Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
1. I am a very loose continental knitter and often have to go down two or three needle sizes to meet gauge when I swatch. I often find though that when I start to knit the actual garment, I’m even looser than my swatch and I’m still not meeting gauge, so all my sweaters have been too big. For example if gauge is 5 stitches per inch, I’m knitting at 4 stitches per inch. I was wondering if using a thicker/thinner yarn weight would have any affect on my gauge as well as going down in needle size. Like if the pattern calls for DK, I use a fingering weight instead to meet gauge (in this example 5 stitches per inch). Thank you!
2. I’ve only been a newsletter subscriber for a few months. I was wondering if there is somewhere I can view past issues, to see the features and tips, but especially the extras like book recommendations and recipes etc. You have led me to some interesting discoveries and I’m curious as what I missed from earlier newsletters. I’m sure they are just as inspiring as current content! Thank you and congratulations on 100 episodes and the return of good health!
3. I have a question about measuring our bodies to figure out sizing for hand-mades. Usually, a knitting pattern will provide a full bust measurement for a finished sweater. I recently noticed that my full bust measurement differs depending on if I wear a bra or not! (38" with a bra, 41" without a bra) Is this ever talked about? I am now a little confused what my reference point should be. 38"?41"? The middle of those two? Or do I simply get an idea of how I like a sweater to fit my body, taking positive ease into account, etc. I would love to hear your thoughts!
4. I have a question regarding the Weekender. I am using a mill dyed yarn (plymouth yarn homestead tweed ). All yarn is from the same batch as indicted on the label. Can l knit the whole skein or should l intermingle like we do for hand dyed yarns? And, l am thinking l carry the yarn on the “knit side” of my work as the “purl side” will be worn facing the rightside/outside once completed.
5. The mysterious shortening sleeves Dear Andrea, First, I love your podcast, it feels like hanging out with a friend that is as hooked to knitting as myself. Thank you also for the 100 episode discount, I used to buy the Gib II to knit a jumper for my partner. My question is linked to this. I have knitted him 5 jumpers already, he likes them and wears them all winter, however, as he wears them, the sleeves (especially) tend to shorten, a lot!! So much that I had to add some extra cm to them, luckily I always knit the sleeves top-down… The last time I elongated one of the jumpers’ sleeves I realised that I had already elongated them before!! What on earth happened? It is not a problem of washing and blocking, the sleeves are fine when wears the jumpers in the beginning, and I don’t have the same issue with my jumpers, my only explanation is that as he wants the jumpers to be quite fitted this could be affecting the length over time. Is this a thing that has happened to you or do you know other knitters that have had a similar issue?
