How can vintage knitting patterns help you?

Yesterday’s mail brought me a treat:

I first learned about Piecework Magazine’s annual historical knitting issue while reading this Peacefully Knitting blog post about vintage knitting, which convinced me to subscribe. I called first to be sure they were still offering the historical issue with paid subscriptions. Which they were. Phew!

Historical knitting is intriguing. It’s interesting to get a glimpse of how our ancestors dressed and lived. While they’re now silent, their knitting can still give us insight into their lives. I grew up with stories of one of my great-grandmothers who supposedly kept all 12 of her children in handmade clothes, including knitted socks and stockings. She must have been very fast, very busy, or both!

Historical knitting is a new adventure, and I eagerly awaited my copy.

Which I’m happy to report did not disappoint me.

This issue of Piecework Magazine has patterns including: a new stitch pattern from Barbara Walker featured on the  cover. Inside there’s a treasure of articles on knitting. Perhaps you’ll also be drawn to the story of knitting in Jewish Lithuania during World War II. Once again, the resilience of the Jewish people and the “Greatest Generation” is inspiring. Today’s struggles with knitting become very small when compared to knitting in a forest while fighting — and hiding from — Nazis.

There’s a pattern based on a medieval mitten, and even an article on how modern theater companies use hand knitted items as costumes. There are more patterns and articles, which you can discover for yourself in the issue.

So, how do vintage knitting patterns help a modern knitter?

• Patterns can give insight into the lives of the folks who knit and used the finished piece.
• The stories behind the patterns — if you can discover them — can be inspiring, funny, or even just a brief respite from today’s news.
• Patterns can be used to create new knitted articles. One that reminds you of the story, or one to share — perhaps with someone for which it holds special meaning.
• Vintage patterns often use techniques not usually used by modern knitters. They can be a good way to practice something new, and to expand your skills.
• Patterns can be used as templates to create your own unique projects, like this example of a fleecy muff inspired by vintage knitting:
  

While I haven’t yet decided which project from this issue I’m going to knit first, I did finish my latest project:

More about this in the next post.

Meanwhile you can get your own copy of Piecework Magazine’s Fourth Annual Historical Knitting Issue here: Buy now.

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What are easy fingerless mitten knitting instructions?

I’m typing while wearing one fingerless mitten.

Why?

Well, my fingers were cold and I decided to experiment. I was curious to know how fast I’d notice a difference between the two hands, I decided to try just one.

In less than 10 seconds I noticed an improvement in the hand wearing the mitten. Wow! What a surprise! I always thought they’d warm the hands but not the fingers. Now if I could just knit that fast.

While I like mittens and gloves, fingerless ones are better sometimes. For example, when you’re working at a keyboard, wearing regular mittens make typing impossible. Most gloves are cumbersome — at best. If your fingers don’t slip off the keys while wearing them, gloves are often bulky or just don’t feel right.

Fingerless mittens or gloves solve these problems.  They allow you to use the keyboard or mouse on a computer comfortably and don’t get in your way.

What’s the difference between fingerless gloves and fingerless mittens? While I don’t have an official answer from the Fashion Gurus, my take is that fingerless gloves have four openings for individual fingers. Their length can be as short as one or two rows, or go all the way to the fingertips.  Fingerless mittens, on the other hand, have a single opening for four fingers. And they’re definitely faster to knit!

While fingerless glove knitting instructions can be complex and best suited for an experienced knitter, fingerless mittens can be quick and easy. Yes, for beginners, too!

So what are the steps for knitting Easy Garter Stitch Fingerless Mittens?

1. Check the gauge. The gauge for this pattern is 3.5 stitches per inch in garter stitch. I used Caron’s One Pound Yarn in Sunflower (yellow) and Royalty (blue). It’s a worsted weight acrylic and knits up soft. I used size 9 needles.

2. Measure your hand. Using a tape measure or even a piece of yarn, measure around your palm above the thumb.

3. Cast on:

• 6.5-inch hand = 22 stitches
• 7-inch hand = 24 stitches
• 7.5-inch hand = 26 stitches
• 8-inch hand = 28 stitches
• 8.5 inch hand = 30 stitches

Knitting Tip: Check the size as you knit. It’s amazing how many times the knitting can vary once you actually cast on the rows.  Although mittens are fairly forgiving, it’s still easier to make adjustments early in the knitting rather than after the mitten is almost finished.

4. Knitting pattern:

Row 1: Slip first stitch as if to purl. Knit across rest of row. Turn.

Repeat Row 1 for desired length from cuff to top of mitten.

Change colors to add stripes if you wish.  I changed colors on the wrong side after four rows of blue and two of yellow:

Slipping the first stitch as if to purl makes a slipped edge garter stitch, which I’ve explained further in my free video knitting instructions.

5. Bind off loosely with your favorite method. Break yarn.

6. Sew up the side seam, leaving an opening for the thumb. (Hint: Trying on the mitten after sewing up part of the seam helps you place the thumb opening, customizing its fit!)

7. Weave in the yarn ends.

While you can add color by knitting stripes, another easy method is called mosaic knitting.  You carry only one color at a time and can make interesting patterns with it:

This particular pattern makes a thicker mitten. Which is probably why I decided to make a pair!

My PDF pattern for Easy Two-Color Mosaic Fingerless Mittens is now available on Ravelry.

What’s with the Long-Tail Cast-on knitting instructions?

As a child, I learned to knit.

My knitting was a mixture of: what my mother taught me, what I learned from a knitting pamphlet, and my own invention. Amazingly enough, it worked. Actually, it worked quite well. That is, until I attempted circular knitting and lace.

They were much less forgiving than knitting, purling, and even cables.

Over the past few years I’ve been seeking new ways (for me) to cast on. In retrospect my original cast-on either never made it to the knitting manuals or I remembered it wrong. Which is probably why it was so difficult challenging.

When I learned a two needle cast on by knitting the stitches on, my heart leaped. Now I could cast-on by simply knitting stitches on the needle. How cool is that?

Recently, I found the long-tail cast-on in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop. Not only is it fast, it’s almost effortless to keep the stitches consistent and even. Once again, I’m in awe of Elizabeth’s knitting expertise.  Of course, she may not have invented this cast-on.

Its added bonus: with the cast-on, your first row of knitting is complete. Now that’s really clever!!

The pictures are a bit blurry, so the completed row may not be obvious. It’s there, though!

Here’s a video of the Long-Tail Cast-on knitting instructions.

And here’s a picture of a simple afghan square I made with the long-tail cast on:

Here’s the link for this simple afghan square’s free knitting instructions.

So, why are the long-tail cast-on knitting instructions popular?

• You can cast-on quickly.
• The stitches slip on and can be adjusted so all stitches are even without hours of practice!
• Once you finish your cast-on row, your first row is knit. So you can start with row 2: a real time saver!
• It can be started without the first stitch being a slip knot. Combined with the even stitches, this makes a very straight border.
• It’s easy to learn.

And yes, it’s already one of my favorite cast-on methods! My only question: Why didn’t I know about it before now?

Oh, and here’s my completed Log Cabin Afghan Square, and a second version.  It’s definitely faster to piece them for a quilt!

And these edges are all bind-offs, because the cast-on is for the center square.

If Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop isn’t part of your knitting library, you should seriously consider it. See if you also find this small book a treasure of knitting information.

Knitting Instructions: What’s an elastic loose bind off (cast off)?

When ready to bind off my first toe-up knee sock, I nearly didn’t.

The knitting instructions for my socks said to “bind off loosely.”  With other projects, I’d been able to bind off loosely using one or two tried-and-true methods. A sock was different.

No matter which method I tried, it just didn’t stretch enough to get it on around my heel, let alone over my calf.  I searched all my knitting instruction books without help.  None of them have toe-up sock, top-down hat or finger-down mitten knitting instructions.

In reviewing this, it seems to be a fairly common dilemma.  Socks need to be snug enough on the calf to not fall down, and the usual loose bind-offs, often aren’t elastic enough.

So, just how do you bind off loosely?

1. Knit more loosely as you bind off either by adjusting the tension or by substituting a larger needle for the right-hand needle. Neither gave enough stretch for socks.
2. Use a sewed bind-off, such as Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Sewn Casting-off  from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac.   While she suggested using it for top down sweaters, again it just wasn’t quite elastic enough.
3. Knit with an elastic bind off method.  An Internet search led to Slip Slip Knit’s Miraculous Elastic Bind Off Knitting Instructions. And voila, it worked!  The link even includes nice pictures.

This bind-off has now become one of my favorites. And I can hardly wait to try it on other projects.

These socks were made with Wendy Knits’ Sprucey Lucy free knitting pattern.

For a great inexpensive reference for knitting, check out Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac. It’s full of projects for every month of the year, and manages to be both charming and informative.

Combining knitting instructions for a knitting project

A couple of days ago, my cotton worsted yarn was calling.

Instead of the usual dishcloths, I decided to knit  washcloths. You know, the kind that are often referred to as spa washcloths. Many patterns for spa washcloths use garter stitch, which makes a good scrubbing surface.

However, it’s not as fancy as I wanted.

I like the two colors of a Ballband dishcloth. And making one the opposite or negative of the other economically uses 2 small balls of cotton yarn almost completely.

In looking closely at some of the dishcloths I’ve made from the Ballband knitting instructions, they looked unfinished. This one is a dish towel adapted from the Ballband knitting instructions.

The top and bottom have a nice border, but the sides look irregular and unfinished.

The knitting instructions give an option for crocheting a border. Part of me has always wanted to find a satisfactory knitted border option.  Somehow the crocheted border still looks unfinished to me. Or maybe sometimes I just like to make a 100% knitted item. Just because. 

I’ve been reading Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop. And her I-cord instructions seemed just right. She even provides instructions for how to turn an outside corner!

So, I combined the knitting instructions: putting an I-cord border on a Ballband dishcloth.

And the result is a spa washcloth:

What do you do when knitting instructions don’t work?

A few days ago, I started two knitting projects, with patterns I haven’t used before.

Only one had a knitting gauge; the other one’s knitting instructions were well — pithy.

I think of myself as an intermediate to advanced knitter. Usually I can figure out the knitting instructions as I go. This time, however, both patterns presented challenges. And after a few inches, I realized they weren’t going well. Time to restart.

So, I frogged the knitting. You know, ripped out the stitches. [Everyone say it quickly: rip it, rip it, rip it! ]

And the result is:

At one point I would have grieved for the lost stitches. Now, I look at the yarn as recyclable, and ready for the same project, or a new one.

With time, I’ve become convinced that sometimes the instructions are wrong. And sometimes the designer just doesn’t knit the same way I do. Which is okay, after all we’re all individuals.  Which I suspect is one reason knitting is so comforting. In a world that wants to make us all fit into round holes, it’s nice to find a place where the square peg can, well just be a square peg.

And you know, it could easily be me. It’s just possible with the recent extreme weather we’ve had, and some personal and professional distractions that I didn’t concentrate enough on the knitting instructions to get them right. And you know, that’s okay too.

Knitting can be challenging, but it should always, always be fun. When it stops being fun, that’s the time to put down the knitting needles and do something else. Whether you come back in a few minutes or a few days or longer, it doesn’t matter. I suspect though that once you find the rhythm of the needles —what some call “the zone” — you’ll be back.

Just make sure it stays fun.

have you grabbed your free knitting bag pattern yet? If not, why not get it now while you’re thinking about it? Just subscribe on the right sidebar of TheKnittingYarn blog. And please, let me know how you like or don’t like the instructions!

Kool-Aid and Food Coloring Adventures

I used Kool Aid and food coloring for a nontoxic dye, and am happy with the results:

Dish towel knitting instructions: Where are you?

While I prefer to let dishes air dry, sometimes I still need to dry them by hand.

The other day, as I used a dish towel, it left the water untouched.  I tried a second, then a third. All of them refused to wipe the dishes dry.

The best drying towel seemed to be one that’s probably at least 15 years old. Unfortunately, it also has a large hole in its center.

Have you noticed most if not all the dish towels lately in the stores are manufactured outside the USA?  The ones I’ve had the most problems with are new. Perhaps it’s the yarn, the dyes, or even the manufacturing process?

After exhausting the available dish towels, I reached for a knitted cotton dishcloth. Surprisingly, it did a nice job of drying the dishes. Perhaps a bit small, but the pattern could be easily enlarged.

Have you noticed there aren’t many knitting patterns for dish towels?

Oh, it’s easy to find dishcloth knitting instructions online. Knitting Pattern Central has 277 dishcloth patterns, and 1 dish towel pattern. Even Ravelry lists 46 patterns for dish towels, but it appears only 25 or so are actually towels. And they have over 3000 patterns for knitted dishcloths listed!

Some are for dishcloths, just mislabeled as dish towels.

Three possible reasons for the scarcity of dish towel knitting instructions:

• Maybe they’re less popular because they’re a larger project?
• Maybe many folks don’t hand dry many dishes any more?
• Maybe designers just assume knitters enlarge dishcloth patterns themselves to make dish towels?

Making a dishcloth larger makes sense. An all-over pattern is easy to enlarge by simply adding more stitches — by keeping to the pattern repeat — and by adding rows to make a rectangle rather than a square.

You can see the dishcloth I enlarged by adding additional “bricks” to make a dish towel:

I found the ballband dishcloth knitting pattern inside the label of the Peaches & Creme blue denim cotton yarn. This link will take you to the online knitting instructions. Peaches & Creme cotton yarn is made in the USA from American materials.

When you want to hang the dish towel on a handle in the kitchen, you may want to customize the top, making it easy to hang or tie on the handle. Here’s a link for knitting instructions for topping cotton woven or terry cloth towels from Lion Brand Company that can be adapted for hand knit dish towels.

Of course, if you’re adventurous and don’t mind ripping and re-knitting if needed, you could try to make a top without knitting instructions.

You may find knitting dish towels with and without hanging tops easier — and faster — than you think!

Have you grabbed your free knitted purse pattern with customization suggestions yet? Subscribe to be notified of new updates to The Knitting Yarn site including free patterns, knitting tips, and knitting instructions — and get your free knitting pattern now!

Check out more fiber artists and their projects at Fiber Arts Friday.

When are knitting instructions like a puzzle?

It’s with some amusement I made my first Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ).

Most knitting patterns let you see the garment as it’s being made. Sometimes, as in the case of knitting a hat on circular needles, socks from the toe up, or even a sweater in flat pieces you can try on the garments as you work, customizing as needed. Even when knitting a sweater in flat pieces, you can still check your measurements as you go.

The BSJ though is different.

It’s more of a puzzle than most knitted garments. And it uses one of my favorite stitches, garter stitch. Here you can read garter stitch knitting instructions.

Here are my results of following the pattern:

It hardly looks like a jacket in progress. I stand awe of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s genius. Both in creating the BSJ, and in writing its knitting instructions.

As I followed her simple yet complete instructions, I kept checking to be sure I was right. You see, the original knitting instructions are, well, brief. They’re not given line by line. Which can be a bit disconcerting if you’re used to more complete instructions. By the way, line by line knitting instructions for the BSJ are available through a new printing of the pattern by Schoolhouse Press.

You may find, like me, the easiest way to keep the stitches straight is to simply count the symmetrical stitches on each end. As you can see, the folded jacket worked:

After knitting this far, it was apparent I’d run out of purple before I could finish the jacket. So, I ripped out most of the last stripe and redid it. As sometimes occurs, I also modified the pattern. Instead of buttons, I opted for no buttons or buttonholes. My buttons just didn’t look right.

Currently, I’m considering a zipper down the front. Of course, I’m reserving the right to go frogging, and redo the last few rows with buttons. Should I find the perfect ones, of course!

And while, yes I can be precise with instructions, I also enjoy the opportunities for exercising creativity in less precise instructions. How about you?

Check out more fiber artists and their projects at Fiber Arts Friday.

A neat little yarn tip

When you buy enough yarn to finish a project, there’s often some left over.

The alternative, however, is to not have enough yarn.  Which can be even more frustrating … especially if you’re trying to match dye lots.  Or, if you’re blessed with hand-dyed, maybe there is no more of that dye lot.

After a project, sometimes there’s just not enough of a ball left to hold its shape.  Leaving it unwound invites all kinds of tangled messes before you can use it.

For years, I rewound yarn the way I was taught as a child.  You may have been taught the same way: wind around three or four fingers, and then slip it off and wind a ball.  You’ve probably noticed the problem with this method: when using the yarn from the center, the center tends to pop out in a clump, sometimes with more yarn than you want … and sometimes with a tendency to tangle.

Of course, a ball winder will alleviate this problem: sometimes though it’s not convenient or in the budget.  My sister, who spins, has a short dowel she uses to wind her yarn.  She makes lovely yarn balls with it.

However, I keep forgetting to look for a dowel in my infrequent trips to the hardware store.  So, I decided to improvise.

With a pencil!

Here’s the technique:

First, you wind a strand down and around the bottom.  Since this is a small ball of yarn, I didn’t use the whole length of the pencil.

Wind horizontally next …

Then just wind your ball …

The yarn will slip off the pencil (or dowel), with the center loose enough to easily use.

The pencil was fine for small balls of yarn, but I needed something larger for bigger balls …

Next I tried a highlighter. Checking first to be sure it wasn’t leaking!

Not quite ideal because the diameter was larger than optimal, and it’s a bit difficult to pull off the highlighter.

A tapered end would work better, and the ball would slip off more easily. And, inspiration struck!

One of my size 15 tips from my Denise Knitting Needles from Alpaca Direct! It’s the right diameter — more or less — and its tapered ends make sliding the ball off smooth and easy. Instead of wrapping the yarn around the end of the needle tip, I just made a U shape to start, then wound the ball.

And voila …

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