Block Bliss

Title: Colour Blocks Jacket in Debbie Bliss Number Four
Author: Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino DK, 605 Magenta, 607 Ultramarine, 606 Lilac, 206 Navy, 702 Fuchsia, 203 Sea Green, 202 Turquoise
Fibre Content: 100% merino wool
Gauge: 21 sts x 29 rows per 4" on 3.5 mm bamboo circular needles

Notes

What a milestone to complete this sweater. I bought the pattern and yarn in 2001, and started knitting in 2004. So it's a little disorienting to actually see myself wearing the finished object :-)

I'm very happy with the sweater. The fit is quite good, especially the sleeves and around the waist/hips. The bust, perhaps, has too much ease, but the extra fabric is not too noticeable. I didn't make any modifications to the pattern, because of the complexity of the intarsia charts and my own timidity.

I hope that all the notes I've made about the pattern are helpful to other knitters. It's definitely a sweater worth the trouble.

Half a Sweater

Nearly done! While I finish up the right front of the Colour Block Sweater, I took the time to sew up the left side, to test out the fit and spread out the finishing work. I'm liking the results.

I'll say a few things about this later stage of the pattern work:

Decreases for Sleeve Cap and Armhole

The pattern has you do right-leaning decreases (K2tog, P2tog) on the right-hand side of the work, and left-leaning decreases (ssp, skpo) on the left-hand side. That's the opposite of what I usually do, and what many other patterns will have you do. I decided to give it a try, because I trust Debbie. And it does give a clean look to the fabric, with the stitches standing more straight.

However, I found it created problems when I was seaming. It was hard to distinguish edge stitches from body stitches, and there was no obvious edge to seam along. I really struggled with sewing in the sleeves, often ripping out a section five or six times until I could get it right.

So if I did this pattern again, I would reverse the decreases on the sleeve cap and armhole shaping (I think the decreases as written are fine, even desirable, for the neckline).

Front Bands

The front bands are knitted in garter stitch, as part of the front pieces. If I'd been paying attention at the time, I might have changed them to seed stitch, which I tend to prefer to garter stitch. But now that the left front is finished and blocked, the garter bands do look quite good.

The pattern is a little confusing about the placement of buttonholes. The correct method is to do the buttonhole on the third row of each colour block (leaving out the bottom-most block). In other words, knit 5 rows of G (navy yarn), and then knit 14 pattern rows, and work the buttonhole on the 15th pattern row.

Seaming

Rather than using my usual three-needle bind-off on the shoulders, I used woven shoulder seams as described in The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques by Wiseman. Three-needle bind-off would have been too awkward with the various colours of yarn, I think.

The colour blocks make for fun seaming: it's like having a grid on the sweater that shows you exactly how the seams should line up! Of course, you have to make sure they do line up since it's so obvious if they don't, but I enjoyed the process.

I'll end with a shot of the inside of the sweater, so you can see how the yarn is twisted and carried behind. Next post will be a finished object!

Man on a Horse

Click to enlarge

The Color Blocks sweater is nearing completion! I am currently knitting the final piece, which is the right front. I also need to weave in the ends and block one sleeve and the left front. Then I can start putting it together!

Above you can see the finished back piece.

If you look very closely, you'll find one error in the pattern. By the time I noticed it, I didn't feel like ripping out twenty rows. I asked several people if they could find the mistake, and they couldn't. So I figured I would leave it as a kind of signature.

A writer friend of mine used to say that there was no need to fix a mistake if it couldn't be seen by a man on a horse. I don't think any cowboy would be able to spot my boo-boo!

So here's the challenge: the first person to find the error will recieve a ball of burgundy Mission Falls 1824 wool! Start looking ...

Ball Arranging

Now that I'm back home I've picked up the Colour Blocks sweater again. I finished the back before Christmas (although I still need to weave in the ends before blocking) and now I'm four blocks into the second sleeve.

My aim is to have this sweater finished by the end of February, because I know I'll love wearing it in the cold weather. In our three-storey townhouse, the loft where I work stays quite comfortable even when the thermostat is set to 17 degrees, but when I go down to the kitchen for a snack -- brrrr!

Carol left a question in the comments about how to arrange the balls of wool in the organizer, so I've tried to illustrate the way I did it:

I didn't want to fill a full row and then go all the way back to the end for another row. So I used a zigzag arrangement, alternating between two rows, so that there's never much distance between one ball and the next in the pattern.

I'm glad you found time to get started, Carol! And I hope that explanation is helpful.

Blocked

Remember way waaayyy back to October 28, 2004? When I introduced the Debbie Bliss Colour Block Sweater? And then it was never heard from again?

Well, the sweater, she is back.

Poor Debbie Bliss got unceremoniously dumped in favour of the Must Have Cardigan knitalong. But I've finally cleared all the other projects that were standing in the way, and picked up the box o' wool again.

And can you believe, I got TWO e-mails last week about the sweater?

My cousin, a handy knitter herself, found my blog via the christening blanket photos, and wrote to say that although I was probably long finished the colour blocks sweater, she found that using a box with compartments to hold the yarn balls was very useful for intarsia. And to think that very morning I had constructed just such a cardboard contraption!

I'm sure my box is much more haphazard than the one my cousin's father put together for her, but it seems to be doing the trick. More on that in a moment.

In my second e-mail, a previously-unknown-to-me reader, Carol P., wrote to say that she was starting this very sweater herself, having noticed that the wool was being discounted, and fearing discontinuation. Carol wanted to know if I had any tips for her, so I waited until I had worked on the sweater a bit more to summarize my helpful hints. All the best with your own version, Carol, and keep me posted on your progress!

Yarn Management

The sweater is designed with diagonal blocks of colour, to avoid a zillion ends to be woven in. Very ingenious! (Thank you, Debbie). So there's no need to cut yarn for bobbins. After you complete a row of blocks, you start a new colour and weave in the yarn of the previous colour across the wrong side of the first row, so you can use it to start the next block.

To avoid distorting the stitches that have the woven-in colour behind them, I have been weaving in on every third stitch (the blocks are nine stitches wide), and in the most recent piece, I've been weaving in only on the fifth (centre) stitch, which seems to be working well.

As I mentioned, it helps a lot to have some kind of container to hold all the balls of wool, sometimes as many as fourteen at a time, depending on what size you're making! I would love to have a canvas organizer like this accessories box (top item on the page), which I first saw at Wendy Knits. Instead, I am making do with a shoe box that has dividers cut from a cereal box.

It is theoretically possible to keep the lengths of yarn from tangling if you are careful about turning the work and keeping the skeins in order. In her Big Book of Knitting, Katharinia Buss writes:

In order not to get your yarn all tangled if you are working with a lot of different colors, put the skeins of yarn next to one another in the order in which they are going to be worked. The yarns will cross in the first row. Now turn the piece to the front, turning the tip of the needle towards your body and to the right. When you work the row on the wrong side of the work, the yarns will uncross. At the end of this row, turn the work to the back--in other words, turn the tip of the needle away from your body and to the right. Now the yarns will cross again.

This method does work, if one is conscientious about turning the work and pulling the lengths of yarn free from each other after every second row. If one is not conscientious, one gets this:

Not exactly conducive to streamlined knitting! My current approach is to detangle and reset the yarn balls after knitting the first row of a new set of blocks. Twisting and weaving the yarns behind on this row seems to really mess up the works, so detangling is a necessity. But for the remaining eleven rows of that block, the yarn uncrosses every two rows as Ms. Buss describes, and stays manageable.

Selvedge

The colour pattern is constructed such that there is no need to add extra stitches for selvedge, although I am knitting the first and last stitch of each row to aid in seaming later on.

There are a few sections in the pattern where it's not necessary to start a new colour just to knit one stitch on the edge of the piece. For example, the back piece above the armhole shaping has you knitting one stitch of a colour before switching colours for the next block. Since that stitch will be part of the seam, and thus not visible, there's no point in using the colour called for--just do ten stitches of the second colour.

Intarsia

The intarsia (twisting yarns at the join) seems to get more smooth and even with practice. That's why I'm leaving the front pieces until last, when I've really got the hang of moderating the tension for the stitches on either side of the join. Most of the unevenness seems to be happening on the left sides of the blocks of colour. It helps if you don't pull too hard on the first stitch of each colour on the purl side. Blocking (soaking the piece in water and pinning it out to dry) does help flatten and even out the stitches as well.

Finally, some inspiration for Carol and myself. Here is a photo of my first completed sleeve:

I have since blocked that sleeve and finished knitting the back as well. And I'm so anxious to complete it! I love the colours and the square pattern, and I am getting gauge so I have hopes that the fit will be pretty close. I've resolved to devote myself solely to this sweater until I'm wearing it.

Sadly, the box o' wool is too large and cumbersome for me to take on my Christmas travels. Shawn and I have sold our car, and are taking the train to Kingston on the first leg of our journey, so we need to be able to carry everything on our persons (including Christmas presents and a pair of snowshoes!). So I will content myself with some more mobile sock-knitting.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Writers Fest Ends

Several weeks after the festival itself ended, my Ottawa Writers Fest sweater has reached completion. I added the collar and extended the sleeves about an inch from the provisional cast on before seaming. Then I sewed on four buttons (two yet to come - Fabricland only had four in stock). Tada!

Click the photo for another view.

And here's one that's a better picture of me than the sweater.

I'm very happy with this sweater. I feel virtuous for having used stash yarn, and gratified that I finished it so quickly. I'm happy with the fit, and the yarn makes it a comfy cozy article.

And since this sweater is done, you can probably guess what I've been doing with my free time ...

Celebrating Sleevember! *

Debbie Bliss Colour Blocks cardie is underway! This will definitely be a winter-long project. I'm still trying to get the hang of keeping the yarn balls from twisting up into a glob at the back, but I'm fairly happy with the intarsia progress. The DB Merino DK is sticky enough that I'm not having problems with gaps at the colour changes.

I've also finished a sleeve from the Heirloom Aran sweater. Awww, my first saddle shoulder.

And here's a gratuitous shot of the first socks I ever made, from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks book. I happened to be wearing them during the Writers' Fest sweater photoshoot.

**With apologies to Michelle at another knitting blog, who's observing Glovember instead.

A Humble Beginning

Don't be deceived - this is a momentous project. I've been planning, accumulating, swatching, and measuring for the last three years, ever since I started knitting again in earnest. Perhaps a picture of my four (yes, count them, four) swatches will give you a hint about the project I'm talking about:

I saw this sweater in a book at Yarn Forward, and bought the pattern right away so that I wouldn't forget about it. Foolish me, this sweater has burned its impression on my brain in such a way that I don't think I could ever forget it. I wandered the aisles of Yarn Forward looking for the particular yarn called for in the pattern, but failed to find it. This was before I realized there was more yarn in the world than could ever be carried in a single yarn store, and besides, this was expensive British designer yarn, which is pretty scarce in this commonwealth outpost we call Ottawa.

Slowly I started to assemble the many balls of different coloured wool I needed. I found a few on eBay, a few more from Elann, and filled in the gaps from Jimmy Beans Wool, over the period of two years. At last, I was ready to begin! But several urgent projects, like my sister's black beaded lace graduation stole, intervened. And I was having doubts - did I really deserve to work with those beautiful fibres? Did I have the skill to do them justice?

At the end of the summer, I decided that this sweater would be my major winter project. I began swatching in preparation. And swatching and swatching and swatching. I swatched with 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, and 4.0 mm needles and never exactly made my 22 stitch gauge. Finally I sat down to do the math and decided that the 3.5 mm would give me the right size sweater, even with the larger gauge. So I had my needles, my wool, and my courage screwed to the sticking-place.

I cast on for the first sleeve and created that little embryonic edging you see at the top of this post. Then I realized that, if I wanted to keep all of my balls intact and still have enough ends to work the intarsia pattern, I needed to frog and wash my swatches. So I did:

Aren't they gorgeous, all crinkly like that?

The swatches were unravelled, washed, skeined, dried, and wound into balls (with my birthday ball-winder - thanks, honey!). But still I couldn't bring myself to start. After all, I hadn't yet read every shred of information in my library about intarsia! So I decided that as soon as my Writers Fest sweater was complete, I would embark on the momentous project. What's that they say about delayed gratification?