Tag: colorwork

A Collection of Knitting Books Worth Having

Knitting books you may like to add to your collection.

I have collected a few books about knitting and thought I’d share my knitting book reviews here. (Please know that some links go to the Amazon site, where I am an affiliate. If you end up purchasing through the link, I will get a small royalty which in no way affects the cost to you.)

Do you enjoy knitting Fair Isle, colorwork, and stranded? If so, there is a fun book of charts you must consider buying.

Alice Starmore’s Charts for Color Knitting contains more charts than (I suspect) you could use in a lifetime. I’ve only used a couple of the bigger charts, and a few of the “border” charts. This is a wonderful book for Fair Isle and colorwork knitters who like to choose their own patterns.

Buy the Alice Starmore Book on Amazon (paid link)

The author also goes into depth on how to create your own colorwork sweater. This is over my head at this point in my knitting journey, but would be very helpful for those who would like to design knitwear.

Alice Starmore’s charts for knitting book

I purchased a used copy of the book, in November 2021, and it is in very good condition. Check at Amazon for used books to save money. I’ve had very good luck buying used books of all kinds.

Both colorwork sweater designs below were taken from the book.

Staka colorwork vest in Lopi yarn
Plotulopi Pullover
flower colorwork at bottom of body
V-Neck Cumulus

The Vogue Knitting Book, Revised and Updated Version

The Vogue Knitting book covers all types of thing related to knitting (with some pages about crocheting). From choosing needles and yarn, to finishing projects, and designing your own knitwear. There is a whole section on designing sweaters with knitting design worksheets to copy and use. There are more pages of knitter’s graph paper in the back of the book which can be copied as many times as needed.

I like most things about this book, and bought a used copy to save money. Cons for me are the dark colors used for a few of the sample images in the book. It is more difficult to see the samples. Also the images about how to work stitches can be hard to follow. I’d rather look it up on YouTube. For that reason, I often forget to use this book, but it is full answers to just about every single knitting question you may have.

Vogue Knitting book
My new Vogue Knitting book
Buy the Vogue Knitting book at Amazon (paid link)

The Mosaic Knitting Book

If you have never tried mosaic knitting, you really should. It is very simple to accomplish these colorwork patterns and is done on flat knitting projects.

Here in Florida we had a hurricane hit shortly after I purchased this book. I spent a few days without electricity. I used that down time to knit mosaics from this book!

Just think about a time without access to online things, or electricity to charge the computer and phone. I love to have books around for these reasons. The day may never come in your lifetime, but what if it does?

Mosaic knitting book
Buy the Mosaic Knitting Book at Amazon (paid link)
ball of yarn divider

A Brioche Knitting Book

I admit right off that I can’t knit brioche. Every year or so I give it a try, and fail. The last 1/4 of the book is all patterns! If you already like knitting brioche, this book may be worth purchasing just for the patterns. If, like me, you still need to get the hang of the basics, a video is probably more helpful.

Brioche knitting book.
Buy the Knitting Brioche Book at Amazon (paid link)
balls of yarn graphic

Do you have some favorite knitting books? I’d love to hear about them. I wish I had some of my grandmother’s knitting stuff. I don’t know where it went when she died, but probably to one of her daughters. Do you have patterns, needles or other items that were passed down through the family?

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Autumn Alpine Sweater Size and Measurements

As usual, sweaters I knit by this designer end up long and big. After finishing the colorwork yoke of Autumn Alpine, I am looking at some options as I move forward.

The Autumn Alpine sweater pattern is offered by Caitlin Hunter of Boyland Knitworks. It is knit in a fingering weight yarn and has a floral, colorwork yoke.

Initially I purchased the pattern with plans to knit this one for my daughter. I chose the smaller size 2 for that reason. For some reason, although I do make a gauge swatch always, sweater projects from this designer always come out very big in the end.

I admit right off that I did not do a colorwork swatch for this pattern, only the stockinette stitch, but I did add a few rows of color. From experience, I go up a needle size for colorwork. As I knit this yoke, I kept thinking that it was getting quite long. Now that I am finished (with the yoke) and can measure it, the length to the split for body and sleeves is nearly 11 inches and not 8 as the chart on the schematic page of the pattern. (No measurement of the yoke is mentioned in the actual pattern pages, but I should have looked at that schematic page.)

Knitting Autumn Alpine sweater
autumn Alpine colorwork sweater
knitting colorwork Autumn Alpine pattern
Yoke finished

Am I going to end up with a droopy, oversize sweater once again? My Easy V sweater, by this same designer also came out long and large.

The Dilemma

Here is my problem. Normal stockinette swatched comes out right on target for size. I know that my stranded colorwork will be a bit tighter and the only option is to knit it with a larger needle or chance having it pucker when transitioning to plain stockinette on the finished garment.

A larger needle will also add length and apparently this is what is happening. Therefore, what can be done? I’m not a super experienced knitter when it comes to making my own gauge changes to a pattern…. so….I must go down a sweater size. Fortunately for me, I had begun knitting a smaller size anyway. Ordinarily I would knit a size 3 or 4 for myself, but I am following directions for a size 2. It is the shortest of the yoke charts and still came out very long. 

Purchase: Autumn Alpine Sweater Pattern Page

Stitch Counts Comparison to Other Patterns For Body Width

Now that the body and sleeves have been split, I want to know if there are enough stitches to go around me comfortably. For this, I dug out two sweater patterns that I’ve already used. They are by designer Jennifer Steingass. I compared the stitch counts on the bodies to the stitch count I have for this knit.

My Autumn Alpine body stitch count is 240 (for the size 2). Goldenfern body stitch count is 252, and that sweater is plenty wide on me. Meadow Moon stitch count is 238 and fits me fine. 

All sweaters are knit using a size 4 needle, but I knit various sizes of each pattern. If you notice, the small size 2 of the Autumn Alpine is close in number to the stitch count for Meadow Moon. It stands to reason that this current pattern will be large enough around for me. BUT, I used a different type of yarn.

The Yarn

I used Rauma Finnul yarn for both Steingass patterns. I love Rauma (and I love Jennifer Steingass patterns too). I’d have to say that Rauma yarn is one of my favorite yarns to date. I have lots of yarn yet to try, but both sweaters knit with Rauma came out soft and comfy and great looking.

Sonder Yarn Sunday Morning French press color
Color “French Press”

This time I am knitting with Sonder Yarn company’s 4 ply. I bought it during a big sale and wanted to try it due to the gorgeous colors. This chocolate brown I am using (color way French Press) is pretty, but the yarn is alternating thick and thin, at times becoming very thin.  Also, I’ve already had three knots in my first yarn skein. Even so, it is very pretty, and washes to become nice and soft.

knitting colorwork Autumn Alpine pattern
Yoke finished

My color choices for the yoke are less than wonderful. It will be fine for me, but I would definitely have changed some things. I won’t rip this out, and consider it to be a bit bohemian and unique. I do love the examples (knit by others) where all one color, or close colors, were used for the colorwork.

Considerations

After browsing through the finished knits on the Alpine Autumn projects pages at Ravelry, I see that many sweaters seem oversize when worn. Helpful: **One knitter posted that she split for the sleeves before finishing the yoke patterning. This is a great idea if you want to figure out matching sleeves to yoke patterning.

Finishing Up The Sweater

In the end, I chose to do a corrugated rib on the body. Then I knit short sleeves to make this sweater more of a layering piece. I feel relief at getting this project off the needles. Currently it is drying and then I plan to see how it fits.

sweater knitting
Short sleeve version

Fixing the Neck

I plant to pick up stitches around the bottom of the neck ribbing and then remove the current stitches. It doesn’t work for me.

Layered
Yoke colors
Yoke and Neckline
seed stitch at sides of autumn alpine
My addition of seed stitch at sides to widen the body
autumn alpine sweater
small green yarn

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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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Autumn Alpine Sweater Size and Measurements

As usual, sweaters I knit by this designer end up long and big. After finishing the colorwork yoke of Autumn Alpine, I am looking at some options as I move forward.

Knitting the Goldenfern Sweater Pattern

Knitting the Goldenfern pullover, a Jenn Steingass pattern, in Rauma yarn with pink yarn colorwork at the bottom and on sleeves.

The Goldenfern pullover is a Jenn Steingass knitting pattern design. It is knit using fingering weight yarn and has colorwork at the bottom of the body and end of sleeves.

The yarns I chose were Rauma Garn, in light gray, combined with a gradient pink handspun. The darker, coral pink color is Jamieson & Smith, which I used for the very bottom of sleeves and all bottom ribbing. I chose to add one row of pink at the neck.

Casting On and Needle Sizes

My gauge was off, but in the end the sweater turned out fine. For me: The cast-on at the neck (this is a top-down sweater) was done on a size 3, 16 inch circular. The main body and sleeve knitting was done on a size 4 needle. All colorwork was done using a size 5, although a size 6 is recommended for the body colorwork, and I’m thinking maybe I should have done that. Size 3 needles were used again for the ribbing at the bottom of the body and sleeves.

Goldenfern
Goldenfern yarn used
Goldenfern

Knitting The Sleeves

I picked up the stitches to begin knitting sleeves downward, using a 16 inch circular needle. As the circumference became smaller with decreases, I switched to a 9-inch size needle.

Then I used a size 5 circular and did the pink colorwork down to Row 37. Using the J&S coral pink when the chart said to use a new CC color.

This is when I changed to size 3 DPN needles and did a plain color 1×1 rib for about 7 rows. The bind-off is a normal bind off and not the i-cord suggested in the pattern.

Total sleeve length is 18.5 inches. Pattern suggestion is 18, so I’m close.

Goldenfern sweater knitting
Goldenfern colorwork sleeve
Pretty colorwork on the sleeve
9-inch circular needle knitting
Using a 9-inch circular for the cuff

The Fall of 2022 was not a good one, with two disastrous hurricanes hitting the area. The knitting on the Goldenfern pullover began in September, and alternated with some other knitting I wanted to do. It has been a relaxing escape for me with other stresses, like the hurricane mess, that piled up. The pattern is easy to follow with lots of helpful notes by the designer.

Buy the Goldenfern Pattern

The link above goes to Ravelry, where you will find so many beautiful finished knits that use some truly gorgeous yarn color combinations. Go there to get inspired and knit your own Goldenfern. The designer has an offer to buy 2, get one free. Her patterns are so well written, and she has many beautiful patterns.

Goldenfern pullover sweater hand knit with Rauma in light gray, and pink hand-spun variegated yarn.
Goldenfern
Hand knit sweater “Goldenfern” hanging outside near the tomato plants in February.
February photo

Finished Knitting

January 7th and the sweater is finished! I took some photos before all ends were woven in. Now, for the wash and blocking. But before all that I would say the pullover is a great success.

I’m very bad at keeping track of the amount of yarn I used, so I can’t list it here. I had one ball of the hand-spun and it was plenty for all the colorwork with some left over. I have a small bit of the Rauma left as well, so my calculations worked. I probably used around 1,100 yards of Rauma.

This pattern shows the sweater as being more cropped, which does not work for me. I added a few more inches. Thevlength is perfect at 14 inches from underarm to bottom.

See my other Jenn Steingass sweater “Meadow Moon” here.

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