Swatching For A Mitered Square Blanket

 The blanket I am currently working on, and hope to finish in the next week, is making me want to get started on a mitered square blanket.  I have watched Cheryl Brunette's mitered square afghan YouTube videos multiple times and think now might be the time to get started.  This is the year I have mentioned for using up all the yarn so a good time to get rolling on mitered squares.  I am making progress on the using it up project: the acrylic is almost half gone.  The wool yarn, fabric, and fiber is another story altogether...!

Since I definitely buy into the idea of knitting swatches before knitting a big project, I thought I would make some swatches for this blanket and get an idea of what I like and what I don't like.

These four swatches taught me things I wanted to know.  The upper left swatch is knitted with an odd number of stitches...in this case 31 stitches.  This necessitates, at least for me, moving stitch markers.  It is a nice-looking block with a nice definite diagonal line across the front of the square.

The rest of the swatches are even numbers of stitches--30 stitches here, and uses one stitch marker in the middle.  The bottom left swatch was knit to two stitches before the marker then SSK was done, the marker moved and a K2Tog knitted then finished the row.

The bottom right swatch was knit the same except that I switched the SSK and K2Tog so...knit to two stitches before the marker then K2Tog, slip marker, then SSK.  I liked the look of this better than the opposite one.

These first three swatches used the cable cast on.  I did not really like how it looked so the upper right swatch was cast on using the German Twisted Cast On, 30 stitches with marker between stitch 15 and stitch 16, then K2Tog, slip marker, SSK, knit to end of row.  All the alternate rows on all of the swatches were plain knitting.

As far as I am concerned, the upper right swatch is the one I will use.  

OH, BIG FORGET!  The first stitch of every row was slipped purlwise with yarn in front and the last stitch on every row was knit through the back loop.  This gives a beautiful chain for picking up when it is time to add in the next square.  

There are many videos for making mitered square blankets/afghans.  I suggest watching a few of them, then make your own swatches to see what you like.  I used the same yarn and the same needles so I could really tell. In this case it was I Love This Yarn and US 8 needles.  I think it is entirely satisfactory.  I will probably watch Cheryl Brunette again and follow her number of stitches to cast on since I like the idea of multiple size squares in the same blanket.  I just think I will use these easy to follow decreases because the stitch marker stays in the same place all the time so no real thinking is involved.

Please feel free to comment on my decision.  I might still change my mind since I am not ready to start...

Knitting for the Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild

While in Portland the kind people at the Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild allowed me to come to one of their meetings when they had Cheryl Brunette, one of my knitting heroes, come to speak. I LOVED listening to Cheryl in person and so enjoyed meeting her and speaking with her personally.  She is such a fabulous woman and a knitting mentor to thousands.

When we were at the meeting one of the people did a show and tell about a neckerchief she had made for the Fort re-enactors.  She invited us at the meeting to make and contribute more of them.  I took the pattern fully intending to make one of them. Immediately I went to several local yarn outlets (you might know I would find some wherever I am...) but they did not have the required yarn.

When I emailed the nice lady at the FVKG and told her I was not going to come through for them after all since I could not find the yarn, she kindly sent me some!  So I started the neckerchief right away.  As you will have noticed, over the last two years I have done a LOT of knitting, but only in fits and starts, and the Knitting Guild project got put away as things became more and more busy in life.

Well, yesterday I was a day I needed to do some sitting so I pulled out the bag with the neckerchief in it.  I did not like the way it looked so I tore it out and started again.  This is what it looks like as of this writing:

The brown is the border and the yellow will be close to the neck.  It is all garter stitch and quite easy to do.  You will notice this semi-nice eyelet border.  That took me a bit to get right but only because my head was in some other place, but when I restarted from scratch, something clicked and it is going together well.  There are about 30 stitches in the yellow section. The brown section stays 20 stitches the whole distance. There needs to be 80 stitches in the yellow section so you can see I have a while to go.

Anyone who wants to knit this themselves can go to Knitty.com and find the pattern.  Here is the link.

Yes, that think that looks like a frayed rag quilt on the floor really is a frayed quilt that I made years ago and used to pad some of our more fragile items in the move.  I am using for a rug under my knitting chair until such time as the couch and loveseat arrive and we make other plans...

Knitting with Cheryl Brunette!

Cheryl Brunette has been one of my knitting heroines for many years.  She taught me how to use our Bond Incredible Sweater Machine and then the Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine...the same thing only a little better.  She has many videos on using the Bond on YouTube.  She has many more videos on many knitting topics, every one of them superb.

Sister F., A kind Church Service Missionary came into the office one day a couple of months ago and told me about an event where Cheryl was going to give a presentation just "across the River" in Vancouver.  Yay!  That was something I thought we could do.  Permission received from President, and now I just had to wait for the magic day.

In the meantime, I finished up the baby sweater I had been working on following Cheryl's 15-episode series on YouTube--How To Knit A Sweater.  I resolved to take the sweater with me to show her the results of her teaching.  Sister F. brought hers along, too!

Cheryl Brunette holding the baby sweater I made.  You will notice the humpy-ness...that came from putting it in the washer and going to the office.  Probably I could have helped it by wetting it again and blocking it severely.  No time for that.

The Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild sponsored the meeting and invited everyone to come.  There were lots of people there, sitting at tables so they could have their knitting convenient.  The first thing this guild does at their meeting is to have a show and tell.  Everyone who brought knitting with them, came up and showed it, and remarkably, told about it, too!  Since only one person was up there, I decided to take the bull by the horns and go up, too.

It was fun to show the sweater and share that it was one of Cheryl's projects.  Two other people came up then Sister F. came up, and one more, I think.  When I said my name,  Cheryl perked up, and came over and gave me a hug.  I was so pleased.  I have sent her probably ten emails over the years.  She has responded to each of them.  Such a nice lady.

Her presentation on gauge was so useful.  I had heard much of it before in the various videos but it was so lovely to hear it in person.  She also told me how to fix a problem I have with knitting stockinette flat...rowing out, is what she called it.  I will try it the next time.

A note about Dear One here:  he was so kind to go along on this trip.  He drove.  Thank goodness.  We did not take the most direct route because of potential traffic issues.  We went out 185th to Old Germantown Road and over the mountain, dropping down on Bridge Street then zigzagged our way over The River and through North Vancouver.  We arrived in plenty of time to each our leftovers from the potluck (me) and egg sandwiches (Dear One).  The trip took over an hour in rush hour traffic.  The trip home, going the more direct route, took 34 minutes and we arrived home around 9 PM.

The Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild ladies were so nice.  They invitedus to join (can't) and also to knit neckerchief shawls for the re-enactors at Fort Vancouver.  I did take a pattern but did not realize the yarn there was free to take as well.  So far I have not been able to find any that will fill the bill.  Maybe eventually I will.  It must be very fine merino or it will too scratchy against the ladies' skin.

Mission Knitting: Baby Sweater Begins

Cheryl Brunette has so many wonderful videos on YouTube about knitting. Or go here. Or here for the class...She has a 15-class series on knitting a sweater.  I have started it.

The first class really is how to make a gauge swatch that works for you.

Once you have the gauge swatch knitted, not a miserable little one, but at least six inches square,  you measure it multiple places then take an average.  Any simple calculator will do the job, or you can do it with pen and paper.  Once you have the gauge with the yarn and needles you want to use, you plunk those numbers into the schematic of the sweater you want to knit.  In this case it is a Size 1 baby sweater.  A polo pullover.  I am very excited about it and have a baby waiting to be born to wear it!

Here is a picture of the ribbing.  You can tell I am a little impatient as I am knitting the front and the back at the same time.

Sadly, I had gotten to this part yesterday and realized I was supposed to knit the ribbing with needles one or two sizes smaller.  Oh well.  Did NOT want to start over so I continued.  Babies don't have much in the line of waists so I think it will be all right.  I WILL be more careful when it comes to the cuffs on the sleeves.