Hi everyone!

Hope your week has gone well. Things have been crazy in JBW-land as we gear up for a fun and exciting couple of months. My apologies for not popping into the Ravelry group as much this past week. Hopefully all questions were answered, and of course, feel free to message me directly anytime if you have an urgent question. I am always happy to help! :)

So hopefully by now you've all finished the hand on your right gauntlet and are ready to take out your provisional cast on and find out what fun is in store. Here we go!

-Remove provisional cast on and place stitches back on your needles dividing the stitches evenly among the needles and rejoin yarn to resume working in the round. (This is a good opportunity to knit those 4 rounds IF you missed them at the beginning.)
-Increase to 52 sts if you do not  already have that number on the needles by knitting a round and spacing your increases evenly throughout the row. Use your preferred method of increasing.
-Purl one round
-*k1, k1f&b; repeat from * to end of round. (78 sts now on the needles)
-Rearrange sts on the needles so that you have 26 sts on each needle.

Work Shell Lace Edging pattern as follows:

Shell Lace Edging Pattern

Rnd 1: *k2tog, k9, ssk; repeat from * to end of rnd. (66 sts)
Rnd 2: Knit
Rnd 3: *k2tog, k7, ssk; repeat from * to end of rnd. (54 sts)
Rnd 4: Knit
Rnd 5: *k2tog, yo, (k1, yo) 5 times, ssk; repeat from * to end of round (78 sts)
Rnd 6: Purl

*Repeat rows 1-6 two more times. (A total of 3 repeats)

Bind off and weave in ends. Feel free to block your gauntlet if you'd like. If you do, be sure to pin out the points on your lace edging. Otherwise, you can also wait to block both gauntlets together at the end. I'm the impatient sort when it comes to things like this, so I definitely blocked my first glove before the second. But that's just me. It's entirely knitter's choice. :)


Also, the photos show my right gauntlet when it was blocking since I can now show you what it looks like. Hopefully you all have some similar results. :)

Ok, so this is it for week 4! I hope you all have a fantastic week coming up and happy knitting to you all!

Kristen

In case you missed it last week, we will be starting a second KAL on February 1st and running until March 8th!  Due to popular demand it will be the Truckee Shawlette, our free pattern from December featuring Malabrigo Lace Superwash. We will be operating this KAL in the same manner as the Downton Abbey MKAL, with all of the support and discussion in our Ravelry group.

 Last week, in the Friday Jan. 18th blog, I showed you how to do the increases this pattern calls for, M1R and M1L.

As promised, this week I'll talk about lifelines. What are they and how do they work?

While this project is pretty simple, using lifelines will help you keep from losing any of your M1s should you need to rip back.

What is a lifeline?  A lifeline is a strand of yarn that you insert into your work at a point when you know everything that has been knit before that point, has been done correctly.  It's best to insert it into a plain knit or purl row when possible.  It's also best to use a smooth, slippery lifeline, like mercerized cotton or dental floss but any thing that's not grabby will work.

Once you've completed the row of knitting that you wish to use for your lifeline, thread your lifeline onto a darning needle and begin feeding it through your stitches on your needle.  DO NOT remove the stitches from your knitting needle!  Just run the lifeline through the row of stitches.  If you're using a circular needle, sliding the stitches onto the cord will make room to insert the darning needle.



Another way a lifeline can be inserted if you have interchangeable needles that use a tool to tighten the connection, thread your lifeline through the same little hole used for tightening tool and then just knit normally. Your lifeline will be threaded through the stitches as you knit your row. If you use Addi interchangeables, the Addi SOS cord is now available which has a little slit near the join that you can open up and insert your lifeline into so you can knit it into your knitting the same way.


That's all there is to inserting the lifeline!

When you knit your next row or round be sure to NOT knit the lifeline with your stitch or you will have to cut the lifeline into little pieces to get it out.  Otherwise, removing a lifeline is easy, just pull one of the ends and it should slid right out of your project.  I recommend leaving all of your lifelines in place until you finish your project, just in case.  But if they bother you, they can be removed when you're certain all is well.



 If you have further questions please let me know!  askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool.com (please remove the spaces and replace at with @ to send an email)

Happy Knitting!

 Terry

I don't even know where to begin with all the news around the shop, but the 1st thing that pops into my mind is the Downton Abby KAL...holy cow I don't think any of us realized that this would be such a big event!! Kristen has done a phenomenal job at hosting the KAL and Terry has jumped in and helped  in so many amazing ways too and I am just plain proud to know them!

I do have to confess to participating and am having a blast knitting my gauntlets. I am knitting mine 2 at a time on DPN's and am now done with clue #3. I of course have fallen in love with Downton Abbey and am now all caught up with the show and can't wait for Sunday, as well as clue #4...open, open, open...ha, ha, ha!!

The show is stimulating all sorts of ideas in both my knitting mind and my new found sewing mind and I just don't even know where to start in getting some organization in my head. Honestly I think that my head is a pretty disorganized place to be and to fight that part of myself is futile.

So where am I going with all of this disjointed talk? Right to the hats, oh the glorious hats!! I want to combine knitting and sewing all into one amazing hat, but how to go about it is where I am a little stumped. However never fear I have some amazing resources (Sandy and Gus, as well as Rachel, Kristen, Terry, Heather...okay all of the amazing JBW gang!!) available to me and am certain that I can come up with something that will fill the brim, so to speak. I want to knit the dome of the hat and sew the brim and have just discovered some really firm interfacing that I bought a while back (when I didn't really understanding what I was doing, hmmm like I do now? ha ha) and think that it will work very well to shore up my brim.

Okay so let me tease you with some color combinations and see what you think. My Gauntlets are done in Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sport Huron (long time stash color) and I have enough to do a dome too. Of course this should be a set right?

So now onto the fabric options and I am leaning towards the Denyse Schmidt Greenfield Hill Mill Plain in Dogwood. I still have to do some color comparisons on this one, but I think it should be a small print what do you think?

At any rate here is my gauntlets waiting for their turn at clue #4 and stay tuned for more on the adventure of Jeanne's hat, as it were.

As always, happy knitting, crocheting and sewing!!

Jeanne

Hi everyone! Welcome to week three! I am going to keep this week's post pretty brief because this week's clue has a less knitting than the prior weeks. I'm sure this will work out perfectly giving you plenty of time to brew some tea and enjoy the rest of your day. I hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend. Wait, what IS a weekend? Right? :)

Jumping right in, here are links to the first two clues if you are just joining our KAL:

Clue #1

Clue #2

We've just finished the thumb gusset and put those stitches on a holder. You also joined the hand and worked rows 5-8 of the Rosebud Lace pattern one last time.

Finishing the Hand:

-K 5 more rounds
-Try on your gauntlet and measure how close you are to your ideal hand length. This part is customizable. If you only need 3/4" or less to be at your ideal length, move on to the garter stitch portion. If you need more than 3/4", knit a few more rows first.
-Work in Garter Stitch (knit a round, purl a round) for 10 more rounds or approximately 3/4".
-Bind-off and weave in ends.

Finishing the Thumb:

-Using your DPNs and beginning with the right side (lace side) of the gauntlet facing you, place your thumb stitches back on the needles in the following order: 5 on the first needle (needle 1), 6 on the second needle (needle 2), 5 on the third needle (needle3).
-Re-join your yarn at the last stitch on needle 3 and knit 1 round, picking up 2 sts along the opening between the thumb (on needles 1 and 3) and the rest of the hand to close up the gap.

*Note* If your thumb seems significantly smaller than the thumb opening after picking up these stitches, decrease the number of stitches on the thumb when you knit the next round by knitting these two picked up stitches together with the stitches on the right or left of them. (K2tog the first two sts of Needle 1 and K2tog the last two sts of needle 2.) Or, if you think you need more then that, decrease by however many stitches you think you need evenly throughout the row. I will leave this up to knitter's choice. However, you must pick these stitches up in order to seamlessly close up the thumb gap, but once you've done that, it's very easy to decrease back down to a size that works for you.

-Knit 4 rounds.
-Knit 6 rounds in garter stitch (knit one round, purl one round)
-Bind off and weave in your ends.

Thus endeth Clue #3!

Next week we get to find out what that provisional cast on was all about! :)

Happy knitting!
Kristen

PS. If you are interested in knitting this same Rosebud Lace pattern but as a pair of socks, fellow Ravelrer patchworkgandalf has written up a simple sock pattern incorporating the lace pattern and wanted to offer it to you all for free. You can find it as a Ravelry Download here. She hasn't yet fully tested the pattern but is working on it! :)

Now that everyone is getting settled into the Downton Abbey Mystery KAL we thought this might be a good time to start planning the next knit-a-long.  We've had quite a few requests to do December's free pattern the Truckee Shawlette as a knit-a-long so that's what we're going to do!  I'm excited because not only is this a beautiful shawlette, the yarn it calls for is the machine washable, lace weight merino wool yarn Malabrigo Lace Superwash!  This is an exclusive yarn so it needs an extra special project to make from it and the Truckee Shawlette is just the thing!


We're setting a start date of February 1st and the KAL will go for six weeks ending on March 8th.  This is a fairly easy knit but will take some time because of the small yarn.  We do have some kits put together on our website for easy color choices or you can mix and match yarns for your own custom look.  I've already chosen my yarn as those of you who follow us on Facebook may have seen.

Tosh Prairie in Worn Denim and Malabrigo Lace Superwash in Volcan

Of course you can choose other yarns and we'll be happy to give you any advice you may need.

To help you along I've filmed a new instructional video on how to do a M1L (make one left) and M1R (make one right).  In it I show you how to do both M1 increases and I also show them done both English (throwing) style and Continental (picking) style. It will be edited and up on our website soon, but in the meantime, I've created some written descriptions for you complete with pictures!

Here is a description of each:


Make One Left (M1L) to do this increase you will need to have at least one stitch on your right hand needle.  Look at your knitting between the two needles.  See the little bar between the two stitches?  With your left needle pick up this bar going from front to back.  Now, knit the loop you now have on your left needle through the back loop just as you would a normal knit through the back loop.

By knitting through the back loop you are adding a left twist to the increase, making it invisible.  Without the twist you will get an eyelet much like a small yarnover instead of an invisible increase.

Make One Right (M1R) this is the same as a M1L except, with your left needle you will pick up the bar between the stitches from back to front and knit it through the front loop, adding a right twist.

Perhaps an easy way to remember this is:
M1L - pick up front to back, knit in the back - front, back, back
M1R - pick up back to front, knit in the front - back, front, front



Next time I'll take about lifelines, what are they and how do you use them.

Have fun and I hope you'll join us for the KAL!

Terry

Knitters and crocheters from the U.S. and beyond will “plaza-bomb” TODAY on Friday, January 18th, 2013, to call attention to the #1 killer of women: heart disease. Adorned in red knitted/crocheted items from head to toe, the group will wave signs with tips for preventing heart disease and present anchors Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb and others with their very own red handmade garments and products from the Needlearts industry’s Stitch Red campaign that was started to bring awareness and education about heart disease to women everywhere. The group will hand out other items like Stitch Red tattoos, red yarn and educational materials to other audience members in the plaza as well to further spread the message about the importance of heart health.

Wow, what a week! It sounds like most of you got off to a good start with your gauntlets which is so awesome to hear! Episode one of Season 3 of DA was equally awesome but I won't talk shop here in case some of you haven't watched yet. I will say, that The Secrets of Highclere Castle special on PBS (about the castle where Downton is filmed) was also really cool. If you haven't watched that yet, I highly encourage you to do so. The history geek in me really enjoyed it.

Ok, so on to the reason you are all here--Clue # 2 of Lady Violet's Dinner Gauntlets! This week's clue should prove to be much easier than last week's since you are already familiar with the lace and eyelet patterns. I have absolutely loved seeing all of the WIPs on Ravelry in the Downton KAL Photo Gallery Thread by the way! It's amazing how differently the Sportmate in the Downton color can knit up depending on gauge and where you begin your skein. So many cool versions of the pattern! Not only that, but I love seeing how these gauntlets are shaping up in different yarns too!

Clue #2:

*If you are just getting started, please see my blog post for Clue #1 before reading this post.

By now, you should have knit four rounds in stockinette and then two full repeats of the lace panel and you should have eight sets of eyelets on needle 1. This is a total of 36 rounds.

Here is what you do next:

**Remember, you are working all needles' directions in the round at the same time. The directions are broken down by needle.

Needle 1: Continue working eyelet pattern for 24 more rows ending with a total of 14 eyelets. (If you have one more or one less, don't fret. Just go with it. The number of eyelets isn't super important as long as it's close.)

Needle 2: Work one more repeat of the lace section and then work rounds 1-8 of the lace section again.

Needle 3: K every round

Once you've completed this portion, congrats! You are done with the arm of the gauntlet. Next we will begin the thumb gusset. For those who aren't familiar with this term or have never knit fingerless gloves before, a thumb gusset is the part where you increase the number of stitches on your needles where the thumb will be. It's a method of shaping.

Thumb Gusset:

Needle 1: For this section, you will no longer knit eyelets. At this point you should have a total of 14 eyelets. You will now just knit regular stockinette stitch on needle 1 until the directions say otherwise.

Needle 2: Continue working in Rosebud Lace pattern picking up where you left off, starting with round 9. While you are knitting the thumb gusset, you will continue working this pattern for 12 more rounds ending on row 4 of the pattern.

Needle 3: Knit as follows-

• Round 1: k1f&b, k3, k1f&b, place marker, k to end of round.
• Round 2: k
• Round 3: k1f&b, k to last st before marker, k1f&b, slip marker, k to end of round.
• Round 4: k

How to knit Lady Violet's Dinner Gauntlets 2-at-a-time on two circular needles:

• Two balls of yarn. If you're experienced with doing so and don't mind untwisting you threads, it is possible to knit from each end of the same ball.
• Two circular needles in the same size. I highly recommend using two different lengths. First, the 16” needle tips are shorter than the 24” tips which helps you keep track of which tips you're working on, and secondly, two different lengths will not cause you to have duplicate needles.
• Point protectors
• 3 stitch markers

 

Photo via Pinterest, source unknown

Well folks, the day has finally come! I don't think I've been this excited for something since my wedding day two years ago. Seriously. That's how much I love Downton. Many of you guessed from my hints that my favorite character is Lady Violet, the Dowager Countess and from the sound of it, I am not alone. She really does add such a lively element to the show, which is why I couldn't help but design this KAL project around her. 

The photo above features the accessory that inspired this KAL. In Season One, Lady Violet wears black, ruched, lacy fingerless gloves (though they were probably called gauntlets in 1912) to dinner and I couldn't help but be inspired to knit something similar but a tad more practical for modern times. Adorned with a Rosebud Lace pattern (inspired by her award wining roses) and some other pretty details that will be revealed as the KAL progresses, these gauntlets would surely please the Dowager Countess to no end. So without further adieu, I give you Clue # 1 for Lady Violet’s Dinner Gauntlets! 

If you are just now jumping in and have managed to miss my first blog post, be sure to go back and read that before reading this one. 

Alright, lets get this prim and proper dinner party started. Shall we?

Yep, I drew on my arm with permanent marker.

Well folks, this brings us to the end of Episode # 1 and Clue #1. This was a pretty big clue as I needed to set you up wit info for the entire project so this will probably be the longest post and set of directions in the KAL. Of course, if you have any questions or anything seems unclear, please feel free to private message me on Ravelry or post it to the Ravelry group! We are all there to help you!

I hope you all enjoy the first episode tonight and look forward to discussion on Monday! 

Happy knitting!
Kristen

PS. If you would like to print this page, the easiest and best way to do it is to copy all of the text and paste it into a word document. Then, print the word document. Easy peasy. :) The PDF of the pattern will be available once the KAL is over.

All I can say is WOW! Your response to the Downton Abby KAL is astounding!  We all, especially Kristen, are thrilled by how much interest there is from all of you!  I'm so looking forward to starting my mystery project too. I adore mysteries so this will be lots of fun!!!  Like many of you I don't have TV so I've watched season one of Downton Abbey online and will be purchasing season two this weekend so I can be ready to start watching season three next week!

With the KAL in mind, I thought today that I would talk a little about needles and needle sizing to help you get your gauge and be all set to start knitting on Sunday.

 I don't know how many of you know but US needle sizes can vary in actual metric size depending on the brand and country of the manufacturer.  Now that the knitting and crochet world has become so international, in a large part due to Ravelry.com, you can't always assume the pattern you are about to knit, lists needles in your country's size scale. The surest way to know if you are using the correct needle for a pattern is to look at what the metric size is of the needle called for in the pattern and compare it to the metric size of the needle you're intending to use.  A great example of this discrepancy can be seen in comparing US size 2 needles.

Addi Turbo US 2 needle measures 3.0 millimeters (mm) in diameter
Clover US 2 is 2.75 mm
Crystal Palace US 2 is 2.75 mm
Knitter's Pride US 2 is 2.75

So the question to answer by looking at your pattern is: do you need a 2.75 mm needle or a 3 mm needle?  If you need a 2.75mm and want an Addi needle you will need to buy the needle that they label as 2.75.  If you need a 3.0mm needle and want a brand other than Addi you will need to buy a US 2.5 (3mm).

Of course not all sizes are different, other sizes that can cause a problem are:
US 6 can be 4.0 mm or 4.25 mm especially if they are older needles. Most brands except Crystal Palace are now 4.0 mm
US 17 is usually 12.0 mm but in Clover needles a US 17 measures 12.75 mm
US 19 is usually 15.0 mm but in Crystal Palace needle a it measures 15.6 mm

And be aware that the needle gauges made by each of the companies reflects these size differences!

I understand from our IT people that they are working to improve the search engine for needles on our website to show both US & metric sizes.  In the meantime, here's a quick reference chart that I hope helps.

US Size	Metric (mm)	Addi US Size	Clover Exceptions	Crystal Palace Exceptions
000	1.5	0
00	1.75	0
0	2	0
1	2.25
1 1/2	2.5	1
2	2.75
2 1/2	3	2
3	3.25	3
4	3.5	4
5	3.75	5
6	4	6		4.25mm
7	4.5	7
8	5	8
9	5.5	9
10	6	10
10.5	6.5	10.5
	7	10.75
11	8	11
13	9	13
15	10	15
17	12	17	12.75 mm
19	15	19		15.6 mm
	20	36
50	25

		If you usually get gauge and are having trouble, then double checking your needle size is a good first step in figuring out what may be going wrong. Another good thing to pay attention to is how slippery your needle is and how tightly or loosely you normally knit.  I find that having tight knitters switch to slippery needles like the nickle plated Addi Turbos help them to loosen up.  Conversely, if someone habitually knits too loosely then switching to wooden or bamboo needles helps them to tighten up their stitches. Don't be afraid to change you needles size up or down to get gauge, this is what you're supposed to do.  The pattern gauge is what you need to get and it doesn't matter what size needle you use to achieve it if you're using the correct weight of yarn.  It can matter if you are substituting yarns but that is another subject for another day. For a thorough explanation of gauge please see the video I did with Diane Soucy!
		How to Measure Your Gauge Correctly and the video Jeanne did How to Adjust Your Needle Size to Get Gauge . I hope these suggestions help and if you still find you have questions or need help I will be happy to help, just drop an email to askTerry@jimmybeanswool.com. And I'm John Bates (see Kristen's blog for the link to find out which Downton character you are) Happy Mystery Knitting! Terry