here comes jilly

This post is a little tardy and not entirely enthusiastic. I finished Jilly at least a week ago and have already worn her. I designed this sweater based on a store-bought model that I really liked. I first knit this in 2007, using yarn that was too soft and drapey for the design. The current version is much better. The one from the store had a stitch gauge (even though it was machine made) of 4.5 stitches per inch, so my quest was for a yarn that looked good at this gauge. The first yarn I used (Cascade Pima Silk) magnified the irregularities that are inevitable in plain stockinette. The current yarn, my first foray into all synthetic, looks smoother. The yarn is Berroco Comfort, a 50-50 blend of acrylic and nylon meant to mimic cotton. And it does this very well. It is very soft, and has the body of cotton without the weight. I haven't washed it yet, but I assume it will machine wash and dry well.


The new Jilly came out pretty well and has color- matching Dilly socks. I corrected a fit problem with the sleeves thanks to Maggie Righetti's short row sleeve which is knit down directly from the armscye. The neckline is an area that I still need to master. The neck is OK, but a bit wider than I'd like. Because the design is so plain I tried to make design features of the waist decreases and side slits, which are self-faced. After wearing the sweater once, I think I am going to make the slits smaller.


So why the lack of enthusiasm? The sweater fits well, feels good, and has the simplicity I like. I essentially achieved what I set out to do in recreating my store-bought favorite. The problem is, this sweater is no longer my favorite. The original is about three years old now and maybe no longer in style. Right now I don't want a trim, short, tailored sweater. No matter though. It's certainly classic enough to wear, and I will. I'm hoping to post the pattern at some point.


Meanwhile, Elinor of Exercise Before Knitting, a fellow Midwesterner, has posted an amazing sleeve/armscye calculator on her blog. I still like Maggie Righetti, but you should definitely look at Elinor's chart. It produced a perfect sleeve for her latest sweater design.

sweater design by the book

Ann Budd is an editor of Interweave Knits who has published a number of designs and several books focusing on knitwear design. So last month, when I started a sweater of my own design, I turned to my own library and the Internet for help with the trickiest parts - neck, shoulders, armscye, and sleeve cap. For me, the most difficult calculations are for the sleeve cap.

The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd has a section on sweaters with set-in sleeves. But I found little guidance here on sweater design. Budd works with a variety of sweater styles such as drop shoulder, seamless yoke, or raglan; sets of sizes ranging from 26" to 54" inches around; and gauges from 3 to 7 stitches per inch. Within these parameters, you can fit your own sweater design, but you are bound to the conventions of fit and proportion established by the author. Each sweater type has a long series of charts that you can follow like a recipe to know how much to cast on, where to increase and decrease, when to bind off, etc. Here is a section of the chart for sleeves. You can see that you don't get the principles of design from this. No doubt you can knit a sweater, but you wouldn't understand how to draft the measurements that would fit the sweater together and to your body.

In my library however, I found this treasured classic of sweater design:

Sweater Design in Plain English was published in 1990. In it, Maggie Righetti uses examples and simple formulas to help you calculate the measurements you need to make your set in sleeves fit, as well as calculations for chest width, length, shoulder slope, neckline, etc. In short, everything you need to design a sweater to your own specifications.

As given in her examples, Righetti's ideas of design and fit don't jibe with mine. Her design aesthetic seems dated. But that doesn't matter. With this book you get the tools you need to do it your own way.

So I designed my armscye and sleeves based on Righetti's advice. I haven't finished the sweater yet. I'll let you know how it comes out. But along the way I found two incredible Internet resources. Lucia, the Knitting Fiend, on whom I have a knitter's crush, has made a sleeve cap calculator. Check it out. And while you are there check out the endless number of calculators, tips, techniques, patterns, and how to's that Lucia provides out of the kindness of her heart.

The invaluable Jenna Wilson, through the wonder of Knitty, has also published a series called "Ravellings on the Knitted Sleeve" which includes a wonderful article on sleeve types, and a fabulous primer on creating a set in sleeve.

the trouble with kelly (the cardi)

This design, from Erika Knight's Classic Knits , is everything I love in a sweater: retro-cute, cropped, simple, soft yarn, 3/4 sleeves. It almost reaches Rowan-style. But why is the neckline so awkward?

It isn't just me. I saw many beautiful Kelly Cardigans on Ravelry and most, if not all, had necklines that hit the model in the wrong spot. I thought the best photo was one where the neck of the sweater was covered by the collar of the dress underneath. Why didn't Erik Knight lower the neckline in front? It would have looked so much better.

Of course, if I make it again (and I might), I will attempt to make this adjustment myself. But I am not too sure of myself in neckline alterations.

Another alteration I am unsure of is arm hole/sleeve cap. And again, why did the designer make the arm hole so billowy? This shows in the book photo, where there appears to be too much fabric at the sides. My version of the sweater repeats the same flaw even though I am a totally different size and shape from the model in the picture.

Despite these problems, I love the sweater. It is incredibly soft and comfortable. One feature that some might see as an additional flaw doesn't bother me. That is the lack of buttonholes. Rather than use snap fasteners as the designer suggested, I just left the front open. Buttonholes in handknit sweaters can be difficult to manage and sometimes ruin the line of the design. I did not want to risk that with this (near) perfect sweater.

twisted sisters unwound: a book review

Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters: A Knit to Fit Workshop
Vogel, Lynne
Interweave Press 2007
http://www.interweave.com/knit/books/TwistedSisters/

The Twisted Sisters have outdone themselves in providing clear and detailed directions for constructing a sweater. They have developed a system (explained in chapter 2) for capturing and mapping every possible measurement that you would need to design a sweater down to the half cuff circumference of a sleeve, and, step by step, they help you go from measurements to gauge to sweater parts to finished garment. The Sisters take this information in every possible direction too, including up, down, and side to side construction. They also include some wonderful charts and tips like suggested guages for various purposes.

If, like me, you want to design your own sweaters and are good at following written directions (which most of us knitters are) you should condsider buying this book.

I borrowed my copy from the library, and I am not going to buy it, and here's why: the Twisted Sisters designs make my eyes hurt. As hand spinners and dyers, I guess the Sisters are more interested in surface design of knitted fabric than they are in fashion and shape. But all of their designs have drop shoulders. They don't explain how to shape a sleeve cap or set in a sleeve. They have never heard of waist shaping. I may not be the most fashionable or shapely knitter out there (I'm not), but I try. I don't want to knit bag-like sweaters (on purpose).

I think the colors and neckline of the sweater in the lower photo are pretty, but check out those droopy shoulders and sleeves. In the upper photo, the Twisted Sisters love of surface design has spiraled out of control.

This is the first Twisted Sisters book I have ever looked at. I think I might be more intereested in what they have to say about fiber and socks than I am in their design aesthetic.