I’ll Knit If I Want To: Episode 63

Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!

In this week’s episode we cover:

1. Hi Andrea, I believe you mentioned you are knitting your daughter a smaller inclinations cowl. I was wondering if you have any tips on resizing it? The shift cowl was one of my first projects a few years back as new a knitter. I didn't know about gauge swatching and I was knitting very tightly so it came out smaller than the pattern. But I love it! I love that it's closer to my neck like a bandana and really would like to have my inclinations cowl turn out similarly. Because the cowl uses a us needle size 3, I don't really have the option to go down a few needle sizes to achieve this. Do you have any recommendations on making it smaller? Or even bigger for folks that might want the opposite? Thank you so much! XOXO!

2. Hello, I had a question on how hand knit socks are supposed to fit. Are they supposed to feel loose and slide down or should they fell tight and be hard to get on? Specifically, how should the DRK Everyday socks fit? My gauge matches what the pattern calls for but the ankle/leg portion slides down slightly. Is that normal? Thank you so much for your videos and all your helpful tips!

3. Hi, love your podcast so much; it has gotten me excited about knitting again after a bit of a slump as I seem to have a difficult time getting a nice fit from the sweaters I have made, but I'm determined to get this as I love all things yarn and knitting. This is a 2 part question. I'm making the Weekender and using Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. I added an inch to the body and made the arm hole larger. Now it looks pretty funky around the underarm, but hasn't been blocked yet. My question is this yarn is pretty stiff. My LYS mentioned if I soak it in wool wash and a bit of hair conditioner, it will soften right up. That made me wonder if it would fall differently since it would be less stiff? The second part of the question is if the sizing and shape of a garment will be different after blocking, do you have to wait until fully finished and blocked to see how something fits or can you get a realistic idea while the project is ongoing? I guess this is a 3 part question :) If I have fully blocked and soaked to soften, but do not like the fit; can I pull out and begin again or will the yarn change too much through the soaking process in wool wash and conditioner? I should add I do check gauge and block swatches and can't figure out why things aren't fitting quite right. Thanks so much for your energy, enthusiasm and information!!

4. Hi Andrea! Every Friday my dog and I snuggle up and watch your latest episode 😁 They’re so enjoyable, and I’ve learned so much! I am curious about the Inclinations Cowl that you are knitting up in your hand-spun for your daughter. Are you making this one smaller or with a thicker weight yarn? I had been thinking I would love to knit another one, this time for my 8 year old niece, but I wasn’t sure if I should try and make it smaller. Also, if I can sneak another question in here, you talked about yarns and pilling before. If I understand correctly, a single ply is more likely to pill faster, so if I am knitting a sweater that calls for a fingering weight yarn, would I be better off choosing a sock yarn?

5. I'm about to knitt your wonderful Gib sweater for my husband. Would be possible to place short rows under the ribbing iso in the ribbing or I "destroy" all the pattern and shaping?

Join on Instagram with the hashtag #STRIAHATweekendKAL

Join on Instagram with the hashtag #InclinacowlKAL

I am wearing The Weekender:

[lisaanderson]

When I get the desire to organize my yarn, I discover ‘on needle’ projects that are hidden in knitting bags. Excitement ensues, and I end up pulling it out to work on. I get sidetracked so easily 🤦🏻‍♀️ My wonderful husband used cedar to build new shelves and paneling in one of our small walk-in closets for my yarn. I filled the shelves with large clear storage bins that have airtight lids. The purpose was to protect my yarn from pests. My stash has grown tremendously and the new rule for myself is I will only use what is in the closet. I already broke it yesterday purchasing enough Brooklyn Tweed Shelter to make myself ‘The Weekender’. I hovered over the check out button for quite a while I must say! I have finally finished two Birds of a feather shawls, The shift, and the inclination shawl. I just swatched for pink velvet and pink fizz. I love your patterns so much that I even made the everyday shawl for when my husband and I eloped in St. Lucia! Who needs a shawl on a tropical island? I used it when we were at the JFK airport in NYC. I feel like I am an addict and need rehab, lol! I am a yarn addict that has the fortunate/unfortunate proximity to the largest yarn store in the country, Webs! Thank you for all your amazing patterns and teaching skills! I have been knitting since I was 8, so 40 years.

[jomcginty]

Hi, Andrea. Regarding fixing mistakes in the half-fisherman's-rib: I recently knitted my husband a sweater in a stitch pattern that was identified as half-brioche. I believe the result is the same as the half-fisherman's-rib -- it's just created differently. I did make mistakes on both sides, or columns, of the fabric -- the columns that resemble a traditional rib, and the columns that look like a fancier rib. I did find ways to ladder down to make corrections. Bristol Ivy has a tutorial for correcting mistakes on the columns that look like traditional rib. Through trial and error, I found a way to fix mistakes on the prominent columns on the other side of the fabric ... and then found instructions to fix the errors on the bottom of page 188 in the "Big Book of Knitting" (my solution matched!). I'm not putting links here because I've heard that YouTube deletes comments with links, but you can find notes on my Ravelry page, where I go by jacmcginty. The sweater with these notes is called "Tom's Sweater." I was frustrated for some time trying to figure all of this out, so I hope this will save some other knitters time and frustration.

[allisonmarieknits]

Highly organized person here! Most of us can’t help it, I can’t feel settled or relaxed with things disorganized 🤦‍♀️ my husband isn’t as naturally inclined to the same, sometimes it’s helpful for him to just set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes, spend that whole time getting done whatever task he/we are putting off and when the timer is done you’re either in the groove and you’ll just finish it or you can go back to doing whatever you were doing

[TiredKnitter]

I did a challenge where I did 10 minutes of tidying every day for 30 days. It helped a LOT. 10 minutes feels way more doable to me than a whole space

[KLJohnson]

My favorite way to watch your episodes is at the gym on the stair climber. Your videos are so interesting that they keep me from focusing so much on how many minutes I have left and keep me going longer. I learn so much!

[annamarasco]

Organization: it's a process, not a task. You just have to do it continually. I try to do a little tidying up of my making space once a week to keep the chaos down. I think doing this keeps the chaos to a minimum, keeps me from losing stuff, and helps me really know my own organizational and storage systems. Keeps me on track with finishing work like weaving in ends. It's not a perfect system-- I found a bag of knitting recently that had been in my garage in a box since 2016, based on a school program in it. It had a finished dishcloth in it as well as a half completed one and a 3rd ball of cotton. Yikes.

Tangentially to organization, if I have to put a project aside (aka, in the Suck Box, where bad projects go to think about what they've done) I try to write some quick notes about where I was and why the project is in the Suck Box.

My best tip for taking something off the needles to rip back is to get the teeniest needle I can find when it's time to put it back on a needle, like a size 1 - 3. Less splitting of the yarn that way. Just remember to knit that first row when you restart with the correct size.

[carolhill]

Love your attitude re “mojo” I’m a sewer first then a knitter….but since Covid I’ve been primarily knitting and learning so much and was feeling “stressed” that I’m not sewing….I’m going to follow your lead and believe my sewing mojo will return and it’s ok to leave one for the other! Thank you!

[Chaotic_Pixie]

Changing my mindset to "embrace the chaos" has made my life so much happier. If I don't see what I have, I forget I have it so I store things in incredibly visual ways. Maybe a peg wall to hang skeins of yarn on so they're visible but organized? Maybe a clear portfolio to lay pattern pieces into when they are in rotation but not actively being used so they're visually seen but protected? I get these clear pouches on amazon that zipper and they've been amazing for storing yarn together when I'm like, "okay, these 3 balls go together for this project idea" or "okay, these 2 fabrics and this pattern, thread, and these needles for this project" or maybe you're like my mom and go on a massive cutting spree and cut a dozen projects in one day, then you can keep all the cut pieces for one project together and they don't get mixed up... its an idea I co-opted from the cross stitch community. The pouches come in various sizes and are available on Amazon from countless suppliers. "Mesh zipper pouch" or "Plastic Envelopes" or "poly Zip" seem to be the key words for the product names but searching "clear zipper pouches" will yield tons of results and they're sold mostly in paper size measurements because they're meant for keeping documents protected in transit (I know lawyers who use them too) A4 is the size I use the most and I order them in bulk because I also store yarn in them because its water and bug safe. I do also use several that are larger... 11x14in size. Great for projects that have 4-5 skeins of yarn.

[heatherbill]

Interestingly, I was just thinking this about you a few days ago…thinking about your fashion sense and about how much I love how playful it is…I decided that it must be the artist in you and I’m pretty sure that chaos comes with the territory on that one! Lol!

[rehrerrobin]

I have used lifelines, not as much as I should, but haven't marked the row on the pattern. Brilliant! Thanks...

[independence_yarn_crafts]

Thanks for the great episode. I always learn so much from these.

[MsRockdoc]

Dying to get back into knitting. Suffering from a bad bout of tendinitis right now and can only knit a few rows a day. Working on your Inclinations cowl KAL at the moment. Slow but sure! Been using the down time to whittle down and organize my stash.

[emilythompson]

I'm right there with ya! I COULD clean up my dining table covered in fabric and notions, clean up my project bag pile, OR, I could watch your new episode and knit on my linen tee or my latest pair of socks...

[aletheia]

If you are knitting a sock with a heel flap--you can get away with a tighter sock if you make the heel flap a few rows longer (I like 2-4ish). This means you have a little more room around that widest diagonal at your ankle, which is usually the spot that makes a sock harder to put on. Just remember to add extra rows in the gusset to decrease the extra stitches you have to pick up on the sides of the heel flap! :)

[Happybwoman]

Very helpful tips on the stria— already needing that lifeline!

[dianachristie]

It's called an organized mess;) nobody is to touch or move anything but me..lol. love your pants! It's so you!

[Bucknills]

I'm exactly the same. I have a workshop my hubby built for me but still have the outhouse full of yarn, scrapbooking, cross stitch etc. Still not sorted and it's been 4 😂

[s.g.]

I just started my very first sweater this week and your answers to the blocking and fitting question were so reassuring. I'm much more confident knowing I just need to be mostly ok with the fit while I'm knitting. I was worried bc I felt like it was close but not quite perfect so far. Thank you!
Side note- I only got the courage to knit a sweater after listening to an older episode where you said that if I can knit a hat, I have all the techniques to knit a sweater. That was such a helpful comment!

[Spinning_laine]

ORGANIZING TIP: This may be old news but I recently found out how to store my paper patterns. More o the ones I print at home and out together. It takes 1 hanger and 2 binder clips, or 1 hanger with clips on it. Simple clip the pattern to the hanger and hang in the back of your closet!! I am so much more likely to pull from my patterns now that it’s not in a jumbled pile.

[amyhester]

I'm knitting a half-fisherman's rib blanket with a lifeline right now! :)