Finish Before You Start!

Last night I  had a revelation while I was seaming a sweater I had knitted last spring: I had not been thinking at all about how the sweater would be finished! I came to this conclusion while trying to disguise the knots and bunches as I joined the pieces. Happily, it's just a "cottage" sweater - one I whipped up (thanks to SweaterWizard) out of  two strands of Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends  in a a gorgeous pale crystal-blue shade. It's  fairly reasonably priced but knits up like a more high-end yarn. Unfortunately, it's not given much love on Ravelry. There are many complaints about the shedding of the yarn. I haven't had any problem with it - not that I've noticed.

 

Anyway - back to my original topic of thinking about the finished item before you even cast-on. Somewhere between the knitting of the above sweater and my more recent items, I learned the power of a good selvage stitch. I knit the first stitch in the row through the back of the stitch, then slip the last stitch purl-wise. It gives a lovely edge that I've learned is a cinch to seam and looks particularly nice when done.

This is also important - regardless of what the directions say, when increasing or decreasing, do it in the second, or in the next-to-the-last stitch in the row, respectively. I failed to do that with the above sweater and I am dealing with damage-control now!

Of course, the most essential arsenal in your finishing locker is swatching. Swatch not only for your gauge but also to test stitches and edges. If you've become accustomed to more high-end yarns, this will become your mantra, believe me. No one wants to bugger up a ball of cashmere for lack of planning. On a side note to swatching, if you've got a special project on deck, it's fun and gratifying to get right in there with the yarn and let it wind through your fingers as you drink wine and mindlessly knit up a swatch in front of a cozy fire, dog in lap. (*Insert mental image here*)

It's a beautiful day at the cottage.

I know it's been a while since I did anything with this blog.
April, you say? I don't have much in the way of an excuse.

I will say that seeing my blog name on someone else's (a much better writer) bloglist compelled me to get back here and offer up some lagniappes for you. I'm hoping to work on this blog a little and design some separate pages for my recipes and crafts.

If you have been reading this, thanks so much. And thank you to Amy from Read My Blog. She's the one who so kindly added me to her blog roll. Her blog is fantastic and she has some great bloggers on her list, so I’m honoured. Amy’s just returned from Cuba so please go to her blog and check out her entries on her trip of a lifetime. And Amy - thanks again for the encouragement!

It's a great day at the cottage. It may be a little hazy and slightly humid, but it's still a beautiful day.

The biggest thing on my vastly roomy plate is planning a gender-reveal party for a family member. It seems to be of growing importance in the baby-celebrating repertoire these days. It's a small celebration and therefore, easy to go all-out without too much bother. My current projects are a blue and pink ribbon wreath and labels for all of the drinks, like "Snips'n'Snails Ale" and 'Sugar'n'Spice on Ice"  for the Jones' Soda Fufu Berry and Blue Bubblegum.

Don't forget to swatch, swatch, swatch!

Mom's here for the summer.

I've been knitting away like crazy - trying to get my little dresses together but instead of concentrating on finishing them, I've only been knitting more tops! I've learned a few tricks over the past few weeks.
The first is: you (like this is the first time you've read it here...) must swatch! I even launder the swatches according to fiber instructions so I know exactly what I will end up with when I have my finished garment.
This is what I do: cast on the number of stitches in your gauge plus eight. Knit first four rows, then knit 4 sts, pattern until last four sts, then knit until you have the number of rows in your pattern (not counting the first four knit rows.) The garter-stitch border keeps your swatch nice and flat so you can keep track of your progress. When I have finished, I launder and block the swatch and then put a tag on it with name of the yarn and gauge and needle sizes. Before I do that however, I tie knots in the end of yarn that I started with. FE. for size five needles, tie five knots in your yarn ends.
Don't let summer stop you from knitting! There are tons of small projects that you can work on with out haivng to feel the heavy weight of knitting in your lap! I'm going to try to knit and crochet floweres!
Thanks for reading.
Rosie

Top O' the Swatch to Ye!

and the word for the day is : SWATCH!
I'm putting this out there. You must swatch. Do not brush it aside like an annoying gnat. If you don't swatch, it's possible that your hard work and  long hours knitting will result in a garment of unidentifiable proportions -  if not simply unidentifiable.
You must swatch if you don't knit to gauge, that is - in just the exact proportions of number of stitches to inches and so forth stated in your pattern. Most people don't knit to gauge, although a lucky few can just jump right into their next project, like my friend Debbie. Everyone is different and if you swatch just a time or two you'll understand your particular style and will be able to quickly make allowances for needle size. The end result is, of course, that you'll end up with a garment you're proud to wear or give, and there will always be that amazed  cry of "You made this?" from the admirers or lucky recipient. (Like my cat in the previous post)
How to make a swatch:
Cast on the number of stitches as directed by pattern direction and knit for the corresponding number of rows. The DK project I'm currently working on calls for 21 stitches and 25 rows, for example. (I've knitted the swatch up already and it's waiting to be measured.)
If I'm doing a gauge for a particular project, I won't cast-off before I measure. Once I get the gauge right, I'll frog it (unravel).
If I just got a new yarn for my stash and don't have a project in mind, I'll cast off and block for future reference. I put a ball band on the swatch with the size needle noted, and staple or tack it to my swatch before it goes back into the stash. For current projects, I'll make the necessary notes on the pattern itself .
Due to my annoying stubborness and hard-headedness tenacious nature, I will grapple with a swatch like I'm mud wrestling a pig until I get it just right.  After swatching so much, I now know that I have to start with the size under what's stated in the pattern. Sometimes I have to go down a size further, and use a larger size for my purling needle if the pattern is stockinette stitch. The pattern I just got calls for size 7 but I had to use a 5 for purling and a 4 for knitting before the gauge was even close.
Swatching can be very pleasant, especially if you just feel like knitting with no particular goal in mind. It's also a good remedy for that first surge of enthusiasm for a new project, since you can work with your new yarn immediately without committing yourself!

This is my new project:

I did it in the yarn specified, Sirdar Summer Stripes, but you can knit it up in any yarn that fits the gauge. The yarn is a cotton acrylic blend so, as my check out lady said, "It will wash up nicely."

Keep swatchin'

Rosie