I have finished the cardigan sweater I was knitting for my GS. Now, I started this project in October 2009, well ahead of this little boy’s anticipated arrival. I had always intended to knit it as a size 12 months — I just hadn’t intended for him to be 9 months old by the time I finished! Ah…best intentions, too much ambition …and too many other WIPs to distract me.
Actually, I knit the cardigan in about 3 months. I had started this project planning to knit both a romper and a cardigan to match. I had the romper about three-fourths complete when I decided that it wasn’t what I wanted for my GS. So I set it aside for a bit and then realized I better get busy knitting or the sweater would be too small before it was ever finished.
Here’s the little guy in the sweater:
He’s a real cutie, isn’t he? Not that I’m a proud Grandma or anything like that…. 🙂
Brief run-down on the project details: Pattern was from a Dale of Norway pattern booklet, Nr. 203 “Baby Designs”. Yarn was Dale of Norway Baby Ull — colorways 4221 (red), 5735 (navy), 6435 (teal). The body is done in a three color, slipped stitch pattern, which I identified from Barbara G. Walker’s “A Treasury of Knitting Patterns” as the waffle weave. I will post about this pattern later.
Here’s a link to all the project details in my Ravelry projects: GS’s Cardigan.
In my last post on knitting needles, I discussed the various options for needle materials and types of needles. Today, I will go over needle tips and cable lengths for circular needles.
Needle Tips:
Needle tips vary in both length and sharpness. The sharpness of your needle tip can be an important factor in how your knitted stitches turn out. For instance, it is easier to do knit lace patterns where you are doing increases and decrease with a needle tip that is fairly sharp. A sharp point is helpful when you are attempting to insert your needle into two or more stitches to make a decrease. Sharp points also work well for knitting cables. If you are using a yarn that tends to split when being knit, a blunter needle tip may be a better option than a very sharp one.
Tips of Different Brands of Needles
Now, if you are a knitter that uses your finger to push the left needle tip while transferring a stitch to the right needle – you probably won’t enjoy knitting with very sharp pointed needles. (Your finger will get quite sore as you knit. So, if you decide to use a needle with a sharp tip, you may need to alter your technique to avoid this problem.) The sharpness of knitting needle tips varies from brand to brand. In my experience, my Knit Picks needles have a sharp tip, while my Addi needles are less sharp. Likewise, the sharpness of needle tips can vary with different needle materials. I find my new Hiya Hiya interchangeable tips to be sharper than my Knit Picks needles. I have also purchased a few ChiaGoo needles and they have sharp tips. I actually poked a hole in my index finger while knitting with the ChiaGoo’s.
Needle and Cable Lengths:
The length of a circular knitting needle is measured from tip to tip – and includes both the needle and the cable. This is true of fixed and interchangeable needles. Most fixed circular needles have tips that are about 5 inches long. Interchangeable needle tips can be purchased in lengths from 2 ¾ inches to 5 inches. The matching cables come in lengths that result in the total length of the needle – i.e., if you buy a 24-inch cable for a 2 ¾ inch tip, the cable is actually 18.5 inches – but when you attach the needle tips the total length will be 24 inches. The length of the needle tips is a matter of preference, and you may need to try different lengths to determine what works best for you.
For general purpose knitting, a 24-inch circular needle will usually handle enough stitches for a project. I have several 24-inch cables in my collection and use them frequently. Shorter length needles work better for projects like hats, mittens, and socks. I use 16-inch circulars to knit hats most of the time. Some knitters love using 9-inch circulars for knitting socks – but I have not tried them.
Longer cables are good for projects with a large number of stitches (100+)– like shawls and large size sweaters. Longer cables are also needed when using the Magic Loop method for small diameter knitting. When using Magic Loop, I use either a 40-inch or a 60-inch cable. You can purchase cables for longer lengths from 30 inches to 60 inches.
If you prefer to use the Two Circular Needle method for small diameter knitting, 24-inch circulars work well. Some knitters like to use one needle that is longer than the other when using this method as it helps them know which needle to use for each side of the knitted item. Again, it is a matter of personal preference.
DPN’s and new options
I have a few DPN’s but I rarely use them. This is a matter of preference. Some knitters are devoted DPN users and don’t like to use magic loop or two circulars for small diameter knitting. Technically, circular knitting needles are double pointed needles. But I usually think of DPN’s as a set of double pointed, straight needles with either 4 or 5 needles. The information above regarding materials and sharpness of tips apply to DPNs also.
New options for DPNs are now available. These needles have a short flexible cable in the middle. They are used in the same manner as straight DPN’s. These include:
I’ve signed on for a Ravelry group called “10 in 2010”. The idea is to identify 10 knitting projects you want to complete in 2010 and share your progress with the group. It’s a variation of a knit along.
Hat & matching scarf for me — yarn and pattern to be determined
This is an easy way to set some goals for knitting projects. If you are on Ravelry and are interested in joining, go to Groups and look for “10 in 2010”. Happy Knitting.
Okay — I swatched some more on this cardigan project. Earlier I had posted about Things Learned from a Swatch. Well, I continued to be dissatisfied with my color selections — I really just do not like that light aqua color for this sweater. So, I went back to my LYS and bought up all the teal color they had — which is the color I really wanted for the main color on the cardigan. The problem is that there isn’t enough of this color to do both a cardigan and a romper to match.
So, standing in front of the yarn bin at the store, I decided that I’d try using a combination of the teal, the red AND a darker blue. There was enough of the darker blue in one dye lot to do the romper and there was 1 ball of another dye lot left. Since I only need 1 ball of the darker color to do the alternating 3 color pattern in the cardigan, I bought this ball as well because the color variation is not that different between the two dye lots and since it will be mixed in with the other colors, it should work out okay.
Here’s my swatch with the new color scheme added. The darker blue color definitely shows up better than the lighter blue against the teal color that I want for the main color. I have started knitting the romper in the darker blue and I think I’m going to really like the coordinated outfit that will result. This project is a bit challenging because I am knitting on size 0 and size 1 needles to get the right guage. Lots and lots of small stitches…
Here’s my swatch with the new color scheme added. The darker blue color definitely shows up better than the lighter blue against the teal color that I want for the main color. I have started knitting the romper in the darker blue and I think I’m going to really like the coordinated outfit that will result. This project is a bit challenging because I am knitting on size 0 and size 1 needles to get the right guage. Lots and lots of small stitches…
Wow! That looks even better on the darling GS! I love this pattern and how the different colors really make the pattern pop!