The trouble with sleeves

Well, I've learnt a few things about designing sleeves over the last couple of weeks.  Most designs I've seen have a whole number of pattern repeats for the body and sleeves of a pullover.  If you want a fairly close fitting sleeve and have large pattern repeat, this is where we strike problems.  With this Fair Isle pullover I've had the problem that, for the smallest size, two pattern repeats were too narrow, and three were way too wide.  I had about a third of the sleeve knitted before I realised I had to pull it out and re-plan the sleeves.  Another problem was that I had the sleeves to fit fairly closely at the wrist, then gradually increase to the upper arm.  But of course my arm doesn't gradually increase from the wrist to the upper arm.  Doh!  The widest part of my forearm is 8cm larger than my wrist, then my upper arm is only 3cm larger again.  So although sleeves generally increase gradually, a lot of our arm increase is in the first 14cm.  What to do?  As the far as the Fair Isle patterning goes, I saw the options of:

• going totally plain for the sleeves, which works really well were I've seen it done
• having 3 pattern repeats so the sleeve would be too wide rather than too narrow
• using fractional pattern repeats

I was on the verge of going totally plain, but after quizzing a few fellow Ravelers for their opinions, I decided on fractional repeats.  So, as in the photo, I've got two full repeats with a few extra stitches at either side, keeping it all symmetrical, and including extra ease, so that hopefully my forearms won't be squeezed to a pulp.  Going by the measurement table I've been using, it seems that my arms may be a tad larger than standard for my bust size. 

The armholes for the front and back were planned using the original amount of sleeve ease to calculate the depth of the armholes.  I have no idea if the sleeves will fit into the armholes, given the changes that I'm making.  My current feeling is that I'm going to make them fit, whether they do or not!  I can rewrite the pattern for future use, but I don't feel like reknitting the whole pullover.  Bad girl!

Wish me luck.

Abundance Pullover Pattern Now Available

The pattern for the Abundance Pullover is now available.

This is a Boat Necked Lace Pullover, knitted in a Bamboo Cotton blend.  The yarn I've used is Sirdar Juicy DK, which is beautifully soft and has gorgeous drape.

Abundance Pullover
Knitting Pattern
Yarn Suggested: Sirdar Juicy DK or any DK/8 ply yarn (preferable a bamboo blend)
Gauge: 18 sts = 4 inches in Bluebells Stitch (wet blocked)
Needle Size: 4mm
Meterage: 942 - 1130 m (1030 - 1236 yards )

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 5.00

 

A retro game is aired.

Due to the miraculous appearance of some time, DH has been doing a major clear out.  In the process, Frank Hyde's Footy Game was unearthed and it came out for an airing this afternoon.

Growing up in the Aussie Rules state of Victoria, I managed to get through my whole childhood not recalling having seen one game of "Footy" on TV.  I refuse to be drawn into the specifics of whether it's Rugby, Rugby Union, Rugby League or whatever you wish to call it.  The NSW connections of DH may explain the appearance of this game into his dim, distant past.

Here's the field in play.  Notice the the recuperating dental surgery patient, wearing a bandage as a badge of honour.  I'm not sure how the game went, but I noticed both players scoring at least one 'try'.

Here's a closer look at the players.  DH noted that the rules have changed a bit. (One card described a player being dumped on his head!)  The rules may have changed, but I'm sure I've seen this done on occasion.

And here's the spinning wheel which determines which of your players has the next move.

You may, like me, wonder who the hell Frank Hyde is/was.  If so, here's the news.
Feel free to tell me that this game is now worth lots of money!

On a more sombre note, I've been watching, with horror, the news about today's earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.  It's very scary.  I really feel for everyone there dealing with worry, fear, injury and even death.  I hope everyone who's still trapped can be freed safely.

Fair Isle back completed

The back of my Fair Isle pullover is finished!  Yay!  The allover nature of the pattern, with 5 different contrast colours makes it so interesting to look at.  I know I keep saying it, but I get a better idea of it looking at the photos than when I'm working on it.  I suppose it's that big picture that I'm getting - standing back to observe.

In between finishing the back and really getting into the front, I've been knitting a little project as part of a KAL (Knit a Long).  I explain that, because you might be like me, and take a couple of years to work out what KAL stands for.  There's a great monthly KAL happening in the Budding Designers Downunder group on Ravelry.  The KAL supports a different budding Australian or New Zealand designer each month.  This month it's Christine Jeffery.  I've chosen her Tell Me a Tail bookmark.  I'm not sure that the  Regia 4 colour sock yarn that I've chosen is exactly letting this pattern stitch shine at it's best, it's still a fun and pretty project.  It didn't take long to find a member of the family putting their hand up for this one!

Fingerless Mitts - Pattern Now Available

Testing is complete, and the pattern for my Leafy Squares Fingerless Mitts is now available.

These mitts are knitted in the round and have a thumb gussett for a comfortable fit.  There is a panel of the Leafy Squares pattern along the back of the arm and hand.  These are knit in a 10 ply yarn.  I've used Heirloom Shetland 10 ply, which has resulted in beautiful and toasty warm mitts.

Leafy Squares Fingerless Mitts
Knitting Pattern
Yarn Suggested: Heirloom Shetland 10 ply or any Aran/10 ply yarn
Gauge: 18 stitches = 4 inches in Stocking/Stockinette Stitch
Needle Size: 5mm double pointed needles
Meterage: 160 mtrs / 175 yards

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 3.00

Fair Isle continues

I think this is a pretty good effort for one week of non-concerted effort.  A tension square was absolutely necessary, especially in helping to select colours.  I'd initially chosen yarn colours from a webpage.  When I knitted up the tension square, I could see that a couple of them didn't have enough contrast with the main colour.  So I went for a deeper version of those colours, and they're working out really well.

All of the fair isle patterns I'm using have an odd number of rows, so the new colour starts at one end, and finishes at the other end.  Odd numbers of rows and stitches do seem to look better in a lot of designs.  Maybe that's a standard thing with fair isle; I don't know.  I suppose this means the ends will be woven in evenly along both sides, but I'm finding it a bit annoying.  I was thinking that having all the ends at one side would mean I could tie them off against each other.

The rib band wants to flip up, so I've had to weight it down with a couple of balls of yarn for the photo.

Both the Abundance Pullover and the Leafy Squares Fingerless Mitts are coming to the end of their test phase.  I'm hoping to have more news on them soon.

Exciting news:  I've had a design accepted with a magazine!  I'll have to contain my excitement until June, when it will be published.

Venture into Fair Isle

The Fair Isle Pullover I mentioned in my previous post is now underway, as pictured.

It's nice to see it at a distance like this.  When I'm knitting, I'm too close up to see how the pattern's really looking.  Hmm.  Looks a bit narrow, now that I see it like this.  I'll have to do another measure, to make sure its's big enough.

My two current test knits which are underway, the Abundance Pullover and the Leafy Squares Fingerless Mitts, are coming along nicely.  One of each is finished, and they look great.  I'm not sure what to do with the pullover, as my testers are finding that it blocks bigger than it should.  When all are done, I'll have to go over all the final measurements, and see if I can adjust the pattern to fix this.