Inside Knitscene

Designers speak out on Knitscene Spring 2012

2012-01-31T21:31:00Z

The week after a new issue's release are always filled with excitement. We're excited to hear what our readers have to say, and we're excited to hear our designers talk more about their designs for the issue. I've been combing the internet lately to see if our designers for the Knitscene Spring 2012 have been talking about their projects, and thought I'd share what I'd found with you today.

First up, our featured designer Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark talks about her experience as a featured designer and gives some insight to the muse for her Seberg Sweater.

Kate and Courtney from Kelbourne Woolens talk about their gorgeously striped East Falls Hat, Roxborough Dolman, Gray's Ferry Cowl, and Manayunk Cardigan.

From our Six Mandolin Lane story, Danielle Chalson talks about her Averill Vest, discussing the shaping and the awesome Madelinetosh yarn she used; Debbie O'Neill talks about the construction of her Brindle Pullover; Carina Spencer shares alternate styling options for her Nixie Shawl; Catherine Shields gabs about her Bungalow Hat.

Allyson Dykhuizen provides insight into the process behind her Tulip Slouch, and discusses the joys of duplicate stitch—who would have thought that an idea for a pullover would wind up a beautiful hat pattern?And finally, Carol Feller shows off her Florence Cardigan and talks about using a new-to-her yarn.

Pick up your own copy of Knitscene Spring 2012 in either a print or digital edition from the Interweave store, and check back here, as I'll update this post with other designer blog posts when they're available!

Happy Knitting,

Amy

8 Designers to Watch in 2012: Knitscene’s Hot List

2012-01-17T16:07:00Z

Last year, I posted a list of 10 hot new knitwear designers to watch in 2011. Looking back at that list, I’m struck by how far some of the designers have come in a year—we see their patterns published everywhere; they’re teaching at events and headlining exotic knitting retreats; they’re writing books; they’re continuing the work of design day in and day out, with all that’s involved in being a self-employed creative. I’ve also had the chance to work a lot of with those 10 designers, which has benefitted Knitscene, Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts, and Interweave Knits Accessories greatly. Thanks for a great year, guys!

So this year, I’d like to start a new hot list. The 8 designers below are contributors I’ve been working with a lot lately, who are either new to the industry or have recently found a foothold in publishing. Or, forgive me—they may simply be new to me! Look for their designs to appear in upcoming issues of Knitscene.

Alexandra Beck alexandstacey and on Ravelry Alexandra designs dynamic accessories from her home in Germany. Shawls and lace and kettle dyed yarns come to mind.
Andrea Jurgrau Bad Cat Designs and on Ravelry Andrea is a magnificent lace designer. She incorporates allover patterning and the complex shapes of accessories to lovely effect.
Amy Gunderson on Ravelry I've taken designs from Amy for all planned issues of 2012 so far! She has a great eye for graphics, restraint in details, and she designs cute, wearable stuff for the modern knitter. And she owns a pizza shop.
Kyoko Nakayoshi Cotton & Cloud and on Ravelry Kyoko designs very clever pieces. Shaping, pattern, and silhouette combine in really striking ways in her work. She also works as a pattern translator (Japanese and English).
Allyson Dykhuizen The Sweatshop of Love and on Ravelry Allyson is funky, innovative, and wields color like a size 50 needle in your face.
Odessa Reichel OHdessa Knits and on Ravelry Colorful, colorful accessories and supercute garments.
Leah B. Thibault Ms Cleaver and on Ravelry Leah has a subtle aesthetic, a simple detail mixes with a muted color and makes an exquisite project. You can see how her sensibility mixes well with the work of Quince and Co., whom she frequently designs for.
Jennifer Chase-Rappaport Rocket Boy Knits and on Ravelry Jennifer is strong with accessories and designs in delightful yarns. And she's not afraid of odd challenges from quirky editors.

So that's our list for 2012! Remember to support the designers you love this year. Best wishes for a great year.

~ Lisa

7 Reasons to Pick up Knitscene Spring 2012 - Updated to 9!

2012-01-10T20:10:00Z

New year, new knitting goals, and new issues of your favorite knitting magazines! I'm so excited to talk about our Knitscene Spring 2012 issue. Remember a couple of weeks ago, when you had presents you wanted to give people but had to wait until a pre-appointed day to do so? That's what it's been like for me for the past month!

This issue has been one of my favorites to work on lately; here's why:

1. Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark

I've loved almost every design I've ever seen from Mercedes. When Lisa mentioned Mercedes had signed on to be our featured designer, I was ecstatic. Mercedes's collection is made of three retro femme garments, the Seberg Sweater, Fleurette Camisole, and Beulah Cardigan. Each project brings Mercedes's own touch to a vintage fashion idea and is magically transformed into a chic, contemporary silhouette for the modern knitter. Many folks in the office are talking about knitting the Seberg Sweater; which is your favorite from this collection?

2. Duplicate Stitch

I took up cross stitch many years ago as a pre-teen—you could say playing with string has been a longstanding hobby of mine. Duplicate stitch is one of my favorite techniques a knitter can use to embellish a knitted project because it hearkens back to those days spent stabbing my thumb with a needle to create a picture in thread. Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark contributed an article on how to work duplicate stitch if you don't have fond memories of cross-stitch and embroidery, and Allyson Dykhuizen's Tulip Slouch and Maura Kirk's Secret Song Mittens are quick and easy projects for practicing duplicate stitch.

3. Stripes

Stripes are always fun, and in this mini-collection from Kate Gagnon Osborn and Courtney Kelley, they're flattering, too. Work up a quick hat with Kate's East Falls Hat, or a slouchy, comfy pullover with Courtney's Roxborough Dolman.

4. Variegated Yarns

Who hasn't been lured in by the bright, mottled colors of a hand-dyed yarn? Pairing a beautiful variegated yarn with just the right project can be tricky, though. We've got six projects in multicolor yarns, such as Danielle Chalson's Averill Vest, Amy Christoffer's Cypress Raglan, and Carina Spencer's Nixie Shawl. And I took a gander at the ways different multicolor yarns can knit up, from your basic hand-painted to self-striping yarns in my article "Beyond Variegated." I have to take this moment to give a shout out to Lisa and Amy, the masterminds behind Roman Hills, for quickly coming to my rescue and dyeing up samples of a few different techniques for the article.

5. The Cover

Choosing a cover for this issue was really difficult. In the past, Lisa resorted to a poll, asking our readers for their input. This time, cover options circulated the office, getting input from everyone we could track down, because the projects in this issue were all so amazing, we had trouble choosing just one. Amy Herzog's Hester Pullover was the eventual winner—not that any of them would have been wrong. Amy's pullover, like Mercedes's collection, has a dash of retro with blouson sleeves and a gentle scoop neck, and is worked in the beautifully fuzzy (but not itchy! it is magically not itchy!) Schulana Mosco from Skacel.

6. Color Neutrality

Officially called "Oh. Ecru." in the issue, Lisa chose an uber-neutral palette for the last story in the issue. Six projects that are essentially blank canvases—choose your own neutral yarn to layer over some brightly colored clothes, or let your imagination run wild and picture these pieces in different colors! Hannah Fettig's Panthera Vest features built-in pockets, Carol Feller's Florence Cardigan uses dropped stitches as a decorative edging, and Nakia Casey's Sunbeam Tank utilizes short-row shaping and vertical stripes to create a flattering tank.

7. Yarns

We're trying out a new feature in this issue, called "Yarn Crush," in which we take a peek at the season's newest trends. Who doesn't love more discussion about yarn? New imports to the U.S. and new offerings from a handful of our favorite yarn companies are in store for you in this issue.

updated January 12 - I knew I'd forgotten something!

8. The Photography

This issue (and the Interweave Knits Accessories 2011 issue were shot by Nathan Rega of Harper Point Photography. Nathan and his team, consisting of Kira (who also takes fantastic photos but has worked as our makeup artist on these shoots) and Caleb, latched on to Lisa's ideas for each individual stories and took them to another level. Here's a photo of Nathan in action, setting up the first shot of our location day.

9. The Models

We're so lucky to work with a variety of amazing models, and never more so than when we're in the Flatirons outside Boulder, Colorado, and there's snow threatening to fall the entire day. You can see Nathan's fancy new earflap hat in that photo above, and in the photo below, you can see that Amanda and Lacie, our location day models, were not dressed quite so warmly. While they were shivering in between takes, they were incredibly professional and, dare I say it, fierce when the camera was rolling. What you can't see in this photo of Lacie is me, standing off to the side, holding a big puffy coat to throw over her any chance we got.

I love everything about this issue, and I hope you do too! Be sure to let me know which projects you're planning to knit in the comments. Knitscene Spring 2012 is officially on sale January 24; pre-order your copy or download the digital edition now (psst, if you have auto-ship subscription, your copy should be in the mail!).

Happy knitting!

Amy

Holiday Knitting

2011-12-27T19:02:00Z

In my mind, there are two kinds of holiday knitters—those who look forward to this time as a way to show others that they are loved by knitting gifts for them, and those who look forward to this as a time to relax and knit in a leisurely manner. I consider myself to be firmly in that second camp, primarily because most of my family lives in a warm climate (as in, approximately 40° warmer than Colorado is right now) and does not need knitted anything. In the past, when I have knit gifts for my family members, those gifts have been received with appreciation and love and I felt good about gifting them, but I know they are rarely used and I certainly can't blame them for not wanting to die of heat exhaustion.

I was thinking about Allison and her sweater knitting progress and the fact that our offices are closed this week. If I were her, I'd be looking forward to this week off as a time to knock out a good amount of the Vera Cardigan. (Me, I'm working on a pair of socks. And possibly a hat.) So while we're all digesting holiday meals while knitting, or planning ahead to next year's gift-knitting extravaganza, here's a bit of Allison's progress.

She finally hit a bit of a snag in the decrease section—an easily fixable mistake in the form of not knitting quite enough decrease rows. While still creating an amazing first sweater, she has proven she is human and not a knitting goddess in disguise.

I asked Allison if she saw herself knitting gifts in the future or using the time off as a chance to concentrate on gifts for herself. She thinks she'll probably be a gift knitter in the future, as she loves receiving handmade gifts and would love to give them as well.

What about you? Do you plan holiday gift knitting into your yearly schedule? What's your favorite knit to gift?

Hope you all are having a delightful holiday season. We'll see you again in 2012!
Amy

Fast Knitting, Easy Style: The Southmoor Hat

2011-12-13T18:55:00Z

Katie Himmelberg is a former editor of Knitscene and more recently has been our stylist for our photoshoots. I wrote a bit about Katie's approach to styling in our Winter 2011 issue, but months ago, while we were photographing our Fall issue, Katie fell in love with Erica Jackofsky's Southmoor Hat and had to knit one for herself. Here's Katie to talk about her process.

As a knitter, one of the most fun parts about styling the Knitscene shoots is being able to see all the new projects! With each issue, I fall in love with more projects than I have time to knit, but when we were shooting the Fall 2011 issue, I fell hard for the Southmoor Hat and figured I had the time to knit a hat.

With its flapperesque style, cute vintage buttons, and lacy trim, the Southmoor Hat is just plain adorable, but I wasn't sure it'd be cute with my short hair. A quick peek in the mirror (in lieu of being able to check out various entries on Ravelry) with the sample hat on my head led me to be pleasantly surprised and I loved the pattern even more.

I knit the hat in Green Mountain Spinnery's Cotton Comfort in Storm. Grey knits are big in my closet right now! Neutrals are so versatile and I find that I get the most use out of my neutral colored knits. Plus I am just drawn to the natural-looking colors of wooly yarn. So that was an easy choice to make.

After swatching, I found I could use the needles stated in the pattern, and I followed the pattern as written until I got to the buttonband. I didn't think that I would be wearing the hat unbuttoned so I decided to omit the buttonholes and just sew the buttons permanently in place through both layers of the placket. This way I could also choose my buttons after the hat was complete, and use the ones that looked best regardless of their size. I chose three vintage-looking flower buttons for my hat. You could personalize your hat with your button choices; cover the placket with a bunch of mismatched buttons, choose a variety of sizes, or omit the buttons and work an embroidery design on the placket. I think this hat looks great on a lot of people and is a lot of fun to personalize!

Part-time Rockstars: Knitscene's featured designers

2011-12-06T21:46:00Z

If you've been knitting for more than ten minutes, you've probably realized that knit designers are a big deal. Most of the designers who fill the pages of knitting magazines and sites like Ravelry do this part-time, freelance, out of their apartments, their family-filled homes, their yarn-filled studios. They design for the same reason you knit: they love it and they're magical, creative people. Yes, they make money with knitting—which you probably don’t—but this money doesn’t come immediately. Everyone starts somewhere.

One of Knitscene's missions is to publish up-and-coming designers. Along with printing single patterns of such folks, we also choose one designer each issue to create a mini collection, which runs with a profile on that designer. These collections act as an introduction to the artist’s aesthetic, and gives the profileé a chance to try creating a cohesive group of knits, which some of them have never done before. The challenge always proves beneficial to Knitscene, as we get some awesome projects out of it!

In the winter issue, we take a look at the work of Alexis Winslow, a painter and textile designer living in New York whose foray into knitwear design happened only recently. But check out her portfolio—it’s pretty impressive!

Over on her blog, Alexis talks a little about the process of designing her Knitscene collection. Stay tuned for future posts, in which she’ll be discussing each project individually. The Zelda Cloche (shown at right on Alexis herself) has proven to be very popular with knitters.

Who else has Knitscene featured?

Knitscene has published 8 design collections over the past few years. Below you'll find one design from each of the eight collections. Click on the photos for more info. Many of these patterns are available for individual download in the Knitting Daily Store, or you can find them in back issues, and some in the new book, The Best of Knitscene. These designers are precious people in the knitting industry—a big thanks to all of you for making our work here possible and fulfilling!

Cathy Carron, Spring 2009

Melissa Wehrle, Fall 2009

Connie Chang Chinchio, spring 2010

Hannah Fettig, Fall 2010

Debbie O'Neill, spring 2011

Amy Christoffers, summer 2011

Amy Herzog, Fall 2011

Alexis Winslow, Winter 2011

A New Knitter's Adventure in Top-Down Knitting

2011-11-29T19:18:00Z

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to our Managing Editor, Allison, and her plan to knit her first cardigan. A quick recap: Girl sees Vera Cardigan sample in the office, girl falls in love with cardigan, girl asks Amy to knit cardigan for her, Amy says "No. You will knit this yourself."

And lo, a sweater-knitting addict is born.

Almost every day since she finished her second gauge swatch (that's right, I am a tyrant who made her knit a second gauge swatch when the first came out too big), Allison's come into the office to tell me about her sweater knitting progress.

"I started the colorwork part last night! It's a lot easier than I thought it would be."

"These rows are so long, I can't wait to separate for the sleeves."

"Wait, how do I separate for the sleeves?"

My friends, Allison is a master colorwork knitter in disguise. Look at how even the stitches are! And nary a blip in the pattern. I'm pretty sure I can't say the same for most of my colorwork projects.

While she's not yet in the home stretch of the knitting, having separated for the sleeves means that she'll be knitting over fewer stitches than she had been. And of course, one of the beautiful things about knitting a top-down sweater is that you can try it on as you go.

Yep. Not only is her colorwork perfect, but the sweater is fitting quite nicely so far (obviously, when it's washed and blocked, the beautiful Berroco Ultra Alpaca will loosen up a bit and even out for a fantastic fit). If you are a little jealous and maybe shaking your fist at the screen, that's totally understandable.

Have you bought your copy of Knitscene Winter yet? Started knitting your own Vera Cardigan? Knitscene Winter will only be on the shelves for about a month longer; pick yours up today at your LYS (and get $5 back from us with this coupon!) or order your digital edition from the Interweave Store.

Until next time, happy knitting!
Amy

Knitting Bobbles in the Real World

2011-11-22T23:16:00Z

Whenever the topic of bobbles comes up, the sound of a knitter groaning is not far away. Why do people dread the happy little bobble?

Part of the complaint is the constant turning of the work required to work traditional bobbles. But there are other methods for making bumps on your knitting. In the Winter issue of Knitscene, Sarah Wilson walks us through five bobble techniques, including some alternatives that are quick and fun to knit.

For the article, I worked up this bobble sampler, which shows off the five techniques. See how different bobbles can look? Some are petite, some are very large and three-dimensional. Some make for dense fabric and some don’t affect the surrounding gauge at all.

But what do you DO with bobbles? We offer four projects in this issue to show off the possibilities, and below I’ve collected even more projects that use bobbles. Don’t they get you in the mood for winter knitting?

Get your copy of Knitscene Winter 2011 for the whole bobble article.

A First Knitted Cardigan

2011-11-01T15:44:00Z

Allison is the Managing Editor for Interweave Knits, Knitscene, and Interweave Crochet, and Allison is knitting her first cardigan. Allison came to us from our sisters in the Jewelry magazines earlier this year, and while she'd had some experience as a knitter early on, she hadn't really graduated from knitting scarves.

Scarves are great, and who doesn't need some knit scarves, but when Allison caught a glimpse of Alexis Winslow's Vera Cardigan while Lisa and I were working on Knitscene Winter, Allison fell in love. And who could blame her? Alexis's cardigan is so fantastic, with its fairly simple colorwork bands at the hem, waist, and yoke, cute pockets, and a classic silhouette.

When Allison asked me if I thought she could knit this cardigan, I said "Of course!" Well, first I said "No, that will not do" when she asked if I would knit it for her.

If you're looking at your screen like I've gone crazy, I'm sure you're not alone. I know that the jump from scarf-knitter to cardigan-with-some-basic-stranded-colorwork-knitter is a big jump. But more than that, I know that every project I've been less than enthused about knitting has languished mightily in my work-in-progress bin for a ridiculous amount of time. I know that love of the craft is best caught by people who are excited about and interested in a particular project, regardless of the perceived skill level. I know how Allison's eyes lit up when she tried on the sample cardigan and how enthusiastic she was as we went back and forth discussing color options. And I know that Allison and I will spend many a lunch break going over very basic cardigan construction and step-by-step knitting. Which, quite frankly, is how I feel most lunch breaks should be.

I wanted to get a few initial impressions from Allison to see what she was thinking as she stared down the length of the knitting needles, before we really dove in to casting on for a cardigan.

You tried on the Vera Cardigan in the office one day, amongst almost all the other garments in the Knitscene Winter 2011 issue. What was it about this cardigan that really made you want to knit it?

I immediately loved the shape of the Vera Cardigan—the way it nips in at the waist just a bit and that it hits a little lower on my hip than a typical cardigan. The colorwork details make it feel special. And on top of all that love for the style of it, the cozy-factor was very high. But, oh my goodness, there were a lot of cute projects in this issue. I figured that since I’ve never knitted more than a scarf I should limit myself to starting on one sweater, rather than six and a cloche…and a dress and…well, you can see the problem.

I know you’ve just started working with the yarn on your gauge swatch, but what are your initial impressions of Berroco Ultra Alpaca?

Soft, soft, soft. It feels so nice and, to me, it’s the perfect thing for late fall knitting. I can’t wait to curl up by the fire while I work with this pretty yarn.

Have you started planning your next project yet? ;)

Working here at Interweave is dangerous business. It’s hard not to be thinking about future projects when so many pretty ones cross my desk every day. We recently published the premiere special issue of knit.wear, and I’d love to make the Shaped Capelet with Braided Cables by Erica Patberg (it’s the cover project). I’d better hope for a long Colorado winter so I’ll have time to learn how to knit both of these projects—and, of course, time to wear them too!

All of us as crafters have to, at some point, make the leap from so-called simple knitting to more advanced techniques, or our interest in the craft, be it knitting, crochet, tatting, wood-working, whatever, will wane and fade. If you're reading this blog, odds are you've made that leap at some point, maybe after a few years, maybe after a few scarves. So I hope you'll join me in encouraging Allison through this progress as she takes this leap of faith in herself as a knitter and in my abilities as a teacher. She's just getting started, having almost finished her gauge swatch (of course I made her knit a gauge swatch). Are you planning to knit the Vera Cardigan yourself? The pattern is available in the brand new Knitscene Winter issue, available on sale now, our first standalone Winter issue ever! Why not get your gauge swatch going and join along? We'll be checking in once a month or so with her progress, and we'd love to hear how you're getting on with your own cardigan knitting.

Until next time, happy knitting.
Amy

P.S. - I get very confused every time I talk about this cardigan, as my cat's name is Vera. "Why are you knitting my cat a cardigan? No, wait, that's not what you're talking about."

Planning yarn amounts for top-down knitting

2011-10-25T12:25:00Z

Before the winter issue of Knitscene had even gone to press, I started knitting Melissa LaBarre’s Tereza Pullover. This simple top down pullover had a lot of appeal to me—chunky gauge, interesting lace pattern, the ability to add custom body shaping, chunky gauge. I was feeling antsy and wanted a fast-moving project, one that I might be able to wear for my upcoming trip to Colorado. So, I cast on with some old stash yarn, Classic Elite Duchess.

I’ve had this yarn in my stash for years. I often pull it out and consider it for different projects, but in the end always decide that there’s just not quite enough of it. But as I scanned the stash for materials for the Tereza, I paused to do the math—the size 46.25” required 780 yards of the original yarn. I had just under 800 yards of the Duchess. I decided to go for it.

What I did not consider back then, at the dreamy cast on stage, was that I would need to add width to the lower body. The silhouette of the Tereza is an hourglass, with the hem measuring the same circ as the bust. I did work waist shaping in my version, but increased to make the hem several inches larger than the bust, since I am VERY-PEAR-SHAPED. I also made the body longer. Oops.

So with 3 measly balls left, I have to knit the sleeves. I don’t think there will be enough for two full-length sleeves. My strategy is this: knit one sleeve til a ball runs out, then do the same for the other, and see where I am, with one ball to spare. Of course, the yarn is DISCONTINUED.

Two lessons here: don’t leave yarn to languish in your stash for years and years, letting it surpass its “expiration.” And two, think about how mods will affect yarn requirements before you start knitting!

And oh BTW, I used Amy Herzog’s coordinates to plan my waist shaping, spacing the shaping lines around the body instead of all at the side seams. I think it creates a really lovely, subtle shape. For her tips on placing shaping, see the Fall 2011 issue of Knitscene.

Preview for Knitscene Winter now live

2011-10-11T18:48:00Z

The first-ever Winter issue of Knitscene is making its way into the world right now. The preview is up; go check out the projects ahead of time.

For sheer pleasure of reading and perusing, this is my favorite issue to date—there is some really lovely photography and page design.

The designs and articles are pretty strong too! ;)

~ Lisa

Knitting versus the Heat: Take Two

2011-08-30T01:15:00Z


Vergennes Pullover

I had such great expectations. My Vergennes Pullover was going to be finished and ready to wear before the first cool days of fall. I love the stitch; I love the soothing click of the needles as I knit in the evenings; I love the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu. But soon the summer heat and my desire to knit this beautiful wool sweater were battling it out. As the temperatures in my house reached the mid-eighties, the heat won, and my beautiful maroon sweater retreated to the UFO bin.

That battle may have been lost but the war is not over. Fall is almost here, and the heat will not stop me from completing my Vergennes Pullover before the leaves have all turned. I am just a few rows from finishing the back, but the thought of the rest of the wool sweater draped across my lap gives me pause.

So my strategy is to begin the sleeves. Their lack of wool surface area will put me in good stead during warm evenings, and once those evening temperatures begin to drop, I’ll work the front. I have also packed everything I need to complete this sweater into a handy knitting bag. If the temperatures soar again, I will move to air-conditioned locals such as my local library, coffee shot, or yarn shop. What tips and tricks do you have to beat the heat?

Best wishes,

3 Things to Remember About Seamless Yoke Pullovers

2011-08-23T19:12:00Z

I've become a little obsessed with seamless yokes lately. For as much as I knit, I am a fairly lazy knitter, so seamless knitting patterns are very much up my alley—I don't mind finishing, but if I can find a way out of it, I'll do that. A seamless yoke also allows for endless permutations and personal customization (which yes, does require some work, but it's creative work, not minutia and detail work; it's totally different!). In the Fall issue of Knitscene, we featured two sweaters patterns with lacy seamless yokes: Lien Ngo's Abbey Pullover and Melissa J. Goodale's Counterfort Pullover.

But really, with a seamless panel as your base, you can do pretty much anything. Stripey colorwork, Fair Isle colorwork, funky stitch patterns—the yoke is your canvas. Before you begin, though, there are a few things to keep in mind about knitting a seamless yoke:

A seamless yoke has a different armhole depth than your standard set-in sleeves. A quick glance at a schematic for each kind of sweater will tell you that.

Spacing out your decreases or increases depends on your shoulder depth. If you're altering a knitting pattern with a seamless yoke, make sure you adjust the number of rows between decrease or increase rows.
Planning the decreases or increases rows is pretty much up to the designer—there aren't any rules to follow. Typically, most seamless yokes will have three to five rows of changing stitch counts (either more stitches, in a top-down sweater, or fewer stitches, in a bottom-up sweater). In her book Knitting Plus, Lisa Shroyer points out that traditional yokes have four rounds of decreases, removing 20% of the stitches on the first round, 25% of the stitches on the second round, and 33% of the stitches on the third and fourth rounds.

I know seamless yokes, in this context, may seem overwhelming, but find a pattern that appeals to you and try it out for yourself—knitting a seamless yoke is really quite easy.

Till next time,
Amy

PS - Did you see the preview for Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts yet? Let us know what you think, and look for that issue on-sale September 6.

Get into a designer’s head: 8 Knitscene stars tell all

2011-08-09T14:03:00Z

Perhaps “tell all” is a tad melodramatic, but I always find it illuminating to read about a designer’s thought process, design experience, and their feelings about the final product when an issue is released. In that vein, I’ve rounded up blog posts from eight designers/authors in the Fall issue of Knitscene, in which these contributors discuss their respective projects. Enjoy!

Work an Attached Lace Edging on Your Shawl

2011-08-02T17:38:00Z

Greetings, Knitscene fans! Tanis Gray here, guest blogging about my Grand Palais Shawl featured in the new Fall issue of Knitscene.

A few people have written in with questions about how to join the lace edging to the body of the shawl. If you’ve never worked a knitted-on edging before it can be tricky. I’m here to help!

How to work an attached edging:
Start by knitting the garter body of the shawl. To make things a bit easier, I’ve knit a mini sample in two contrasting colors so you can see the different pieces. The shawl is basically three parts – the body, the attached lace edging and the applied icord.
Once the body of the shawl is finished, we start our lace edging. The first row is done by itself, unattached. We’re looking at the WS here because row 2 and all even rows are our attaching rows. We won’t join until row 2.
Here we are on our first attaching row, Row 2 of the lace edging. Row 2: P7, yo, p2tog, sl 1 kwise, pick up and knit 1 st from outer loop at edge at shawl, psso.
The trick is to grab the outer most loop made from the garter ridges of the shawl body. Slipping 1 stitch knitwise, then grabbing that garter loop on the end and knitting it, and then passing that slipped stitch over is what anchors the edging to the body of the shawl. Makes sense, right? The passing over is key.
Before you flip the body of the shawl and start to knit Row 3, you’ll be attached by 1 stitch.
The join may seem flimsy, and it will be for a few rows, but once you get that first repeat down, you’ll be well anchored. It’s much easier to put your work down and come back to it after the join is well-anchored. I’d recommend starting your lace edging when you know you can sit undisturbed for one repeat’s worth of knitting. If you throw it in your bag (and we’ve all done this) after 2 rows with only 1 stitch of the edging attached, chances of it falling off and making a big yarn disaster are high.
For every two rows of the edging, you’ll be joined to the shawl on one row (or by one stitch). One repeat of the edging is 12 rows, so after 1 repeat is complete, you’ll be attached on 6 rows, via 6 joining stitches. Your knitting should start to look like this on the right side:
And like this on the wrong side:

For further help, I’ve included a video. I hope you enjoy making this shawl as much as I did! After surviving this heat wave, I look forward to sub-zero temps and being able to wrap myself up in such a cozy shawl.

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Happy knitting!

Tanis

Tanis Gray is the former co-editor of Knit.1 and yarn editor for the Soho suite of knitting magazines. She now works as a freelance knitwear designer in Washington, DC, where she lives with her husband and brand new baby boy. Her website is www.tanisknits.com.

This Fall marks the release of Tanis’s first book, Knit Local: Celebrating America’s Homegrown Yarns (Sixth&Spring). These 30 designs showcase yarns manufactured in the U.S. Tanis stresses the wisdom of preserving local businesses, protecting the environment, and treating livestock humanely while tracing the journey of her yarns “from sheep to skein”. With her usual sense of urban-but-accessible style, the designs themselves are sure to delight.