Pain in the Neck
I’m well on my way to assembling the various pieces of my first adult-size sweater after my class last night. However, the rollneck collar is in need of some serious help. It has three issues (at least!)…
1. Holes. Guess I need to space my picked up stitches a little better. Is there any harm in picking up more than the pattern calls for? The pattern says to pick up fewer stitches along the back than on the front, and I can see that the front of my collar was coming out much nicer looking. Any harm in picking up a few more in the back as well?
2. Exposed edges (where the arrow points). I don’t know what to call this situtaion, but basically I picked up stitches here too close to the edge so the join isn’t smooth.
3. (The one that finally convinced me that it’s time for a do-over.) Wrong size needles! I must’ve grabbed the wrong ones from the store last night. These are 11s, but I really need 13s — and the last thing I want is an ultra-tight rollneck. So, I’m off to exchange needles and then try my best to start over. Wish me luck!
While at the knit shop last night, I found some more goodies to splurge on with the remainder of my birthday gift certificates. Yay! Besides those needles, I got 7 balls of Filati FFF Isis in a deep rainbow multi color. It’s a rather shiny ribbon yarn (78% nylon, 22% cotton) that I think has a faintly oriental look to it.
I hope to use it to make the Ribbon Tank from Hip to Knit, but I’m not completely convinced just yet that it’s going to work out. The pattern recommended a different yarn that my LYS didn’t carry, but the shop owner assured me that Isis would be a fine substitution. My first swatch is pretty, but my gauge came out too small. That’s not unusual for me, but I’m just concerned that when I increase my needle size that the resulting fabric is going to be looser than what I want. (I don’t want this to be see-through!) Anyway, here’s what I have so far…
I really love the look of the yarn. So hopefully I’ll still like it at the bigger gauge. Otherwise, I’ll be torn about whether to look for a new pattern, new yarn, or try to modify this pattern in some way to accomodate smaller needles.
April 9th, 2004 at 9:44 pm
as far as picking up stitches, I have *never* picked up the amount recommended in a pattern. I end up picking up more stitches to avoid holes. Sometimes I’m too eager and end up with too many and have to go back and do it again. I’ve still not perfected the technique, but I take it slow.
April 9th, 2004 at 9:48 pm
I’m sorry about the holes, I hate when that happens. I usually pick up as many stitches as I need to cover up the gaps and then decrease the number down to whatever the pattern calls for. I love that ribbon yarn!
April 12th, 2004 at 3:30 pm
Hi Jena, I’m hoping you got the email I wrote you regarding picking up stitches etc. I have been having all kinds of problems with hotmail lately. There is, of course, no pressure to write back if you did get it though!
I think I still have your mailing address… If so I’m going to mail you a few pages from The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques that might help too.
April 12th, 2004 at 6:11 pm
no harm at all - half the time i think the number the pattern wants is just wack. and sometimes the pattern claims that a specific number is in order for the pattern below to match up and they turn out to be wrong. i just pick up however many “feels” right and go from there.