Knitting mania has struck.( RL)
Nov. 22nd, 2009 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
linda_joyceFor the past few weeks I have been sorting through my jumpers(sweaters) that I have knitted through the years and may be worn only once or twice because work and shops keep the temperature up at tropical year round. I really only needed them for traveling back and forth, buses being the one place that gets cold. I am a recreational knitter, in fact it is my major form of exercise I have biceps like a navy because of 35 years of knitting%P. I have knitted jumpers stowed away dating from every decade back to the 60s and a lot of them in very good wool. So instead of giving them to the charity shops I decided to undo the best and re knit the yarn. I started my first last weekend, a sweater knitted cuff to cuff. I had undone two jumpers knitted in the 70s, I think, when the fashion was that the welt started 2 inches below the waist and the jumper started at waist level. I looked like a sack of potatoes tied in the middle with string in them. Neither jumper when undone yielded enough wool to knit a proper length yarn but since they were complimentary colours I decided to stripe them.
I wanted vertical stripes and there are two ways to do that:-
1Interweaving the thread you are not using behind the the thread you are. This gives a very solid very warm fabric but I find it laborious and boring.
2 Knit it cuff to cuff taking the unused wool up the edge of the stripe you are knitting by looping the colour in use under the other colour as you go on the knit side usually. This I love, it is quick easy and in the end you have only 2, very long, seams to sew up. That is very much a plus point for me. It does mean that he stripes on the arms are horizontal but I don't mind so much having Michelin Men arms as long as the body is vertical.
It has been a long time since I knitted this way so I went in search of a pattern on line and one of my searches brought me to Amazon and a book that specialises in that sort of pattern, which I promptly bought. I also bought one of the recomendations which I am passing on to you. It is not as simple as it looks as there is is one pattern I haven't been able to make head nor tail of but the pattern I bought it for is very simple, that pattern is on the front cover right,
It is not difficult as it is all done in garter stitch and in strips of differing lengths sewn together. The chevron effect is done by knitting the bias, which what you are doing with that dropped stitch scarf from Knitty, Clapotis. This pattern calls for changing colours every now and then to give a random stripe but you could use self striping yarns
One day I will have a go at the blanket bottom left too.
I wanted vertical stripes and there are two ways to do that:-
1Interweaving the thread you are not using behind the the thread you are. This gives a very solid very warm fabric but I find it laborious and boring.
2 Knit it cuff to cuff taking the unused wool up the edge of the stripe you are knitting by looping the colour in use under the other colour as you go on the knit side usually. This I love, it is quick easy and in the end you have only 2, very long, seams to sew up. That is very much a plus point for me. It does mean that he stripes on the arms are horizontal but I don't mind so much having Michelin Men arms as long as the body is vertical.
It has been a long time since I knitted this way so I went in search of a pattern on line and one of my searches brought me to Amazon and a book that specialises in that sort of pattern, which I promptly bought. I also bought one of the recomendations which I am passing on to you. It is not as simple as it looks as there is is one pattern I haven't been able to make head nor tail of but the pattern I bought it for is very simple, that pattern is on the front cover right,
It is not difficult as it is all done in garter stitch and in strips of differing lengths sewn together. The chevron effect is done by knitting the bias, which what you are doing with that dropped stitch scarf from Knitty, Clapotis. This pattern calls for changing colours every now and then to give a random stripe but you could use self striping yarns
One day I will have a go at the blanket bottom left too.