Traditions Today : Sweater Knitting Patterns

Solving Vintage Puzzles

whitneyd@3 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Editors' Note: We asked Whitney Dorband, PieceWork's marketing specialist, to tell us more about the vintage patterns she re-created for Knitting Traditions and Crochet Traditions.

I have had the pleasure of re-creating several patterns published in the late 1800s to early 1900s for the pages of PieceWork’s Knitting Traditions and Crochet Traditions. Every time the editors ask me to help them with an issue by working one of these vintage patterns, I am more than happy to and for many reasons.


Whitney crocheted and modeled our sample Auto Cap, a pattern from the November 1917 issue of Needlecraft Magazine that we published in Crochet Traditions Fall 2012.

First, I love to be able to engage in a craft that transcends time. Being able to re-create an article of clothing from many generations before my time renders a sense of awe and also tradition within me. Second, I love any excuse to get something on my needles or my hook. And lastly, I love a good challenge. These vintage patterns are nothing short of puzzles that need to be pieced together before you can reach your final outcome. I love reading and sifting through the instructions, seeing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same through the evolution of knitting and crochet patterns. But when it finally comes down to putting the yarn on the needle I usually have to do a little restructuring of the original. Here are the things that I do with these patterns to ensure success:

Read through the pattern.
Before doing anything at all, read through the pattern in its entirety. This will give you a sense of what you are going to need to do as well as a sense of what troubles you might run into.

Rewrite for clarity.


	Dainty Knitted Frock from the February 1926 issue of Needlecraft Magazine that Whitney knit for Knitting Traditions Winter/Spring 2012.

These patterns are like the worst written prose in any book, and they run sentences together rather than break each new instruction into a separate row. It can be confusing. Rewriting the instructions so that every pattern change gets its own separate line or even just making a distinct mark within the pattern to know when there is a change helps immensely.

Keep track of rows.
Sometimes these patterns don’t work row by row. It doesn’t tell you which row number you are going to bind off on, or what row number you will start increasing, etc. That is why, when I do my rewrites of the pattern, I write out the row numbers being worked for each section of the pattern. This is a huge time-saver.

Be willing to compromise.
These patterns are not perfect. They are always printed exactly as they appeared and no corrections have been made. Be ready to find mistakes and work with them. Often times, it’s just a matter of adding or subtracting some rows and/or stitches. By rewriting and tracking rows in the pattern, the mistakes sometimes become clear before you even get started.


The Striped Slip-On Sweater Whitney made, which appeared in the March 1922 issue of The Modern Priscilla magazine.

Don’t always stick to the original.
Sometimes the final product isn’t exactly what you want. There may be some detail that you really don’t like, for example I do not like the odd collar of the striped sweater I made for Knitting Traditions Fall 2012. Don’t be afraid to make a change. I plan on giving that sweater a cowl collar instead.

Those are my little tricks for working with vintage patterns. Once you understand how the pattern works, the knitting (or crocheting, or whatever craft it might be) becomes all the more enjoyable. It’s the challenge of the piece that makes the final product all the more special. Check out Knitting Traditions Fall 2012 for some great vintage sweater patterns that you can try your hand at reworking.

Happy knitting,

Whitney

Knitting's Cultural Traditions

Karen Brock — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:00:00 GMT

At an editorial planning session, Linda Ligon (Interweave’s founder and PieceWork’s creative director) dropped a pair of socks on the table, ones she’d acquired at a market in the Gobi desert. “Camel hair,” she said, “Now that’s something, don’t you think?” And it was. As we examined them, prickly and stiff, exotic and practical, we started asking questions. Why socks in the Gobi Desert? How did the knitter turn the heel? Heel down or toe up? Were they knit with single ply or double yarn? Could we reproduce them with any authenticity? Would we want to?


Gobi Desert Socks by Donna Druchunas, Knitting Traditions Fall 2011

Yes and yes! Donna Druchunas figured out the technical aspects of the socks, wrote a pattern, and knit it up with beautiful yarn spun from camels that we sourced through the good people at Snow Leopard Trust; Linda supplied a bit more information about the where and the why and we published it in the Fall 2011 issue of Knitting Traditions.

And this is often how a Knitting Traditions article begins. Personal stories or artifacts, family history, or specific events are explored and connected to something larger in the framework of textile and even world history. Wherever we go, whatever period of time we’re traveling in, knitting has been there before us, keeping us warm, expressing our beliefs, helping to pass on and maintain our cultural traditions. Linda Ligon has always sensed (perhaps since she imagined PieceWork into being nearly 20 years ago) that its readers had a thirst for the history of knitting and wanted meaty articles to satisfy a deep intellectual curiosity. They wanted intriguing projects to create, but mostly they wanted a story, a really good story.


	The Monmouth Cap by Christopher Phillips, Knitting Traditions Spring 2012.

So for the last few years, we’ve devoted ourselves to discovering and bringing to life the captivating narrative of knitting in PieceWork’s twice-a-year special publication, Knitting Traditions. Stories like the history of gloves as detailed by Nancy Bush, where we learned that German merchants doing business in tenth century England had to pay a duty of five pairs of gloves to King Ethelred the Unready; or the tender story of Bertha Mae Shipley who learned to knit as a young girl while in an Indian school in Oklahoma; or Martin Polly’s exploration of what historians can learn from swimsuit and sweater patterns of early- twentieth-century-England. Who could forget the Monmouth cap knit for the battle of Agincourt or the Buff Mittens? What’s your favorite?

All of our previous issues of Knitting Traditions are available either digitally or in print.

P.S. Our 7th edition of Knitting Traditions due out in the Fall of 2013 will be full of lace. Join us in telling the brilliant story of lace knitting by submitting your proposals by March 29, 2013 to piecework@interweave.com. You can find the contributor guidelines here: http://www.interweave.com/needle/piecework_magazine/contributor_guidelines.asp.

Happy knitting,

Yarn to Fit

AnnieB — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Editors' Note: We invited Annie Bakken, associate producer of Knitting Daily TV, to tell us about their newest DVD.

Make It Fit!

How many times have we all fallen in love with a pattern we see and immediately run to the yarn or fabric store to get started? Often, the final piece is seemingly a letdown and mostly because it just doesn’t fit the way we thought it would. Are you nodding your head in agreement?

Seasoned Knitting Daily TV guest stars Laura Bryant and Barry Klein are here to help. This duo’s appearances on the Public Television show have been outstandingly popular, and their tips and techniques are some of the best advice for knitters and crafters alike for making the most out of garment design.

Laura and Barry have teamed up for a 2-part workshop called Yarn to Fit: Keys to Successful Knitting, where they share their expertise and guide you through making yarn choices, measurements, and minor to major adjustments, so you’re proud of the final piece. And best of all, the final piece fits perfectly!

Part One:
The first disc of Laura and Barry’s workshop is mainly for knitters and crocheters who will be working with yarn instead of fabric. They focus on educating viewers on yarns and yarn labels, so you’re equipped to choose the best yarn for your project based on a yarn’s characteristics, how a yarn behaves while knitting, how it washes up after use, and much more.

Part Two:

The second part of Laura and Barry’s workshop is all about measurements and getting that perfect fit. You’ll learn great tips for correctly measuring yourself and others, so your garment really does hug all the right curves. They’ll also go into a priceless explanation about negative and positive ease, which can make or break a garment and the way it drapes or hangs.

This second part of Laura and Barry’s workshop is for all crafters, but they do also go into great detail about knitwear adjustments and design elements. Love a crewneck sweater pattern but would actually prefer the design to be a V-neck cardigan? Laura and Barry will show you how to make the knitted adjustments for necklines, sleeves, and much more, so you can change up any design to fit your personality and wardrobe.

Strut Your Stuff!
With Laura and Barry’s workshop, you can wear your work proudly! This resource is one you’ll turn to again and again for all your garment design needs. Yarn to Fit: Keys to Successful Knitting is now available at the Knitting Daily Shop on a 2-disc set and also as a video download.

Enjoy,

Annie