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:
Many times a knitter will select a pattern to knit only to discover that the yarn used in the pattern is either not available or there isn’t a sufficient quantity available for purchase or it costs more than what the budget allows. So, that leads to finding a reasonable substitute to use. I have seen many forum posts in Ravelry where knitters have had difficulty making a proper substitution.
The first step in substituting one yarn for another is to look for a yarn of similar fiber composition that has approximately the same weight and recommended gauge as the yarn listed in the pattern. By this, I mean if the yarn used in the pattern is worsted weight (size 4), it’s best to find another worsted weight yarn to use as the substitute. If you are purchasing from a local yarn shop, the staff may help you find a substitute. If shopping online, Yarnsub.com is a helpful website that can be used to guide your initial search. Another resource is Ravelry – if the pattern is available in the Patterns database, you can look at others’ projects to see what yarns have been used. Regardless, once you pick your substitute yarn – you’ll need to swatch to find your gauge before you cast on and begin knitting the pattern.
Question: “I’m not getting the same gauge with my substituted yarn as the gauge stated in the pattern – what do I do now?
Here are some options to consider:
Change needle size and reknit the swatch to see if you can match the gauge. If you are getting more stitches than the stated gauge – go up one or two needle sizes. If you are getting fewer stitches than the stated gauge – go down one or two needle sizes. If you succeed in matching gauge with the change in needles and you like the fabric you are producing, then simply follow your pattern and knit with the size needle that helps you get gauge.
If you still can’t get gauge after changing needle sizes, but you like the fabric you are getting, calculate the number of stitches you need to cast-on to match your chest measurement and check the pattern to see if there is a size that uses the same number of stitches. You may still need to make adjustments in shaping if your row gauge is different from the pattern.
Use the pattern as a guide only – use the schematic plus any adjustments you need to make and then determine the stitch counts and rows needed to make the garment with your own gauge. (A good reference for this is Knitting Pattern Essentials by Sally Melville)
Here’s the next issue for substituting one yarn for another: Does the substitute have the same weight and yardage as the original yarn? If it does – you are in luck and can simply buy the same amount of yarn as what is given in the pattern for the size of the garment you want to knit. (Remember to buy an extra one for swatching.) However, in most cases there is a difference in yardage and/or weight between the substitute and the original yarn – which leads to the question: “How much of my substitute yarn do I need? This brings us back to the basic math I covered in my previous post: “To determine the number of skeins, balls or hanks of yarn you need: Divide the number of yards by the number of yards in the skein. Or divide the total number of grams by the number of grams of the skein. Remember that you will want one extra skein for swatching. “
Well, my Summer knitting project of a dozen dishcloths has now drifted into Fall. I completed Dishcloth #7 and #8 before Summer ended and then got busy with other projects and just left my needles and yarn waiting for me to come back and knit some more. So, I started Dishcloth # 9 on Sunday and finished it up today. Hopefully, I will finish the last three dishcloths before the end of the Fall season. Here are the completed projects:
Dishcloth #7 — Valentine Hearts
Pattern from Leisure Arts “Knitting Kitchen Brights Dishcloths” brochure. Yarn: Peaches & Cream Cotton, color Teal. This is a reverse stockinette stitch pattern on a stockinette stitch background that resembles a cut-out of hearts that I made when I was a child. It’s an easy knit pattern over 20 rows.
Dishcloth #8 — Zigzag Eyelet
Pattern from Leisure Arts “Knitting Kitchen Brights Dishcloths” brochure. Yarn: Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton, color Natural. Lovely little lace pattern done over a multiple of 11 stitches plus 2 and 12 rows.
Dishcloth #9 — Climbing Lattice
Pattern from Leisure Arts “Knitting Kitchen Brights Dishcloths” brochure. Yarn: Sugar’n Cream, color Cool Breeze Ombre. This is an interesting lace pattern that combines left twists with a four stitch eyelet pattern. I was getting tired of solid color yarns, so I went with this ombre — I really like the way it knitted up.
Wow! That looks even better on the darling GS! I love this pattern and how the different colors really make the pattern pop!