In the mood for Autumn
Sep. 6th, 2018 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzMuse is unhappy and socks are OUT. Instead I had the irresistable urge to cast on the Bagtanker. This cardigan with striped sleeves has been on my to-do list for a while but I never felt like it. Suddenly, though!
It's knit in a peculiar way: sleeves first, from one wrist to the other. Sounds like a good plan, because big projects always strand on the sleeves with me. I just never feel like knitting sleeves. And this is just amazing, small rounds, happy colour changes. Why did I hate doing sleeves again? I guess starting with sleeves makes them more fun.
However, there was a thing that irked me. The sleeves start with stockinette stitch, there's no ribbing to keep the edge from rolling up. I couldn't see the bottom hem ever stop the rolling though, and I was yet again haunted by visions of cardigans with sleeves that are just a wee bit too short (story of my life).
(Sorry for crappy nighttime picture)
Aaaaaaand that means it is time for another episode of 'Annet Has To Do Everything A Different Way Because It's Just Better, Believe Me'. *sigh*
So I made my first ever picot edge! It can flip up easily, but at least it doesn't ROLL all the way up.
But then the next problem presented itself: starting with stockinette on one wrist and ending with stockinette on the other wrist works perfectly: you can just knit from one side to the other and bind off. However, a picot edge can be knitted at the start of a project, but I don't think you can do it at the end.
Beause the frilly edge you see is actually a row of holes where the hem folds under. So you knit 7 rows of stockinette, 2 rows of holes, and then 7 rows of stockinette. You fold the entire thing double and secure the casting-on edge in your next row of knitting. Instant frilly edge!
But how do you secure the hem if you're going the other way?
My solution: just knit two sleeves from the wrist up! I'm going to have a centre-back part that is not knit in the round anyway, I might as well make the two sides meet in the middle and practice a three-needle bind-off or something. So now I have the "white sleeve" with a white marker paused on a circular needle, and I am knitting the "blue sleeve" with a blue marker on my double pointed needles.
The other perk to this technique is that I have an extra ball of yarn in the darkest shade of purple from another dyebath. I can't use it in the body of the cardigan without resorting to tricks so the colour difference won't stand out, but it won't matter at all if this ball of yarn is used in the stripes of the sleeves. I sure could use the extra yardage!
But I would like to have the same number of dark stripes on either sleeve from this other dye bath. By knitting the two sleeves at the same time I can just alternate which sleeve I am knitting on, so I won't run out of this skein before its time. I will need an additional stripe or two to get to the proper length anyway.
I just haven't figured out yet how to get the stitches from the circular needle back on the DPNs, because they are now in use for the other sleeve... I may have to purchase an additional set of 3 mm DPN's or resort to trickery. *cackles*
Three skeins of yarn, two sleeves at the same time, and tons of loose ends to weave in later. Madness! I love it.
It's knit in a peculiar way: sleeves first, from one wrist to the other. Sounds like a good plan, because big projects always strand on the sleeves with me. I just never feel like knitting sleeves. And this is just amazing, small rounds, happy colour changes. Why did I hate doing sleeves again? I guess starting with sleeves makes them more fun.
However, there was a thing that irked me. The sleeves start with stockinette stitch, there's no ribbing to keep the edge from rolling up. I couldn't see the bottom hem ever stop the rolling though, and I was yet again haunted by visions of cardigans with sleeves that are just a wee bit too short (story of my life).
(Sorry for crappy nighttime picture)
Aaaaaaand that means it is time for another episode of 'Annet Has To Do Everything A Different Way Because It's Just Better, Believe Me'. *sigh*
So I made my first ever picot edge! It can flip up easily, but at least it doesn't ROLL all the way up.
But then the next problem presented itself: starting with stockinette on one wrist and ending with stockinette on the other wrist works perfectly: you can just knit from one side to the other and bind off. However, a picot edge can be knitted at the start of a project, but I don't think you can do it at the end.
Beause the frilly edge you see is actually a row of holes where the hem folds under. So you knit 7 rows of stockinette, 2 rows of holes, and then 7 rows of stockinette. You fold the entire thing double and secure the casting-on edge in your next row of knitting. Instant frilly edge!
But how do you secure the hem if you're going the other way?
My solution: just knit two sleeves from the wrist up! I'm going to have a centre-back part that is not knit in the round anyway, I might as well make the two sides meet in the middle and practice a three-needle bind-off or something. So now I have the "white sleeve" with a white marker paused on a circular needle, and I am knitting the "blue sleeve" with a blue marker on my double pointed needles.
The other perk to this technique is that I have an extra ball of yarn in the darkest shade of purple from another dyebath. I can't use it in the body of the cardigan without resorting to tricks so the colour difference won't stand out, but it won't matter at all if this ball of yarn is used in the stripes of the sleeves. I sure could use the extra yardage!
But I would like to have the same number of dark stripes on either sleeve from this other dye bath. By knitting the two sleeves at the same time I can just alternate which sleeve I am knitting on, so I won't run out of this skein before its time. I will need an additional stripe or two to get to the proper length anyway.
I just haven't figured out yet how to get the stitches from the circular needle back on the DPNs, because they are now in use for the other sleeve... I may have to purchase an additional set of 3 mm DPN's or resort to trickery. *cackles*
Three skeins of yarn, two sleeves at the same time, and tons of loose ends to weave in later. Madness! I love it.
