Thursday 29 June 2017

Raining while Lightening Bolts dry

Sometimes designs take a very long time to finalize. I'm close on the Lightening Bolts. It's been a journey with changes, changes back and then reversed. The only idea I had in my head at the beginning was for the yoke with the lightening bolts. The rest of the sweater needed to be worked out on the needles, ripped back and worked again. I'm really happy with the shaping which formed because of the continued increases down the front and back and the decreases needed at the sides. A happy result.

 It's washed now and photos are up next. Not today since it's raining again while my sweater drys, sort of.

Deb
P.S. Thanks for the hat crown suggestions Brenda. I will put them in. The first triangle goes around your entire head. The second triangle fills in the space to make it a tube. Now I'm working on putting stripes in just for the fun of it.

Thursday 22 June 2017

Triangulate a Hat

Experiments have started. I knit my first gaugeless hat with two triangles. Just cast on until it goes around my head at the bottom of the first triangle and then work a second triangle. No need for gauge or stitch numbers. Good for car knitting as you can see. Lots of plain knitting.

 Now it gets folded in half sort of. And attached.
Now I have a tube which is great but I thought it would be a little taller. It needs some height if there is to be a turned over brim which is what I like in a hat. I tried adding at the top for a crown.
Nah. Didn't like that so it got frogged. Then I added some length at the bottom. The length would be the amount of turn back for the brim or the amount of height needed for a slouch style hat.
That seems to make more sense. There is now a brim for a slouch hat worn as is or a turned back brim.
Now to figure out what to do with the top for the crown. I could leave it for kitty ears but I'm looking for a couple more ideas. Do you have something that worked on a hat made in a straight tube?
Deb

Friday 16 June 2017

Build A Scarf, Gauge Free

Now it's time to think. I have a few days to go up to my cabin and do just that. My "think" is going to be on how to make hats with triangles and without any regard to gauge.

This is my summer project. I want to develop a series of Gauge Free patterns. Imagine, no gauge to worry about!

Most people have trouble with getting gauge. It's a reason why blankets, shawls and other garments that don't need to fit are so popular. Getting gauge can be very difficult. So let's forget about it altogether. But what would that entail?

I have one pattern so far for a scarf. Build A Scarf with Knitacation, a new design company I'm part of. You begin with any yarn (about 200g) and any needle.

 Knit the first triangle until the depth of the triangle is the width you would like your scarf to be.

Then turn and begin a second triangle, attaching as you go.
It's fun to see it come together.
Then make a second scarf because now you're on a roll. This one is a little wider and with heavier wool.

I can think of a lot more possibilities: a couple of striped triangles, blocks of colour within the triangles, change yarn weights with some triangles for different sizing. Go for it.
Deb

Thursday 8 June 2017

Progress

Almost there. I've made several changes and I'm liking the tunic with cap sleeves better than the original.
Now it looks like this so far in Denim Cotton Tweed. I'm already anxious to get it off the needles so I can wear it since our spring is still very cool and something over a T-shirt is just perfect.
The larger holes in the pattern are working for me.

The sizes are quite wide in this pattern. Sizes: 35 (41, 45, 49, 54)"
I needed a size between two of these sizes so I have worked out a way of working between sizes which is going to work. Yay. It's even easy to work several more inches to make a size bigger than the largest one I have there. Working the garter stitch edging on the sleeve before the Great Divide is going to do this.
I'll save that for another post. These are the little things that make a design happen for me.
Deb
P.S. t_a, Ha, ha, ha. I laughed out loud when I read your comment. Thanks for that.

Thursday 1 June 2017

Change the increase, change the sweater

Although I finished knitting this sweater I am knitting a second one.
This seems to be my designing process. It's very slow. I'm stuck in a system of designing where I knit everything twice to get it right.

Now I am making changes. I decided that I would like bigger holes. This will make the design more prominent. In the first sweater I used the openM1 increases to make my lightening bolts.

On the second one I am using YO's which I am liking better. The larger holes, for modest old me, would require something worn underneath. More changes.

Now that I have these larger holes which will continue down the front and back of the sweater, I am going to make it with cap sleeves so that I could put it on over a T-shirt. It will even work over a short sleeved T. I think this will make it a very wearable tunic, fall, winter and spring.

I'm not fond of the peek-a-boo lace top. How about you?
Deb