musings of a male knitter

I’ve spent the last two days playing around with the linen stitch, which looks like woven fabric.   I’ve had a design in the back of my mind for a while which I think wants to be made in this stitch.  Now that I’ve played with it, I now have three designs that want to be made in this stitch!

First experiment:  Take four balls of different colorways, some with tonal shifts and some with tonal and color shifts, and use the linen stitch technique that Sally Melville uses in her Linen-Stitch Wrap in The Knitting Experience, Book 3, Color. She has you start with one color on a circular needle, leaving a tail (for fringe), working  the wrap lengthwise, leaving a tail at the other end (for fringe), and sliding the stitches back to the other end of the needle to work the next row of the Linen stitch.  I used a US size 6 needle, based on the Mini Mania Scarf cast on directions, which uses the Linen stitch for a lengthwise scarf. Here are my four cute little balls of fingering weight yarn.

Little fingering weight balls of different colorways

From top to bottom, colors are MC, CC1, CC2, and CC3.  I then set up a charted sequence that had six rows of MC (Row 1 and Row 2 of linen stitch both in MC), six rows with Row 1 in CC1 and Row 2 in MC, six rows of CC1, six rows with Row 1 as CC2 and row 2 as CC1, six rows of CC2, six rows of row 1 as CC3 and Row 2 as CC2, six rows of CC3, six rows of Row 1 as MC and Row 2 as CC3 and ended with six rows MC.  Here is the result!

From top to bottom, MC, MC+CC1, CC1, CC1+CC2, CC2, CC2+CC3, CC3, CC3+MC, MC

The color movement is really lovely.  The technique was a pain!  This little swatch (4 x 4.5 inches)  took about five hours to do!!  Why?  In Melville’s directions, the first row begins with leaving a tail, and the second row also starts with leaving a tail, and begins with a slipped stitch, so that you are holding a tail in front of a slipped stitch.  Also, because you are cutting the yarn at each end to leave fringe, you have these really loose selvedge edges.  Yes, you do overhand knot every three tails as you go along, but the result is still loose fabric on the ends.  To be fair, this probably wouldn’t be so bad on a wrap…you would need to work 450 sts before cutting the tail each time.  On this sample, it was only 31 stitches, so it quickly became onerous, starting…stopping…starting…stopping.  Adding a clothes pin on each tail helped maintain some tension on the tails…but I still got loose fabric on each end. Bah!  Humbug!  There has to be a better way.  And my gauge was really dense with a size 6.  Seems I am a tight knitter…at least with the linen stitch.  Time to do some swatching with different needle sizes.

I’m planning a design with Elfin Tweed using the linen stitch, so I decided to swatch with it. I opted for the linen stitch pattern directions for odd number of stitches listed in the Mini Mania Scarf and knit back and forth. Here’s what I got:

From bottom to top, US size 6,7,8,9

To my surprise, I had to go all the way up to a Size 8 or 9 to get a fabric that I wanted for a garment.  I will now work up a sizeable swatch in the linen stitch on Size 9 needles, wash it, and swing it around my head  or stretch it a bit, to “get the life out of it” as Josh Bennett taught us to do.  That action mimics the stretching that the garment fabric will do once knitted and worn, thus giving you a more accurate gauge. He also said to measure the entire swatch for the gauge, to the very edge.  ”You knitted it all, measure it all.”  After seeing how the size 9 swatch looks, I may opt for the size 8 and do a swatch as well.

Finally, I decided to use the linen stitch pattern directions for odd number of stitches listed in the Mini Mania Scarf and knit back and forth with two colorways, a solid and a variegated, and carry the yarn along the side.  I started  with a solid MC, moved to a variegated yarn alternating with MC every two rows ( in other words, Row 1 and Row 2 of linen stitch in one colorway, and then in the other, then back to original colorway), then rows of only variegated, moving back to alternating colorways, then back to solid  MC.   And here is that result!

Knitted on US size 7

I really like the effect, especially using the dark solid color alongn with a variegated colorway.  I made sure the solid color alternating with the variegated colorway was visually the same width on each side of the center variegated section.  Of course, the color repeat of the variegated yarn would  look quite different in an actual garment given the rows would have been a lot longer, but the same principle of alternating with solid color for same width would apply.  Also, I prefer this version of the linen stitch rows over the one in Melville’s book.  This one always began with knit or purl stitches and gave a nice selvedge on each side.  If I were to do the Melville “cut yarn on both ends for fringe” method, sliding the work back to the other end to add in another color, I would still use the equivalent of this linen stitch variation.

Here’s the linen stitch written for an odd number of stitches:

1940's pattern from Featured Knitting Designs

At least, it’s a waistcoat I definitely want!  I ran across this pattern on Vintage Purls website, which has free vintage patterns for men, women, children, and some household accessories (an awesome tea cozy!).  This waistcoat (actually pronounced “wes’ cut”–let’s all  say it correctly!) caught my eye because for some time I’ve been experimenting with how to add a decent point to vests.  I also loved the diagonal slant of the pockets.  As it turns out, the entire construction of this waistcoat is equally interesting.  You make the point by using short rows, working 5 of 60 cast-on stitches, then 10, then 15, etc, until you’ve worked across the 60 sts, then 17 rows worked even, and then you have to work short rows on one side of the diagonal pocket slot, and then add yarn and work short rows on the other side , so that the opening is created.  Once the slot is finished, you work across all the stitches and continue on.  Once the garment is completed, you then make two fabric pockets and sew them to the pocket slits.

I’m using Knit One Crochet Too’s Elfin Tweed yarn, which is fingering weight.  The pattern calls for 4 ply (sport), but I matched gauge with the fingering weight and the fabric is still okay…maybe a little flimsy, but it will look nice.  The pattern is only given in one size (Chest 40) and I didn’t want to have to rewrite the pattern while also conquering the techniques in making the pockets, etc.  I worked the left side, and because the directions simply say “make right side to match” minus button holes, I decided to immediately start the right side as well so I can write out how to do it in reverse!

By the way, this pattern has a lot going on at the same time–while building the pocket slit, you must also keep track of rows for button holes on one side and a total of 13 increases every 6th row on the other side.  (Think Rowan patterns, which are notorious for saying “do this, while at the same time doing this, and alternating every “blank” rows, then every “blank” row doing this on the opposite edge”.)  I wrote out every single row…but it’s been well worth the effort.  Here are some images so far:

Closeup of the slanted tip created by short rows (front left side)

More of left front

Here's where I'm building the right side in reverse--just at the point to work 18 rows even and then start short rows for pocket slot.

Another really interesting feature is how the back piece will be positioned in relation to the two front pieces.  The bottom corners of the two inch back ribbing meet the bottom point on the side seams of fronts (right after one completes the short rows that form the slanted bottom front edges).  In other words, the slanted front points hang lower than the bottom of the back piece, so that the ribbing of the back is across the small of the back.    I love this construction!  It is so classic and form fitting.  I’ll post images of the back and sides when those are completed.

Now that I’ve experimented with techniques and construction of this vintage pattern, expect some waistcoat designs from me in the future!

After taking a class at the Northcoast Knittery a couple of weeks ago by Jenny Sorensen, otherwise known as jerinknits, I have fallen for another knitting technique…Brioche!  Jenny taught us plain brioche stitch, syncopated brioche stitch (which is plain done for several rows in the knit version, and then several rows in the purl version). crossover brioche, honeycomb brioche, and two color brioche.  FUN, FUN, FUN!!  Check out my samples from the class.

Syncopated Brioche = Plain Brioche alternating between knit and purl versions (in this example, every eight rows)

Honeycomb Brioche--started with recommended needle size (bottom of swatch) and then moved up 3 needles sizes (top of swatch). This makes a dense fabric...a very warm hat or garment!

Syncopated Brioche in the yarn Panguipulli by Araucania

I really like the syncopated stitch and did a swatch in a yarn that has been beckoning me to do something with it, Panguipulli by Araucania. I love this yarn…and the look that resulted in the syncopated stitch.  Already got my designing juices going…thinking about what to make with this yarn and this stitch.  I expect you’ll be seeing something soon that combines these two!

The two color plain Brioche stitch is fantastic, being reversible with the two colors switching places from front to back.  In fact, all the Brioche stitches are reversible except for the Honeycomb stitch.

Two Color Plain Brioche Side A

Two Color Plain Brioche Side B

Crossed Brioche--This stitch has "crisscrossing" front and back slanting bars. It would look great on a larger needle that would give more openness to the criss-cross design.

Reversible and worked on larger needles for a lofty bounce, I’m sure these Brioche stitches are going to make their way into some future designs!

In my graphic designer son’s portfolio is a poster which he created for the Northcoast Knittery to advertise Thursday night Sip and Knit. During a recent job interview with a company, members of the creative design team particularly liked this piece.  Then one of them asked,  ”Do people still knit?”

When he told me that later, I was stunned.  Wow.  There are some people out there that don’t know that knitting is not only a past time for millions, but an obsession for thousands!  My world is so full of knitters, knitting blogs, knitting podcasts, knitting books, knitting magazines, knitting workshops, and knitting retreats, it simply didn’t register with me that people could question whether knitting still captivated people’s imaginations!

That is why World Wide Knit in Public Day is such an important event…to let the larger world know knitting is  a vibrant creative and social activity.  We knitters know that WWKP is another great excuse to get together and knit in the sunshine, have a potluck lunch, and in the case of our local shop, the Northcoast Knittery, win fabulous prizes!  But it really does let others know that knitting is not just happening, it’s a happening.  So go out and knit in public on June 11, 2011!

And if you’re in our area (Humboldt County, CA), come to the big celebration at the Northcoast Knittery, 320 Second Street, Eureka, CA.  We’ll be partying from 10 am to 6 pm.  As always, there will be knitting (and crocheting) in the courtyard,

a potluck lunch and snacksand some incredible prizes given away through drawings.  Check out the six prizes below!

14 magazines!

5 different sock yarns!

Around 15 balls of Noro!

2 Louisa Harding Books and around 20 balls of yarn!

Six Bulky Yarns!

Lantern Moon Needles (Sizes 3-9) and Case!