Yay! Completed the sleeve, no problem, at least 5gs left! So happy, I jumped right in to get that neckband done! My memory is not quite what it used to be but even though I think I know what I’m doing, it has been a few weeks since I made all those swatches. I did what I thought was going to work with the English rib happening on the rib bed and, almost holding my breath, hung the neckline. I’ll admit, even though I’m usually telling you to get rid of the waste yarn once you’ve got every thing hung, I left it on the neckline, just in case! Ha! Didn’t need it! Looks good! Can hardly wait to ge ..read more

That’s running-out-of-yarn-anxiety!  Just to recap, I had a small cone of 70g and an almost full cone, 490g, both ‘surf’ but turns out they’re different dye lots! They look the same on the cone but we’ve all been there - that line when you add the next one in tells the tale! What I’m doing to disguise it is using the small cone for the ribbed bands - 10 rows of 1X1 on the body, just enough to hem it and hold it down, and, 30 rows of 2X2(2X1) industrial rib for the cuff, giving it a little more oomph and body for a man-cuff -  the line created by the variance in the stitches between t ..read more

After the second neckband swatch, added to the opposite side of the tension swatch, I noticed there was something weird happening after the RTR (remove, turn, rehang).  Maybe it wasn’t a mistake - possibly it just showed up more in the cotton because there’s better stitch definition than the wool used in the NBT sample. And then I thought, what the heck! Why am I doing that RTR?  Actually it’s because for this neckband technique to work properly, you need to have the wrong side of the neckband facing you when the right side of the neckline is hung on top. But I meant, why? If I switc ..read more

Back to the Suva situation, I had already made a couple of swatches, with the ‘surf’ a pale blue/gray and cream combination-it’s hard to tell what colour is predominant and it seems to change with the lighting. In my mind I wanted to use a contrast colour for the neckband at least - couple of reasons - manfriend has a very harsh beard/stubble, even though he shaves daily - it’s almost like a wire brush and I’ve noticed if he has a close-fitting neckline and a softer fabric, it gets abraded and brushed-looking so I hoped using a mercerized cotton, like Bonita or Cannele would make a harder-wear ..read more

Remember that NP pullover I was making around Christmas time - on the LK150, with that tweedy Forsell - here’s the start of the story and it went on and on…http://knitwords.blogspot.com/2023/12/hand-knit-or.html  I never did post a photo because even my plan B didn’t really work - it still looked dorky! The length was all wrong! Buoyed by my victory of lengthening manfriend’s plain pullover, I was wondering how I could knit down on the NP sweater. Obviously, more rib, the ‘easiest’ way, wasn’t working. Could I pull off the rib, rehang it and maybe add another section of patterning and the ..read more

After that outstanding success with Pebbles, I wanted to use Suva again and go with another neckline from NBT - more on that later, because I also figured I’d make it for manfriend - he hasn’t had a new sweater in some time so I went looking for one of his old ones to measure and figure out what to do. I came across one from 2012 - it was totally plain, (so plain, I never even told you about it) standard gauge stockinette, hems and all, in a really nice tweedy, burgundy/ivory Jagger Bros cotton/wool yarn that I totally recall thinking I should never have used for him - could have kept it ..read more

undefeated…determined…intrepid…steadfast…relentless… All words that I think apply to me! No quitting here!  I made a sleeve just to prove to myself that I could concentrate long enough to get that trim to work properly. Got the cuff done perfectly and made the sleeve while contemplating my options. I recalled using that trim in a design way back in Knitwords #6, Laced With Diamonds and then remembered using a stripped-down version in KW#12,  Sampler Lace.  I had every book out! Decided to use the abridged version for the body hems at least.  The rib for the body ..read more

Had my plan - using the 'pebble' Suva in that 1RT at T9 (for a thinner fabric) with fancy ribs ('Tuck & Triangle Rib' from The Neck's Best Thing) for the bands, using a plain, smooth yarn in a  contrast colour - 'paper bag tan' (my all-time favourite yarn-colour name!) cotton, because I figured all the fanciness of the tuck and transfers and outlines would show up so much nicer in the solid colour, with the added benefit that my main yarn would go farther and I wouldn't be concerned about running short. Sat down with such hopes and aspirations of success, armed with the NBT instruct ..read more

Stoked with the success of the denim Tennessee Tunic - I wore it for three days straight! I’m going with those ideas to make another one. The cuddly yarn - have some Forsell Suva, a wool/cotton thick/thin, slubby blend that should do the trick.  In the tweedy Suva, I have a full cone and partial, same dyelot in ‘surf’ a cream/pale blue/gray combo, total of 550g and a single cone, 500g, ‘pebble’, a tan/ivory combo. I seem to recall this yarn goes a long way, but ya never know!  Really like the shape of that tunic so my next attempt is the same but different.  A bit shorter and ..read more

The ribbed cuff is so nice!  Glad I went with the 2X2 (2X1) arrangement - it really fills out nicely and adds that extra  bit of firmness for this relatively thin yarn. Kind of excited to translate this to the neckline!  I pulled booklets and swatches and settled on a ribbed band with that little stockinette border that’s hand stitched...yeah, it’s in ‘The Neck’s Best Thing’, #24, called 1x1 rib with casing…but I’m sticking with the 2X2.  Notice, in the photo, the top green waste yarn was for the cast-on edge of the rib, then you see the rib in the denimy yarn. Transfer a ..read more