Joining yarn at divided neck and casting on for facing

[kushami]

Rather than how many balls, it’s helpful to think in terms of total weight (grams). Balls of wool come in many sizes, from 25g to 200g, so you can’t assume.

You can also use yardage (meters), but that means looking at what other people used rather than working it out for yourself. With vintage patterns, that information is often hard to come by.

The pattern calls for 7 or 8 oz. of wool, depending on size. So you would convert ounces to grams, then order a bit extra. Or you could get one ball to check your gauge and go from there (I realise that may not be economical in terms of repeat postage).

Does the pattern give a tension/gauge? You need to check this as well when choosing yarn, along with converting the needle size.

[salmonmac]

@Alasse Can you help out with the yards or meters of yarn that you used? It would probably also help to know the specific yarn if you would be so kind.

[Alasse]

@PhilipoaClaire I think I’m on my 6th and final skein of yarn right now (I think I used 5 balls for the back, front, and one sleeve, if I remember correctly, and just started the second sleeve with ball nr 6), and I’m using this wool: Scheepjes Metropolis in the colour Beirut. This wool specifically says it’s a fingering weight on the label. I got mine from this shop (since the Scheepjes website itself doesn’t have a webshop, I figured I’d link this just in case anyone is interested).

It might be useful to know as well that the pattern calls for UK size 11 and 13 needles, but since they don’t sell those in the shops in my town (I live in the Netherlands, so we use millimeters for our needle sizes), I used 3 mm and 2.5 mm and it seems to work out fine with regard to gauge/tension etc.

[Jo_Hamlett]

I have an app on my android phone called Knitting Calculator (by Jamal Mulla). You put in the amount the pattern calls for (in either feet or metres) and then the specific yarn you have in mind (size of ball and length in feet or metres) and it tells you approximately how many balls you need

[Alasse]

As expected, I can’t figure out all of the instructions for making up the garment, so I’m back!

Graft 22 (23 : 24) sts. at each end to facing sts. on holders, and graft centre 35 (35 : 39) sts. to back of neck.

I have grafted my first 24 (I’m making the biggest size) stitches to the stitches left on the holder, that was fine. But I assume they want me to graft the centre 39 stitches to essentially the middle of the work, not a live edge, where the neck ends and the collar begins. Is that correct? How can I graft one live edge, on a needle, to an already knitted piece further down (which has purl stitches to boot)?

I’ll attach two images of my work to make it easier to understand / give me advice

Any help is much appreciated

[salmonmac]

Yes, that’s correct. Graft the center 39sts to the back of the neck so that the collar is attached.
This video is for grafting stockinette but the basic concept is similar with knits and purls.

See how it looks after grafting a few sts and if you like the seam from the cast off sts.
You deserve applause and a medal for figuring this pattern out as you have. Not an easy one at all.

[Alasse]

I get very stubborn when taking on any kind of project, haha. That has helped me to (mostly) figure this out so far with some wonderful help here! Thanks again for the swift reply!

I’m still a bit confused because I don’t have a cast off edge, or any kind of edge, to graft the live stitches on my needle to. The only place that makes sense to be referred to by the pattern would seem to be the transition from the ribbing on the back of the garment, to the collar which is in stockinette. There’s a kind of line there which you can see in the picture. But I don’t know if I should graft the 39 centre stitches to the last row of rib stitches, or the first row of stockinette where the collar starts (purls, in this case), or if that matters. Or which loops to graft through. Probably doesn’t help this is fingering weight yarn and very hard to see what’s going on!

[Creations]

Wow, you’ve got so far with this sweater! What a huge achievement to get this far. It looks really good.

[salmonmac]

As I understand it the live sts are facing. Then the back part of the facing would be grafted to the back of the neck below the collar. I would say graft to the last row of rib but you may have to try this for a few sts and see if it seems sturdy and looks good. Or am I missing the boat entirely?

Possibly you can pin this in place and see how it looks.

[Alasse]

I was thinking the same thing, yes, salmonmac. I just went for it and it looks good, I think! I think I can see how the rest of this neckline / collar is supposed to come together now. I’ll post some pictures of the result so far:

I feel like I’m on the home stretch now! Let’s hope it comes together well. Thanks again for the advice and the encouragement!

[salmonmac]

Genius work! Vintage patterns are not for the faint of heart and you have done a fabulous job on this one.

[Alasse]

Awww, you’re very kind, thanks so much! I’ve already picked out my next vintage pattern (and the colour combination)… I’m definitely hooked on knitting now!

[Alasse]

It is done! I had to take in the sides a touch because they were very baggy under my arms (and the shoulders are a little baggy / wide too; I’ll probably try to fix that too at some point, but no rush). I’m very pleased with how it came out! It’s very comfortable and warm, I love the colour and the ribbed pattern. Thanks again for everyone’s help! What a lovely introduction to knitting and this knitting community.

Ignore the slight paint speckles on my old mirror, haha.

[salmonmac]

Perfect! You are not only a knitter but a knitting engineer. Beautifully done.

[Creations]

Wow wow wow! Fabulous.
What an amazing achievement as a new knitter!

I suggest if you have not washed and blocked the piece yet, not to alter any sizes (more than you already have) until afterwards as the yarn can change its feeling and drape when washes and size can change too.

How did you alter the the sides? Did you just re seam it and keep the extra fabric to the inside seam?

I feel I ought to be able to make things fit well if I am making them myself but I find it hard to get right.

Great top, and perfectly modelled. Thank you sharing this lovely piece. I’m looking forward to seeing your next project.

[Alasse]

Yay!! Thank you!!

I blocked the piece before I seamed it (well, I had the shoulder seam in place because I needed that to do the collar, and only then realised that most Youtube videos were recommending blocking before seaming), so my alterations were made after blocking, too. As it was only too baggy around the top half of the side seam, and not the bottom, I just kind of did an extra seam tapering in / curving a bit, to pull in the excess space. I drew a curve from the existing seam in outward to the baggiest bit, and then in to the existing seam again, with some pins, on both sides of the seam, and then seamed those together. So there’s a part that has kind of a double seam on the inside but the wool is light enough that it isn’t in the way, luckily. Figured that might be more secure than re-seaming it and having an excess ‘raw edge’ (not sure what this is called in knitting) and also I wasn’t sure how to remove the seam safely anyway, haha. I have no idea if my method is actually used in knitting but it seemed to work pretty well

[salmonmac]

Looks like a very successful method. If it hasn’t been used before, maybe it should! Well done.

[Alasse]

I took some pictures in case anyone is interested in seeing the Frankensteining properly, haha. Before the alteration there was a baggy excess flap that didn’t fit nicely to my body on that part of the side seam when wearing it.

[salmonmac]

Thank you. That’s helpful to see.

[Creations]

That’s really interesting. Did you use the knitting yarn to sew it, and if so, what stitch did you use? Or have you sewn it on a machine with thread?