#knitting process

[skeksis98]

this was just a very large test to see how i want this yarn to work/the gradient/getting a feel for this stitch but…. bahhhhh its gonna be so good

[piscesapplelady35]

Progress report: I'm starting on the heel flap!

[purplbear]

Orange Old Town is done and blocking - the magic occurs as it always does - the slightly wrinkled frumpy garment takes on a defined and beautiful shape!

Materials: blocking wires, blocking pins, anti-fatigue exercise mats (way cheaper than blocking mats), hand towel to create volume under neckline while blocking

I like to use blocking wires that are 36 inches long for most of the body/sleeves and then 24 inches long for necklines or neck-to-shoulder sections.

First I put the blocking wires at the two side seams: right-hand photos shows the pairs of wires on top of the sweater for the sleeves and front flaps.

Next, I place wires for the sleeves (cause it’s way easier to guide that wire in while it’s still open and can flop around. After the sleeves, i thread a wire up each front flap of the cardigan.

I think for the orange sweater I did the neckline next? When I have a high neckline or cowl I like to use towels to help prop up the neck and give it more space.

Finally I thread blocking wires through the bottom edges, one for front and one for back. I use the same pins to pull them taut so it all matches after blocking.

The only wires that get threaded through the knitted fabric are the edges: bottom and front flaps. All other wires rest at a crease or seam: side seam, shoulder seam, sleeve seams … and so I just lay them inside lined up with seam and pin through knitted material. Gives a nice crisp edge.

[mariamahamaria]

growing...

[continent-of-wild-endeavor]

I spent more time than I should have at this stage in debating how to do the button band. This needle size or this one? This'll do X, but will it be enough, of should I go smaller/larger? And what kind of buttonholes, comparing techniques, pictures of them, trying to imagine how it'd look irl and guess which one I'd like.

The answer to all these questions? Swatches. It's always more swatches - remember, self! (Also I had to go actually acquire the buttons I wanted to use, to hold them in my hands & pass them through the test buttonholes, rather than trying to calculate based on measurements.)

In the end, I made three button band swatches, each 4-8" x 1.5", picking up along the edges of the one gauge swatch I still had. I tried out different needles, different bindoffs (also on multiple needle sizes), rate of pickup, and 4 different styles of button holes, then two of those buttonhole techniques in more sizes. And then I had all the answers, without testing them out in situ on the 125 stitch picked up button band!

[knatalieknits]

work work work

[rannadylin]

Finished with the prototype Glove of Missile Snaring! I’m very pleased with some aspects of how it came out, but it has some issues I think I’ll try to fix with the second glove and then reknit this one if that goes well:

The fabric’s a bit stiff pre-blocking. If blocking doesn’t make it more comfortable I’ll try going up a needle size or two. It fits like a glove pretty tightly, too, so a little more ease might be worthwhile.

Whoa so much thumb ease, however! Going to try fewer increase rows in the thumb gusset so that’s not so huge and bunchy.

Not thrilled with the cast on edge of the cuff, which curls up inwards too much. Also not sure how to fix that? Purl row or two before starting the ribbing? Fortunately that’s an easy place in the pattern to try different techniques out and easily rip it out and start over if I don’t like it...

Index finger is a little too long. The middle finger came out way too long at first and I ripped back several rows and re-finished it after I’d already finished the other fingers, but the index was just barely too long so I didn’t go to the trouble with it; it’s still usable, just...On v.2 I think I will try to make it shorter and see how I like that.

It’s really quite a tight fit...again, we’ll see how blocking affects the fabric; it might be just fine, but if not, I’ve simply got to redo it on larger needles. Or with more cast on stitches, but a looser fabric is the first thing I’d like to try for this one. As is, it’s stiff and that makes it harder to pull the glove on. But that might also make it warmer and less prone to wear & tear, so...

Things I am really very happy about though:

How the arrow pattern emerges from the ribbing, so the cuff is part of its fletching. That was a key point in my design sketch and it worked out just right and I am proud of that.

The arrow pattern in general is so spiffy. :-D Twisted stitch patterns are a bit of a pain to work sometimes but this one’s minimal twisting so it’s cool.

The purl on the back of the hand/knit on the palm detail. Partly because I just didn’t want to work the whole thing in a purl background but needed one for the twisted stitch pattern...so I tried just keeping it to the pattern panel and I like how that turned out, especially how the purl panel continues into the backs of the fingers. I think I aligned the division between knit/purl on each finger pretty well too.

Also, as I polish this design up for the second glove, should I also write up a pattern for it? Would people be interested in making it? If so, I’d be looking for test knitters to try it out in other sizes (my hands are tiny) and make sure my math worked for the stitch counts and everything. The only patterns I’ve published online previously have been hats, kerchiefs, etc. that don’t have such sizing issues... :-D So, if you’d be interested in test knitting medium and up sizes (or children’s sizes...I could concievably write that up too...) let me know!

[piscesapplelady35]

Well, fuck me... I knew this project was going too well.