Adpting a sweater

Like pennies from heaven, sometimes the best posts can pulled right out of my email.

A knitter wrote:  Do you know how I could adjust this sweater for a 3 year old?

My reply:  First, you did to determine your guage or tension by working a sample swatch.
Cast on 20 stitches. Work in Stockinette stitch for four inches. Measure the swatch.
Tension:  5 stitches = one inch

How long should the sweater be?
Search the child's sweater collection to find a sweater that fits well. Measuring the sweater will help you determine how long to knit the sweater.

How wide?
Measure the child's chest.
Add 2 inches for ease of wear.
Divide this number in half.
Multiply this number by the number of stitches to the inch.
For example, 12 inches x 5 stitches = 60 stitches.

You will need 60 stitches for the back and front.

Determine how long the sleeve should be by measuring the child's arm--from underarm to wrist.

More calculations are required to calculate the neckline and sleeve width.

Good books on design are
Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti
Designing Knitwear by Deborah Newton
Ethnic Knitting series by Donna Druchunas

Also consult
Standards & Guidelines for Crochet and Knitting compiled by the Craft Yarn Council of America

Here's a very easy children's sweater you can practice on:  sweater pattern
How will you adpt it? Please send me a jpg.
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In related news:  CBC radio one's program DNTO is planning a sweater themed show for Saturday, March 17th.
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Next post:  Burnaby Writer's Society Newsletter

Knitting: design your own stitch pattern by Leanne Dyck

Have you ever tried to "uninvent" (I say "uninvented" because as Elizabeth Zimmerman pointed out, the craft is so old that it is very hard to invent something new in knitting.) your own stitch pattern? It's fun and easy. Start with a basic stitch pattern--for example, seed stitch.

seed stitch (over an even number of stitches)

Row 1: knit 1, purl 1--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl 1, knit 1--continue to end of row

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

The seed stitch is a fun stitch pattern to alter. Here are some of the stitch patterns that I have "uninvented" while playing with the seed stitch.

Here are some ideas you can use to "uninvent" your own stitch pattern.

Combine two stitch patterns.

I combined purl and seed stitch.

Here's what I came up with...

Row 1: purl one, knit one--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

Or

Experiment with the number of stitches in the stitch pattern.

Here's what I came up with...

Row 1: knit two, purl two--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl two, knit two--continue to end of row

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

Or

Experiment with the number of rows in the stitch pattern.

Here's what I came up with...

Rows 1 and 2: knit one, purl one--continue to end of rows

Rows 3 and 4: purl one, knit one--continue to end of rows

Repeat rows 1 to 4 for pattern

Or...

Happy uninventing

Working a sweater pattern on circular needles

Spring Garden

Finished sweater measurements

Bust: 32 (36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64) inches

Length: 20 (20, 22, 24, 24, 26, 26) inches

Knitting needles: US 10/6.00 mm OR size to obtain tension

Circular needle, two pairs of straight needles

Yarn: worsted weight approximately 700 (800/900/1,000/1, 100/1, 200/1, 300/1, 400/1, 500) yards

Stitch holder: two

Tension: 4 stitches x 7 rows = one inch over seed stitch

seed stitch (over even number of stitches)

Row 1: knit 1, purl 1--continue to end of row

Row 2: purl 1, knit 1--continue to end of row

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern

Note: Worked from bottom up. Bottom section worked on circular needles.

Cast on 128 (144, 160, 176, 192, 208, 224, 240, 256) stitches

Work in seed stitch for 12 (12, 11, 13, 15, 15, 17, 17) inches

Note: Upper section worked on straight needles. Front and Back are worked separately.

Slip 64 (72, 80, 88, 96, 104, 112, 120, 128) stitches onto stitch holder.

Back

Work 64 (72, 80, 88, 96, 104, 112, 120, 128) stitches in seed stitch for 8 (8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9) inches

Cast off

Note: Slip stitches from stitch holder onto straight needle.

Front

Work 64 (72, 80, 88, 96, 104, 112, 120, 128) stitches in seed stitch for 5 (5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6) inches

Scoop neck

Work in seed stitch for 12 (16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44) stitches, cast off 40 stitches, work in seed stitch for 12 (16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44) stitches

Shoulders worked from two balls of yarn

Work 12 (16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44) stitches from each yarn ball

Work for 3 inches.

Cast off

Sleeves (make 2)

Note: sleeves worked on straight needles

Cast on 64 (64, 72, 72, 72, 72, 72, 72) stitches

Work in seed stitch for 7 inches

Cast off

Finishing

Sew on sleeves. Weave in ends.

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More fun to come with this pattern next Monday.
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Next post: The Hook to in a Query Letter