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Home , Cardigan (sweater), Meg Swansen, Steek

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New Book Wool Ga ther in g WG#93 features Meg’s stunning Norwegian Mitten Cardigan Follow along on author (photo, p2) . See Q&A about cardigan borders in this NL, p2 . Debbie Zawinski’s walking travels to all corners of Scotland, collecting native fleece to knit 11 original patterns. A tale of explo - ration and discovery, captivatingly written and beautifully illus - trated. Softcover, Fans of Wool Gathering have been very patient with us 192pp. as we have sorted through various dissemination options. Many knitters still want physical In the Footsteps of Sheep copies, and some want a download - Tales of a Journey through Scotland, Newsletter #29 able version; some want both. So Walking, Spinning, and December 2015 we reinstated our subscription Dear Knitter, service , and, beginning with As the days shorten and evenings become cooler, my fingers current WG issue #93 , we Newsletter readers receive begin to twitch, colors and construction shapes fill my thoughts, now provide free down - and suddenly I have three new designs on my needles . loadable copies to those 20% off My granddaughters paid me a surprise visit just as I was finishing who subscribe to the any order one, and I took advantage of having two beautiful young models physical version. in the house to photograph WG#93 (photo, p2) . over $50! To celebrate the cardigan in the current Wool Gathering, plus the new pattern from Felipe Cavalheiro (SPP#59), I describe EZ’s (Through 12/17/15) beautiful all-in-one cardigan border (no sewing) on page 2. I also New Book Use promo code: share answers to 5 questions about knitting cardigans. IKNIT2 -

New Schoolhouse Schoolhouse Press Pattern Press (SPP#59) The photos of 43 stunning Brazilian designer Felipe Bohus designs that Solveig Cavalheiro brings us Gustafsson has carefully recre - this beautiful new ated from the originals, made Norwegian cardigan. me catch my breath. Add to Constructed in the that more detailed historical information that from any classic dropped-shoulder previous publication, including letters, photos, articles and style, the pattern interviews, and full page photographs and precise instruc - includes detailed charts tions for fourteen classic , several of which have and instructions been heretofore unknown to us ardent (and even obsessive) covering circumferences American Bohus-followers. The result is an altogether of 38, 42, 46, and 50". beautiful book worthy of careful study through the long An altogether alluring winter to come (in English and Swedish, 150pp). new design. Bohus Stickning på nytt (The Revival) Viveka Overland 2 Notes on Cardigan Borders : A demonstra - Baby Surprise Ruffled Border tion of this method - and more - are in - (thanks to Melissa Zucker) cluded in Meg’s DVD /streaming video , Work ’s BSJ to the ending Cardigan Details . WG#93 Meg’s button band rows. Then, for the ruffle detail, kfb into Norwegian You may be familiar with the method of every stitch in the row. Mitten knitting a separate long border strip Knit the next row, Cardigan that is sewn onto the edge...but then kfb of every how long shall it be? Slightly other stitch of the fol - stretched to fit the edge and pre - lowing row (it will vent drooping? Should you block start to get crowded it first? And block the as on the needle). Knit a well? Sometimes the lower-edge few more rows plain back-and-forth has an and bind off. appendage on each side of the cen - Cardigan Q&A : ter front, and when the ribbing is done, Q: I am just about to cast on for a Nalgar and I want to the appendage-sts are put onto a holder. make a cardigan. Should I add 3 or 5 sts. to my K Later, they are picked up and the border is knitted up from number? them; first one side, then the other side, then the neck, in My concern is that the button are going to add three separate bits. width to the front of the garment. Should I deduct some For me, this is unnecessarily complex, and I encourage you sts to compensate for this? to try Elizabeth Zimmermann's all-in-one cardigan-border Am I over-thinking this? Any help would be very method; one based upon simplicity, of execution and the much appreciated. elimination of sewing. To add a stitch edging onto a stitch sweater, A: Dear Karl, My minimum steek-width is 5 sts (de - begin at the lower corner, and into the 'knit-up-stitch' pending upon ; in Shetland it is 7 or 9 sts), since (thoughtfully provided on each side of the center steek), knit ideally you want a bit of facing to fold back once the up *2 sts for every 3 rounds up the front; then every stitch steek is cut. along the base of the neck (horizontal raw sts); every stitch I assign the sts on either side of the steek (as it might along the diagonal shaping (if any) and 2 for 3 up the final be #1 and #7) to be the ‘knit-up’ stitches for the cardi - straight bit to the shoulder. Now knit along the raw sts of the gan border (or the sleeves), and I keep them in back - neck-back and mirror-image the fore - ground color throughout - uninterrupted by any shaping going around and down the other or motif (the 5 steek sts are worked in alternate colors; side. *This ratio is to accommodate either striped or speckled). The 5 (or 7) steek sts are not square Garter stitches being knitted part of the circumference measurement. on to oblong Stocking stitches. When I plan an overlap - There. All border sts now are on a ping cardigan border (or a single (40") circular needle and you few layers of I-Cord), I di - are ready to work back and forth in vide the body sts evenly - garter stitch as you incorporate all front and back, since both kinds of details: mitre the corners of these borders will add to right angles, across the very little to the overall cir - neck-back to prevent splaying, add cumference. stripes of cc if you feel like it, knit If the border is a color- your favorite buttonholes, and finally Now 20% off! patterned one and the two cast off loosely. EZ’s charming sheep sides will meet head-on doodle w/ (not overlap , but close with silver chain . clasps), then I count the Detail photo of Meg’s Turkish . Now available as Schoolhouse Press Pattern #60 . 3 NEW SPPs from schoolhousepress.com

SPP56, three different SPP57 EZ’s Pelerine (lace & garter) SPP58 Felipe Cavalheiro’s Bohus SPP59 Norwegian Cardigan

border sts as part of the front measurement and divide For advance planning, at this gauge, I would add 9 sts front and back unevenly at the outset. at center-front for the future cutting (the ‘steek’); these If there is a discrepancy in stitch count between front are not part of the circumference measurement. Keep the and back, I'd rather have extra sts across the front - for steek sts in alternate colors (either vertical stripes, or both men and women; backs are relatively flat and chests speckles) - with the first and last steek-stitch (#1 and #9) are curved. So if - as I work my way up the body - I kept always in background color throughout and not in - change my mind from an overlapping border to a flat volved with the motif; these are the ‘knit-up’ sts for the one, I don't let it bother me that there will be a small border at the end. extra width across the front. Cast on a second steek when you reach the bottom of the neck opening (put the first steek, and lower-neck- Q: I purchased to make your Turkish Maple sweater edge-sts on a thread). Since my pullover has a fairly wide design, and upon further reflection, I am wondering and shallow neck, you will want to alter the neck shape what you think about me making this into a cardigan. ia bit - making it deeper and narrower. Don’t you think I could put a steek up the center, keep Once done and cut open, you can use EZ’s Garter the center stitch on both sides of the steek, make an I- Stitch border to finish. cord edging and insert a zipper? Do you think there would have to be any Q: I Just received my pattern for the Aspen Yoke Sweater . other modifications? I want to make a cardigan as I saw in your newsletter. I I’m thinking this note in the pattern instructions that as you begin the leaf would work, but I pattern it says, "Make sure that the leaf point hits the need some advise since marked center-front stitch." Can you please tell me what I am alone on my you would do differently, if anything, in the center front knitting island here! in order to cut a steek later? Also, do you have instruc - tions for knitting up the A: Dear June, The facing and neck of the main question is, have cardigan? you already knitted the pullover, or are you in A: Dear Tifere, If you the planning stage? plan on a cardigan from The pattern will make a handsome cardigan, and it the outset, cast on an ad - will be easier to plan in advance (although you can turn ditional 7 sts at center- it into a cardigan after finishing the pullover version, it is front; 5 sts for the steek a bit trickier). (not part of the measure - 4 ment) and a stitch on each side of the steek for a "knit- Q: Dear Meg, I have owned your Cardigan Details video up stitch" when adding on the border. When you get to for a number of years and I love it. Thank you! I am the color pattern part, make sure the motif (or the par - about to knit up the buttonband/buttonholes in a cardi - tial motif) is perfectly balanced each side of the center 7 gan and I know this video describes how to calculate sts. I like to center the leaves in the middle of the back placement. My problem has become clear to (either the point of a leaf, or between 2 leaves), then me in that the teenage geek in my house has done away count forward in increments of the pattern repeat until with the VCR and replaced it with a DVD player. This you bump into the center 7 sts. That will be the starting has rendered my video totally unusable to me. I am hop - stitch within the leaf. You may have to 1 stitch ing that you can help me with a brief explanation of how somewhere in the first pattern round, in order to end on to calculate buttonhole placement. the same stitch at the other side of the front. Cully goes into great detail on this subject in the book Knitting A: Dear Linda, I hope this is the formula you are looking With 2 Colors . for. [For those whose technology is obsolete, we offer Also, we produced a DVD to deal specifically with Cardigan details as a DVD or streaming video .] your question about knitting up for the cardigan: Cardi - Onward, Meg gan Details (now also available as a streaming video ). It shows a dropped-shoulder cardigan being knitted from cast on to final . Your sweater will be a yoke- shape (instead of a dropped-shoulder), but the cardigan part will be the same.

Q: Hi, all, I'm doing a V-neck cardigan with a garter stitch button band. It's hard to tell from the pics in The Opinionated Knitter for newsletter 12 whether or not I should increase a stitch on each side at the beginning of the V, where it starts to slant to go up to the shoulder (basically at the top button location). It seems like one extra stitch on, say, ridge three would help the band "bend" around the decrease starting spot, but there's no mention of it in the NL text. Buttonhole Spacing Formula by Mary Rowe, (author of A: Very astute of Knitting Tams: Charted Designs ): you, dear Holly, and I agree. S = N - (H x B) - E Although the angle B - 1 is relatively slight, my instinct also is S = number of stitches between buttonholes to provide an extra N = total number of stitches stitch or two H = number of stitches in each buttonhole within the border B = number of wanted buttonholes at that point to E = number of stitches remaining at each end of button alter the direction band. very slightly. Try it, it works.