As I did for her big brother, I knit a blanket for Charlotte using cotton yarn. For this blanket, I used “I Love This Cotton!” yarn from Hobby Lobby. This is a lovely yarn that knits up into a soft fabric with wonderful drape. It’s machine washable — which is a must for baby items.
The pattern is Leafy Baby Blanket by Leyla Alivea. It is a free pattern available on her blog, Silk & Wool and also on Ravelry. It’s an easy lace pattern — and as you can see — I got great stitch definition with the yarn.
Other details: Yarn – I Love This Cotton! in Colorway 74 Pink, 180 yds/skein. Used 5 skeins(900 yds)
Needles: US Size 8 (5.00 mm)
Finished measurements: 36″ X 40″
In my previous post, I discussed how to make a preliminary swatch to select the size needle that gives you a fabric that you like and then how to knit a gauge swatch. The gauge swatch is measured to give you your stitch gauge (stiches per inch) and your row gauge (rows per inch).
At this point, you might think you are ready to cast on and begin knitting your sweater – BUT….
Are you planning on using some type of ribbing for the bottom, cuffs and neckline of the garment? Are you planning on using a certain textured stitch pattern, a lace pattern or cables in your sweater? Will you be combining two or more stitch patterns in the body of the sweater? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then you need to do more swatching.
Swatches with Borders: Have you ever knit something with a definite edge made by knitting either garter stitch or seed stitch and then found that the edges curl? The reason this happens is usually due to a difference in gauge between the stitch pattern used for the border and the stitch pattern used for the body. Thus, if you are knitting piece with a border that is different than the body of the piece, knitting a swatch with the borders on it provides you with an opportunity to make adjustments to minimize or eliminate the problem. Suzanne Bryan has a nice video on this that you may find helpful, here’s the link:
Note: I don’t recommend using garter stitch borders on gauge swatches even though others do. The border tends to distort the swatch and may affect the accuracy of your measurements.
Swatches of Ribbing: Ribbing by nature tends to “pull in”. Which means that 30 stitches of ribbing will have a smaller width than 30 stitches of stockinette stitch. How much of a difference can be quite significant and affect the way the garment fits around the hips and neck as well as around the wrists on a long sleeve. Also, some knitters find that their ribbing stitches appear larger than their stockinette stitches due to changes in tension. One solution for this is to use a smaller needle when ribbing – but if you do that you may need to have more stitches to get the right width of fabric for a proper fit. Knitting a swatch with your selected ribbing pattern followed by a transition to the stitch being used for the body of the sweater will provide you with the information you need to decide what you want to do. You might want to knit separate swatches with different ribbing patterns to select which ribbing you prefer to use in your garment. (You don’t have to use the same ribbing that the designer did for the pattern if you don’t want to…just saying.)
Swatches of Stitch Patterns:
In this post, stitch patterns refer to textured pattern stitches, lace patterns, cable patterns, etc. Basically any grouping of stitches that combine to make a pattern from the variations in stitches used.
I think making a swatch of the stitch patterns used in a written pattern provides a great deal of useful information about how the finished garment will look and feel – and fit! It’s also good practice before doing it as part of your finished item.
Keep in mind that most written patterns only give gauge in stockinette stitch and while that tells you what the designer’s gauge is – it does not tell you how the gauge changes in the stitch pattern(s) used in knitting the garment. If you find a written pattern that states the gauge of the stitch pattern – great. But does your gauge match that? Swatching is the only way you will know.
If you are only using one stitch pattern, then knitting a swatch with two or more pattern repeats will help you figure out how the pattern affects the width and length of the garment and what adjustment you might need to make to obtain the correct size of garment you want. If you combine it with your ribbing, you will see how the ribbing affects the transition to the main fabric of the garment.
If you are combining more than one stitch pattern within the main fabric of a garment, I recommend doing individual swatches for each stitch pattern to use as a gauge swatches.
Crest of Wave Lace Pattern
Garter Stitch
Embossed Moss Stitch Ribbing
Then to see what happens when the stitch patterns are combined, you should do a swatch large enough to include all of the stitch patterns used in the order you plan to use them. This may end up being a very large swatch – even enough stitches for the back of your garment. This type of swatch will provide you with a lot of helpful information and give you insight into what adjustments you might need to make for a great fitting garment. More on this in a later post.
The Cable cast on is very similar to the knitted cast on. It starts the same way as the knitted cast on, where you make a slip knot and place it on your needle and then knit through the loop to form the next stitch. After this step, instead of knitting another stitch and putting it back on the right needle, you insert your needle between the two stitches to form the next loop and then place that back on the right hand needle. You continue making stitches by going between two stitches to make the loop.
Where I use the Cable cast on:
When I need a firm edge such as the border on a blanket
When I need to add stitches at the end of a row
Making a one -row buttonhole
Backwards Loop (e-Wrap) Cast On is a very basic cast on and is one of the cast ons often taught to beginning knitters. It starts with a short tail and a slip knot placed on a knitting needle. You then take the working yarn and wrap it over your thumb , insert the needle under the loop on the outside of your thumb and let it slide off your thumb onto the needle and tighten up the stitch.
Where to use the Backwards Loop Cast on:
This is an elastic cast on that can be used for most projects needing a stretchy edge (hats, gloves). You can also use it to add stitches in the middle of rows (i.e. the underarm of a top down sweater or at the base of the fingers of a glove.) You can also use it to add stitches at the end of a row. The loops between stitches can look sloppy so you need to pay attention to how you make your loops.
Here are links to YouTube videos for these two cast ons:
I have finally finished my second pair of SFS (Socks for Soldiers) OD regulation socks. This pair was team knit with another SFS knitter who knit the legs on her circular sock machine. I am amazed at how long these socks are when they are finished.
While I was finishing up these socks, the President of SFS emailed a request out to members for cotton washcloths. So, since I needed a break from knitting on very small needles, I knit up three cotton washcloths to go along with the socks.
In addition to the socks and washcloths, I purchased a few toiletries and some non-perishable goodies to send as part of my package to SFS. All of this will get pooled with supplies from other knitters and placed into a larger shipment that will make its way to one of the military units on our list. It feels good to know that a soldier serving somewhere outside of the U.S. will be getting special treats from home.
