Swatching for Bowland

Over this last week I have had a wonderful time playing with colours for my second Bowland for the Bowland KAL. I regularly get asked how I choose colours for a Fair Isle knit and I have found the only sure fire way of being certain of your chosen colours is to knit swatches. I usually knit at least two peerie (small motif) repeat and one main motif to really see how all the colours balance over the whole design. If there is going to be a welt I would always include a few rows of the welt colour in the swatch at the beginning again to be sure of seeing the balance over all.

I begin by charting out a single repeat of the pattern - in this case the 12 stitch repeat of the main motif and 3 repeats of the 4 stitch peerie and then begin to experiment with colour combinations. I initially tried to apply the same colour combination rules as I had applied on the original Bowland design on all the swatches - The welt and button band colour would only be used again on the centre row of the main motif; the colour used for the 'arrows' on the peerie motif would only be used again on the centre row and the centre row of the peerie would be used for the inner petal rows on the main motif and finally lighter colour backgrounds and stronger colours for the pattern. However rules are sometimes made to be broken and I found I could create some very interesting combinations that were very different to the original if I broke some of these self imposed rules.

Working a Swatch

I usually cast on the equivalent of 4 repeats - so in this case 48 sts on a circular needle. I work the welt back and forth and then when working the colour work sections I knit to the end of the row then draw the knitting back towards the right hand needle point and carry any required yarn across the back of the work leaving a long length and knit the next row - again on the RS of the work. I introduce any new colours simply by starting to knit with them. I leave lengths that are at least the width of the swatch itself and then when the swatch is cast off, I just cut the stranded lengths in half at the back of the work.

Lets have a look at some of my colour swatches. All the swatch are knitting using my Excelana 4 ply - used for the original Bowland, and perfect for colour work. I knitted three swatches from a combination of the following 6 colours - Nile Green, Land Army Green, Ruby Red, Persian Grey, French Rose and Alabaster to create an 'Art Deco' colourway.

Deco 1

I particularly like the softness yet depth of this swatch. Using the French Rose and the Nile Green as the background colours has created quite a cool feeling palette.

Deco 2

This swatch immediately looks far warmer and more intense using the Persian Grey as the background for the peerie pattern and abandoning the rule of the welt colour only being used in very small amounts in the body of the garment. Here I've used the strength of Ruby Red to great effect creating a strong impact. I have also only used 5 of the 6 colours, omitting Land Army Green which would have taken the swatch in a different direction

Deco 3

This swatch again only uses the same 5 colours as Deco 2 but by using Alabaster as the background colour to the main motif and softening the peerie by using French Rose as the centre row, this swatch has a very different feel to Deco 2.

The next selection I worked with was using the original colours from my design. These are Sweet Chestnut, Alabaster, Dark Mandarin, Land Army Green, Damson Wine and Nile Green.

Original Colours 2

I tried with this first swatch to switch the colours in the main body around whilst leaving the welt in Sweet Chestnut. However I don't feel that this swatch works very well as the flower motif worked in Damson Wine is lost in the Land Army background. Likewise the centre row of the main motif using Dark Mandarin and Nile Green doesn't show up against the Alabaster as much as I would like. Interestingly on screen, using my charting programme, this colourway looked very striking and it was only as I knitted it that I could see that it really didn't work.

Original Colours 3

This swatch works far better I feel. I have changed the welt to Land Army Green and changed around all the other colours to create a much more balanced arrangement. If I were to use this selection I think I would change the Damson Wine at the centre of the peerie to Nile Green just to make the peerie pattern pop a little more.

I love this close up which really shows how the colours blend together. You can also see on this image the small fibres which cling together in a 'sticky' wool which in turn makes steeking a much easier process than many people imagine, as well as holding stitches together giving a much neater finished surface to your Fair Isle knitting.

And now for two very special swatches using three incredibly limited edition colours of Excelana 4 ply. In fact at this point, I only have around 20 skeins of each of the three colours. These three colours have enabled me to create what I think of as a true 'vintage' palette.

Vintage 1

Here we have Vintage colourway 1, featuring  a Coral Red, a Bright Blue and a pale Sky Blue as well as Powdered Egg, Alabaster and Cornflower Blue. I am desperate for a blue based Fair Isle cardigan in my wardrobe and these two new shades really take the palette in a very different direction.

Vintage 2

This second colourway is almost my absolute favourite, using the two blues to great effect, whilst minimising the use of Alabaster thus creating a more tonal effect. The flowers on the main motif however, really come alive using Powdered Egg and the Coral Red against the Bright Blue.

The Cornflower Blue used for the welt is used sparingly at the centre of the main motif as per my original rules and has a really powerful impact as a result.

I'm thinking that this swatch might be the one but I'm very tempted to try one more swatch where the arrows of the peerie are knitted in Alabaster rather than Bright Blue and I just might have created the perfect colour palette for my next Bowland accidentally using all the rules I imposed on myself for the original design!

What do you all think? What colour way do you like best? What changes would you make and do you have any colour combining tips for us?

This new colourway will be available as an extremely limited edition kit from Friday 19th June at 9am (BST). The Deco colourway kit will also be available to purchase at that point aswell.

Don't forget you can join in the Bowland KAL at any time. Simply purchase your Bowland pattern either from my website or via ravelry and join in the fun and discussion on my ravelry group.

If you want to see all of the Excelana colours 'up close and personal' (other than the three super limited shades) both Williams Wools in Kendal and Knit with Attitude in Stoke Newington have all 12 colours available.

Until next time,
Susan xx

Bowland KAL (knitalong)

I’m delighted to announce our first specific garment KAL and by popular demand it is of course, Bowland. The KAL will commence on Monday 8th June. You can have already started knitting your Bowland or you can commence at any time during the KAL.

As we all have a complete cardigan with steeks to knit I’m going to run the KAL for a three month period to give everyone time to get the entire project knitted, steeked and finished. I will be doing periodic blog posts about the design and tutorials to help people with the trickier aspects of the knitting process. 

To share details of your project on twitter please share with @astitchintime and use the hash tag #bowland to be sure I see it. On instagram share with @susancrawfordvintage and again use the hash tag #bowland. At the end of the KAL I will publish a special blog post featuring all the projects. 

Sharing your cardigans on Ravelry

Please feel free to share colour choices/swatches/works in progress on the main KAL thread on my Ravelry group. I will also set up a separate thread for finished Bowlands. Any questions can also be directed to the main KAL thread. If enough people are interested we can even do a live chat room discussion via the group about the project.

So what do you need to join in?

Well first of all you will need the pattern which you can get from my online shop or ravelry.

The cardigan is knitted in Excelana 4 ply wool and uses the following quantities:

2 (2, 3, 3, 4) 50g balls shade Sweet Chestnut - A [318 (318, 477, 477, 636) metres]

1 (1, 1, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Nile Green - B [159 (159, 159, 318, 318) metres]

2 (2, 2, 3, 3) 50g balls shade Alabaster - C [318 (318, 318, 477, 477) metres]

1 (1, 1, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Damson Wine - D [159 (159, 159, 318, 318) metres]

1 (1, 1, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Land Army Green - E [159 (159, 159, 318, 318) metres]

1 (1, 2, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Dark Mandarin - F 159 (159, 318, 318, 318) metres]

If you are substituting a different yarn, be sure to choose a ‘sticky’ yarn and preferably wool to aid the steeking process. I’ll explain this more fully when we get to cutting our steeks open. 

The yarn for the project is available in kit form from my shop and I will be adding and sharing some other colourways over the next few days.

I’ve already seen some wonderful swatches on ravelry and am very excited to see what ideas everyone has. I’m off to pick a new colour palette for my next Bowland!

for now

Susan xx

Bowland

Bowland has been a long time in the making. I first started working on this design almost two years ago and have played with it and tinkered with it endlessly to create a basic Fair Isle cardigan pattern which is interesting enough for established Fair Isle knitters to enjoy knitting it, but for it to also provide beginner Fair Isle knitters with an achievable garment project.

Bowland is knitted in the round from the bottom up. As it is a cardigan this requires a steek positioned at the centre front. The steek will be cut open towards the end of the knitting and button bands picked up on either side. At the armholes two further steeks are added for joining the sleeves. These two steeks are cut open, the sleeve stitches are picked up around the armholes and the sleeves are then knitted downwards to the cuffs.

There is almost no shaping in the garment other than on the sleeves, to make the knitting process as simple as possible, allowing the knitter to focus on their Fair Isle technique. The same motif patterns are used throughout the design again making it easier to build up familiarity and confidence during the knitting process. The sleeves have a slightly dropped shoulder again for ease of knitting. Any shaping or casting off is done on plain knit rows so there is no pattern to worry about at the same time.

The shoulders are joined together using three needle cast-off to provide structure and shape to the cardigan. This technique is fully explained in the pattern.

The raw edges of the steek are concealed behind a decorative ribbon which runs up both button bands and around the neck band. This in turn strengthens the button bands, stops them from stretching and makes them look very very pretty when your cardigan is left open or is hung on the back of a chair.

The pattern instructions themselves are extremely thorough and over the next few weeks I will be adding additional tutorials on the website to assist further. I knit Fair Isle with one colour in each hand which will be one of the new tutorials. Details of this technique are also included in the pattern.

However if you've never done Fair Isle knitting before there is a basic introduction video which you can already view on my website.

The Fair Isle motifs are shown as full colour charts and have been carefully designed so that no 'catching' of yarns along the rows is required. You can simply strand the yarn at the back of the work as you carry it forward to be used. There is also never more than two colours on any one row.

How to cut your steek is also shown and explained in the pattern.

The pattern comes in a wide range of sizes to cover from 30-52 inch (76-132 cm) bust. I'm wearing the 42-44 inch (107-112 cm) and the cardigan is designed to have a fairly close fit to ensure the shoulders fit nicely.

Bowland is knitted in Excelana 4ply using Alabaster, Sweet Chestnut, Land Army Green, Nile Green, Damson Wine and Dark Mandarin. The yarn is also available in kit form on the website. Excelana works beautifully for Fair Isle knitting. It is a 'sticky' yarn so the stitches want to hold together - always reassuring when you intend to cut them apart!

The great news is the yarn is also available as a kit from the website along with a free project bag.
You can get the kits here.

So why "Bowland"? Funnily enough this pattern has spent most of its life without a name. It was just the Basic Fair Isle Cardigan. Which seems a bit uninspiring seeing as most people who see it fall in love with it. Then a few weeks ago, a good friend mentioned how my colour palette had been affected by living here at the farm, and realising how true this was, the name simply fell into place. Our farm is in an Area of Outstanding Beauty known as the Forest of Bowland. The cardigan is knitted in very autumnal, 'foresty' colours and so it made sense to name it, Bowland. My first, but certainly not my last, design to be named after where I now live. One of the biggest influences on me though, has been the immediate surroundings of the farm, and when looking for a backdrop for the photoshoot it was no surprise to see that the same colours that could be found in Bowland were echoed in the architecture around me.

My favourite barn door became the natural place to use for the photos, the various shades of fading green paint reflecting both shades of green in the cardigan, the rusting metal and multi-hued stone capturing the tones of the Sweet Chestnut edgings and the Dark Mandarin detail shot through the Fair Isle design.

So a few weeks ago, when my lovely daughter, Charlie, was visiting, I cajoled her into taking photos of me. I think photographers make particularly bad models, as we spend more time thinking about the camera settings and the light and the background than we do about ourselves and must be thoroughly annoying to deal with. I'm really not happy modelling. I would much rather be behind the camera but I am slowly beginning to come to terms with being the model. Charlie somehow got me to behave myself though and she took the fabulous photos above. She made me feel a lot better about the whole thing - and if I could just stop analysing my short comings in the photos I'll hopefully learn to enjoy it!

So for the details

Bowland is available as a PDF download pattern from either my ravelry shop 

or 

from my online shop 

for

£5.00

A printed version of the pattern will be available in the near future from myself and other wool shops. Also Bowland along with all my other single patterns will be available on Deramores and Loveknitting websites in the very near future. 

There are no purchasing problems if you reside in Europe - you can purchase the PDF download pattern from either ravelry or my own online shop - vat is included in the purchase price of the download.

Materials required are as follows:

Susan Crawford Excelana Luxury 4 ply wool 

100% pure new British wool (159m/174yds per 50g ball)

2 (2, 3, 3, 4) 50g balls shade Sweet Chestnut - A

1 (1, 1, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Nile Green - B

2 (2, 2, 3, 3) 50g balls shade Alabaster - C

1 (1, 1, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Damson Wine - D

1 (1, 1, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Land Army Green - E

1 (1, 2, 2, 2) 50g balls shade Dark Mandarin - F

1 2.75mm circular needle (40cm long)

1 2.75mm circular needle (80cm long)

1 3.25mm circular needle (40cm long)

1 3.25mm circular needle (60cm long)

1 3.25mm circular needle (80cm long)

Set of 2.75mm double pointed needles

Set of 3.25mm double pointed needles 

Waste yarn

Stitch markers

Safety pins

Spare needles

Needle and thread

Scissors

9 Buttons

2m Coordinating ribbon

The multi sized pattern comes in the following size ranges:

To fit bust: 

                76-81cm (30-32in); 86-97cm (34-38in); 107-112cm (42-44in); 

               117-122cm (46-48in); 127-132cm (50-52in)

Full sizing information is included in the pattern.

Yarn kits are available with a free project bag from my website starting at £44 for the first size.

If there is enough interest I would love to launch a KAL for the cardigan to begin in a few weeks time so that we can all work our way through the various skills needed together so maybe pop a comment on this post if a Fair Isle with steeking knitalong would be of interest.

De-mystifying Blocking - Part 1

As I began to plan this post, it dawned on me very quickly, that there would have to be more than one post dealing with the mystery that is blocking, as varying types of projects and differing yarns require handling differently.

‘Blocking’ instructions are usually found within the making up or finishing instructions in a pattern. Blocking has become a catch all expression which refers to how to finish or ‘dress’ your almost completed project. How to bring out the best from your chosen yarn, how to ensure the correct shape and fit to your project and how to have the desired finish to the surface of your fabric.

As a dressmaker, one of the first things I do when preparing to sew, is to open the ironing board, get the iron out and fill it with water to ensure plenty of steam. Alongside this I usually have a water sprayer and a fine, damp, muslin cloth to protect the fabric. No woven item would ever be produced without the use of some heat or pressure. And yet, when I first began to knit garments, I didn’t initially make this connection and wrongly assumed that once a knitted project was sewn up that was the end of that. Maybe I have some excuse. When I first became ‘pattern aware’ as a teenage knitter, instructions on how to approach what is now called blocking were scanty to say the least. 

Examining a book today from the late 1980s which became a firm favourite, the “Elle” knitting book, there are absolutely no blocking or dressing instructions included. Once the garment was sewn up, it was ready to go. And yet, quite obviously just from the cover image below, some form of pressing or blocking must have taken place on the samples produced for the book.

Interestingly in a number of Margaret Murray and Jane Koster books from the 1930s and 40s, they do tell the knitter to press the pieces using a warm iron, usually on the wrong side and to avoid ribbing, prior to sewing up.

I can find no evidence however of the full process of blocking, including soaking, being recommended to the knitter. This is, of course, all taken from a UK point of view although  I have many Vogue Knitting magazines from the US and Sandra magazines from Germany, neither of which make very much reference to these final steps. It would be really interesting to hear what sort of instruction patterns from the 1930s to the 1990s provided elsewhere.

My assumption is, that this is because it was assumed that knitting would always be washed once it was completed. Coal fires, cigarette smoke and an often, smoggy atmosphere would mean that most knitting would get dirty during the knitting process and would automatically mean it would be washed. Likewise drying flat and patting out to shape was an every day occurrence when natural fibres were always used.

And I think that is probably the key here. With the overwhelming popularity of synthetic yarns in the 1970s and 1980s the ability to use heat and/or warm water and pins to create a permanent shape was forgotten about by many. Coupled with that, patterns assumed a knowledge from the knitter that wasn’t always there. I may be wrong with this generalization. It might in fact, have been more of a disconnection between the washing of the garment being anything more than a need to clean the item once it was produced and the idea that this process could be used to aid the finished appearance or the sizing of the piece. Either way, many of us, including myself, grew up and learnt to knit without these links and lessons being taught or learnt until fairly recently.

I hasten to add I always washed my knitting after completion - unless I was wearing it for a night out whilst still sewing on the buttons on the train! I also, always pressed the usually individual pieces prior to sewing up. I too have fallen into the trap of assuming everyone else already knew what to do but over the years as I’ve talked to many, many knitters, I have come to realise that actually lots of knitters are completely baffled by the term, blocking, and what they are supposed to do.

So first of all, lets not worry about a word. Blocking, dressing, or finishing are umbrella terms which are telling you that you need to take further action with your knitting before it is complete. As I have already said, different projects, yarns, stitches require different approaches so I’m going to focus on today on a particular project and explain how I would approach the blocking/finishing of it.

Blocking a Pair of Scandinavian Style Mittens

These mittens are knitted in 100% wool - in this instance Excelana 4ply - but most wools behave and respond similarly and they are knitted using stranded knitting, or Fair Isle, technique. Usually when working a piece of stranded knitting there will always be some irregularity in the surface of the work and until the piece is finished it will never look quite right. Pretty much everything we would do with these mittens we would also do with a stranded garment.

Before 'blocking' to the left and after to the right

These mittens are based on a traditional scandinavian pattern which I found in Annemor Sundbo’s wonderful book,  Norwegian Mittens and Gloves, which I have then adapted - knitted using Cornflower Blue and Alabaster Excelana 4 ply.

Step One

I usually soak the knitting in luke warm, soapy water for about 20 minutes. Use a laundry liquid specifically for wool.
 

I always use Navia Wool Care hand wash which is an organic hand wash (perfect for those of us on a septic tank) that contains organic lanolin which in turn feeds the wool as it is washed. It does require rinsing out afterwards but that really doesn’t worry me.

 It also only has the slightest scent of Juniper but otherwise lets the natural wool scent dominate. This is obviously a personal choice, but I’m not a one for perfume smells on my knits so this works perfectly for me.  The wool wash is available either from Island Wool's online shop or I also have it available to purchase when I am at events. At some point I will get it added to my online shop too, but in the meantime, I would highly recommend the lovely folks at Island Wool.

During the soaking the wool will begin to ‘bloom’. The wool absorbs the water and each stitch fills out, plumping up, filling in the irregularites and most importantly with stranded knitting, attaches itself more firmly to the stitches on either side of it.

Once you have allowed the knitting to soak, rinse thoroughly then roll your knitting in a towel and firmly yet carefully extract the excess water from the wool.

Step Two

Remove the knitting from the towel. Mittens require careful shaping to get the best results and the way to this is with a mitten stretcher (blocker). These are traditionally made of wood and come in a whole range of sizes. If like me, you are often knitting mittens in a variety of sizes being able to rustle up your own blocker is a really useful thing.

Making A Mitten Stretcher

Get yourself a firm piece of cardboard larger than your hand, a pen or pencil, scissors, a tape measure and some sellotape.

Measure around your hand at its widest point above your thumb. Divide this by two to give you the width needed for your mitten stretcher.

On your cardboard, draw two rectangles about 30cm tall and your required width. Draw a curved shape at the top as similar as possible to the desired final shape of your mitten, then round off the bottom corners to prevent snagging, and cut around your outline. Now for the fun bit. Cover your cardboard stretchers completely in sellotape. This makes them water resistant. The final step is to make a further two small rectangles the size of your thumbs in the same way.

Insert the larger stretcher into the mitt, ensuring the side seams of the mitts line up with the side edges of the cardboard and that the mitt is stretched evenly across the cardboard.

Insert a thumb stretcher into each of the knitted thumbs. Place on a rack or maiden to dry flat.

Once the mittens are completed dry remove the stretchers and hey presto, you have a beautifully smooth fair isle fabric and a perfectly shaped mitten. If you wish you could also apply some steam with the iron if necessary.

I would recommend that only at this point do you do the final darning in of any remaining ends.

Your stretcher is re-usable so write on each piece whose hand the stretcher is for and store for next time.

And there you go, that’s all there is to it. And is it worth doing? Absolutely. There is no comparison between a mitten that has been blocked, dressed, finished and one that hasn't. Its definitely worth taking just a little extra time to end up with such a professional and beautiful finished object. I’ll be back on the subject of blocking in a couple of weeks, when we’ll look at finishing a fair isle garment.

If you are interested in the mitt pattern, you can purchase Annemor’s book from online book retailers or I will also have an updated version of this classic available on my website in the next couple of weeks.

but for now,

Susan xx

Introducing "Nancy"

It is  wonderful to finally reach the point where I can finally begin to show you things I have had ready for a particularly long time. A sense of routine is beginning to evolve on the farm and I am finding myself able to focus on my knitting once more.

Please welcome "Nancy" who has been awaiting her debut for far too long. My dear friend Theo - star of A Stitch in Time volumes 1 and 2 is once again modelling for me - and is looking amazing to boot! The jumper has an easy feather-and-fan pattern on the body and the most delicate lace motif on the sleeves. Theo styled it with high waisted trousers with 1930s style wide legs for a relaxed but elegant look. I think Nancy would look equally lovely with a heavy woollen skirt, ribbed tights and brogues for everyday wear or could be glammed up a little with a bias cut crepe de chine skirt for an afternoon tea dance.

 

I particularly enjoyed creating the neckband with attached scarf which provides contrasting vertical stripes around the neck and a flattering glimpse of decolletage. It looks flattering on so many different body types. The jumper has quite a neat fit, designed to be worn with just a small amount of positive ease and the elbow length sleeves make this a great garment for office wear.

The jumper is knitted in five colours of Excelana 4ply (Alabaster, Nile Green, Persian Grey, French Rose and Ruby Red) and is worked flat from bottom up. Excelana lends a wonderful softness to the garment yet has a beautiful crisp finish to the stitch pattern which takes my breath away. I had great fun creating the stripe pattern and never cease to be excited at how stunning the different Excelana colours look together. The pattern comes graded in sizes from 30 to 48 inch bust with the stitch patterns shown in both written and charted formats.

And so, why Nancy? As some of you may have suspected, Nancy is named after the author Nancy Mitford and is the first pattern to be released as part of a loose collection of designs called "Knits for a Cold Climate" featuring approximately 10 patterns themed around Nancy Mitford, her life, her style and her books.

I love this image of Nancy. Not only does she look amazing but she's wearing a hand knit!

I often find inspiration on my bookshelves and I have long wanted to design things inspired by Nancy Mitford. She wrote several witty and astute novels about upper-class English eccentricity and elegance. Nancy was one of the original "Bright Young Things" - a group of decadent and bohemian socialites roaming the party scene in interwar London - and she used these experiences in her books.

I have a bit of a thing about Nancy Mitford and her books. Her family background was one of privilege but she decided to live what you might call a bookish life. She worked in bookshops and became a journalist and writer. I like to think of Nancy moving in these literary circles of refined, famous writers and looking like a breath of fresh air. She was always very elegant and cared a great deal about clothes. Obviously I am also drawn to her style and adore seeing photos of her both with her family and from the society pages of the times. Admiring Nancy's writing as I do, particularly "The Pursuit of Love and "Love in a Cold Climate", I couldn't resist my own attempt at word play calling the pattern collection "Knits for a Cold Climate". I hope you'll excuse me taking liberties with Nancy's literary greatness!

I will be releasing a pattern from the collection every week or so for the next 10-11 weeks and will write more about Nancy Mitford with each release. I also have some ideas for a special knitalong to go along with the collection but more about that next week!

Nancy is available now as a PDF download for only £4

You can purchase the pattern from my online shop
or
from my ravelry shop

The yarn is also available in kit form including a Susan Crawford Vintage cotton project bag and the pattern provided as a PDF download free of charge.

You can buy the kit exclusively from my online shop



for now,
Susan xx

All images copyright ©Susan Crawford 2014

Designed in Paris

OR

for the want of a stitch the pattern was lost!

Designed in Paris is a late 1950s pattern which appears in A Stitch in Time Volume 2. It is a beautiful tunic style textured jumper knitted in two colours of Excelana 4 ply. It has proven a very popular design but recently I received an email from a lady who was having trouble reproducing the pattern as it looks in the photos.

When I receive a pattern query I always return to the pattern and have a good check through it. When everything seems mathematically and typographically correct I usually knit a sample square so that I can provide the knitter with very precise instructions on how to cope with the difficulties they are having.

On this occasion I began to work the four row pattern and immediately realised that 1. On the first couple of pattern rows things didn't work quite according to the instructions and 2. By following the instructions I was getting a different pattern!

This obviously seemed very odd so I looked closely at the finished garment and the book photographs and it dawned on me that the finished piece had resulted in a quite different looking pattern than the instructions would suggest. So how on earth had this happened.

Below is the only photograph that the original sample knitter and I had to work with when we were creating the new version of the pattern.

Looking at it now I can see that there is a difference between this and the new version but at the time, immersed in rewriting 80 patterns I somehow managed to miss the fact that the stitch pattern doesn't quite look the same. What would appear to be the cause of the mistake in the knitting is that the very first set up row as written makes it difficult to work the first pattern row as described and the sample knitter had made a choice of how to proceed. Unfortunately looking at the pattern notes there doesn't seem to be any mention of the problem and I consequently have also missed it. 

So where does that leave the pattern? If you follow the instructions as written in the book you will actually get the stitch pattern as shown on the original black and white photo above NOT the stitch pattern shown on the new version of the garment although because of the set up row not being right it makes it very tricky to actually get started on this variation which is were the trouble begins. I am aware that most people when they are knitting this pattern want the stitch pattern as shown in the new version so first of all let me take you through how you create this stitch pattern whilst still being able to use the pattern as described in the book.

On rows 1 and 3 of the 4 row pattern you are told to 'knit into loop only below next st and drop st off needle'. Instead of carrying out this action you need to knit into the 'space' below the next st on the needle as shown below:

Step 1: Place right hand needle into space below next stitch on left hand needle

Step 2: Wrap yarn round needle knitwise and draw yarn through space

Step 3: Drop stitch on left hand needle off the needle

Step 4: Knit the next stitch. 

Step 5: Repeat steps 1 to 4 across the row.

All other instructions within the pattern remain exactly as specified. The only change is the stitch as described above. The set up row can also be left as in the book.

If however, you would like to try knitting the jumper using the stitch pattern as in the original pattern you need to follow the 4 row pattern as described. However in order for the very first row of the pattern to work you need to finish the stocking stitch pattern worked first on a right side row and then work a row of knit stitches from the wrong side of the work providing you with a purl ridge to work into. Once you have done that the pattern makes sense. Let me show you how to carry out the action 'knit into loop only below next st and drop st off needle'.

Step 1: Insert tip of right hand needle into the front loop (the purl ridge) of the next stitch on the left hand needle

Step 2: Wrap yarn around needle knitwise and draw through loop to make new stitch

Step 3: Drop stitch on left hand needle off the needle

Step 4: This creates a loop lying across the front of the work

Step 5: Knit the next stitch. This secures the loop at the front of the work

Step 6: Repeat steps 1 to 5 along the row.

And there you have it. Two very different looking patterns created simply by working one stitch slightly differently on the two patterns. If you have the pattern you can now choose which stitch pattern you would prefer to knit. I'm rather tempted to knit myself the original version so that I can see how it looks compares to the new version.

but for now,
Susan xx