Moving day

I'm happy to announce that the Blue Bee Studio Blog has a shiny new home over at bluebeestudio.com. Please come visit, (and update your feed reader settings), but most of all, let me know what you think!

From the top

I love set-in sleeve sweaters. In my opinion, they are the most universally flattering garment style. But in order for them to flatter, they really need to fit properly.

With a classic, bottom-up, pieced sweater, where the sleeves are knit separately then sewn into the armholes, adjusting the fit of the upper bodice, armholes and sleeve caps is no trivial matter. Because of this, knitters are often advised to leave these areas alone and focus on fitting bust and hips. But if your shoulders are wider or narrower than the industry standard, or if you have very slender arms, (or massive guns like I do), you need to be able to make adjustments.

It turns out that if you work a set-in sleeve from the top, starting with stitches picked up around the armhole, it’s much, much easier to fine-tune the fit of the upper bodice, armhole and sleeve cap. Giving knitters a better understanding of how set-in sleeves work, and providing them with the tools to make them fit perfectly is what Top Down: Reimagining Set-in Sleeve Design—the new book I've just published with Quince and Co—is all about. Here’s a peek at what you’ll find between the covers:

• An overview of set-in sleeve architecture
• An improved method for knitting sleeves from the top, designed to mirror the clever shaping found in a conventionally set-in sleeve
• Tips on measuring and fitting
• Extensive section on making pattern adjustments, both to accommodate gauge differences, and to tailor the fit of the sweater to fit you beautifully
• Detailed patterns for six classic set-in sleeve sweaters

For more photos of the sweater designs view the online lookbook.

A print book/e-book bundle is available for pre-order from the Quince and Co website. Print books will begin shipping August 6th, but the ebook can be downloaded immediately. The e-book is also sold separately.

If you’d like to join others who are knitting the designs in the book, a knit-along will be happening in the Quince Ravelry group. The KAL starts Thursday August 6th and runs through October 1st.

And if you’d like some help with swatching, measuring gauge, evaluating fabric, as well as making adjustments for gauge differences, come join in the swatch-along just getting started in the Blue Bee Knits group. Quince will be giving away a $25 gift certificate to one lucky winner, chosen at random from the finished swatch thread. Pretty great for just knitting a gauge swatch!

New pattern: Colina

With a flattering draped neckline, Colina is the uptown cousin of the recently released Lina tank. Designed in Sparrow, Quince and Co's fingering weight organic linen yarn, both Lina and Colina are worked from the top—without a single purl stitch between them. Garter stitch worked flat makes up the bodice, and stockinette in the round the skirt.

Colina begins with the neckline drape, a long garter stitch rectangle. Stitches are picked up along the short ends of the rectangle for the back shoulders, and more stitches are cast on between them to form the back neck. The back continues in garter, with shaping at the underarms, and is worked to the underbust.

With the upper back complete, the drape stitches are returned to the needles and the shaping of the front begins. Decreases are made at the sides of the piece, gradually reducing the stitch count until the desired cross-front width is reached. Underarms are shaped as for the back, and the front is worked to the same depth as the back. Front and back are joined, and worked in the round to the hem.

Lina is a similar construction. There's no drape, so the upper back is worked first, to the underbust, then stitches for the front are picked up at the shoulders, and the front worked to the underbust, too.

Lina, Colina and that magic line

So where exactly is this 'underbust'? When I knit the prototype for Lina, I assumed that the best place for the garter bodice to end was at the Empire line—the narrowest part of the upper ribcage, just below the bust. I found, however, that unless you have a very small bust, like the model in the photo above, it's actually better end the garter a bit higher up. Somewhere about halfway between the fullest part of the bust and the Empire line seems to be about right. Here's why:

Lina and Colina have an A-line shape that skims the body. This means there's no underbust shaping, so the dividing line between bodice and skirt does not have to correspond to actual anatomy. The lower you place this line, the larger (and visually heavier) the upper torso will appear. If you raise the line a little, it gives a sort of visual 'lift' to the bust line.

Both patterns have instructions to work the upper bodice to a certain number of rows below the underarms, but obviously the ideal depth for the garter section will differ from person to person. When I knit my Colina prototype, as I approached the point of transitioning to the skirt, I tried it on frequently, pulling down on the fabric to simulate what happens after washing and blocking the linen fabric. When I reached a depth that looked good, I began the stockinette skirt.

More visual aids

On each side of the skirt is a faux seam, created with slipped stitches. These 'seams' divide the front from the back, and end at the split point of the hem. As you work the skirt, increases are made to the back panel only, shifting the line of the 'seams' slightly towards the front on the garment. This makes for a more flattering line, visually narrowing the front panel.

You can find Lina and Colina here on Ravelry.

Warming up to linen

Made from the long, straight fibers of the flax plant's stem, linen is cool and drapey, the perfect thing for knitting warm-weather garments. If you have never worked with an inelastic fiber though, linen can feel pretty different the first time you try it. So here are a few tips for getting comfortable with this most glorious fiber:

Relax. Linen yarn doesn’t conform to the needles the way that wool does, so it creates a slightly larger stitch. In response, many knitters tension the yarn tightly, trying to achieve the same size stitches they’d get with wool. Don’t. Ease up, and go down a needle size or two. You’ll probably need to use a much smaller needle than you would for wool, but it will ultimately be a more pleasant experience.

And try bamboo or wooden needles. The grippier texture will help even out your stitches, and is often more comfortable than metal at small sizes.

Swatch. And wash. The ‘hand’ of linen yarn changes dramatically when it is washed and blocked. Linen fiber is ‘toothy’, so when stitches are formed, they tend to stay put. If you pull the needles out, the stitches will just stand there. Because of this, the working gauge and fabric can be quite different from the finished gauge and fabric—depending on the stitch pattern used. Once it has been washed and dried a few times linen becomes incredibly supple and drapey. And the drapeiness increases with wearing.

Stockinette fabric usually doesn’t change gauge too radically between the unblocked and blocked fabric. Garter stitch is another story, as the following photos of the gauge swatch for Lina and Colina—my two new designs in Quince and Co’s Sparrow—make clear.

The top photo is of the unblocked swatch, the bottom photo is the same swatch after washing and drying in the dryer twice, and then steaming. Washing and drying has completely changed the aspect ratio of the fabric, allowing the stitches to condense horizontally and relax vertically.


Unblocked gauge: 24 sts x 60 rows = 4" [10 cm]


Blocked gauge: 27 sts x 44 rows = 4" [10 cm]

Note that running the swatch through the washer and dryer is an excellent way of finding out what the fabric will look like a few washings and wearings down the road. But depending upon what kind of machines you have, it can cause some color loss. Use caution with the actual garment.

Pull from the outside. Linen fibers can cling to each other when they are wound together, so a center-pull cake is not ideal. Working from the outside of the ball or cake will minimize the possibility of tangles.

Rein-in your stitches. When working flat, use a longer needle than you ordinarily would. Stitches in linen yarn don’t compress as well as wool (before washing, anyway), so a longer cable will keep them from jumping off the end.

Count on drape. While it is not best suited to garments that need a lot of elasticity, (no socks!), linen is magical for projects where a fluid, supple fabric is desired. And your linen fabric will become softer and drapier over the life of the garment, the more it is washed and worn. Expect to love it.

Lina

I'm happy to announce the release of Lina, a simple tank with a flattering A-line shape, knit in Sparrow, Quince and Co's fingering-weight linen yarn.

I adore Sparrow. It knits up into a fabric with incredible drape and sheen. But if you are new to working with linen yarn, it can feel a bit, um, different. So, in addition to being the perfect simple warm-weather tank, Lina is designed to be an introduction to knitting with linen. It is worked entirely with knit stitches—using garter stitch for the bodice and stockinette in the round for the skirt.

I love the look of garter stitch worked at a fine gauge—like tiny elegant pintucks. Garter stitch helps to overcome any unevenness of tension when working flat, and makes for a more opaque fabric that can be worn without another garment underneath, preserving Sparrow's airiness.

Lina's skirt has faux slip-stitch 'side seams' that end in a sweet split hem. Apart from being a nice detail, the slipped stitches provide landmarks that somehow make the knitting go a little faster.

You can find the Lina on Ravelry, or purchase directly from Quince here.

I'll be back soon with tips on knitting with linen...

Metalwork update—and a knit-along!

If you are subscribed to the Metalwork collection, you'll have received two new patterns this week, Antimony, a slouchy hat with optional dangly pompoms, and Into Gold, the tam—originally designed for the Woolen Rabbit yarn club—that inspired the whole collection. Both patterns are now available individually, or as part of the collection, in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

If you are knitting any of the Metalwork patterns, come join the knit-along just getting started in the Blue Bee Knits group on Ravelry. Hope to see you there!

Metalwork collection

Metalwork is new a subscription-based pattern collection featuring five accessory designs, each full of rich, textured stitches and knitterly details.

The idea for the collection began with a hat I designed for The Woolen Rabbit's 2014 Yarn Club. The interplay of textures that came together for Into Gold reminded me of details found in metalsmithing or fine jewelry. What's more, Kim's Emma yarn, a blend of Polwarth wool and silk, gave the piece a fantastic burnished-metal look. By the time the hat was finished, I knew that some coordinating accessories were in the offing.

First to be released is Copperline, a fingerless mitt pattern that uses the same Coin Cables and Woven Stitch pattern found in Into Gold.

When the club exclusivity period is up in February, Into Gold will become part of this collection. At least one other piece will coordinate with that design, but there are some surprises in store, too.

The collection is available for subscription here. When you subscribe, Copperline is available for immediate download. The remaining 4 patterns will be delivered to your inbox over the next six months, each approximately six weeks apart, ending in May 2015.

Hope you'll join in the fun!

Hand-wound

Can I tell you a secret? I don't own a ball-winder. Nope. I wind my yarn by hand. I know what you’re thinking—really, I do. But I consider it pure pleasure. Want to know why?

To begin with, there’s the tactile experience. Whether I’m knitting with it or just holding it, touching yarn makes me happy. When you wind a ball by hand, the strand is continually running through your fingers. If it’s a yarn you’ve never used before, it’s sort of like a first date. You can begin to get a feel for how it will behave on the needles, how it will drape, and how it will feel next to the skin. If there are knots, you can deal with them. And because the yarn is moving more slowly through your fingers, if there are any small slubs or bits of vegetal matter, you can easily tease them out as they go by.

Then there’s the movement. Some people like to place the loose hank of yarn around their knees to wind from. Others use the back of a chair. There’s even the time-honored method of getting a family member to hold the yarn on outstretched arms—but I like to take my yarn for a walk. Here’s what I do: I put the yarn on my swift. If it’s a nice day, I’ll set it up out on the back deck. Holding the end of a strand, I walk away from the swift as far as I can go without the yarn dragging on the deck. Then I walk back toward the swift, gently winding the yarn around two fingers, making sure to keep it very loose. The idea is to create a fluffy, open pocket at the center of the ball. When I get back to the swift, I pull my fingers out of the center, and repeat the process, winding the next length of yarn crosswise to the previous bit, still keeping it loose. Winding on the return trip allows any tension created by pulling out the strand to be released, creating a soft, squishy ball.

There’s a lot of sitting in knitting, and winding yarn this way allows me to get up and move around a bit. I’m not sure I’d say it was exercise exactly, but if I wind enough fingering-weight yarn for a cardigan all in one go, I’ve walked the better part of a mile on my out-and-back trips.

There’s also the aesthetic consideration. I love the look of a tidy round ball, whether sitting in the palm of my hand or dancing around my yarn bowl as I work. When I have a travel project, I place a small plastic bowl in the bottom of a project bag, and let it spin happily away in there.

Then there are the yarns that prefer to be wound by hand. Airy woolen-spun yarns don’t always appreciate the rough treatment that a mechanical ball-winder can dish out. Toothy yarns like linen, and fibers that are haloed like mohair and qiviut can be challenging to work with from a center-pull cake because the fibers latch onto each other, creating tangles. Working from the outside of a ball that is free to spin eliminates these problems, and gravity helps to separate the fibers that want to grab.

Yes, winding by hand is a little bit slower, but on the whole, knitting is not a very fast business. I can spare a few minutes.

I know I’m not alone in my love of the hand-wound ball. How about you?

Into gold

There are times when a design just comes to you, fully formed. When Kim, the talented dyer behind The Woolen Rabbit yarns invited me to contribute to her 'Once upon a time' themed club, I saw my design in an instant. I'd been swatching a stitch pattern that made me think of woven straw. Combining that texture with a coin cable was a bit of a literal take on Rumpelstiltskin, but once I'd imagined the two together, it was irresistible.

Into Gold starts with the cabled band. It is cast on provisionally, worked from end to end, then joined in the round. Stitches are then picked up along one edge, and a horizontal braid is worked, separating crown and band. The textured crown is worked in the surprisingly simple Woven Stitch with decorative decreases that pinwheel gently to the center. To complete the play of textures, the bottom of the band is given a smooth I-cord edging.

For the photo shoot we had fun styling things uber-romantic/fairy tale. My friend Nicola was the perfect model. But I'd wear the hat paired with clean, modern lines. The tam style flatters many face shapes, and Kim's gorgeous Toadflax colorway is a rich gold that works well with a lot of skin tones.

The pattern is currently available exclusively to Woolen Rabbit 2014 Yarn Club subscribers. It will be available for purchase in late February 2015.

For more information, visit the Into Gold pattern page on Ravelry.

Welcome Summer!

What better way to celebrate the long holiday weekend and the return of warm weather than with a pattern sale?

From now through Tuesday May 27th, all independently published Blue Bee Studio designs are 20% off. Just click the 'use a coupon code' link in the Ravelry shopping cart, and enter welcome_summer.

Happy, happy Summer!

Wrong side tracks, part two

In my previous post I discussed how needle angles can affect the size of knit and purl stitches and lead to rowing-out. Here's a video that shows what I'm talking about, as well the changes I've made to correct my own rowing-out issues. Hope you find it helpful!

Wrong-side tracks

Next to garter stitch, stockinette is the simplest sort of knitting you can do. At the same time, it can be the most difficult to do really well. Just work back and forth for a while in a smooth, solid-colored yarn, and you'll get a lesson in which aspects of your technique are wanting.

Personally, I've always rowed out. Pretty badly. If you aren't familiar with the expression, 'rowing out' describes the tendency that a lot of knitters have to create different sized stitches on the knit and purl sides of the fabric when working back and forth in stockinette stitch. You can often see it most easily on the purl side of the knitting: there'll be little horizontal furrows where the stitches are looser on one row, and tighter on the next.

I've tried a lot of things to fix the problem, from using a smaller needle on the purl side – to adopting the Norwegian purling technique where the yarn stays at the back of the work all the time – to pure avoidance, disguising the problem with semi-solid yarns and lace or texture stitches. I'd been able to improve the issue somewhat, but it continued to be a problem.

Handily, knitting gives you a lot of time to think about, well, your knitting. It's right there in front of you, all the time. Lately I've been trying to carefully observe the way that I form stitches. In doing so I think I've discovered not just a solution to rowing out in my own knitting, but the reason why it happens in the first place.

Epiphany

Are you ready? Here it is: The angle of the working yarn – relative to the right hand needle as the new stitch is being transferred over – has to be the same, when knitting and purling, for the stitches to be of equal size.

I'm a continental knitter. When I make knit stitches, at the point where the new stitch is being taken up by the right hand needle, the working yarn is at pretty much 90 degrees to the needle, ensuring that the stitch will be snugged up as fully as my tension dictates, and gauged to the size of the needle.

When I purl in my usual way, because my needle is entering the stitch purlwise it's most natural for me to hold my needles at a wider angle, and as a consequence, the angle of the yarn relative to the right hand needle is always greater than 90 degrees. This provides slightly more resistance to the small force that I'm applying with my tension, et voila! a looser stitch is born.

For me, the answer is simple: Make sure that at the point of transfer, the angle of the working yarn is consistent. In my case, this means perpendicular to the right hand needle. That's it. All I have to do is to close the angle between my needles, and the purl stitch is able to snug up just like a knit stitch. So simple.

Here's what the wrong side of a recent swatch looks like:

Is my knitting perfect now? No, and I don't need it to be – but it's so much more even than it was. And if there's a looser row now, it's just as often a knit row.

Will this work for anyone else? I really don't know. There may be other differences in your knitting style that introduce changes in tension when knitting and purling. But I'd love to know if it does!

Gift-A-Long

Starting today, a group of indie designers is throwing a huge party on Ravelry that we’re calling Gift-A-Long.

What’s it all about? Well to begin with, it’s a sale. Participating designers are offering 25% off selected patterns through November 15th. Just enter the coupon code ’giftalong’ at checkout to receive the discount.

And there's more! Through December 31st, CAL/KALs will be running in the Indie Design Gift-A-Long group, with hundreds of prizes being given for finished objects made from Gift-A-Long patterns.

All of my self-published patterns on sale. You’ll find them in the Blue Bee Studio store.

Grass River

Near our house there's a wide wet meadow that we call the grass river. It's a shallow swale that runs with snow-melt in early spring, then drys out as the summer comes on. A place of subtle, quiet beauty – you might think it rather plain – unless you see it in early spring when the violet-blue Camassia are blooming, or better yet, in the golden glory of early fall.

The Grass River Tunic is kind of like that. A bit plain, no lace, no cables, just clean simple lines. But once you slip it on, its charms become more apparent.

Knit in the Woolen Rabbit's delicious single-ply fingering-weight Airy, Grass River is light, soft, and so easy to wear. A flattering empire line and a bit of waist shaping make for a figure-skimming fit. The deep surplice neckline layers beautifully over a tank or tee. And decorative welts at the bust, neckband and cuffs add a little polish.

You can find the Grass River Tunic pattern in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Summer joy sale

Celebrate long days and lush colors with 20% off all patterns in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store! From July 1st through July 5th, use the code 'summer_joy' in the Ravelry shopping cart to get your discount. Happy Summer!

Floriston

©2013 twistcollective.com; photography: Jane Heller

I know it sounds funny, but I do a lot of designing on my bicycle. I live in a mountainous place, and no matter where I ride, there are always hills and more hills. To keep myself from thinking about my legs on those endless climbs, I pass the time working out the details of new designs.

On some rides last summer it was a cardigan design that kept me diverted. The idea was to create a modern shape that would skim the figure and be easy to wear, but with a bit of elegance…something feminine, but not girly…with lace details, but a geometric motif rather than a floral one…on and on it went, to the top of the hill.

The result is Floriston, just out in Twist Collective's Spring 2013 issue. It's an airy, open-front cardigan with clean lines and a little surprise – a sweet inverted pleat at the back.

©2013 twistcollective.com; photography: Jane Heller

Some more details:

• A wavy eyelet-and-rib pattern forms the cardigan's front bands and is repeated on the inside of the pleat.
• A bit of waist shaping keeps the silhouette sleek.
• The sweater fronts widen slightly at the bottom for some subtle draping without an excess of fabric.
• The bracelet-length sleeves have a little vent detail that echoes the back pleat.
• The sleeves and hem have a crisp I-cord edging.

I love the way that Twist styled the photos of Floriston. The model has such grace and charm, and that floral-print skirt is adorable. But I'm not a very girly girl, so when I had one made for me, I indulged in a lovely charcoal grey. So far I've only worn it with jeans and a tank, but I'd also wear it with some dressier ankle-length pants and short boots, or with a slim sheath dress. Pretty sure I'll steer clear of the bike shorts, though.

A new Millrace

Ever since the Millrace Scarf pattern came out last year I've been itching to use the same tip-to-tip construction and edging motifs in a shawl design. So here it is: the Millrace Shawl.

With a 14" depth at center back and a generous 76" overall width, Millrace stays nicely on the shoulders and can be styled in a lot of different ways. The shawl begins and ends with just 4 stitches. The garter stitch body and lace edging are worked all in one go, so there is no long cast-on or bind-off, and no stitches to pick up. And while the garter body makes the knitting fly along, the flowing lace motif provides just enough interest to keep it fun.

The sample is worked in Quince and Co. Tern in the Sea Grass color. Tern is a lovely yarn that marries 75% American wool with 25% silk for great stitch definition and beautiful drape. Perfect for this design.

Both Millrace patterns can be found in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Another Alewife

Here's the latest in my ongoing love affair with herringbone patterns, the Alewives Hat.

A companion design to the Alewives Cowl, the slightly slouchy hat features a wide swath of herringbone texture amid panels of garter ridges. The pattern is easy enough for advanced beginners, but the texture stitches keep it fun for knitters of all skill levels.

The Alewives Hat pattern is available individually, or as part of an ebook collection containing both the Alewives Hat and Cowl. You can find the patterns in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

A bit about the yarn

Friends who have seen the Alewives cowl and hat in person always remark on the incredibly deep and rich color. The sample is worked in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted, in Bittersweet.

When I asked how they produce these glorious colors, Swans Island's head dyer Jackie Ottino Graf sent me a lot of great information. To read her full description of the dye process, check out this thread in the Swans Island Ravelry group, but here it is, in brief:

All Swans Island yarns are dyed in the skein, using traditional natural dying methods. After scouring with a mild unscented detergent, the yarn is soaked in a mordant bath overnight. The mordant, a mixture of alum and cream of tarter, creates a bond between the dye and the fiber. The fiber is then placed in the dyebath and can remain there for anywhere from a few hours, to overnight – depending on the color and shade that's desired. Swans Island uses a variety of natural dyestuffs including indigo, cochineal, madder, logwood, and weld. Some colors are dyed one shade and then overdyed with another.

The result is luminous layered color that is full of life. Pretty sure I'll be working with this beautiful stuff again sometime soon...

Alewives

I love herringbone patterns. So simple to work – just knits and purls – but such a rich and fascinating result. Perfect for adding textural spice to an easy knit like the Alewives cowl.

The idea behind Alewives was to create a simple cowl using easily memorized stitch patterns, but to make it interesting enough to be fun and engaging. The design features panels of herringbone and panels of garter ridges moving together around the cowl in a rhythmic sequence that keeps the knitting galloping along.

Worked in the round, Alewives is written for two sizes: a 24" / 62 cm diameter single loop, and a 49" / 124 cm loop that can be worn as a long infinity scarf, or doubled around the neck for more warmth. The smaller cowl uses approximately 250 yards of a light worsted yarn. About 500 yards is needed for the longer version. Stitch patterns are provided in both charted and written form.

The sample is worked in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Worsted, in the Bittersweet color. This glorious organic Merino yarn is spun and hand dyed in Maine using natural dyestuffs and traditional dyeing methods. Their processes create deep, layered, tonal colors that glow with life and subtly enhance stitch patterns. It was a great fit for Alewives.

Okay, so what's an alewife? It's a fat little fish that looks a lot like a herring…. You can find the Alewives cowl pattern in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.

Greenwillow

A new year calls for a new pattern, and with all the snow we've gotten over the past few weeks, nothing fits the bill like a cozy cowl.

Greenwillow features a dimensional lattice texture accentuated by crisp linear edge details. The pattern is written for two lengths, a simple 21.5" loop, and a 43" loop that can be worn as a long infinity scarf or doubled around the neck for extra warmth.

Knit in String Theory's Blue Faced Sport in Jade, the yarn's subtle tonal variations and incredible luster perfectly complement the latticework pattern.

Greenwillow can be found in the Blue Bee Studio Ravelry store.