Lets Knit Readers

Let’s Knit is one of my favourite magazines. As a new feature for the Bulldog Krafts website I will knit up a project each month.  Photographs courtesy of John McLoughlin (www.johnmcloughlin.co.uk)

Issue 38, January 2011

Lets Knit Jan 2011, image © John McLoughlin

This month I’ve knit up the Melwyn sweater (page 24). I’ve knitted mine in sage green as a Christmas present to myself! The soft colour and the lace in this jumper should mean that I will be able to wear it all year long. The pattern itself has one of my favourite features – the outcome looks much more complicated than the process!

I knitted the smallest size and used about 450g of yarn, my jumper is a bit longer than the pattern instructions so you should be able to knit either the first or second sizes with 4 skeins of Super 10 (if you stick to the guidelines). For the larger two sizes you will need at least 5 skeins (6 for the largest size if you were making it any longer than the guidelines).

The bad news this month is that we have had to raise our prices as the international price of cotton is at an all time high. However we will still have special offers each month for Lets Knit readers

This issue included a photo of our yarn and some knitted berets. These are examples of the Chevron Lace Beret which is included in two patterns for Super 10. One skein of Super 10 is enough to knit two berets (if you don’t make them too big) or a beret and a skinny scarf. Two skeins of Super 10 is enough to knit a beret and a shawl. You can order these patterns for free with a yarn purchase but I thought, since it is Christmas, that the pattern for the beret should be available here.

 

Beware of Familiar Numbers

I came across a new type of error when knitting up the Melwyn pattern from Let’s Knit Issue 38. I had finished the front and back and one sleeve. The three needle cast off for the sleeves works really well and creates a smooth join so I added the collar right away. Then it came to stitching in the sleeve. The back went in fine but the front was fiddly but I didn’t worry. The sleeve seam was also fine but there was no way the side seam was going to work.

I counted the number of rows to all four shoulders, I checked my notes, I took the dog for a walk and then started again. This time when I checked my notes I noticed that a key calculation was based on the number 55. This was the number of right side rows completed before starting the armhole on the back. That means 110 rows counting right side and wrong side rows. The figure I had jotted down for the front was 121… How had I made such a silly mistake? Certainly multiplying by two isn’t complicated!

It was because 55 is a familiar number. It is my weight in kilograms. I am old enough that kilos don’t mean very much so I need to convert to lbs – multiply by 2.2…

It was a fairly costly mistake. I had to undo the side and sleeve seams, unstitch the sleeve from the body, take off the collar, undo the joined shoulders without losing the stitches and then unravel the front (both sides of course) back to 12 rows before I had started the armhole shaping. Hopefully I have learnt my lesson but I thought the story was worth sharing if it can help anyone else.

Happy knitting comes from careful counting!