Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
Cozy sweaters are one of the best things about winter. During the holidays, colorful, over-the-top Christmas sweaters are everywhere. This fun website [Flash Player required] lets you “create” wild and wacky holiday sweaters without wasting any yarn. You can even e-mail your finished creation to your friends. Go ahead and make it as crazy or as funny as you want!
Do you have a silly sweater story? Share it with us!
Posted in Yarniverse | 2 Comments »
Greetings, cable-loving knitters, to the second Knit-Along (KAL) by Lion Brand! I am very excited to be the host of this KAL and look forward to making this gorgeous Cable Luxe Tunic along with so many of you. I was thrilled that so many of you voted for this tunic because I have wanted to make it for awhile myself! As a knitwear designer who sends away much of what I make, I have often referred to my two daughters as the “Cobbler’s Children” based on the story of a cobbler who sold all of the shoes he made, resulting in his kids being barefoot! The oldest of my kids, Lizzie, will be getting a fabulous cable sweater as a result of this KAL that she can wear as she goes off to college next year.
I have been a knitting teacher and freelance knit and crochet designer for about 15 years now. I learn so much from my students when it comes to explaining how to knit or finish a project, so I will do my best to answer questions or give you hints to help you with knitting this beautiful sweater.
First things first. Go ahead and download that pattern for the Cable Luxe Tunic! It is only free to download until November 27th, so make this the first thing on your list of things to do.
Now comes the important question of what yarn to use. Although the yarn used in the pattern is Wool-Ease, there are many yarn choices perfect for this pattern. Other yarns that would be great to use would be Vanna’s Choice, Cotton-Ease, Fishermen’s Wool, or Lion Cashmere Blend. Just remember to use a yarn listed as “Category 4 – medium worsted-aran weight” yarn and make sure you have at least the same amount of total yardage as called for in the Wool-Ease to make the size you want. A smooth, light, or bright color yarn will be best to show off all those cables!
What yarn did I pick out? Actually, I decided on Wool-Ease. One reason is that there were so many great color choices. The one I chose was a perfect pink, Blush Heather, that I know my daughter will love. Secondly, as she will be heading off to college this next year, this will make a wonderfully warm sweater that she will be able to wash and dry on her own. I will be making the small for her and I already have my 7 balls of Wool-Ease. I’m ready to get knitting!
My students know I am quite a stickler when it comes to making a gauge swatch, and it is always the first step to making sure a sweater will be the size you want. The pattern gives 2 different gauges, one in stockinette stitch and another in cable pattern. I concentrated on the gauge for the stockinette stitch, which will tell me the size of the largest needle to use. The gauge calls for 18 sts = 4″. An easy way I get the gauge is to make a swatch starting with the size needle called for — a US 8 (5 mm). I like to cast on either 3 or 4 stitches on each side of the 18 sts to make a garter stitch border, which makes it very easy to measure the center 18 sts in stockinette stitch. When I made the swatch using the US 8 needles, the measurement over the 18 sts was about 3.5″ — too small. To make the stitches larger, I went up one needle size to a US 9 and the swatch measured a perfect 4″ between the garter stitch borders. For this sweater, I’m most concerned about the number of stitches, rather than rows, as it will affect the width of the garment (although the row gauge was right on as well!) I will use a needle one size smaller — US 8 — for the circular needle for the yoke of the sweater.
Now, I’m ready for the first part of this sweater –- making the beautiful cabled strip (see above) that will go all around the tunic just below the yoke. This cable pattern is a 16 row repeat pattern, so I find either marking down on paper what row I’m on or using a row counter a great help. I will be busy knitting this pattern for 44″ during the two weeks until my next post. In the meantime, print that pattern, get your yarn, get swatching, and have a very happy Thanksgiving! (Our next post will be Dec. 4.) I look forward to seeing your pictures (join our Flickr group) and hearing from you!
Related links:
Posted in Knit-Along, Knitting, Tips & How To | 145 Comments »
This is for real! Brigitte Hawley, from Benenden, in Kent, England decided to care for gave the four chickens rescued from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. She knit them sweaters to help them survive the cold winter and called her creations the “chux tux.” In the end, not only was her altruistic deed rewarded by healthy chickens, but she won a national knitting contest!
View the original article at BBC.
Posted in Knitting, Yarniverse | 4 Comments »
To me, my grandfather was larger than life. He had been the sheriff of a small town in the Adirondacks and personified elegance, authority and grace — he rode a chestnut-colored horse and wore a shiny, star-shaped badge. He was always impeccably dressed and adhered closely to a “don’t buy a lot, but buy well” philosophy. I remember his uniforms and suits and how all of the things that hung in hiscloset were tailored and pressed.
One of the items my twin sister and I inherited from him was a beautiful, handmade extra-large gray wool cable knit sweater that he had gotten in Ireland. Every winter we would switch off and either she would wear it or I would. It got to the point where I would jokingly not want to give it back to her at the end of the season and I began to think to myself, what I need to do is make one of these and our problem would be solved. The idea was fun but seemed impossible — the only thing that I had ever knit was a few basic sweaters and blankets and I had no idea how to cable.
I went to my local yarn store and had the great fortune of meeting a wonderful teacher named Beth. During one of her classes, I shared my cable sweater dilemma with her and told her with a smile that I planned to make an exact copy of it. With a large smile back she said, “Well, then let’s do it!” For several weeks, we mined stitch pattern books to try and find the series of cables we needed. Many of the diagonals were too short or too tall and there was an endless back and forth. Then the long hours of learning the twist stitches and different sequences came. We fiddled and charted and tested and finally came up with the pattern. I searched high and low for wool that was just the right color gray (which took a few weeks — had to be 100% wool in just the right shade) and finally set out to make the sweater.
The biggest challenge along the way was the saddle shoulder. I remember Beth said, “Well, we’ll just do a regular shoulder and won’t get involved with that mess!” And I remember pleading with her to help me figure out the saddle shoulder. “It has to be exactly the same!” I told her - big, huge pain in the neck that I was. I even insisted that we recreate two mistakes that I found along the way and ended up stretching out the neck a bit when I was done (Grandpa had a big neck). In the end, it was as close a replica as I could manage and took just under two years to complete.
Since then, I’ve used small sections of the pattern many times for smaller projects - once for a baby vest and another time for a scarf. I laminated the original graph and love having it in my larder to use for future designs. In many ways, I feel that when I use the pattern, I’m giving my friends a piece of my history and love for my grandfather.
Posted in Knitting, Lion Staff | 12 Comments »
