August 1, 2024 • 45 mins
Jess starts this episode with letting us know about the Q&A section on our website for listeners to ask questions they may have for us to answer on our episodes. This leads into our topic about sweater construction. Jess brings up seamless sweaters, while Meg brings up comparisons with seamless and seamed sweaters. Drea provides her first cardigan story that ended up with a really heavily cabled sweater. Tina compares her experience with seamed and seamless sweaters. They chat about german short rows, raglan, and more!
Find out more about the podcast as well as our cast Meg, Drea, Tina, and Jess at our website pardonmystash.com. Leave us a comment on your thoughts on our episode blog posts, or through our social media accounts!
This episode was sponsored by Jimmy Beans Wool found at jimmybeanswool.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm Drae. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And Dom Jess. And this is Pardon My Stash.
(00:13):
Welcome to Pardon My Stash, a podcast about knitting the fiber arts and how awesome it is.
Before we get into this week's topic, let's share what we're working on now, Meg. What I'm working
on at this moment in time is a franken sweater. I started this sweater a couple of times. I'm
(00:34):
using our the Critical Hit Dyes Wheel of the Year, some of the colors. I wanted to do a faded sweater,
but I couldn't decide, I couldn't find a pattern that had all of the features that I wanted.
So I'm actually using three different patterns. One for the numbers of the actual construction
of the chest and the body, one for the sleeves and one for the fade. So it doesn't have a pattern,
(01:02):
but it's pretty mindless. I'm enjoying it. No patterns in all patterns. I mean,
no patterns in all patterns. I don't have a pattern I can like name, but I'm just taking from a bunch.
I did finish my random act of kindness shawl that was made with the...
Oh, thank you. That's like two whole projects in like a month. I paused for a second because
I thought I was going to accidentally hit the womp womp. No, that actually went well. The
(01:29):
womp womp should be for all of my lack of progress for the first six months of the year,
but apparently June was the month. But I knitted it out of Tosh DK from Jimmy Beanswool in
the colorway bird is the word. And I was right about the Tosh DK. When I blocked it, it exploded.
(01:50):
It got about twice the size, which for a shawl is awesome. It went from a cute little neck accessory
to I can literally wrap myself in this thing and who doesn't love a bigger shawl and it's cozy.
I think it's going to be like a nice workhorse shawl for the fall. My only
like cautionary tale, I guess. The yarn is great. It blooms like you wouldn't believe. It is super
(02:14):
soft, but if you are going to make a garment out of it, I cannot stress this enough. You need to
swatch. You need to swatch. You need to block swatch. Like, yeah, block swatch and you need to
like, or if you want to live dangerously, you're probably going to want to go down like two sizes
because it did. It just, it blooms awesome. If you love, like you want to do something bigger, like
(02:41):
that shawl grew two sizes with me doing literally nothing but blocking it. But that's not the kind
of surprise you want if you're making a sweater. So just a cautionary tale. Exactly. Exactly.
But the yarn is great. I love the yarn. So, Andrea.
I am working on the French Can Can shawl by Mademoiselle C. I've actually done the entire body,
(03:09):
which is really exciting. It is because I don't think that I've talked about it on the podcast
yet. I don't think that I've posted any photos yet, except for the skeined yarn.
The body knit up really fast. And I'm really enjoying the knit. The border's going to take
forever as they do, but it's cable. So I really enjoy it. That's good. The border goes faster
(03:32):
than you think it's going to go. Trust me. Once you get into it, it's like, you have to do at least
like one section and then you're, you're good. Yeah. No, no, I'm sorry. It looks really nice,
though. I really like these colors that you other. Well, it's that and also like the
yarn is giving really plump cables, which is always nice. The cables are very plump. I love that.
(04:01):
I am using Madeline Tosh.
D.K. in home means Nevada. And I'm also using Madeline Tosh vintage in Rye Bourbon for the border.
And yeah, I recommend this pattern already. I also recommend that pattern. I've made it before.
(04:22):
It's good. All right. You did. I made it for my cousin, Melissa. Yeah. Yeah. Goes by fast. Looks
good. These two colorways together are noise. It's one of those ones where it's it looks a lot
fancier than it is. Say when it's done, we can like display it next to the jellyfish and be like,
oh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm
(04:44):
going to display it next to the jellyfish and be like, two things you can do with this yarn.
It's true. I saw your jellyfish. It's amazing. Thank you. Tina. Well, I went and picked the
easiest thing that I could not think while I'm knitting. So I'm working on my high vis beanie,
(05:08):
which is not out yet. And it's going to be a compliment to my high vis cowl. It's done in
a similar way. And it looks like brioche, but it's not brioche. That way is to keep it thin.
I finished I think I mentioned this, but I actually brought it with me. But I finished my seed dot
(05:29):
in the Tosh Madeline Tosh ASAP. You could take it. It's really squishy. Is this the slouch
version? This is the slouch size six. So it's the large adult because I have a massive head.
It's really, really soft and squishy. Don't put that on. It's going to be massive on you.
(05:50):
You have a much smaller head than me. Hence why she's going to put it on. Amazing.
The nice thing is it's a slouch. So it doesn't matter. Like as long as it has a really nice
slouch, I like it. As long as it doesn't like the brim isn't too big. Yeah, it's fine. It's
actually pretty pretty snug. Well, yeah, it's one. The one thing I do like about the brim
(06:13):
with this yarn in particular, the ASAP yarn is that it's very squishy to the point that it's
stretchy. So I could make a smaller brim and then let it kind of stretch out a bit.
And it fits kind of a lot of different sizes. But did it block big? I did not block it. Oh,
it's not blocked. This is going to get even. Wow. I'm extremely afraid to block that. You should be.
(06:37):
I don't want to block it. Yeah. I have not blocked hats before for that same reason.
I don't think it needs a lot. I don't need to block. No, like not everything needs a block.
It's true. It's already in shape. Yeah, it's already has it's what it needs. I'm good. When
we did the what's it called? Thank you. Oh, the cocoa bean. Yeah. See, you knew I did. You're
(07:01):
just being difficult. I needed a second. OK. I thought a stroke. That was the one that I remember
because I remember you guys finished it. You're like, oh, this this blocks big. And I'm like,
well, I'm not blocking this hat. That's not happening. Mine came out OK, though, because
I knit so tight. You do knit tight. And I don't mine. I have to put in the dryer every month or
(07:23):
so when I'm wearing. Oh, my God. Seriously. It just stretches. Oh, my God. But I blocked mine
and I knit loose like you do. Yeah. I it's a curse, I tell you. But yeah, the seed dot beanie
is active, the upgraded version that has it's made for decay to super bulky. And it also has
(07:48):
extended sizing from essentially newborn to large adult. And it's actively being tested right now.
And I actually think, yeah, some people have finished. So I have. So my testing just for future
reference is extremely casual. I don't give deadlines. I don't make you do anything other
(08:08):
than fill out a feedback form at the end of your net so that I have the information I need to make
adjustments as necessary. You can skip the photos. You can skip the social. You could basically
everything else is optional. So because I don't want to do all that. So I'm not going to make
other people do that. But yeah, there are still some openings and you finish it basically when
(08:35):
you finish it right now. We have a casual, very loose date of August 31st. But it's probably
extended if some of the sizes aren't tested yet. Since there's so many weights and so many sizes,
I just literally can't knit them all. So. But yeah, so. I'm here.
(08:59):
Hooray. Jess?
I am in the final stages of the I am Dragon remix by Alexander Davidoff. And I'm kind of playing
yarn chicken because I'm using the critical hit Dice Rainbow Blast, which is a rainbow gradient.
And when I got to the end of the pattern, I was just getting into yellow. And I want to finish
(09:26):
the rainbow. So I added a whole other scale repeat so I could get to the red. And now I'm in the red
and I'm doing the garter stitch. So you're in the red and you're probably. And I'm in the red.
In every sense of the word. In all senses of the word. And I have about,
I think, seven more rows of the scar stitch to go. And I don't know if I'm going to make it, which.
(09:51):
It's not that dire. You can literally just make another scale.
I could make a mini scale of the red to finish it off. But even if I don't, it actually came
really close. So this was fun. I really like it. It's super cute and rainbowy. And you know how
(10:13):
y'all were like when I brought up a few weeks, a few weeks ago, a few, few episodes ago that you
just whack a bird on something and I buy it. You guys were like laughing because it is funny.
You whack a dragon on something. Yeah. And Jess is going to make it.
It's got dragon scales. And I did the. So my Morgana shawl is actually I am dragon, like the.
(10:36):
Two. Two. That's right. Yeah.
The original one was a bit thicker and this is very similar. It has the I am dragon two had one
bead per scale and this one has three. And she did the construction a little bit different. So
it's like, it's not super different, but I feel like on the backside looks a little cleaner now,
(10:58):
which doesn't really matter to anyone but me because I'm the only one really looking at it,
but it matters. But I, so I really like it and I like the extra beads, which I also had to add
more of because I realized what I wanted to add in a whole other repeat. I needed to add two whole
repeats of scales. So I did have to kind of cut it and string on some more beads and then re do it.
(11:20):
So that was an adventure too, but we're here, we're doing it. We're, we're playing the yarn
chicken. That's not too dire of a yarn chicken, but I'm pretending it is. And why it's the added
stress. Most of us look at yarn chicken and we're like, this is not, I don't want to even look at
this. I'm kind of doing that with these because, and it's giving me anxiety just looking at them.
(11:43):
If I'm determined enough, this will stretch. Also, uh, uh, stress helps people with ADHD.
Yeah. It's like, it's, it's fair. Um, and then once I'm done with this, I, I do have to do those,
the ribbing rows of my vest because that's all that's left. You're so close. Like just do it.
I know. Well, it's, it's the ribbing at the hem. And then I have to pick up the collar,
(12:06):
which is also ribbing. And I'm like, oh, you're literally that meme of like, I fixed a problem
that I've been putting off for six months and three minutes and I will learn nothing from this.
Yeah, no, I know. And then, and then after that, I'm got, I got a Lord of the ring book of,
of patterns. So I'm going to go through that and find something else to do. So that's, those are
my adventures. That's where I'm at. Um, and if people want to see pictures of these projects,
(12:33):
or get more information about part in my stash, be sure to check out our website, part in my stash
dot com for info, picks, patterns, and yarns. And you can also find some of the yarns, especially
the Madeline Tosh's that we were talking about in this episode at a Jimmy beans, wool.com
Um, to get everyone a little bit more involved if they wanted to. And we know that not everybody is
(12:58):
as active on social media platforms. Um, and I know we do post a lot of stuff on our, on our
Instagram, but for those that are as active into the social media site, uh, we did add a, uh,
Q and a section into our webpage in the get involved page. So you can go in there, fill out
the form there. If you have any questions or anything you wanted us to talk about, uh, you can
(13:20):
go to our get involved page, uh, go to our Q and a section, and then you can write in your own
questions, uh, that you would like to be answered. And we will try and go through them and you know,
get to them as we can and, uh, try and cover some things or recover some things we might have
mentioned briefly, but people might want more, uh, more answers to. So we, we thought that would be
(13:42):
a fun way to get, you know, get more out of our community because you guys often have a lot of
cool questions and fun questions. And we like to look into it. And some of them are things we
haven't thought about and it gets us thinking about them. One of the questions that we actually got
before we started our Q and a that, so this one came just through our general contact was from
(14:02):
Bella L. They were wondering if we were ever going to talk about sweater and cardigan constructions.
And I feel like that was something we may have touched very briefly on in the past, but it was
something that, that got us all thinking about, you know, what we actually do look at when we're
looking at our, our constructions or on our pattern, choosings. And I feel like most of us generally
(14:25):
just choose a pattern that we like and have it actually, as far as sweaters and cardigans go,
I don't think any of us have actually written a pattern. I think the closest right now is you,
Meg, who is taking a bunch of patterns and creating your own. Oh, you mean for a sweater,
for a sweater. Yeah. This is not rocket science though. No, but it's not. But yeah. So, so like
(14:49):
looking at it, we, we, we're all sort of like, okay, we don't have like a designer's eye for it
because none of us have done it yet, but I feel like all of us do have things that we look for
when we're looking for patterns or preferred sort of construction aspects that we lean more
towards or avoid in general. For instance, I know I, it's all the ones that I have done thus far
(15:16):
are seamless. I've done seamless sweaters and mainly because I know that sewing seams is not
my forte. I can't do them. So they look nice usually. So this, the seamless ones are, are the
(15:36):
way I go. So that's the usual, but there, there is one, it's a seam sweater and I can't remember
the name of it. And a lot of people were doing it last year and it looked really cool. And so if I
were ever to do a seemed one, it'd be that one. And I wish I could tell you what it was, but I
don't remember the name to find it. Wow. It was like, I don't know if you find it, I'll put it on
(15:57):
the blog. Okay. I've also only done top down. I think the real like, um, advantage to seamless
is that first off it's, it's generally all, it's all in one piece. Um, if it is about losing pieces,
right? Well, not even that, but it's, that really kind of promotes the uniformity of it.
(16:21):
It's kind of hard to get like a lopsided shoulder when you're knitting it seamlessly in the round.
That's fair. It is easier to make mistakes, I guess, or make things non-conforming when
you're doing two of a kind. I remember reading this like, God, I don't even remember like,
I think like 2005 or something on the yarn harlots blog where she was making a baby sweater in parts
(16:47):
and she did one side with one needle size and picked up the, did the whole other side and a
different needle size. So do yeah. And doing that in pieces. Okay. That's, I mean, that's extreme,
but seamless, you really don't need to worry about that as much because you're knitting it all at
(17:07):
once. And there's also, if you are knitting top down, you can try it on as you go and that is,
is it long enough? Does it fit in the bust? Is it time to start the sleeves? Like invest in one of
them loopy things. If you're going to do that, the barber cables. Yeah, those are great. Um,
but you really can't do that when you're doing it in pieces. I have done exactly one sweater.
(17:29):
It was a cardigan. It was a seamless cardigan. So it was all, the body was all one piece and it
was top down. And I liked that it was top down. I liked that I could gauge where I was going to put
the sleeves. And I liked that it was all in one piece as I was making it. But I don't think that
I would, I don't think that I would do another seamless sweater or cardigan with that many cables
(17:54):
again. I was, I mean, it was beautiful, but that was a lot of cables. It was beautiful. And it was
a lot of cables and it wasn't that I didn't enjoy doing the cables, but when I was done, um, the
sweater was just so heavy. Yeah, it lost all of its shape. Yeah. Um, so I think that the addition of
seams would give it a little bit more structure. So I think that's something that I would try for
(18:18):
my next sweater. Yeah. Seamless isn't going to give you a seamless is great for the color work
or a single color or a pullover. Right. Yeah. Um, well even a cardigan that is like, like if you're
going to stick, um, that's fine, but yeah, you make a really good point that if you're going to do
something, that's going to be like a lot of cables and really heavy, um, you want that extra
(18:41):
reinforcement in the seams. Yeah. It's a good point. I remember I made it so that it would end
at, at about my knee. And I loved that. That's where I wanted it. But after I started wearing
it, it was like on the floor and I ended up, um, I did end up taking it back. That's right. Didn't
you like, I did it and yeah, I frothed off like the bottom third. Oh my God. So much. I know so
(19:10):
much work. And I frothed it so that it would come just to like at my bum. So that when it,
when I wore it and it stretched, it would cover my bum, which is what I wanted at the very least.
Like that's my baseline requirement. I never actually reblocked it when I was done.
(19:31):
And I didn't actually, um, we've been my ends again. So it's technically back in my unfinished file.
You, the way you said that I thought that this was going to be a lot more ominous.
Like the ending was going to be a lot worse. I was like waiting for the catastrophe,
the way you were, you were leading into it. I'm like, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no.
(19:52):
What happened that it's never being worn? It will when the time is right. When the time is right.
Yeah. You finish it. I think, I think I would want to make a different sweater and make it more to
what I actually want. Right. Well, you know what though? It was like, it was a good,
it was a good first sweater. What you like. Yes. And what you don't like more that. Yeah.
(20:18):
Less what I like because I don't think that I found what I like yet, but I definitely know what I
don't like. So I'm going to try again. Eventually. I'm just not ready for that kind of a project.
That's fair. I'm kind of enjoying simple projects. That's fair. I have finished exactly one this year.
Technically it's not done yet because I never blocked it. It doesn't matter. It still gets
(20:42):
a plus. Just like 90% of my projects these days. I didn't block dark academia for a year.
I still haven't blocked the Celtic myths shawl. That's impressive. I keep saying that I'm going
to do it and then I don't. That was early 2022. Stuff like that takes so much time because you
need space and towels and cat protections and. Yeah. I think I'm a little like warded off to
(21:08):
wanting to block anything after the cats like ate a hole. You need a designated. In that shawl.
Like you need a room. I don't really have that right now.
Yeah. That's fair. You'd block at my house. I could. My dogs don't jump up on tables.
I've done seamless and seam sweaters. I've done top and bottom. So top down, bottom up.
(21:36):
You did the bottom up? I did. Which one was that? It was. Did I frog that?
I might have frog. No, it was like a black sweater and I don't have it. And I don't know
if I gave it to somebody, but I feel like it was actually one of the first sweaters I made. And I
just didn't. I don't think I kept that. It's either frog than the bellows of my whatever, but
(22:03):
I definitely done seemed and unseen or seemed and seamless because there was a baby cardigan
that I did that ended up being seen as seem, uh, seemed and I didn't realize that, but I was already
too far in. Now I'm committed. No, no, no going back now. I don't. So it's funny. I knit very
loosely, but I seem very tightly. So I found my seeming to make it difficult to wear, especially
(22:32):
in the armpit for the baby. It didn't matter. And he said it fit her. It fit the baby just fine,
but I'm sure she grew out of it very quickly, um, because the armpit was very tight. Um, so I,
I don't know if I need to look at better techniques and seeming, especially the sleeves.
That was like, you had to, like you did the back, there was two front panels, there was a collar,
(22:55):
and then there was two sleeves and it was all done separately. So it was fun. I liked a couple of
things about that. I'll tell you pros and cons. So the pros were, I got a lot of like feel good
feelings every time I finished a section. Cause like you get that high in stages. That's, that's
(23:15):
fine. And then you're like, yes, now I could do the next piece. You know, it's almost like finishing
multiple projects. Yeah. I like that. The other good part I liked about it is when I would finish
a piece, I could actually measure it and make sure that it looked like the, you know, roughly
the finished measurements. I could block them one at a time. Like it was, it was easier to like
(23:35):
determine if I made a gauge whoopsie way earlier than when I finished the whole sweater.
The negative was the only negative for me was the seeming on the pits. Cause I really don't think
I put those sleeves on right. I think they were just, I just didn't, I think I did it too tight.
So I probably just need to learn a looser seam for armpits. I've done a lot of a few sweet seams
(24:00):
sweater or seamless sweaters. Oh my God. I can't get these words right. I've done a bunch of
seamless and I tend to do those only because they tend to be more popular nowadays. Anyway,
in patterns, I don't see a lot of seem, uh, seemed sweaters patterns. I mean, I don't necessarily
(24:22):
look for them, but even when I'm just like casually looking for patterns, I don't necessarily have to
check off a, I only want seamless sweaters. Cause the majority that show up are seamless.
I hadn't thought about that, but you are right. Yeah. They pretty much are. Like I said, I've
downloaded that baby sweater one and I was like, Oh, it seemed, Oh shoot, time to learn a new skill.
(24:46):
And I definitely did bottom up because I remember I actually preferred bottom up and I'll tell
you why. And it's because as much as with the top down, you can fit it as you go. I still think you
can do that even with a bottom up. And I actually could like put it at my armpit and like determine
if it was long enough torso wise, you know, before I got into the sleeves and stuff,
(25:10):
the negatives, I think for me with seamless is that I think you could make, believe it or not,
an easier mistake with seamless when it comes to the yoke and the shoulders than seemed.
And I'll tell you why, because when I was doing the seemed baby sweater, I would do one piece.
(25:31):
And so I did one sleeve, which included, um, so I did one sleeve. I did a front panel and a back
in the back. So if I had the front panels, I could compare one panel to the other. And if it was off,
then I knew right away this was wrong and I could fix it and adjust it. And I, and I could actually
(25:51):
take it from that one piece rather than taking apart the entire sweater with a seamless,
sometimes you don't even realize that there's something janky going on with it until you put
it on and then you're committed. And then you're like, well, the only thing to do is rip it all out.
That's fair. We're just gonna run this way with it. That's fair. Um, but the benefits, as you
(26:14):
mentioned, as you go, everybody else mentioned with seamless being that it's kind of done as you go.
So if you're someone that just wants to be done once, I think seamless makes more sense. But if
you really like to get that, like, we, I finished something every so often, I think that seemed
actually might be a good option for you. I also think if you're customizing, uh, like the sizing,
(26:37):
like say you, you, the sizes are dumb and they only did like three and you need to obviously
extend it for the rest of the world. Um, and when you're trying to do it, it's actually,
I find it easier to adjust the sizing with the seam than the seamless.
Oh, I bet that would be easier if you're like between sizes too. Yeah. Like if you're a large
(26:59):
in the arms, but that's medium in the bust or something. Yeah. Not my problem, but
no, no, that is a huge problem with, with seemed sweaters is that they're really, especially with
the arms, the shoulders, there's not a lot of our seamless, not seemed, there's not a lot of wiggle
room to customize when they're, when you split for the sleeves and everything, that's all already
(27:22):
decided for you. Yeah. It's a really good point. I feel like, um, it would actually be beneficial
for me to make a seam sweater at some point because I have very large triceps and I tend to
not fit in a lot of shirts that are my size, but they're not my arm size. So, um, it would
be beneficial for me to make those separately so that I could actually size them to my arms
(27:44):
comfortably rather than praying and hoping that the yarn will stretch. I will say there are some,
um, patterns I've noticed, um, and some of the newer patterns that have like optional darts around
the bus. So you can, yeah, you can kind of adjust that a little bit better. Um, so it doesn't change
(28:06):
like where, where like, uh, say the yolk starts and ends and where the sleeves start and ends per se,
but, um, given the dart, you can adjust it right under for that. If, you know, if you're confident
enough to try and figure out the measurement for that dart, but the dart, the dart can also help
with the hem at the bottom. So if you're heavy chested and you're making the sweater and you
(28:31):
put no darts, it actually will rise a bit and it'll be like a high, low on you. If you put in those
darts so that you can account for the chest, you'll actually get more of an even hem. So, uh, if I see
that there's like a dart option, I'm like, Ooh, I'm excited doing that. Um, I haven't figured out how
to like adjust a pattern to just have darts yet because it's, I haven't, I'm just not there.
(28:56):
It is a lot. I'm not there, but designers who are doing it, A plus my friend. Yeah. Yeah. Like applause for you
because, um, yeah, I'm heavy chested and darts are great and they make my hem nice and even.
Kind of going along with that. One of the things I definitely look for when I'm
picking a sweater pattern, um, I'm not interested in a sweater pattern that has no
(29:22):
short rows for the back of the neck. Yeah. I don't like that construction. It's definitely easier to do
because you don't have to do that extra step, but it doesn't lie as nice. You're choking without it.
Right. It doesn't, it doesn't give you that nice, like back collar. Um, so your collar basically
(29:44):
just lies flat and it ends up coming up to the base of your neck. Um, if you don't know what we're
talking about, go grab any t-shirt, any feminine cut t-shirt, because it's so true. Go to a feminine
cut t-shirt and you will see you lay it down and you'll like, if you pull it up so that the seams
(30:05):
are at the top, you'll actually notice that the back is, is a little bit higher than the front.
The front. And then you're going to go, huh, why is that? It's so you don't choke, but don't do that
with a unisex t-shirt because they don't do it. And that's why I was laughing because I thought
that was what you were going to say. I really don't understand. Cause okay, here's the thing.
(30:26):
No, it's frustrating, but I feel like you just, I don't know why a lot of guys stuff doesn't have
that because the way their muscles go, they, they too have a bit of that roundness. We all have it.
Like, so I don't understand, but men, they want to choke their men. They don't need no
considerations to make it comfortable. They don't need to breathe. They don't need to breathe.
(30:51):
Yeah. Okay. That's obviously sarcasm people. Please don't, don't DM me. Don't at me.
No, but it is. And it, it, I remember the first time I, I did make a top down sweater. Um, I was
like, why do I have to do this? This is stupid. I don't want to add like all these rows, but it
(31:11):
feels so nice. Oh my God. It's, it's night and day different. And I will say I've also done bottom
up and top down. My first sweater was accidentally a bottom up for my daughter. Um, and just like you,
I downloaded it. I got all the yarn. I sat down and was like, well crap. Like I was all ready to
(31:31):
cast on for the collar. And I'm like, Oh no. Um, I found, and maybe now, you know, three years later
and four sweaters later, I might feel differently. But for my first sweater, I found that doing short
rows bottom up was way harder than doing them top down. I was like, I, first off, my brain just
(31:53):
exploded when I was trying to follow the directions. German short rows are also really weird. The first
time you look at them too, cause you're like, I can't believe you're actually telling me to do this.
I hate German short rows on the Pearl side. Just throwing that. Yeah. I'm not a fan of those either.
The Pearl said, I'm always like, wait, but doing them top down was a lot easier to wrap my brain
(32:14):
around than doing them bottom up bottom up. I was like, I, I hopefully this looks right. I don't know.
This is kind of a complete left field comment, but with German short rows, I find that the only
way that I can get through the Pearl side is that I do swing your German row round and round.
(32:36):
That is fair. You have to swing it over. So it makes me remember. Oh yeah, this sucks. That's
all I'm going to think about from now on when I do German short rows. I'll be doing the German
short row on the knit side. I'm like, okay, this is great. I love this. Can I do the wrap and twist?
This is awful. I just want to know. This is terrible. You're just swinging your German
(32:58):
short row round. And you may be tempted to just be like, I'm going to skip this and I'm just going,
don't do that. Yeah. Don't do that unless you want an uncomfortable sweater that looks nothing like
the picture. No, the short rows definitely add just that bit of shaping. That's so much more
comfortable. Um, one we haven't talked about that I'm pretty sure everyone has done at this point
(33:20):
is raglan style top down. I'm pretty sure everyone's done it. Your seamless was not
raglan. It wasn't raglan. That was in the round. Guys, I don't know what raglan means. Oh, no,
it wasn't. No, I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you it's not raglan. I'm like,
oh, that's raglan. Excuse me. No, it's not. Your vest is. I'm pretty sure. Is it? Wasn't it? I don't
(33:43):
know. It doesn't have sleeves. I don't know. Yeah. It's where basically you cast on like a cardigan.
They like close from your armpit to the top of your shoulder. Yeah. And you. Yeah. And basically
there are two spots where they're like you do you you do the stitches for the sleeve. Then there's
a spot where you do increases on each side. You do the back increases on each side. Do the other
sleeve. Yeah. I did. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say I'm pretty sure that was the style. Um, I hate
(34:09):
that. Me too. And I have like literally so I have cast on all the lead up was Meg saying I don't.
I don't like it. Like, no, I don't know what it is because I have now cast on two different
sweaters, two different tops in a raglan style. Three. I'm sorry. Three. And two of them are in
(34:30):
bags never to be seen again until I get the guts to yank them out. And this is the third in front
of me that you can see. I tore it out and started over again. Um, I don't know what it is. Um,
um, there are so many good points to the raglan again, like you are, you're shaping it as you go.
(34:51):
You're creating like this creating the sleeves as you go. And I imagine, um, it would be easier
to customize the size, especially of the shoulders when you're doing the raglan style. Um, that being
said, I don't honestly have a good, um, we just stay at straight prejudice against the raglan top
because I don't have a good reason. Um, I cannot concentrate on it. Um, I'm not a fan.
(35:16):
From Megan do not represent those. Nobody else maybe is no Jess is to Jess is to against the,
against the raglan top. Um, but the there, there really is no short rows on the raglan top. Um,
in most cases, I believe, um, because you're just building the increases into the back of the shirt
(35:37):
as you go. So it's very different. I think the raglan hate comes from the fact, okay. I didn't
say hate. Did I say hate? Okay. I just like a very strong, strong, strong dislike, prejudice,
a prejudice, dislike from the raglan top. Um, I think it honestly comes from the fact that there
(35:58):
are a lot more points of failure. So like when you're doing seamless yoke and you're just going
and going and just increasing and increasing and it kind of, it has a consistency to it.
I feel like a raglan is very easy to, did I do an increase after I did that is very, very,
remember, and then you're counting and you're like, Nope, I didn't do the increase. I gotta go back
(36:22):
or you're counting and you like get a different number every time on that part. And you're like,
I don't know if I increased. No. And I mean, honestly, my, my other thing, and this is going
to sound really stupid. Um, so I actually didn't know I did complete one, technically one raglan
sweater. Calliope is a raglan. Um, it is, but the difference with calliope is that you start
(36:45):
in the round, you knit the collar, and then you do raglan increases after you do the collar.
So if you look at the sweater, there's raglan sleeves underneath the round collar. And I didn't
mind that as much. And they were kind of hidden. They are kind of hidden when you look at them.
You don't realize it, but I will say, I really think and try not to at me. I really do not
(37:11):
enjoy purling as much as I enjoy knitting. And when you are knitting the common ordinary run of
the mill raglan. It's because you knit continental. I knit English. No, I said English or continental.
That's why you don't like, I don't like to purl. I've never liked to purl. So, um, I think that
(37:32):
might be it is I don't like knitting back and forth. I really don't. There it is. Well, I liked
mine. You did. And that's fair. Like, that's the thing. There's no wrong. Like, I don't think that
that necessarily is wrong. No, it's just the response. Well, I like it is. It's I don't know.
(38:00):
And I think maybe it's it feels it might be psychological knitting in the round.
Feels faster to me. I also don't love the idea of picking up for the collar.
I'm not a fan. No, that's fine. I'm not a fan of that. Like, I don't like picking up in general,
because I don't like picking things up either. Oh, God. Picking up for the armpit. I hate that
(38:23):
part. Picking up off the ground, which is also terrible, but like picking up. Oh, no. I thought
you were like, you mean picking up stuff off the ground? No, I was saying picking up the armpit.
Yes, Meg. I also don't like bending up. Wait, I didn't say that. That's how my brain, my brain
and I went, Meg, I also agree that that's terrible, but I'm talking about the I was too.
(38:49):
No, I don't like picking up the underarm stitches. I don't like there's like a certain way you have
to do it. You do. You got it's very finicky. I love picking up stitches. I love doing it. So
weird picking up the gusset stitches. Oh, no. Oh, no. That was my jam, especially when you turn
the sock inside out and you get that really nice like line of stuff. Oh, oh. So with that. So with
(39:12):
socks, I didn't mind going up one side, like going up the first side and then knitting across. But
for whatever reason, going down the other side, I always ended up picking up the wrong number of
gusset stitches. And I'm like, all right, whatever. Like, we'll work this one out as we go. I don't
need socks anymore. For the reason depends on the project. See, like I don't normally like
picking up the armpit as well, mainly because there's no real good way to pick it up where it's
(39:36):
like, yeah, well, well, where you're not honestly, the best way to do is to kind of pick up two
stitches next to each other and knit them together as one. You get a tighter armpit, but
then you have to do it twice in the same way for it to be even. And you know, there's a risk. So I
don't like that. But I've done a lot of shawls where it's like, you started off like, no,
(39:59):
like knitting up and then you pick up the side for the border. And that's always kind of fun.
God, no, I love that. I love that cast on. I'm doing that right now. That's the tab cast on.
I love that. That's fun. That's like, okay, like this is interesting. Oh yeah. The gusset looks
like this on the inside. I'm excited. You just got, yeah, I know. So when it's like stuff like
(40:26):
that, I'm like, yeah, because if you do it right, it does. It's like chef's kiss. You're like, oh,
look at that. That's nice. But yeah, no, when you're, when you're doing the armpit or like
sometimes the top of the sleeve just because of the way it's done. And it's like, there's no good
way to pick this up without making a seam, which is supposed to be there, but I don't like it.
And that's annoying. If you don't relate to any of this commentary about weird things,
(40:49):
we like, you haven't been knitting or crocheting long enough. Trust me. Once you get to a certain
day, you'll be like, Oh, you'd be like, Oh my God, ribbing. Okay. I look at it the same way as
becoming an adult and being real excited about that new vacuum cleaner you just bought or the
new set of pots and pans. I just got a mattress back vacuum and it is changed my life. Yeah.
(41:15):
It's adult thing. Yeah. We just got like a couch vacuum that we have to try. So it has a UV ray on
it. And it like, no, but like I use it on my mattress, but I also use it on the dog beds and it
works. It cleans up those beds. So good. But that's that no. And I think there is something to be said
too, for like, I don't know, like a couple of years ago, I was very much like everything that I do. I
(41:36):
want to learn a technique and I want to, I want to have all these things in my arsenal. And I
understand how to make a raglan sweater. I have found, I don't enjoy it. And I think that knowing
what you like and doing what you like is more important than arbitrarily checking off things
(41:57):
on a list to say, I've done this. I'm good at this. I think it is fair to try something. Yeah.
I think it's fair to try something and say, this isn't my cup of tea. I'm going to do it
a different way. This is supposed to be fun. Where's the fun in like doing like, oh, well,
(42:18):
I have to do a sweater because you know, when I do a sweater, that makes me a knitter. You know
what I mean? Like it goes back into that kind of mentality. Right. And I think it's fair to say,
like, I would love to try this and who knows, you may love it. You may try it and love it,
but I think it is also fair to be like, I don't think not finishing a certain type of project
(42:39):
of project makes you any less skilled or any less of a knitter or any of that. Like,
I think it's fair to say, you know what, like I've tried it. I don't like it. It's not my thing. Yeah.
I mean, I used to knit socks all the time. I don't enjoy it. I'm not going to knit socks just to be
like, well, I'm not a complete knitter unless I'm turning out a pair of socks every year. Like
(43:03):
that's silly. Guys, I think my next project is going to be socks. You haven't done socks in
so long, man. Like you really should. And now I'm thinking about those gussets.
Guys, I need another color. It's really getting me right now. They're pour on the burn there.
I feel like I go through seven stages of grief with shawls. Like I get like, yeah, this will be,
(43:24):
this will be fine. This will go quick. This will be fine. Oh no, I'm in the middle and this will
never end. And then I get like close to the end. Then I'm like, Ooh, Ooh, I'm almost done. I swear
to God. And then you get to the border and you're like, wow, this is literally like picking up
toothpicks with, and then you get to the euphoria of finishing. You block it and it's sitting there.
(43:48):
And then like, you get like, you know how they talk about like when you give birth, you get amnesia
and then you want another child. Yeah. It's just like that. I get amnesia and suddenly I want
another shawl. Yeah. For all the shawls you wear. I do. No, I've made a lot. It's just about creating
art at this time. It's just about the art. It's just a weird process. I thought the same thing
(44:08):
because I don't wear a lot of my stuff and I'm like, why am I doing this? And I'm like, for the
sheer creation of it, like I may never wear these things. It's okay. See, I make a lot of shawls,
but I wear them at work. Yeah. I would, I actually am thinking about wearing shawls to work this year
and I'm waiting for the reaction. The best can be great. They're going to call me like Baba Yaga or
(44:29):
something like that. Yeah. Well, you work with teenagers. I do. Meanwhile, I work with lawyers
and they all go, Oh, that's so nice. Right. See there's the trade off.
And that's all the time we have for this episode for additional content and opportunities to
connect with the cast. Be sure to check out our website at pardon my stash.com and remember to
(44:50):
tune in next time for more tips, nips and wits at pardon my stash.
I'm Drae. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And Dom Jess. And this is Pardon My Stash.
(00:13):
Welcome to Pardon My Stash, a podcast about knitting the fiber arts and how awesome it is.
Before we get into this week's topic, let's share what we're working on now, Meg. What I'm working
on at this moment in time is a franken sweater. I started this sweater a couple of times. I'm
(00:34):
using our the Critical Hit Dyes Wheel of the Year, some of the colors. I wanted to do a faded sweater,
but I couldn't decide, I couldn't find a pattern that had all of the features that I wanted.
So I'm actually using three different patterns. One for the numbers of the actual construction
of the chest and the body, one for the sleeves and one for the fade. So it doesn't have a pattern,
(01:02):
but it's pretty mindless. I'm enjoying it. No patterns in all patterns. I mean,
no patterns in all patterns. I don't have a pattern I can like name, but I'm just taking from a bunch.
I did finish my random act of kindness shawl that was made with the...
Oh, thank you. That's like two whole projects in like a month. I paused for a second because
I thought I was going to accidentally hit the womp womp. No, that actually went well. The
(01:29):
womp womp should be for all of my lack of progress for the first six months of the year,
but apparently June was the month. But I knitted it out of Tosh DK from Jimmy Beanswool in
the colorway bird is the word. And I was right about the Tosh DK. When I blocked it, it exploded.
(01:50):
It got about twice the size, which for a shawl is awesome. It went from a cute little neck accessory
to I can literally wrap myself in this thing and who doesn't love a bigger shawl and it's cozy.
I think it's going to be like a nice workhorse shawl for the fall. My only
like cautionary tale, I guess. The yarn is great. It blooms like you wouldn't believe. It is super
(02:14):
soft, but if you are going to make a garment out of it, I cannot stress this enough. You need to
swatch. You need to swatch. You need to block swatch. Like, yeah, block swatch and you need to
like, or if you want to live dangerously, you're probably going to want to go down like two sizes
because it did. It just, it blooms awesome. If you love, like you want to do something bigger, like
(02:41):
that shawl grew two sizes with me doing literally nothing but blocking it. But that's not the kind
of surprise you want if you're making a sweater. So just a cautionary tale. Exactly. Exactly.
But the yarn is great. I love the yarn. So, Andrea.
I am working on the French Can Can shawl by Mademoiselle C. I've actually done the entire body,
(03:09):
which is really exciting. It is because I don't think that I've talked about it on the podcast
yet. I don't think that I've posted any photos yet, except for the skeined yarn.
The body knit up really fast. And I'm really enjoying the knit. The border's going to take
forever as they do, but it's cable. So I really enjoy it. That's good. The border goes faster
(03:32):
than you think it's going to go. Trust me. Once you get into it, it's like, you have to do at least
like one section and then you're, you're good. Yeah. No, no, I'm sorry. It looks really nice,
though. I really like these colors that you other. Well, it's that and also like the
yarn is giving really plump cables, which is always nice. The cables are very plump. I love that.
(04:01):
I am using Madeline Tosh.
D.K. in home means Nevada. And I'm also using Madeline Tosh vintage in Rye Bourbon for the border.
And yeah, I recommend this pattern already. I also recommend that pattern. I've made it before.
(04:22):
It's good. All right. You did. I made it for my cousin, Melissa. Yeah. Yeah. Goes by fast. Looks
good. These two colorways together are noise. It's one of those ones where it's it looks a lot
fancier than it is. Say when it's done, we can like display it next to the jellyfish and be like,
oh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm
(04:44):
going to display it next to the jellyfish and be like, two things you can do with this yarn.
It's true. I saw your jellyfish. It's amazing. Thank you. Tina. Well, I went and picked the
easiest thing that I could not think while I'm knitting. So I'm working on my high vis beanie,
(05:08):
which is not out yet. And it's going to be a compliment to my high vis cowl. It's done in
a similar way. And it looks like brioche, but it's not brioche. That way is to keep it thin.
I finished I think I mentioned this, but I actually brought it with me. But I finished my seed dot
(05:29):
in the Tosh Madeline Tosh ASAP. You could take it. It's really squishy. Is this the slouch
version? This is the slouch size six. So it's the large adult because I have a massive head.
It's really, really soft and squishy. Don't put that on. It's going to be massive on you.
(05:50):
You have a much smaller head than me. Hence why she's going to put it on. Amazing.
The nice thing is it's a slouch. So it doesn't matter. Like as long as it has a really nice
slouch, I like it. As long as it doesn't like the brim isn't too big. Yeah, it's fine. It's
actually pretty pretty snug. Well, yeah, it's one. The one thing I do like about the brim
(06:13):
with this yarn in particular, the ASAP yarn is that it's very squishy to the point that it's
stretchy. So I could make a smaller brim and then let it kind of stretch out a bit.
And it fits kind of a lot of different sizes. But did it block big? I did not block it. Oh,
it's not blocked. This is going to get even. Wow. I'm extremely afraid to block that. You should be.
(06:37):
I don't want to block it. Yeah. I have not blocked hats before for that same reason.
I don't think it needs a lot. I don't need to block. No, like not everything needs a block.
It's true. It's already in shape. Yeah, it's already has it's what it needs. I'm good. When
we did the what's it called? Thank you. Oh, the cocoa bean. Yeah. See, you knew I did. You're
(07:01):
just being difficult. I needed a second. OK. I thought a stroke. That was the one that I remember
because I remember you guys finished it. You're like, oh, this this blocks big. And I'm like,
well, I'm not blocking this hat. That's not happening. Mine came out OK, though, because
I knit so tight. You do knit tight. And I don't mine. I have to put in the dryer every month or
(07:23):
so when I'm wearing. Oh, my God. Seriously. It just stretches. Oh, my God. But I blocked mine
and I knit loose like you do. Yeah. I it's a curse, I tell you. But yeah, the seed dot beanie
is active, the upgraded version that has it's made for decay to super bulky. And it also has
(07:48):
extended sizing from essentially newborn to large adult. And it's actively being tested right now.
And I actually think, yeah, some people have finished. So I have. So my testing just for future
reference is extremely casual. I don't give deadlines. I don't make you do anything other
(08:08):
than fill out a feedback form at the end of your net so that I have the information I need to make
adjustments as necessary. You can skip the photos. You can skip the social. You could basically
everything else is optional. So because I don't want to do all that. So I'm not going to make
other people do that. But yeah, there are still some openings and you finish it basically when
(08:35):
you finish it right now. We have a casual, very loose date of August 31st. But it's probably
extended if some of the sizes aren't tested yet. Since there's so many weights and so many sizes,
I just literally can't knit them all. So. But yeah, so. I'm here.
(08:59):
Hooray. Jess?
I am in the final stages of the I am Dragon remix by Alexander Davidoff. And I'm kind of playing
yarn chicken because I'm using the critical hit Dice Rainbow Blast, which is a rainbow gradient.
And when I got to the end of the pattern, I was just getting into yellow. And I want to finish
(09:26):
the rainbow. So I added a whole other scale repeat so I could get to the red. And now I'm in the red
and I'm doing the garter stitch. So you're in the red and you're probably. And I'm in the red.
In every sense of the word. In all senses of the word. And I have about,
I think, seven more rows of the scar stitch to go. And I don't know if I'm going to make it, which.
(09:51):
It's not that dire. You can literally just make another scale.
I could make a mini scale of the red to finish it off. But even if I don't, it actually came
really close. So this was fun. I really like it. It's super cute and rainbowy. And you know how
(10:13):
y'all were like when I brought up a few weeks, a few weeks ago, a few, few episodes ago that you
just whack a bird on something and I buy it. You guys were like laughing because it is funny.
You whack a dragon on something. Yeah. And Jess is going to make it.
It's got dragon scales. And I did the. So my Morgana shawl is actually I am dragon, like the.
(10:36):
Two. Two. That's right. Yeah.
The original one was a bit thicker and this is very similar. It has the I am dragon two had one
bead per scale and this one has three. And she did the construction a little bit different. So
it's like, it's not super different, but I feel like on the backside looks a little cleaner now,
(10:58):
which doesn't really matter to anyone but me because I'm the only one really looking at it,
but it matters. But I, so I really like it and I like the extra beads, which I also had to add
more of because I realized what I wanted to add in a whole other repeat. I needed to add two whole
repeats of scales. So I did have to kind of cut it and string on some more beads and then re do it.
(11:20):
So that was an adventure too, but we're here, we're doing it. We're, we're playing the yarn
chicken. That's not too dire of a yarn chicken, but I'm pretending it is. And why it's the added
stress. Most of us look at yarn chicken and we're like, this is not, I don't want to even look at
this. I'm kind of doing that with these because, and it's giving me anxiety just looking at them.
(11:43):
If I'm determined enough, this will stretch. Also, uh, uh, stress helps people with ADHD.
Yeah. It's like, it's, it's fair. Um, and then once I'm done with this, I, I do have to do those,
the ribbing rows of my vest because that's all that's left. You're so close. Like just do it.
I know. Well, it's, it's the ribbing at the hem. And then I have to pick up the collar,
(12:06):
which is also ribbing. And I'm like, oh, you're literally that meme of like, I fixed a problem
that I've been putting off for six months and three minutes and I will learn nothing from this.
Yeah, no, I know. And then, and then after that, I'm got, I got a Lord of the ring book of,
of patterns. So I'm going to go through that and find something else to do. So that's, those are
my adventures. That's where I'm at. Um, and if people want to see pictures of these projects,
(12:33):
or get more information about part in my stash, be sure to check out our website, part in my stash
dot com for info, picks, patterns, and yarns. And you can also find some of the yarns, especially
the Madeline Tosh's that we were talking about in this episode at a Jimmy beans, wool.com
Um, to get everyone a little bit more involved if they wanted to. And we know that not everybody is
(12:58):
as active on social media platforms. Um, and I know we do post a lot of stuff on our, on our
Instagram, but for those that are as active into the social media site, uh, we did add a, uh,
Q and a section into our webpage in the get involved page. So you can go in there, fill out
the form there. If you have any questions or anything you wanted us to talk about, uh, you can
(13:20):
go to our get involved page, uh, go to our Q and a section, and then you can write in your own
questions, uh, that you would like to be answered. And we will try and go through them and you know,
get to them as we can and, uh, try and cover some things or recover some things we might have
mentioned briefly, but people might want more, uh, more answers to. So we, we thought that would be
(13:42):
a fun way to get, you know, get more out of our community because you guys often have a lot of
cool questions and fun questions. And we like to look into it. And some of them are things we
haven't thought about and it gets us thinking about them. One of the questions that we actually got
before we started our Q and a that, so this one came just through our general contact was from
(14:02):
Bella L. They were wondering if we were ever going to talk about sweater and cardigan constructions.
And I feel like that was something we may have touched very briefly on in the past, but it was
something that, that got us all thinking about, you know, what we actually do look at when we're
looking at our, our constructions or on our pattern, choosings. And I feel like most of us generally
(14:25):
just choose a pattern that we like and have it actually, as far as sweaters and cardigans go,
I don't think any of us have actually written a pattern. I think the closest right now is you,
Meg, who is taking a bunch of patterns and creating your own. Oh, you mean for a sweater,
for a sweater. Yeah. This is not rocket science though. No, but it's not. But yeah. So, so like
(14:49):
looking at it, we, we, we're all sort of like, okay, we don't have like a designer's eye for it
because none of us have done it yet, but I feel like all of us do have things that we look for
when we're looking for patterns or preferred sort of construction aspects that we lean more
towards or avoid in general. For instance, I know I, it's all the ones that I have done thus far
(15:16):
are seamless. I've done seamless sweaters and mainly because I know that sewing seams is not
my forte. I can't do them. So they look nice usually. So this, the seamless ones are, are the
(15:36):
way I go. So that's the usual, but there, there is one, it's a seam sweater and I can't remember
the name of it. And a lot of people were doing it last year and it looked really cool. And so if I
were ever to do a seemed one, it'd be that one. And I wish I could tell you what it was, but I
don't remember the name to find it. Wow. It was like, I don't know if you find it, I'll put it on
(15:57):
the blog. Okay. I've also only done top down. I think the real like, um, advantage to seamless
is that first off it's, it's generally all, it's all in one piece. Um, if it is about losing pieces,
right? Well, not even that, but it's, that really kind of promotes the uniformity of it.
(16:21):
It's kind of hard to get like a lopsided shoulder when you're knitting it seamlessly in the round.
That's fair. It is easier to make mistakes, I guess, or make things non-conforming when
you're doing two of a kind. I remember reading this like, God, I don't even remember like,
I think like 2005 or something on the yarn harlots blog where she was making a baby sweater in parts
(16:47):
and she did one side with one needle size and picked up the, did the whole other side and a
different needle size. So do yeah. And doing that in pieces. Okay. That's, I mean, that's extreme,
but seamless, you really don't need to worry about that as much because you're knitting it all at
(17:07):
once. And there's also, if you are knitting top down, you can try it on as you go and that is,
is it long enough? Does it fit in the bust? Is it time to start the sleeves? Like invest in one of
them loopy things. If you're going to do that, the barber cables. Yeah, those are great. Um,
but you really can't do that when you're doing it in pieces. I have done exactly one sweater.
(17:29):
It was a cardigan. It was a seamless cardigan. So it was all, the body was all one piece and it
was top down. And I liked that it was top down. I liked that I could gauge where I was going to put
the sleeves. And I liked that it was all in one piece as I was making it. But I don't think that
I would, I don't think that I would do another seamless sweater or cardigan with that many cables
(17:54):
again. I was, I mean, it was beautiful, but that was a lot of cables. It was beautiful. And it was
a lot of cables and it wasn't that I didn't enjoy doing the cables, but when I was done, um, the
sweater was just so heavy. Yeah, it lost all of its shape. Yeah. Um, so I think that the addition of
seams would give it a little bit more structure. So I think that's something that I would try for
(18:18):
my next sweater. Yeah. Seamless isn't going to give you a seamless is great for the color work
or a single color or a pullover. Right. Yeah. Um, well even a cardigan that is like, like if you're
going to stick, um, that's fine, but yeah, you make a really good point that if you're going to do
something, that's going to be like a lot of cables and really heavy, um, you want that extra
(18:41):
reinforcement in the seams. Yeah. It's a good point. I remember I made it so that it would end
at, at about my knee. And I loved that. That's where I wanted it. But after I started wearing
it, it was like on the floor and I ended up, um, I did end up taking it back. That's right. Didn't
you like, I did it and yeah, I frothed off like the bottom third. Oh my God. So much. I know so
(19:10):
much work. And I frothed it so that it would come just to like at my bum. So that when it,
when I wore it and it stretched, it would cover my bum, which is what I wanted at the very least.
Like that's my baseline requirement. I never actually reblocked it when I was done.
(19:31):
And I didn't actually, um, we've been my ends again. So it's technically back in my unfinished file.
You, the way you said that I thought that this was going to be a lot more ominous.
Like the ending was going to be a lot worse. I was like waiting for the catastrophe,
the way you were, you were leading into it. I'm like, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no.
(19:52):
What happened that it's never being worn? It will when the time is right. When the time is right.
Yeah. You finish it. I think, I think I would want to make a different sweater and make it more to
what I actually want. Right. Well, you know what though? It was like, it was a good,
it was a good first sweater. What you like. Yes. And what you don't like more that. Yeah.
(20:18):
Less what I like because I don't think that I found what I like yet, but I definitely know what I
don't like. So I'm going to try again. Eventually. I'm just not ready for that kind of a project.
That's fair. I'm kind of enjoying simple projects. That's fair. I have finished exactly one this year.
Technically it's not done yet because I never blocked it. It doesn't matter. It still gets
(20:42):
a plus. Just like 90% of my projects these days. I didn't block dark academia for a year.
I still haven't blocked the Celtic myths shawl. That's impressive. I keep saying that I'm going
to do it and then I don't. That was early 2022. Stuff like that takes so much time because you
need space and towels and cat protections and. Yeah. I think I'm a little like warded off to
(21:08):
wanting to block anything after the cats like ate a hole. You need a designated. In that shawl.
Like you need a room. I don't really have that right now.
Yeah. That's fair. You'd block at my house. I could. My dogs don't jump up on tables.
I've done seamless and seam sweaters. I've done top and bottom. So top down, bottom up.
(21:36):
You did the bottom up? I did. Which one was that? It was. Did I frog that?
I might have frog. No, it was like a black sweater and I don't have it. And I don't know
if I gave it to somebody, but I feel like it was actually one of the first sweaters I made. And I
just didn't. I don't think I kept that. It's either frog than the bellows of my whatever, but
(22:03):
I definitely done seemed and unseen or seemed and seamless because there was a baby cardigan
that I did that ended up being seen as seem, uh, seemed and I didn't realize that, but I was already
too far in. Now I'm committed. No, no, no going back now. I don't. So it's funny. I knit very
loosely, but I seem very tightly. So I found my seeming to make it difficult to wear, especially
(22:32):
in the armpit for the baby. It didn't matter. And he said it fit her. It fit the baby just fine,
but I'm sure she grew out of it very quickly, um, because the armpit was very tight. Um, so I,
I don't know if I need to look at better techniques and seeming, especially the sleeves.
That was like, you had to, like you did the back, there was two front panels, there was a collar,
(22:55):
and then there was two sleeves and it was all done separately. So it was fun. I liked a couple of
things about that. I'll tell you pros and cons. So the pros were, I got a lot of like feel good
feelings every time I finished a section. Cause like you get that high in stages. That's, that's
(23:15):
fine. And then you're like, yes, now I could do the next piece. You know, it's almost like finishing
multiple projects. Yeah. I like that. The other good part I liked about it is when I would finish
a piece, I could actually measure it and make sure that it looked like the, you know, roughly
the finished measurements. I could block them one at a time. Like it was, it was easier to like
(23:35):
determine if I made a gauge whoopsie way earlier than when I finished the whole sweater.
The negative was the only negative for me was the seeming on the pits. Cause I really don't think
I put those sleeves on right. I think they were just, I just didn't, I think I did it too tight.
So I probably just need to learn a looser seam for armpits. I've done a lot of a few sweet seams
(24:00):
sweater or seamless sweaters. Oh my God. I can't get these words right. I've done a bunch of
seamless and I tend to do those only because they tend to be more popular nowadays. Anyway,
in patterns, I don't see a lot of seem, uh, seemed sweaters patterns. I mean, I don't necessarily
(24:22):
look for them, but even when I'm just like casually looking for patterns, I don't necessarily have to
check off a, I only want seamless sweaters. Cause the majority that show up are seamless.
I hadn't thought about that, but you are right. Yeah. They pretty much are. Like I said, I've
downloaded that baby sweater one and I was like, Oh, it seemed, Oh shoot, time to learn a new skill.
(24:46):
And I definitely did bottom up because I remember I actually preferred bottom up and I'll tell
you why. And it's because as much as with the top down, you can fit it as you go. I still think you
can do that even with a bottom up. And I actually could like put it at my armpit and like determine
if it was long enough torso wise, you know, before I got into the sleeves and stuff,
(25:10):
the negatives, I think for me with seamless is that I think you could make, believe it or not,
an easier mistake with seamless when it comes to the yoke and the shoulders than seemed.
And I'll tell you why, because when I was doing the seemed baby sweater, I would do one piece.
(25:31):
And so I did one sleeve, which included, um, so I did one sleeve. I did a front panel and a back
in the back. So if I had the front panels, I could compare one panel to the other. And if it was off,
then I knew right away this was wrong and I could fix it and adjust it. And I, and I could actually
(25:51):
take it from that one piece rather than taking apart the entire sweater with a seamless,
sometimes you don't even realize that there's something janky going on with it until you put
it on and then you're committed. And then you're like, well, the only thing to do is rip it all out.
That's fair. We're just gonna run this way with it. That's fair. Um, but the benefits, as you
(26:14):
mentioned, as you go, everybody else mentioned with seamless being that it's kind of done as you go.
So if you're someone that just wants to be done once, I think seamless makes more sense. But if
you really like to get that, like, we, I finished something every so often, I think that seemed
actually might be a good option for you. I also think if you're customizing, uh, like the sizing,
(26:37):
like say you, you, the sizes are dumb and they only did like three and you need to obviously
extend it for the rest of the world. Um, and when you're trying to do it, it's actually,
I find it easier to adjust the sizing with the seam than the seamless.
Oh, I bet that would be easier if you're like between sizes too. Yeah. Like if you're a large
(26:59):
in the arms, but that's medium in the bust or something. Yeah. Not my problem, but
no, no, that is a huge problem with, with seemed sweaters is that they're really, especially with
the arms, the shoulders, there's not a lot of our seamless, not seemed, there's not a lot of wiggle
room to customize when they're, when you split for the sleeves and everything, that's all already
(27:22):
decided for you. Yeah. It's a really good point. I feel like, um, it would actually be beneficial
for me to make a seam sweater at some point because I have very large triceps and I tend to
not fit in a lot of shirts that are my size, but they're not my arm size. So, um, it would
be beneficial for me to make those separately so that I could actually size them to my arms
(27:44):
comfortably rather than praying and hoping that the yarn will stretch. I will say there are some,
um, patterns I've noticed, um, and some of the newer patterns that have like optional darts around
the bus. So you can, yeah, you can kind of adjust that a little bit better. Um, so it doesn't change
(28:06):
like where, where like, uh, say the yolk starts and ends and where the sleeves start and ends per se,
but, um, given the dart, you can adjust it right under for that. If, you know, if you're confident
enough to try and figure out the measurement for that dart, but the dart, the dart can also help
with the hem at the bottom. So if you're heavy chested and you're making the sweater and you
(28:31):
put no darts, it actually will rise a bit and it'll be like a high, low on you. If you put in those
darts so that you can account for the chest, you'll actually get more of an even hem. So, uh, if I see
that there's like a dart option, I'm like, Ooh, I'm excited doing that. Um, I haven't figured out how
to like adjust a pattern to just have darts yet because it's, I haven't, I'm just not there.
(28:56):
It is a lot. I'm not there, but designers who are doing it, A plus my friend. Yeah. Yeah. Like applause for you
because, um, yeah, I'm heavy chested and darts are great and they make my hem nice and even.
Kind of going along with that. One of the things I definitely look for when I'm
picking a sweater pattern, um, I'm not interested in a sweater pattern that has no
(29:22):
short rows for the back of the neck. Yeah. I don't like that construction. It's definitely easier to do
because you don't have to do that extra step, but it doesn't lie as nice. You're choking without it.
Right. It doesn't, it doesn't give you that nice, like back collar. Um, so your collar basically
(29:44):
just lies flat and it ends up coming up to the base of your neck. Um, if you don't know what we're
talking about, go grab any t-shirt, any feminine cut t-shirt, because it's so true. Go to a feminine
cut t-shirt and you will see you lay it down and you'll like, if you pull it up so that the seams
(30:05):
are at the top, you'll actually notice that the back is, is a little bit higher than the front.
The front. And then you're going to go, huh, why is that? It's so you don't choke, but don't do that
with a unisex t-shirt because they don't do it. And that's why I was laughing because I thought
that was what you were going to say. I really don't understand. Cause okay, here's the thing.
(30:26):
No, it's frustrating, but I feel like you just, I don't know why a lot of guys stuff doesn't have
that because the way their muscles go, they, they too have a bit of that roundness. We all have it.
Like, so I don't understand, but men, they want to choke their men. They don't need no
considerations to make it comfortable. They don't need to breathe. They don't need to breathe.
(30:51):
Yeah. Okay. That's obviously sarcasm people. Please don't, don't DM me. Don't at me.
No, but it is. And it, it, I remember the first time I, I did make a top down sweater. Um, I was
like, why do I have to do this? This is stupid. I don't want to add like all these rows, but it
(31:11):
feels so nice. Oh my God. It's, it's night and day different. And I will say I've also done bottom
up and top down. My first sweater was accidentally a bottom up for my daughter. Um, and just like you,
I downloaded it. I got all the yarn. I sat down and was like, well crap. Like I was all ready to
(31:31):
cast on for the collar. And I'm like, Oh no. Um, I found, and maybe now, you know, three years later
and four sweaters later, I might feel differently. But for my first sweater, I found that doing short
rows bottom up was way harder than doing them top down. I was like, I, first off, my brain just
(31:53):
exploded when I was trying to follow the directions. German short rows are also really weird. The first
time you look at them too, cause you're like, I can't believe you're actually telling me to do this.
I hate German short rows on the Pearl side. Just throwing that. Yeah. I'm not a fan of those either.
The Pearl said, I'm always like, wait, but doing them top down was a lot easier to wrap my brain
(32:14):
around than doing them bottom up bottom up. I was like, I, I hopefully this looks right. I don't know.
This is kind of a complete left field comment, but with German short rows, I find that the only
way that I can get through the Pearl side is that I do swing your German row round and round.
(32:36):
That is fair. You have to swing it over. So it makes me remember. Oh yeah, this sucks. That's
all I'm going to think about from now on when I do German short rows. I'll be doing the German
short row on the knit side. I'm like, okay, this is great. I love this. Can I do the wrap and twist?
This is awful. I just want to know. This is terrible. You're just swinging your German
(32:58):
short row round. And you may be tempted to just be like, I'm going to skip this and I'm just going,
don't do that. Yeah. Don't do that unless you want an uncomfortable sweater that looks nothing like
the picture. No, the short rows definitely add just that bit of shaping. That's so much more
comfortable. Um, one we haven't talked about that I'm pretty sure everyone has done at this point
(33:20):
is raglan style top down. I'm pretty sure everyone's done it. Your seamless was not
raglan. It wasn't raglan. That was in the round. Guys, I don't know what raglan means. Oh, no,
it wasn't. No, I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you it's not raglan. I'm like,
oh, that's raglan. Excuse me. No, it's not. Your vest is. I'm pretty sure. Is it? Wasn't it? I don't
(33:43):
know. It doesn't have sleeves. I don't know. Yeah. It's where basically you cast on like a cardigan.
They like close from your armpit to the top of your shoulder. Yeah. And you. Yeah. And basically
there are two spots where they're like you do you you do the stitches for the sleeve. Then there's
a spot where you do increases on each side. You do the back increases on each side. Do the other
sleeve. Yeah. I did. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say I'm pretty sure that was the style. Um, I hate
(34:09):
that. Me too. And I have like literally so I have cast on all the lead up was Meg saying I don't.
I don't like it. Like, no, I don't know what it is because I have now cast on two different
sweaters, two different tops in a raglan style. Three. I'm sorry. Three. And two of them are in
(34:30):
bags never to be seen again until I get the guts to yank them out. And this is the third in front
of me that you can see. I tore it out and started over again. Um, I don't know what it is. Um,
um, there are so many good points to the raglan again, like you are, you're shaping it as you go.
(34:51):
You're creating like this creating the sleeves as you go. And I imagine, um, it would be easier
to customize the size, especially of the shoulders when you're doing the raglan style. Um, that being
said, I don't honestly have a good, um, we just stay at straight prejudice against the raglan top
because I don't have a good reason. Um, I cannot concentrate on it. Um, I'm not a fan.
(35:16):
From Megan do not represent those. Nobody else maybe is no Jess is to Jess is to against the,
against the raglan top. Um, but the there, there really is no short rows on the raglan top. Um,
in most cases, I believe, um, because you're just building the increases into the back of the shirt
(35:37):
as you go. So it's very different. I think the raglan hate comes from the fact, okay. I didn't
say hate. Did I say hate? Okay. I just like a very strong, strong, strong dislike, prejudice,
a prejudice, dislike from the raglan top. Um, I think it honestly comes from the fact that there
(35:58):
are a lot more points of failure. So like when you're doing seamless yoke and you're just going
and going and just increasing and increasing and it kind of, it has a consistency to it.
I feel like a raglan is very easy to, did I do an increase after I did that is very, very,
remember, and then you're counting and you're like, Nope, I didn't do the increase. I gotta go back
(36:22):
or you're counting and you like get a different number every time on that part. And you're like,
I don't know if I increased. No. And I mean, honestly, my, my other thing, and this is going
to sound really stupid. Um, so I actually didn't know I did complete one, technically one raglan
sweater. Calliope is a raglan. Um, it is, but the difference with calliope is that you start
(36:45):
in the round, you knit the collar, and then you do raglan increases after you do the collar.
So if you look at the sweater, there's raglan sleeves underneath the round collar. And I didn't
mind that as much. And they were kind of hidden. They are kind of hidden when you look at them.
You don't realize it, but I will say, I really think and try not to at me. I really do not
(37:11):
enjoy purling as much as I enjoy knitting. And when you are knitting the common ordinary run of
the mill raglan. It's because you knit continental. I knit English. No, I said English or continental.
That's why you don't like, I don't like to purl. I've never liked to purl. So, um, I think that
(37:32):
might be it is I don't like knitting back and forth. I really don't. There it is. Well, I liked
mine. You did. And that's fair. Like, that's the thing. There's no wrong. Like, I don't think that
that necessarily is wrong. No, it's just the response. Well, I like it is. It's I don't know.
(38:00):
And I think maybe it's it feels it might be psychological knitting in the round.
Feels faster to me. I also don't love the idea of picking up for the collar.
I'm not a fan. No, that's fine. I'm not a fan of that. Like, I don't like picking up in general,
because I don't like picking things up either. Oh, God. Picking up for the armpit. I hate that
(38:23):
part. Picking up off the ground, which is also terrible, but like picking up. Oh, no. I thought
you were like, you mean picking up stuff off the ground? No, I was saying picking up the armpit.
Yes, Meg. I also don't like bending up. Wait, I didn't say that. That's how my brain, my brain
and I went, Meg, I also agree that that's terrible, but I'm talking about the I was too.
(38:49):
No, I don't like picking up the underarm stitches. I don't like there's like a certain way you have
to do it. You do. You got it's very finicky. I love picking up stitches. I love doing it. So
weird picking up the gusset stitches. Oh, no. Oh, no. That was my jam, especially when you turn
the sock inside out and you get that really nice like line of stuff. Oh, oh. So with that. So with
(39:12):
socks, I didn't mind going up one side, like going up the first side and then knitting across. But
for whatever reason, going down the other side, I always ended up picking up the wrong number of
gusset stitches. And I'm like, all right, whatever. Like, we'll work this one out as we go. I don't
need socks anymore. For the reason depends on the project. See, like I don't normally like
picking up the armpit as well, mainly because there's no real good way to pick it up where it's
(39:36):
like, yeah, well, well, where you're not honestly, the best way to do is to kind of pick up two
stitches next to each other and knit them together as one. You get a tighter armpit, but
then you have to do it twice in the same way for it to be even. And you know, there's a risk. So I
don't like that. But I've done a lot of shawls where it's like, you started off like, no,
(39:59):
like knitting up and then you pick up the side for the border. And that's always kind of fun.
God, no, I love that. I love that cast on. I'm doing that right now. That's the tab cast on.
I love that. That's fun. That's like, okay, like this is interesting. Oh yeah. The gusset looks
like this on the inside. I'm excited. You just got, yeah, I know. So when it's like stuff like
(40:26):
that, I'm like, yeah, because if you do it right, it does. It's like chef's kiss. You're like, oh,
look at that. That's nice. But yeah, no, when you're, when you're doing the armpit or like
sometimes the top of the sleeve just because of the way it's done. And it's like, there's no good
way to pick this up without making a seam, which is supposed to be there, but I don't like it.
And that's annoying. If you don't relate to any of this commentary about weird things,
(40:49):
we like, you haven't been knitting or crocheting long enough. Trust me. Once you get to a certain
day, you'll be like, Oh, you'd be like, Oh my God, ribbing. Okay. I look at it the same way as
becoming an adult and being real excited about that new vacuum cleaner you just bought or the
new set of pots and pans. I just got a mattress back vacuum and it is changed my life. Yeah.
(41:15):
It's adult thing. Yeah. We just got like a couch vacuum that we have to try. So it has a UV ray on
it. And it like, no, but like I use it on my mattress, but I also use it on the dog beds and it
works. It cleans up those beds. So good. But that's that no. And I think there is something to be said
too, for like, I don't know, like a couple of years ago, I was very much like everything that I do. I
(41:36):
want to learn a technique and I want to, I want to have all these things in my arsenal. And I
understand how to make a raglan sweater. I have found, I don't enjoy it. And I think that knowing
what you like and doing what you like is more important than arbitrarily checking off things
(41:57):
on a list to say, I've done this. I'm good at this. I think it is fair to try something. Yeah.
I think it's fair to try something and say, this isn't my cup of tea. I'm going to do it
a different way. This is supposed to be fun. Where's the fun in like doing like, oh, well,
(42:18):
I have to do a sweater because you know, when I do a sweater, that makes me a knitter. You know
what I mean? Like it goes back into that kind of mentality. Right. And I think it's fair to say,
like, I would love to try this and who knows, you may love it. You may try it and love it,
but I think it is also fair to be like, I don't think not finishing a certain type of project
(42:39):
of project makes you any less skilled or any less of a knitter or any of that. Like,
I think it's fair to say, you know what, like I've tried it. I don't like it. It's not my thing. Yeah.
I mean, I used to knit socks all the time. I don't enjoy it. I'm not going to knit socks just to be
like, well, I'm not a complete knitter unless I'm turning out a pair of socks every year. Like
(43:03):
that's silly. Guys, I think my next project is going to be socks. You haven't done socks in
so long, man. Like you really should. And now I'm thinking about those gussets.
Guys, I need another color. It's really getting me right now. They're pour on the burn there.
I feel like I go through seven stages of grief with shawls. Like I get like, yeah, this will be,
(43:24):
this will be fine. This will go quick. This will be fine. Oh no, I'm in the middle and this will
never end. And then I get like close to the end. Then I'm like, Ooh, Ooh, I'm almost done. I swear
to God. And then you get to the border and you're like, wow, this is literally like picking up
toothpicks with, and then you get to the euphoria of finishing. You block it and it's sitting there.
(43:48):
And then like, you get like, you know how they talk about like when you give birth, you get amnesia
and then you want another child. Yeah. It's just like that. I get amnesia and suddenly I want
another shawl. Yeah. For all the shawls you wear. I do. No, I've made a lot. It's just about creating
art at this time. It's just about the art. It's just a weird process. I thought the same thing
(44:08):
because I don't wear a lot of my stuff and I'm like, why am I doing this? And I'm like, for the
sheer creation of it, like I may never wear these things. It's okay. See, I make a lot of shawls,
but I wear them at work. Yeah. I would, I actually am thinking about wearing shawls to work this year
and I'm waiting for the reaction. The best can be great. They're going to call me like Baba Yaga or
(44:29):
something like that. Yeah. Well, you work with teenagers. I do. Meanwhile, I work with lawyers
and they all go, Oh, that's so nice. Right. See there's the trade off.
And that's all the time we have for this episode for additional content and opportunities to
connect with the cast. Be sure to check out our website at pardon my stash.com and remember to
(44:50):
tune in next time for more tips, nips and wits at pardon my stash.
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