worrying about fit

I haven't posted for a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting or thinking about knitting - I just haven't had much time for writing.

I still can't get over my rookie gauge mistake on the radian yoke pullover.  I'm a better knitter than that.  ugh.  It makes me nuts, because there have been numerous times that I would have loved to wear that these past few weeks.  OK, I know, I just have to let it go and count what I have learned from the experience.  Easier said than done.

Now I have other garments to worry about size with.  I have been working on a cardigan knit-along with my friend, M for quite a while.  We started about a year ago.  It's M's first sweater.  I started this project long before I really started thinking about fit.  The largest size in the pattern is 48" - but because of the shape and styling of it, it says it will fit a large range of sizes.  I usually make a size 52.  Okay, so I'm starting out 4 inches too small - not a good thing.  I finished the back and fronts and clipped them together to try it on.  It's not blocked yet, so it's hard to tell how long it is going to be - but it certainly isn't wide enough to fit around me.  Let me correct that, it fits around me at the bottom, but because of the deep V to the fronts (they are only 6 inches wide at the shoulder), the fronts don't even come close to covering the girls.  All is not lost - there is a pretty deep edging that you pick up along the edges of the fronts.  I can always make it wider - but then will I have enough yarn?   M. and I ordered the yarn from KnitPicks - so they still have the color, but we bought it a year and a half ago.  It will be a miracle if it's the same dye lot.  So rather than work on that sweater and worry about having enough yarn, I decided to worry about something else.

I'm a little late to the party, but I've jumped on the Lanesplitter bandwagon.  I decided I wanted this skirt last spring.  I started looking at colorways of Noro.  Of course, I decided I wanted to knit this in a colorway that was discontinued.  I wanted 233, with subtle changes of blue, grey, and green, with a smidge of pink thrown in here and there.  I scoured the web looking for it - and found 11 skeins for sale.  The largest size in the pattern calls for 9 skeins - I need to make mine a little bit bigger.  I'm hoping with all of my might that 11 skeins will be enough.  We will have to wait and see.

My perfect sock!

At Sock Summit, I took Kate Atherley's Custom Fit Sock Class.  I used her top-down sock recipe to create this perfect sock.  It's hard to tell, but the yarn is sparkly Christmas yarn.  A little goofy, I know (although you should see the red and green colorway.  I'm going to use that to figure out the custom toe-up recipe!)

Now you may have noticed that the title of this post is My perfect sock (singular) and not socks.  That is because the first sock of the pair is not quite perfect.  The sock on the left is the first one I knit.  I overcompensated and made the leg shorter than I needed to.  I also found out that I prefer a round heel to a Dutch heel.  It fits my foot better and gives me a deeper gusset.  I think this is the best plain vanilla sock I've ever made!  The next step is to now adapt this plain vanilla recipe for more complex patterns - how exciting!

Gauge matters

I spent some time this weekend with my Radian Yoke Pullover to figure out what went wrong.  One word - gauge.

I know the importance of gauge.  I know the importance of swatching.  I did, in fact, swatch for this project AND got gauge.  So what went wrong?  I didn't wash my swatch.  I don't usually wash my swatches.  I will from now on -- Especially when working with cotton.  What started out at 5 1/2 stitches per inch after washing ended up as 5 stitches per inch.  The effects of a 1/2 stitch per inch are dramatic when working on a garment-size number of stitches.  When working on a plus-size garment - the effects can be devastating.  My top grew 5 inches - FIVE INCHES from what may seem a measly 1/2 stitch per inch.

I've decided not to re-knit this - at least not now.  I'm putting the yarn away until next spring to see how I feel about it.  I think the top may end up going to Goodwill.  Haven't decided yet.

In the meantime, I'm knitting socks.

Size does matter

I looked back over my previous posts of this fledgling blog and realized that both of the projects I've posted about were (or are about to) be frogged and re-knit because they came out too large.  That got me thinking.

I've been overweight my entire life - some times less so and some times more so but I've always worried about clothes being too small.  I remember in high school being mortified because I couldn't shop in the juniors department, I had to buy clothes in the women's department.  In college, I remember having to buy a dress for my sorority formal that really wasn't dressy enough, because that's all I could find in a size 14.  I remember in college when I was in marching band, not being able to play in a concert because there weren't enough uniforms in my size.  Always worrying, will it be big enough?

I am always afraid things are going to be too small - so I overcompensate and then things end up too big.  It seems the sweaters of mine that I like the best have either zero or negative ease.  The idea of making something smaller than my measurements seems so wrong, like I'm guaranteeing it will be too small.

What I don't get is... if I do a gauge swatch, get gauge, do the math, and make a sweater that is my bust size, why does it still come out too big? AND Why do two sweaters with the same bust size fit so differently?  To me, these are the great mysteries of the universe.

I know the answers probably have something to do with fiber content, style, and construction - and the interaction of these factors.  I have yet to figure it out, but I'm working on it.  I guess what part of this whole knitting journey is about is figuring out what works for me.

Not what I expected

While I was at Sock Summit, I finished a top I had been working on (Radian Yoke by Wendy Bernard).  I was so excited to wear it that I blocked it in my hotel room.  Unfortunately, I'm not very happy with it.  There are things I like about it.  I love the lace pattern in the yoke.  I like that the front doesn’t ride up because I put in bust darts.  There are also things I don’t like about it.  It doesn’t sit on my shoulders well and I’m constantly pulling the shoulders up as they slide down throughout the day.

  

This weekend, I had a friend take pictures of me wearing it so I could post them here and on Ravelry.  When I saw the pictures I was devastated.  I looked HUGE.  I wear a size 26, so I know I’m not tiny – but this was disturbing.  Was I really this misguided about what I look like?  It’s not like I avoid looking in the mirror.  From watching reality modeling shows on TV, I know that “knowing your angles” is imperative for good photographs – never mind that I have no idea what my angles are, or what that even means.  So maybe the pictures looked so bad because my angles were off.  Needless to say, being confronted with these photos put me in a funk.  

Tonight I spent some more time looking at them.  They weren't quite as horrible as I had originally thought.  One thing I realized was that the top is WAY too big – and it was making me look bigger as a result.  There is at least 4 extra inches of fabric.  In this photo I’m holding in that fabric – it's already starting to look better. 

I am actually contemplating re-doing this top so I can fix what went wrong.  I originally purchased the yarn at a whole bag sale with another project in mind, so I bought two bags.  This top only used 9 skeins, so I have plenty left.  I usually hate re-doing projects, but in this case I think it needs to be done.  As it is now, I will never wear this top again and I think the pattern is too cute and I’ve put in too much time and effort for that to happen.  I need to think about it and figure out what the new plan of attack will be – more on that in my next post.  Stay tuned.

Can a knitting blog exist without photos?

Upon arriving in Portland I took this picture outside the convention center.

Then my camera died – the battery was completely empty.  I thought I had packed the charger, but alas I did not.  As a result, this is my only photo from Sock Summit 2011.  I have now found the charger and my camera is happy – so I can share some photos of knitting with you.  

Here are the socks that I just finished.   

Pattern: Rib Fantastic Socks  

Yarn: Schaeffer Yarn Company Nichole  

Colorway: Eleanore Roosevelt

I am very happy with how they turned out.  They seem to fit well - much better than the first incarnation.  Taking pictures of your own feet is challenging, but I hope you can get a sense of these socks from my pictures.

One of my challenges in knitting socks is that my calf is larger than my ankle, which is larger than my foot circumference.  Standard sock patterns assume all of these measurements are the same.  This is clearly not the case for me.  So - I need to figure out how to get a sock that tapers to the ankle and then reduce the foot size from the calf.  For these socks I did that with a combination of changing needle sizes and adding gusset decreases.  I cast on 66 stitches on US size 2 needles (2.75 mm).  After one pattern repeat I went down to US size 1.5 (2.5 mm).  At the heel flap I switched to US size 1 (2.25 mm) for the rest of the sock.  I added decreases at the gusset so I had 30 stitches on the sole of the foot and 33 on the instep.  Before beginning the toe shaping, I decreased the extra three stitches from the instep.  This seems to have worked.  

After taking Kate Atherley's Custom Fit Socks class at Sock Summit I've learned that changing needle size is not the best way to re-size socks.  It makes sense - changing needle sizes changes the fabric you are making.  For the leg of this sock (being all lace) I don't think it matters all that much - but the stockinette sole is extremely dense.  At least they should be hard wearing.  I can see how changing needle sizes for other stitch patterns or a plain stockinette sock would result in very inconsistent fabric.

I've started swatching for my next socks - putting to use what I learned in Kate's class.  I'm using a self-patterning yarn I've had in the stash for a long time.  Not sure I like it too much.  I figure it's a good yarn to sacrifice to the learning experience.  We'll see.

Process vs. Product

I didn’t get home from the airport until almost midnight so today was my recuperative day.  I find as I get older, I really need a day to recuperate after travelling.  I used to think it was silly to need a vacation after a vacation; but now I view it more as a gradual re-entry into the “real” world.  So I slept in, knit a bit, napped a bit, then knit a bit more.  I finished a pair of socks that I have been working on for a long time and it got me thinking about whether I’m a process knitter or a product knitter. 

During Sock Summit I ran into a lot of people who proudly claimed that they were process knitters, wearing their declaration like a badge of honor - as if actually wanting a pair of socks to wear after knitting for hours and hours was ignoble.  It made me wonder which category applies to me.  Ultimately, I don’t think the process vs. product distinction is either/or, but rather more of a continuum.  I think I’m probably somewhere in the middle.  I enjoy the process and giving myself a challenge - I don’t just knit simple things that I can churn out quickly (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  But, I do eventually want to have something to show (and show off) for all of my efforts.  After reading the story of the socks, you decide.

I started these socks way back in January.  I cast on while flying to a conference for work.  I knit on sock number one on the plane, sitting out by the pool (it was January in Florida and I’m from Wisconsin), and during most of the sessions (I won’t even start on how Muggles react to that – that’s a whole post unto itself).  Finally, on the flight home I finished the first sock.  I was so excited; I put it on then and there.  Now, the whole time I was knitting this sock I had been thinking, “this thing looks awfully big,” but I kept knitting.  I rationalized my continued knitting by reminding myself that I have “generous” calves and while the sock did look huge, I am by no means petite.   I donned the sock.  It felt a little loose.  My brain countered, “well, you are used to socks that are too small and binding, so a sock that actually fits you feels different.”  I wasn’t convinced.  I decided to wear the sock home to see how it behaved.  Well, by the time I got to baggage claim the thing had bagged out and ended up slouched around my ankle.   OK, so it was too big. 

I ripped the whole thing out and started over on smaller needles – knitting them two at a time.  After ripping an entire sock, there was no way I was knitting this pattern a third time.   I then set the socks aside while I worked on a number of other projects.  I picked them up again as plane knitting in May and worked a little further, but when I got home I had a couple of garments I really wanted to finish, so they were set aside.

Then, I decided they would be the socks I would work on during Sock Summit.  They are made out of a really gorgeous hand-painted yarn so I thought they would be perfect to show off.  The downside – it’s hard to chat with people and keep track of the lace pattern.  The pattern itself isn’t challenging, but somehow I managed to have one half of each sock on an odd row (not patterned) and the other half on an even row (patterned).  Could I have fudged it and kept going?  Probably.  Did I?  No.  I spent a good hour sitting outside of Voodoo Donuts with my crochet hook pulling out stitches and laddering them back up.  Then when I got to my class that afternoon, I figured out I had screwed them up even more.  I kept at it.  Now it was personal – this pattern was not going to get the better of me.  Luckily, this class was lecture style so we weren’t working on any other projects and I could keep up the battle with the socks.  Finally, I got it sorted.  Work continued on the socks swimmingly.  On the flights home last night, however, I managed to goof up the toe shaping.  So today I tinked back, re-knit the toes, and finally finished them. 

So – what’s the verdict, process or product?  Actually, it doesn’t really matter.  I have a beautiful pair of socks that fit me.  I enjoyed making them.  I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what went wrong and correcting it.  Now I’m looking forward to starting a new pair of socks with a new challenge.  Process?  Product?  I’ll take both.

Sock Summit has changed my life

I'm sitting in the Portland airport waiting for my flight home from Sock Summit.  This was my first Sock Summit, actually it was my first knitting conference.  It was a fabulous experience.  I could even call it life-changing.

I get very introspective after conferences.  I thought it was just work conferences that brought this out in me (“Am I going in the right direction?  Am I really doing what I want?  What do I think about x, y, or z?”).  But it seems a knitting conference does the same thing.  I think it has to do with being part of something larger than yourself – sharing this intense experience focused in just one area for a brief period of time.

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a member of this knitting community, and what I want out of it.  I have basically been a lurker until now.  I'm on Ravelry and read a number of knitting-related blogs, but rarely comment or venture out of my little bubble.  At Sock Summit I was in awe of the people who were meeting their on-line friends for the first time and the depth of connection that they had.  So - I'm deciding to put myself out there and start a blog.

I thought about what I have to share with others in our knitting world.  I have learned so much this past year about getting knits to fit me and my plus-size body that I thought that might be something people could be interested in.  I will be sharing what I have learned from other, much more talented people than I.  This blog will address how I take what I have learned from these people and apply it to myself.

Will anyone read it?  Probably not.  Do I want people to read it?  Actually, I'm not sure.  Writing about my size and weight is hard - but if it will help other people as I've been helped by what I have learned, I think I can take that risk.

Welcome to the journey.