Knitting a twisted circle of int
principle embodies the Riddle of the Universe. a 10 6mm needle, I cast on some stitches in 2-ply Icelandic wool and knitted straight for about 557140cm, gave it half a twist 180 degrees , wove the beginning to the end, and produced wonders the Moebius Ring. To knit your own Moebius Ring you have several texture-stitches to choose from. Be sure you select a reversible one as both sides of the ring will show at the same time , and consider the ease with which the stitch will weave to itself. We...
Behind The Scenes
Big names have always worked behind our cameras Patrick Demarchelier, Arthur Elgort, Richard Bailey and Dewey Nicks are just a few who come to mind. Paul Amato, who shot for our very first issue, is still with us today. articles in 1985 Inter, her daughter Meg Swansen followed in her footsteps with a eries of columns about knitting techniques. The magazine's list of contributors reads like a Who's Who of the knitting glitterati Kaffe Fassett, Sasha Kagan, Debbie Bliss, Nicky Epstein, Kristin...
by Meg Swansen Ntt
There are scores of ways to add or incorporate different cardigan edgings into a sweater, and this article will narrowly focus on one of those methods knitting a one-piece garter-stitch button band onto the cut edge of a circular stocking-stitch sweater. This final addition is fraught with activity and is a rewarding finale to all the hours spent on the garment itself. Also, by knitting the edge directly onto the sweater, you won't have to guess how long to make the strip and can dispense with...
A cram course in putting your knits together
Before you begin, carefully read the pattern's finishing instructions. The designer has painstakingly worked out the specifications of your pattern. Assemble your sweater in the order suggested in the pattern for best results. To make the process of stitching together a sweater much easier, first block or press all the pieces. Check both your pattern and yarn care label for the blocking or pressing instructions for your sweater. Avoid using highly textured or very heavy yarn to assemble your...
Working In Rows On Circular Needles
Cast on as you would for knitting in the round. Begin your knitting or purling in the last cast-on stitch. Work to the end of the row but do not join work. Turn your work around and work on the reverse side just as you would for straight needle knitting. For instance, when knitting a cardigan, work back and forth in the rows working the back and fronts on circular needles all at once. You may find it a help to mark crucial points, such as side seams, with markers. If the pattern is a...
A joy to wear wool can be easycare too
The Romans took scrupulous care of wool, washing, comt and oiling their flocks a few times a year. More recently, science has come up with a machine-washable wool to prevent the incredible shrinking sweater scenario. In the last twenty years, scientists have wrestled with the unique properties of wool. Their aim has been to arrest or transform what causes damage to the fiber when washed, while maintaining the favorable qualities of wool its resilience, luster and absorbcncy. But the very...
The Unplanned Dropped Stitch
If you should happen to lose a stitch by dropping it, remember that it won't drop far and it won't leave a big hole. It can be easily fixed in one of the following two ways If you drop a stitch and have gone only a row or two beyond it, a crochet hook size B 2.00mm is suitable for most yarns will fix it. It is easier to pick up a stitch on the knit side of the work. If the purl side is facing you, turn the work around. Work to where the stitch should be. Gain length on the strands above it by...
Options For Centering A Color Pattern
underarm. The upper row and the the Norwegian Rose. In both rows The pair of patterns on the left share a pivot stitch at the underarm. The pair on the right are separated by a seam' stitch. ' ommmm n nn B If you require only an additional 6 sts for the circumference this shows 3 sts separating the two motifs at the side seam kept in dark, light, dark .
Easy ways to avoid the familiar pitfalls
embroidery the other side has little purl bumps. Consider the outline-stitch side to be the right side, and knit on up the sweater. When the body is finished, return to the lower edge to knit the hem. With the right side facing you, knit up into the little purl bumps behind the outline stitch, one stitch for each cast-on stitch. You will note that the outline stitch makes a nice sharp fold for the hem Figure 11. To prevent the flaring problem, you have several choices. You can use a...
Evil Eye Knitting Pattern
-ed Cross's Our Boys Need Sox Knit Your Bit campaign, ,aircned during World War I, became even more important during II. as knitters played a vital role in supplying soldiers clothes. i hrave boys by Mrs. Abner Bartlett, of Medford, achusetts, now 85 years. Soldiers being soldiers, v probably fancied the notes that said, And when wars and camps you part May some fair knitter w' tn your heart, and Apples are good but peaches are k fer If you love me, will you write me a letter A lot of the...
Symbols replace written instructions
look vertical. Therefore, the symbol DD represents a knit stitch in stockinette stitch , which is knit on the right side and purled on the wrong side. Purl stitches, which have a horizontal shape when viewed from the right side, are represented by the symbol 0 Note that when reading the right-side rows, you work the stitches as they appear on the chart. When reading the wrong-side rows, you work the opposite of what is shown. This may seem difficult at first, but you'll find that practice makes...
by Mari Lynn Patrick 1
Have you ever wanted to lengthen or shorten a sleeve, or change a round neck into a V-neck, hut found yourself intimidated hy the prospect of recalculating the increases or decreases This article will give you a mathematical formula for figuring increases and decreases. Then, it will explain how the placement of these can alter the angle of the piece. Before beginning you only need to know two things the gauge, and the width and length you want the finished piece to he. With these you can...
Unraveling Several Stitches Back On Previous Row
Reverse your work so that what was the right needle is in your left hand in other words, the a direction from which you were working. Hold the yarn as usual and maintain tension as you the right needle purlwise through the stitch below the loop on the left needle. Pull the eft needle the loop and tighten the yam to undo it. A quick way to unravel many stitches Weave the right needle under the front and over the back of several stitches below the loops before dropping the loops. Contnue across...
Norwegian Rose Motif
GGBGGUGBBGGBGGGBGaBBa aaBGG GcaaBBGGBGGBBGBBGGBGGOBaGaG BCaBBGGBGCBBCCGBBGaaaaBBGGB aBBBGGBGGBBBBGBBBBGUBGGBBBB BLjGBGUBBBGGGGaUGGGBBBGGBGaB BGBGGBBGGBGGGBGGGBGGBBGGBGO GLiBBGBBGGGGGBDBGGGGLlBBGBBGlj oiiDODGiiiiiDiniiinoDaoiin GMaaDGGBaBOaaDGHHGBHGJ LiUlllUULiULILllLllLUUuLIIICUl LIUIGGHIDCUUI'JLLJIIIDUICDI BGGBBGGBGGBBCGGBBGGBGOBBGGB OOOBBBGGBGGBBBOGBGGBBBGGGG QGGBGGBBGQBGCBIjGBQGBBCGBGGG GGBGGGGBBGGBGGGBGGBBGGGGBGG GBGGGGL.BBBGGBGBGGBBBDGaaGBG BGGGGGBBGBBGGBGGBBaBBGGGDGB...
Glossary Of Terms
STEEK extra stitches cast on at center front for a cardigan or at underarms for a dropped shoulder to permit circular knitting to continue all the way to the shoulders. The extra stitches are then secured by means of machine-stitching or crochet and cut open. A cardigan border is added and the sleeves are sewn or knitted into the cut armhole. KNITTING BACK BACKWARDS KBB enables you to work back and forth without turning your knitting. This is especially useful for entrelac or for Aran bobbles....
Invisible Shoulder Seam
With right sides facing you, align seams. Work back and fortn into the row next to the bound-off edge, nserting the needle under one stitch and pulling it through alternately on each s de. Insert needle under stitch, pull needle through and then through stitch on the opposite side. THE BACKSTITCH SEAM - This seam gives a firm finish, which makes it an excellent choice for heavier sweaters and coats. The backstitch seam can also he used on crocheted garments. It is the best method to use on...
The art of improvising elegantlooking fold lines on circular knits is quite
means of the humble crochet hook. They could be made by slipping the seam stitch every second round, but this is not always easy to remember, so lets save the whole technique as an exciting reward to be indulged in when all the knitting is done and naught remains but the finishing. Before casting-off, or weaving at the underarms, find the exact center-underarm stitch on body and sleeves. At these points drop this center stitch all the way down to the ribbing or hem. You have achieved a...
Factors To Consider
Be aware that your stockinette gauge will most likely be different from your two-color gauge. Be sure to work a color-pattern swatch for a color-pattern garment. You cannot see the design as you purl back in color-pattern consider knitting in the round on a circular needle with the front of the work always toward you and no seams , OR practice knitting back backwards. The latter will keep the front of the work facing you. As you knit the stitches from the R needle onto the L, you will actually...
As simple as it is splendid the traditional Luskofte sweater requires no
that would never be revealed publicly The black and white wool was highlighted by the most elaborate and colorful embroidery on felt cloth, sewn around the neck opening and cuffs. As for general construction here is where circular knitting my fave comes into play. The dropped-shoulder sweater is the simplest of all garments, consisting of a large tube of knitting that goes from lower edge to shoulder top, and two smaller tubes shaped gently from narrow cuff to wide upper arm for the sleeves. No...
Continental vs American
The continental method also has a disadvantage, which must be tackled before it becomes too firmly entrenched When purling, it is simpler to put the right-hand needle down over the yarn before hooking the purled stitch through. This causes the stitch to lie backwards on the right-hand needle after it has been worked. When one comes upon it in the next row, it must be dug into from the back to save it from becoming twisted. However, I've saved marvelous news for the end and will start with a...
Circumference Measurements
A. Use this measurement as your guide for selecting garment size, as it is much easier to alter the length of a garment than the width. Slide the tape measure up under the underarms and measure around the chest. B. Th is measurement is necessary for skirts, pants and structured garments that dip in at the waist. Measure around the natural waistline. C. This measurement is necessary to ensure that the sweater does not hug the hips too tightly. It usually differs little from the chest...
Dart Placement
1. Measure the distance between your bust points, and draw these points on your schematic Figure 1 , adding 1M to the line between them, so that the tip of the dart doesn't fall directly on the bust point. The darts should fall in line with the bust Example The measurement between bust points is 9, and we add Wi The result 9 2. Mult iply the result from step 1 by the stitch gauge to get the number of stitches to be placed between the darts. If the total number of stitches across the front is...
Suspended Bindoff
Although this is a similar method to the basic bind-off, it has the advantage of producing a more flexible edge and is thus particularly suitable for ribbed edges. As in the basic method, work the first two stitches and pull the first stitch over the second, but this time leave the pulled stitch on the left needle. Drop both stitches from the left needle at the same time. There will always be two stitches or. the ngnt needle. Continue to work across in this way until only two stitches remain....
Getting The Gauge
Needle size isn't important. When you work in stockinette stitch, there's a range of needle sizes for each weight of yarn that will give a rounded-off number of stitches when making a 4 ' lOcm-square swatch. Depending on the tension how tightly or loosely you knit , you can find a perfect needle size to achieve the gauge you want. You may have to try one or two sizes above or below the stated needle size before you get the exact gauge. To decide exactly how much of a substitute yarn to buy, use...
Kinds Of Blocking
Barry Klein considers blocking an essential part of the knitting process. To begin, he wet-blocks a square by spraying the fabric with water, shapes it, pins it and lets it air-dry. To protect the garment, he places the fabric right-side down. Interestingly, a number of yarns Trendsetter s polyester eyelash for one should not be blocked at all instead, he says, just shake them to fluff. Margery Winter concurs I never block Berrocos faux-fur 'Zap.' Its sufficient to tease it with a knitting...
Circular Knitting Row By Row
The reason Aunt Jean's Invisible Jog always looks and knits exactly like a pattern chart, stitch for stitch and row for row, is this when the last stitch of the row is knitted, the stitch one row below this stitch is a slipped stitch and drops this last stitch to the right location lor the row to be continuous and unbroken. The beginning and end of the row meet on the same level we are knitting row for row on circular needles the jog shown in Figure 2 disappears Since we no longer end the round...
Tips And Tricks
Because the first stitch of the row is slipped, it tends to elongate a little. Be gentle and try not to yank and pull on the stitch when you slip and knit it. If you have trouble with your stranding tension, slip 2 stitches purlwise at the beginning of the round and move your marker over 2 stitches each row, marking the chart accordingly. This makes the transition a little smoother. Try not to stop at Marker A. This will prevent the slipped stitch from being elongated and keep you from losing...
Fashion Forward
Debbie's move from sculpture to hand-knitted garments began with magazine commissions for unstructured sweaters. Strongly influenced by artist Sonia Delauney, her first was a stunning knit for Woman magazine worked in Sirdar yarn with blocks of color on the sleeves. Supported by her mothers encouragement and numerous cups of coffee she mastered the intricacies of garment patternmaking. In 1978 she became press officer for Hayfield Yarns a position she held for fifteen years. Working with other...
rom the armhole down to the wrist
Classic sleeve styling has usually focused on knitting sleeves from a cast-on cuff up to the top, with increases to fit the upper arm, and sometimes a sleeve cap to fit the armhole. With the recent fashion trend toward innovative clothing construction, hand-knitwear designers have been inspired to try new methods of construction. An easy alternative to the classic sleeve is to pick up stitches around the armhole, then to knit with decreases down to the cuff. With 25 years' experience in this...
Fall And Winter
Knitting was hot when Vogue Knitting hit the newsstands in 1982, and in the 25 years since, we've seen lots of trends and plenty of yarn come and go. From Arans to amigurumi, big shoulders to big needles, sweater sets to scarves, VK has showcased it all, giving knitters of all ages and all skill levels something stylish to put on their needles and something beautiful to feed their souls. This b lt x gt k pulls together our favorite articles, ideas and advice from the past two-plus decades, all...
About Organic Yarns
The Organic Trade Association, P.O. Box 547, Greenfield, MA 01302 413 774-7511 fax 413 774-6432 info ota.com www.ota.com. United States Department of Agriculture, www.ams.usda.gov nop. Have you ever daydreamed about working with wool spun fror your own private flock or knitting on your front porch as the spring lambs frolic at your feet Judy McDowell, Kat Smith and Winnie Johnson have made that dream a reality. Shepherding their budding flocks hasn't allowed them to give up their day jobs, but...
Adjusting Pattern Lengths
When adjusting a fitted body, you will need to adjust all three zones. For an unshaped garment, adjust zones 1 and 3 only. The amount you need to shorten will depend on your overall length. For example, you can shorten 1 or 272.5 or 5cm at the hip area. 172.5cm above the waist and V. to 172 to 2.5cm in the amnhole area. When adjusting the sleeve length, it may be necessary to recalculate the increasing sequence. For set-in sleeve a, s essential to adjust the armhole and sleeve cap. For...
From Meg Swansen
Since my mother's death a few weeks ago, I have received a staggering amount of mail and gifts from all over the world. I could fill these pages with heartfelt and articulate quotes in an attempt to convey the enormous impact Elizabeth Zimmermann had on the knitting world over the past four decades, but it seems more fitting to quote EZ herself. Here, from the final pages of her second book, Knitters' Almanac, are words that seem applicable now at the end of her life, the end of the year and...
Tubular Caston
This duplicates a machine-knit edge. Using a long strand of contrasting waste yarn and needles to be used for ribbing, cast on half the number of required stitches for the ribbing. Drop waste yam. With working yam MC purl 1 row. knit 1 row twice. Rjrl the first stitch on needle, then insert tip of left-hand needle downward into the first MC loop, connecting 2 waste yarn loops from the cast-on row below. Slip this loop onto left-hard needle and knit this stitch through back loop. Repeat from...
Here are stepbystep instructions on exactly how to work stitch and row gauge
you like. Once you have determined the appropriate needle size, you can then make the other two swatches. In our example, using a medium-weight wool with a size 6 needle, the gauge over reverse stockinette stitch is 6 stitches and 8 rows to 1. As you can see from the photo, we have measured the entire center cable panel, which is 7 and has 42 stitches. We have done the same with the zigzag pattern over 16 stitches, which equals 2The row gauge of these two patterns is identical to the reverse...
Downsizing Your Sweater
The Aran pullover shown here, first featured in the Winter 1992 93 issue, need not overwhelm your smaller figure. A few changes in the pattern stitch can downsize the overall look. We've taken 1 stitch from each of the cable ropes for the center cable and 2 stitches from the side cables. As with any adjustment, it is important to check your gauge and calculate the overall width. The industry insiders interviewed for this article have one thing in common All emphasize the importance of knitting...
Plus K P Cast on
To work the pur version, grab the underneath strand from around the forefinger and pull it through the thumb loop as shown. An alternative purl version can be tricky to master, but is worth trying. As with the Turkish Cast On installment, I cannot vouch for Latvian being the proper title for this technique, but here is how I learned it Joyce Williams was at work on her book Latvian Dreams and was shown a pair of beautiful hand-knitted Latvian mittens with a mysterious lower edge. She was told...
by Meg Swansen Axo
So varied are the methods of constructing a hand-knit sweater that you can produce scores of differently shaped garments without ever even encountering a specific shoulder seam. However, when confronted by having to join the front to the hack of a sweater at the shoulders, decisions must he made. Sometimes, the style of the garment will make the decision for you. If you are knitting a dropped-shoulder or Norwegian-style sweater, the top of the sleeve will not sit on the actual shoulder point,...
Synthetics Produced From Wood Pulp
Rayon Wash with a mild pH-neutral detergent alkalis and dry heat can cause damage will scorch if the heat used to press it is too high. Rayon weakens when wet and must be dried completely before storing. Blocking Wet-block by spraying, unless contraindicated by ball-band instructions Lycocell Lycocell trade name Tencel is a manufactured fiber made from cellulose wood pulp using a process different from that used for rayon. Found in many yarns, Lycocell can be hand- or machine-washed and...
by Elizabeth Zimmermann
For the last ten years or so, a common sight has been that of teen-to-middle-aged citizens clad in jogging shoes, jogging suits and jogging gloves trotting along the edges of our roads when no sidewalks are available with determined but happy faces. In cooler to icy conditions, delete happy their hands are cold and their thumbs freeze, they say. You say, slip your thumb out of its mitten thumb and warm it up with your fingers. They say no they don't want to. Well, my friend Becky was moaning to...
by Carla S Patrick
The silhouettes that best suit the full-figured woman should be somewhat loose just skimming the bust and hips, and never binding at the armholes or too tight in the sleeves. Dolman sleeves, or straight, dropped shoulder sleeves are a safe bet because they allow for extra room around the bust and upper arm. Do not choose a body-hugging style with small, set-in sleeves, or puff sleeves, which can accentuate broad shoulders. But do consider that a broadened shoulder line will balance and offset a...
BUTTONS BAUBLES AND EMBELLISHMENTS By adding extras such as
buttons, beading or embroidery, you can give a sweater your own creative touch. Unusual buttons and beads are available in wood, horn abalone, porcelain, pewter, cloisonne, shell, leather and so on. For special interest, add buttons in the centers of dot motifs or blocks of color. Use buttons to make fake plackets, cuff treatments or shoulder plackets. Crystal beads or pearls placed at the center of cables or on Aran stitches add a twist to an otherwise traditional-looking sweater. Larger color...
To Plot Your Basic Sloper
Graph paper-10 squares per inch Eraser Pencil Fiberglass tape measure Begin by having someone take your measurements measuring honestly and accurately without tugging on the tape measure and then plot them on graph paper. Let one square equal one inch. The information that follows is given in inch measurements only. Unless otherwise specified, mark all dots on the graph paper with a regular sharp pencil. With tape measure and graph paper handy, plot your basic sloper as follows 1. The starting...
Sewing Down The Hem
Sew the open stitches oi the hem to the body by inserting a sewing needle into part of one body stitch to prevent the stitching from showing on the right side and through one stitch on the hem as shown. Keep the hem even by sewing through stitches along the same horizontal row of the sweater. You must work rapid increases on either side of the neck opening. Mark the three corner stitches. Work a make one increase on either s de of these stitches on every round. This will allow the hem to lie...
Blocking And Cleaning Recommendations
These recommendations are based on information from a variety of sources, including Principles of Knitting, by June Hemmons Hiatt Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Knitting Book, from the editors of Vogue Knitting and other highly respected sources, including trade association Web sites. Note The recommendations apply to yarns that contain only one fiber, or fibers with compatible care methods. If the ball band specifies a cleaning or blocking method that differs from the one recommended below,...
A Dancer S Discipline
Vladimir Teriokhin confesses that his greatest design challenge is staying focused. 1 want to design a lot of things at once, and it often gets me into trouble, he laughs. In ballet, you learn to stay away from a certain spot on the stage because it's slippery and I need to remember that Vladimir frequently mentions dance and design in the same sentence, and it is no coincidence. In 1969, he was among 20,000 9-year-olds who auditioned for the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy School in Moscow...
When and how frequently you increase and decrease determines the slant of your
Lets start with the simplest case. In this example, suppose you want the width measurement before shaping to be 1 5, and the width measurement after shaping to he VA with a total length of 10. Now translate these measurements to stitches and rows. Thus 15 x 6 stitch gauge 90 stitches before the shaping. Then VA x 6 10.5, which round to 10 stitches after the shaping. And 10 x 8 row gauge 80 rows in which to work the shaping in this case, decreasing. It follows that 90 - 10 80 stitches to be...
Drawing Patterns
How did you learn to knit At your mother's knee Or your grandmother's If you were horn in the United States, you undoubtedly picked it up from a friend or family member, because knitting has never been part of American school curriculum. Recently, however, there has been a surge of interest in teaching children to knit, as teachers have discovered that it helps their students master penmanship. Through knitting, children develop fine motor skills, not to mention a pride in accomplishment that...
H Center Back Neck To Wrist
To take this measurement, have the child hold his or her arm out straight to the side and measure along the outside of the arm, from the center of the back neck out to the wrist. Once you have this measurement, calculate the precise sleeve length for a dropped-shoulder garment by dividing the cross-back measurement in half, then subtracting that figure from the full center back neck to wrist measurement.