Knitting Daily : How To Knit

Knitting a Dahlia

Kathleen Cubley — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT


The Dahlia Cardigan by Heather Zoppetti

One of my favorite flowers is the dahlia and one of my all-time favorite cardigan knitting patterns is the Dahlia Cardigan by Heather Zoppetti, which originally appeared in Interweave Knits, Fall 2011. I love the drape in front, the decorative leaf detail on the sleeves, and most of all, the fabulous square of lace on the back.

This sweater is certainly beautiful to wear, but it's so much fun to knit, too. The construction is unique: the lace square is knit first. Stitches are bound off along the upper and lower edges of the panel, leaving live stitches on the two sides.

The rest of the back fabric is worked in two sections that start in the middle and work out, incorporating the live lace panel stitches. A section of stitches worked with waste yarn on either side mark the position of the armholes. The fronts are simple continuations of the back stitches, still worked from side to side.

Finally, the waste yarn marking the afterthought sleeve openings are snipped, stitches are picked up on either side, and the sleeves are worked in the round from the top down. The only seaming this sweater needs in the end is to sew the bound-off top and bottom edges of the lace panel into the back fabric. Very clever!

Sounds easy, and guess what? It is!


	Sheila's beautiful Dahlia Cardigan

My friend Sheila knit the Dahlia Cardigan a couple of years ago (see photo at right), from a subtly variegated cotton/alpaca blend. She really enjoyed knitting the cardigan, but she did say that it was a lot of stockinette knitting that took quite awhile because she used size 4 needles. It was worth it, though, and Sheila wears her Dahlia Cardi a lot.

A Different Way to Cast-On

The Dahlia Cardigan pattern suggests using the crochet provisional cast-on to start the lace panel. It starts with just four stitches, immediately increased to eight on the first row, and then you're instructed to divide the stitches onto four DPNs and begin the lace chart. When the sweater is complete, you carefully remove the waste yarn from the provisional crochet cast-on, thread the tail on a tapestry needle, draw the tail through the four original stitches, pull tight, and weave in the tail.

I thought maybe this whole process could be simplified by substituting a little-known but really handy cast-on: Emily Ocker's Circular Cast-On. Here's how you do it:

Emily Ocker's Circular Cast-On

This technique comes from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac (Dover, 1981). Make a simple loop of yarn with the short end hanging down (Figure 1). With a crochet hook, *draw a loop through main loop, then draw another loop through this loop (Figure 2). Repeat from * for each stitch to be cast on (Figure 3). After several inches have been worked, pull on the short end (shown by arrow) to tighten the loop and close the circle.

Using this Emily's cast-on, all you would have to do is weave in the tail after you get a few inches into the lace panel. I really like the idea of not having to pull out the provisional cast-on at the end of the project—what if you dropped some stitches? Horrors!

Anyway, it's always fun to try a new cast-on!

Get the Dahlia Cardigan pattern today, along with many more patterns and great knitting information, in Interweave Knits Fall 2011.

Cheers,

P.S. P.S. Have you leared a new cast-on recently? Share it with us below in the comments!

The Spacey World of Hilary Smith Callis

Kathleen Cubley — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

One of my favorite things about Knitscene is its featured designer profile each issue. I love learning about designers and their inspiration. This time, it's Hilary Smith Callis, the designer of the Knitty smash hit, Citron, who's designed three special pieces for you. Here's writer Robin Shroyer to tell you more:


The Wavelength Tank

Stitches and Supernovas

Comet ISON, scheduled to appear in November, has scientists predicting that it will be the "Comet of the Century," but while it could dazzle, it could just as easily fizzle out before it arrives.

Comet ISON may have the scientific world waiting with bated breath, but astronomically inclined designer Hilary Smith Callis will do anything but disappoint in 2013. Hailing from San Francisco, Hilary boasts a career background that every dreamy eight year old-and adult for that matter-would lust after. As a project scheduler for NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, Hilary works alongside some of this country's brightest minds and is at the forefront of astronomical observation and, admittedly, a whole lot of design inspiration.

Hilary burst onto the knitting scene in 2009 with her now famous Knitty design, Citron—a shawlette with over 10,000 projects on Ravelry. "I sort of submitted Citron to Knitty on a whim. I created it by just playing around and didn't have high hopes for it being accepted," said Hilary. "I was shocked when it hit 100 projects in the first week . . . but even now, I still have a hard time thinking of it as a big deal since it was just something I whipped up for fun." Thankfully, Citron's rave reviews pushed Hilary to design more projects with publication in mind, and she began submitting her ideas to magazines. Hilary has since been featured in four different publications.

You can now find her knitting and designing during her long commutes to NASA or on her days off while taking care of her two-year-old son.


	The Saturn Cardigan

	The Eclipse Top

You'll find an ease about her designs but also something that doesn't let you look away. Lingering between her common use of stockinette stitch is delicate shaping, rolled edges, feminine eyelets, and flattering cables. Hilary is this issue's Knitscene designer, and you'll find hints of her iconic style in featured in the three pieces she created for this issue.

The Wavelength Tank, inspired by the electromagnetic spectrum, is perfect for stargazing on a warm summer's night. The rolled hem, scoop neck, and waist shaping give the piece a soft, feminine look that simultaneously allows it to drape with ease. The strategic use of increases and decreases throughout create a fun wave pattern that mimics the range of light.

Inspired by an annular eclipse, the Eclipse Top uses an eyelet pattern to give the illusion of little eclipses moving across the pullover's front panel. The clean, A-line design of this piece makes it a perfect sweater to transition from summer to fall.

Hilary uses a few adaptations to make the Saturn Cardigan different from your standard button-up. Knitted top down, this cardigan features a yoke neck with rings reminiscent of Saturn and three-quarter length sleeves that make it perfect for throwing over a cotton summer dress.

Can't get enough? Visit theyarniad.com—Hilary's "epic" knitting blog that's named after Homer's Iliad and features projects past and present, as well as her patterns.

—Robin Shroyer, from Knitscene Summer 2013

The Saturn Cardigan is just beautiful. I love the rings of Saturn that circle the yoke. The color combos are endless; how about chocolate brown and mustard yellow? Or sky blue and coral? Or the gray and green that's shown here? I love the versatility of this cardigan knitting pattern.

Subscribe to Knitscene today so you can get all of these patterns and more delivered right to your door!

Cheers,

P.S. Have you knit Citron or any other designs of Hilary's? Leave a comment let us know about it!

Craft Daily Is Here!

Kathleen Cubley — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:39:00 GMT

My knitting workshop video library just got too big for the bookshelf! The new Craft Daily site is here, and with streaming videos for knitters you can watch Knitting Daily TV and knitting workshops with just a click of the mouse. What's even better is that you can take these videos with you anywhere. Allow me to introduce you to Craft Daily, your new resource for visual knitting.

Here's fellow knitter Annie Hartman Bakken to tell you more:



Watch a preview of how Craft Daily works, with Online Education Manager Laura Esposito.

CraftDaily.com

I feel like the new generation of knitting is here. Craft Daily is a video streaming site for knitters. Whether you're a new knitter or have been knitting for years, there are videos for every skill level. Learn how to read yarn labels from Eunny Jang on Knitting Daily TV or knit a sweater from the top down with Wendy Bernard. It's all here.

If you've ever had the luck of attending a knitting class, the benefits of the visual knitting experience is priceless. You can see the instructor cast-on and knit, and often times a light bulb goes off. It all seems so easy when you see it done!



	Watch Eunny Jang demonstrate short-row knitting on Knitting Daily TV episode 708, on CraftDaily.com.

Craft Daily brings those knitting classes to practically any device that supports a strong internet connection (Mac, PC, iOS). You can watch 45+ Knitted Cast-Ons and Bind-Offs with Ann Budd anytime. Let's say you're on the train traveling to Newark, and you can't remember that stretchy cast-on for ribbed socks. Well, log on to Craft Daily and watch the video in the dining car. Yes, folks, it's that easy.

One of the more exciting bits of Craft Daily for me is the addition of Knitting Daily TV videos. Every time a new season of the show comes out, I get lots of comments about how the show doesn't air in certain areas. Or, it's airing at 6 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Now you don't have to set the DVR to record the show, because Craft Daily has episodes streaming on the site. Plus, they're adding more and more videos each week.

The Craft Daily site also allows you to build a library of your favorite videos, so you can keep track of those you've seen and want to watch again. I've bookmarked Lily Chin's Reversible Cables video, because the first time I watched it there was too much to absorb. I'm not as fast a knitter as Lily. I want to revisit it when I actually have the yarn and needles in my hands to knit along.

The Craft Daily site is brand-new, so go check it out. You can watch previews of the videos to see if they're something that interests you. Plus, you can leave helpful comments on each video for other knitters. I'll be there. Probably for another twelve hours!

—Annie Hartman Bakken, associate producer of Knitting Daily TV and Interweave's yarn division marketing manager

Craft Daily has videos for quilters, crocheters, and even metalsmiths; so we knitters can dabble in other crafts as well. Just what we need, right? Another crafting hobby!

I might not go buy a soldering kit, but I actually have enjoyed watching the jewelry making videos. And some of the sewing and quilting videos are great for knitters that want to sew their seams or embellish their knitwear.

As you can see, Craft Daily is an amazing way to learn crafting techniques and "waste" many, many more hours on the computer. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Laura Ingalls: Lace Knitter

Kathleen Cubley — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

As many of you know, I'm a big Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. I read all of her books as a little girl, more than once. I read them again when I was about 30 years old and recovering from surgery. I remember that as a wonderful time, even though I was bed-ridden for two weeks.


The Ingalls girls: (left to right) Carrie, Mary, and Laura. Photographer and date unknown. (Photograph © the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, Mansfield, Missouri.)

I wasn't a knitter when I re-read the Little House books, so I didn't take note of Laura or the other characters knitting in the books. I was so thrilled to see this article about Laura knitting, which appears in the May/June 2013 issue of PieceWork magazine. Author Mary Lycan does a fabulous job bringing Laura and her knitting back to life, along with providing fascinating background information about what was going on in De Smet un 1880. Here's an excerpt from that article:

OF ALL THE NEEDLEWORK described in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, the petticoat lace that Laura (1867-1957) knitted during the Hard Winter of 1880-1881 speaks to me the most. As supply trains coming west from Minnesota were blocked by ice and snow, as food and fuel stocks dwindled to nothing, as shrieking blizzard winds blew snow into house-high drifts or scoured the street bare, thirteen-year-old Laura sat in her Pa's store building in De Smet, Dakota Territory, and knitted lace edging on fine needles with a spool of cotton thread.

Winters were usually a season of relative leisure for farmwomen. After the hard work of harvest and preserving, drying, smoking, or freezing food for the coming winter, they could rest a little. Typically, they did their housework in the morning and served the main meal at noon. After the dishes were done and the baby put down for a nap, they could sit down with their needlework.

There was plenty of routine needlework to do. The four Ingalls girls wore wool dresses and petticoats over long flannel underwear, all handsewn from store-bought yard goods. Ma and Mary knitted socks for Pa and stockings for all the girls. Everyone had to be cocooned in wool coats, shawls, hoods, mufflers, and mittens before they could step outside.

Ma could knit socks by firelight or lamplight, and blind Mary could knit at any time. Early afternoons, with their strong sunlight, were the best time for the fiddly patterns and tiny stitches of Laura's fancywork. Midday winter sunlight reflected from ice or snow was the strongest and clearest light of all.

Pa's store building in De Smet, on the east side of north-and-south running Main Street (now Calumet), had windows on each side of the front door. That was just the place to put Ma's and Mary's rocking chairs for the most warmth and light, and that is where Laura sat to work on her lace on a Saturday in October of 1880:


	Delicate shell-motif lace from the New-York Tribune weekly edition, November 11, 1879, chosen by Mary Lycan for the lace that Laura knitted for Mary's petticoat in The Long Winter. (Photograph by Joe Coca.)

"In the sunshine from the western windows Mary rocked gently, and Laura's steel knitting needles flashed. Laura was knitting lace, of fine white thread, to trim a petticoat. She sat close to the window and watched the street, for she was expecting Mary Power and Minnie Johnson. They were coming to spend the afternoon, bringing their crocheting. . . . 'Oh, bother! I've miscounted the stitches!' she exclaimed. She unraveled the row and began to pick the tiny stitches up again on the fine needle. . . . The little loops of thread were dimming before her eyes as if she were going blind. She could not see them. The spool of thread dropped from her lap and rolled away on the floor as she jumped up." [The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder]

Then another blizzard struck.

When coal supplies began to run low in De Smet and trains were blocked again, the Ingalls family stopped using the coal heater in the front room and huddled around the cook stove in the kitchen in the back. The cramped, darker kitchen had a single side window. Laura kept knitting her lace.

When sunshine melted the frost on the window and it refroze into sheets of ice over the cold glass, she pried the ice off the panes, wiped them dry, and kept on knitting. She finished the lace before Christmas. The trains were still blocked, and so buying Christmas presents for anyone but Grace and Pa was out of the question.

Laura wound her lace into a roll, wrapped it carefully in tissue paper, and gave it to Mary: "She fingered it lovingly and her face was shining with delight. ‘I'll save it to wear when I go to college,' she said. ‘It's another thing to help me to go. It will be so pretty on a white petticoat' " [The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder].

—Mary Lycan, from PieceWork magazine, May/June 2013

How many of us have said something like "oh, bother!" when we've miscounted our own stitches? I love it. And Mary's reaction to her gift is so touching. As part of her article, Mary Lycan chose a lace border that she thought might be similar to Laura's lace. The pattern is a combination of Vandyke triangles and garter-stitch squares, and it would indeed look lovely on an 1880s-style petticoat.

All of this makes me want to read The Long Winter again! It was one of my favorites. And maybe I'll do a little lace knitting and make Laura's lace edging for a pillowcase, since petticoats aren't part of my everyday wardrobe!

PieceWork magazine is always full of wonderful information and patterns that connect us to our favorite figures in history and introduce us to new ones. Subscribe today so you don't miss a thing.

Cheers,

P.S. Are you a Little House fan? Leave a comment and let us know which book is your favorite and why! Mine is Farmer Boy. Who's with me?

Mother's Day is coming fast!

Kathleen Cubley — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

I'm still looking for a gift for my mom. How about you? Knitters know that our craft is not a quick one, though, so we need to plan our gift knitting was ahead of time. But sometimes, life gets in the way, doesn't it.

I want to knit something for my mom, but knitting patterns for women can be pretty big undertakings. I've gathered some small projects that you have plenty of time to knit up for Mother's Day. I think your mom would like any of these gifts!


		Krista Cowl By Jennifer Chase-Rappaport The Krista Cowl is a beautiful combination of cables and eyelets. Since this is a close to the neck cowl, you can cast on and be done in a couple of evenings. It's knit on just 79 stitches! Choose a variegated yarn in your mom's favorite color—and make sure it's soft! This is a great project to use some vintage buttons on, so raid your button jar and see what you can find!

		Novel Sleeve By Kathy Zimmerman eReaders are such a great option for people who love to read. You can tote around all the books you want in one electronic device. I love my Kindle, and my mom loves hers, too. And I love this gift idea! It's knit from a sport-weight cotton, so it'll be nice and sturdy, but you can line it with fabric if you want to. It's a fun way to customize a project like this. Your mom will love her lacy eReader cover!

		Neat as a Pincushion By Mags Kandis Pincushions are so useful and really fun to make. These beautiful baubles use up small bits of wool yarn, and will soon have you going back to your stash to make another. You can customize your pincushions with whimsical embroidery, too. If your mom is a seamstress, she'll love one or two of these little cuties!

		Marianne's Romantic Bookmark By Caroline Mills Carolyn was inspired to design this beautiful bookmark thinking about Marianne Dashwood and John Willoughby reciting Sonnet 116 to each other in the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility. The edging is meant to look like the waves of the tempest, yet the arrows point in one direction as in "never shaken," love is "an ever-fixed mark." I love this bookmark. It's just beautiful and really special. If your mom is a reader, she'll love it!

		Budding Branches By Kendra Nitta Hot water bottles are such a comfort if you're sick or have sore muscles. Knit this cover for your mom and she'll think of you while she's enjoying the toasty comfort of her water bottle. Bobbles and traveling stitches come together to make this a fun project to knit and to give. I know my gramma would have loved this water bottle cover. Maybe yours will, too! Some people think hot water bottles are old-fashioned. But the warmth and comfort they provide never goes out of style, especially with this beautiful cover.

I'm not sure which one is my favorite, but I think my mom would like the eReader cover the best. She's a voracious reader, and her Kindle goes wherever she goes.

I hope you'll knit one of these gifts for your mom (or Grandma), too.

Cheers,

P.S. I love my mom so much. One of my favorite little things about her is that she always has cold water in the car. Leave a comment and share something special about your mom!

Learn How to Knit Aristida

Kathleen Cubley — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

As you know, I'm a recent convert to triangular shawls. They're beautiful and really useful, especially this time of year! I went to a spring football scrimmage last weekend (go, Cougs!) and, thankfully, I wore a shawl. The weather was quintessentially springish in Spokane, windy/cloudy/sunny all at once and one right after the other. I was taking that shawl on and off all afternoon and I was so happy I brought it!

There's a new shawl in town, called the Aristida. We've kitted it up for you, too! It's knit from Valley Yarns Semi-Solid Hand Dyed Sock Yarn by the Kangaroo Dyer, a soft 100-percent merino wool yarn that you'll love working with.

This shawl is rated easy, as in "I'm ready to move past scarves." And what a wonderful first shawl pattern that's easily memorized because you can clearly see the pattern emerge as you knit.

There are some knitting techniques you'll need to know to knit Aristida, and I'm here to show them to you.

There are bobbles involved (yay!). Here's a video to show you how to knit them.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Did you notice that Eunny talked about knitting backwards (!) in the video? That's a great skill to have under your belt when you're knitting bobbles. Here's a little more about it:

Knitting Backward

This useful technique allows you to work stockinette stitch with the right side of the work always facing you. It is especially handy when you're working on just a few stitches, as in making a bobble. Step 1. Insert the left needle into the back of the first stitch on the right needle and wrap the working yarn counterclockwise around the left needle. Step 2. Pull the new stitch on the left needle through to the front of the work and let the old stitch slip off the right needle. Repeat steps 1-2. (From The Knitter's Companion by Vicki Square)

Another technique you'll need is the crochet provisional cast-on. This is how you do it:

With waste yarn and crochet hook, make a loose chain of about four stitches more than you need to cast on. With needle, working yarn, and beginning two stitches from end of chain, pick up and knit one stitch through the back loop of each crochet chain (1) for desired number of stitches. Work the piece as desired, and when you're ready to work in the opposite direction, pull out the crochet chain to expose live stitches (2).

Aristida is really pretty, and I love a diamond lace pattern. I'm not crazy about fringe in general, so I might leave that off if I knit Aristida, and let the bobbles shine on their own.

Now that you're armed with know-how, get your Aristide Kit today and cast on!

Cheers,

P.S. Do you have any tips for making bobbles? Share them with us in the comments!

Sensational Sock Knitting

Kathleen Cubley — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT

I've been a really lame sock knitter in the last few months. There are two socks on the needles, from two different sock knitting patterns, and I didn't really have any plans to pick either of those socks up in the near future.


	Provenance Socks by Heatherly Walker: Colorful scrolling patterns inspired by centuries-old French embroidery

But then I got an email that contained the link to the Summer 2013 issue of Sockupied. Talk about motivating me to get back to sock knitting!

Here's Sockupied Editor Anne Merrow to tell you more:

Genius, Stitch by Stitch

When I was learning to knit, friends told me that there were only two stitches, so it couldn't be that difficult. But as any knitter knows, there are enough possible maneuvers of those two little stitches to keep us fascinated for a lifetime.


Cataphyll by Hunter Hammersen: Lacy leaves branch out across fine ribbing and stockinette panels

It's the small but clever innovations—adding a second yarn, wrapping in another direction—that make knitting so intriguing. Sometimes even a small change can create a whole new result.

In this issue, Heatherly Walker's socks feature an ingenious two-color cuff, which you can learn with step-by-step directions, illustrations, and video. Kate Atherley finds at least five ways of knitting socks two at once.

This issue's featured designer, Hunter Hammersen, draws on her knowledge of science with designs inspired by butterfly and botanical drawings. In this issue we get a sneak peek at her brand new book, The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, Volume II. And each of our five brand-new designs features its own stroke of knitting brilliance.

On the miniature and quirky canvas of socks, the concentration of creativity is a constant marvel. I can't wait to see what genius comes next from the needles of sock knitters.

—Anne Merrow, from Sockupied Summer 2013

Beautiful self-striping sock yarn

Check out a really neat visual from Sockupied, at right. I love self-striping sock yarns—and the image of them flowing off of paintbrushes is great! The stitch pattern shown is a chevron pattern; here's how you do it:

Simple Chevron
Multiple of 9 sts
Round 1 (RS) *K2tog, k1, [k1fb] 2 times, k2, ssk; repeat from * to end.
Round 2 Knit.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for pattern.

Download Sockupied Summer 2013 now and start knitting sensational socks!

Cheers,

P.S. How many socks do you have on the needles? Leave a comment and share your shame (if you're not ashamed, all the better!).

Knitting for Baby

Kathleen Cubley — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Is there such a thing as baby season? If so, it seems like we're smack dab in the middle of it! Or maybe it's just knitting-for-baby season. Whatever the case, I've got a couple of baby knitting patterns on the needles, and I need to cast on more.

Luckily, baby knits are small and quickly completed, so I have time to finish my little items before all of the babies are born!

I need one more project, though, and we have some darling new patterns in the Knitting Daily Shop; here are the choices:


		Buttoned-Up Boots by Rosemary Drysdale Little boots? Yes, please! And I love the strap and the buttons at the sides. These are perfect for a special baby boy. Or work them in pink or fuchsia for a little girl.

		Chevron Swing Coat by Irina Poludnenko This is so retro and cute! The chevron stitch is a classic, and the color scheme is so eye-catching. The top of the coat is knit in the feminine solid-dot stitch, which goes beautifully with the chevron stripes. What a cute little coat for springtime. And there's a darling matching dress, too, the Chevron Empire Dress, with the chevron pattern adorning the sleeves and hem. Precious!

		Striped Hoodie by Lynn M. Wilson Garter-ridge stripes are so cute in this little hoodie. And the pocket is so grown-up! Customize this for a boy or a girl just by changing the color scheme.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Laura Hein
How cute is this? You can play wolf or sheep with this reversible knitted toy. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing is made in two pieces, knit in the round and then crocheted together. So much fun for playtime!

Aren't these baby knits great? All of them are knit from Tahki Cotton Classic or Cotton Classic Lite—the perfect yarn to use to knit kid's clothes. Any one of them would thrill a little one or a parent-to-be. Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments and I might knit it!

Cheers,

Knitting Triangluar Shawls

Kathleen Cubley — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT


	Basilica, from Free-Spirit Shawls

Vogue Knitting Live was held in Seattle a couple of weeks ago and I was lucky enough to go. I got a triangular shawl kit, which is something I don't usually knit. There's no real reason I don't knit triangular shawls, it's just that I've always been more into scarf knitting and wide, rectangular shawls.

But after seeing Lisa Shroyer's new book Free-Spirit Shawls and learning her tips about wearing shawls, I think I'm a convert. I can't wait to cast on my shawl—I think it'll be the perfect summer knitting project.


Spaythe, from Free-Spirit Shawls

Bryusa, from Free-Spirit Shawls

Here's Lisa to tell you about a triangular shawl knitting technique: from the top down!

The Top-Down Triangle

One of the most popular ways to knit a triangular shawl is from the top down, with increases worked at four lines—one at each outer edge and two in the middle, each flanking the center spine. The standard top-down shawl begins with a garter tab, which is worked such that there is no visible cast-on; the shawl just grows from the top edge downward and outward.

How to Work a Garter Tab
Using the invisible provisional cast-on, cast on 3 stitches. Knit 7 rows. Turn your work and use the right needle to pick up and knit 3 stitches down the side edge of the work. Unzip the provisional cast-on and place 3 live stitches on the left needle, then knit them, for a total of 9 stitches.

You now have a short piece of garter stitch with live stitches emerging from it on three sides. These three sections (of 3 stitches each) represent the three shaping "lanes" to be worked in the shawl body. After the cast-on, a standard shawl would be worked as follows: 3 garter stitches for the edging, yarnover increase, knit 1, yarnover, knit 1 (center spine), yarnover, knit 1, yarnover, 3 garter stitches for the edging.

As the stitches increase, patterning can be worked over the knit stitches. Each right-side row increases the stitch count by four, with the result that two triangles grow outward from the garter tab, with the center-spine knit stitch separating them down the middle. Obviously, the final rows and bind-off will be worked over many stitches.

Top-down triangles can be small or large; just stop knitting when it suits you! Stitch patterns have to be worked in multiples that integrate with the rate of shaping and the stitch counts, but as you can see from Spathe (above), you can achieve beautiful allover patterns.

—Lisa Shroyer, from Free-Spirit Shawls

Intrigued? Me, too. Lisa's book is full of modern, fun shawl patterns. Order your copy of Free-Spirit Shawls today and cast-on a summertime project!

Cheers,

P.S. Are you a shawl knitter? Leave a comment and tell what your favorite shawl shape is!

Make it seamless!

Kathleen Cubley — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:00:00 GMT


	Kathleen's top-down seamless cardigan, in progress!

Seamless knitting and I have a love/less-love relationship. When the method first became popular again several years ago (it had a little lull after Elizabeth Zimmermann and Barbara Walker made it famous), I knit sweater after sweater in one piece.

Then I got tired of knitting on such a huge piece, so I went back to knitting sweaters in pieces. I liked how each piece was more portable than the huge one-piecers. (Disclaimer: I usually knit a 48- to 54-inch size, depending on the ease I want, so my seamless sweaters are pretty sizey.)

But I always go back to the seamless knitting technique because there are so many great patterns written using it. I'm working on a seamless sweater right now (shown at right)—a top-down cardigan. It's my own pattern, one that I'm developing as I go. I am keeping notes, though, so maybe I can get it published! I'm working on the sleeves now, and to finish it off, I'm going to knit a wide seed-stitch border for the front.

In the new book The Art of Seamless Knitting, Simona Merchant-Dest and Faina Goberstein have pulled together a group of beautiful designs, plus plenty of information to help you understand seamless knitting, convert pieced sweater knitting patterns into seamless sweaters, and even step-by-step instructions on how to design your own seamless knits.

It's a fantastic book. Here's an excerpt, all about top-down construction worked in rows (versus in the round), which is how I knit my sweater.

Top-Down Construction Worked in Rows

To work cardigans seamlessly from the top down, cast on stitches for the neck and work back and forth in rows to the base of the armholes, shaping the neck and armholes along the way. Then work the lower body in one piece in rows to the lower body all in one piece in rows to the lower edge. To finish, work the sleeves (in the round) to the cuffs.




Raglan Shaping Cast on stitches for the neck and shape the neck as desired while working back and forth in rows, increasing along the raglan lines to the base of the armholes. Place the sleeve stitches onto holders and work the remaining body stitches in rows to the lower edge. To finish, work the sleeves in rounds to desired length.		Circular-Yoke Shaping Cast on stitches for the neck and shape the neck as desired while working the specified number of increase rows to the base of the armholes. Place the sleeve stitches onto holders and work the remaining body stitches in rows to the lower edge. To finish, work the sleeves in rounds to desired length.



Dolman Shaping Provisionally cast on stitches for the back right shoulder and sleeve and work back and forth to the base of the neck shaping. Repeat for the back left shoulder and sleeve, joining the two halves at the base of the neck and working in one piece to the base of the armholes. Then pick up stitches from the provisional cast-on for the front, work the front to the base of the armholes, shaping the front neck as desired. Bind off the front and back sleeve stitches together, and then work the remaining body stitches in rows to the lower edge. Work the lower body (above right) in one piece in rows to the lower edge, shaping the waist and hips as desired.

There's so much to learn about top-down sweaters! Reserve your copy of The Art of Seamless Knitting today and we'll send it to you as soon as it's here!

Cheers,

P.S. I don't have a name for my sweater design yet. Help me out and leave me a suggestion in the comments!

Knitting Gossamer Webs

Kathleen Cubley — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Last November at Interweave Knitting Lab, I saw several genuine Orenburg shawls. They were simply exquisite, and expensive. The one I wanted was $400, and the one I thought I might "settle for" was $250. I didn't end up getting one, but I want you to know that they would have been worth every penny. Next time, I'm going straight to the shawls before I spend a dime on anything else!

Some of the shawls were huge—as large as about 5-feet square, and some were scarf or wrap size. The lace work was superior and the yarn was soft and lofty. Simply lovely and perfect.

The shawls were brought to the USA by Galina Khmeleva from Orenburg Russia, where shawl knitting with yarn spun from goat down (called gossamer), has a rich tradition. Galina is an expert on Orenburg knitting, and she teaches the techniques of Orenburg spinning and knitting throughout the world. Here's a bit about the history of Orenburg knitting.


Orenburg shawls from Galina Khmeleva's collection. (Photograph by Joe Coca)

Knitting in Orenburg

Orenburg shawls always have been the stuff of legend with a very special, very Russian emotional appeal. The origins of down knitting in Russia are shrouded in the mystery that permeates the Russian steppes themselves, a windswept, wide-sky expanse of great distances; of hills and mirror-surface lakes; with the Ural Mountains, blue, floating on the horizon. It is a natural world that dwarfs the small villages dotted across it.

According to a popular legend, the first gossamer shawl was knitted by a Cossack woman and sent to the Russian Czarina, Catherine the Great (1729–1796). The Czarina so loved this unique shawl that she paid the woman more than enough money for the woman to live on for the rest of her life. But, because the Czarina wanted no other woman to ever wear the same shawl, she also had the woman blinded. The Czarina's plan backfired, however, because the woman had a daughter, also an excellent knitter, who could duplicate the design. It is said that all Orenburg shawls originate from this one Cossack family.

Actually, Russian historian and scientist Peter Ritchkov (1712–1777) documented that shawl knitting first arose in the seventeenth century, at a time when Russian Cossacks were consolidating their hold on the steppes and beginning to trade with the local nomadic population. The Cossacks found their fur coats inadequate for the harsh winters, so they borrowed the habit of wearing lightweight but extremely warm handknitted shawls of goat down gleaned by the local population. Orenburg itself was founded by one of Peter I's diplomats in 1735 as a military outpost in an area already known as a center of trade and communication, being at the confluence of eastern silk roads and western thoroughfares, a link between the West and Asia.

During the mid- to late eighteenth century, the down knitting industry experienced a boom. Ritchkov, a member of the Russian Academy of Science, and his wife, Elena Denisievna Ritchkova, who lived in Orenburg for forty years, are generally credited with encouraging the local inhabitants to properly breed and raise the goats for shawl-quality downs and the development of shawl knitting as a viable cottage industry in the region. Passed from generation to generation and first learned by girls as young as five to seven, shawl knitting soon became the most popular form of needlework in the entire Orenburg area. With the help of the Ritchkovs, down knitting was officially registered on the national list of peasant handicraft industries, and thus sanctioned as an official art form by the Russian government.

The beginning of the nineteenth century brought new developments for down knitting. Because the shawls themselves were prohibitively expensive abroad, efforts were made to export the down. In 1827 a French firm imported down from Orenburg to make the beautiful shawls known as "Casha." At the same time, based on information provided by, among others, a soldier, Frederick Barnaby, in his book, A Ride to Khiva, published in 1875 in England, a large English import-export firm had shawls made of Orenburg down that were called "Imitations of Orenburg."

Shawls made abroad of imported Orenburg down still, however, proved too expensive for the market. This led to efforts to export the goats themselves to England, France, South America, and Australia. Ultimately these efforts failed, because once removed from their native climate and food, the goats' down lost its special qualities of softness, strength, thermal conductivity, and suppleness.

Even so, by the middle of the nineteenth century, Orenburg shawls were better known and more widely recognized as an art form outside of Russia, a phenomenon that has persisted to recent times. The finest examples were shown at international exhibitions such as the London Exposition of 1862, in which M. A. Uskova, an Orenburg Cossack, won the gold medal and 125 silver rubles for her six gossamer shawls. Uskova again won a prize in the All-Russian Exhibition in Moscow in 1882, with nine different shawls, both single and multicolored, with geometric and vegetative motifs. Local Orenburg women also received six medals for their shawls at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago.

—Carol R. Noble and Galina A. Khmeleva, from September/October 2000 PieceWork magazine

Here's Galina to tell you a little about her new video workshop, Orenburg Knitting: Knitting Gossamer Webs:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Isn't this all fascinating (I love that Galina's cat is part of the video!)? And it's just the tip of the iceberg—to learn more about the history of Orenburg knitting, and to learn how to knit in the Orenburg tradition, get yourself Orenburg Knitting: Knitting Gossamer Webs. You can download it like I did, or pre-order the DVD. It includes an Orenburg lace scarf knitting project as well as an Orenburg lace sampler. It's just amazing.

Cheers,

P.S. What do you think about Orenburg knitting? Share with us in the comments!

Knitting for Sasha

Kathleen Cubley — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT


	*These two unsteady beginners are wearing the Norwegian Pullover, left, and the Swedish Bohus Pullover, right. (Photograph courtesy of the authors of Sasha Dolls: Clothing and Patterns)*

When I was a little girl, I lived in Pullman, Washington. It was a quintessential college town-it still is-with a Main Street lined with little shops, a five and dime called Fonk's, a one-story J.C. Penney, and a wonderful toy store.

The back of the store was filled with dolls, which I loved, and my favorites were the Sasha dolls.

If you're not familiar with Sasha dolls, they're beautifully produced dolls of various ethnicities, developed by Sasha Morganthaler in Switzerland. Sasha started her doll adventure in the 20s, making them for her children. She progressed to making them for resale, but she was dismayed about how expensive they were. She searched for a way to mass-produce her dolls at an affordable price, and she finally connected with a factory and was able to produce dolls for people of all economic levels to afford.

The Sasha dolls in my Pullman toy store were so beautiful, and I wanted one. A lot. Santa heard my plea and I finally got one for Christmas; I was the happiest little girl. I also got some clothes to go with my Sasha, and some accessories, too. Bliss!

I ended up with a couple of Sashas, which I played with as they were meant to be played with. They went to parties, played in the garden, watched TV with me, and they even went to school. My mom helped me make clothes for them, and we sewed up many an outfit. Such fun.


My Sasha baby doll. I love her.

My old Sasha dolls are packed up safely in my hope chest, but a few years ago I got a baby Sasha, who sits on my dresser and greets me each morning. She's just precious, don't you think?

What does this have to do with knitting, you might be asking. Well, the new issue of PieceWork's Knitting Traditions has an article about Sasha doll clothing. Sasha Dolls: Clothing and Patterns by Ann Louise Chandler and Susanna E. Lewis with Anne Votaw, is a study of Sasha Morgenthaler's clothing styles for her dolls.

The authors have gathered sixty sewing patterns, eighty knitting patterns, and thirty embroidery and smocking patterns for Shasha doll clothes. There are patterns for clothes for my Sasha baby, too!

I can't wait to get out my knitting needles and make some doll clothes; it sounds like such fun!

I was thrilled when I saw the article—I have to get that book. Knitting Traditions always provides these types of gems. I love it. Get your copy of Knitting Traditions today!

Cheers,

P.S. Do you have a Sasha doll? Tell us about it in the comments!

I Can't Find a Pattern for this Yarn!

Kathleen Cubley — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT

That's what I was saying a few months ago, after I impulse-bought some beautiful sparkly S. Charles Luna. It's brown with the most delightful golden sparkle. It's 71 percent mohair, and it's really fine, so I thought I'd run it with another yarn to add a special touch.


Here's the back of my sweater. You can see the halo of brown mohair and the twisted ribbing at the bottom.

I had sweater quantity of Madelinetosh Sport, in a beautiful bluish color—Mare—and when I pulled it out, I thought, "Nah. The brown would just make the blue dull." Not so! I'm so glad I swatched. The two yarns blended beautifully and the subtle variegated color in the Madelinetosh was enhanced by the brownish sparkly mohair of the Luna. I fell in love with the combo.

And then I started looking for a pattern that would go with the yarn. I just couldn't find anything! I swatched a cable pattern and saw that the yarn was too dark to really show off the cable work. Then I swatched a lace pattern, and I wasn't happy with that, either. The mohair filled in the laciness of the pattern a little too much.

So my original stockinette swatch got lonely in its Ziplock bag. I looked at it longingly every once in awhile, and continued looking for patterns, but nothing clicked. One day, the light bulb went on, and I thought, "I can't find anything because what I really want is a plain, stockinette cardigan." The stockinette swatch perfectly showed of the nuances in the yarn, and I love cardigans.

I wanted to make the sweater fit me perfectly, of course, so I pulled out The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd. This book is full of formulas for all kinds of sweaters, including cardigan knitting patterns.

Everything is based on your gauge swatch. What you do is knit a good-sized swatch (mine was about 5 X 5-inches), and then decide which style and size you want to knit. The book contains formulas for all kinds of sweaters: raglan, set-in sleeves, dropped shoulder, modified drop shoulder, cardigan, V-neck, crew neck, short, or long. There are fifteen sizes and five gauges provided for each sweater style; that's more than 450 pattern options!

My choice was a crew-neck cardigan with set-in sleeves, so I'm using this chart:

The formula for my simple, stockinette cardigan! What could be simpler? (I know it says "pullover" above—that's because the backs are the same for the pullover and the cardigan.)

I decided to knit the 52-inch bust, and my gauge was 5 stitches per inch, so I cast on 130 stitches. Isn't that easy? You can knit whatever sweater you want with whatever yarn you want to use!

I did a twisted stitch rib (knitting into the back leg of knit stitches and the back leg of purl stitches), which doesn't show up all that well with the mohair, but it stands out more than a regular rib would. I'm going to knit the button bands in twisted rib as I knit the fronts, so there will be six columns of ribbing down the front instead of the usual ribbing that grows sideways out of the fronts.

I can do this because the twisted rib is tighter than regular rib so I don't have to go down a needle size to get a good, firm rib look. And I'm going to do snaps instead of buttons. I've never used snaps on a cardigan before, and I think this is a good way to use them. And maybe I'll put just one great button at the top, to add a decorative element to go with the sparkle! (More is not enough, you know?)

Find your perfect pattern with our new kit: the Knitter's Handy Book series. You'll get The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and The Knitter's Handy Book of Top-Down Sweater Patterns. It's everything you need to create any kind of sweater!

Get your kit today and cast on a project with that yarn that's just been yearning for a pattern!

Cheers,

P.S. Have you used one of the Handy Books? Share your experience in the comments!

The Essentials of Casting On and Binding Off

Kathleen Cubley — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT


From top to bottom: Backward Loop Cast-On, Knitted Cast-On, Cable Cast-On

Casting on and binding off are two skills that are essential for knitters to know. In our new eBook, The Essentials of Casting-on and Binding-Off: How to Cast-On and Bind-Off Knitting, we provide you with a bundle of cast-ons and bind-offs!

If you've ever needed to know how to cast on or bind off knitting, this is your lucky day: I've pulled together nine cast-ons and six bind-offs, so you'll find one for every project you knit.

Some of us rely on just two techniques, the long-tail cast-on and the standard bind-off, which are included here, but there are all kinds of cast-on and bind-off techniques that knitters should be familiar with.

For example, the Channel Island cast-on is deceptively easy to work, plus it makes a decorative border! And if you want strong shoulder seams, use the 3- needle bind-off! It's easy and it looks great.

Choosing the right cast-on can enhance the success of a project—you might need a stretchy bind-off for some toe-up socks, or you might need to cast on stitches in the middle of a row for a buttonhole; there are definitely instances when one technique is better to use than another.

You'll find them all in The Essentials of Casting-on and Binding-Off: How to Cast-On and Bind-Off Knitting.

I hope this helps you with two of the most important parts of your knitting projects: beginning and ending.

Cheers,

Knitting Traditions: Unexpected Connections

Kathleen Cubley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:00:00 GMT


	Heatherly Walker's Remembrance Socks contain stars hidden among winding cables, proclaiming a powerful statement. (Photograph by Joe Coca)

As a history buff, I eat up knitting lore. A new issue of PieceWork's Knitting Traditions is out, and it's so good, I truly didn't know where to start. I'm a World War II buff, so an article called "The Sock Knitters of Sobibor," by Heatherly Walker, really spoke to me.

Sobibor was a Nazi extermination camp in Poland, and some of the inmates of Sobibor were knitters; many were just teenagers. Their job was to sort through victims' clothing, salvaging sweaters and other woolen garments to ravel and knit into socks, gloves, and sweaters for the camp guards. This job saved their lives. Knitting in a death camp is really unexpected—can you imagine?

Here's editor Jeane Hutchins to tell you about all of the other riches in Knitting Traditions:


Anna Zilboorg's shapely, stylish vest is a attering rendition of the classic English riding vest with its tailored t and ared inserts at the hips. The allover Aran stitch pattern is one of the designer's favorites and is shown perfectly in a luscious wool/silk blend. (Photograph by Joe Coca)

Knit your way into history with these beautiful Groenlo Mittens. The blue diamonds in the pattern represent the canals around the Groenlo city walls while the star represents the shape of the walls themselves. (Photograph by Joe Coca)

This sixth edition of PieceWork's Knitting Traditions is all about intersections and unexpected connections. Those familiar with Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Agnes Grey know that the Brontë sisters sprinkled references to knitting throughout their novels. What came as a surprise to me was the sisters' probable intersection with one of mid-nineteenth-century England's most popular authors of knitting manuals, Elizabeth Jackson. Discover the details in Penelope Hemingway's "Knitting and the Brontës."

Family connections abound. Finding handknits created by an ancestor and passed down from generation to generation prompted several authors to explore their genealogy and bring family treasures to the forefront. Darlene Watson's "My Grandfather's Stockings" is an example.

For years, I have been a fan of master knitter Anna Zilboorg. On a chilly day last December, our paths finally crossed when Anna came to Loveland for the production of her recently released DVD, Knit Free-Sole Socks: Handknit Socks to Last a Lifetime (an Interweave Knits Workshop in collaboration with PieceWork). Over an extended lunch (sorry, video crew!), we discussed knitting and its history. The Italian fried donuts with powdered sugar and milk-stout caramel and raspberry sauce just made the conversation that much sweeter. Anna's project for this issue is her flattering rendition of the classic English riding vest ("An Aran-Stitch Vest" with her signature "Perfect Buttonholes."). Thank you, Anna. The knitted vest is beautiful.

Thanks also to the men who formed the Groenlo Mitten Society in the Netherlands expressly to save the traditional Groenlo Mitten pattern. Bianca Boonstra discovered the organization and charted the pattern from a photograph sent her by a group member ("Almost Lost: The Pattern for Groenlo Mittens.").

Then there is the intersection of good and evil. The good were knitters; the evil, *** during World War II (1939–1945). In "The Sock Knitters of Sobibor," Heatherly Walker tells how a few women and girls escaped certain death in Sobibor's gas chamber because they knew how to knit-two, Esther Raab and Regina Zielinski, are still alive. The knitters and the story remind us of the power of knitting.


	Beads and buttons add a whimsical touch to ordinary knitting needles. These examples are just some of numerous varieties in Galina A. Khmeleva's collection. (Photograph by Joe Coca)

Knitting's spellbinding history continues here. Download your issue of Knitting Traditions today and immerse yourself in the tradition! If you'd rather have the printed edition, pre-order yours so you get it in the mail as soon as it's printed!

P.S. Does your family have a knitting tradition? Share it with us in the comments!