Old, New, Virtual Too

The Frog Prince and I are Taking A Break.

And by "Break" I mean that it's having a Time Out.  Ironically, it's almost finished.  I'm just waiting for the trim to arrive before the final steps, but I feel that I have earned some time off for good behavior (or at least tenacity), having gutted and reknit both sleeves, twice each.  By my count, that should make it a six-armed sweater.  But then I never was much for math.  Suffice to say that I (and by extension, you, Gentle Readers) are due for a break from that particular drama.  I promise this hurts me more than the Frog Prince; I'm doing it for its own good. 

By way of distraction, I offer this:

Here are two sleeves being worked at the same time.  I'm doing this so that my groovy self-striping yarn will match on both sleeves.  When they are finished, I'll cut them apart and sew seams before uniting them with the body.  This is my first-ever Elizabeth Zimmerman Percentage Sweater.  EZPS is so elegant and brilliant - no wonder everybody loves it so.  I thought I'd give it a whirl as a ramp-up to my next design, which features none other than the beautiful Toots LeBlanc yarn.  The Toots project will feature a circular yoke, which I haven't made many of.  What better way to practice than on this dreamy Paint Box?  It's color #4, "Borealis".  Did I mention I got it for free <insert gloating noises here>? My LYS has a punch card program, and the day this went on sale, I found that my punch card was also full = Instant Yarn Binge.  Total Gratification:  Free yarn to make something just for fun and with no deadline.  "Work" doesn't get any better than that.  And in case you are wondering, NO, I do NOT wish to be reminded that I had to spend seven thousand dollars to fill that LYS punch card.  And neither does my husband, lest he be sent to Time Out, too.

And speaking of "Work" (still can't always bring myself to call it a a job) this week's stop on my book tour is a Virtual one: Click Here to hear a fun interview, in which I go on (and on) about what would make a person write a knitting book about colorwork.
 

Stitchy McSeamy-Pants

I have made no small amount of noise regarding the benefits of circular knitting.  It stands to reason that I will do just about anything to eliminate seams from my knitting.  And I will.  Except when I decide to ADD seams.  ADD seams?  You heard me right:  I swear on Barbara Walker's pantyhose, seams have a bang-up brilliant purpose.  Just not the one you think.

I stand behind everything I ever said about flat knitting with seams being harder to shape than knitted tubes.  I know I'm right when I say that circular knitting is better, faster and in all ways superior to flat.  But seams have one fantastic use that tubes cannot accomplish: 

They let us match the patterns in our sleeves presicely, while giving us the perfect place to hide yarn tails from stranded colorwork without weaving them in.  You can read more about the tail-hiding colorwork version of this theory in my book, but for today's illustration, I'm going to show you some conjoined sleeves made with only one strand.  I made these for my Elizabeth Zimmerman Percentage Sweater.  I'm at the point in the EZPS process where I need to have two sleeves to join onto the body tube in order to start shaping the upper half of the sweater.  I have long suspected that getting two matching sleeves would be tricky using self-striping yarn, and my suspicion was correct.  Add 2-color corrugated rib to the process and things can go squirrely pretty quickly.  My solution:  Knit two sleeves together with steeks in between, cut them apart, then make a seam in each one.

This particular yarn (Paint Box by Knit One, Crochet Too), in addition to being really beautiful, is also nice and sticky.  By that I mean that its 2-ply woolen-spun qualities make it an excellent candidate for a crocheted steek, which you can see below.  The crochet is done in black 2-ply fingering-weight; a finer guage than the rest of the sweater, to avoid excess bulk.  Here are my two sleeves, still conjoined, with steeks already secured.

To crochet a steek , you reinforce the edges before cutting them by working a chain around the stitches that will be cut.  You make two rows of double crochet, and then cut the ladders of knitting between them.

Here is a closeup of me doing that (Warning:  Scissors + Knitting may = dangerous viewing for the squeamish)

The cut stitch edges, bound neatly in their crochet chain, will quickly felt down with wear and washing.  Want proof it really works?  Check out some antique Fair Isle knitting, and prepare to have your mind blown.

Here I am making the actual seam (working yarn is the black 2-ply again, this time doubled).  Rather than sewing, think of the stitches you make as lacing up the opening - just as with ice skates, or a corset.  Working from the right side, you stitch through the ladder of every stitch on either side of the opening.  Pull each successive stitch less tightly than the last until you have 8 or 10 "laces", then gently snug them up by pulling the working yarn:

The laces disappear, the edges butt together, and the seam is just about indecipherable.

Here's our wee beastie, the finished seam, from the wrong side (notice how well-behaved and flat it is,with no blocking or steaming at all?),

And from the right side. 

The seam is invisible, and only the mirrored increases on either side hint at its location.  The horizontal stripes match perfectly, rather than spiraling with a "step" as they would do if knitted in the round.  This tendency is even more pronounced in striped or stranded colorwork designs.  And the biggest bonus:  A perfectly matched pair of sleeves, with no guessing, no fudging, and no faking.  No thinking, either - just knit, stabilize, cut and lace them up.

Kids, DO try this at home!  Just remember the following:

Crocheted steek edges are only for untreated, 100% wool yarns.  NO superwash, and NO blends.  Only do this with a yarn that can felt.  Don't panic; there are other ways to secure those other yarns. I just want you to be sure you have chosen the proper victim for performing this daring feat.

A brilliant set of instructions on the actual crochet stitching for steeks is here.  Now go forth and seam something.  You have my blessing.
 

My UFO Collection

Gentle Readers, in an uncharacteristic fit of Responsibility, I have decided that it's very nearly time to address the Elephant In The Living Room.  This particular pachyderm is harshing my mellow by hogging up more space than it should.  It's my UnFinishedObjects Collection, and I realized this week that it has begun to crowd my creativity.  And by "crowd", I mean, make it hard to think, hard to use my imagination for new stuff, and in some cases, hard to sit down. There may be one or two big fat ideas in my life whose time has failed to arrive.

One of the truly outstanding results of my having become a "real" artist is the air of credibility my work now has in my own head.  That is to say, when I ask myself, "Self, what should we make today?", I now offer myself alternatives that I think are likely to advance my art agenda, rather than waste time feeling badly about the andirons I'm not polishing, and the cobwebs collecting about the baseboards.  But legitimizing one's passion in this way is only gratifying until one runs out of clean underwear.  So by way of making a little breathing room, I think it's time to take steps.

My cunning plan is to call upon you, dear blog, for your wisdom and inspiration.  I'll offer 3 UFO's for your consideration.  The one receiving the most votes for attention will be photographed, commented upon, and then Disposed of in one of the following ways: 

1. Finished and enjoyed and/or published;  or
2. Returned to Nature, via gifting, frogging, or combustion.

Submitted for your consideration, the following UFO Disposition Candidates:

A.    UFO A is a delightful cardigan from last fall.  I submitted A's design proposal to two different knitting rags for publication.  In a rare move, I was so excited about A that I actually bought yarn and dove in; convinced that it would have to get published by somebody and then I'd actually be ahead of the knitting schedule.  Ill-conceived bit of logic, that.  Neither publication went for it, the weather changed, and I saw something shiny, all before it was finished.  Gray Peace Fleece worsted with cables and a collar.  Still missing one sleeve and the collar.  I even found & procured the perfect buttons.

B.    UFO B consists of no less than three (3) unfinished pairs of argyle socks.  Level two of the Master Knitter program requires the completion of one argyle sock.  Having no love of intarsia, duplicate stitch, back-seaming, or any of the other required argyle sock elements, I naturally went after this project with all the restraint of a chainsaw.  I figured I'd keep knitting them until I either mastered the process, learned to love them, or ran out of sock yarn.  None of these things happened.  I have learned how to graft a toe, though, since these went to time-out, so The Argyle Project might actually still stand a chance for completion.  Also, some of these socks are in smally sizes, so it would be cool if they could be worn before being outgrown.

C.    UFO C enjoys long walks on the beach and quiet evenings at home, which must be what drew me to it.  C may actually be the most recent pattern I worked on which was written by someone other than myself.  It's a reworked vintage pattern for a short-sleeved fair isle pullover, and it's really adorable.  Except that it's made of COTTON YARN, for some damn dumb reason, and is therefore unsteekable.  The top 1/3 of the garment requires knitting back-and-forth, maintaining the pattern.  I can't remember exactly how close to the end I got before crying uncle, but I do remember the pain.  I know the sleeves and the entire lower body are finished, so it probably should be revisited.  If nothing else, it deserves the "It's not you, It's me," speech.

So there they are, dear friends.  Three UFO's whose fate should really be decided, in order to gain a little intellectual surface area.  Won't you weigh in on the candidate you feel is most likely to succeed? 

While you decide, I'm going to finish the Frog Prince (no, I haven't forgotten, and it's closer to Done than you would think), and I'll show you the rest of that process next week!