The Diary of the Lazy Knitter

Finishing for knitting projects: a reference

Another question came in to me from Yedda looking for a product or reference books on finishing knitting projects.  This seemed like another good topic for my blog since I had a issue with button holes just last week end.  I was struggling with button holes for my watermelon baby cardigan and realized I had no idea what I was doing. . . So after riping back my placket I went back to my library of references.  I found a solution to my problem and here is the  answer I gave to the Yedda reader:

There are hundreds of ways of finishing depending on the article you are making. I ran into an issue with buttonholes last week and dug out one of my favorite knitting reference books:  "The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques". I highly recommend the purchase of this or other knitting How-To guides.  You will go back to them throughout your knitting/crafting career.  This one is available at Amazon if it is not available at your local Knitting Shop.  There are also many others on the market, this is one of several that I own and use regularly.  Happy knitting. 

The Knitters Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie Wiseman (Spiral-bound - Oct. 2002)
Buy new: $24.95 $16.47

This is only one of many excellent books on the subject!

A Question of Sock Toes

Socks are not my favorite things to make but many of you probably feel differently.  I know knitters that do almost nothing else!  For those of you wanting to make socks and are tired of the traditional top down or just want to try something different you may be interested in a question I just answered on Yedda: 

 "How many ways are there to finish the toe of a hand-knit sock, besides grafting a wedge toe and drawing up a round toe?"

My response: 

Dear Knitwitch,

You may want to investigate toe up sock patterns.  This is a fairly new technique being taught by the Sock mavens of my acquaintance.  This gives you a very smooth sock without any lumps.  There are a number of books on the market describing this technique.  Here is a primmer for the sock style both available at Amazon if not carried at your local yarn shop:  Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns from Wendy Knits by Wendy D. Johnson (Paperback - Apr. 14, 2009)
Buy new: $22.99 $15.63 
And for the more experienced sock knitter: Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters: Book Two in the New Pathways for Sock Knitters Series by Cat Bordhi (Perfect Paperback - Oct. 1, 2009)
Buy new: $26.95

Both are excelent references.  Also check the internet for a vidio of "Judy's magic Cast on"
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATmagiccaston.html
Happy Knitting!

 

Let's Talk About Ease. . Please!

Ease?  What is ease?  Ease is the amount of extra room in a garment.  The difference between your bust size and the finished width of the garment. Ease allows for free movement in your clothes.  Lately a lot of styles are being shown with close and sometimes even negative ease.  Negative ease is when a garment is made to stretch on the body.  The garment width/circumference is smaller than your width.  This is fine if you have a perfect figure or are model thin.  For most of us it's something that should be avoided.  Holly Berry can carry off this look.  I can't.  If your body looks like Holly's . . go for it!

I have seen way too many women and girls running around lately with rolls visible to all and sundry.  Women that should know better.  When they started to show this look I noticed that things were cut smaller.  No, I didn't gain weight, and the clothes I had from last decade (or the one before) still fit.  Bulky and oversized clothes tend to make you look bigger but, rolls and muffin butt do not make you look better!  Be honest with yourself in front of a miror.  You will not stand posed with everything sucked in 100% of the time.  If you are good, maybe only 5% or 10% of the time you are wearing a garmet.  Sit on the bed.  What happens?  If something pops out . . . well, time to reconsider whether you want the world to see what you are seeing.

Having had a weight problem most of my adult life, I tend to error on the other end of the spectrum, especially with sweaters.  NO one gets to see MY rolls and buldges!  We all see the new casts on TV about the weight problems with Americans and don't relate to the rolls and buldges we see waddeling down the street.  A lot of us look like that in front of a camera. Maybe not quite that bad, but we have our share of issues too.  Is the right thing to do, to go on a diet and buy a gym membership.  Maybe, but from personal experience, donating to a gym, does not make you loose weight!  In the mean time, choose a fit and ease that flatters whatever size you currently are.  NEVER, EVER, BUY OR MAKE A GARMENT THAT YOU PLAN ON GETTING INTO!  Good Will was the reciepient of the few I had.  They still had the tags on them in the donation box.  A waste of money and closet space.

I did some research last year into ease and standard sizing.  Here is what I found and use when teaching design classes. 

Womens standard bust measurements

Double click on the article title to get a full page view of charts:

					(inches)
Size	x-small	Small	Med.	Large	1X	2X	3X
Bust	28-30	32-34	36-38	40-42	44-46	48-50	52-54
Back center neck to cuff	27-27.5	28-28.5	29-29.5	30-30.5	31-31.5	31.5-32	32.5-33
Back waist length	16.5	17	17.25	17.5	17.75	18	18
Cross Back	14-14-5	14.5-15	16-16.5	17.5	17.75	18	18
Sleeve Length	16.5	17	17	17.5	17.75	18	18

And the Ease Charts vs: size to compare the percent of ease at different sizes.

ease vs size	Average bust for size vs % ease (median ease used)
Avg. Bust size (inches)	29	33	37	41	45	49	53
very close fit  neg. 1-2 in	-5%	-5%	-4%	-4%	-3%	-3%	-3%
Close fit  +1-2 in	5%	5%	4%	4%	3%	3%	3%
Std. fit  2-4 in	10%	9%	8%	7%	7%	6%	6%
loose fit 4-6 in	17%	15%	14%	12%	11%	10%	9%
oversized 6+ inches	21%	18%	16%	15%	13%	12%	11%

Before you ask . . yes, I sometimes did arts and charts for a living.  I also have a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.  (Statistical approach to problem solving).

I felt I needed a way to demonstrate to my class that what is standard ease on an extra small is not the same thing visually on on a size 3X womans body!  As your size is larger so probably should be your ease.  Don't be afraid of it.  A close fit on that extra small is almost the same percentage as a standard ease at the 3X size and will look like it!  I'm a 2X and my favorite fit is the loose 4-6" of ease.  It visually looks like a standard fit would, on an extra small woman, and does not showcase my figure problems. When choosing the ease for your next sweater look at it in terms of the percentage of ease at your size and you will be much happier with what you made and much more likely to wear it.

Think of "EASE" as you would life.  Cling to the good parts, and flow or "EASE" on past the bad ones!

P.S.  Your bust is measurement is not the same as your bra band size!  Your bust is measured at the fullest part of your bust.  In some cases below . . but that, is another topic.

 

Watermelon Baby Day Dreams

Remember last year when I designed and knit watermelon hats and a child's pullover?  I'm at it again.  My friend Erin asked me to make some hand made things for her sister who will have a little girl in March.  Seemed like an opportunity to indulge myself in a few design ideas I had last year, but no one to make them for (all my friends had boys).

Watermelon Pullover

This year I have one "I don't know", one girl, and one boy to knit for.  Back to watermelons . . . how about a jumper AKA: A line tank dress?  Since it would be sleeveless, why not add a simple A line cardigan?  Erin and I decided to aim for a 6 month size.  The next thing was to find the yarn I had used last year and thank you Bella Filati, they had the colors I needed.

I have some design software that I some times use, especially when working on a garmet for someone else and in stockinett stitch.  I spent Sunday playing with the design, and by Monday had cast on the little tank dress.  The back is done and I'll start the front today.  I had to call Erin and have her measure Zack, (who is 6 months old) from neck to knees, and his circumfrance loosly around the diaper.  These were dimensions not provided in the baby size charts, but ones I needed. 

I ahd some momentary heart burn when I couldn't put my hands on the beads I knew I had, but I did find them and the dress was born.  There seems to be a flaw in my software.  I used a child sized Vest template for the dress.  The smallest it goes is a 20 inch chest and my size chart says 17" for a 6 month old.  I over came this obsticle by choosing a Very Close fit.  Neck, armhole depth, and overall length are variable so were not a problem.  The pattern did not give me the decreasing sequence for the the dress.  The cardigan said every eight rows.  If I can do color change in the software I haven't figured out how yet, but I had that worked out last year on the pullover.  Hem to chest in the beaded pink, three rows of white just below the arm hole shaping, one row of green and begin the armhole shaping! 

I'm getting better at  randomness.  Last year my knittting friends laughed at me when I told them the beads were randomly placed.  They actually were random in that they were on different rows and different stitch placement but were pretty evenly spaced.  This is hard for someone with my semetrical bent.  I like things balanced, they don't need to perfectly semetrical, but they need to be balanced.  I hate things that look like they are falling to one side. 

One of my friends asked me if I'd put beads on the back of the dress.  That has always been a pet peeve with me, garmets with designs or embelishments only on the front.  I think it looks silly when you have a hem border that only goes half way around.  It's ok to only put them on the front if you are embelishing the front placket, but isn't  it nicer to carry it around the neck for a finished look?

Enough of my design philosophy for now.  I'll keep you posted as to my progress.

The adorable little girl is Sophie, who kindly agreed to pose in my watermelon pullover last summer.  Also in the picture are Pixel (AKA: Pixie) and Sophie's mom Lindsey.

 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . .

In North Carolina that  means that all deciduous leaves are down, pine needles and pine cones are falling. Watch out for the pines cones.  We have long leaf pines here and the cones are whoppers!  Wonder how many concussions come from long leaf pine cones a year in Moore County?

DH found one of the table top Christmas trees and surprised me with it when I got back from knit group  Saturday.  The house still looks like warehouse with all the cardboard boxes sitting around but the carpet is reinstalled and the stone people were here to measure for the counter for my china cabinet.  The top cabinets cannot be installed till the granite is in place.  That is scheduled for next Monday!  Hurray! Progress! 

Valances are complete for the Michigan house and, in time, for DH's trek north to strip wall paper and paint.  I get to stay here and unpack boxes and dog sit with the poopies. 

DH has his suit case out and Lenny is upset.  He sat on Conrad's chair for about three hours this morning and wouldn't join Hera, Pixey, and me in the living room.  The trip north will include a run to Wisconsin to visit Mom, since we won't be there for Christmas this year. 

We decided not to exchange gifts with his family this year so my need to SHOP is down to almost nothing.  My next project is to actually send out Christmas cards this year and advise all friends and family not on e-mail of our new address.  Normal people would do this as a matter of course, I know.  I however, only manage to get Christmas card sent about every third or fourth year. 

DH strung Christmas lights along the bulkhead at Thanksgiving.  This is a neighborhood tradition, and the lake is lined with lights.  We were brainstorming on how we can decorate the road side of the property.  You can barely see the house so stringing lights along the roof is fairly pointless.  I was thinking of looking for a pine to decorate but, the ones we have at the road are all, way too tall.  I was kind of hoping for a baby long leaf tree.  For those of you not familiar with long leaf pines the baby trees look exactly like bottle brushes for the first few years.  Thought it would be a hoot, to decorate one.  Alas, no baby pines presented themselves.  I'll stop a Michael's and see if I can find a big red bow to tie around one of the bigger pines.  Maybe with a gift tag attached. .  . .  . .  

Progress on the Move

Both PODS have come and gone.  It may be Spring before we can get back in the garage with even one car, but we are making progress.  Wall units are in place and I'm down to the last box of stuff that came out of them.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still having a cardboard fit, but it's getting better. 

This week I found the pots and pans!  Flatware is changed out and we have sold three beds, two night stands, and one dresser and one TV stand.  We still have a sofa and love seat, four tables, and one cabinet to go.  We will continue trying for a few weeks then the remains head for a consignment shop. 

The pieces for the china cabinet arrived and the carpet is pulled back waiting for the install.  Bill and DH have the base units scheduled for Saturday, the carpet guy will be back Monday to cut and fit it around the new cabinets.  The counter is picked out and ordered and will be measured Monday.  The counter fabrication will take two weeks and has to be installed before the upper cabinets can be installed.  Then, the cardboard count should decrease significantly.  I cannot wait. 

My counter tops are still littered with the kitchen overflow as I struggle with what to discard and what to keep.  What ever I decide, it will probably be something I regret later, but some of this must go.  Karen has taken one box to the kids so far and I have two more started.  I need to decide between sets of everyday dishes.  It's really foolish for two people to have as many dishes as we do.  I have two sets of good and better china, not counting the antique set in a trunk in the garage.  I didn't feel that I could make that decision before we left, or even had the energy to figure out how many remained from my great grandmother.

By Wednesday night this week, I was so tired I skipped Knit Group!  Those times are fairly sacred around hear, and truth be told, I think DH enjoys having the house to himself.  I need to stop unpacking and make a couple of valances for the Michigan house.  I want to reuse the drapes from the living and dining room down here, and while I have some fabric left over from that project I don't have enough to remake them for my two 104 inch sliding glass doors in the living room.  I do have enough of another fabric, to make valances that will  look nice in Michigan.  DH is heading north to strip wallpaper and paint two bedrooms in that house, on Tuesday.  I need to get busy.  I've decided on the style and since the sewing room is unusable will need to find the top of the kitchen table and, the drapery lining that I know I have somewhere.

The last month in Michigan got very chaotic as I broke a tooth, had to have a crown made, and a week later needed a root canal (on a different tooth) and another crown! All way beyond my dental insurance  coverage.   I made a last visit to my long time Doctor, for prescription refills and a check up.  She found a lymph node that she didn't like, but felt could be attributed the the root canal the week before.   She wanted me to have it checked out when I got down here and wanted me to get established with a new doctor.  I did that yesterday and Tuesday need to have an ultrasound on the gland.  What fun.  When it rains it certainly does pour . . . . I was hoping to avoid Dentists and Doctors for at least a few months.  When you are a breast cancer survivor, they take this stuff seriously.  

On a lighter note I started a new sweater using a wonderful alpaca yarn from my stash.  I loved the Fir Cone lace stitch pattern so much I decided to use it again.  I'm almost up to the neck line on the front.  The color is a dark teal blue and feels wonderful.  I'm not usually a wool or alpaca fan but this stuff is so soft, I am hopeful that it won't send me into a scratching frenzy.  TBD. . .    

After the Move

Almost a month has passed and it was a busy month at our houses.  Listed the house in Michigan and mostly emptied it out.  We left two beds, a chair, and subsistence level dishes, linens, and cookware.  As for what we moved, I can't find anything I want to find.  I had two boxes of books, unread and about the last things out of the house, missing.  DH seems to have place all the books I've read at my finger tips (AKA:  IN MY WAY!) but the ones I want to read now are missing. 

The kitchen in the new house needs to be expanded (not happening anytime soon) and reorganized and culled for the third time.  I am a self confessed pack rat and after much angst and turmoil I disposed of several sets of cookware, dishes, storage containers all before the move.  Not enough apparently, since, there is no way all the stuff we did move will fit.  I had a lot of storage in the Michigan house.  I had forgotten how much since I had filled it after the first decade of living there.  I am currently evicting the light bulbs and batteries  that filled one upper cabinet in the kitchen.  If I can only get DH to go through the cabinets in the garage and get rid of stuff left from the last owner, maybe the stuff we brought down will mostly be able to be organized and stored, out of sight, and with an efficient use of space.  This means that the bottom cupboards are utilized for tools not the counter tops, and that fittings of all sized and descriptions are categorized and organized and those that don't fit anything we currently own are discarded.  Ditto for the electronics that are out there for some reason, another legacy of the previous owner. 

I did manage to finish my fir cone patterned sweater and as soon as I locate the camera, I'll take pictures.  The camera is another essential currently missing in action. 

We ended up needing two PODS.  The first was delivered on Tuesday, filled on Wednesday and OH Sh..!  not everything fit!  Ordered another one which got there on Thursday, was filled and all were picked up by Friday.  Packed the trailer with what I thought were the essentials (silly me, think they got shoved into ONE of the PODS!) and headed south with the dogs.  Lenny, Hera and Pixey have been very clingy for the last week.  I think all the cardboard is getting to them too . . . Do you think it's possible to develop a cardboard allergy?  Cardboard Fumes maybe?

Knitting Update

 

Razor Shell Afghan (WIP)

I started a new afghan a couple of weeks ago.  An afghan seems like a good project for times of (moving) stress.  Not too much thinking but, with the right stitch pattern and a pretty variegated yarn, interesting enough to keep me occupied and feeling like I'm accomplishing something between bursts of packing activity.

I chose a new stitch pattern, one my friend Sandra was using for a scarf.  I found what I thought was the patten in "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker.  The pattern was called Razor Shell and after checking with Sandra found that her version used a different 3 to 1 decrease than what Barbara documented.  I chose a combination twelve stitch repeat using Sandra's decrease.  This is very effective in a self striping yarn and shows off the diagonal pattern of the stitches. 

Multiple of 12 +1 (I used 18 repeats for my afghan) Use markers between repeats

Row 1:  Purl

Row 2:  K1, *yo, k4, sl 2-k1- psso, k4,yo, k1*

I added garter stitch borders.  Five stitches at each edge and 8 rows at the top and bottom. 

Very simple and a nice effect with a varigate or self striping yarn.  I chose a yarn from Universal Yarns called Clasic Worsted LP, called  Green Meadow # 10979.  This yarn is 80% acrylic and 20% wool, has a nice hand and, is machine washable and dryable.   I used a 40 inch circular needle in a size 8 through out.  Use 2167 yards of yarn, (11 skeins) for a 48" x 72" afghan.

Rantings on Cardboard

We are in North Carolina, but only for about a week.  Still trying to clear out the house in Michigan and get it sold.  Currently we plan to be out of there no later than 12-1. 

 

DH is currently driving me insane with this move.  Between “accidentally” breaking those things of mine he doesn’t want to move or giving away things I want to keep,  then there is the issue of CARDBOARD.  Cardboard is now the bane of my existence.  I’ve disliked brown (other than wood) ever since I did one of my apartments in black, brown, and beige, back in the seventies and discovered that while it was stunning in its day, it was also depressing.  I have since moved into two homes decorated (during the same era) in dark brown that I’ve had to completely change. 

 

CARDBOARD is Brown.  CARDBOARD is also not a substitute for furniture.  CARDBOARD does not enhance any décor.   We have sold the dining room set in MICHIGAN.  Two sets of china, one of crystal, and various and a sundry serving and antique pieces are now stored in CARDBOARD in NC.  I cannot unpack them, since the new built-in china cabinet I have on order is not installed in NC, and in fact keeps getting delayed by my husband (who promised to install).   While I have the unable to unpack issue, he keeps bringing  CARDBOARD into my living space like some trophy!  I hate cardboard, I like furniture, and I want a space that is free of chaos.  Just a small one, in a living room, with furniture.

I am currently afraid to fall asleep on a sofa for fear that I’ll awaken, locked in a trailer or a pods.  He is now running around our home in NC with a camera taking pictures of furniture so he can sell them. 

We don’t have all the replacement furniture down here yet, but he wanted to haul the sofa to a storage unit tomorrow!  What are we to sit on?  Perhaps the CARDBOARD boxes containing crystal or antique china? (Is more accidental breakage  being planned?)

DH also has a theory that he should only have to move an box once.  The way this theory works is that when you pack a box, it sits there (whereever you packed it, in the way, so you can look at it) until the trailer or pods is ready to accept it. 

I had a melt down on that one.  After rationally  (more or less) explaining ( . . !@#$%^&*) that this was unacceptable, and that the move, our marriage, and possibly his life, were in jeopardy we reached a compromise.  Allowances have to be made.  DH is an engineer, and very linerar.  Most times a good husband, but still and Engineer.  I have the skills  to deal with this (34 years in the Auto Industry) but, it's still driving me insane.

All the beds may be going into storage but, I'm keeping the couch! 

Thanks for listening to my rantings.  I hope it raised your spirits or gave you a good laugh. 

Life is good, moving is not.  I  feel marginally better for the rant.  

What are Your Signs of Fall?

I sent my mother in law the new fall Maxine's the other day and she responded:   

"This time of year green peppers are abundant - I made Stuffed Green Pepper Soup today to remind me that Fall is here.  Maxine has lots of other ideas - what is your hint that Fall has arrived?"  Love, J. 

 For me, fall means that I dig out the crock pot and make a pot soup or chili every week.  It's getting cold in Michigan and I want to have something warm around that requires minimal effort! 

Sweaters and jackets are the normal for daily apparel.  Leaves are falling and the dogs are collecting and bringing them in the house every trip outside.  Picking leaves off the dogs is my main sign that fall is here and winter is just around the corner.  The vacuum is a constant companion in my fight against leaves on the carpet. 

One of my favorite shrubs is a Korean Spice Viburnum.  The scent in the spring when this shrub blooms is heavenly and I wish I had six of them instead of two.  In the fall it becomes the bane of my existence with it's fuzzy leaves that refuse to let go of Shih Tzu hair.  With three Shih Tzus oh yes, that is why,  I don't have six of them!  

 With falling leaves, comes my thoughts of Christmas, and what shall I make for presents this year.  What have I bought or made this year that someone would enjoy?  I am one of those people who shop throughout the year with an eye for things that I think people would like.  Cleaning out the house and all my hiding places, I have found things I bought years ago for people and forgot I had.  DH picked up the habit and started an annual trip to a toy store for all the kids.  Birthdays and Christmas presents were squirreled away in the basement.  When he went through that pile and found several gifts for kids under the age of five, Toys for Tots was the beneficiary of the bounty.  All the kids are now over the age of five!

Too early to do serious Christmas shopping, and I really find it offensive to see full scale Christmas displays before Halloween!  What ever happened to waiting until Thanksgiving for all the glitter?

What are your signs of fall?