Design notes: Stars and stripes crochet fingerless mitts

Learning a new crochet stitch inspired these warm and comfy fingerless mitts, the pattern for which is my first on Love Crochet

---

THIS pattern was inspired by a video on how to crochet the star stitch, which popped up on my Facebook timeline. How might I use that stitch? I asked myself and these fingerless mitts were what I came up with.

The star stitch creates a very thick, stiff fabric that I thought would make a really cosy mitt. The yarn I used was left over from another project, but I thought it would be ideal for this one. It’s acrylic so hard wearing but also very soft. An aran weight, it crochets up quickly and the colours really show off the pattern.

I really like the stripped effect and the way the yarn really shows off the star pattern

I wanted a ribbed cuff at both ends of the mitts. These are to help keep them in place, while the one that covers the fingers can be folded back to free up those digits if you need to use them – great for if you’re shopping at a farmers’ market and don’t want to take off your mitts and risk leaving them behind (or is it just me who does that?). I’ve been on crutches recently and discovered that the mitts are a great way of keeping your hands warm while having your fingers free to grip the crutch handles.

I adapted the star stitch slightly from the instructions given in the video. I think the resulting pattern stands out more, it looks more ‘starry’. As well as amending the star slightly, I also had to work out how to create a thumb. I figured it would simply be a case of adding some extra chains at the right place in the mitts and then working these stitches until the thumb piece was big enough.

I tested out several different ways of working the stitches: double crochets, half treble crochets, slip stitches, working just the front loop, the back loop and so on. In the end I went for the simplest option and I really like the way it turned out.

Please do check it out, let all your crafting friends know about it, and maybe even consider buying it

This is the first – and as yet only – pattern I’ve got on Love Crochet. So far I’ve had no sales; obviously I hope this changes. But my timing wasn’t great – I uploaded the pattern at the end of February, when crafters would be thinking about spring and summer makes rather than cosy mitts.

The pattern is available here. Please do check it out, let all your crafting friends know about it, and maybe even consider buying it. It’s never too early to start crocheting those Christmas presents ...

How to: substitute yarn

Yarns can be costly, but with a little practice it’s easy to find cheaper alternatives

---

Patterns generally tell you which yarn to use. This is especially true of free patterns from companies such as Rowan, Red Heart or Designer Yarns, which are giving away the pattern in the hope that you'll buy the yarn. The latter is often much more costly than the former so it makes good business sense.

Yarn, some yarn at least, can be extremely expensive. Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding and Noro yarns, for example, are gorgeous – but you pay for that gorgeousness. Rowan is one of my particular bugbears. The company's yarns are expensive, but I've never seen anything particularly special about them. This is just my opinion, of course, and I'm sure there are plenty of knitters out there who love Rowan's yarns. I'm just not one of them.

The big secret here, known by all experienced knitters, is that you don't have to use the suggested yarn. It's one of those things that tends to make me a bit cross, because the less experienced knitter is the least likely to experiment with different yarns, not understanding that many of them will perform just as well as the one given in a pattern.

If I'd insisted on using this silk despite the pattern advising me otherwise then this would have been my own fault; but no, this was the yarn suggested

I made my first-ever big project in mulberry silk. This gorgeous, soft, iridescent yarn set me back a good 50 quid in total. The project was a disaster. The pattern was badly written and I didn't have the knowledge to recognise that, so I slavishly followed it to the bitter end. I wore the resulting T-shirt a handful of times and then donated it to a local charity shop. I don't know what happened to it after that, although I never saw it in the shop. Really it was nothing more than an expensive lesson: make your first few projects in acrylic, or at least cheap wool.

If I'd insisted on using this silk despite the pattern advising me otherwise then this would have been my own fault. But no, this was the yarn suggested. In a magazine aimed at beginners and a pattern slated as being an ideal starter pattern. As someone who would like to be able to describe themselves as a designer I would never suggest silk in a beginner pattern. It's just too expensive. I'd also never suggest Rowan's Kidsilk Haze, for example. It's a beautiful yarn, but so hard to work with. Alpaca is also completely inappropriate – it costs too much.

But this doesn't mean that new knitters – or indeed those on a budget – should give up. Substituting yarn is actually very easy, if you know what you're doing.

Quality control
The first thing to understand is that different yarns behave in different ways. From the point of view of knitting, wool and acrylic are pretty much interchangeable. But in use, wool is very warm, breathable and moisture wicking in ways that acrylic can't mimic; this is especially true of merino. So consider how your finished project is going to be used. A lot of winter cycling jerseys are made from merino (or at least a merino blend) because of this material's qualities. An acrylic cycling jersey would be itchy, sweaty and uncomfortable. But a winter sweater will be fine in acrylic.

A good compromise is a wool/acrylic mix. These will be much cheaper than a pure wool; they're also very easy to knit with so ideal for a beginner.

Cotton is a very difficult yarn to switch. It's tough and hardwearing, it's warm in winter and cooling in summer. It also gives exceptional stitch definition. Neither wool nor acrylic can really match it, so your best bet is to find a cheaper manufacturer. This is eminently possible.

I recently found a free pattern for a stunning picnic blanket. It was a Rowan pattern and if I'd used the yarn suggested it would have cost more than £200. Given that I could buy a picnic blanket from Primark for about a fiver, that's rather expensive. So instead I went to my favourite substitute manufacturer: Rico. This German yarnmaker creates lovely yarns at a fraction of the cost of many other companies. Wherever possible I use Rico yarns instead of Rowan or Debbie Bliss. Using Rico Essentials Cotton I saved more than £100.

Again, using a mix would have saved me even more. An acrylic/cotton mix would have had all the properties of cotton but cost much less. It's also a good way to illustrate my frustration with Rowan. The manufacturer does a very nice mix called All Seasons Cotton, but then so does James C Brett, Cotton On. The latter is less than half the cost (around £2 per ball) of the former (around £5).

Can you tell the difference? The one on the left is James C Brett's
On Cotton. It costs £2 per ball and is a cotton/acrylic mix.
On the right is Rowan's All Seasons Cotton.
Another cotton/acrylic mix, it costs about £5.

Some yarns you simply can't match. Silk and linen would examples of these. This doesn't mean you can't substitute them. It just means you have to accept that you're going to lose the qualities of these yarns. Silk, for example, is wonderfully light and iridescent. It's a beautiful yarn to work with and I've never found a man-made substitute that comes close, though several acrylics try. A shawl made in this material will have certain properties that the same shawl made in wool won't have. But this doesn't mean that the wool shawl – or even an acrylic one – won't be as lovely as the silk one.

Tension headache
Pretty much the most important thing to remember when substituting yarn is tension. All patterns should give a gauge. This will be the number of stitches/rows per 10cm using the yarn and needle size suggested. You'll then be advised to use a smaller or larger needle – depending on the tightness of your tension – to achieve that gauge.

Gauge is a very personal thing and will depend on what type of knitter you are. If you knit tightly then your gauge will will smaller than average; if you knit loosely it will be larger. Changing needle size is one way of adjusting this. So if you tend to knit loosely, changing down a needle size from that suggested (for example from 4.5mm to 4mm) could result in the right tension. Conversely, if you knit tightly go up a needle size – or even two if need be.

The other option is to change the thickness (known as weight) of the yarn. Maybe try a 4-ply instead of double knit if you knit particularly loosely. This choice actually isn't the best. Changing the weight of the yarn will change the look of the final project much more than changing the size of the needle. This option works better for items like blankets in which the final size isn't that crucial.

When substituting a yarn you should always read the ball band. This will give you the suggested needle size and gauge. Keep in mind that this might not be the same as that given in the pattern as a designer might be trying to achieve a certain look that requires a tighter or looser tension. However, matching the information given on the ball band as closely as possible will help you achieve the gauge in the pattern, even if you do need to adjust your needle size.

You should always make a tension square, but this is
especially true when substituting yarns.
Remember to block your square, too.

With things like blankets and shawls gauge isn't that important, and I recently bought a chunky yarn to make a blanket that called for an aran. I'll just use the needle size given on the ball band and won't bother with a tension square – in this case I know what I've got will be much bigger than the size given. But it's a blanket so it really doesn't matter. Think about it: who's going to argue with getting a bigger blanket?

This isn't true of items of clothing, which we want to fit properly. In this case, you need to make sure that your alternative yarn has the same gauge.

Let's assume that you're making an item of clothing for which the sizing is important: a jumper that you want to fit. The sweater is made in a 4-ply alpaca yarn. This is really quite expensive and making it would set you back more than £50 – much more than buying something similar in Marks and Sparks. So you want to make the project in acrylic or lamb's wool. Neither of these materials will exactly mimic the properties of alpaca, which is famously lightweight, moisture wicking, warm in cool temperatures and cool in warm.

These properties aren't significant, though, and you just want to make a nice sweater. The first thing to do is look at all the 4-ply yarns available to you. A little practice will make you better at this. For example, if the pattern calls for alpaca, it only takes a few attempts to realise that cotton won't make a good substitute. So once you've discounted anything that won't work you can look at those that might. For this project you should be looking for a pure wool that comes up with a similar gauge on a similar needle size. The rest can be adjusted using different needle sizes.

The Comme Ca top redux

My latest finished object: what I think and what I’d do differently

---

So the Comme Ca top is finally finished, seaming dilemmas and sleeve difficulties and all. I’ve worn it a few times already and I’m actually really pleased with the result. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t change things if I did it again.

The verdict
I like it. The fit is great and it’s a good replacement for the original top. In fact I think it looks better than the original. It’s got more structure so is more fitted. The deep ribbed hem clings nicely to my waist and there’s plenty of room to wear a top underneath.

I had to teach myself several new techniques to complete this sweater: seaming three pieces of material; making the crossover; creating cap sleeves; inventing the single line of white on the sleeves and neckline. These are all skills I can apply to future designs and which will no doubt improve my knitting.

I love you, now change
To be honest there’s not an awful lot I would do differently. When I was sewing it up I did think it might have been better in a 4 ply, as the seams would be less bulky. But now that it’s done it doesn’t actually look that bulky. I still think it would work well in a 4 ply though.

I also think I should have put in more decreases on the crossovers, creating a more obtuse angle. This would have opened up the front, meaning that more of whatever top I happen to be wearing underneath would be on show. But this is a minor point, really, and overall I’m happy with the way the piece has turned out.

Comparing the original top (left) and my remake (right). I honestly do prefer mine. Photo by Idoru Knits.

Is there a right way to design?

Charts and sketches or straight to the knitting – which method is better? Or does it all come down to your preferred way of working?

---

I’d really love to know how other designers go about designing. Do you meticulously measure, chart, make sketches and so on so that when you come to the actual making you know exactly what you’re doing and how it’ll all turn out? Or do you jump straight in with the knitting? I do the latter, it’s the way my brain works – I’m not great with paperwork and making charts just doesn’t appeal. I want to knit. I want to see the real thing taking shape.

I make a sketch of what I’m designing and I always do a swatch, usually in stocking stitch, but sometimes in the relevant stitch pattern. I use this and either my own measurements or general ones to work out how many stitches I need for each piece, and then I start knitting. That’s the extent of my planning.

When I came to sewing on the sleeves it quickly became apparent they were the wrong size

But this leads to problems. I should have finished the making up on my Comme Ca top ages ago, but when I came to sewing on the sleeves it quickly became apparent they were the wrong size. Too long and too narrow, so they didn’t fit the armholes properly and would have been too tight on the tops of my arms.

Spot the difference? The sleeve on the left was the first one;
it's too long and too narrow. The one on the right, however,
fit perfectly. Photo by Idoru Knits.

Now, if I was the charting type I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened. I’d have known exactly how many stitches and rows I needed to make the sleeves the exact size. Instead I estimated the extra number of stitches needed to make the sleeves wide enough and started experimenting with rows and decreases to see how to make them the right length. It took a couple of goes, but I’ve got it now, and I like the way it looks. I’ve still got to sew on the second sleeve and then weave in the final few ends, and then it’s done, and I can finally wear my new top.

All change?
But does this mean I should change my way of doing things? I’m sure the top – and many other items I’ve designed – would have been finished a lot more quickly if I was more methodical in my approach. A proper drawing on graph paper would mean I could work out numbers of rows for each piece, heading off problems like the one encountered here.

I worry that this would take the enjoyment out of it all, though. I knit because I like it. I design because it’s creative. Making it more methodical is surely going to make it more like, well, work. And I don’t want that.

Those sleeves pinned in place ready for sewing.
Photo by Idoru Knits.

Finishing things

It's time to bite the bullet and finish off some projects that have been hanging around for a while

---

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to finish some things off. This has meant some blocking, some sewing and little bit of learning.

Blocks off
First up was the blocking. These squares are for a crochet blanket design. I’ve made 10 of the circles-in-squares motifs and thought it best to block a few and start getting the blanket put together. I soon ran into a problem: I’ve got more pink inners than I’ve got red. So I’ve blocked what I’ve got and started joining. But it’s back to the crocheting for that one really.

Blocking the motifs, with help from Poppy.
Photo by Idoru Knits.

Sewn up
The knitting was completed on my Comme Ca crossover top quite a while ago, but I’ve been putting off the sewing up. I wanted to start wearing it, though, so out came the pins and the darning needles.

The complication with this top is that there are three bits: a back and two fronts to create the crossover. It didn’t actually occur to me that having three pieces of fabric would require more sewing until I got to this stage.

It didn’t occur to me that having three pieces of fabric would require more sewing

I’ve never joined three pieces of knitting before, and according to the internet no-one else has either. This obviously isn’t true, but a Google search didn’t turn up any information on seaming three pieces of material, although there was plenty on sewing together two.

Trying to join all three layers in one go seemed a bit complicated, so I decided to join two in the usual way and then sew the top layer on afterwards. This appears to have worked, creating a neat seam that’s not appreciably different from normal.

The seam looks to be shaping up well
and is as neat as my usual sewing.
Not sure if that's a good thing!
Photo by Idoru Knits.

Inventing a new kind of sleeve

One of the best things about design is figuring out how to do new things. The crossover top I’m making has got cap sleeves, something I’ve never knitted before. This meant some experimentation.

The sleeves have to be wide enough to cover my shoulders and the tops of my arms, but also shorter than the length of the armhole, otherwise they’re just short set-in sleeves. They also have to decrease properly so they can be sewn into the armholes. I had to work out how many stitches I’d need to make the sleeves the right width and length with the right amount of decreasing so that it would all fit together.

First attempt. The straight edge (right) was to
be sewn into the armhole; the curved edge (left)
wouldthen form the sleeve. It doesn't look
like much, but with a ribbed cuff on the curved
edge it did look good. Just not right for this project.

My first attempt was completely wrong. I tried doing them sideways. So I cast on two stitches and increased along one edge until I was about halfway across and then decreased back down to two stitches. The idea being that I would sew the straight edge into the armhole. But the finished piece wasn’t long enough. It looks nice, just not right for this item of clothing. It’s certainly something I can try to incorporate into another design.

So my second attempt I did in the more traditional manner – starting at the cuff. For this I went back to the original item and measured the width of the sleeve. Then I cast on the right number of stitches to achieve that width and started knitting. Again this took a bit of experimenting with how long to knit in straight stocking stitch before starting the decreases, how many decreases to do and where to do them and so on, but I soon managed to create a cap sleeve that looks to be the perfect size and shape. Now I just have to make the other one.

Second attempt. This one seems to fit perfectly in the armhole
gap and appears to be the right size and shape.
I'm going to add a 1x1 ribbed cuff and then it's done.

Inventing a new stitch pattern

The new stitch pattern looks like reverse stocking stitch, but is
the same on both sides and comes out double thickness.

I think I might have invented a new stitch pattern. This is exciting stuff. It was while trying to remember how to do the Chinese Wave pattern that a friend showed me at knitting group. I couldn’t quite remember what she’d said (wine might have been involved on the night), and I tried various combinations of the two stitches that make up the wave pattern: knit and slip stitch purlwise.

One variation that I particularly liked the look of was just ‘knit 1, slip 1 purlwise, repeat to end’, then repeat for next and all following rows. What you end up with is a fabric that looks like reverse stocking stitch but on both sides. Because you’re only using knit stitch the fabric lies flat, without curling up at the edges, while the combination of stranding the working yarn (the yarn you’ve got in your hand and are using to wrap around your needles to make a stitch) and the slipped stitch make a double-thickness fabric. This makes it ideal for blankets, placemats, shawls - anything that you want to stay flat. Best of all, of course, you only work half the stitches - what’s not to love?

Slip the stitch purlwise so that it doesn't twist.

At the moment I’m using up some old acrylic to make a cat blanket (my boyfriend thinks I spoil his cats; he may have a point) and I’m trying out this new stitch pattern. But I think it’s got great potential. It would make a lovely warm shawl, for example, which could be prettied up with a lace border. And if I can figure how to do colourwork with it, I think I could create some tapestry-style pieces that would make lovely cushion covers.

Free pattern

Try out the stitch with this simple free pattern to make a square with a garter stitch border. which can be adapted to create any size project, in any yarn you happen to have lying around - it’s very versatile. A thick cotton could make a surface protector to put a hot pan or teapot on; soft acrylic would make a cosy baby blanket; self-striping or self-patterning yarn could be interesting for a set of placemats. Holding two strands of yarn - maybe in different colours? - would add another dimension.

Taking the work off the needle means
you can see the doubled fabric.
It's stocking stitch on the inside.

Cast on an odd number of stitches; the exact number will depend on what yarn and needles you’re using and what you want to make. A chunky cotton on big needles to make a set of coasters might only need about 11 stitches. A baby blanket in double knit will require something more like 201. You could do a gauge swatch, or you could just cast on what looks to be the right number and then block the finished piece, which is what I did - be warned though, this is a very tight stitch pattern and your piece will shrink. Mine was 50cm at cast on but ended up as 30cm.

I used a standard double knit on 4mm needles and cast on 125 stitches.

Rows 1-4 knit to end
Row 5 k4, *k1, sl1 purlwise, k1, rpt from * to last four sts, k4
Row 6 k2, *sl1 purlwise, k1, sl1 purlwise, rpt from * to last four sts, k4
Rpt rows 5 and 6 until the piece is square
Knit four rows
Cast off
Block if required

If you’re doing small pieces you could experiment with a thinner border - begin and end the piece with three knit rows and each row with three knit stitches, or two knit rows and two knit stitches. Because the knit/slip pattern is very tight and garter stitch is quite loose, the border will take on a ‘frilled’ appearance.

Experimentation needed

I want to experiment a bit more with this. At the moment I’m knitting every slipped stitch and slipping every knitted stitch in the following rows, but what if I knit the knitted stitches and slip the slipped stitches in one following row and then swap them over? Will look any different if I slip the stitches knitwise? Or alternate purlwise and knitwise slipped stitches? Or use purl stitches instead of knit?

I’ve got loads of cheap acrylic left over from when I first taught myself to knit. Now it would seem I’ve got a way to use some of it up. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has seen this stitch pattern before.

Finished cat blanket. I added a blue
stripe because it's for a boy cat.

Damn and blast

I was at one of my knitting groups last night (3 August). This is usually a very pleasant experience. And indeed it was, complete with cake, tea and a cat. However, this particular evening was marred somewhat by the unfortunate discovery that I’d made a sodding mistake in my baby cardie.

I’d nearly finished the yoke, which meant that just the collar, button bands and sewing up was left to do. Excellent, I thought. So I did a quick count of the stitches. Wrong number. And whatever I did to fix it didn’t work. Turns out I’d cast off the wrong number of stitches on the armhole shaping on both sleeves and the back. Bugger.

I had to undo the whole yoke and sort out the cast off stitches. And then count the stitches to make sure I had the right amount this time. Moral of this story? Always count first!

You can actually see how much I've had to unravel.

Knitting for baby

One of my best friends is pregnant. This is fantastic news - they had been trying for months before they got the good news, and I know they will be fantastic parents. Notwithstanding some of the names the prospective father has suggested …

Anyway, for me this means the chance to try my hand at knitting baby clothes. And as luck would have it, just as I was finishing up my lacy t-shirt (designed by me, don’t you know), Knitting magazine showed up in the post box complete with a pattern for a lovely, simple baby cardie.

All five pieces had to be threaded onto the circ. Preferably without dropping any stitches.

Substitute
As a Debbie Bliss pattern, it calls for Ms Bliss’s Baby Cashmerino. But I’m all for supporting local businesses, so I went along to my friend’s SoSusie Yarns stall at Archway market. She doesn’t stock Debbie Bliss, so I had to for something else. Baby Rooster is 100% merino, machine washable and soft as the fur on a kitten’s nose. It’s cheaper than Baby Cashmerino and comes out at the same tension. It’s also lovely to knit with. In short, buy some. From SoSusie.

Now the wonderful thing about baby knits is just how quick they are to make. I did one of the cardie fronts in a couple of hours at a knitting group. Amazing! I started the cardie at the beginning of this month (July) and I’ve already nearly finished. And that includes putting it aside for about a week because I simply couldn’t understand how the yoke worked.

Panic!
Yeah, that yoke. I was convinced there was a mistake in the pattern. I’d happily (and correctly) made all the separate pieces - back, two fronts, two sleeves - up to the armhole shaping and then transferred all the stitches to a holder. Next it was time to transfer them all back to the needles. There were 188 of them - I bought a circular. Then it was time to knit the yoke, decreasing all the time to the collar.

Sounds simple, and it is. But I just couldn’t see how the armholes would be made. I looked on Ravelry, I looked in the next two issues of the magazine, I looked on the magazine’s forum, I searched the whole internet. Nothing. It took a very clever knitting Badger to explain it to me. It works. But I’m not sure why.

It’s not important. I’m racing through the yoke now, and it’s surely only a matter of days till the cardie is finished. And in plenty of time for baby’s birth.

Close up - see how even those stitches are? I put that down to the yarn. And my own greatness, of course.

The frill of it

As you know I’m currently working on my first design project - adapting Candy, a pattern that featured in the May 2008 issue of Let’s Knit (it’s on Ravelry here, for those with an account).

The changes I’m making aren’t huge - a V neck rather than scoop, 4-ply yarn instead of double knit, changing the colour of the yarn at the stocking stitch part to match the accents around the hem, cuffs and neck, and putting in a frill at the hem and cuffs. But I think that’s enough for a first foray into design.

Taking the measure
Now, I’m usually a ‘chuck it all in and hope for the best’ kind of girl; a philosophy I apply to everything from packing to cooking. It’s always seen me good in the past. So I was rather surprised at my methodical approach to this design. I decided exactly where I want the hem to fall - a couple of inches below the waistband of my jeans - measured myself, knitted a tension square and measured the width of a top that was the right length to be sure of the size. Using all this information, I calculated exactly how many stitches I’d need.

Next, I wanted to make the hem looser than the ‘bodice’ as it were (the 2x2 rib). I thought I’d achieve this with a 3x3 rib. This meant that my stitches had to be divisible by two and three. Luckily 144 is and it’s very close to the number I’d found I needed. Time to start knitting.

It didn’t work. The 3x3 rib certainly wasn’t looser than the 2x2, if anything it was tighter(see Exhibit A below). This wasn’t going to work at all. So I took some spare acrylic and started experimenting. How about a 1x1 rib? No. How about casting on with bigger needles, knitting one row and changing to the smaller needles? Nearly, but not quite.

I was going to have to try something different. What would happen, I wondered, if I cast on several more stitches than I needed, knitted a row and then k2tog every fourth and fifth stitch? It worked. In fact, to make the frill even more, well, frilly, I cast on and knit the first row using big needles then changed to the small needles for the decrease row. Experimentation over, it was time to start again.

And we're off ...
Problem: I didn’t know how many stitches I’d need to cast on so that I’d end up with 144 after decreasing. Divide 144 by four and add the result, 36, to 144 seemed the right thing to do. I still don’t know why this is the right thing to do, but it really is because I counted the whole thing out on paper. To complicate things further, the cast on and first row had to be in colour 1 and the decrease row (and all following rows) were to be in colour 2. But after all the maths, remembering to change colours was easy.

Of course, it’s not all been plain sailing since then. Only last night, having done some 15cm of knitting, I found a mistake about halfway down. It wasn’t a huge mistake - a couple of places where I’d purled instead of knitted and then corrected myself. But I knew it was there, so it had to go. This meant ripping out 7.5cm of knitting, just to correct two wrongly purled stitches. Being a perfectionist isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

And that’s where I am at the moment: reknitting all those ripped out rows. Yes, it’ll take ages, but for me it’s worth it.

Exhibit A. Sorry for the quality of the photo - done at night on my lap.
But you can see the lack of frill.

Much better! Just look at the frill. Frilling! And other bad puns.

How to read a chart 101

Did you know you follow charts from right to left in knitting? I didn't. Think back to my lacy shrug, the one I knitted and unknitted several times before throwing down the needles and giving in. I was reading the chart wrong the whole time. No wonder it never looked right.

I'm a journalist by trade, which means I read and write a lot (obviously, really), so everything I do is left to right. It's how I think - I'm right-brained so gravitate left. But knitting doesn't work that way. It took a lot for me to work this out, and I'm still not entirely sure I'm there, but knitting goes right to left. It only seems like it goes the other way because I'm right-handed, but think about it: when knitting a right-side row you're actually going from the right-hand side of the piece to the left (ignore that tricksy fact that the knitting goes from your left-hand needle to the right one, and look at the actual fabric).

But it gets even more confusing because now swap to the wrong side: you're still going left needle to right, and it still appears that the fabric is building right to left. But that's because you're looking at the back! Hold the piece up and look at the front - the fabric is growing left to right.

And this is how we read charts. Obviously. All right-side rows (odd numbers in my experience, but I don't know if that's always the case) should be read from right to left. Wrong-side rows are read left to right. But these often don't have a pattern, in which case they don't matter.

In fact the chart should be a visual representation of what your knitting will look like. If \ is a left-leaning increase and O a yarn over, then your knitting should have a nice left increase and a nice hole wherever those symbols appear in the chart. Simple, see?

Well, it is when you know how.

But where does this leave me and my lacy shrug? Shamefully, it leaves my shrug at the bottom of my knitting bag and me doing very nicely thank you with a cabled tunic. I need to undo the rest of the lace rows of the shrug before I can apply my new knowledge, and quite frankly I can't face it at the moment. But the nights are getting lighter and the weather warmer and soon I'll be able to sit in the garden and knit. And that's when I'll break out the shrug. Honest.

Bah humbug

I missed the Christmas deadline for my shrug. By a long shot. It's not even finished yet. In fact every time it grows something goes wrong and it shrinks again - I have to unknit the damn thing.

At one point I even got up to 51 rows. Then - on Christmas morning, no less - I realised I'd done all the lacework for the armhole shaping wrong. You have to cast off 5 stitches at each end and then decrease by 1 at each end, keeping in pattern. So I dutifully cast off and decreased while counting in the number of reduced stitches on the chart. It was only later that I realised that if I'm decreasing at each end, I have to count in at each end. Which explained why I kept ending each row in the wrong place.

A variety of cock-ups followed - dropped stitches, following the chart wrong, ending up with the wrong number of stitches. I've knitted and unknitted the same 10 or so rows that I could have knitted several shrugs, had I only done it right.

At the moment I'm back down to 41 rows. I have the requisite 91 stitches. And I'm leaving it there. I surrender. Right this minute I'm waving a metaphorical white flag.

But note: I'm not frogging. I'm taking a break. I need some space between me and the shrug before I can go back and do it proud. So I'm returning to my much easier jumper for the time being. As for the shrug - watch this space.

Lessons learned

My First Big Project, a tee-shirt, is done all bar the weaving. And I have learned some important things along the way. I shall blog about the actual tee later, but here I'm going to list some of the things I wish I'd known before hand.

1. A knitting pattern isn't gospel
Just because it says something in the pattern doesn't mean I have to do it. People are different shapes and sizes and look better in different things. A pattern that claims to fit a size 12 might not actually look right on a real size 10 lady (i.e. me), and one that says it fits size 12-16 is frankly lying. Which leads me to...


2. I need to know my own measurements
Every single one of us is different, and just because I buy size 10 clothes doesn't mean that I measure the same as a size 10 dummy. In fact I already knew this: I have to wear a belt because my waist is smaller than size 10; I can't get skinny jeans because they don't fit my hips and thighs; I often have to get size 12 tops because otherwise my lady lumps don't fit comfortably. Now I just need to apply that to my knitting. In fact, I've already begun. Last night I sat down (well, stripped off and stood up actually) with my tape measure and some of my favourite clothes and measured myself and my tops to give me a better idea of what I want.

Because, of course, the other thing that's important here is finding out what I actually like to wear. I'm over 30 so tend to avoid crop tops, so it's no good slavishly following a pattern that stops a few inches short of my waist band. I'll need to lengthen any pattern that does. Do I prefer long sleeves or short? I guess that depends on the weather, but it's something to keep in mind.

All of this means keeping a note of my measurements in my knitting bag at all times and then working out the maths to ensure that everything fits perfectly and to my taste. I should probably get a calculator too.

3. Working your first big pattern in silk isn't the best idea
And that's exactly what I did. Pure silk. It cost nearly £45. And I made mistakes, there was much of the pattern I didn't properly understand, I did the decreases wrong, it turned out too short so I had to add a crochet hem. As it turns out, it looks pretty good, especially for a first attempt. But an acrylic jumper would have cost about £10 so any mistakes wouldn't have mattered. My next project is an acrylic jumper and it did cost about £10. I feel much more confident playing about with this because even if I do mess it up, I can just buy more yarn without doing a Lehman Brothers (too soon?).


4. There is still much I need to know
This semi-magical process that is known as 'blocking' - do I have to do it with all knitted garments? Or just those that say so in the pattern? How exactly do I it? Especially with delicate fabrics such as silk - I can't steam that so do I just pin it out and leave it or use cold water? Do I need to block synthetics? I'm sure I read somewhere I don't, but now I can't be sure. I need more info. More books. More magazines.

But I'm about ready to move on to my next project now. I'm already making tension squares for it. And my next post will be about the finished tee that I've learnt so much from. And there'll be pictures. So far my blogs have been far too wordy.

In the beginning

I wasn't going to do a knitting blog; I really wasn't. There are plenty out there without me adding to the millions of words dedicated to the art of knitting. But as I near the end of my first big knitted project I find I want to record my thoughts on it. I want to note down what I did, what I learned and what I still need to learn. There may well be other people out there who read this blog and are entertained by it, but mostly it's written for an audience of one: me. Or possibly two, because my mum might want to read it. Three if you count my boyfriend. But yeah, mostly me.

My First Big Project is currently on the hook, waiting for me to finish. I should be done tonight and then I'm going to pin it out on the ironing board. I learnt a lot doing this project, mainly that I shouldn't believe knitting patterns and that a project in pure silk isn't really the best one to start out with. But there you go. My blog, which will come as soon as I've got a completed item in my hands, will explain these lessons and others. Stay tuned...