Multiple questions on Bed jacket

#1

Okay…Since I can’t do anything simple…

I decided to take a pattern that I found in Creative Knitting Nov 2011, pgs 44-45, 70, 72, and alter it to make a Bed Jacket for my grandmother who is 95 and living in an assisted living home.

The sweater/jacket is knitted in the round similar to the Pi shawls that are currently popular. Since I didn’t like the Leaf pattern on the back and I wasn’t using the same type of yarn. (not double strand) I found an all over pattern (Vertical Lace Trellis) in my [U]Treasury of Knitting Patterns[/U] book (Barbara G. Walker) and used that to do the motif on the back. That seems to have worked well. Motif is a bit larger than sweater pattern indicates, but not so much as to be a problem. So far, so good.

Here’s where it gets tricky. I decided on a Faggoting stich called Turkish Stitch to do the collar area of the sweater. (also in Treas. of Kitting) The Turkish faggoting stitch is on an even number of stitches and is as follows:

K1, *yo, K2 tog; rep from *, end K1. Repeat this row.

Since this pattern is not meant to be done in the round, I’m compensating by leaving off the K1’s at beg and end, and changing the second row to *yo, P2tog tbl; rep from *. Is this correct? or should I just be doing a P2 tog. Does it matter? I did a sample and tried to do a bit of both, but I can’t seem to see any difference.

The other question I have is… the Sweater pattern says: [INDENT][I]Body is worked as a circle with sts bound off for armholes on 1 rnd, then cast on on the next round. On inc rnd, inc 1 st at each marker[/I] [I](10 sts per rnd), working inc to left and to right of markers on alternate inc rounds. Designer suggests inc by making a yo on 1 rnd, then working it tbl on next round to avoid a hole. [/I]

[/INDENT]In the center motif I made increases by knitting through the back loop of the next stitch, then knitting that stitch. (or whatever the “Vertical Lace Trellis” pattern called for.) Since the motif has a K1 at beginning and end of each section (5 pie pieces) it was easy to do this. When doing the Turkish stitch though, I would rather not have the “stripes” between the pie pieces. How do I increase with this pattern without making it apparent?

There are 10 markers and I need to increase at each one of them. I’ve read the above directions repeatedly and it wasn’t until I just typed them that I understood them. I was thinking I had to increase on both sides of the marker, but I don’t. Just once per marker alternating sides of the marker per increase row. (clear as mud…yes it is!)
:knitting:
Sweater pattern says to increase every 4th rnd until there are (eventually) 480 stitches. (That’s the finishing round.) I’m not sure I will get that far, as I don’t want the finished collar to be as big as the one shown in the magazine.

I am open to any and all help and suggestions…

I’d like to get this done soon, as I have a request from my neice, working and living in Aspen CO, for a pair of warm mittens and a hat. :cool:

[B]PS[/B]: had a heck of a time charting the “Vertical Lace Trellis” pattern in order to get the correct number of increases in it. I picked that pattern because the alternating row was just a purl row, which in the round turned into a Knit row, which made it easy to put in the increases.

[B]PPS:[/B] I"m not looking forward to charting the sleeve pattern. The one in the magazine has a long cuff on it, and is far too long for my grandmother who is petite. [B]BUT[/B] - first things first… one step at a time… foundation before decorating the walls… :biting:

[B]BTW[/B] finished the socks I was making for my sis. I was going to take a picture, but she came over, and I gave them to her, forgetting to take the picture.
:whoosh:

I will try and post a pic of my wip… assuming I can find the cord to download my camera pics.
:blooby:

#2

"K1, *yo, K2 tog; rep from *, end K1. Repeat this row. "

You’re right, leave off the k st at the beginning and end. You would want to just do p2tog on the alternater rows, not p2togtbl. Doing it tbl may make it look twisted on the RS, but with this st it may not show that much.

To increase the sections you can do a kfb or even just a YO, but leave the new sts in stockinette until you have enough to do a full repeat of the pattern stitch.

#3

Okay…here’s a close up of the center of the back and the entire back motif. Had a hard time getting the circular wire to lie flat.

Hope the pictures help.

#4

technically the pattern should be 2 stitches, right? the yo and the k2tog. so I would have to inc one and then inc another 4 rows later… knitting the increase in stockinette …I’m wondering if that’s going to show up on the pattern, and make it look funny. I’ll have to work on the sample and see if it will show up.
:knitting:
Sometimes it’s so nice to have a second set of eyes or brain just to get clarity on what you are doing.

gotta go…my sis is texting, gotta pick up dad at the hosp. He fell over and wacked his head and the cat scan came out clean, so he’s coming home. (it’s 10 pm and freezing out…yee ha!)
:blooby:

#5

Oh I thought you were working the Lace Trellis stitch, but I guess that could be just yo k2tog too. Sorry if I’m not picking up on things easily, I’m tired. So maybe I’m not the best person to run this by. But if you have 2 sts then go ahead and do the st pattern over the new ones if you have enough.

It looks like you’ve got 5 sections, not 10, so increasing every 4th row might not be enough, you may have to inc every other one. Or are you doing 2 incs per section?

#6

Suzeeq - The sweater pattern says to put a marker at every section and one in the middle of every section. Making 10 markers - then making an inc at every marker. Now that I think of it, that will make 2 sts in a section, so the pattern should come out. I’ll still try it in my test piece, just to see how it comes out. Not tonight though…it’s nearly midnight, and not a good time to do complex knitting patterns. (or anything else needing brain power) Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to work on it tomorrow.

More to come…

#7

It may be easier to integrate the increases or to hide the increases if you do them on either side of the 5 ribs in the pattern. Here’s a link that shows some pretty increases, one of which is very subtle and merges the increases well with the knitting.

#8

Salmonmac -
When you get past the sleeves there isn’t a ridge between the sections. It’s all done in K1 P1. Though I’ve changed the pattern to the Turkish rib, I could leave in the ridges, but I feel it would detract from the look.

I believe I have figured out how to do this. I put the increase after each marker. (10 markers in all) In order to get the pattern to continue properly, (the YO being first of the two stitches in the K2 tog) I figured out I would have to YO, inc, YO then the K2 tog. It seems to work out better this way. (the inc I’m using is to knit in the back of the next stitch) A bit complicated but it seems to work. Keeps everything lined up properly.

The other thing I have to watch out for is to make sure the marker in the center of the 5 “pie” sections is actually in the center. (the same number of stitches on either side)

On my test piece I did 12 rows so that I did 3 increases every 4th row. (inc on row 1, pattern row 2,3,4) (or is that every 5th row…I’m never sure…) Anywho…it came out looking okay. It was a little loose, but I used one size larger needles because my 8’s are on the project and I didn’t have another set.

So… as of this evening, I will be starting back in on the project. After I get this part done, I will have to chart out the sleeves. I’d like to pick up the stitches from the sweater and knit from there in the round. (I hate grafting seams…) A bit of planning will have to go into getting the sleeves the proper length. (as I said earlier, Grandma is Petite.) I will probably make them 3/4 length. I am planning on using the Trellis stitch for the sleeves till I get to the cuff, then go back to the Turkish faggotting. Did I mention the fancy fur that I’m putting on the collar and cuffs? I’m hoping it will give it a glamorous 40’s Hollywood look. I will try to remember to post pictures when I am done.

#9

This really sounds fabulous. You’ve worked it out most carefully and I’m sure your grandmother will appreciate the time, craft and love. Please do post some pictures when you are finished. It would be great to see.