Elizabeth Zimmermann – Ink, Yarn & Beer

A Gansey for Autumn

The summer is winding down, and my last two days off work lie ahead. I have not done much painting as my interest in the visual arts is currently on photography. On the other hand, knitting, while not prolific, has been steady. I have been working on a gansey in Rowan’s Felted Tweed for the past several weeks.

The design is sort of original, and sort of not, as it is based on a gansey pattern design by Beth Brown-Reinsel‘s book Knitting Ganseys, specifically the child’s gansey “Snakes and Ladders,” which is pictured on the cover of her book. I’ve expanded the stitch count – I’m no toddler in size! – and have decided to make it more in the EZ style, with raglan sleeves, and possibly a placket opening in the front or a boat neck, just because in California a high-necked sweater would be too hot for me.

It’s been quite a while since I have made a sweater. Admittedly, Josh’s sweater fell to the wayside – it was too, too boring. I needed a brighter color, and texture. I purchased the Rowan yarn several years ago, but had no idea what I wanted to make out of it, so of course it sat around. The color is one of my favorites, a rust color or what some might call a spiced pumpkin color, as it is not a deep rust, but more the color of autumn leaves which have not completely faded.

Designing a sweater takes a bit of work! While the design itself was essentially there in Beth’s book, I needed to expand on it. In the end, rather than a 6-stitch snake cable, I upped it to an 8-stitch cable. The bar sections (7 rnds. of stockinette with one rnd. of purl) became 10 stitches. I thought I had it all set up, and then as I was knitting realized I had not taken into account the fact that centering of a pattern section was critical for success. Duh! Once that was solved, though, the body proceeded nicely.

I have finished the body to the point where I am ready to add sleeves. I am about 2/3 done with the first sleeve, which is knitting up amazingly fast, and I am enjoying the simplicity of the overall sweater pattern quite a bit. As with the body, the sleeve took a bit of thought, but is going along quite nicely now that I have completed the increases.

It always feels good to see progress on a project – especially after frogging a major sweater elsewhere!

Basic Beret: Creating a Top-Down Beret, i

A lot of people have downloaded the pattern for the Basic Beret, both here and on Ravelry. Not a lot of people seem to have made it, though. There has also been some criticism about the pattern itself, especially about the decreasing toward the top. There may be some validity to it, and it could also be the skill level of the individual using it. Given that, if you do decide to try this one, be warned that all I am providing is an insight into my own design process, and what I do. That said, let’s begin!

What do you want your beret to look like?

For my purposes here, I want a small pattern that can show how the beret expands outward. I want a knitting pattern or stitch that is easy to memorize and small enough to illustrate my points in design. I figured a pattern of 2 to 4 stitches would be good, and no more than 5 rows in length.

My idea is that, since I will be working from the center outward, I don’t want all the pattern stitches radiating out all at once, but incrementally. I plan on 6 initial patterns of the stitch, increasing between the pattern stitches in purl, and then adding the knit stitches, which are the foundation of the mock cable rib. As the pattern itself is 5 rows, the idea is to add a new pattern line every 5-10 rows to keep each pattern repeat parallel.

My favorite on-line place to go is Knitting Fool, which is a repository of oodles of patterns. I chose an eyelet rib or cable pattern that most of us have seen – 2 stitches, a yarn over in the middle, knit a few rows, and decrease by pulling a stitch over a couple to create the cable effect. Here is my circular version, using Knit Visualizer, of the pattern. I created the MCCO stitch using the stitch editor in Visualizer.

I may decide to move the purl stitches to the right end of the pattern.

Gauge

As I am familiar with my own way of knitting, and about how many stitches per inch I usually get with a given yarn, I tend to skip this step. However, if you do not know, or you like to swatch, make yourself a swatch knit in the round, and measure from there. Gauge of flat knitting and circular knitting can vary. Some good links for getting your gauge may be found here and here, and in the videos below.

Center Beginning

The first decision is to have a flat center, or a little tab, such as found on the classic wool beret, growing out of the center. If you want a tab, this is how to do it.

Tab Beginning

This is done using I-Cord. Using double point needles (dpns), cast on three stitches, leaving a tail of 4-5 inches in length. I-Cord is done by knitting the three stitches, sliding them to the other end of the needle, and repeating. This video is very nice in illustrating how to make an I-Cord.

While you are knitting, include that long tail left over from beginning. This means you are doubling up your yarn and knitting the tail into the stitches. This keeps the problem of the tab’s tail having to be woven in later on. It also makes a fatter tab, so you may wish to use only two stitches for your I-Cord tab. Whatever you do, knit all the stitches for each row of I-Cord, do not slip the first or last stitch if this is something you do with regular knitting.

I decided to do a 3-stitch I-Cord for the tab. Here is my picture of the long-tail cast on, with a tail of about 6 inches.

Well, I knitted up a 3-stitch I-Cord. Too fat! Ripped it out, and produced a 2-stitch I-Cord. Here is the tab, knitting the tail in as I created the I-Cord. And, as you see, there are now 4 stitches, which can be used as the foundation for the beginning of the beret. There is also nothing to weave in along the I-Cord itself.

2-Stitch I-Cord, with Long Tail Knitted Into Work

Now that you have all sorts of information, here we go . . .and to quote Elizabeth Zimmermann,

Pithy Directions (so far)

Yarn: Full of Sheep, in cream

Gauge (from yarn wrapper): 4 st. per inch, 5 rows per inch

Needle Size (from wrapper): US 10.5

I am using size 8 needles because I knit loosely.

Directions: You can knit this beret with the traditional center tab, or flat. Up to you. I am using a tab for mine.

Begin Tab. Using a long-tail method of cast-on, cast on 2 stitches with about an 8-10 inch tail. Make the I-Cord (see above video or written directions) knitting with the long tail and the skein yarn doubled together. Knit 5 rows of I-Cord. At the end, there will be a total of 4 stitches available from the doubled yarn of the I-Cord.

No Tab: Cast on 4 stitches. Knit one row. Divide evenly over 3-4 needles. Mark beginning of round.

Yikes! Stripes! and Sumi-e

Anyone who has knitted stripes in the round knows that there are problems where the two colors meet. There are all sorts of ways written up about how to avoid that “jog” that shows the color joins. Oddly, I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube demonstrating how to do it!

Circular Stripes

Meg Swanson and Elizabeth Zimmermann wrote about how to do a jogless jog. Judy Gibson has a very good demonstration on how to accomplish it, including pictures with different colored yarns. I thought I was doing it correctly when I made the Fish Hat, but didn’t – the stripes were more than obvious.

Here, then, is my take of the Jogless Jog:

Knit one complete round of new color.
Before knitting the first stitch of the next round, use the tip of your right needle to reach into down into the stitch below the first stitch of the next round, and pull the right side of that stitch up, and place it on the left hand needle. This means (as far as I can tell) is that you pull up the stitch one row below the next stitch, and slide it onto the left hand needle. You then knit these two stitches together.

Something to note is that a diagonal will occur, according to Judy’s site. Take the time to read it in detail, and look at the pictures. It’s a very nice presentation.

Yikes! Stripes! Socks

The other day in a prep class for the CBEST, I started these socks at lunch. The yarns are KnitPicks Palette in a rather tomato-soup red and a Noro sock yarn that varies from hot pink and orange to brownish stripes. I am alternating five rows of Noro with two rows of the Palette. It is because of the stripes that I researched a bit more into how to avoid the jog.

As always, TechKnitting comes up with an excellent and detailed description of avoiding that stripey jog. Knitting-and.com has a bunch of other ways to avoid that jog. I decided to try this method for my sock:

In circular knitting: when adding a new color or stripe, prevent a jog at the joining point by lifting the right side of the stitch below onto the left needle and knit it together with the stitch.

Right now, the jog is not obvious in the color shifts, and is really badly photographed, but as the colors begin to shift, the stripe change will be more obvious, and I hope, more hidden.

Striped Sock Gusset

I am also at the gusset of my Thockies (for want of a better name). I am not pleased with the way the stripes are proceeding, and so am debating about what to do. I think what I will do is rip it out to the point of picking up the gusset stitches. I picked them up in alternating colors, but what I think I need to do is to pick them up in a solid color, even if this means making a bit of a mess with attaching and / or breaking yarn. Then, on the second round, I will begin the alternating colors for the stripes, and decrease using the same color all along the gusset. I am also considering using the Dutch heel – as I know it – so I will not need any gusset decreases whatsoever, but can simply knit in stripes without a problem.

Sumi-e

I have not had the time to do any painting at all! It really bugs me. I planned to do some during the holiday season, but unfortunately, so much got in the way! And again, my weekends are devoted to credentialling. I am soooooo tired of school and work! I’ve had to drop my Japanese class, I cannot find a time slot big enough to paint and relax, and on and on and on. No Chinese painting class, either. Well, given that, once I take the CBEST, I will PAINT and make some more videos . . .

Wah!

Retrospective

Yesterday was an unusual day for us here in SoCal – grey morning with sprinklings of rain. This is the kind of morning to take time to make breakfast and potter around doing nothing that is required by someone or something else. Being Saturday makes it all the more fun!

Last night the university (California Lutheran) my husband, Josh, attends had an honors dinner for those in their programs and department who have outstanding grades. His major is Computer Information Systems, and his GPA is definitely up there. Either he is the only one in his program, or else no one else managed to get decent grades! We went and, at our assigned table, met some lovely couples who also were being honored – all spouses. In a way, it was like going to a wedding! The meal was great, the bar was decent, and we were entertained by live music – sopranos singing old French songs and from the Marriage of Figaro, accompanied by a live piano player. As it was also a dinner to honor people, some students receiving awards gave speeches. One young woman, completing her BA in English, talked about poetry and the community at the school. It was so youthful (I felt ancient!) and hopeful, it made me realize that in my own too-busy life, the joy of discovery and the sense of an adventure just around the corner has been vanishing in the wake of one more job, one more job.

So, why the title of this post, Retrospective? I’ve been reading some blogs by people I enjoy from beginning to end. Some span several years. Written retrospectives, but written in the (then) present tense. Fun to watch people change and grow, the process of life and projects, events unfolding. Artist retrospectives are as enjoyable – seeing, in a very visible line, movement and development within an artist’s journey. Biographical books, with oodles of photos, also are pleasure. One of my favorites is Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Around.

As I get older, I get a bit more harsh about things – less willing to be fluffy – but also take a deeper pleasure in simple things, like making breakfast muffins, the smile of our young nephew, the mockingbirds singing throughout the night.

What retrospection does is also point out that only in the present is anything accomplished. Life is a process, but one done in the moment. I don’t have too many misgivings about my life so far, thoughts of “I should have done this, not that.” I think I would like to travel a bit more – I’ve seen this country coast to coast – lived in about 15 towns – visited nearly every state – but have never been to Europe of Asia or Africa. I would like to read more books, classical and modern. I would like to use my French more, and learn Japanese. I want to paint more. And design and knit more. Unfortunately, I’ve been busy with program development, writing mandated curriculum for the State, and getting a teaching credential on top of it all. All but the credential is out of the way, and that is done in 2 weeks.

The small things in life give great pleasure. Yesterday I took the time to look at the flowers and plants around the house which have been sadly ignored. There is a fuschia redbud outside my studio window (or office, depending on how the room is being used!) which begins the year with bright pink flowers. These give way to dark red, heart-shaped leaves. This is how the tree looks from my window. In the early morning, the sun shines through the leaves. Close up, the leaves are quite lovely. As spring moves into summer, they become greenish red.

I decided to wander around the yard, looking at the flowers, and seeing what kind of quality I can get from my little Casio Exilim. I took macro shots of various flowers, using the “best shot” portrait setting. I use this for nearly everything as it has nine sensors that pop up on the LCD display. It seems to work pretty well, as you can see below. Colors are pretty nice.

I noticed the dirt near the redbud looked lumpy. And then I saw this:

This is one of the Asian lilies I planted last year. I think this is a yellow-spotted one. I’m going to try to photograph it everyday – a reminder to look at the small things, to not let life get overwhelmed by the rush of work. Check out the “Life of a Flower” page to see what happens!

Knitting Offenses

The other day, I was over at the local bookstore, and decided to grab a few knitting magazines to peruse with my coffee. I saw some great designs in texture combined with lousy garment construction and finishing techniques. The biggest offenders are the shoulders, sleeves, bodies, and necklines.

Garment Design. As an example, not too long ago, I bought a pattern booklet from a famous yarn maker. The cover hat and glove set caught my eye. I bought it, without reading it. When I read it, I was stunned. The hat pattern – the same as for the back of the glove – was knitted back and forth on two needles, and then seamed! The gloves were knitted on four needles, in the round.

Huh?? Am I missing something here?

Necklines. I always look at the construction of the neckline, and I read the pattern. Is there sewing to be done? Is it knitted and attached as you go along, or done separately and then sewn on? Is the neckline shaping capable of supporting the rest of the sweater body? How does that V-neck or scoop neck look? Too low? Too high? Do the edges of the neckline have a finished look, or do they look sloppy and stretched out? Is it flattering? Does it make the sweater fall off the shoulder?

Badly Designed Sleeves. Under this heading, you can find poorly sewn sleeves, at the shoulder and into the armpit, and along the length of the arm. First question: Who did the finishing? Next question: Why would you design a sweater with sleeve seams?

In one of the magazines I looked at, it was pretty obvious that the person who pieced together the sweater could not do the job. The sleeve seam was messy and ragged. The knitted pattern did not add to the offense; some stitches make it difficult to knit a “sewable” edge, but the designer can eliminate this problem if they must have sleeve seams.

Another picture in the same magazine showed inset sleeves with the same crappy finishing. Puckers, uneven sewing. This destroyed the sweater. Here, the knitting designer was at fault to a degree because the pattern stitches used did not make the sewing-up easy.

Finally, photography. A lot of magazines show evidence of pinning and pulling to make an item “fit” the model. Here is when design flaws can really show up, as well as poor finishing techniques. Thank the photographer for this! It may make you re-think doing that pattern.

Body. This has been written up by some rather famous people. Elizabeth Zimmermann said it all. She documented this issue quite well when she sold her seamless Fair Isle sweater pattern to a famous magazine. Said magazine rewrote the pattern to have side seams, shoulder seams, and sewn-in sleeves, even though it was pretty obvious in the picture that there were no seams at all – or that the seamstress was superb!

Poorly designed sweaters can result in sweaters which can never be sewn together well, no matter the talent. I have some ski sweater designs from the 40s and 50s. The raglan sleeves are sewn in, and the patterns – snowflakes, elk, stars – are placed in the middle of the raglan seam. Not nicely sewn in the photos, and not worth doing, unless it is in the round.

What to do? Well…what can you do? If you really like something, is it something you can do? Do you have the skill, creativity, know-how to fix problems? Do you want to take the time to do it? Do you want to learn to do it?

If you answer yes, then have at it. If you answer no, then look for another pattern! You know your own personality, so why make yourself crazy and frustrated to the point of misery?

IMHO. I am a frump and a snob. I don’t wear trendy clothing, and I don’t make fashionable designs. I like well-tailored, comfortable clothing. I like good shoes. I like good materials and craftsmanship.

When it comes to knitting anything, I really appreciate good construction design, good finishing, and elegance. Most of this can be done with a minimal of sewing.

Tag: Elizabeth Zimmermann