It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to share what’s on the needles/crochet hooks at Yarn Along.
My WIP list is pretty short right now. Sand sweater I am working on is slowly growing. When I am knitting a tuck stitch on the machine it feels like weaving – so much hand manipulation. I will try to put a post with step-by-step photos to show you how it is being formed. The process is really mesmerizing – you have to stop every 4th row to change the carriage settings and the position of needles.
I took the back part of the machine yesterday to see how the fabric is working out. Tuck stitch is creating a beautiful texture! I am using 100% mercerized cotton, so the fabric is pretty stiff right now, I hope it will loosen up after blocking. But just touching and looking at it brought so many ideas what else can be done with that. The fabric created holds the shape beautifully and I believe can be used for pretty structured garments! How exciting! I will finish this simple sweater, but I am sure I will use this technique more than once in the future. I imagine how different it will feel and look like in wool/alpaca/linen. So many possibilities for creativity!
My second WIP is a cotton/silk pullover, Arizona, using a Contiguous method I told you about on Sunday. As you can see I haven’t made much progress yet – I was experimenting with the number of stitches for a “shoulder seam” and increase methods. The beginning of a Contiguous method is very similar to top down raglan, the main difference is that you don’t increase stitches for a sleeve, but create a shoulder seam out of which a set-in sleeve will grow later. The other difference is that you increase not every other row/every 4th row as usually done in the classic raglan, but you increase stitches outside of markers every row. I started using a usual M1 increase, but quickly understood it wasn’t working out – the stitches were leaning into different directions. Turns out there is whole discussion devoted to shoulder increases in the Contiguous Method Ravelry group, where knitters experiment and share different ways of creating a shoulder seam with nice looking increases. I really loved one of the knitter’s posts (mwaa on Ravelry) where she knitted a very big swatch and tried all kinds of increase methods, took photos of each of them and shared a step-by-step instructions!
So I am still experimenting with it and curious to see where it will take me!
I hope you are having a great week and enjoying your craft!
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love the colors you are knitting with (but you know I always love the colors you are knitting with). The crispness of the stitches are gorgeous!! I’m knitting with single ply on both projects and I miss the cleanness of a multi-plied yarn.
Thank you, Karen! I am working right now with 3 very different yarns at the same time and I love this tactile diversity!
What a gorgeous pattern! And I love the color, it looks so tranquil.
Thank you! It is my favorite color! I’ve used for so many projects and I try to always have it in my stash.
Oh I truly love the texture of your sand sweater, beautiful color too. The Arizona is my favorite color way in that line, to bad they discontinued it.
Thank you, Tina! I was so disappointed to find out that this yarn is discontinued! It is very unique and original.
That looks all so yummy 🙂
I love that ‘tuck’ stitch! I will see how it might work out knitting it by hand. I’m so in love with the texture! And your second project looks good too – such a pretty yarn!!
Thank you, Lena! I will try to experiment and see what hand knitting stitch comes close to it to share it with you later.
Fantastic texture. I also love! Right up my alley, dear. Can’t wait to see more of this.
Thank you, Andrea! I hope the whole thing will work out – the fabric created is very unusual!
Your Sand sweater is beautiful…the color, the texture…everything! I can’t wait to hear all about how your experience goes with the different increases for the Contiguous method. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Angela!Yes, I will definitely let you know what worked best for me!
It’s so gorgeous! I have never even laid eyes on a knitting machine but it looks so even and smooth. Lovely!
Thank you, Sarah! I have a small overview of the machine knitting process – it is really fun and super addictive!
This mercerized cotton fabric looks amazing! Can’t wait to see the finished sweater.
Love working with cotton – it never fails to show off the texture!
Dooooo tell me where I can buy “100% mesmerized cotton”! Love it!
Oh, mercerized cotton is one of the most popular summer yarns out there – I am sure you can find it in any LYS! The one that I am using is called Armonia, it’s a local brand and I am not sure if it is being sold in the USA. Here is mercerized cotton by Tahki, for example http://www.yarn.com/webs-knitting-crochet-yarns-fiber-cotton/webs-knitting-crochet-yarns-tahki-cotton-classic-lite/. I hope it helped!
I was being cheeky! Is it really ‘mesmerized’ cotton, not ‘mercerized’? ‘Mesmerized’ means ‘hyponotised’, to me!
Oh my goodness! haha 🙂 I guess my auto-correct prefers it this way 🙂 So sorry about that, of course, mercerized!
I just cast on a pattern that is knit top-down using the contiguous method and it hit me with short rows right away. I had totally forgotten you talked about it until just now, but I’m sure part of the reason I chose it is lingering curiosity 🙂
I am glad you are enjoying it! This is what I love about knitting – diversity! So many techniques, construction methods, stitch patterns, yarns and textures – you can never get bored!
So I just did a contiguous cardigan without knowing it (my Airflow used that method). I found it very interesting to see how it grows. I used M1L and M1R for the increases but now I have to take a closer look at it again.
Yes, I saw your Airflow – absolutely beautiful and perfect for spring/summer! For some reasons M1 in this yarn didn’t work for me at all – too bulky or something. I will make sure to let you know what worked best for me!
Pretty design.
Thank you, Marlyn! Always so much fun to experiment!
Your Sand sweater is so unique cause of its texture.
I’m sure it will be amazing when finished!
I’ll have to search on how to knit the tuck stitch by hand….
I hadn’t even heard of the contiguous method but I’m happily always learning so thank you for sharing!
Can’t wait for both your wips to grow!
Thank you, Zeta! Learning is the most fun part of the process!
I do so love to read about your process. The tuck stitch looks amazing, I love the texture.
Thank you so much! I can’t believe it took me so long to try it on the machine!
such beautiful texture!! I love that tuck stitch too- it’s going to be amazing!
Thank you, Julie!!
Just beautiful!!! I can’t wait to see the F.O.!
Thank you so much, Nicky! Can’t wait to see it myself 🙂