Extra stitches are cast-on at the underarm, and the body and sleeves progress individually to the end. Cast off is at the cuffs and bottom ribbing. Underarms are seamed or grafted. On my example, I've worked raglan increasing at the corners -- i.e. double-increase every-other round at each of four points. I established a small braid at the raglan lines and worked the increases behind the braids to create a lovely, decorat...

Remember that beautiful snowfall a couple months ago? Well, my North Georgia Knitting Guild presentation was supposed to be the following evening. As the name implies, that guild meets north of the city. It was a wee bit cooler there and the snow a bit heavier, so the meeting was cancelled. I'll be doing this presentation at the April meeting instead. In the meantime, I thought I'd post most of it here. This is a series of illustrated examples of how to make sweaters without knitting separate flat pieces that are then sewn together. My first example is a yoke sweater. This particular yoke sweater I knit maybe five years ago for my gaming friend Karen. Karen was going to an anime convention and wanted to dress as a particular character, Yukari. I started with a picture of the character and a little knowledge about yoke sweaters. (For more reference on this type of sweater construction, read Elizabeth Zimmermann Knitting Without Tears , reprinted 1995 or Susan Mills & Norah G...

It's sweater weather! This photo was taken about an hour ago, just as I got home from work. Pretty!

The rest of the pattern: Work 3 plain rounds in pattern. Work 1 cable round. Pattern established. Continue up body of hat, working 5 plain rounds in pattern and 1 cable round (i.e. cable every 6th round), eight more times or until hat body is length you like. Allow enough length to fold up brim, if desired. Pause to begin top shaping after the last cable round. Decrease in pattern for top of head: Immediately following a cable round, work one round plain in pattern. 1st decrease round: *p2, ssk, k2tog, p2, (k1, p1)4x; repeat from * 6x. 12 sts decreased (2 per pattern multiple), 84 remain (pattern multiple = 14 sts). The outside rib sts consume the inside rib sts. The rib is now only 2 sts wide. Next row: *p2, k2, p2, (k1, p1)4x; repeat from * 6x. This is essentially a plain pattern round, just with a narrower rib. 2nd decrease round: p2, k2, p2, ribble decrease; repeat from * 6x. 24 sts decreased (4 per pattern multiple), 60 sts remain (pattern multiple = 10 sts). How to work the ri...

I just came off working 8 of 9 days in a row. Tuesday was a 14-hour day. Not fun. So, time to get back to fun and back to the knitting. For the Cuddly Hubby Hat, start the bottom band with a small tubular cast on. Cast on 72 sts provisionally. At this point, the pattern multiple = 12 sts. Join in a circle, being sure not to twist. Knit all sts for 3 rounds (or longer if you like a deeper tube). Place sts from provisional edge on a spare circ. Fold so the knit side faces outward. Line up wales. Working across in pattern: *ptog from both needles 2x, ktog from both needles 4x, ptog from both needles 2x, (k1 from front needle, p1 from back needle)4x, repeat from * 6x. 96 sts total. The pattern multiple now equals 16 sts and there are 6 pattern repeats in a round. This may be the point where you wonder what was that all about? You'll recall the pattern is a rib and a cable. The first eight sts are the rib -- 2p 4k 2p. They are not worked reversibly. Thus, you simple purled or knit a sti...

This hat was made for my half-Norwegian husband, Doug. He is rarely cold, even in winter. His hair is thinning, so he does need a little something to cover his head, especially when he is out on the flight line looking at the instrumentation for the next test on the airplane. This hat answers his request for something warm but aerospace-engineering appropriate. For those seeking a little knitting excitement, the hat features Lily Chin ribbles and decreases in pattern all the way to the top. This is also an excuse for me to play with Manos del Uruguay . The thick & thin yarn reminds me, oddly enough, of Berroco Hip Hop . If you are looking for interesting yarn substitution possibilities, this could be a workable pairing. I worked the hat mostly on a circular needle. Typically, I'll use the Magic Loop technique. (If you are unfamiliar with the technique, you can see a short video here .) I've acquired the Knit Picks nickel-plated dpns in the range of sizes, and I just couldn...