Showing posts with label diane soucy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diane soucy. Show all posts

Gauge and Swatching...again.

by : Unknown
Over the next few weeks I'll be writing about some of the most common questions and advice we give out in the store.

Today, I'm reviewing swatching as it seems like we can't emphasize it enough! I don't know how many people have come into the store lately who've gone to the trouble to knit up a sweater only to find out it's too big and have to either give it away or frog it and start again! I'll be the first to admit that swatching can be a drag when you're excited to get started but I've learned through experience that if I want to make a garment fit correctly the first time with no tears or frustrations then I must knit a proper swatch before I begin.  It's worth the effort and is never a waste of time.

As Diane Soucy (of Knitting Pure and Simple) says: "A tiny difference in your stitch gauge will make a HUGE difference in the size of your finished garment."

There are two vitally important measurements you need to know to making a garment fit correctly.

  • The second is to get the exact pattern gauge.
 To watch a video explaining what follows, please watch the the video I did with Diane Soucy: How to Measure Gauge Correctly.

The first step to getting pattern gauge is to compare it to the suggested gauge on the yarn label. If the pattern gauge and yarn gauge are close then the yarn will work for your pattern. You will still have to swatch and possibly adjust your needle size to get exact pattern gauge.

This is where swatching is so important. There are a number of ways to knit up a swatch but the most accurate measurement for your gauge will be to knit up a large swatch in stockinette, 30 to 40 stitches wide and 4” tall, use the exact needles you will be using for your project. Don't expect to cast-on the number of stitches needed in 4” and expect it to measure 4”, it won't! Edge stitches, cast on & bind off all effect gauge so you want to have sufficient swatch to measure well away from all. If you will be knitting in the round you will need to swatch in the round.

To measure gauge on your swatch:
  • First, launder the swatch as you would the finished garment (steam it if it will be dry cleaned). This is important because yarn can bloom or shrink! Bloom means to expand or plump up and I think we all know about shrinking.
  • Once the swatch is dry, lay it flat.
  • Use a gauge check tool or a good ruler, measure no closer to any edge than 1”.
  • Then count how many stitches there are in a full 4". Be sure to count quarter and half stitches or even an eighth of a stitch-- it will make a difference in the size of your finished sweater.
  • If you have too few stitches per inch then your gauge is loose, work another swatch with a smaller needle.
  • If you have to many stitches per inch then your gauge is tight, work another swatch with a larger needle.
  • Repeat this process until you get the gauge called for in the pattern. Some people will just purl a few rows and try the next needle size, this can work but to get the most accurate gauge, bind off and begin a new swatch.
I can't say enough that checking gauge is so important, the time spent checking gauge is never time wasted. What is a waste is knitting a garment that doesn't fit and then never wearing it.

Always take the time to swatch and measure gauge! You won't regret it!

Any questions or suggestions for topics you want to read about, please email them to me at askTerry at jimmybeanswool dot com.

Happy Knitting
Terry





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Knit Red A-Line Hoodie KAL -Week 3

by : MarinadeDesigns
First off, if you are still on the fence about the KAL, it's not too late to join us!  Feel free to start anytime.

To catch up those of you who are hearing about this KAL for the first time. It started August 6th and is going officially until September 17th although I imagine people will be finishing up for a while afterwards.   We're working on The A-line Hoodie pattern by Diane Soucy and it can be found on page 22 of Knit Red by Laura Zander. The pattern calls for Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Collection, Cashmere Fleur de Lys in color #416. But you may use any yarn you like that you can get gauge with and it doesn't have to be red!

Diane Soucy (from Knitting Pure and Simple) and I have filmed more videos for you.  We decided to redo the How to Cast On for a Top Down Sweater video to make it shorter and more concise. Feel free to check it out on our Instruction page if you are just getting ready to cast on.

This week, we created a few new videos to help you with additional steps in top-down sweater knitting. This video shows you how to create buttonholes and divide for the sleeves on a top down sweater.  As a bonus, it also shows you where to measure from to start your waist shaping.



This second video shows you how to pickup stitches for the neckband on a top down sweater.  The same technique applies for hoods as well.  We also talk about why you want to pickup around the neckline before you make your sleeves.  I loved this part because I have always wondered why Diane instructs us to always work the necks before the sleeves.  Now I know why and feel a little silly that I hadn't thought of it myself!  It makes so much sense and I'm so glad I learned it.  Watch the video to find out too!



If you wish to watch them all  please go to our instruction page.  I've been adding text to all the existing videos and we're are always adding more each month!

And finally I a couple of A-Line Hoodie progress photos to share with you all!

Tylette's A-line
Tylette totally rocked this KAL! She's already done! She knit her A-line in Plymouth Encore in color #174. I just love the gorgeous deep red color and just know she's going to get a ton of use out of this hand knit!

Sara's A-line
One of our local customers (and soon to be employee) Sara is cruising right along too! She's alternating three hanks of Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in Badlands colorway and they don't quite match each other as well as she would like.  She was nearly done but didn't like the way the color was working out so... she frogged back and started again.  Here is her second try which she is much happier with. She has decided to not make it an a-line sweater and instead is decreasing for the waist, increasing again for the hips and she's putting buttons all the way down the front.

I would love to share photos of your projects.  Please feel free to email your photos to me and I'll share them here on the blog or on Facebook.

Remember, I am here to help you each step of the way. You can post your comments and questions in the ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red. or email me at askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool.com.

Happy Knitting!

Terry


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Knit Red A-Line Hoodie KAL- Post #2

by : MarinadeDesigns
So we're off and running on our first official Knit Red Knit-A-Long! (It's not too late to join us!)

I'll be blogging about the KAL each week right here on the JBW blog and the Stitch Red blog as well as having on-going discussions, camaraderie, and support in threads on both Ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red.

From August 6th to September 17th  we're working on The A-line Hoodie pattern by Diane Soucy and it can be found on page 22 of Knit Red by Laura Zander. The pattern calls for Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Collection, Cashmere Fleur de Lys in color #416.  But you may use any yarn you like that you can get gauge with and it doesn't have to be red!

As I mentioned last week I'm making mine with Berroco Vintage in #5150 Berries.  I'm nearly to the end of my first hank and to the second buttonhole so far.  I've been knitting quite a bit lately with fingering weight yarn and so this project just seems to be flying along in worsted weight.


Making some progress!

And as promised, Diane Soucy and I have started filming some videos to help you make top down sweaters!  We're very excited be able to do this for you and these videos will be available to view anytime on our website, YouTube and in the future you'll also be able to link to them from Diane's website Knitting Pure and Simple.








Here are the first three with more to come in the coming weeks!

First, Diane and I show you how to How to Decide What Size Sweater to Make:





Then we talk about how important swatching and gauge is to getting the results you want. How to Measure Your Gauge Correctly:




Now that you know what size to make and have gotten gauge we show you how to cast on for a raglan top down sweater and explain what all those stitch markers are for, where they go, the parts of the sweater, increases used and finally how to cast on at the beginning and end of rows to work a seed stitch button band. How to Cast on for a Top Down Sweater:




And because this is a Knit Red KAL in support of heart health chime in with your heart healthy tips here in the comments or in our Ravelry groups.  I will be reading all of them!

So there you go!  Now you're all set to cast on!

And remember, I am here to help you each step of the way.  You can post your comments and questions in the Ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red. or email me at: askTerry (at) jimmybeanswool.com.

Happy Knitting!

Terry

PS. Are you on Facebook? So are we! C'mon over and "Like" us to get all of the latest news! www.facebook.com/jimmybeanswool

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Ready, get set, GO! It's time for another Knit-A-Long!

by : MarinadeDesigns
This time it's a Knit Red KAL! We will be knitting Diane Soucy's Knitting Pure & Simple pattern from the Knit Red book, the A-Line Hoodie. We chose this pattern not only because it is one of our favorite patterns from the book (although I think they are all favorites!) it also has the highest number of favorites on Ravelry of any of the Knit Red patterns!

We’ve been receiving such positive feedback on using Diane’s pattern and are so excited that everyone loves the A-Line Hoodie as much as we do! Many of you may not know this, but Diane is one of the people who helped inspire Laura to start Jimmy Beans Wool; which, we’re sure you read about in our Hand Dyed catalog. She's actually been with us since the beginning and her Knitting Pure and Simple Patterns are always our go-to knitting patterns for simple, top down designs. It's such a natural fit for her to be included in this next KAL! 


What’s even more exciting is that Diane is going to be participating in this KAL right along with us by filming some videos with me (Terry) that will take you through the steps of how to knit a top down sweater! We'll learn things like how to decide what size to make, the importance of gauge and how to find it, how to cast on and what are all those markers for? And the big one I know you all want to know because it was a much discussed issue in our last KAL, how to pickup stitches for the underarms without holes!

The KAL will start on Monday August 6th and run for 6 weeks until Monday September 17th.

We'll be blogging each week right here on the JBW blog and the Stitch Red blog as well as having on-going discussion, camaraderie, and support in threads on both Ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red.

For our local customers, I'm willing to hold KAL Knit Nights on Tuesday evenings every other week if enough interested people respond to this blog post by Sunday August 5th .

Diane's
"A-line Hoodie"
The A-line Hoodie pattern can be found on page 22 of Knit Red by Laura Zander

The Cashmere Fleur de Lys is an absolutely lovely and soft yarn and as always you are welcome to use any worsted weight yarn that you want. If you have questions on if a yarn is worsted weight check the yarn band for the suggested gauge. A suggested gauge of 18 - 20 stitches to 4” (4.5-5 stitches per inch) on a US 7-8 needle will work for this pattern.

Personally, I'm going to be sticking with the Stitch Red color theme and making my sweater out of Berroco Vintage in their Stitch Red color #5150 Berries. I'm choosing this yarn because I'm not always as gentle with my hand knits as I should be and I want this sweater to be an everyday sweater that is durable and easy to care for. In addition, I don't look my best in the blue-reds so I need to stick with orange-reds or reds with a hint of black and the Berroco Vintage fits the bill for me in every way.

I would also like to suggest a few other Stitch Red colors you can consider (if you’d like to join me in supporting Stitch Red):


My swatch! So excited to start!
I've already swatched for my sweater with the Berroco Vintage on US 8 and 9 Knitter's Pride Cubics and after washing my swatch I got gauge perfectly on US size 8.

So choose your yarn and get swatching--we hope you'll join us for what is sure to be a fun and educational KAL!

Happy knitting!
Terry

P.S. We are also planning some Heart Healthy goal-setting throughout and will be incorporating that into this KAL! We'd love for you to join us in encouraging each other to set some new goals and work towards them while we knit! Be sure to check in on the Ravelry groups for more info!

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Diane Soucy is teaching a Top-Down Sweater Class at Jimmy Beans Wool!

by : MarinadeDesigns


Hi everyone!  I have some super exciting news for all of you local Reno-Tahoe customers!  On Saturday, February 11th, 2012, Diane Soucy of the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern line will be at Jimmy Beans in Reno to teach a Top-Down Sweater Class!  We are so excited to host Diane here in Reno for the first of what we hope will be many Designer Workshops.

Diane's Class will focus on top-down sweater construction using the top-down sweater pattern of your choice (check out all of her awesome designs on our site here).  She will focus on topics such as fit, customization, and the basics of creating your perfect top-down sweater! 

The class will be held from 10am-5pm with a 1 hour break for lunch.  The cost for this all-day workshop is $80.  Please call the Jimmy Beans Wool Retail store for more information and to sign up- (775) 827-YARN (9276).  The sign up deadline is Friday, February 3rd, so please call to reserve your spot as spaces are limited, however, you may make your payment anytime up until February 10th.

Hope to see you all there!

Happy knitting!
Kristen
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So much news...

by : Freaky Knitter

There is so much news at JBW that I feel like a newspaper reporter, woohoo! 

First we have 2 weddings to report, Bethany and her love George ran off and tied the knot without a word, imagine! They announced this wonderful piece of news at their engagement party...how much fun is that? Then our own Amber and her love Ray got hitched on September 24th at Grizzly Greek Ranch in Portola California. You can read a bit more about it here in my blog post for Battle Born Knits (shameless plug:) ). Congratulations to both of these spectacular couples!!


Of course as you all know we recently moved into a larger space and on Friday, September 30th we had an Open House! So much fun was had by all and so many announcements that I am not quite sure where to start?? So I will dive in with both needles...

Diane Soucy of Knitting Pure and Simple with her fans!

We had Diane Soucy (aka Knitting Pure and Simple) here signing her patterns and of course talking knitting with her fans! She had some teaser samples of some new patterns with her that are coming out in the spring, so stay tuned!!! They are amazing of course!  


Diane, Cookie A, Lorna Miser and Ann Norling will be added to our class list soon and you can contact us at info@jimmybeanswool.com to make sure you are on the list to be notified when we have more details about those classes/workshops!! I know I will be 1st in line to learn from these fabulous designers. 


Long time customer Linette with Bethany :)



We had raffle prizes and boy was everyone excited about that one!! We had 2 kits for the Berroco pattern Duchess which uses their new yarn Boboli, 2 Rowan kits for the Unisex Scarf and 2 Ann Norling kits for her cool Easy Cowl #71. CONGRATULATIONS to our winners! 

Be sure to bring your work in for show-n-tell...we love that!!!


Victoria cried!! Who wouldn't with Huck as the MC :)
I am sad to report that Victoria is moving onto to new things in her life and will be missed around the shop dearly! Here she is getting her moving on goodie bag from Laura and Huck and there were definitely some sniffles! I am lucky that she lives right near me and we are planning on some regular visits. I am so glad that she is in the JBW family and one of my friends too!! 


Here Terry let me help you with a chip


The whole crew got a great present from the Zander's for our new break room...a Cappicino maker!!! Not only that but they are going to keep the supplies stocked...WOW!! 

Of course Huck was helping Terry open the package (plying her with a chip) and what a great job he did too!

Thanks so much for taking such great care of us!!!


Well of course I have saved my favorite news flash for last...Sandy and I have been in the JBW family for 5 years!!! 

For me it has just flown by and the changes have been phenomenal to say the least. We have both recently marveled that when we started working here we had 2 computers and not a whole lot more employees. Now I really would have to stop and think to count all the computers, employees and changes that we have seen in the last 5 years. Sandy is my friend as well as co-worker and I just can't imagine what life around here would be like without her. She only has 2 weeks on me (okay Sandy you can gloat for a second) and I am so glad to be making this journey with her by my side!! 


Sandy, Laura and yours truly, post presentation

We were presented with 2 unique, hand made pendants that represent our logo, the color wheel and the stones in them are an amazing array of Mother Earth's diversity. 

They are both inscribed with the Hindi word for family and boy did I blubber!! Sandy was my rock on this one for sure!


On my way home (and as I lay in bed trying to sleep after such an exciting evening) I reflected on the meaning of our logo to me. 

Certainly the color wheel represents endless possibilities, but to me it means quite a bit more.




The colors on the wheel are harmonious and can be blended to create a multitude of beautiful options; which I feel we have done at JBW's in too many ways to mention here. The 'wheel' can take me places that I can't even imagine and it has so far!

My journey with JBW (and in life) has been one of discovery and growth and I wouldn't have it any other way! 


I will wear my pendant with pride and look forward to the next 5 years of this journey! 

Words truly can't express my feelings as I type this post, so I must humbly sign off with a HUGE thanks to Laura, Doug, Huck, Buddy, Wiley and ALL the little beans for being who you are and allowing me to be a part of this amazing family!!


As always, happy knitting and crocheting!


Jeanne
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