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  • Writer's pictureBobbie Olan Casiano
    • Jun 22, 2022
    • 21 min read

#020 - A Tale of Two Sweaters

Missed the deadline, but close to finishing one sweater while planning and swatching for another.




Transcript

It is episode 20 of Bobolog and I am going to be talking about two sweaters. One is a project that I have already started working on and the other is one that I am going to be casting on soon.


Greetings and welcome to my little woolly corner of the world. My name is Bobbie Olan and I am a knitter and a fibre explorer in Victoria, Australia. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I live and create - the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people - and I would like to pay my respects to their Elders past, present and future.


I live here with my partner and this is my craft room. For anyone who has watched my episodes from the very beginning when I was still calling the vlog Platypus Knitting - which is the name of my channel - you can see, that is the chair there where I used to record from. And this wall here has been my most recent backdrop. So I used to have the camera over there and I would be turned around facing that way and you would see that.


But excitingly, I have a brand new computer, which is what I am recording on today. So I am seeing how that goes using this completely new setup. So you can see a lot more of my messy room. But hopefully it- it all works and it all goes really well. I'm really excited to have this- this new computer and some- trying out some new editing software.


So I guess let's jump into talking about all the exciting stuff.



Eye Candy

First up, I just have a really quick Eye Candy which is actually nothing to do with knitting but it is crafting related so I thought I wanted to include it anyway.


My cousin who I made the Big Mood Mittens for recently - she loved them by the way - she has recently taken up resin and she made me a little trinket dish. She actually intended this as a coaster but when I got it I thought it was so beautiful that I wanted to use it as a trinket dish instead.



She knows me, she knows the colours I like, so she made this absolutely gorgeous blue and green, cloudy swirl loveliness. And I just- I just think it's- it's so gorgeous. I may eventually use it as a trinket dish and put my jewellery in it. I did have these earrings sitting in it initially but right now I've just got this beautiful cloud of silk. See how fine it is there? Maybe. Can you? Which I got from- Which I got as part of doing the spinning class at the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild, which is now finished.


But anyway the other thing that I really love about this trinket dish is I have this set of coasters here - this old set of coasters that we actually got from my partner's grandmother. And it didn't even occur to me when I asked my cousin to make me the hexagon shaped trinket dish that it would be a perfect match and fit in perfectly with these coasters here. So I just love it even more now.


Anyway that- that's that. I just thought that was a really sweet - oh no, my silk cloud! So delicate. Anyway that is just a really sweet little gift that I got and it makes me so happy that she has taken up a form of crafting.



Eyes and Ears

Moving on - a short Eyes and Ears.


111 Windmills

I just wanted to recommend the channel 111 Windmills. So that is by Lisa. She doesn't have an actual vlog/podcast series type thing and she doesn't have a lot of videos out there but I do really enjoy what she does have out there.


In particular, she did a four part series - I believe it was - for a spin-along that she was running. But she- The way that she did the videos was in the form of a tutorial taking you through how to use a drop spindle, which I would have found so helpful back when I was learning how to use the Turkish spindle that I had made for me towards the start of the year. I've moved past those very, very basic, basics now but it is still - it's always great to go back and refresh yourself on what things are called, how other people do certain techniques, just in case you know. There's- There's always something- There's always an opportunity to learn something new because people do things in so many different ways. You never know. So I thought that in particular was really great on Lisa's channel.



Shop and advent preorder

She also does make and sell some really lovely and unique accessories/trinkets/tools, I think, for- for knitters and crafters. So if you just look up eleventy one 111 Windmills - or even better, check the links in the YouTube description below - then you can see the beautiful things that she makes.


And I'm super, super happy that I was actually able to get the advent that she is putting out at the end of the year. So I- This is the first advent that I've actually signed up for. And I've always been a bit hesitant to sign up for yarn advents because I- I guess I like to know what I'm getting. I want to make sure that I like - I mean I love - it'd be pretty hard to get something that I wouldn't like, I think, but... I don't know. I- With yarn, I just haven't quite crossed that bridge yet.


But her advent is tools/trinkets/accessories - I'm just gonna call them trinkets from now on - knitting and crafting trinkets. And that really interested me. And then on top of that, her theme was 'creatures of myth and folklore' which I just absolutely love. I love myth and folklore and folk stories and fables and all of those kinds of things. So I'm really excited to- to- to get that at the end of the year.


I had seen her putting posts out about it on Instagram and in the lead up to her putting out the pre order. And for some reason I didn't put it in my calendar even though I knew I wanted it. And all this time went by and I started thinking, 'Gee, I thought she was putting that out soon. Why haven't I- have I missed it? I have- I haven't heard anything for a while.' And I went back and looked at her Instagram feed and it was- the preorder went live at the very, very start of this month and sold out within an hour so I was pretty crushed at that.


But then, I guess it was so popular that she's decided to do a second and final release. And that one I put in my calendar and as soon as my alarm went off for it, I bought it and I'm just really super happy and excited to be getting that one.


So I recommend checking out the 111 Windmills channel on YouTube, but also just checking out their online store - Lisa's online store.



Handy Dandy

Next up is Handy Dandy. So this is what we come here for I guess.


Redford

So the first sweater that I am going to be talking about is the Redford sweater. So I have shown this in the last couple of episodes. And last episode what I had done was - back piece and a front piece. So these have now been blocked. All of the pieces I've made have now been blocked. And I have actually also made two sleeves and two side pieces.



So while I am really happy with the progress that I have made - I have made the two sleeves and the slide- side pieces completely in the last two weeks since the last episode went out - sadly, I have not made the deadline for this project. My partner's birthday is actually today and obviously this isn't in a wearable state. So the next thing that I have to do is obviously seam it all together.


But then once it is all seamed together, there's the cuffs, the neckband, and the hem so there is still a bit of work to do. But I will definitely have it done by next episode, but hopefully actually sooner than that. Hopefully, you know, in the next couple of days. So that is that.


One thing that I think I had mentioned in the previous episode is how much I absolutely love the sloped bind off. Which hasn't changed. I still love it and I think it's beautiful. But I had said, "Although it looks really nice, it's a shame that it isn't visible once it seamed. It's sort of tucked under and hidden." But I had forgotten that this pattern - this pattern is Redford by Julie Hoover, if I haven't mentioned that - this pattern actually has expressed or visible seams so that sloped bind off is actually going to show through as a detail on the front.


Which is- It's just such a great sweater. It's just- The- It just has a lot of little details that just make it really good. I- Yeah. It's- I think it's just gonna look- look amazing once it's- it's put together. And again, I just love this triangular detail at the front. The way that that was done was interesting. And it just looks really effective.


One thing that I will say about it - I'll pull out one of the side pieces because I think it's easier to see because it's narrow - is the twisted... slip... chain - the twisted chain selvedge - which is a form of slipstitch edges that is done in the pattern - I did that. But one side of it looks really neat. There's the back of it there. You can see it's- it's- it's- I mean, it's just curling in obviously, but they're really neat little stitches. But the other side of it is just loose and sloppy and I could not figure out how to fix that. Maybe I was doing them wrong. I don't know. But it was- it was something that I was aware of while I was knitting it. But it became even more obvious once these were blocked and I was pinning them out onto the blocking boards.


So pretty much for all of them, I had minimal pins on- on this side here which is the good side. And I had a lot more pins on the side that is a lot looser because it was a lot looser and it wasn't giving me a nice clean edge on the blocking board. So that was kind of interesting.


Yeah, if I do make this again - which if it fits my partner well and he's really happy with it, I think I will because I really enjoyed making it and it is- it is technically interesting - but I might double check the pattern to see that I'm doing this correctly. I have a feeling I might have seen errata after the fact that was referring to this selvedge edge. So I'll check that but yeah, that'll be for next time. If and when there's a next time. So that is that.


The other thing that slipped stitch selvedge affected is these little pointy bits on the- on the side panel. They got really, really fiddly to do because at the top of it, it's just two stitches. You're working back and forth on two stitch- two stitches and one of them is being a twisted slip stitch. And just the way that it worked, it was- it was very, very fiddly to do and I would not be surprised if I accidentally missed a row or two somewhere among all of these pointy bits. But who knows. I mean, it looks right. They're the same length and everything. So hopefully when I seam it all together, it will come out fine.


The seaming of this bit I am quite concerned about doing, so wish me luck. We'll see how that goes.



Re-calculating

And then the last thing that I wanted to talk about with this one is I thought I'd just explain a bit more about how I had to recalculate rows, in particular, when I realised that my gauge was actually wrong. And I started knitting it to the stitches of a different size but I was still using the lengths of the actual size that I was aiming for. So I just wanted to talk through that a bit now.


So I like to use this little software app called Numi. It- I'm only using the free version but it is only available on Macs and not PCs. So, sorry to all the PC users out there. But I find this a really helpful little program just for doing all of the calculations. You can also of course just use a spreadsheet or a calculator.


And I do also have to apologise. The way that this all works is I'm looking at the program, which is there for me, but I know that it is appearing on that side of the screen for you guys. So sorry if that is a little disconcerting. But this is how I sort of figured out the- the rows and the decrease rates and all of that kind of thing when I realised that my gauge was quite different to the pattern.


So I can just say here, 'my gauge' was 32 rows. And the 'pattern gauge' was 36 rows, I believe. So let's see if I've got this right. If I do 'my gauge' divided by the 'pattern gauge', it gives me .89. Let's call that the 'sub' - substitution. So for example, say the pattern is telling me to knit for 20", so 'pat. length' = 20". So in the patterns' row gauge, that would be... see if I'm remembering how to do all of this math right. That length divided by 4 - because the the gauge is over 4 - and then that times the 'pattern gauge', it's saying to knit for 180 rows.


For 'my gauge'... divided by 4... times 'my gauge'... Woah, what have I done there? It's saying to knit for 160 rows. And then I just like to double check that by doing the 180 - you don't need to name everything - so the 180 - which I am getting from this - the- the rows for the 'pattern gauge'. So 180 times the 'sub' rate of .89 and yes, it is still saying that 160 rows is what I want to be knitting to get the right length for the pattern. So that is one thing that I do.


The other thing is say, for example, within that 20" length, there are 6 decreases. 'Pattern rows' divided by 'decreases' is 30. One-eighty rows to get to the 20" and there needs to be a decrease every 30 rows. So the 30th row is the decrease. So I'm going to rename this bit 'M R' for 'my rows'. For me, I need to say 'my rows' divided by the 'decrease' is 26.67. Depending which row you're meant to be doing the decrease - on the wrong side or the right side row - you would just adjust that up or down. So it can be on row 26 or on row 25 or on row 27. Whatever that needs to be.


So the other way that I do it - so this number 30 here - so it's saying that for the pattern, it's 30 rows to get to 1 decrease, right? So if I say - just to double check - 30 times that 'sub', it's giving me the same number.


I feel like when I actually did it with the numbers that the pattern was giving me there were instances was I- where I was getting - for example, one equation would be 26.67 and then the checking it with the 'sub' rate, it would be like 25.73 or something like that. And that was just a way to help me know if I was better off rounding down or rounding up, if I could compare those two numbers together.


I haven't got the pattern in front of me and it's a paid pattern so I don't really- yeah- I don't really want to be giving away the actual numbers or anything like that. But this is - this - it's there for me, it's here for you - this is the- an example of how I would be working all of that stuff out so that my decrease rate matches what the finished garment should have. Instead of just - if I was still doing the decreases every 30 rows instead of every 26 rows, then I would have a much more gradual slope and the garment could end up being too long. So I just thought I'd share that just quickly on this software because I love it so much.


One other really neat thing about it is that it can do all sorts of the conversions for you. So this pattern was in inches, which is why I gave the example in inches. But in Australia, we're on the metric system and I usually do convert things to centimetres. If I write '20 inches to centimetres', it can do that conversion for me, which I think is really neat.



Stat Chat

Anyway, it's been a while but I do also have a Stat Chat for you. Just a few numbers on the Redford sweater.


The back came in at 85g. The front piece came in at 82g. The sleeves - One sleeve - sleeve A - was 60- 60g. The second sleeve was a little bit lighter for some reason. That one was 58g. And then the sides were closer than that. So for both of the sides together, it was 41g. So one side was 20g, one side was 21. Who knows why these things change?


And you can see here, the total so far is 326g. So the pattern was recommending that I get 400g of yarn. And considering it's just all of those bands left, that was a pretty good estimate and I really didn't need to buy the extra 5th skein that I did. But I'm sure I will have no trouble putting that to good use.



Handy Dandy (part 2)

Colours of Fall KAL

The next project that I am planning to cast on is going to be a sweater for myself and I am going to be making it as part of the Colours of Fall knit-along - the COFKAL for this year - which is run by the Yarniacs. So the Yarniacs podcast is one of the first podcasts that I ever listened to. And I have always wanted to join in this knit-along but it's just never quite worked out. But finally I'm committing to it and I'm going to do it and I'm really, really excited about doing it.


So what this knit-along is. The Colours of Fall they call it because they're in the US. So they are basing it on the Pantone colour trend forecast for fall for the upcoming season. Pantone has colour trend forecasts. They have a few different palettes. So they have a London palette and a New York palette. Each of those palettes has a series of, I guess, brighter colours that are their colour trend forecasts for the season. And then they also have a neutral palette as well.


So this- this knit-along allows you to choose any of those colours or any combination of those colours. And as long as- as long as the yarn that you're using passes the squint test for matching one of those colours - even if it's only matching the speckles in a yarn - that's enough to be eligible for this knit-along so it's really quite flexible and I really like it, basically. They are also aware that half of the world is in a completely different time zone - seasonal zone - than they are in, so you can also choose from the London or New York spring/summer palettes instead of the winter/fall palette.



The yarn and the colour

So I am working in this colour. This is... Gosh, I just threw out the label. It was just on my desk. So I can't remember what the colourway is. That's really bad. I'll put it in the video.


Anyway, this is Bendigo Woollen Mills tweed, which is sadly discontinued now. Discontinued 'for now', whatever that means, but I really like this yarn. I have said many times before that tweed yarns are my favourite. And as soon as they came out with a tweed yarn, I bought this and it's been sitting there for a few years. And I'm so happy that I finally found a project to use it in.


So actually three... No, all of the palettes - London spring/summer, London winter/fall, New York spring/summer, New York winter/fall - they all have a variety of yellow in them. One of them is a really pale yellow. The other three yellows are quite similar to each other. So this one, I actually couldn't decide between a couple of different ones and it would pass the squint test for three of the colours really. But considering I'm in the southern hemisphere, I thought I should choose the yellow that is in one of the spring/summer palettes. So I am matching this to the colour Daffodils that Pantone has in that trend forecast. I think the the other one that I would have picked for a winter/fall colour is called Spicy Mustard. Anyway, not important.



Flared Pullover

The thing that I am making is this sweater here. If you don't recognise it, this is the Knitted Cable Sourcebook by Norah Gaughan. I love cables and I think Norah Gaughan is a genius. And I've had my eye on making this sweater for a while. It's just a really interesting construction. This sort of flared bit at the back is done in a way that I've never constructed a sweater before so I'm really excited about doing that.


The brilliant genius thing about this book is she- she sets out a system that makes it really easy for you to substitute cables. And within the patterns that she has in here, she says if you don't want to use the cable that is in the pattern, look for a cable that is- is this many... She calls it the Stockinette Stitch Equivalent - the SSE - system. So she says the cable that's in the pattern is a- has a- an SSE of 25 stitches, for example. So find another cable pattern in the book that is 25 stitches SSE or less. And if it's less you just put in more of the filler stitches on the sides of it. So I think that is just absolutely brilliant. And of course, I couldn't resist doing- coming up with my own cable substitution.



Swatching

So just to show you again, that's what the front looks like. And I am swatching this here. This narrower panel here is replacing this side panel and there'll be one on the other side as well. And then this larger one here is replacing the central panel there.



I'm swatching this in on 4.5mm needles. The pattern calls for 5mm needles on DK weight yarn. This- this is DK weight yarn, but I was- I sort of thought I'd try to aim for maybe like a tighter gauge just to make the sweater a bit more hard wearing. Particularly as this has a bit of a loose ply so I just wanted to give it that extra strength by- by going a little bit tighter. So I went down a needle size, but I actually suspect that I'm going to end up getting gauge. But I am happy with- with how sturdy - and also soft of course - the fabric feels. So if I get gauge then I mean that's even easier because I don't have to do all of those messy calculations that I just showed you and I can just use the numbers from the pattern itself for once. So we'll see how I go with that.


But these are both patterns - These cables are both patterns from the book. So this main one here is a 28 row repeat. And then this one here, it's actually, I believe, a 24 row repeat. So I elongated this straight bit to match the 28 rows just so I didn't have to do any extra messy keeping track of what row I am on two different charts. And I actually charted them out side by side onto graph paper just to make it easier for myself to follow.


Yeah, so this swatch that I have done so far, it is two full repeats. So, I am going to do one- just one more repeat for a couple of different reasons. The first one is while I do like that this one here just feels a lot more sort of solid and straight in comparison to the sort of meandering cables of this one, I am a bit concerned that maybe it's a bit too strong. And that straight bit is just too long and therefore making it too prominent.


The other reason that I am doing the extra repeat in this swatch is because I realised that there are only two right side rows in this cable pattern where you don't do any cables. Every other right side row you're doing a bunch of cable crossings in. So I thought it might be interesting if this big cable here that's on this one was actually on the rows where there are no cable crossings in the big one. I mean, you can't really tell by looking at this where those rows are, but I kind of just wanted to see how it worked. A) To to bring these two closer together. Because right now one repeat only has one of these big cable crossings. So that's A). And B) To... Yeah, just- just to see how they play together in that new and different way.


So once I have done that one extra repeat then I'll few- do a few decreases and just do a chunk of stockinette stitch as well. And then I'll block it and see how I go and if I have to do any more calculations there.



Cable substitutions

The other thing that I wanted to mention about the cable substitutions is how I chose the cables that I was going to substitute. I started off by looking for the main one that I liked that was sort of similar to what's in the original and that had a similar Stockinette Stitch Equivalent. And then the next challenge was to find the side panels that would also have that comparable Stockinette Stitch Equivalent. But the thing that helped me refine the choice of those is that they- these cables are all two stitch over two stitch crossings. So when I was looking at side panel cables, I was also looking for ones that were two stitches crossing over two stitches.


Now, this big cable in the middle is actually six stitches crossing over six stitches. But because those six stitches are knit two, purl two, knit two, it still looks like there's the- it's- it still looks like it's two tubes of two stitches crossing over. So I still think it's- it feels like it still matches this one here.


Customising the back

So how long have I been recording? I don't know. But I did just want to mention one more thing about this and that is that...


So the back of the sweater is, you need a long rectangular bit which is going to form the flare that you can kind of see from the front. In the pattern that is just a big rectangle of stockinette stitch. I actually want to do a couple of things with it.


One is I want it to have pockets. I've never knit pockets before. So that is one thing.


And the other thing is I want to put cables in there. Because on Ravelry I saw some other people who had done stitch patterns in there. And I thought they looked really good. I'm pretty sure they were just things like moss stitch. But it was a while ago that I looked and I might not have looked super closely and they could have done something more complicated than that. But they sort of looked like moss stitch or a seed stitch and I looked- thought they looked really good. And because you can kind of see it a little bit from the front, I thought it would be nice to do something interesting.


So I found this page in the book, which has these two cable patterns on it. This is- This is the one that I really fell in love with and I really wanted to use and probably right up until yesterday I was certain that I was going to go with that one. But then when I originally picked it I thought, 'Okay, I would rather have this and not have pockets', because I couldn't see how to fit pockets in that. Then I decided that I do actually want pockets and I was trying to figure out if... Should I just extend the ribbing a lot longer and fit the pocket into the ribbing section? But then how is that gonna look with a pocket in it?


And then I also realised that these cables here are three stitches crossing over three stitches. So that messes with my whole plan of trying to make things match by having two stitches crossing over two stitches. So I'm gonna have to find some other project to use this in because I absolutely love this one. I love how, you know, the ribbing is just- goes into the slanted cables here. I love this cable here. I love the sort of woven look of those cables there. I just- I love everything about this one and I have to use it for something. It's just not going to be right for this project, sadly.


But this one right beside it - it actually turns out it's kind of perfect because it's all two stitches over two stitches. And it has the stockinette stitch here which I'll make- I'll be able to put a pocket into much more easily. So I will still have to make this a little bit longer to comfortably fit a pocket. That's- That's fine.


You can see as well that this one is really long. So if I had to make this longer, I'm not sure, it might have actually made that back panel too long, which wouldn't have worked. But because this one is shorter I have- I feel like there's more flexibility to play with the length. So if I add some length, I can add a pocket. And the thing that I'll decide right at the very end is whether I want the opening of the pocket to be stockinette stitch or ribbing or if I want to use this cable across the top of the pocket. I'll decide that when I get to it.


Yeah, so I am really excited to cast that on. The cast on is actually going to be taking place before this episode goes out. So this is another thing that I love about this Colours of Fall knitalong is that the cast on date is the solstice. It's the winter solstice for us down here in the southern hemisphere. And then it ends on the- on what for us is the spring equinox. So I love that it's just using those markers and I love that it's, you know, using the trend- the colour trend forecasts and- isn't that just so pretty? Isn't it just coming out so nice? The colour just makes me so happy.


Ahhh, yes. That's the Colours of Fall knit-along.



Thanks!

That's all that I've got time for today.


Thank you so much for joining me for this episode. I hope that you're all doing well, finding time to spend with your loved ones, taking time to look after yourselves, and finding time for knitting, crocheting, crafting, whatever it is that makes you happy and brings you joy and relaxation.


If you enjoyed this video, then please give it a thumbs up and I hope you also consider subscribing to my channel, Platypus Knitting. You can also find me on Instagram - @PlatypusKnitting - or on Ravelry under my name, BobbieOlan. There is a link in the description below to a website where I have the transcripts. And in that YouTube description below are also all of the links to all of the patterns and yarns and everything else that I have mentioned in this video. I hope to hear from you on one of these platforms and I hope you're all doing well. I'll see you in a couple of weeks.


Fare thee well.


Transcribed by https://otter.ai


 

Resources


Mentions

111 Windmills (online store)

111 Windmills (YouTube)


Patterns (on Ravelry)

Redford by Julie Hoover, Brooklyn Tweed


Yarns (from my LYS, or on Ravelry)

Tarndwarncoort yarns from polwarth sheep


I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which I live and create, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. I pay my respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging, and to all Aboriginal peoples.

 

© 2022 by Bobbie Olan of Platypus Knitting.

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