Knititude

Prickly Pear

(photo: Crissy Jarvis)

The Prickly Pear sleeveless tank pattern is now available at Twist Collective! It's a great quick knit for warm weather, and can be worn on its own or layered over another top. The hem hits just above the hips, but since there is no waist shaping, it is easy to change the length. The stitch gauge of the lace is smaller than the stockinette stitch gauge (fewer stitches per inch), which means that for most sizes, the bottom edge of the top is 3-4 inches bigger in circumference than the bust. According to the Craft Yarn Council Woman Size Charts, this means that Prickly Pear can be lengthened to hip length, and the hem will still be wide enough to clear the hips with well over 2 inches/5 cm of positive ease in every size except XS (1/4-1"/.5-2.5 cm positive ease).

(photo: Crissy Jarvis)

The yarn chosen for this project, Classic Elite Hanako, is a blend of cotton and linen that works wonderfully: it has great stitch definition, showing off the lace nicely, and has some drape but also some body, so that it doesn't cling. It should also get softer with wear.

The lace pattern is an adaptation of the "Candle of Glory" stitch pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. For maximum impact as a border, I made each "candle" bigger, and set them in a single row instead of staggering them. The construction of each lace motif is interesting: on one row, eight stitches are increased in a single stitch, and then on every right-side row after that, two stitches are decreased, until the original number of stitches is restored. Theoretically, the size of each motif is limited only by the number of stitches you can squeeze into a single stitch on the increase row!

(photo: Crissy Jarvis)

The other main feature of this top is the scooped neckline. I decided to make one side a shallower scoop than the other, so you can wear the deeper scoop in the front or in the back, which adds a little versatility. The shoulders are shaped with short rows and the shoulder straps are wide enough for bra coverage. 

(Surprising how different the color of the yarn looks in my photo; the true color is somewhere in-between the bright yellow-green of the first three photos and the pea green of the fourth.)

But even if the shoulder straps of a tank are wide enough to cover bra straps, that doesn't guarantee that the bra straps will stay covered! I have a few tops that came with bra strap holders on the inside of the shoulders, which I think is a great idea. They are simply snaps where one side is sewn to the inside of the garment, and the other is attached to a short cord or tape, so that it can be closed over a bra strap, holding it in place.

Sometimes I use a small safety pin as a DIY strap holder: I pass it through the inside of the shoulder seam, making sure that it doesn't show on the right side, and then close it so that it encloses but doesn't pierce my bra strap. It actually works well enough that I just leave the safety pins in place on a couple of my tops, but the bra strap does tend to catch on the safety pin closure, so I'm thinking I should sit down one afternoon, and just make bra strap holders for a few of my favorite knitted sleeveless tops. 

Farnia Cardigan

The March 2018 issue of Twist Collective has gone live, and includes my Farnia Cardigan! This cardi features one of my most-loved textured stitch patterns, "Hearts of Oak" from Barbara Walker's Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns ("Farnia" is Italian for a particular species of oak). In fact I used it years ago for a fitted skirt design, the Selva Skirt.

The stitch pattern has a deeply sculpted surface, and direct light really picks out its edges and hollows (as in the second of the two swatches shown below). But it also has a lovely, more subtle effect in diffuse light; plus it creates a nice firm fabric, which I thought I could use to great effect in this cardigan, with its hip length and subtly peplum-y border. (I find that around the waistline, I prefer a fabric that's not too clingy or drapey).

  

AND-- Hearts of Oak is a fun stitch pattern to work. It is a little labor intensive, which is why a wide border seemed to me just the right amount of it. When I got the top of the border, the stockinette stitch body seemed to be done in no time! I kept the rest of the cardi plain, to keep the focus on the hem-- just rolled edgings at the cuffs and neck (or it would be quite simple to substitute garter stitch or ribbed edgings). I also elected to use button loops rather than buttonholes, for increased flexibility with button number and placement.

I decided to use seamless set-in top down sleeves, which I also think are fun to work; I like to see the sleeve cap growing as the short rows progress around the edge of the armhole. I also think this type of sleeve gives a clean look to the shoulder and upper arm area, with no need to ease the cap into the armhole in a separate finishing step. 

Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK works wonderfully for this design; it has great stitch definition, is machine washable, and comes in a wide range of colors. And now that Twist Collective has partnered with WEBS, the yarn store, they've put together yarn+pattern kits in every size (there is a link on the pattern page for yarn kits, as well as for the pattern alone).  

(Modeled photos copyright Crissy Jarvis)

Spalle Pullover

"Spalle" is Italian for "shoulders," and since the shoulders are the focus of this design, I thought that would be an appropriate name. Published in the Winter 2015 issue of Twist Collective, the Spalle Pullover is worked seamlessly in the round from the bottom up, with a yoke construction that has an effect somewhat like saddle shoulders (although I think of saddle shoulders in connection with drop-shouldered, loose-fitting sweaters, and usually the saddle is joined to front and back without additional decreases). I was experimenting with different ways of yoke and shoulder shaping, and when I decided to try using only paired decreases along the tops of the shoulders, I realized early on that this went well with ribbing, which has a lot of stretch and helps the fabric to conform to the body. I really liked the way that the decreases caused the ribs to converge and overlap.

Above is my original sketch, with short sleeves (the Twist Collective editors preferred a 3/4-length sleeve); I stuck with a closely-fitted silhouette throughout, using the same type of decreases to shape the waist.

I was delighted when I received the yarn for the sample (Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silky Victoria), and saw that it was a gorgeous red-orange, quite similar to the color of the heavy worsted (#4 Medium) weight yarn that I had used for the swatches. But then I saw that it was a sport weight (#2 Fine) yarn, which was much thinner than I had expected, and I started to worry that knitting the sample would take much longer than I had planned. Luckily I found after swatching that I could use US #6 needles and get a gauge of 24 sts to 4 inches. This was still higher than I had originally planned, but the resulting fabric was so light and springy that I was very happy with the end result. The Silky Victoria was wonderful to work with-- the silk content gives it a nice sheen and impressive tensile strength. And there are so many lovely colorways that I was actually glad I didn't have to choose just one-- Beryl? Jasper? Mermaid Tears? Winter Blues? If you order yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts, they dye it to order, so the number of colors available is truly amazing. And if at first glance it appears that the yarn is expensive, at $36 a skein, note that each skein is 695 yards; the sample I made only took two skeins.

The design process for Spalle was relatively straightforward; the only major change I made to my original concept was to add more waist decreases, placed like princess seams; in order for these decreases to become a visible design element, as shown in the sketch, I needed more than four or five decreases. But too many decreases would either have made the waist too small, or I would have had to start with too large a hip circumference, so for half of the decreases, I added compensatory increases along the sides. Both the decreases and the compensatory increases are visible in the above photo.

This pattern lends itself to adjustments such as making the body longer or shorter (just add or subtract rounds before beginning the waist shaping), or lengthening or shortening the turtleneck. The sleeves could easily be made short, as shown in the sketch, by casting on the number of stitches after all sleeve increases are completed, and working even for a few inches. Since the ribbing is very stretchy, they could also be made full length by casting on the same number of stitches as for the 3/4 length sleeves, and recalculating the increase frequency (but keeping the number of increases the same). There might be a very slight belled effect at the cuff, but it would be subtle.

I don't think I'll get the sample back in time to wear it before spring arrives (hint to Mr. Groundhog for tomorrow!), but I'm looking forward to wearing it next winter!

(Top photo copyright Twist Collective/Crissy Jarvis)

 

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Windley

Windley

The Windley cap-sleeved top was recently published in the Spring issue of Twist Collective. Perfect for summer knitting, it's worked in the round from the top down, in a DK weight warm-weather-friendly cotton/microfiber yarn (Valley Yarns Longmeadow). I modified the Pagoda lace pattern from Barbara Walker's Third Treasury to create the large lace panel that adorns the upper front and back. The main reason the top is not knitted from the bottom up is that I liked the look of the lace better when it is upside down!

Once the lace panels and raglan yoke shaping are completed, feel free to watch your favorite TV show while you knit the rest in simple stockinette; some easy waist shaping, a rolled hem, a few rounds on each sleeve, and you're done, with plenty of time left before sweater weather returns to wear Windley over shorts, jeans, a skirt...

And the name? Windley is one of the smaller Florida Keys, located about halfway between Key Largo and Marathon. If you go diving in the Keys you may well see staghorn coral, which is what I think of when I look at Windley's lace panel.

 

(First 3 photos, copyright Chrissy Jarvis and Twist Collective.)

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Fish Isle Child's Pullover

Save Florida corals

Fish Isle Child's Pullover

This pullover was a fun one to design and knit...especially since I had created the Fair Isle* fish motif some years ago. I've done several stranded designs over the years, and I've used a couple of methods to create the charts. The first stranded project I ever designed was a stocking cap for an old boyfriend (this was a long time ago...), and I just used plain old graph paper and colored pencils to draw up the colorwork charts. Long floats? Who cares?! I also didn't realize that since knit stitches are wider than they are tall, the knitted motifs would look wider and shorter than they appeared on the paper. 

For the fishes, I was using Stitch and Motif Maker software at the time (I don't think it's available any more). It allowed you to click on squares on a blank grid to create designs, using different colors and/or knitting symbols, but the best part as far as creating colorwork charts for pictorial motifs (like fish!) was that you could also draw with the mouse and the program would fill in all the squares that the mouse swipe touched. Then you could go back and clean up the lines by clearing squares or adding more. The challenging part about pictorial stranded designs is making them small enough to be repeated a number of times around a garment (or else you should just go with intarsia), yet large enough to be easily identified. And of course one should care about long floats...not that they are completely taboo, but it's best to have as few as possible. For Fish Isle, I used strategically placed "bubbles" (single stitches of the contrast color) to break up any long floats between fishes. 

(More recently I've gone back to graph paper: for these bunnies and then this horse and Chinese characters, I sketched the motifs on graph paper and then filled in squares along the sketched lines until I had a design I liked.)

But back to Fish Isle:

I did some swatches; Cascade Yarns had been kind enough to send me a big box of Cascade 220 of many different colors, and I found a solid darker blue for the background, and a variegated yarn with lighter blues for the fish; using a variegated yarn (or two) is a great way to add interest and depth to a stranded design without using many different colorways (as long as ALL of the colors in one variegated yarn are lighter or darker than ALL of the colors in the other yarn). I decided not to use the stranded motif around the sleeves, but just the body, to avoid having any strands of yarn that could catch small fingers when putting the pullover on. Instead of colorwork, I accented the yoke and sleeves with a textured wave motif. And then for some reason I put the design away until I got the submission call from Twist Collective.

Once the design was accepted, Wendee from Hazel Knits sent me six gorgeous subtly variegated colorways of their Lively DK yarn, and I had to choose two, which required some swatching. But the nice thing about child-sized garments is that they knit up quickly! I highly recommend Lively DK yarn, by the way; the colors have wonderful depth and richness, and the tight twist of the merino wool gives it durability and great stitch definition. I did alternate two skeins of the background yarn for the body every few rounds, in case skeins varied in color, but I actually don't think it was necessary for this yarn; colors seemed very consistent between skeins.

And here's a helpful hint for Fish Isle knitters: the only place where there is a visible "jog" in the stranded pattern is the beginning and end of the wave, which forms a continuous line. But this jog can be hidden: on chart Row 9, knit the last stitch of the round in the contrast color.

(First four photos copyright Twist Collective)

*Yes, "Fish Isle" is a play on "Fair Isle."

Corvina

Corvina is the name of my seamless top-down cardigan pattern in the Fall 2014 issue of Twist Collective. It's a great fall sweater-- unfortunately I don't have the sample back yet, or I'd probably be wearing it right now! I really like the way the lace pattern accents the raglan "seams," and then splits to continue down the front and back of both sleeves and body. Like so many things in knitting, I can't claim to have been the first one to come up with this idea, but I did have a lot of fun looking at different stitch patterns and trying to figure out whether they could be used in this way.

Some stitch patterns are easily adapted to be split and separated as I did with Corvina. (The separation is necessary because of the underarm stitches that are cast on at the transition from yoke to body and sleeves.) Simplest of all are those stitch patterns which are really a combination of two mirrored panels. That was almost the case with the leafy lace pattern I used for Corvina-- except that the center "spine" of the lace is composed of 3 stitches: YO, k3tog, YO. Which doesn't exactly divide neatly in half. So when I split the lace into two halves, I used YO, k2tog for one half of the "spine," and k2tog, YO for the other half: this keeps that nice line of eyelets going from the neck edge to bottom hem and cuffs.

The major challenge for this pattern was to work out body and sleeve lengths so that they are a whole number of repeats of the lace pattern; since the lace runs uninterrupted from top to bottom, ending halfway through a lace repeat would have looked strange. Since the raglan "seam" length cannot be varied too much without causing the armhole to fit poorly, I set the raglan length for each size first, then figured out the body and sleeve lengths, where there is more flexibility. So if you want to change the body or sleeve length, remember to do so in full repeats of the lace pattern!

A minor issue was the fact that the lace pattern is quite wide, and there was barely room to fit it into the sleeve portion of the yoke at the neck edge (see above photo), even for the larger sizes. I got around this by placing the first few raglan increases inside the lace pattern. After working this out, and figuring out the proper lengths for sleeves and body, the design and knitting process went pretty smoothly-- I even had some buttons on hand that worked nicely.

And the name "Corvina"? It was a second choice, but in the end, I think the best one. This cardigan's leafy lace reminded me of grapevines, and the yarn I happened to use for the swatch, Malabrigo Worsted, was a lovely semi-solid purple called "Uva," which is Italian for grape. This combination got me thinking of wine-y names for the finished pattern, and since I like to choose an Italian name when possible, and one which hasn't been used before (which ruled out "Chianti"), I came up with a working name of Vigna, which means vineyard in Italian. So I was happy that an equally lovely purple yarn, Lorna's Laces Haymarket in Blackberry, was chosen for the final design, meaning that a wine-related name was still appropriate. However, the editors at Twist pointed out that "vig-na" sounds kind of harsh (in Italian it is pronounced "veenya," which is nicer, but of course most English speakers would say "vig-na"). So I suggested Corvina, which is a type of Italian wine grape. And here she is!

(1st, 2nd, 4th & 5th photos courtesy of Twist Collective and Linus Ouellet)

 

Facet Pullover

 

The Facet Pullover just came out in the Spring/Summer 2014 issue of Twist Collective! Often my most recently released design becomes my new favorite, but I'm especially fond of the Facet Pullover because it's playful and unusual. And I really enjoyed the process of designing it and working out the challenges of that unique perforated yoke.

When I first submitted the idea for this pullover, I was thinking I would keep the open diamonds to the front and back only, placing groups of three between the raglan seams (hence the working name, "Three of Diamonds"). But when the editors at Twist Collective suggested placing the diamonds all around the yoke, I liked the idea a lot, so I agreed to change the shaping from raglan to a round yoke, so that decreases could be placed between the open areas.

With that attention-getting yoke, I knew that I wanted the rest of the pullover to be simple, so I used rolled edges for the hem and cuffs and just added gentle waist shaping. I used 3/4-length sleeves to take advantage of mild spring weather, and to show off wrist accessories. I did have to rip back the first couple of inches of the body, after I realized that there was enough color variation between skeins of the O-Wool Balance yarn that the transition from one skein to the next was very obvious. So I had to alternate skeins every few rounds (which is not unusual when using hand-painted yarn), which is why there is a visible striping effect (which I did not originally plan, but grew to like!). 

Everything then went smoothly until the yoke, where I had to figure out how many stitches were needed for each size before starting the diamonds. This would normally be straightforward, but in this case, as soon as the first cable cross round is completed, the circumference of the yoke is decreased dramatically by all those crossed stitches, so I had to make sure I didn't start out with too few stitches, and end up with a too-tight yoke.

Then came the diamonds! Each section between the diamonds is worked flat, one at a time, with the cable crosses at the halfway point pulling the fabric sideways to create the diamond-shaped negative spaces. There are a lot of sections, but working them actually went faster than I expected (although I was still happy to join them and return to working in the round, once the diamonds were completed). I did end up incorporating the yoke decreases into the cabled sections, where they blended quite nicely into the lines of the cables (see below).

After that, my only design decision was how many decreases to add before binding off the stitches around the neck opening. I've found from past experience that going by a stitch gauge obtained from measuring a swatch lying on a flat surface will often yield a neck opening that is larger and looser than desired: the weight of the garment and the shape of the shoulders will tend to stretch the neckband stitches. So I used a "slightly stretched" gauge to calculate my expected neck circumference, decreased more than I originally thought would be necessary, and ended up with the neckline sitting just where I wanted. On the second try. (On the first try, the neckband was still too loose.)

I'm now thinking about wearing Facet when the sample is returned! I dislike strapless bras, but I dislike exposed bra straps even more. So I think I may baste a layer of flesh-colored batiste or other semi-sheer fabric to the wrong side of the yoke, so I don't have to wear Facet over another layer. Can't wait!

(First three photos courtesy of Twist Collective.)

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Altocumulus Shawl

I'm thrilled to have another pattern in Twist Collective! Here are some details about the design process and inspiration for Altocumulus, a lace shawl.

(First and last photos copyright Carrie Bostick Hoge; all other photos taken by me.)

Triangular shawls are almost always shaped by increasing (or decreasing, depending on whether working bottom-up or top-down) along the center of the shawl, resulting in a mitered construction, where the two halves of the shawl stitch pattern angle toward each each other. It's no accident this shaping is popular-- not only is it a logical way to create a triangle, it can yield really gorgeous results. But when I created the design for Altocumulus, I was in the mood to try something different: a triangular shawl worked straight up from the bottom edge, with the triangular shape coming from rapid increases worked into a lace stitch pattern. 

I knew I wanted to use a lace pattern based on the "half drop" principle, where pattern repeats are staggered (many leaf- and diamond-motif laces are constructed this way). This staggering often causes a diagonal flow to the lace, which I thought would adapt perfectly to the angled edges of a triangular shawl. 

I found a lovely base stitch pattern in the Japanese "Knitting Patterns Book 300," a swirling design that reminded me of flames or peony petals. Each repeat was 20 stitches, and although the total repeat was 24 rows, that 24 rows was really made up of two sections of 12 rows each, with the stitch pattern simply staggered in the second section. So I knew that to create a repeatable increase along the bottom edges of the shawl, I would have to increase a total of 20 stitches every 12 rows: this would result in one repeat added every 12 rows, so that the repeats could be stacked on each other like bricks in a wall.

Then it was just a matter of trial and error, attempting to add yarnovers and sprinkle in judicious decreases so that I could get enough stitches increased while still maintaining as much of the movement of the original lace pattern as possible. 20 stitches every 12 rows is a rapid rate of increase, so while I had plenty of yarnovers to work with, I had to be choosy about where I placed my decreases. Once I had an edge increase repeat that I liked, I submitted the idea to Twist, and was delighted when they accepted it.

One major issue presented itself once I began working on the pattern sample: I realized that even with the rapid rate of increases along the edges, the edge stitches would have to be stretched to their limit while blocking, while the center of the shawl would be stretchier than the edges, tending to form a convex curve along the top edge of the shawl-- not the most shoulder-friendly shape for the wearer. To counter this tendency, I added decreases and a narrow ribbing along the top edge.

I pinned out the yarnovers along the edge while blocking (see above), but once unpinned, the edge did contract a bit, so I ended up with more of a swirled, textured edging than an open one (see below). I actually like it this way, and I also like the fact that the lace stitches on every row pull strongly on the fabric, giving it a slightly three-dimensional quality. 

And the name? Altocumulus clouds are the type of clouds in a mackerel sky, and once I saw the shawl knitted up in the gorgeous gray-blue Acadia yarn (from the Fibre Company), that is what the fabric reminded me of. (It also reminded me of William Morris wallpaper, but I don't like the name William Morris so much....)

Design Process: Plaited Tam

From FILATI Lavori a maglia #14 (a magazine of knitting patterns I found in a kiosk in the Milano Centrale train station):

Recognize thePlaited Tam stitch pattern? (Maybe not--it looks a bit different in long, vertical panels like this!)  When I saw the photo of this sweater inside the magazine, I immediately fell in love with the bold combination of texture and openwork in this stitch pattern.  

I had also been imagining a tam in which the stitch pattern looked like ribbons, woven up the sides and across the top, so this seemed like a good swatching possibility.  Another thing I liked about the stitch pattern was that the decreases paired with yarnovers offered a perfect starting point for the crown decreases (always important in a hat!):  just omit the yarnovers.  

Once the design had been accepted and I got the yarn,SweetGeorgia YarnsSuperwash Sport in a giddy green ("Savory"), the sample knitting proceeded unusually smoothly.  It was only after blocking what I thought was the finished sample that I realized I wasn't happy with the center of the top:  after the last "plait" crossing, I had tried to carry the central elements of the main stitch pattern as far as possible, and continue with purl sections which decreased rapidly to the center.  But with all the p2tog decreases needed, it looked sloppy to me.  So I ripped back the top, and instead tapered the stockinette "ribbons" to the center-- definitely an improvement.

In fact, I liked the tam so much, I decided to make myself one, but in a different yarn:  I chose Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash, in a heathered aqua (#1910--color is quite accurate in the photo above).  This is a light worsted weight yarn, versus the sport weight used in the original pattern, so I ended up making the smaller size*, with 7 repeats instead of 8.  (For more info on yarn requirements and finished size using Cascade 220, see my Ravelry projects page.)

*Actually I made the larger size first, but (surprise) it was TOO BIG. For more on that fiasco, seehere.

 

 

Sometimes swatches lie

I decided to knit myself a Plaited Tam, but I wanted to try a different yarn; even though I loved the SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash Sport I used for the sample, it's not available locally, and can take up to four weeks to arrive if ordered from the SweetGeorgia website (since it's dyed to order).  So I decided to make things a little challenging for myself, and use a yarn of a different gauge:  Cascade 220 Superwash, which is more of a light worsted weight.  I did a swatch of a couple of repeats of the Plaited Tam stitch pattern, including the ribbing, and since one repeat measured 2 to 2 ¹/₄ inches at the bottom edge, after blocking, I figured the larger size, with 8 repeats, would give me a finished circumference of 16-18 inches.  Sounds good, right?  (I didn't care so much about the finished diameter of the tam-- a little oversized was fine with me).

I used Color #1910, a heathered aqua (color in photos is off-- it's much prettier in real life), and after blocking over a large plate, it was a bit oversized, at around 12" diameter.  But the ribbing part was only around 16" when measured while the tam was lying flat, so...

it was only when I tried to put it on that I realized that it was definitely too large!  I could not get it to stay on my head without it slipping down over my eyes, unless I perched it back behind my hairline (and then it looked like a wooly shower cap).

Lesson learned: even if a swatch seems to measure properly when lying flat, it is essential to consider how the fabric will behave when it's worn; in this case, the ribbing stretched too much under its own weight to hold the hat on my head.  I should have measured the swatch slightly stretched; when I did, one repeat measured 2 ³/₄ inches, which translates to a circumference of 22" (and my head is 21").  

Next:  I try knitting the smaller size!