"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either." ~ Elizabeth Zimmerman
Showing posts with label tip alert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tip alert. Show all posts

9/15/19

Ha! and Sewing Things

It thought it could defeat me. I showed it! I fixed the sleeves on the robe yesterday. Now it fits perfectly. Just in time for summer to be over. No, there will be no pics.

Now, about sewing. I am very good at sewing my knitting together. I have had Fair judges come looking for me to meet me and find out how I seam things because the work was so beautiful. It's really a matter of practice.

In the early days of my knitting years, I didn't do top down seamless sweaters cuz I had no access to such a thing. (This is, truly, what is best about the internet. Having access to so much information) Most of my knitting years I was isolated and had only learned what I could find in books that I found at the library or magazines. Most patterns were knit flat, in pieces, and needed to be sewn together, just like regular sewing does.

Oddly, I do not mind sewing my knitted things together. I kind of take pride in it, seeking to make the best seams I can. I did not find out about seamless knitting until the early 2000's when I bought my shop. Wow, I learned so much those years, just from the inventory it came with.

When I was putting that baby cardigan together last week, I edjumucated myself some more. I did some research to find the best way to sew the sleeves. I have always back stitched seams that are not vertical or horizontal, but are diagonal. However, back stitch makes for a heavy seam allowance and can be quite sloppy. Especially in a little baby jacket made of worsted weight yarn. I decided I needed to see if there's a better way.

I ended up mattress stitching it, which is quite a challenge because there are increases to deal with, so the seam isn't invisible. But the seam allowance is much thinner, which is a big plus to me. It doesn't look too bad. Not any worse than back stitching. (Ignore the cat hair. It's that time of year again.)



I was hoping for something more elegant, but oh well. Anyway, as I was googling around, I found a seaming technique called the Bickford Method. I'd never heard of it before, but it is a life changing revelation to me.



It's not seamless looking, but you have no seam allowance, and it looks very nice. I shall be using it in the future, though it didn't work on the cardigan sleeves because of the stitch pattern, which has garter stitch rows in it.

Now, not to be outdone, google provided me with yet something else new and wonderful. I was looking for ways to sew in set in sleeves because, again, I have always back stitched them in. I found a video of a method that involves a sort of half mattress stitch, half grafting method. I tried and it works very well.



 It produced the best seaming of a set in sleeve I've ever done. I am so excited.

All in all, I call it a good week. I learned new ways to improve my knitting skills. I share this info with you so you can improve your knitting skills too.

I've said this before, and I'm saying it again. I've been knitting for more than 50 years, and I still learn new exciting things about it.

Live long and prosper. \\//

2/14/10

There was Sunshine!

First of all


I hope you and your special loved ones have a wonderful day.

Yesterday the weather was glorious. The sun was shining, and it was warm. The shade was cold (somewhere around 35F) but being in the sun was wonderful. I got to spend a whole hour on the deck sitting in it. True, I was dressed in a sweater, and had a blanket, but it was very comfortable with the sun shining on me. I worked on a lace shawl that I started last week for Knitwits. While I knitted this is what I had for views.

To the east:

and to the north:

As you can see, there is no snow to speak of, though if you go tromping in the woods you'll find a lump or two. In Coeur d'Alene the crocus, daffodils, and tulips are already sprouted-before Valentines day! Looks like we are heading for an early spring. I've heard El Nino is responsible for this.

I got quite a few rows done on the shawl, then discovered I'd made a horrible glaring you-couldn't-miss-it-unless-you-were-blind mistake. One of the vertical lines wasn't vertical. It had a big hole and a jog in it. So I frogged it back. By then, it was too cold to stay outside any more. The sun had gone behind the house. I guess you could call yesterday's knitting a practice session.

This is where I was when I went back in the house:


The pattern is Called the Arrowhead Shawl. It's available as a free PDF download on Ravelry. I'm using some Caron Simply Soft for the yarn.

Tip Alert: I'm using a 40-inch size 10 Addi turbo circular needle. I had to use 2 rocks to get the needle to stay in place for the picture. It was all curly cued up and stiff. It's been driving me crazy. I decided to take my own advice. The advice I give everyone else that has this problem. Put some boiling water in a bowl and dip the cable in. I've never actually done this myself. I've just been passing on info I've heard from others. I'm relieved to say it worked! In fact, it worked very well. The cable is now nice and straight and it's not stiff anymore either.

This morning I figured out where I am in the stitch pattern (it's a 20 row repeat) and I'm back on track.I plan to knit while watching the Olympics.

Go team USA!

Have a great day.