It's relatively straight forward to think about knitting in terms of creating two dimensional shapes. Most of us start by knitting something "easy"1 like a scarf. From there it's easy enough to teach knitters to create a never ending variety of polygons. This, however, misses what I think of as the really cool part of knitting. I think the way to understand how knitting works, to be able to knit things that more closely resemble what you want, and to have the most fun knitting is to always think about knitting as three dimensional.

This isn't an elaborate argument in favor of circular knitting: that argument has been fairly well made and I'll recount my favorite points on ?request, but circular knitting is a great technique and knitting in three dimensions is an entire practice.

Knitting Gestalts / Knitting Shapes

I've written about this before but one of the best parts about sweater knitting is thinking about how the sweater--the whole object--comes together into a garment. Rather than knitting a collection of flat pieces that can be sewn into a garment (tailoring) knitting lets you build and shape garments with various seamless and nearly-seamless methods.

I sometimes describe this kind of knitting as "architectural," but the key (for me) is thinking about the entire object as a whole. There's something that's nearly magical that happens when you can take a few rows curled up on a circular needle and see in your mind fits into the object that you're knitting. The process of using knitting stitches, increases and decreases to get from the former to the later is relatively trivial if have can think about the entire object (a "knitting gestalt") in three dimensions in your mind.

Knitting Mechanics

If "knitting gestalts" provide a top-down perspective on knitting, I think there's a "bottom up" three dimensional perspective that is important when thinking about how stitches fit together. While a big part of knitting has to do wit the shapes and forms, the textures, drape and "hand" of the fabric all have a lot to do with the final evaluation of the object. To understand drape and texture, it's important to consider the properties of individual knitting stitches and the effects of yarn weight/texture, needle size, and personality of the knitter. The second part (yarn type, needle size, knitting style) is pretty common, the first (knitting stitch) is less so.

I have a favorite example of this kind of thinking. I'm not sure where I learned this but it's suck with me:

Knitted fabric typically curls. This happens because the "purl side" of the knitted stitch has a greater surface area than the "knit side," which causes unaltered stocking stitch to roll up. At the same time, the "knit" side of the stitch is a little bit wider than the "purl" side of the stitch, so the edges will curl in. The way to counteract this, is to mix knit-and-purl stitches on the same row to balance the surface areas out and thus counteract the effects. Think about ribbing and seed stitch... Think about knit and purl patterns and how they change the tendency of the fabric to roll. Think about the path of the yarn through a knitting stitch.

See? Isn't is cool?

In Conclusion

Whatever kind of knitting you want to do is fine with me: I don't care to tell anyone that the way they knit is wrong. At the same time, I don't think there's any sense in being afraid of your knitting: knitting is great fun and I think once you know the basics most knitters can knit just about everything. So my goal in this post, and in all of my knitting posts, is to share my own process and encourage you (all) to branch out in your own work.

Have fun!

Onward and Upward!

There are two major problems in sweater making (design.) First, figure out how to make the shape you want out of knitting, and second to place some sort of ornamental feature (pattern) in the knitting without disrupting the shape.

Shaping isn't easy, but it's solvable. Once you figure out how to make the shapes you want, it's just a matter of implementing a known process. Shaping becomes trivial.

The second problem, the design, is the really clever part.

Fitting patterns and embellishments onto a shape, just isn't solvable, and never becomes trivial. There are tricks, and practices makes it easier, but the possibilities are truly endless and there's no reason to make any two sweaters exactly the same.1

The patterns and embellishments can be pretty broadly defined: cables, colorowork, other texture patterns, and so forth.

In my own knitting, I have taken to focusing almost entirely on the second problem. I have a basic sweater form that works really well for me, and each sweater explores a different combination of patterns.

My approach is as follows:

• Divide the sweater into quadrants and plan a single quadrant of the sweater. Repeat this pattern over the entire sweater. This automatically centers the pattern on the sweater.

• Be flexible with the number of stitches but not too flexible. Also remember to account for a "middle" and "end" stitch which may not be repeated on every quarter.

• Think of birds eye view of the design. This means thinking about sweater design as a collection of pattern columns.

• Use patterns at either side of the sweater both for a nice effect and to "bound" the patterns. This can be helpful in controlling the number of stitches.

• Unless you plan to knit your sweater horizontally, plan your sweater virtually even if you have horizontal patterns. It's crucial to center patterns that run horizontally across the sweater. Thinking vertically is the easiest way to do this visually for all kinds of patterns.

  If you're using only one pattern that's fewer than 10-15 stitches, you may be able to just make sure that your pattern divides in the total number of stitches in the sweater, but that's a much less common problem.

Beyond that, it's all trial, error, and practice. Onward and Upward!

This post comes in two parts: an update on the current knitting project and an introduction to a new sweater that I've started recently. See the Ideal Sweater and Sweater Stories posts for more information on my current thinking about knitting and writing.

Current Sweater: Gray and Black

I've been trying to write an update on my current knitting, but to be honest I'd rather be knitting than writing little updates and taking picture of the thing that I'm knitting. Also, while there's something engaging and captivating about the long slog from the hem to the shoulder during the knitting, even though progress is always apparent, there's not a lot to talk about for weeks and weeks while the piece grows.

I think it's going to be a great sweater, and while it's not the first thing I've really knit recently, I think it's the first that I care to finish. There are a lot of great things about this sweater: the pattern is fun to knit, it's the perfect size, it matches the cats, and it's visually interesting without being busy. Also, I used Shetland yarn, and it's really impossible to say enough about how much little things like that matter.

I'm not yet done with the sweater. As I draft this post, I've knit the body and the collar, and just have sleeves left to do. I knit sleeves from the top-down, and am three inches or so past the shoulder. The sleeves will be pretty straight forward and are just a matter of spending some time.

The problem with knitting sleeves from the top down is that you have to have a full sweater on your lap. In the summer this means overheating with a pound of wool on your lap or knitting at a table. Neither of which is terribly ideal. As a result I've started the next sweater. I'll try and post something about the sweater as a whole when its done but in the mean time I'd like to collect a few thoughts and lessons learned so far.

• I think the neck opening is a bit too wide. I have a crew-neck formula that I've been using for a while that might need to be tweaked.

  Basically three inches before the shoulder, decrease every row on both sides of the neck for an inch and a half, decrease every other row for the last inch and a half. Create a steek over the back of the neck after the first inch and a half and decrease both the front and the back at the same rate. Start at the bottom of the front steek with half the number of stitches you'll eventually decrease (from the front.)

  In EPS terms, the total neck opening should consume a third of the total number of stitches and one sixth of the total number of stitches three inches before the shoulder seam. But divide everything in half for the front and back to get a usable number.

• I think my gauge has changed noticeably in the last 4 years, but only the row gauge. I for one find this strange, though there's not much I can do with it except deal with it.

• This sweater has a number of turned hems, and I've realized a two important facts about knitting turned hems:

  • The conventional instructions say: knit a facing, knit a round of Purl stitches to "turn the hem" and then knit on. (Can be done in reverse, depending on which direction your going.) Don't. Knit two rounds of purl stitches. The turn is much more sharp.

  • Knit the hem facing on two needle sizes smaller than the actual knitting. If you can knit the facing on 80-90% of the number of stitches as well (in some situations this isn't feasible.)

  • Knit the purl stitches with the smaller needle rather than switching to the smaller needle to knit the facing.

  • Knit one more round before joining the hem in than you think you need.

  • If you're knitting with Shetland and not planning to treat your steaks to secure them, steam the steek before cutting. Also, an extra couple of stitches wouldn't hurt. Tragedy was averted, but it was closer than I'd like.

I'll get more notes out (and perhaps elaborations of these points? If there's interest.) after I finish.

New Sweater: Blue and Blue

I started a new sweater because the existing sweater was a bit to heavy and too warm. And I had yarn in the closet that was begging to be knit. This won't be the first sweater I started knitting in August for this reason.

Also, I had the plan for the new sweater all developed and I wanted to get started: I'm an adult and I can do that.

The yarn is Shetland. Harrisville Designs "Midnight," is the darker color, and I'm using some light blue-gray that I got from Webs a few years ago for the contrasting color. Probably the last great mill end from webs. The lighter color came in a 3 pound cone, and I've already made a sweater (a flop) out of the yarn and didn't seem to make much of a dent.

The pattern itself is built around the same snowflake pattern that I've been using (this makes sweater number 4 with the same pattern,) but is the most reminiscent of the first sweater in the series, with some improvements for greater knitability. The effect, I hope, will be reminiscent of cables.

At the time of drafting, I've not yet joined the hem facing and the lower edge. I'll probably post again about this one again after it starts looking like a sweater but before the long slog starts.

Onward and Upward!

I've mentioned a few times that I've been doing more knitting recently. Nothing for the most part to get excited about. But, now that I have a bit more free time its became apparent that I can't write all the time and it's good to have something to do with my hands when other things require a bit of extra attention.

An explanation of my current knitting requires a bit of a back story. There always is and I think that is part of the joy.

The last sweater I started during college is probably the best one I've ever made. This isn't to say that it's the most impressive, or that it took me the longest, or was the most complicated, or was the most striking, or the had simplest pattern. No. If I had a dozen of this sweater, I'd wear them constantly all winter. It's warm without being unbearably warm except during the coldest week of the year. The sleeves are big enough to support layering without weird bunching. The sweater fits me without being too tight or too baggy. It looks great over long sleeve t-shirts and oxfords. And it was a lot of fun to knit, both because of the yarn (Harrisvile Shetland,) and the pattern (a modified snowflake design of Swedish inspiration.)

A lot of the sweaters I knit after that were too complicated: I was trying to show off my knitting prowess, or I was experimenting with different yarns. In any case, I've come to the following conclusion::

• Two color stranded patterns are the best kind of pattern. The pattern affects the shape of the knitting stitches (in a good way!) and the drape of the eventual fabric, in a way that provides a bit more structure. If you make the right design decisions for the pattern itself, the act of knitting becomes so much more captivating and rhythmic.

• The best neck lines are basically crew necks, but are open to mid-chest like polo or henley shirts. I don't tend to put button holes or clasps and just leave them open. The effect on the sweaters is that they are wearable over any kind of shirt (unlike v-neck sweaters) and are well ventilated (unlike unmodified crew neck sweaters.) I tend to leave the front corners of the collar squared and unmodified, but they can be rounded.

• I've gone back and forth on this a bit, but now, I'm firmly of the opinion that turned hems are better on stranded garments than corrugated ribbing. Knit a hem facing, purl two rounds, and then start the pattern, and join the hem at the appropriate moment. Done. Corrugated ribbing is really appealing, but it's not really ribbing, and it's very loud, on finished garments.

• After much experimentation with different shapes, I've decided that plain old drop-shouldered fisherman-style shaped sweaters are the only way to go. I've gotten pretty good at making saddle shoulders, set in sleeves, modified drop shoulders, and pretty much anything else. But at the end of the day I have a chest of funny looking shoulders that I don't really wear.

• Patterns need to draw the eyes up along vertical lines, which is incredibly flattering on most people's bodies and is more fun to knit because panels of pattern can interact in cool ways up and down and across the sweater.I've been in a Swedish/Scandinavian kick for a while now, and have been working on variations on a ~26 row snowflake pattern.

• Shetland yarn is really the best yarn in the world. It's robust without being too itchy, and it doesn't pill. I like Harrisvile's selection because you can buy the yarn on cones, it's consistent, and I think they have enough colors.

So I'm making more sweaters like this.