All of a sudden my creative juices are flowing and I have more ideas than I have time. (Thanks Pinterest!) Had to get some out of my head so I'm posting here.
Wreath of fall colored fabric flowers.
Fabric covered beaded necklace.
Fabric flower accessories.
Halloween costume (already got invited to a party and I can't wait).
Knitted lace bib necklace. Have seen some cool crochet ones, but not really knit ones. Need to chart out some stitch patterns from my old Vogue Knitting Stitch dictionary and play on paper before I can even consider casting on.
Lightweight knit sweater for B--yes, I think I'm finally ready to tackle that one. If I can only find the right yarn and afford a B's sweater amount of it.
Knit lace cowl. A long skinny continuous circle made up of a variety of lace/textured stitches. Probably in fingering weight. Lots of planning before I can do anything about this one.
Doubleknit coasters. Need to find or create a pattern. Never done doubleknitting, but it sounds interesting and I think the double thickness would be good for a coaster. I just started using a gauge swatch as a coaster because it was handy, but I think one made for this purpose would be even better. Maybe in grellow (gray and yellow <3).
Still want to knit a striped pullover with yarn I bought almost a year ago. Still need to design it. Trying to decide on neckline shape and stripe pattern. Here's my inspiration.
Just cast on for Folded. This is the perfect mindless knit so I can think of all my other ideas while knitting it :).
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Finished! My First Sweater Design
I did it! I can't believe I actually did it! I knitted a sweater from a pattern I designed myself and I LOVE it! I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning!
A few months ago I saw a hat (Courtyard) on Ravelry that I just fell in love with. Well, not the hat exactly, but the stitch pattern. I loved the cool hourglass-shaped twisted stitch pattern. So I bought the pattern, knit the hat and decided that I needed to knit a sweater in this stitch pattern.
I've read a number of books on knitting and designing your own knits. All of which, I referred to during this process. My favorites are:
Knitwear design Workshop by Shirley Paden
Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard
Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker
I love knitting in the round and top-down which is what both Wendy and Barbara teach. Shirley's designs all focus on knitting in pieces and usually bottom-up, but her attention to detail and using math really helped me a lot.
Anyway, I originally pictured a long-sleeve sweater in the same color scheme as my hat (golden yellow and white). However, I just couldn't figure out how to make this stitch pattern cooperate for a raglan and I just didn't feel like messing with set-in sleeves--so I decided to knit a boatneck tank. I also decided to knit in the round and from the bottom up. Although I often prefer top-down, bottom-up seemed to make more sense with this stitch pattern and style.
Next came the search for yarn. I just couldn't find yarn that I loved in the golden yellow and white (and suitable for a boatneck tank). Finally, as I perused my local yarn shop for the umpteenth time, I found the yarn: Sublime baby cashmere merino silk 4 ply. It is so soft (perfect for wearing next to bare skin) and lightweight (perfect for a summer tank). This was a step outside my comfort zone as I don't usually knit with anything quite this nice, but it worked out beautifully. I chose a white and a very pale greenish blue.
My next step was making a huge swatch (7 inches by 15 inches) knit in the round like my sweater.
Next, I looked through my shirts to find one with a fit I loved and that would work well for a model for my tank. I have a boatneck 3/4 sleeve shirt from Gap that I love and I decided to use it for measurements. I measured the shirt's width at the bottom hem and then continued measuring the width at one inch intervals until I reached the top of the shirt. I made note of armhole location as well. I kept these measurements with me throughout the process and they served as a sort of schematic for me.
Next, I did lots of math. I had already found my gauge from my giant swatch (8 st per inch and 10 rows per inch). I figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on (for the ribbing). I had decided to do a K2, P3 ribbing (instead of my original K2, P2 ribbing on my swatch) so that the bottom did not pull in. I figured out that I could simply decrease on the first row after ribbing to get everything to line up nicely from the ribbing to the twisted stitch pattern. After I figured out my cast on number and how to transition from the ribbing to the stitch pattern, I started working out where and how my decreases and increases would work. I even charted out the pattern to see how the decreases/increases would affect the flow of that part of the stitch pattern. I was lucky in that my stitch gauge was 8 stitches. Thus I had to decrease 4 stitches to decrease 1/2 inch or just 2 stitches to decrease 1/4 inch. My row gauge worked out to 10 rows per inch which was perfect as the stitch pattern was split into two 10 row repeats.
At this point, I just had to cast on and start knitting. So I knitted up to the armholes and then stopped to figure out the math for the armholes. I used Shirley Paden's Knitwear Design Workshop to help me. I was really nervous about it, but finally just did it and it worked out great. At this point, I had to switch to knitting back and forth. I thought this was going to make me end up with lots of ends to weave in because the pattern alternates between using the blue yarn one row and then the white the next and then the blue again, etc. This is no biggie when working in the round, you just leave the yarn and then carry it up after the next row. But when knitting flat, suddenly the yarn is at the wrong end of the row when you need it. After cutting ends for a few rows, I suddenly realized that I could just knit back when the yarn was on the wrong end. So I would do two rows right to left and then two rows left to right and then repeat. Very exciting to not have all those ends to weave in!
Finally, I approached the finish line--the top neck! I knew that I wanted a little bit of shaping, but not too much. I decided to do short rows on the outside edges of the front to give a slight dip without changing the pattern too much. I made sure that I got to a point in the stitch pattern where things were worked even so I didn't have to work twisted stitches in my short rows. I did about one inch ribbing on the top to match the ribbing on the bottom. I increased before the ribbing to do K2, P3 again. Ribbing was done on a smaller needle as well. For the back, I knit as the front except that I knit 10 more rows in pattern and no short rows. This raised the back neck up enough that the front wasn't too high. If I knit this again, I might do 2-4 less rows in the back. I think it might be a tad high. Finally I did a three needle bind off to join the top at the shoulders and a regular bind off across the front and back necks.
Now I had unfinished armholes to deal with. The fabric was too flimsy (because of slipped stitches right at the very edge of the armhole) to pick up stitches evenly. I was at a lost at first because I had originally planned a row or two of ribbing or a single crochet stitch edging. But both looked too messy with the loose slipped stitch fabric. What I ended up doing was knitting a crochet chain directly onto the front surface of the armhole. I used the blue yarn doubled and a medium sized crochet hook. I put the crochet hook directly through the fabric at the edge of the armhole, picked up a loop of yarn and pulled it through. I did this all around the armhole and am happy with the results.
Pattern: My own!
Stitch pattern from: Courtyard by Melissa Thomson
Size: Mine! Approximately 31" bust
Yarn: Sublime baby cashmere merino silk 4 ply (50g/ 170m/ 184yds/ 75% extra fine merino/ 20% silk/ 5% cashmere) 2 skeins of white, 3.15 skeins of blue
Needles: Size 4 for body of sweater, Size 3 for ribbing, US G6/4.00mm crochet hook for armhole edging
Anyway, there is way too much information about how I designed and knit my first sweater. Now all I have to do is come up with a good name for it. Any suggestions?
I was originally calling it Courtyard Tank after my inspiration and source of stitch pattern. Then I thought of the oh-so-exciting Boatneck Tank. But I want something better. Maybe one catchy word that captures it's essence. Would LOVE some suggestions (hint, hint)...
And, of course, my boys decided to join the photo shoot. Got to love them!
A few months ago I saw a hat (Courtyard) on Ravelry that I just fell in love with. Well, not the hat exactly, but the stitch pattern. I loved the cool hourglass-shaped twisted stitch pattern. So I bought the pattern, knit the hat and decided that I needed to knit a sweater in this stitch pattern.
I've read a number of books on knitting and designing your own knits. All of which, I referred to during this process. My favorites are:
Knitwear design Workshop by Shirley Paden
Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard
Knitting from the Top by Barbara G. Walker
I love knitting in the round and top-down which is what both Wendy and Barbara teach. Shirley's designs all focus on knitting in pieces and usually bottom-up, but her attention to detail and using math really helped me a lot.
Anyway, I originally pictured a long-sleeve sweater in the same color scheme as my hat (golden yellow and white). However, I just couldn't figure out how to make this stitch pattern cooperate for a raglan and I just didn't feel like messing with set-in sleeves--so I decided to knit a boatneck tank. I also decided to knit in the round and from the bottom up. Although I often prefer top-down, bottom-up seemed to make more sense with this stitch pattern and style.
Next came the search for yarn. I just couldn't find yarn that I loved in the golden yellow and white (and suitable for a boatneck tank). Finally, as I perused my local yarn shop for the umpteenth time, I found the yarn: Sublime baby cashmere merino silk 4 ply. It is so soft (perfect for wearing next to bare skin) and lightweight (perfect for a summer tank). This was a step outside my comfort zone as I don't usually knit with anything quite this nice, but it worked out beautifully. I chose a white and a very pale greenish blue.
My next step was making a huge swatch (7 inches by 15 inches) knit in the round like my sweater.
Next, I looked through my shirts to find one with a fit I loved and that would work well for a model for my tank. I have a boatneck 3/4 sleeve shirt from Gap that I love and I decided to use it for measurements. I measured the shirt's width at the bottom hem and then continued measuring the width at one inch intervals until I reached the top of the shirt. I made note of armhole location as well. I kept these measurements with me throughout the process and they served as a sort of schematic for me.
Next, I did lots of math. I had already found my gauge from my giant swatch (8 st per inch and 10 rows per inch). I figured out how many stitches I needed to cast on (for the ribbing). I had decided to do a K2, P3 ribbing (instead of my original K2, P2 ribbing on my swatch) so that the bottom did not pull in. I figured out that I could simply decrease on the first row after ribbing to get everything to line up nicely from the ribbing to the twisted stitch pattern. After I figured out my cast on number and how to transition from the ribbing to the stitch pattern, I started working out where and how my decreases and increases would work. I even charted out the pattern to see how the decreases/increases would affect the flow of that part of the stitch pattern. I was lucky in that my stitch gauge was 8 stitches. Thus I had to decrease 4 stitches to decrease 1/2 inch or just 2 stitches to decrease 1/4 inch. My row gauge worked out to 10 rows per inch which was perfect as the stitch pattern was split into two 10 row repeats.
At this point, I just had to cast on and start knitting. So I knitted up to the armholes and then stopped to figure out the math for the armholes. I used Shirley Paden's Knitwear Design Workshop to help me. I was really nervous about it, but finally just did it and it worked out great. At this point, I had to switch to knitting back and forth. I thought this was going to make me end up with lots of ends to weave in because the pattern alternates between using the blue yarn one row and then the white the next and then the blue again, etc. This is no biggie when working in the round, you just leave the yarn and then carry it up after the next row. But when knitting flat, suddenly the yarn is at the wrong end of the row when you need it. After cutting ends for a few rows, I suddenly realized that I could just knit back when the yarn was on the wrong end. So I would do two rows right to left and then two rows left to right and then repeat. Very exciting to not have all those ends to weave in!
Finally, I approached the finish line--the top neck! I knew that I wanted a little bit of shaping, but not too much. I decided to do short rows on the outside edges of the front to give a slight dip without changing the pattern too much. I made sure that I got to a point in the stitch pattern where things were worked even so I didn't have to work twisted stitches in my short rows. I did about one inch ribbing on the top to match the ribbing on the bottom. I increased before the ribbing to do K2, P3 again. Ribbing was done on a smaller needle as well. For the back, I knit as the front except that I knit 10 more rows in pattern and no short rows. This raised the back neck up enough that the front wasn't too high. If I knit this again, I might do 2-4 less rows in the back. I think it might be a tad high. Finally I did a three needle bind off to join the top at the shoulders and a regular bind off across the front and back necks.
Now I had unfinished armholes to deal with. The fabric was too flimsy (because of slipped stitches right at the very edge of the armhole) to pick up stitches evenly. I was at a lost at first because I had originally planned a row or two of ribbing or a single crochet stitch edging. But both looked too messy with the loose slipped stitch fabric. What I ended up doing was knitting a crochet chain directly onto the front surface of the armhole. I used the blue yarn doubled and a medium sized crochet hook. I put the crochet hook directly through the fabric at the edge of the armhole, picked up a loop of yarn and pulled it through. I did this all around the armhole and am happy with the results.
Pattern: My own!
Stitch pattern from: Courtyard by Melissa Thomson
Size: Mine! Approximately 31" bust
Yarn: Sublime baby cashmere merino silk 4 ply (50g/ 170m/ 184yds/ 75% extra fine merino/ 20% silk/ 5% cashmere) 2 skeins of white, 3.15 skeins of blue
Needles: Size 4 for body of sweater, Size 3 for ribbing, US G6/4.00mm crochet hook for armhole edging
Anyway, there is way too much information about how I designed and knit my first sweater. Now all I have to do is come up with a good name for it. Any suggestions?
I was originally calling it Courtyard Tank after my inspiration and source of stitch pattern. Then I thought of the oh-so-exciting Boatneck Tank. But I want something better. Maybe one catchy word that captures it's essence. Would LOVE some suggestions (hint, hint)...
And, of course, my boys decided to join the photo shoot. Got to love them!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Knitting Update
I finished knitting my mother-in-law's Peacock Tail and Leaf scarf a few weeks ago. Blocked it about a week ago and wove in the ends today. This is the second time I knitted this pattern and it's a relatively simple one if you are comfortable with lace. This one went quickly with very few errors to correct along the way. There is something to be said for knitting a scarf you have already knit before.
Pattern: Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf by Nancy Bush
Yarn: 2 skeins of Schulana Kid-Seta in Color #13 (70% Kid-Mohair/30% Silk/ 25g/ 210m/ laceweight)
Needles: Size 3
Modifications: Added two repeats of middle lace pattern for a little additional length.
Then I decided to knit this hat.
The pattern is called Courtyard and I spotted it on Ravelry a while back and fell in love with the twisted stitch pattern. I want to make a boatneck shell featuring this stitch pattern and thought that knitting the hat would be good prep for that. I really wanted to do a bright marigold yellow and white (inspired by one of the hats on the Ravelry page). The only yarn I found that I liked in these colors was full o' sheep yarn by Stitch Nation. Although this yarn worked fine for the hat, it was too itchy for a shell. I like the way this yarn looks--and the colors are lovely--but I didn't really enjoy knitting with this yarn. Can't tell you exactly why.
Pattern: Courtyard by Melissa Thomson
Yarn: Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Full o' Sheep (100% Peruvian Wool/ 100g/ 155yd/ 142m) One skein of Little Lamb (white) and one skein of Honeycomb (yellow). Had between 1/2 and 1/3 of each skein leftover.
Size: Larger size. Probably could have gotten away with smaller size for my pea head.
Needles: Size 6 for ribbing. Size 7 for rest of hat.
Modifications: None.
Since I didn't love the yarn I used for the hat, I went to my local yarn shop and looked through the tons and tons of yarn options. After much debate, I decided to go a different route. I chose a 4ply in a white and a pale blue. I think it will be a much subtler combination, but nice all the same. The yarn is very soft--baby cashmere merino silk--and will feel nice next to my skin. Here's a picture of my swatch.
It's a 14" circle that is about 4 inches tall. I knit it in the round since I plan to knit my boatneck shell in the round. This will be my first real design project so wish me luck. I'm going to try and work out the numbers tonight. Can't wait to cast on!
Pattern: Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf by Nancy Bush
Yarn: 2 skeins of Schulana Kid-Seta in Color #13 (70% Kid-Mohair/30% Silk/ 25g/ 210m/ laceweight)
Needles: Size 3
Modifications: Added two repeats of middle lace pattern for a little additional length.
Then I decided to knit this hat.
The pattern is called Courtyard and I spotted it on Ravelry a while back and fell in love with the twisted stitch pattern. I want to make a boatneck shell featuring this stitch pattern and thought that knitting the hat would be good prep for that. I really wanted to do a bright marigold yellow and white (inspired by one of the hats on the Ravelry page). The only yarn I found that I liked in these colors was full o' sheep yarn by Stitch Nation. Although this yarn worked fine for the hat, it was too itchy for a shell. I like the way this yarn looks--and the colors are lovely--but I didn't really enjoy knitting with this yarn. Can't tell you exactly why.
Pattern: Courtyard by Melissa Thomson
Yarn: Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Full o' Sheep (100% Peruvian Wool/ 100g/ 155yd/ 142m) One skein of Little Lamb (white) and one skein of Honeycomb (yellow). Had between 1/2 and 1/3 of each skein leftover.
Size: Larger size. Probably could have gotten away with smaller size for my pea head.
Needles: Size 6 for ribbing. Size 7 for rest of hat.
Modifications: None.
Since I didn't love the yarn I used for the hat, I went to my local yarn shop and looked through the tons and tons of yarn options. After much debate, I decided to go a different route. I chose a 4ply in a white and a pale blue. I think it will be a much subtler combination, but nice all the same. The yarn is very soft--baby cashmere merino silk--and will feel nice next to my skin. Here's a picture of my swatch.
It's a 14" circle that is about 4 inches tall. I knit it in the round since I plan to knit my boatneck shell in the round. This will be my first real design project so wish me luck. I'm going to try and work out the numbers tonight. Can't wait to cast on!
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