Knitting Daily with Sandi

Artwork That Became A Book: Michele's Mood Boards

2008-08-20T11:57:00Z

Note from Sandi: Walking into the book editors's offices is always a fun break in the day--they tend to have interesting bits and bobs that belong to upcoming books--or books that might be upcoming books if we accept the author's proposal. One day, I walked back there and saw the most amazing things: several large boards that looked like a talented giant's journal pages. The boards were covered with knitted samples, seashells, handmade papers, photographs, sketches, leaves, feathers, and I-can't-even-describe-what-all. They were riveting, the kind of thing that makes you want to sit down and study them, so you can see each and every little wondrous treasure. I found out that those boards, with all their tiny treasures carefully and artfully laid out, were actually a book proposal--a proposal that later became Michele Rose Orne's book Inspired to Knit. As I read through the book, I realized that I wanted to ask Michele to share her original proposal artwork with you...and she graciously agreed to do so.

Boards That Became a Book
by Michele Rose Orne

One of the things I learned when I wrote Inspired to Knit was that it is impossible to stuff 360 pages worth of information into 160 pages worth of space! Fortunately for me, Sandi has graciously allowed me to be a “guest-blogger” for a day to give you a bit more info on the behind the scenes makings of my designs and my book! Thanks Sandi!

I have always loved reading the behind the scenes stories of other designers, artists, and creative folks in general. The idea to share my own personal design process evolved after I submitted a series of my own “mood boards” to Interweave, presenting a somewhat different book idea altogether. As a designer for the garment industry for many years, I used these kinds of mood or “story boards” when I would “pitch” ideas for a “line” of sweaters to retail buyers. Though common in the garment industry, this type of presentation was apparently an anomaly in the world of handknitting! So when 15 color-saturated, elaborate boards filled with swatches, sketches and other images arrived at the Interweave offices, they created a bit of a stir! Even for non-designer types, I always believe that just about everyone can be inspired when presented with a colorful, visual presentation!

The main thing that creating these boards allows me to do is to gather my thoughts and then focus in on several possible outcomes for any given theme. Rather than plowing through a pile of magazines or torn out scraps of “stuff”, I can gather common colors or design elements into a little story. This allows for more possible designs to emerge within a given “flavor”, rather than committing to just one idea right from the get-go.

You can build your own mood boards to see your own preferences in color or silhouette emerging. Just as Sandi’s recent exercise in creating a color wheel out of her stash colors led her to realize certain things about her preferences in color, by building a mood board, you might realize that you tend be drawn to certain ranges of colors and certain types of garment shapes. You can then translate these “personal trends” into your own designs or use them to personalize published patterns!

I am attaching photos of a couple of my original mood boards that went to Interweave. Mine are put together mostly by color themes. There are loads of “tear sheets” from magazines on my boards. Although, we’re not copying things here folks – just drawing inspiration from them.) You may recognize some of the swatches on the original boards that ended up becoming projects in the book or went on to be in Knits magazine. Sources of inspiration abound everywhere!!

I feel very strongly that each and every knitter has the potential to become their own designer. My book was a means of sharing just a small glimpse into my own personal design process, in the hopes of inspiring each of you to “think outside the box” a bit! The desire to knit, in and of itself, implies a creative spirit. If you are creative enough to want to knit, I bet that you have the creative spark to come up with your own designs. I just think that most knitters don’t possess knowledge of how to collect their ideas and then turn them into a garment. The 4 workshops in my book start to touch on this process of designing your own knits. I am hoping to go into greater detail, for you budding designers out there, either online or possibly in a future book (?!) Meanwhile, I know you all can find loads of inspiration all around you. Have fun channeling this creative energy into your own mood boards and swatches and hopefully maybe even trying your hand at creating your own unique design!
I hope you are inspired!
Best Wishes –
Michele

Read an excerpt from Inspired to Knit about how to create your own mood boards; then join our online Mood Board Project & KnitAlong. And if you want to purchase your own copy of the book Inspired to Knit, you can do that, too! But please remember to support your local yarn shop--check with them to see if they have a copy before you order online!

Check out the Michele Rose Orne patterns in our Knitting Daily store: Equinox Yoke Pullover, Bianca's Jacket, Clementine Shawlette, Cobweb Lace Stole, Molly Ringwald, Poinsettia, Composed Mitts

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily. Packing trumps knitting right now, unfortunately, but I'm valiantly trying to have the Camisa, worked in String of Pearls yarn from Muench (prettypretty not to mention sparklysparkly!) done before I leave for Canada. (Canada countdown? 12 days till we get there!)

What Knitting Mood Are You In?

2008-08-18T05:29:00Z

Sometimes, no matter how much we love to knit, it can be just plain tough to get inspired to actually commit to cast on. There are so many beautiful patterns out there (ahem--particularly in Interweave publications, right? Of course, right!), and oodles of skeins, balls, and hanks of gorgeous yarns. When faced with such an amazing bounty of knitting wonders, the Perfect Project that fits our mood NOW can sometimes elude us.

What to do? Well...how do you find out what kind of knitting mood you are in? How do you know what inspires you to knit, and how can you find a way to tap into those inspirations when it seems like you have tons of yarn but nothing to knit?

Michele Rose Orne came up with a way to inspire herself and her knitting, a tool she calls Mood Boards. This week, we'll be exploring the concept of Mood Boards in order to help spark our knitting imaginations and get the fall knitting season off to a great start!

What is a Mood Board?

A mood board is a collage of items that tells a story--that sets a mood, in essence. OK, that doesn't explain it very well. So: Let's hear Michele tell us in her own words what a mood board is. That link will take you to an excerpt from Michele's new book, Inspired to Knit, a book full of knitting patterns and ideas based around Michele's own mood boards.

And now I have a question for you: What kind of knitting mood are you in? Read the excerpt from Michele's book, and maybe you'll want to create a mood board of your own to find out. Meanwhile, leave a comment and let us know what your knitting mood is.

Working on your own mood board? Join us online in our Mood Board Project and KnitAlong! And check back later this week, when Michele will show us the original mood boards that she used as submissions for her book! I got to see the boards in person, and they are truly stunning. Don't miss this chance to see "behind the scenes" of how an author presents an idea for a new knitting book.

Purchase Inspired to Knit by Michele Rose Orne

As always, you can buy our books online, but we strongly encourage you to support your local yarn shop by giving them your business

Fall Knits Editor's Choice Galleries: Part 3

2008-08-15T15:51:00Z

Backstage Tweed Jacket Gallery

Little Blue Sweater Gallery

Braided Pullover

Afterthought Darts Cardigan

Index of all past Galleries

What's a Gallery? It's where members of the Interweave office staff (a.k.a. "The Gallery Gals") try on the sample garments used in the actual magazine photoshoot so you can see how the sweaters fit on women of varying sizes and shapes. It's tons of fun--and to make it even more valuable for you, I write little individualized commentaries for each woman and each sweater, to give you ideas of how to customize your own knitting.

Our final two Galleries for the Fall 2008 issue of Interweave Knits are:

Sidelines Top

Windowpane Coat

Here's what Eunny wrote about the Sidelines Top:

The cables along princess seam lines and bias panels of this sweater flatter everybody--they add curves to straight figures, and skim over fuller ones. The deep V-neck is comfortable as well as flattering.

Though not knit in actual panels, the fit of this garment would be easy to adjust by making sections narrower or wider at every critical point--bust, waist, hips. A close fit looks great, but the sweater would be comfortable and weekendy with a looser fit as well.

--Eunny

This Friday's free pattern is Eunny's Mittens Interrupted, a clever slip-stitch pattern with no hand-shaping, using variegated yarn against a dark background for a luminous effect. Download the free pattern for Mittens Interrupted!

Knitting Daily factoid from Sandi: I was a subscriber to FOUR, count 'em, FOUR Interweave magazines before I ever came to work here: Interweave Knits, Beadwork, Handwoven, and Spin-Off. (I was getting ready to sign up for Piecework as well, but then they gave me the job.) If you're a knitter, and you're not a subscriber to Interweave Knits, you can sign up at subscribe online and we'll send four issues a year straight to your doorstep. (If you can't subscribe, please give your local yarn shop some love and buy your magazines there!)

Editor's Choice Fall Knits Galleries: Part 2

2008-08-13T18:00:00Z

This week, we are featuring the Editor's Choice Galleries: Eunny Jang, editor of Interweave Knits, chose six garments from the new Fall 2008 issue of Knits for our Gallery Gals to try on. Eunny also shares a little bit about three of the sweaters, to give you even more information and insight. On Monday, she talked about the Backstage Tweed Jacket, and we showed you the Backstage Tweed Jacket Gallery as well as the Little Blue Sweater Gallery. (Check out the list of all past Galleries here.)

What's a Gallery? It's where members of the Interweave office staff (a.k.a. "The Gallery Gals") tryon the sample garments used in the actual magazine photoshoot so you can see how the sweaters fit on women of varying sizes and shapes. It's tons of fun--and to make it even more valuable for you, I write little individualized commentaries for each woman and each sweater, to give you ideas of how to customize your own knitting.

Today, we have two new Galleries for you:

Braided Pullover

Afterthought Darts Cardigan

Here's what Eunny wrote about the Braided Pullover:

I love the high, narrow 40's armhole of this design--it makes the garment hang beautifully, whether you've got broad or narrow shoulders. Fit in that area is important, however--consider knitting the upper back and front of the garment in a wider or narrower size, depending on your particular proportions; choose the right size based on the cross-back measurements on the schematic.

The bias front cable, which wraps around the neck, is pretty spectacular. It looks good in a variety of positions, but you can always adjust placement by adjusting the slope rate.

There are two more garments from Interweave Knits Fall 2008 to show you later this week--don't miss them!

Knitting Daily factoid from Sandi: I was a subscriber to FOUR, count 'em, FOUR Interweave magazines before I ever came to work here: Interweave Knits, Beadwork, Handwoven, and Spin-Off. (I was getting ready to sign up for Piecework as well, but then they gave me the job.) If you're a knitter, and you're not a subscriber to Interweave Knits, you can sign up to subscribe online and we'll send four issues a year straight to your doorstep. (If you can't subscribe, please give your local yarn shop some love and buy your magazines there!)

Galleries! We have Fall Knits Galleries!

2008-08-11T20:26:00Z

Are you ready to see how our Interweave Gallery Gals look in the sweaters from the new Fall 2008 issue of Interweave Knits? Good, because it's Gallery time once again on Knitting Daily!

This time, I thought it would be fun to have the Galleries be "Editor's Choice"--in other words, to see which garments the editor of Interweave Knits herself would choose to feature in the Galleries. So I asked Eunny Jang to choose six garments for us to try on--and then we headed down to our basement photo studio for another afternoon of fun! Eunny also wrote additional comments on three of the six sweaters to share with you, so we have lots of goodies for you this week on Knitting Daily.

So now I present to you the first two Editor's Choice Galleries for Fall 2008:

Backstage Tweed Jacket
Little Blue Sweater
View a list of all past Interweave Knits and Knitscene Galleries!

Here's what Eunny has to say about the lovely Backstage Tweed Jacket:

This is such an excellent example of good knitting design. The shape is elegant, and the yarn--with a firm wooly hand, but knitted at just the right gauge, giving it drape--sets it off perfectly. The yoke, which grows seamlessly out of front bands, hides decreases in a highly articulated cable pattern. The tone-on-tone effect is subtle, but highlights the contrast between the tweed and refined silk blend yarns.

The A-line shape and body-skimming fabric of this cardigan are very flattering. Yoked sweaters, particulary cardigans, can be a little tricky to fit, since they lack the stabilizing structure of seams at the shoulders and armholes. Luckily, it's easy to mix and match if your proportions or preferences call for it--you can knit the body in a smaller or larger size for less or more volume, and knit the yoke at just the right size for your shoulders. The garment looks great whether the shoulders are filled out completely or not; take a look at the schematic and how it looks on other bodies, and choose the right yoke size for you.

I'm going to make this one myself, leaving the front closures out for an elegant, comfortable go-to cardigan/jacket for the fall.

Enjoy!

--Eunny

We have four more garments from Interweave Knits Fall 2008 to show you in our Knitting Daily Galleries later this week, so stay tuned!

Knitting Daily factoid from Sandi: I was a subscriber to FOUR, count 'em, FOUR Interweave magazines before I ever came to work here: Interweave Knits, Beadwork, Handwoven, and Spin-Off. (I was getting ready to sign up for Piecework as well, but then they gave me the job.) If you're a knitter, and you're not a subscriber to Interweave Knits, you can sign up to subscribe online and we'll send four issues a year straight to your doorstep. (If you can't subscribe, please give your local yarn shop some love and buy your magazines there!)

Free Pattern: Motley Mitts

2008-08-08T17:42:00Z

Motley Mitts
by Lisa Shroyer

I try to avoid variegated yarns that stripe or pool, so when we were assigned this staff project, I looked carefully at yarns before choosing. Sheep Shop's Sheep Two is a great chunky, plied wool that is dyed in very short color runs, creating a mottled effect when knitted in stockinette. I think the best way to show off unique yarns like this is to keep it simple. So, I worked up these mitts in plain stockinette with garter stitch cuffs. However, the mitts are not just tubes—they're worked from side to side as flat pieces that are seamed up the inside of the wrist. To create a tailored fit, short-rows are worked to shape the pieces into hourglasses—the narrowest part for the wrist, the wider ends for the width of the hand and forearm.

If you're new to short-rows, this is a great project to practice and understand the technique. In chunky yarn on size 10s, the mitts work up quickly. I thought the mitts needed a bit of contrast, so I added the darker trim at the fingers and thumbhole. You could easily work this trim in the same color as the mitts, and then would only need 1 skein of the yarn total.

I love the way the mitts turned out, and even though I am very conservative when it comes to color in my own wardrobe, I will definitely wear these come fall. They have just the right amount of color, and in a small accessory, I think the flashiness of a variegated yarn is charming, not overwhelming. This coming from someone who primarily knits sweaters in brown yarn…baby steps, you know.

Lisa Shroyer is project editor of Interweave Knits magazine, and editor of Knitscene magazine.

Not a subscriber to Interweave Knits? Click here to become one and see more great knitting patterns and tips in every issue.

Download the free pattern for the Motley Mitts!

Editor's Picks

Color Style, by Pam Allen and Ann Budd, is coming out in October--but you can pre-order it now! I haven't seen the book yet, but I have every other book in the Style series and love every one of them--so I'm looking forward to this one very much. The Designer Notebook at the back, with its promised tips and tricks for colorwork, is going to be worth its weight in gold, methinks. And then there's the amazing Peace and Love Gloves by Veronik Avery...wow. Check out the preview and pre-order online.

Of course you can buy our books online, but don't forget to give your local yarn shop some love--and your business!

Want a little more color into your knitting right now? Check out these patterns in our pattern store that use various colorwork techniques:

Slip-stitch: Tartan Jacket, Bonbon Pullover

Intarsia: Dogwood Donna, Flower Shower Duo,

Fair Isle/Stranded knitting: Composed Mitts, Enid Cardigan, Equinox Yoke Pullover, Ivy League Vest, Little Gems Mitts, Snowflake Socks, Northern Lights Jacket, Road to Golden (shown at right)

Multicolored yarns: Impressionist Cardigan, Waterlily Top, Streakers Shrug

Sandi's Adventure in Color

2008-08-06T15:41:00Z

Color. Color is my enemy. I think of myself as someone who could NEVER design a Fair Isle anything, simply because of the colors. And from the comments, apparently I am not alone...color is a daunting prospect for many knitters. But that's not very Fearless Knitter of us, is it? Should we be afraid of a little thing like color? Nope. But the truth is...I am afraid of color. Petrified, in fact.

I mentioned this to a friend at work, and she laughed and said, "You just need the right tools, that's all." (Like a new brain? What?) She handed me a book and commanded me to Read It. The book is our book, Color Works, by Deb Menz, and at first I was scared, because it has words like Hue and Saturation and Hexad Harmonies in it. But then I realized...there are SWATCHES all throughout the book. (Well, OK--photos of swatches. But still.) Lovely, lovely swatches, each one illustrating what Deb is talking about. I counted. There are nearly 300 swatches--and I am an extremely visual learner. Whoo! So I went through the book, and studied the swatches...and guess what. I started to Get It. I totally get the whole Hue thing now. I understand Value. Saturation seems a bit clearer to me. Hexad Harmonies, well...not so much. (I mean, Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.)

All right, so the book is really pretty...but what about when you are faced with Actual Yarn? That's the question I ended up asking, because all those swatches were lovely, but I am clearly not Deb Menz. So I devised a little color exercise for myself...

Sandi's Yarn Color Wheel

I am, of course, packing up the entire house for our move to Canada. Just when I am positive that I have packed up my entire stash, I unearth yet one more random odd ball of yarn from some dark corner (or the linen closet). I thought, what if I used these random yarn balls, and the swatches in Deb's book, to try and figure out some of this color stuff for myself? I wasn't ready to do a whole Fair Isle thing, but I figured even I could lay those balls out in a semblance of a color wheel.

So check it out! My first color wheel. So now you ask: "And what did you learn, Dorothy?" First: I have no yellows of any sort. There is an entire pie slice of the color wheel (an entire hue family, if you will) missing from my yarns. This limits the color combinations I can create. Second: Most of the yarn colors have the same "value"--when I turn the photo into a black and white version, as in the second photo, there's a lot of dark greys in there. This means that it will be difficult to do a proper Fair Isle design, as Fair Isles depend a lot on differing values to provide contrast and visual interest. Third: While I do have differing levels of saturation (brightness/dullness), the yarns here tend to be more shaded (have more black in them) than tinted (more white). Fourth: There are a lot of complex colors here--colors which are a mix, a combination of three or more primary/secondary colors. Fifth and finally: I have a lot of analogous colors (colors next to each other on the wheel) in the red-to-blue section of the wheel, but not much else.

Look at that. Right there, I've learned five times as much as I knew before I made my little partial color wheel. I understand hue, value, saturation, complex colors and analogous colors. Whoo! Go me. (And go Deb!)

All right, so it's not exactly a Fair Isle sweater, but it's a start. Could I do a Fair Isle design with these colors, and only these colors? Well...sure. It would be a very dark design, with little or no visual contrast, so you wouldn't be able to see it from very far away. But a subtle, rather modern interpretation of a Fair Isle design? Yes. (Would I be laughed out of the Fair Isles for it? Also: Yes.)

Stay tuned, because in a future post, I will show you a Fair Isle swatch I'll make out of the colors in my yarn color wheel, using Deb's swatches as a guide.

Editor's Picks

Color Works, by Deb Menz is a superb guide to color basics and beyond. Along with the 300 swatches I mentioned above, Deb provides numerous examples using yarns, fabrics, beads, and anything else she can lay her hands on! The back of the book even has pull-out color tools you can use to plan your own projects. Purchase the book online.

Of course you can buy our books online, but don't forget to give your local yarn shop some love--and your business!

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily. I'm almost done with the front panel of the Camisa, worked in String of Pearls yarn from Muench (prettypretty not to mention sparklysparkly!). I really hope I can wear this for you before I leave for Canada, but packing is stealing my knitting time. (25 days and counting now till we move into our house in Canada!)

Fair Isle: Tips and a Step-By-Step Tutorial

2008-08-04T18:12:00Z

Note from Sandi: I've heard that a lot of people have fallen in love with Pam Allen's Fresco Fair Isle Mitts (see the photo? Pretty!) in the new Fall issue of Knits (purchase here or at your local yarn shop). I think it's the soft colors waving across the back of the hand, with the one unexpected splash of brightness in the middle. Some of you, however, are wondering if you can pull off the colorwork and still have the mitts be flexible, comfortable, and stretchy enough to fit. I remembered that there was an excellent Fair Isle tutorial in the now sold-out Fall/Winter 2005 issue of Knitscene magazine, and decided it was a perfect time to reprint it here on Knitting Daily. Below, I have given you the overview from the article, plus a few important tips to make the best of your stranded knitting. However, the fab part of that section of Knitscene was the step-by-step tutorial and practice swatch instructions. I've put the entire Fair Isle tutorial into a free downloadable PDF. Good stuff!

Did you know? The term "Fair Isle" refers to a special kind of stranded knitting, one in which the colors form one of hundreds of the traditional patterns of the Fair Isles. If the pattern is not one of the traditional "Fair Isle" patterns, then even if it only uses two colors per row, it is more properly referred to simply as "stranded knitting." All Fair Isle is stranded knitting, but not all stranded knitting is Fair Isle, in other words.

Fair Isle Knitting: It's Easier Than You Think
excerpted from Knitscene Fall/Winter 2005

Knitting in Fair Isle involves working two or more colors on one row of a pattern. It isn't much more complicated than knitting or purling in one color, but it can produce some really stellar fabrics. Basically, you'll work a few stitches in one color, then the next few in a second color--both balls of yarn always staying attached to the work. The color that isn't being worked is carried across the back of the knitting, making a snug loop, a "float," before being worked again. Floats add thickness and warmth to a garment, as they essentially add an inside lining to the sweater. Most Fair Isle patterns only call for two colors in any given row.

Tips

Make sure your floats aren't carried too tightly across the wrong side of the work, or the fabric will pucker. An easy trick is to spread out the stitches on the right needle every time you change colors. This will give the float the same horizontal stretch as the stitches on the needles.

To prevent tangling of the two strands of yarn, always pick up the first color over the second, and pick up the second color from under the first. Sometimes keeping one ball on your right side and one between your legs helps keep them apart.

Download our free step-by-step Fair Isle Tutorial!

Want to learn more about colorwork in your knitting? A beautiful, beautiful book that teaches you how to work with color is Deb Menz's Colorworks: The Crafter's Guide to Color. She uses over 300 handmade swatches to illustrate her lessons, and those pictorial guides are alone worth the price of the book!

Purchase Colorworks: The Crafter's Guide to Color

Of course you can buy our books online, but don't forget to give your local yarn shop some love--and your business!

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily. I'm halfway done with the front panel of the Camisa, worked in String of Pearls yarn from Muench (prettypretty not to mention sparklysparkly!). I just finished adding a couple of darts to the front in the belly area. I really hope I can wear this for you before I leave for Canada, but packing is stealing my knitting time. (27 days and counting now till we move into our house in Canada!)

Free Pattern: Kochoran Mittens

2008-08-01T17:00:00Z

Kochoran Mittens
by Katie Himmelberg

When Eunny announced that she wanted us to design a "hand item" for our staff project, I knew that I wanted to make a pair of men’s mittens. My husband is still squarely in the “I don’t like sweaters” camp of thought, so I’ve tried to knit him other wearables (translation: winter hats). He really does need a pair of mittens for things like scraping the windshield or shoveling snow. I find mittens are generally warmer than gloves and prefer them when finger mobility is not an issue, and I didn’t want to fuss with knitting fingers out of such a bulky yarn.

I was inspired to choose the Noro yarn after seeing many projects online using a technique to stripe a variegated yarn. Several variations have you switch between either two colorways or two ends of the same ball every two rows, but since I was using a chunky yarn and working in the round, I decided to change ball ends every round. If I had been working flat, I probably would have kept the two-row change since my yarn would then always be in the right spot.

After I got my yarn, I wound the skein into a center-pull ball so that I could work from both the center and the outside of the ball. Between the twisting of the color changes and the spin of the yarn coming from the outside of the ball, I couldn’t avoid tangling! Instead of trying to fight this, I would just periodically stop knitting, grab the ball of yarn, and hold it upside-down, allowing the mitten-in-progress to dangle freely. While the mitten is dangling, you can then pull apart the two strands and the mitten will begin to spin itself out of entanglement.

Katie Himmelberg is assistant editor of Interweave Knits magazine.

Not a subscriber to Interweave Knits? Click here to become one and see more great knitting patterns and tips in every issue.

Download the free pattern for the Kochoran Mittens!

Sandi Recommends

It's often a challenge to choose the right pattern when you're looking to knit something for that special guy. My rule is: Keep it simple, unless the dude himself has picked out the exact yarn and pattern. Choose a classic yarn in his favorite color, take his measurements, and then dive into the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns for basic glove, mitten, hat, sock and vest patterns in multiple sizes and multiple gauges. Instead of sweating to match your gauge to the one stated in the pattern, you knit a gauge swatch with your new yarn and your favorite needles, and then simply look up whatever gauge you are getting in the book, following the instructions for your gauge and his size. Voila: A perfect fit, in a classic style. (You can purchase the book here.)

What if you really want to knit a "guy sweater"? We have a nice selection of "guy sweaters" in the Knitting Daily pattern store, everything from the popular Cobblestone Pullover to a traditional cabled cardigan known as "Ribbed Diamonds".

Purchase the Cobblestone Pullover
Purchase the Ribbed Diamonds Cardigan
Shop for more men's knitwear in the pattern store

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily. I'm working on the front panel of the Camisa, worked in String of Pearls yarn from Muench (prettypretty not to mention sparklysparkly!). I just finished adding a couple of darts to the front in the belly area. I really hope I can wear this for you before I leave for Canada, but packing is stealing my knitting time. (30 days and counting now till we move into our house in Canada!)

A Stretchier Bind-Off

2008-07-30T21:12:00Z

I showed you a really great cast-on for toe-up socks on Monday...but what do you do when you get to the cuff and need to bind off? Lots of folks, myself included, get a little tight-fisted when it comes to binding off, and it's a bit demoralizing to knit a beautiful sock that fits you perfectly... that is, it would fit you perfectly if you could get the cuff edge on over your heel!

There are a couple of bind-offs you can use to loosen things up a bit. One of them, the sewn bind-off, is described in Gila Shoshany's Beyond the Basics in the new Fall Knits. (You can sign up to become a subscriber here.)

Today, I thought I'd show you another one of my favorite flexible bind-offs, one that I've used for neck edges, sleeve edges, and even sock cuffs. This bind-off is so flexible that many people use it when binding off lace projects, as regular bind-offs, being a tighter than the lacy stuff surrounding them, can distort the edges of the lace. This bind-off is thus often referred to as the lace bind-off, but many people also call it the decrease bind-off.

Step-By-Step Instructions for the Decrease (or Lace) Bind-off

Version A: Knitting through the back loops

This version gives a bind-off edge that looks just like a standard bind-off, but it is much stretchier.

Step 1: Knit together the first two stitches on the left needle THROUGH THE BACK LOOP. (Figure 1)

Step 2: Slip the new stitch on the right needle back to the left needle. (Figure 2)

Step 3: Repeat 1 and 2 until all stitches are bound off. Notice how the bind-off edge is nearly indistiguishable from your normal bind-off, but give it a tug and you'll see how much more flexible it is. (Figure 3)

Version B: Knitting through the front loops

The finished edge of this version looks slightly different but is just as stretchy as the other version. Which to use when? I'd say it's a matter of personal taste.

Step 1: Knit together the first two stitches on the left needle. (Figure 4)

Step 2: Slip the new stitch on the right needle back to the left needle.

Step 3: Repeat these two steps until all stitches are bound off. Notice that I show two samples in (Figure 5); the stitches are worked exactly the same way in both, but in the sample on the right, I used bright green yarn for the bind-off row so that you could see the finished effect more clearly.

Note that you can also use a variation of this bind-off on the purl side of a garment: Either *P2tog, slip new stitch to left needle; repeat to end--OR *P2tog tbl, slip new stitch to left needle; repeat to end.

All right then: Go forth and bind off--or, if you use the British nomenclature: Cast off!

Editor's Picks

A reprint of Ann Budd's classic technical article on bind-offs is included in the book The Best of Interweave Knits (buy the book here), along with ten other must-have techniques from our Beyond the Basics series in Interweave Knits. Subscribe to Interweave Knits to receive dozens of great patterns in addition to technique articles by some of the top names in the business.

One of my favorite all-time knitting "helpers" is The Knitter's Companion, a book filled with step-by-step illustrated instructions on everything from cast-ons to bind-offs and everything knitting inbetween! Need a reminder on how to graft a sock toe, or how to sew a shoulder seam without it looking all lumpy-bumpy? Then The Knitter's Companion is going to be your new best friend. Add the Knitter's Companion to your library today!

Of course you can buy these books online, but don't forget to give your local yarn shop some love--and your business!

Exploring a Tricky Cast-On For Toe-Up Socks

2008-07-28T19:12:00Z

Eastern Cast On

I was flipping through the final proofs of the new Fall Knits with a colleague who is a beginning knitter, and when I got to the chapter on different cast-ons and bind-offs, she looked mildly puzzled and said, "You mean there's more than one?"

When we are beginners, we learn The One True Cast-on, and the One True Bind-off (and of course, these vary depending on who is teaching you), and we may happily use these, and only these, for most of our knitting lives. However, yes, Virginia, there is indeed a variety of different cast-ons and bind-offs, each one with a particular talent, if you will--each one does something a bit better than all its fellow COs and BOs. The article in the new Knits presents "invisible" cast-ons and bind-offs, which give the impression that your stitches simply weave back upon themselves, leaving a lovely, flexible edge that does not take away from the beauty of your stitching. (Sign up for a subscription to Knits so you never miss any of these great technical articles!)

I noticed that one of the other patterns in Fall Knits uses another very special cast-on, one that frequently drives knitters to distraction when they try to figure it out: the Eastern cast-on. This cast-on, found in the Bacchus Socks, is used at the toe-end of toe-up socks; you can also use it at the fingertip end of mittens worked top-down, or any place where you need to start out working in the round with a small number of stitches on either side of a "pretend seam"--as in the bottom of a bag, for example. So let's take a little walk-through of this useful cast-on, which as usual, looks harder than it really is.

Step-by-step photo tutorial for the Eastern cast-on

If you want to play along, you'll need three double-pointed needles and some practice yarn.

Step 1: Hold two of the needles in the palm of your left hand, parallel to one another, with just a smidge of space between them. (Don't clamp them together, but don't have more than a bit of breathing space between them either.)

Step 2: Start with the tail end of the yarn under both needles, to the far left of both needles, so that the working end is at the top. You may find it helpful to anchor the tail between two fingers just so it knows who's boss. (Figure 1)

Step 3: Begin wrapping the working yarn around both needles: from the top down over the front, then up behind the needles, and so on. Do this until you have 8 loops over the fronts of the needles; end with the working yarn over the front of the needles so it is at the bottom. (Figure 2)

Step 4: Bring the working yarn up behind the lower needle and into the space between both needles. (Figure 3)

Step 5: Scootch the 8 loops close together, and give a little tug to both the tail and the working end to even up the tension. You're ready to knit! Using the third dpn, knit the first loop on the top needle using the working yarn (you can release it from its place between the needles to do this). Pull the stitch off of the top needle ONLY; leave the bottom half of the loop on the bottom needle. TIP: I find it helps to move the top needle back so that its point is at least an inch away from the point of the lower needle out in front. This way, I can easily drop the stitch off the top needle without accidentally dropping it off the bottom needle. (Figure 4)

Step 6: Knit across all 8 loops on the top needle in this fashion, until you have 8 stitches on the third dpn and no loops left on the original top needle. TIP: Hold the yarn tail in place, particular on the last couple of loops. If they get all loosey-goosey on you, tug that tail until they behave. You're the boss. EZ says so, remember. (Figure 5)

Step 7: You now have a new top needle with 8 pretty new stitches, and the original bottom needle with the bottoms of the original loops. Rotate the entire shebang clockwise so that the bottom needle is now the top and vice versa. Scoot the stitches to the other ends of the needles, scoot the top needle back so the tip is about an inch back from the bottom tip. (Figure 6)

Step 8: Twisting the working yarn around the tail (on the back/wrong side of the work): Hold the tail to the right, and the working yarn to the left (refer to Figure 6 again), then bring the working yarn up around the back so it is in place for knitting, thereby catching the tail under the working yarn. Voila! That pesky tail stays in place. Now, knit across the loops on the (new) top needle, dropping the stitches off of the top needle only as before. Don't be afraid to adjust the tension by tugging on the tail or the working yarn as needed. (You still Da Boss.) Figure 7 shows how the right side will look when you are finished; Figure 8 is how the wrong side will look when you are finished. Take a look at what you have--it's a toe tip! Knit on to sock glory, my friends, knit on.

Sandi recommends

Each issue, Interweave Knits publishes an outstanding technical article in a series called Beyond the Basics. Eleven of the best Beyond the Basics (many from sold-out issues) have been updated and reprinted in the book The Best of Interweave Knits--including Ann Budd's classic article on cast-ons. Other technical articles in the book cover increasing, decreasing, short-rows, and blocking, because after all: Knits isn't just a magazine filled with beautiful patterns, it's also a great source of information that will help you learn to be a better knitter. Sign up to subscribe to Interweave Knits and then buy the Best of Interweave Knits to own some of the best patterns and technical articles from the past ten years.

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily. She is flying along on the Camisa (dang, that's pretty yarn!!), and hopes to be able to wear it for you before she leaves for Canada!

Free Pattern: Winter Twilight Mitts

2008-07-23T19:46:00Z

Winter Twilight Mitts
by Laura Rintala

I have never made fingerless mitts before. And, I really never had any intention of making any, until this past winter when the temperatures dipped, unseasonably for our area, and days and days of cold weather seeped into the Interweave offices, leaving them so chill that my hands would stiffen as I attempted to type. The idea of making fingerless mitts, and making them sooner than later, also began to seep in.

A walk in the woods one blustery winter day was all it took for the inspiration. The sun was completely hidden by a thickly overcast sky. As the sky began to darken, a purple hue rose up. That sky was not one of those flat, gray cloudy days, but puffs of fast moving clouds racing over a gray plane. These puffs gathered and pooled rose and purple color giving the sky unexpected depth. And the barren winter trees created a stark lacy relief to that color and became the framework for the mitts.

The mitts are identical on all four sides requiring only one chart. Work across the chart as usual for the first half of the stitches, then work back across the chart from left to right to work the last half of the stitches. The cashmere yarn worked on bamboo dpns is the icing on the cake: pure knitting bliss. Wearing the finished mitts is almost as nice as making them—just not quite so fun.

Laura Rintala is managing editor of Interweave Knits magazine.

Not a subscriber to Interweave Knits? Click here to become one and see more great knitting patterns and tips in every issue.

(P.S. from Sandi: Laura had to keep a sharp eye out when I was taking the extra photos of these mitts to make sure that these pretties did not sneak their way into my pockets or purse, never to be seen again (well, not until the first snow day, anyway). I mean, who could blame me? Purple. And cashmere. And trees. They are STUNNING and maybe I will have to break my "no stranded colorwork" rule to make myself a pair. Oh, and one final point: Laura designed the first mitt freehand. No charting, not until the second mitt and the pattern writing. Freehand. On the needles, in other words. I just can't get over that one.)

Download the free pattern for the Winter Twilight Mitts!

Sandi Recommends

Want to learn more about the techniques of stranded colorwork knitting? One of my favorite books is The Art of Fair Isle Knitting, by Ann Feitelson--an Interweave classic from 1996 that is still going strong. The patterns are stunning, the technique chapters give me great confidence every time I am faced with colorwork projects, and the sections on history make the women of the Shetland Isles come alive: "[Knitting] was absolutely a financial necessity. The more you could knit, the more you could eat." There is a wonderful chapter on how to select colors, which for me was worth the cost of the book all by itself. (If you like having someone read to you, click here to learn more about the audiobook version of The Art of Fair Isle Knitting so you can listen to the stories of the Fair Isles while you knit!).

Purchase the book The Art of Fair Isle Knitting

Want more colorwork mitt patterns? We've got Michele Rose Orne's Composed Mitts and Donna Kay's Little Gems Mitts waiting for you in our pattern store. (Not into colorwork? There are cabled and ribbed and lace mitts (oh my!) in the store, too.) Below are convenient links to the Interweave Store:

Purchase the Composed Mitts
Purchase the Little Gems Mitts
Shop for other glove and mitten patterns in the Pattern Store

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily. She is flying along on the Camisa (dang, that's pretty yarn!!), and hopes to be able to wear it for you before she leaves for Canada!

The Fall Knits Preview is here!

2008-07-23T17:25:00Z

A note from Sandi:

The new Fall 2008 issue of Interweave Knits is here! And that means it's PREVIEW TIME...so I asked Eunny Jang, the editor of Knits, to tell us all what knitting treats await us:

It's July right now–in Baltimore, that means steaming sidewalks, iced tea, and ball games–but fall is right around the corner. Within a couple months, cooler weather will be here–in knitting time, that's just one sweater, or two vests, or four pairs of socks away. Within the pages of Knits, you‚ll find ample inspiration to prepare for the coming of fall: quick, flattering knits out of bulky yarns; projects that mix and match fibers and weights (hello, stash!); projects that explore unique constructions; and projects of all sizes that explore the things wool can do.

That last story is one of my favorites. It captures what our editorial knitting stories are all about–exploring the many directions a single inspiration can go in, giving insight in the process–but I also think of it as an example of how good, how satisfying, knitting is at all levels, in all facets. For me, getting back to basics with knitting never feels boring or tired: those stitches, those yarns, those movements are always compelling, because there's always something new to try, something new to explore or learn, and something new to be made every time. Wool? Sure, we know all about it. But think about how it changes when used in different blends, when spun in a different way, when worked up into a different kind of fabrics. Wool feels basic, but there's an awful lot to explore there. Plus, between sweaters, socks, accessories, and more, there's an awful lot to make.

So get knitting, and dig into the aspects of knitting you find most fascinating. Is it fiber? Perhaps our yarn articles will scratch the itch, or maybe the projects that consider fiber qualities carefully, and play them off each other for maximum effect. Is it constructions? Look for innovative tailoring and asymmetrical shapes. Technique? Understand and perfect invisible cast ons and bind offs once and for all with Beyond the Basics. Design? Check out what Kate Gilbert has to say about her design process.

Welcome fall!

View the Preview of the Fall 2008 issue of Interweave Knits magazine!

Eunny Jang
Editor, Interweave Knits

Preview Knitting Daily TV!

2008-07-21T20:02:00Z

It's a Monday. That means the weekend is over (boo!) and here we all are at our desks again, feeling a bit o' the Monday blues.

How about a little pick-me-up? Would you like a little Monday treat?

How about a preview of the brand new Knitting Daily TV show?

Yes, I thought you all might like that. Just click on the box below to be transported into the wonderful world of yarn on TV...

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Sooooo--what did you think? Are you as excited as I am to see the rest of the show, not to mention the other twelve episodes? Whoo!

(P.S. The sweater shown in the preview is the Shauna Sweater, and yes, you can download the pattern for free!)

I have a confession: I've already seen the first three episodes. (Don't hate me, OK, it's part of my job, right?) I love the Amazing Lace episode (#103), where Louisa Harding (author of Knitting Little Luxuries) shows this extremely clever way to knit the prettiest little flowers. (Download the free pattern for Louisa's little flowers from the Knitting Daily TV site--your regular Knitting Daily login info works there too.) I mean, it's so easy and fun that I'm sure I could do it without a single bit of swearing. And if Deborah Knight shows me one more ball of luscious Quviut, my resistance will weaken and I will be forced to take along a large dog comb and go find a musk ox somewhere. (It's so cute--she puts this teensy, weensy ball of Quviut on a silver platter to show how special it is, and then shows us pretty things to knit with it. ARGH. Must. Stay. Strong.)

The show starts airing on select public broadcasting stations TODAY, so check the Knitting Daily TV website to see if it is showing in your area. If you just can't wait, however, the entire first season is available for purchase on DVD, also starting today.

I've got a preview copy of the DVD. I feel so deliciously wicked--I am going to sit down with a cold beverage, my knitting, and watch the other ten episodes, straight through. Or at least, that's my plan. Real life might intervene. We Shall See.

How about you?

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily.

Knitscene Galleries III: Riding To Avalon and Dirndl Raglan

2008-07-18T17:00:00Z

Here are the final two Galleries from the new Fall 2008 Knitscene:

Riding to Avalon by Connie Chang Chinchio

Dirndl Raglan by Amanda Furlan

Gallery Gals' Choice!

I thought it might be interesting to hear straight from our Gallery models which sweater THEY liked best...and why. We heard from Amy and Erin in the last post; here's what Toni and Stefanie have to say:

TONI
I love simple sweaters with a touch of texture, and if it has a hood I’m even happier. The next sweater to join my “projects to start” list will be the Riding to Avalon sweater. I’ve already purchased the yarn. Thanks to Sandi and Knitting Daily I am excited to customize the sweater to my own proportions. Then I will be on the hunt for the perfect buttons

STEFANIE
I was in love with the Riding to Avalon sweater from the moment I saw the Knitscene preview, although my choice is a bit biased because I’m a sucker for hoodies (my favorite is an incredibly ratty purple one that I’ve been wearing for about 7 years but I refuse to give it up). There’s something so comforting about hoodies for me – not only will they protect you from the rain, but you can hide in them if you’re feeling exposed or awkward in public! Aside from the simple fact that it’s a hoodie, I also love all of the little details about this sweater: the extra long cuffs, the subtle color variation in the yarn, the overlapping neckline, the textured hood/cuffs, and the use of buttons as a design element. This sweater is simple yet complex at the same time - and I really like that. During the Gallery photoshoot, I realized that the sample sweater is definitely too small for me. I prefer hoodies to have a bit of slouch because I never wear them without a layer underneath, so if I ever made this (which, sadly, I don’t think I have the skills to do yet) I would make it a least a size bigger. Other than that – perfect! This is pretty much the exact sweater I would design for myself if I ever designed a sweater… I’d make a deeper hood, but that’s it

See all the designs in the new Fall 2008 issue of Knitscene magazine!
And then...if you just can't bear to wait to cast on, look for it at your local yarn shop. Actually, it appears that tons of you have already been doing just that, because we're getting calls from the shops asking to re-order it already! If there are no copies or no local yarn shops for miles around, then you can order it from us, of course. We wouldn't want you to suffer the agony of not being able to get this issue, would we? No, of course not.

Check out more Galleries from the Fall 2008 issue of Knitscene magazine:

Ahlstrom Bodice Gallery

Brocade Leaves Pullover Gallery

Opulent Raglan Gallery

Kaftan Dress Gallery

See all past Galleries!

Don't forget to visit the website and leave a comment and let us know what you think of the Fall Knitscene Galleries!

Q&A from the comments:
Gail Costigan asks: I am actually interested in the nice little sleeveless "tank" that Sandi is wearing in the photo of the Kaftan. Where could I get that??????? Sandi says: You have good taste, Gail :) That's the Lace Blouson by Kim Dolce, from the Summer 2004 issue of Knits. It's one of my all-time favorite summer tops!
AnnR wants to know: I like the shirt that Sandi is knitting at the present time: The Camisa sweater with the V neckline. The yarn used is called Muench String of Pearls. Where can I get this yarn? Do you sell yarn at the online store? Sandi replies: Hi Ann! We don't sell yarn in our online store, so check with your local yarn shop and see if they can get it for you. It's really beautiful yarn--just a bit of sparkle, and a great texture. (I keep a ball of it on my desk here at work just to fondle when I need a pick-me-up.)

More great designs from Connie Chang Chinchio!

Every now and then a new designer comes along who seems to capture our hearts with everything she designs. Well, Connie, this time it's you, girlfriend! It started with the Henley Perfected, a sweet little lacy version of a comfy favorite, and went on from there to the classy Riding to Avalon hoodie in today's Gallery. So, just in case you're a Connie fan, here's where you can find more Great Connie Designs here at Interweave:

Henley Perfected: Winter 2007 Knits; pattern also sold individually in the KD Pattern Store
Printed Silk Cardigan: Spring 2008 Knits; pattern also sold individually in the KD Pattern Store
Drawstring Chemise: Spring 2008 Knits
Apres Surf Hoodie: Summer 2008 Knits
Riding to Avalon: Fall 2008 Knitscene

Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily.

What's on Sandi's needles? The Camisa, from Knitscene Fall 2006! I finished the Drawstring Raglan, and now I have swatched and cast on for a new summer top, in sparkly, wonderful yarn (String of Pearls from Muench). Love the yarn. Love the pattern. Stay tuned for photos!