Amy Gunderson – Page 11 – Universal Yarn Creative Network

May 2, 2015April 30, 2015

IRL – kite cardigan

Back in the fall of 2013, I designed this openwork cardigan in Deluxe Chunky for knit.wear magazine, an Interweave publication:

It’s called “Kite Cardigan“, and takes between 5-10 hanks of Deluxe Chunky. I had a lot of fun with this sweater. It’s knit bottom-up in two pieces. There is a bit of shaping involved, but the shape of the cardigan is largely due to directional lace. Done in a bulky yarn, it goes super fast, but because the fabric is so open, it’s fairly lightweight.

I am lucky enough to be in possession of my Kite Cardigan again, and can now add it into my rotation of daily sweater wear. It was a little chilly here in Charlotte last week, so I was able to squeeze in one last day of wool-wear for the season.

Yes, my desk is a little messy…I know! We knitters have more important things to do than clean, right?

April 29, 2015

rocked knitalong – two at a time

We have a couple of knitters here in the office working both front and back pieces at the same time. Here is Jen’s piece in progress:

If you look closely, you can see that she has two balls of yarn attached, and two distinct pieces of knitting. If you’ve cast on for your Rocked already, it’s too late to go this route. But it’s an interesting concept for other projects that have identical pieces, such as sleeves. To get started, cast on for the first piece onto your needle. Drop the current yarn. With a new ball of yarn, cast on for the second piece right behind the first set of cast on stitches. Simply work back and forth across both pieces using the appropriate ball of yarn for each piece.

I will sometimes knit both of my sleeves on the same needle. I find it is easier to keep track of increases, decreases, and other patterning this way. Other times, I find it a hassle to have multiple strands of yarn hanging from my knitting. But like many things in knitting, it’s nice to have options, right?

One problem I’ve run into before with working two pieces on the same needle is that I might accidentally turn and work the wrong side without first working the right side of the second piece. To solve this problem, I simply tie a piece of yarn between the two pieces so I don’t accidentally turn at the wrong place.

If you’ve read ahead in the pattern (or are maybe already to this point), you’ll see that during the neck shaping you are instructed to work both sides at the same time. This is a similar process to working two at a time sleeves, or two at a time anything else.

The above image demonstrates how the neck shaping works. Consider the red line row 1. This row reads like this:

Next row (RS): Work in patt over next 55 (61, 65, 71, 75) sts, attach new ball of yarn and bind off center 28 sts, work in patt over rem 55 (61, 65, 71, 75) sts.

The green line above would be row 2. Though not expressly written out, it would read like this:

Row 2 (WS): Work in patt over Right Shoulder sts to end. Bind off 6 sts at beg of Left Shoulder, work in patt to end.

And the blue line would be row 3, and would read like this:

Row 3: Work in patt over Left Shoulder sts to end. Bind off 6 sts at beg of Right Shoulder, work in patt to end.

Make sense? Though I don’t always like to work large pieces at the same time, when working neck shaping I do find it helpful to employ the two-at-a-time method. But you know what, if you prefer to work one side at a time, you’re more than welcome to do so!

Here’s a graphic to represent how working each side separately would look:

The green line represents the Left Shoulder. Here is how that section would start off it were written out in rows:

Row 1 (RS): Work in patt over next 55 (61, 65, 71, 75) sts, turn. Place rem sts on holder.

Row 2 (WS): Bind off 6 sts, work in patt to end.

Row 3: Work in patt to end.

Row 4: Bind off 5 sts, work in patt to end.

And so forth. After the Left Shoulder is finished, the Right Shoulder would begin like this:

Bind off center 28 sts, work in patt to end.

If you’re not at the neck shaping section yet, that’s okay! Just remember Sandi’s wise sentiment from the other day: it’s not a race!

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015

Rocked Knitalong – If this was a race, I’d be losing.

Once again, I hand the blog over to Sandi Rosner for an update on her Rocked:

It’s been two weeks since our official cast-on date for the Rocked Knit A Long, and my progress has been dismal.

Now, I’m not a slow knitter, and I’ve not run into any issues with this pattern. But like most recreational pursuits, knitting for myself is quickly put aside when work demands get heavy. In addition to being Creative Director for Premier Yarns, I’m working on finishing a book. My knitting and crochet time has been pretty scarce, and when I do sit down with my needles or my hook, it is usually to make something that is needed for a photo shoot or for the book.

I know Amy has written about casting on for the sleeves, but I’m not even close to that point, and to tell the truth, I was feeling pretty bad about it. The internal browbeating went something like this: “Why did I even sign up for this KAL? I should have known I had too much work to do and wouldn’t be able to keep up. I should be setting an example, and here I am looking like a slacker. I’ll never have time to finish this piece.” Sound familiar?

Well, I’ve decided to let go of expectations. The truth is, this is not a race. There is no prize for finishing fast, and no punishment for being a slowpoke. I really do want to wear this top, and I’ll finish it when I finish it – if not in time for this summer, then for next.

I’ve also developed a strategy to turn my Rocked from a burden that induces shame every time I look at it to a pleasure that I look forward to knitting. With the warmer weather of late Spring, some of us here in the office have been getting together after work on Fridays. We choose a place with outdoor seating and have a glass of wine to cap off the week. My Rocked will be the project I take along to knit on those occasions. Nothing like pleasant associations to make a project go faster, right?

So, how is everybody else doing? Are you zipping right along, have you stalled along the way, or are you somewhere in between?

April 25, 2015April 24, 2015

IRL – Jen’s Bamboo Pop cardigan

Today I’m delighted to share a Bamboo Pop FO from Jen who works in our accounting department.

Jen always has multiple projects going on, as she is an avid knitter, crocheter, and spinner. This versatile summery cardigan was a free pattern Jen found on Ravelry. Crocheted using Bamboo Pop in color 210 Orchid Smash, it does look smashing on her – am I right?

Here is Jen in her own words on her fabulous project:

It took 3 balls with a 4mm hook. The original pattern called for a worsted weight cotton and a 5mm hook I think, but I knew it would be too heavy and cumbersome for everyday wear. Since it was top down changing the gauge was easy peasy, I’d like to talk about all the swatching I did and the math I used, but I really just crocheted until I liked where it was and then transitioned to the shell stitch. Its ended up being one of my favorite FO’s. The fabric is very drapey so it feels really nice and fancy to wear. It looks great over the single black dress I own if I ever decide to go somewhere swanky and it also looks good with a t-shirt and jeans. It’s very lightweight and breathable so I can wear it over a long sleeve top in the winter or a tank-top when it gets warmer and it isn’t hot or anything. I knew the bamboo/cotton would grow a lot so I only crocheted until the bottom hit just below my navel, as I suspected, after washing/blocking and wearing it grew to the perfect length for me. The pattern also called for buttons but I hate sewing buttons on so I just ignored them and use it to showcase my growing collection of shawl pins and brooches.

Thanks for sharing, Jen!

April 21, 2015

Rocked Knitalong – casting on for sleeves

Last blog post, I talked about how to maintain stitches in pattern during the sleeve shaping section. But what I didn’t cover was how to cast on at the beginning of rows. Raveler skcfoto asked over in our Rocked knitalong Ravelry group if we could post a video of casting on. I’m glad she asked – we’re happy to do so!

Below is a video showing the knitted cast on. This is a cast on that can be used to begin a project or to cast on at the beginning of a row on an existing piece of knitting, such as Rocked. Instead of the knitted cast on, the backward loop method could also be used. But I find working into the knitted cast on to be much easier to do than backward loop, plus, it provides a more stable edge.

April 19, 2015April 20, 2015

Rocked Knitalong, increasing in pattern

I have seen the terror in the eyes of knitter when they read these words, “increase in pattern.” Or “decrease in pattern”, or “maintain stitches in pattern”, or any other number of similar phrases. What does this mean, “in pattern”???

I hope to demystify this for you, at least as far as you need to know for the Rocked top. And the main body pattern in Rocked is actually a really good pattern to learn this concept on. The stitch repeat is only 4 stitches wide x 4 rows high, so it’s reasonably easy to “read” your work.

Here is how the text for the “Increase for Sleeves” section reads:

Cast on 2 sts at beg of next 6 rows, cast on 10 sts at beg of next 2 rows. While it doesn’t expressly say so, the pattern is telling you to also maintain stitches in pattern when casting on.

I’ll try to go about this a couple of ways. For anyone who understands what it means to “maintain in pattern” or just wants to jump right in, I have made a chart for the sleeve increases:

Rows 1-8 of the chart show the increases. After that point, because we have increased a multiple of 4 stitches on each side, the number of stitches for a full pattern repeat, we will simply continue to follow Rows 1-4 of the Mesh pattern.

To try and break it down, let’s look at just the right side portion of the increase chart.

For our first 2-stitch cast on, we will then have to work back across those stitches on RS row 1. Although after having cast-on 2 stitches we could fit in part of a pattern repeat, it’s not usually a good idea to do so directly onto cast on stitches. K2tog and ssk are tough to do over cast on stitches, and it’s just not worth it to do it here. Plus, we will be seaming this area later and we want it to be stable.

On the following WS row, take a look at those last stitches that were cast on. Try to visualize them as part of a full pattern repeat. If you shift your eyes 4 stitches to the left on the chart, you can see that you will do the same thing over the new 2 stitches as you would have done on the previous repeat.

Now, just for the sake of further trying to understand increasing in pattern, here is a different way I could have worked the chart:

The chart on the right is the way I’ve done it above. The chart on the left shows how we could work the stitches if we really wanted to start incorporating the pattern in as soon as possible. Sometimes we do want to do this in the case of, say, a delicate lace shawl where every stitch shows and counts. It’s also important to remember that if you’re doing lace like we are here, only work a decrease if there are enough stitches for a corresponding increase, and vice versa.

Another simpler way of incorporating new stitches into your pattern without having to follow charts or use your intuition is to place markers. Try placing a marker between every pattern repeat where those vertical red lines of the pattern repeat box sit. Or, at least add markers to the couple of pattern repeats each side of your piece. If you have enough stitches on the sides of your markers for a pattern repeat, do it! If not, just work the stitches in stockinette stitch.

Here’s my Rocked after working a couple of pattern repeats past the sleeve cast on:

April 18, 2015April 18, 2015

IRL – Colorblock Tank

My contribution to the Spring 2013 of knit.wear was the Colorblock Tank knit up in Flax. This is one of those pieces I have just as much fun wearing as I did designing and knitting it.

(image courtesy Interweave/Joe Hancock)

But more awesome than that are the other versions I’ve seen out there in the world. Of the projects listed on Ravelry, maybe half use the color combination of the original which incorporates 6 different shades of Flax.

Katie decided to go her own way with her version of the tank.

This turned out so great, I love it! Katie used 15 black, 08 purple, 07 lilac, 104 wild lime, and 105 natural; so just 5 shades instead of 6. And it worked out fine! I love the colors Katie chose to go with her red hair. She is obviously a purple lover, and shades of purple are so in right now, too.

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015

rocked knitalong – working into a double yo

As I was knitting along on my Rocked, I was working a lace pattern row with its double yarnovers. When I reached the next (WS) row and was working the [k1, p1] into each double yarnover (yo), it occurred to me that this could make for a good video.

When there is a double yo on your needle, it can be confusing just how to knit or purl into it. If this is your first time dealing with double yarnovers, give this video a try. I hope it helps!

April 13, 2015

Rocked Knitalong – ready, set, cast on!

Are you ready to cast on for your Rocked yet? I have a confession to make – I just couldn’t wait until our official kick-off date and cast on over the weekend. I’ve made it through almost my first ball of Garden 5 and am about 5″ into my piece.

But actually I’m more than 5″ in, because my work thus far is UNBLOCKED. If I refer back to my blocked swatch, I can see that 8 repeats of the pattern (32 rows) = 4″. Currently, I have 12 repeats done of the pattern, which should block out to 6″. So, yay! I’m further along than I thought.

Sandi cast on using Flax and has finished her first pattern repeat.

If you’ll remember after her swatch post, she ended up with a gauge of 22 sts x 32 rows/4″. Compare that with my gauge of 26 sts x 32 rows = 4″. My yarn and needle size (Garden 5 & US Size 2) are smaller than hers (Flax & US Size 5), yet our row gauge is the same. I find that fascinating!

Heather has opted to go for Bamboo Pop in her Rocked. Heather is unselfishly knitting this for her teenage daughter – lucky girl!

Heather swatched in color 107 Ocean and got the gauge listed in the pattern on US Size 4’s. I was surprised by this, because Bamboo Pop is just a bit heavier than Cotton True Sport. But again, everyone’s gauge is unique!

And now, let’s talk a little more about the gauge swatch. I’ve been knitting for several years and have done a bazillion gauge swatches. Okay, maybe not quite that many, but I’ve done lots. Being an experienced knitter, I sometimes overlook things that I assume everyone, even newer or less experienced knitters know. Case in point: the gauge swatch.

Yonca (as in the lovely lady in this week’s IRL) came to me last week and told me her gauge swatch was not working out. Yonca is a very smart woman and is not new to knitting, but is somewhat new to swatching. There it is, I’ve outed Yonca as a typical non-swatcher. (Sorry Yonca!) But apparently she’s listened to my harping long enough that she decided to take the plunge this time and buckled down. But she ran into a snag with her swatch.

In the Rocked pattern, the gauge is listed at 21 sts x 27 rows = 4″ in the Mesh pattern. It is standard practice to list gauge in a pattern over 4″ (or 10 cm).

Most stitch patterns require a certain number of stitches in order for them to work out. In the case of the Mesh pattern, you need a multiple of 4 stitches plus 6.

If you look at the cast-on numbers for each size in the pattern, you will see that they are all multiples of 4 stitches plus 6. This means, multiple a number by 4, add 6, and you will have a number of stitches that works with the pattern. For example, for my gauge swatch I cast on 30 stitches, which is (4×6)+6. Sandi’s gauge swatch consisted of 38 stitches (4×8)+6.

Yonca, however, thought that the gauge listed in the pattern (21 sts x 27 rows) meant that she should cast on 21 stitches for her swatch. It is easy to see why she may have thought that! I forget sometimes the things that are second nature to me now are not necessarily common knowledge for all knitters. When Yonca started working the Mesh pattern over her 21 stitches, it did not work out because 21 is not a multiple of 4 stitches plus 6.

So let me break down the gauge swatch once and for all:

Before beginning most projects, particularly a garment (that needs to fit!), it is very important to know your gauge, or # of stitches/rows per inch. Knitting is pure math. Well, it’s also a lot of other pretty things. But math is what makes things a certain size.

In order to figure out what your actual gauge is, you must do a gauge swatch. To choose a needle size, try starting with the recommended needle for your pattern and/or yarn. It’s a good idea to cast on enough stitches for around 6″. You want to be able to measure in the middle of the swatch avoiding the edges. If you are swatching in stockinette stitch, then any number of stitches will do, as long as your swatch is big enough to get a good idea of your gauge. When swatching in pattern, you must cast on the appropriate number of stitches relative to that pattern, as described above.

For my swatches, I cast on with a smaller needle size than the needle used in the pattern stitch. Because Rocked begins with a stockinette stitch rolled hem using a smaller needle, I wanted to test my stockinette gauge at the same time as the Mesh gauge. I followed the hem pattern as written, switched to my larger needle, and then continued in pattern.

After I bound off my swatch, I wet-blocked both and pinned them on a blocking board. I plan on hand washing my finished top, so this is how I blocked my swatches also. After the swatches dried, I unpinned them and then measured.

Have any more questions about swatching or anything else? Leave your question in the comments section or join us on Ravelry! I’ll be back here on the blog over the next month discussing other aspects of our knitalong.

April 11, 2015April 9, 2015

IRL – Goldleaf Tank

Spring has definitely sprung here in Charlotte, NC. The grass is green, the dirt is red, and everything outdoors is getting covered in pollen. As a result of this seasonal change, our knitwear here in the office has switched from wintery sweaters to warmer weather alternatives.

This past week I spotted our sales director, Yonca, wearing her Goldleaf Tank designed by Moira Engle which is part of our Cotton Supreme Book 5 collection. This piece was originally knit in Cotton Supreme DK color 703 Beige. Yonca’s version is in color 708 Celery which really enhances the leaf motifs. It’s a beauty – nice job, Yonca!