I decided to return to the issue of converting hand knit patterns to the machine. It becomes more and more necessary with the lack of good sources for reliable machine knit patterns these days. I stress reliable because I am a firm believer in good editing and much of the material on the internet has…

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I’ve had a number of requests lately for a pattern for yoked sweaters. They were huge back in the 80’s and maybe they are coming back! Joyce Schneider wrote a couple of excellent pattern books for standard and chunky gauge machines back then and if you see a used copy of one of those, I’d…

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  One of my all-time favorite knitters happens to be a hand knitter – Deborah Newton. I’ve known (and adored) her since we were both authors working on our first books for Taunton Press back in the 90’s and when I tell you she is bright and funny and incredibly talented, I am not exaggerating…

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I promise. This is about the last thing I will have to say about charting for a while!  Most of us find that we seldom exactly match somebody else’s gauge – especially when we start utilizing hand knit patterns on the machine. Sometimes it just means a little tweaking to get things right. Other times…

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Books you need to own:  The following books are excellent sources for information, garment shapes and dimensions in various gauges – and perfect for building on to produce your own patterns now that you know how to adjust gauge! Newton, Deborah. Designing Knitwear. Taunton Press, 1992 (newer paperback available). One of my personal favorites. Budd,…

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The collar on the sweater I featured in my last two blogs is actually more of a turned or rolled collar. A true shapedshawlcollar requires short row shaping so I have included some generic directions in this posting. You’ll need to provide the actual number of stitches and rows for your project, but the the…

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Sorry for the delay – It was hard to find enough time to finish up the new shawl collared cardigan, wash it and wait for it to dry in the New England humidity, but now I’d like to walk you through the process of charting an original design. I used some hand dyed yarn that…

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I haven’t forgotten part 2 of the Charting posting, but wanted to introduce you to this shawl collared cardigan first. We’ll get back to the charting – I promise! I designed this sweater in 1996 and knitted it – the first time – with a wonderful boucle from Lang Yarn called “Harvey”. I’ve knitted it…

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Last time I told you we would begin working with gauge to take control of our knitting. So, I’ve included a PDF file that contains a couple of simple exercises for you to  get started with. Just click Charting1  and it will open the file so that you can print it out to use as a worksheet. You…

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I think I get more questions like “where can I find a pattern for _________” (you can fill in the blank with socks, sweaters, raglans, hats, etc) than I do for any other problem. If you are a careful swatcher and you learn to work with gauges just a little bit, you can use most…

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