well I seem to be almost getting into the habit of daily posting. Even if I am using pictures of old fos as filler. I hope my posts on knitting methods didn’t come across as didactic or remotely snippy. There is no right way to knit, but it is always possible to improve how you do anything manual. I’m going to find some links to knitting belts – they seem to be a tool that isn’t discussed much online but I think that some people might find them very useful, especially if you have problems knitting English and wrapping the yarn while holding the needle.
Anyway while clearing out my room I found the first sweater I ever knit. I twisted all of my knit stitches because I’m stubborn and insisted I was wrapping the yarn in the right direction. It took me an unbelievable amount of time to notice what was wrong. I also distinctly remember buying the wool (I think it’s Rowan 4 ply soft) and the clerk asking me if I’d checked the dyelot. Being me (eh stubborn) and feeling like an out of place teenager I replied ‘of course’. Which would be fine except that I had no idea what she was talking about. As you can see:
Does anyone know if it would be worth dyeing this? I would model it, but that can wait a few months. I am not putting on a black, wool jumper in this weather. As you can perhaps guess from the shape I knit this from a 40s pattern. Not the smartest choice for a beginner. It was full of directions like ‘increase at both sides every third row seven times’. I didn’t even know how to increase at the time, so I looked it up and randomly picked a method. I choose yarn overs. The twisting sts thing made this slightly less of a problem than it could have been. I remember being fascinated by the way the increases on the incredibly puffy sleeves grew out of the ribbing. I still love this:
I was about 16 when I made this, it took months but I was so excited when it was done. It was my second finished object ever. I didn’t really knit again until about 2 years later when I went to Aberdeen uni and needed something to do with my hands while sitting around watching movies and not doing much at all. So I made hats for everyone, and that year I got stitch n bitch for Christmas.
And I made this:
And started to learn the right ways to do things. If I can knit, anyone can. And when writing patterns I will always remember how much that 40s pattern confused me, but that I was determined to do it. I want all of my patterns to be possible for a beginner to knit, as long as they’re willing to learn.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, what an ambitious first project! I think stubbornness is a great asset when it comes to knitting.
Inspirational post yet again.
I love that you didn’t allow fear to stand in your way. I think it is hurtful to a new knitter to tell them, “Oh, that is too hard for a beginner”. I don’t wonder if you you put a bit of ribbon at the dye lot change if it wouldn’t look as if you’d done that intentionally? Although, it’s hard to know if my monitor is showing the true colours.
Not in the least bit snippy. I very much appreciate your comments on knitting methods. As a small child, I learned to knit with one needle anchored on the ground or my leg, but I think that was because the needles were so long. Now I knit Continental, but with the yarn wrapped around my index finger, which I move as a kind of shuttle. I love your early projects!
I LOVE the vintage style of the sweater, even though it has random holes in it :) the ribbing increases were the first thing that I noticed, too, they are beautiful. You should be proud that you tackled it as a first project and probably learned alot from it.
I love vintage 40′s knits!
I love that vintage sweater and especially the puffy sleeves! :D I too am stubborn like that and I like to use difficult patterns, because that way I force my self to learn new things:) My mom taught me to knit with the needle held steady under my arm and I learned the English way :)
Love those forties sleeves, as the ribs wander…
Never snippy.
It looks cute. The sleeves wouldn’t be my thing, but it’s really good work for your first sweater.
You could try dip-dyeing the bottom first, then overdyeing the whole thing and see if you get a more even colour.
You could also just embroider some fancy stuff around the part where the two shades meet and make it look like you intended it to have two shades.
I love that jumper!The sleeves are really cute :).Oh one more thing…i’m at aberdeen uni the now,its ace :)
See, the fact that you twisted your knit stitches cracks me up to no end because I purled wrong for MONTHS after learning to knit, just because I read the instructions wrong. I guess that’s what happens when you learn from a book. I remember how excited (and stupid) I felt when I finally figured out that elusive purl stitch…
Cool…
interesting
Nice!
Cool.
interesting
Nice!
Is that…. GIR?! :)