too<\/em> tightly fitted)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAnd, to stop the project from being too boring to make, and to give a tidy end result, I decided to build in some hidden features: folded hems, set-in sleeves, and interior waist shaping.<\/p>\n
Problem 1: Knots!<\/h2>\n
I quickly discovered that this yarn was frustratingly full of knots where the yarn had been joined. I thought I might get away with ignoring them and kept knitting, hoping for the best. Once I realised that some of the knots were showing from the front (ugh!) I had to frog the whole thing and start again. I cut out all the knots as I re-wound the yarn, and made sure to change to a new ball at the end of a row as I re-knitted it, so all the extra yarn ends would end up along the side seams.<\/p>\n
![\"speckled](\"\/blog\/images\/speckledsweater_frogging.jpg\")
So much frogging! So many little balls to wind!<\/em><\/p>\nProblem 2: Bulky Hem<\/h2>\n
When I calculated the size for this sweater, I tried to leave plenty of ease so I can wear a long-sleeved T-shirt underneath, and I got that just right: the result is a smooth but not at all tight fit. But when I came to try it on: disaster! <\/p>\n
The folded hem that looked so neat on the cuffs (you’ll see that in a later photo) looked overly bulky and flared around my hips. With the rest of the sweater being so fitted, that really wasn’t a good look, so I unravelled the entire hem from the bottom so I could hand-knit a new bottom edge.<\/p>\n
![\"speckled](\"\/blog\/images\/speckledsweater_pickedup.jpg\")
Bottom stitches picked up and ready to hand-knit<\/em><\/p>\nI was still trying to keep the smooth look I’d envisioned for this sweater, so I found tutorials for several different folded hem methods and tried them all. But I didn’t like any of the results – I think the folded hem would have worked out much better with a finer yarn or a boxier, larger-fitting sweater – so I had to abandon the idea and try to think of a different bottom edging. <\/p>\n
After a few more experiments, I figured out that a 3×1 rib with the purl columns twisted to keep them tight looks pretty good – it has enough ribbing to keep the bottom from curling up, but with narrow vertical lines breaking up the smooth fabric instead of a fully ribbed appearance.<\/p>\n
![\"speckled](\"\/blog\/images\/speckledsweater_cuffs.jpg\")
The bulky folded hem on a cuff, and the subtle ribbing around the bottom<\/em><\/p>\nFinishing<\/h2>\n
I finished the very bottom edge with a narrow i-cord to match my neckline finish, which I intentionally left minimal for that smooth look I was going for. It’s not obvious that these are matching i-cords, but it made me feel a bit better to have some continuity, as I’ve ended up with three different edge treatments: folded hem cuffs, twisted rib bottom hem and i-cord neckline…<\/p>\n
![\"speckled](\"\/blog\/images\/speckledsweater_collar.jpg\")
A 2-stitch applied i-cord to finish the neckline<\/em><\/p>\nWith the i-cords finished, I just had many (many, many) ends to weave in! It’s so frustrating when yarn is full of knots from the factory, but I didn’t have the luxury of extra yarn, so I re-used all the small balls I’d made when I cut out the knots, and each new ball meant two extra yarn ends to weave in.<\/p>\n
But finally, the sweater was complete! I’m happy with how it turned out: it fits very well thanks to the waist shaping, the speckles are nicely spaced, and, despite my unmatched edge treatments, I don’t think the design looks too chaotic. It’s a cozy addition to my wardrobe, and I’m feeling much more confident with designing and knitting with the machine now.<\/p>\n
![\"speckled](\"\/blog\/images\/speckledsweater3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Reflections & What’s Next?<\/h2>\n
I did have some yarn leftover at the end, and if I were remaking this sweater I’d keep the shaping but add a little more all-over ease; I think that would be a better design choice, especially with a bulkier yarn like this. And I’m not going to do any more frogging(!), but if I did, I might change the cuffs to match the bottom edging.<\/p>\n
One thing I’ve noticed about machine knitting: although it’s fast when you don’t make mistakes (and don’t add interior shaping by hand, which takes forever<\/em>), I find the process of running the carriage back and forth to be quite tiring. It may be a knitting machine, but it’s a manual knitting machine – it’s still completely hand-powered! <\/p>\nI like having the option to knit plain parts more quickly, but I’ve missed the relaxation of forming stitches slowly by hand while I watch TV, so my next sweater will be the opposite of this one – a fine-gauge, completely hand-knitted pullover with a textured stitch pattern. It’s going to take a looong time to finish, and that’s just fine by me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More experimenting with my mid-gauge knitting machine! I bought 4 balls of Caron Simply Soft Speckle from the Spinrite yarn factory outlet closing sale because it was cheap, and I liked the colour, but I had no idea what I’d do with it. Spoiler alert: here’s what I ended up making: I think the process […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-knitting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26888,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26856\/revisions\/26888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.planetjune.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"speckled](\"\/blog\/images\/speckledsweater1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n