The Magic of Graph Paper

I am an avid and primarily self taught knitter. I learned most of the techniques I know by trial and error as I worked a pattern that was probably too advanced for me at the time. Collecting these tricks and techniques into one place is hopefully as helpful to others as it is to me. 

One thing I have always struggled with when designing a pattern is how to distribute increases or decreases to make a curved edge like for armholes and shoulders. And then I had a bit of an epiphany; if it's hard to visualize, draw it!

So this is just my short hand sketch, so it may not be super clear for others, but I'll try and give you an idea what's going on here:

I was trying to make a nice curve for a sleeve cap. So the first this I did was sketch in the shape I wanted. I only drew one curve, since the shape will be symmetrical, just imagine the other half to the left of the drawing. Since knit stitches are wider than they are tall, each square on the graph is one stitch and two rows.

Once I had the curve in, I used a ruler to draw straight lines to approximate it. Using the grid, I just counted how many stitches needed to be decreased in how many rows for each straight line segment. The bottom line of numbers in each set on the diagram is that count. Multiply the count by two to account for the other half of the sleeve cap, and then simple division gives the distributions listed in the top line. At that point, just work from the bottom up.

For this example that means:

    Decrease 1 stitch each side every 4 rows, 8 times, for a total of 16 stitches decreased over 32 rows, then

    Decrease 1 stitch each side every 2 rows, 6 times, for a total of 12 stitches decreased over 12 rows, then

    Decrease 2 stitches each side every row, 4 times, for a total of 16 stitches decreased over 4 rows.

And now you have an easy step by step to follow to make the curve!

For the curious, here's how those sleeve caps turned out :)

Knitting Tricks: Adjusting Pattern Size to Fit

I am an avid and primarily self taught knitter. I learned most of the techniques I know by trial and error as I worked a pattern that was probably too advanced for me at the time. Collecting these tricks and techniques into one place is hopefully as helpful to others as it is to me.

One of my most frustrating moments of knitting was when I finished an elaborate sweater after hours and hours of work only to find that it didn't fit, at all.  I was so angry about it that I unraveled the whole thing and made a simple scarf with the yarn.

Since then I've learned better how to make sure that garments that I knit will fit before I even cast on.  The first thing you absolutely must do is measure yourself.  It's hard to make something that fits without knowing what you're aiming for.

You can probably guess the vintage of the book I found this diagram in. Nevertheless, it is still a good guide to what measurements you may need to know. The only ones I would add is the length between your bust, waist, and hip measurements. We do not all have the same length torso.

Once you have these measurements you can look at whatever sweater pattern you want to make and check them against what the designer lists are the finished measurements of the garment. It they all match up, you might think "Hooray, this will fit perfectly!" You might be right, but probably not. The designer's measurements for the finished garment are based on their stitch gauge not yours, and also may not take wearing ease into account.

So, what next?  Determine how much wearing ease there is supposed to be/how much you want.  Since knitting is so stretchy, many garments have negative ease, meaning the garment actually measures a little smaller than you, and fits snugly. Others have an inch or two of positive ease to make them fit more loosely.  Decide how much ease is needed for the look you want, and add or sutract that from your body measurements. If you need more length in the sleeves or body, take note of that too. Now you have the measurements you want your final garment to be. 

The next step is to make a gauge swatch.  Using the same yarn and needles you intend to make the sweater from, knit up a square that is at least 3-4" on a side.  Be sure to use whatever stitches are used in the final garment.  Once you have your square, carefully measure how many stitces and rows per inch.  This is your gauge.  If it matches what the pattern calls for you may think "Hooray, this will fit perfectly!" Again, you may be right, but only if your desired garment measurements match the designer's finished measurements. If not, then you still will need to adjust the pattern.  Beware there be math ahead in these waters :)

This is from the same 1950's era book, but jus because it's a little out of date fashion wise doesn't mean it's wrong.  This is a diagram of the back and front pieces of a very basic  waist length sweater. No matter the particulars of the sweater pattern you want to make, it will look similar to this, and these are the measurements you will probably need to adjust. This diagram shows the waist and bust measurements halved for doing the front and back separately.  Whether you work your garment this way or in the round will depend on your pattern. For this example I'm going to assume the garment is worked in the round, and use the full measurements.

So how to go about doing the adjusting?  Well lets start with the waist.  Lets say your gauge from your swatch and pattern both are 5 stitces and rows per inch.  The pattern says it's for a 29" waist, but you need 32."  29" at 5 stitches per inch is 145 stitches (5 sts per inch x 29"). By the same math, 32" is 160 stitches. So for example, working a simple sweater from the waist up, you would cast on 160 stitches for the waist insead of the 145 the pattern calls for.

Moving on to the bust.  The pattern is for a 34" bust, but you need 38." Same math as before: the pattern has 170 stitches at the bust, you need 190.  This is also where the length measurements come in. The pattern says to work 9" between the waist and bust, but you have a longer torso and want 10."  According to your gauge, that means you need an extra 10 rows between your waist and bust, or 50 rows total (5 rows per inch x 10").

So you need to increase from 160 stitches at the waist to 190 stitches at the bust over 50 rows.  Your pattern will have increases written into it, so follow the instructions there for how to spread the increase stitches across the rows, all you are adjusting is the frequency of the increase rows. Usually increases are done at the side seams in pairs to keep things balanced. So in one increase row you will most likely add 4 stitches. You need 30 stitches increased, which is not divisible by 4. This is where a little extra adjustment comes in. You can either add 28 total stitches in 7 increase rows, or 32 total stitches in 8 increase rows. Let's say you are ok with it being a tiny bit smaller and you choose 7. So, you need 7 increase rows evenly spaced in 50 rows total. So 7 x 7 is 49. If you do an increase row on every 7th row 7 times, you are at 49 rows. One more row without any increases makes your 50.

If you'd chosen 8 increase rows, 8 x 6 is 48, you'd do an increase row on every 6th row, 8 times to get 48 rows, and two more without increases to get to 50.

These same steps can be used to adjust the width and length between waist and hip, between bicep and wrist, bust and shoulder, wherever you need to change the pattern to fit.

Obviously this is going to be easier on patterns without complicated stiches like cables or lace. If you are trying to adjust a pattern with stitches that have set numbers like that you will have to work your adjustments around them or adjust your stitch numbers up or down to keep even multiples for the stitch repeats used in the pattern.  

Any adjustments to stitch counts in the bust is likely going to affect your neckline and shoulder instructions.  Use as much of the pattern instructions as you can to keep things easy on yourself. It's a good idea to try out adjustments like this on an easy pattern before trying a more complex one. If you can, try on the garment as you go. If you need to take something out and rework it it's better to catch it early than once everything is finished.

If you're curious, this is the sweater I tried and failed at. The yarn made a nice scarf at least.

Knitting Tricks: Charting a Color Pattern

I am an avid and primarily self taught knitter. I learned most of the techniques I know by trial and error as I worked a pattern that was probably too advanced for me at the time. Collecting these tricks and techniques into one place is hopefully as helpful to others as it is to me.

There are a multitude of charted patterns for multicolor knitting available on the internet. Chances are you can find one already made for just about anything you want to knit up. But what do you do when you can't find just the motif you need?  Fortunately, making your own color chart from a printed design is pretty easy.

This is a page from a book filled with Japanese border designs. For this particular knitting project I chose the one in the middle.  I scanned the book page and used my tablet as a way to enlarge the design to the size I wanted and traced it onto graph paper. You can pretty easily just skip the tablet step and draw the design directly to the graph paper if it's a simple enough pattern. Or if you need it resized you can photograph or scan the book page and use a computer to enlarge and print it out.  Either way, the next step is to get the design drawn onto graph paper.

If you have a repeating pattern like this, all you need is one repeat. If you're having trouble figuring out just how much is one repeat, try using tracing paper to put sections of the motif next to each other to see how they line up.

The top motif is the one I traced. I did a bit of cleaning of up of the design to make sure it was symmetrical and balanced.  Then I sketched in extra grid lines along the lines of the motif. You'll note since it is symmetrical I only needed to do one half.  The bottom is my draft chart. Using those extra sketched in grid lines, I filled in the graph squares whererever a line of the motif crossed the grid. There are visible marks from an eraser as I made adjustments.  You'll need to step back and look at your draft, make sure the lines look like curves where they are supposed to, and are straight where they need to be.  Double check that both haves of a symmetrical design are the same, that a repeating design matches itself on the edges.

Once you have a draft on paper, I find it very helpful to make a digital version. Using any spreadsheet program you can recreate your paper chart by filling in the cells with different colors.  This will help you count how many stitches and rows your chart is, and you can copy and paste the chart beside and below itself to check if it all lines up when you repeat it.  From here you can also print more copies if you need.

And that's pretty much it. Whatever project your chart is for, just knit it up following the chart and you should see your motif taking shape. I used a variegated yarn for my main color, so it has that stained glass look, but it works just as well with a solid color. 

If you'd like to make one of these neck warmers yourself you can find the pattern here or here :)

Knitting Tricks: Knitting two Pieces Together

I am an avid and primarily self taught knitter. I learned most of the techniques I know by trial and error as I worked a pattern that was probably too advanced for me at the time. Collecting these tricks and techniques into one place is hopefully as helpful to others as it is to me.

Knitting two pieces together is very similar to the three needle bind off method, except you don't bind off.  It is a way of joining two knit pieces together, and then continuing to knit one piece from there.  

I first encountered it as a way to add layered ruffles to gauntlets, and I use it frequently in my own designs to make seamless hems and other features.  It is incredibly useful for joining parts of garments without binding off or seaming. It does only work if the two pieces have the same number of stitches, however.

Insert the right hand needle into one stitch from each left hand needle, as if to knit.  Just like you would if you were working two stitches from the same needle, knit the two stitches together and pull them off the left hand needles.

Continue working stitches this way; knitting one from each left hand needle together.  Once the row is finished, your two pieces of knitting will be joined, and you will have live stitches on your right hand needle ready to continue.