Category: Knitting

The Easy V Colorwork Sweater Knitting Project Review

Finished knitting the Easy V sweater and these are my thoughts on the knitting project.

Now that I have finished the body on the Easy V sweater, I tried it on. Length is good, but other than that, I am not super happy with this knitting project. The pattern is fine, but I don’t like the style on me. I’m not happy with my yarn choices either.

See a link to the pattern buying page below in the pink block.

Easy V body of sweater is finished so I tried it on for length, which is perfect.

I had trouble getting the neck size cast on right. I’d begun with a green yarn and larger needle. Restarted the sweater using white Lettlopi yarn in a smaller size. This size seemed better.

When it came to using the hand-spun variegated yarn, the colors didn’t really mesh that well, but I was fairly happy with the color work yoke. But, the yarn is quite bulky and makes the fabric thick – even though I went up a needle size to knit that area.

Sometimes after washing and blocking a sweater can look immensely better. I’ve knit so much that I do plan to finish.

Easy V sweater knitting

Maybe the neck will look better after washing and blocking. It is one of the elements of this top that is unique.

Easy V

Pattern directions are very good, and it’s not that I don’t recommend this sweater pattern, but be sure you like the style before choosing it. The colorwork is very easy to do. It is supposed to be similar on the sleeves, but I changed the pattern for the sleeves to one of my own. The colors needed to be divided up a bit for my liking, and I was running low on the variegated yarn.

Easy V sweater body with twisted ribbing at the bottom.

The Sleeves

I substituted my own colorwork pattern on the sleeves. This is not part of the pattern. I debated omitting colorwork on the sleeves, but in the end I changed it up instead. It was an opportunity to use up the yarn and incorporate the white which is on the neck.

I ran out of the blue yarn and substituted two strands of Jamieson and Smith fingering held together.

The ribbing is twisted rib, like the body ribbing. This is also my own doing and not part of the pattern. I like the looks of a twisted rib. To do it, simply knit through the back loop, and purl – around.

Sleeve colorwork
My own choice of colorwork patterning on the sleeve. This is not part of the pattern.
Blue at top is original worsted, blue at bottom near ribbing is tw strands of J&S held double.
Easy V sweater sleeve in colorwork
Sleeve and yoke comparison

At this point, finishing this sweater is a bit of a chore. I’m ready to move on. My yarn selections were bad (except for the brown Lettlopi), with that colored yarn being very bulky. I wish I had not followed the yoke colorwork and left some brown showing.

The more I knit, the more I realize which types of yarn to avoid, and which I like best. This sweater is really not my style, but I’m sure it will be cozy warm for when I need warmth — two days out of the year!

Check out the Easy V pattern page at Ravelry, and be sure to browse color combinations from other knitters.

Have you knit this sweater? What do you think? I’ll be trying mine on soon – in the air conditioned house.

Easy V finished and has been washed and is drying on the boards.

Sweater is dry and here are my photos after trying it on. I’m not too happy with the fit as the neckline is loose and makes the whole sweater sag. I used a size 3 needle to do the neckline, but it really should be tighter. I’m not happy with the outcome.

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Lots of Changes This Year

Writing a blog, sharing photos, and doing research and making links takes time. Lately I don’t think the time spent doing all that is worth enough to continue. I have stopped writing my gardening blog,…

Knitters and Our Many Projects

How many projects do you have on your needles? It is not uncommon to find that fellow knitters have many things going at once.

Landscape Lessons Scarf How to #2

Beginner knitters lesson #2 for knitting the Landscape Lessons scarf deals with purling, stockinette and seed stitch.

This is my second post about knitting a beginner scarf. Read Lesson #1 here. There is no written pattern for it, we are simply practicing knitting and purling in combinations that create interesting designs.

Anyone knitting the scarf is free to knit whichever stitches, for however many rows, as you’d like.

Along the way I will do some basic stitches that would be good for all knitters to know. If you feel willing to try them out, go for it.

We began by casting on 35 stitches with worsted weight yarn. My scarf measures 9 inches across. See Lesson #1.

Please ignore the fact that my yarn colors are changing. You should knit in one color – one skein. I am trying to use up some leftover yarn. I will help you learn to add a new skein, or color, in the next lesson. For now, as a beginner, just worry about learning the stitches.

What We’ve Done So Far

I knit back and forth for four inches. This is called Garter Stitch. Watch the video on the Lesson #1 page for help casting on and knitting back and forth. You should do as many rows as needed to get comfortable with holding the needles and creating the stitches.

You can knit your entire scarf in garter stitch if you want to!

For those who want to learn more, we will now do purl stitches. I’ll include good videos I’ve found to help with each step.

ALSO… don’t worry about making mistakes. The only way to fix a knitting mistake is to “un-knit” or Tink. This is quite difficult when you are first starting out. When I began knitting I simply left my mistakes to become part of the project! In fact, I sometimes still do that! Unless your mistake is horrendous, and you can’t stand it, leave it until you learn to un-knit. You can remove the yarn from the needles and unravel the whole thing is you want to begin again. That is up to you.

How to Purl

Besides knitting, you will want to know the purl stitch. It is very similar to the knit stitch except the yarn and needle come to the front. Your yarn has been coming around the needle from the back when you did your knitting rows. Now the yarn will be in front and your needle will go into the stitch as you see in my photo below. Forget about that strand, it just needs to be in front of your work before you insert the needle.

Here is an excellent purl stitch video.

My photos below show the needle placement to purl, and how the purl stitch will look on your needles. These are known as purl bumps. It’s good to know what stitches look like. Once you can do knits and purls, you are well on your way in the knitting world. These stitches can combine in many ways to create all kinds of designs.

how to purl
Insert the needle to purl
purl stitches on needle
Purl bumps – these are purl stitches

A Little About Knitting Stockinette

Stockinette creates a smooth looking fabric. You can see how your garter stitch section – the beginning of your scarf – is bumpy on both sides. Knitting one row and purling the next will create a more smooth fabric.

You should be able to see the difference. Stockinette is more flat and smooth. In fact, that is how I remember which is which. Think of stockings being smooth on the leg.

My photos below show the garter section, then my change to stockinette and last, the section in my knitting that is the stockinette. Above that, I did the seed stitch. More on that down the page.

garter stitch section of scarf
Garter section
Rows of stockinette stitch
Stockinette
knitting stockinette
Garter & stockinette sections

Making Stockinette Rows on Our Scarf

Because stockinette tends to make a flat knitting project curl, I only did a few rows on my scarf. And I added garter stitch borders to our rows. For this reason, I suggest you only do a few rows of stockinette. This is our practice with making the purl stitch.

Our scarf will not have a “front” and “back” so don’t worry when – which end – you begin your stockinette knitting. After you finish knitting a row, turn the work and you are ready to begin the purl row.

The video link below is what we will be doing for the next few rows on our scarf, except that I have given our scarf a border of knitting only.

The Spruce Crafts page has a good video about doing stockinette.

Knitting the Landscape Lessons Scarf Stockinette Section

Row 1 of stockinette: We will knit three stitches, then begin to purl. Purl across to the last 3 stitches and knit the last three.

Remember to switch your yarn to the front for purling, and back again when you knit. Try to remember to knit those edge stitches at the beginning and end of the rows.

purl to knit
End with three knit stitches

Turn the work. Row 2: You will knit this row, just like you have been doing for the first part of your scarf. The edge stitches will always be knit, so you don’t have to do anything differently on this row… simple knitting across.

Row 3: same as Row 1 – Knit the first three stitches and then purl across to the last three. Knit those last 3.

I only made about five rows, and ended after knitting a purl row.

Now you will begin the next section with the knit side showing, like in my photo on the left below.

Rows of stockinette stitch
#1: Stockinette section
knits and purls
Seed Stitch section: Knits and purls

The Seed Stitch Section

If this all seems to be too much for you, please just knit along however makes you happy. Once you know how to do both the knit and purl stitch, these are just more options for practice. After the stockinette section, you can go back to knitting garter – knit every row. As you progress with your scarf, you may want to give this section a try.

The seed stitch is made by alternating knits and purls. That’s all. If you are interested in trying this, here is how I did my seed stitch section on the scarf.

Seed Stitch Section

Row 1: Knit the first three stitches (this is our border on both sides of the scarf). *Purl 1, knit 1, across the row alternating knits and purls, ending with a purl stitch (if your stitch count is 35 like mine). Knit the last three stitches.

Turn the work and do the same thing as row one. Because we are purling that last stitch on the previous row, it now looks like a knit when we turn the work over. Therefore we begin with the opposite – a purl.

For the seed stitch to work, we knit the stitches that had been purled on the previous row. We also purl the knit stitches. This alternates stitches to create a cool, bumpy look.

knitting seed stitch
Seed Stitch, alternating knits and purls and doing the opposite on the following row.

You really must become familiar with how knits and purls look. If you lose your place, or set your knitting down, knowing which stitch to do next is important. (Also remember your yarn comes off the right hand needle if you start in the middle of a row.)

In my photo below, can you see the purl “bumps” and knit stitches on my needle? I am knitting with a very woolly yarn and if your yarn is smoother, the stitches may stand out even more. If it’s hard to tell, pull down on the fabric to make those bumps and V’s clearer.

If you lose your place on the seed stitch section, look at what is on your needle. It will tell you which stitch to make next. If you mess up, fix it on the next row.

If you hate it, go back to knitting every row until you feel better. Knitting should be calming and not stressful. If you do a lot of knitting your hand may hurt, so don’t overdo it. Remember that every stitch you make gets you closer to becoming a great knitter!

knits and purls
Knits and purls

I hope my tutorial makes sense to a beginner knitter. Once we are familiar with all of this, it’s tough to remember exactly how it was when beginning to knit.

I am by no means an expert. There are many things I still have not accomplished in knitting. It takes practice, and this scarf is a very good way to get the practice you need with basic stitches.

One of my very first scarves was knit all in seed stitch. It was my favorite scarf when I lived in the north.

Landscape Lessons Scarf: Lessons by Number

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Teaching a Friend How to Knit a Scarf, Landscape Lesson #1

Want to learn to knit? Come learn how to knit a scarf with us from beginning to end. A good friend wants to learn to knit but she lives far away, so I’m writing her lessons on my blog! Are you a beginner knitter? Come join us for the fun.

A scarf is a great beginner pattern when learning how to knit. It’s what I knit the most, before graduating to knitting hats. A long, straight (knitting back and forth) project that should give the beginner lots of practice with knits and purls. And you just may have a beautiful and unique item to wear around your neck next winter.

I’ve decided to knit my own scarf as I show a beginner how to start. I live in Florida and my friend lives in New York. So she will be learning online. I have learned many things about knitting from YouTube, so I’ll include some favorite YouTube knitting tutorials.

Yarn and Needles

My friend had some very good and basic questions such as, what needles should I use and what kind of yarn? Obviously you need both of those things!

First buy some yarn, and look at the yarn band info. It should say what size needle is needed to knit with this yarn. The weight, or thickness, of the yarn will determine the size (thickness) of the needles. In the example skeins below, knitting needle size suggestion is US 1-3 (needle size can also be in mm). This is a thin yarn called fingering, so it needs a small needle. 

I think a beginner knitter should buy a worsted weight. It is a mid-thickness and usually requires a size 6-8 needle size, but read the label on your yarn choice.

Hot Shot Toes mini skeins of yarn
Miss Babs mini skeins of sock yarn

What is a circular needle?

Knitting can be done with either straight needles or circular. Circular needles allow the knitter to join their knitting and knit in the round. This is something you can’t do with straight needles. Think of a hat, cowl, or sweater that is circular. But this type of needle can also be used for plain old knitting – flat, like a scarf. Pretend the needles are not joined by a cable. Or, use a pair of normal, straight needles if it makes you feel better.

Read more about buying needles on my previous post.

What I Am Using To Knit My Landscape Lessons Scarf

I am naming this scarf so it will be easier to find and it will be “Landscape Lessons” because I plan to show you some very basic knit and purl combinations along the way. It’s all about practice and deciding which combinations you favor.

If you live near a yarn store, or craft store, go there and pick out some yarn you like. Otherwise, I can suggest Wool and Company, an online site that ships yarn for free – no minimum purchase required.

I am using Lykke brand wooden circular needles with Lettlopi wool yarn.

knitting with wool on circular needle
Size 8 circular needles and wool yarn

Some yarn skeins will need to be wound before using. If your skein is twisted – like the Miss Baby yarn in my photo above, it will have to be wound. Skeins, like the Lettlopi above, do not need winding.

Cast On

Once you have your yarn and needles, you will cast on. I have written a whole page about various cast on methods, but beginners can use the very simplest.

The video below is excellent, except that I would not suggest bulky yarn. Big needles and bulky yarn can make your hands tired after a while. You can do this same thing with worsted weight yarn and see the stitches fine.

In the video below, she shows how to make the slip knot, begin casting on, knitting back and forth, and binding off! Who needs me? Haha… She also knits right handed, and “throws” the yarn. This is exactly how I knit. (Some people knit continental, which is different, and I’m not getting into right now.)

Well, I do have one suggestion. When she casts on, she is putting her right-hand needle between the two strands and is using only one. This is also how you do the knit stitch – The right needle goes between the two on the needle (photo 2 below).

However, you can also put your needle under BOTH strands for the cast on (photo 1 below). Do the cast on the same way, just stick the needle right under the entire stitch. Either way will still make a nice cast on. Going under both strands makes a sturdier cast on, or something. I forget. Don’t do that while knitting… do it only for the cast on row.

casting on
Casting on under both strands
casting on in knitting
Casting on using one strand

This is a great video, but don’t do the cast off… if you want to knit a scarf, we must continue knitting. I have some changes in store, just in case you want to branch out and try something new along the way.

For my Landscape Lessons Scarf you will cast on, and knit back and forth for as many rows as you like. This will be one end of your scarf. By knitting back and forth, it will help you get a feel for the basic knit stitch.

A light color yarn makes stitches easier to see the stitches!

Do as the woman does in the video above and cast on your stitches. This will be the width of your scarf. If you are using worsted weight yarn with size 7 or 8 needles, cast on 35 stitches. This should make your scarf around 7 inches in width (after I began knitting, my scarf is more like 8.5 inches). Everyone knits differently, so width may be different. You won’t be able to see the actual width until you have knit quite a few rows. Don’t measure the cast on row!

Some people knit English style, and others prefer Continental. Here is a video explaining the difference.

Do as she does in the video and knit back and forth – she is knitting English style.

If you are using circular needles, do the exact same thing as she does using straight needles. Turn the work, and begin knitting again. Forget the cord is there attaching your needles.

The reason I suggest buying circular needles is that they can be used for more things later on if you find you really love knitting. I rarely ever use straight needles for anything these days.

Read This – a Helpful Hint

Let’s say you have to set your knitting down and you just plop it on the table, or into the basket. When you come back to continue knitting you must know where to begin.

I’ve made this mistake back when I began knitting. It’s easy to pick up the work and begin knitting in the wrong direction, unless you know this:

Your yarn strand must always be coming off the right-hand needle. Unless you are beginning a new row. If that’s the case, it will hang from the end of the needle where you need to begin knitting.

Don’t just pick up the project and flip the yarn to the back and begin knitting. Photo on the left shows the yarn in the wrong place. Turn the work around so that the yarn is coming off the right hand needle. Then begin.

knitting helpful hints
Yarn in wrong position
yarn knitting tips, yarn placement
To begin knitting, yarn must be coming from right hand needle.

This page should provide the start to an easy, beginner knitting project. Let me know how you do, or if there are question. When these skills are mastered, please proceed to Lesson #2.

Go On to Lesson #2

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A Simple Sweater With Stripes

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Alternatives to the Hidden Gems Shawl Pattern

Hidden Gems was a popular free shawl knitting pattern. Since it is no longer available, I have found some similar patterns for knitters. Check out the list and let me know if you choose one.

Finishing Up the Arco Iris Sweater Pattern

All notes on knitting the Arco Iris sweater have been completed. The sweater is very nice, love the yarn, and end product, but had a few struggles along the way with this pattern.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been knitting like mad to finish up the body of the Arco Iris sweater pattern by Joji Locatelli.

Instead of dreading that k1, p1round and round hem, this hem has an interesting cable and rib alternating pattern. It’s a nice way to finish up after long rows of plain old knitting. And it looks pretty cute too!

I was already familiar with this ribbing because I jumped ahead and knit the v-neck before finishing the body.

I knit sweater size 4 (with mods), using main needle size 6, hem needle size 4.

knitting
sweater knitting
Arco Iris sweater knitting

My selfies are not great, but I’d say that photo #3 is the way to wear this top. It’s sort of a blouson effect.

Notes about the body and ribbing

I followed the advice of one test knitter who added 12 extra stitches under the arms. This widened the bust and body area (I did not reduce those stitches until near the bottom) which seemed to be a good idea once I tried it on.

I would not have reduced at all except that I needed an exact number of stitches (a 18 stitch repeat) for that hem. *Hint: Place markers between the 18 stitch repeat just in case you lose your place.

Knitting The Sleeves

I have two balls of yarn left to knit the 3/4 sleeves of this sweater. This is when a scale can come in handy. I don’t know yet if I will alternate skeins, but knowing the amount of yarn (by weighing) will be helpful if it seems I might run short.

Notes on Knitting the Sleeves

While knitting the first sleeve of the Arco Iris sweater, I made some mods and will share them here.

I felt that I had to be mindful of yarn use so I only knit to six inches before beginning the ribbing. I would have liked to go about another inch and have the cuff fall just below my elbow, but didn’t dare. It turns out I probably could have done that and had enough yarn.

3/4 sleeve knit with cable cuff
Cable and rib sleeve cuff

I also began with more stitches at the arm pick up. I picked up 8 extra stitches and that gave me 74 total stitches when I began knitting down the sleeve (as opposed to 66 per directions). I reduced stitches on every 5th row, until I got to 63 total. I did alternate balls of yarn.

sleeve underarm

Also, I did not reduce as many stitches as called for while knitting down the sleeve. AND the decrease directions seemed wrong to me. The pattern says to do the SSK first and the K2TOG at the end of the round.

If you follow the designer’s suggestion, this is what it will look like (photo below). I think every sweater I’ve knit has the decreases listed the opposite way. By following the directions, my knitting left a weird bump because on each side the decreases faced outward. On the last decrease I did it the right way with the k2tog first, and the SSK last – and it looks much better!

*Note: Check those decrease directions, you may want to change them.

decreases incorrectly done
Decreases are wrong, I believe.
Comparing both underarm decreases- Left, my way, Right, pattern directions

The ribbing is done much like the body hem and neck, except the repeat is only 9 stitches and not 18. The reason is that the cables will all face the same way on each sleeve cuff. So you must begin the cuff with a stitch count that is a multiple of nine. For the sweater size 4, which I was knitting, the cuff should have 54 stitches. I had 63. I’m glad I did not reduce to 54 because my cuff is perfect.

*FYI: My actual elbow measurement- where the cuff ended up – measures 10 inches around. This cuff feels perfect at 63 stitches, and I’m glad it is not any tighter.

sleeve knit
Arco Iris

Buy the Arco Iris Pattern Here

Pictures of the top once I finished knitting. Washing and blocking to come. The style is not really made for my body type, but I do like the finished sweater. The fabric is quite heavy, so it won’t get worn at all until maybe next December.

Arco Iris sweater done
Arco Iris sweater project
hand knit arco iris pullover

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