Part 1: Freeing Yourself from a Written Pattern or How to Use the Yarn of Your Choice

March 19, 2010| Lindy| 0 Comment | 8:00 am

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In my last post, I discussed the issues related to trying to substitute one yarn for another and suggested at the end of my post that if you want to use a yarn of a different weight & gauge than what the pattern calls for – you can design your own custom sweater using the pattern as a guide.
Today, I will focus on the first of two approaches for doing just that. WARNING – you must be prepared to take measurements, do a proper gauge swatch and get out your calculator. Yes, we will be doing some math…

Approach #1 – Use EZ’s Percentage System.

Elizabeth Zimmerman published her “unvented” percentage system for designing sweaters in the Knitting Workshop and gave us many examples of how to use it in her other books. EZ was always someone who dealt with knitting in a pragmatic fashion and basically cut through all the fluff and gave clear explanations of basic concepts. I encourage you to read all of her books – but if you want the complete explanation of her percentage system — Knitting Workshop is the source.

I am describing EZ’s Percentage System for two basic sweater designs – the yoke sweater and the Raglan sleeve sweater. Both are knitted in the round. You need to take some basic body measurements:

Width around the chest (Chest Measurement) [CM] The Chest Measurement is the “Key Measurement” (100%) and the starting point.
Body length to Underarm (Underarm Measurement)
Sleeve length to Underarm (Sleeve Length)
You must know your stitch gauge or Stitches per Inch [SPI]

The math follows:
CM X SPI = # stitches needed for the body of the sweater.

For a Yoke Sweater the basic percentages of the above are:
Body = 100%
Wrist = 20%
Upper Arm = 33%
Underarm = 8%
Circumference of Shoulders = 133%
Neck = 40%

For a Raglan-Sleeve Style Sweater the basic percentages are:
Body = 100%
Wrist = 20%
Upper Arm = 33%
Neck = 40%

To calculate – multiply the total number of body stitches by the percentage.

I think you get the idea. If you want to try using EZ’s percentage system, I recommend you either borrow EZ’s Knitting Workshop from your library or a friend or purchase it.

Here’s a link that will take you to Amazon.com: Knitting Workshop

I have also created an Excel Spreadsheet that will make the calculations for you. You can download it here: EPS_Calculator Spreadsheet.

Next post, I will outline another approach to sweater design.

Part 2: Freeing Yourself from a Pattern – Step 1, Take Good MeasurementsPart 2: Freeing Yourself from a Pattern – Step 1, Take Good Measurements

In my last post, I outlined how to use EZ’s Percentage System to design a sweater. Today, I will spend some time answering a question from Amanda, who asked, “What do you do when the pattern does not have instructions for YOUR size?”

This is very frustrating for those of us who are either smaller or larger than the range of sizes given by the pattern designer. I have never fully understood why some designer’s only develop their patterns for “Small, Medium, & Large”, though the trend seems to be to at least go up to “Extra Large” in current knitting publications. But, if your measurements do not correspond to the designer’s definition of “medium”, you may still find yourself with a sweater that is not well-fitting.

Isn’t that the goal for all of us? To knit a well-fitting garment? So, once again, the answer is to use the pattern as a general guideline and develop your own sweater according to your own measurements. Your measurements are your starting point.

There are two ways to take your measurements:
#1: Take measurements from a sweater that fits you the way you like/love.
Lay the sweater out flat on a table or other flat surface and take the following measurements:

The Chest Measurement [CM] – this is the widest point of the sweater, usually right below the underarm. Measure from side seam to side seam. Remember that since you are measuring with the garment laying flat, that the actual chest measurement is twice this amount. (Important if you will be knitting in the round).

Shoulder Width[ShW] – this is the measurement across the shoulders from the seams or the point where the arm meets the body. This measurement is important for a proper fitting sweater.

The Neck Measurment [NM] – measure this for both the front and the back and note if the garment has shaping that creates depth – due to a difference in the front neckline from the back.

Armhole Depth [AD] – measure from the top of the sleeve at the shoulder seam down to the underarm.

Sleeve Length [SL] – measure from the top of the sleeve at the shoulder seam to the beginning of the sleeve.

Wrist Measurement [WM] – measure the width of the wrist at the bottom of the sleeve.

Sleeve Width [SW] – measure the widest part of the sleeve.

Side Seam Length [SSL] – measure from the bottom of the sweater to the point where the sleeve meets the body at the underarm.

Back Length [BL] – at the center of the back – measure from the center of the back neck edge to the bottom of the sweater.

Front Length [FL] – at the center of the front (or front edge if a cardigan) – measure from the front neck edge to the bottom of the sweater.

Other measurements that you may want –
width of sleeve at the elbow
width at waist (if sweater tapers in at the waist)

I am including a diagram that you can use to record these measurements – click here: Measurements Diagram.

#2 – Take your measurements using your body.
Note – this is best accomplished with the help of a good friend. Measurements to be taken are the same as above, only taken directly from your body. You will need to figure in “ease” when calculating your pattern changes.

Now a few words about “Ease”. Ease is an extra amount of fabric that provides a garment with movement and shaping. When you take your measurements from your sweater – they will include the ease of that sweater. When you take actual body measurements, you will need to add in an appropriate amount of ease.

Close fitting garments have less ease and in some cases have negative ease, while loose fitting garments may have a significant amount of ease. Generally, the guidelines are that a classic fit has 7-10% ease, a close-fit will have a negative 7-10% ease and a very loose fit may have up to 20% ease.

So, now you have all the measurements you need. Take a look at the pattern you are wanting to use – hopefully, there is a diagram in the pattern that gives the finished measurements for each size. If not, you may want to use my diagram to write them down. Make note of the differences between your measurements and those in the pattern.

Also, make note of any textured stitch patterns or colorwork patterns used in the pattern. You need to know what the base number of stitches is for the pattern repeats. This is usually something like: “7 stitches over 9 rows” or “7 stitches, plus 1 over 9 rows”. Write this down – you will need it later.

That’s enough for today. Next post: Step 2 – Analyze the pattern.

Socks for CharlotteSocks for Charlotte

I knit two little pairs of socks for Charlotte shortly after she was born. In fact, while I was visiting at the hospital, my DS traced one of Charlotte’s footprints so that I could take it home a make a pair of socks for her little feet.

Her little foot measured 3 inches from the tip of her big toe to her heel. I used some sock yarn I had on hand in a variegated shades of pink and a size US 1 (2.25 mm) 32 inch long circular. The socks were knit using Magic Loop, two at a time. I knit them from the cuff down. These little socks knit up quickly and I made a second pair using another skein of yarn that was a light pink color. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the second pair. DIL reported that these socks stayed on her feet when most do not.

I wrote up the pattern for these socks. Each pair takes only 10 g of sock yarn, so it would be a great way to use up leftover yarn from your bigger sock knitting projects. 🙂
Here is the link to the pattern: Newborn Size Socks

New Local Yarn ShopsNew Local Yarn Shops

I recently visited two new yarn shops that opened in my area. They are both lovely shops and filled with some lovely yarns – some of which aren’t carried by the local yarn shop that has been the only shop in the city for a number of years. Each shop offers a different variety of yarns than the other, so I am hoping that both of them can be successful. We certainly have a growing number of knitters in our community, so having new yarn shops is quite appealing.

ImagiKnit Yarn Shop is located in the Bel-Air Plaza at 120^th and West Center Road, Suite 602, Omaha, NE. This shop does not have a website, but does have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ImagiKnit-Yarn-Shop/263171999129. The owner of this shop moved her business to Omaha from Hastings, NE.

Wooly Mammoth Yarn Shop is located in Rockbrook Shopping Center at 108^th and West Center Rd, Omaha, NE. This shop also does not have a website, but does have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wooly-Mammoth-Yarn-Shop/150211221662670. The owners of this shop recently moved from Kearney, NE.

I’m sure the knitters in Hastings and Kearney miss having the shops in their towns, because they are both wonderful yarn shops and we are very lucky to have them here in Omaha.

Appealing, as well, are the yarns I purchased from both shops. (I couldn’t resist).

From Imagiknit, I purchased a skein of Smooshy fingering weight yarn from Dream in Color. The colorway is 2014 September and it just spoke to me of autumn. It has this delightful mix of fall colors: reds, purples, golds, greens in various shades. See the swatch below

I also bought a skein of Fabjous Fibers Cheshire Cat in the colorway Off with Her Red – which blends perfectly with the Smooshy colors. I am using these yarns to knit a shawl using the Merlot pattern, which I purchased at Ravelry. This will be the topic of another post.

From Wooly Mammouth, I purchased 4 skeins of Addiction yarn by Claudia Hand Painted Yarns – also fingering weight yarn. I bought 2 skeins in the colorway Teal and 2 skeins in the colorway Prussian Soldiers. I plan to knit another two color shawl using these yarns, but I haven’t decided on a pattern yet. I like the Merlot pattern, so I may choose to do that again – but there are so, so many lovely shawl patterns in my queue…

If you are in Omaha: check out our new local yarn shops. 🙂