Still No Orders

Still no orders so am working on shelter sweaters again. I am enjoying myself relaxing. I have knitted up the front & back of another child's sweater. This is a scrappie (BTW:I know that I am misspelling the word scrappie. When you knit diaper covers they are all shorties, longies, footies, skirties etc.) so thought I would do the front & back in the variegated yarn & the sleeves in another solid color yarn, but I am thinking instead that I will try to get the sleeves out of the same yarn as I didn't like the look of the yellow that I had picked out. I did weight the swatch & it says I have enough. I know that somewhere in my bins I have more of this yarn & am going to search the garage for it tomorrow.

 

 

I am also going to post the pattern for this sweater if someone else is interested in making one. This is a pattern generated by the Knitware Program. If you can match my gauge you can make this. It is a size 2 with a comfortable fit. I added 6 stitches to the neckband. It is hip length & a pullover. It has a doubled neckband, & drop shoulder grafted sleeves that are knit from the shoulder down. The ribbing on the sleeves are transferred from the main bed & knitted directly onto the sleeve. I know that the patterns may say to take the sleeve off the machine & knit the ribbing independently of the sleeve & then sew them on. This is definitely not the best way to do that. Just transfer them to the ribber & knit them, then bind off the stitches with the loop through loop bind off.(you can find a demonstration of the 'loop trough loop bind off' on U Tube by searching for it. Diana Sullivan has made lots of how to videos that really are excellent)  This sweater is being knitted on my SR 860 mid gauge machine. 

 

 

 

  If you right double click on the pattern it will show a larger size. Save it & then print it out & see if it is legible.

I am not sure how to enlarge the pattern to make it easier read. If anyone had a suggestion please email me. I have been trying to enlarge it for the past hour. LOL Will try again tomorrow. Or if you want the pattern emailed contact me.

 

 

 

Where Does the Time Go??

I have been knitting & knitting without much time for anything else. Finally I have a break. I have NO orders right now so am working on my knitting room again. I don't know how it gets cluttered up so fast. I try to keep some order but it always gets away from me.

 

I still have the sewing bug. I am going to try again with the toddler quilts. Maybe I will have better luck this time. Wal-Mart here in town has expanded their store to include a craft section & groceries. I am not crazy about their fabric but I feel I can get some good supplies there. Now that all is quiet around here I am going to see what they have that might make some new toddler quilts. I bought the charm packs for the first ones from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. They were very cute & just right for little kids. If I can't find anything at WM I will reorder from them.

 

Since I found out that I have Macular Degeneration I am cleaning out the things that I don't use or haven't used in a long time. I have a floppy disc drive that I haven't used in years & am going to sell it along with some other things. Sticking it in a box & leaving it there forever is an example of how I hoard things like that. I had it rebuilt maybe 6-7 years ago so it is like new. I am not selling anything I need & as long as I can see to sew & knit I will keep everything that I can still use. I went back to the doctor & he said that I actually did a little better than I did 6 months ago. I am taking eye vitamins & also some drops & I can tell that I can see colors more vividly, but I can also see the tiniest little spot in the center of my vision in my left eye that is blank. It is not interfering with my crafts yet. My right eye is not as affected as my left & I believe that I can continue with my crafts for a long time to come.

 

I knitted a couple of outfits for some new babies as gifts. Here is a picture of Drew in his new hat & cardigan.

 

 

I also made him a blanket but no picture of that yet.

 

Have a Happy Easter!!

 

 

   

Back To My Machine Knitting

I am back to my knitting machine. I have a couple of orders that I am working on but needed a break so decided to knit a shelter sweater just for a change. Sometimes I do get tired of knitting diaper covers but for the most part I am happy to make them. I love all the pictures I get back from mom's showing baby in my covers.

 

Knitting sweaters for the shelter is a great stress reliever for me. Machine knitting can be very relaxing when all goes well. Then, the time it takes me to sew it up is also a relaxing quiet time.

 

This sweater is a size 4 knitted in Red Heart Soft Baby. It is a hand knitting yarn but knits beautifully on the machine if run through wax as you knit.

It is baby pink & green. It has raglan sleeves & a short rowed neckline. Also, will have the grafted neckband. I knitted it on my Mid gauge at tension 4 & ribbed at tension 0.

 

Still no word on the toddler quilts. Hope they find them.

 

 

 

I Just Can't Believe it !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been interrupted by orders so it took me a little bit to get the 2nd toddler quilt finished for my grandson. But I finally did, & sent it off in the mail & sat back to wait for the kids to get them. I did not get a picture of it tho as I was in too much of a hurry & wanted to get it out that day. Well, they never got it!!?? I sent it priority & insured for the $50 that priority mail gives you free. Tracking shows that it got as far as California & then there is just a big void. I contacted the Post Office & filled out the form for missing mail, but it doesn't look good. According to the PO the package may have lost it's label. They think that because there is no logging in or out for the package after the last login in Stockton California. I really put my heart into those little quilts & I can't even tell you what I would like to say to the PO. It is just too gruesome. But there it is, nothing to do but wait. Thanks to God I did have a picture of one of them to send to the PO, & I hope they find them. If not, will I do it again?? Don't know.

While sewing the quilts I ran over a straight pin. I never run over pins as I do know better. I just didn't see it. I have a tiny little spot in my eye that is right in my central vision that is blank, from the ADM, so I just didn't see it. The needle hit the pin & jammed it down into the machine. The machine will only sew backwards now so it is in the shop. I hate to take my machines in, knitting or sewing. I am hoping for the best. I was thinking of buying a new machine anyway so bought a Brother 420. If the other one can be repaired I will keep it as a spare. I was planning on buying a more expensive machine than the 420 but had to get what I could now. I wanted it to be a Brother because all the sewing machine feet that I have fit on the Brother. & I didn't want to have to learn a new machine.

 

Happy Valentines Day!!

 

 

 

 



A Brief History of Knitware

I have had several comments about the Knitware program & thought that I would give a brief history of the program as I know it. This may help some of the newer machine knitters that are interested in it.

 

Knitware was written by Janet T at least 20 years ago, maybe a little more. It was called Sweater Design at that time, & sold with a set of knitting & sewing software. It generated patterns for sweaters only.  Over the years she regularly updated & enhanced the program adding pattern generators for dolls, pets & teddy bear clothes plus skirts, pants, ponchos, blankets, hats & a variety of other things like dishcloths & dishtowels eventually calling it Knitware & marketing it herself. She had the business for 15 years & had a good following of customers. Janet stated on the Knitware Users group in 2006 that her husband was retiring soon & that she wanted to have more time with him when he did.  She decided that she would sell the business for that reason. (Unfortunately her & her husband divorced shortly are he retired.) She wanted to sell the business to someone that would continue to update & enhance the programs that now came in 3 CD's that she called Sweaters, Skirts & Critter Clothes. She preferred that the business go to one of the Knitware users hoping that these goals would be realized. In late 2006 or early 2007 she sold the company to Ada Lai. The first thing that Ada did was raise the price. Secondly, she decided that she did not want the Knitware Users list 'cluttered up' with posts so that members were discouraged from posting on the list, thereby alienating the members  & effectively destroying her customer base.  Ada promised us an update coming in a few months. The time that the update would become available was constantly moved out later & later. Unfortunately that update never materialized. I think everyone has pretty much understood now that Ada is not the skilled programmer that Janet was., and may have overstated her qualifications.

 

At one time I had the link to Knitware on my blog but have since taken it down. I would not download Knitware or any of the 'fixes' that Ada posts on her website, Great Knit Designs' as I have heard from other knitters that the downloads caused problem on their computers & the program would not function correctly.

 

Sometimes you find an old disc for sale on Ebay, but other than that I would be leery of anything that Ada comes out with whether it is a 'fix' or an update. Frankly I would not buy an update from her at this time even if she did manage to come out with one because I doubt her ability to write a useable program. If you go to the yahoo group 'Machine Knitters' You might find some usable information on how to make the program function. There is no one left on the Knitware Users list as they have all moved on. & Ada has 'banned me' from the list for complaining about the 'no posting' rule. among other things. (At one time, she asked me to write lessons for the program but I declined because I just don't have the time.) The version I am running on my PC is the last update that Janet came out with on 2006. I heard that Ada is now selling the program for $30 each & is the version I am running.  A sad end to an Awesome Program.

While surfing the web I ran across this site. It provides information about Janet & the origins of Knitware. Check it out!! I'm not sure when Ada posted this but am going to read through it just to satisfy my curiosity. I know at one point Ada said that she was going to overtake Design-a-Knit & also Sweater Wizard, both well established programs for the crafter. Ada sounds very optimistic about acquiring Janet's business. She seems to have made this her life's work. Not to be mean, but I think she just bit off more than she could chew.
http://softwaresolutions.fibre2fashion.com/company/great-knit-designs/

 

 

More Knitting with Knitware

When using the Knitware program there are some things that you have to take into consideration. I was finding that my neckbands were coming out tighter than I wanted when I used the 'moderate' fit. As a result of that I decided a long time ago that I would always use the 'comfortable' fit & a wider neckband. I generally add on 6-8 stitches on the neckband & that has worked out well for me. No more problems pulling the sweaters over the heads. Also, sometimes my sleeves were too tight. Using the 'comfortable' setting took care of the issue too.

 

Another feature of the Knitware program is the ability to knit a swatch & weight it, then enter the weight into the program with the row number & stitch number(72 rows x 50 stitches) or whatever & calculate how much yarn you need for that sweater. That helps me to be able to make the biggest sweater possible with the amount of yarn that I have without guessing.  

 

 

 

This is another shelter sweater, in a size 4. I bought this yarn years ago & don't remember what the planned project was. It is really a cute yarn & has made a very cute pullover for a little girl.

 

 

This isn't a very good picture.  I used the KW program to calculate how much yarn I needed for this pullover. The program told me that I almost had enough for it, but was going to come up a little short. I thought that I could make it if I unraveled my swatch.  I did that & it worked for the green, but I ran out of the red just about 4" from the top on the last sleeve. I used a Red Heart Kids yarn as a substitute. It wasn't that great of a match but it was the best I could find. The pullover is a size 2. The difference does show up but I still think that some little kid will love this sweater.

 

Best Wishes to all for a New Year.

 

 

PS:I am dieting & have lost 34 LBS!!

 

 

Knitting with Knitware

Knitware is an awesome program that calculates a pattern for a variety of garments, using your gauge rather than having to match the pattern gauge. It is a pattern generator & can make pretty much any type sweater that you want. I use it a lot. I bought mine from Janet T. She did a great job of designing a simple product that is easy to use & has the ability to save & alter patterns in the program. I like to knit sweaters using her program, but there are a couple of things that are easier done a little differently than what she describes. Sometimes I use the program to knit a top down sweater with drop sleeve. I like to rehang the front & back of the sweater on the machine between markers after joining the front & back & finishing the neckline, & knit my sleeves directly onto the sweater. In Janet's patterns she suggests that you knit the ribbing for the sleeve seperatly after taking the top down sleeve off the machine on waste yarn. I find that it works better & is less bulky when you knit the ribbing directly onto the sleeves by transferring stitches for ribbing & then using the 'loop through loop' bind of that is demonstrated here in Diana Sullivan's Utube video. Once you get the bind off learned you will find that this bind off works for a lot of garments. The thing to remember is to knit the last row at a very loose tension in order to have a loose finished rib.

 

 

This is another raglan for the women's shelter, size 2. I was requested to make some smaller sizes. I have a lot of fun making these & rarely I see someone wearing one out & about.

 

 

This is the bin I am working on right now. I have managed to make a pretty good dent in it. I didn't buy any yarn this year other than yarn for my store. I still have quite a lot of yarn in bins in the garage & am working on them one at a time. Rather than go find a specific yarn for a specific sweater I have just been making sweaters with the yarn available in that bin. I have small bits of yarn left over so am making some little mittens out of it. Then I am going to knit up squares that are left from that & make a toddler blanket from it.

 

This has been a rough year for me. I have lost 3 pets, my cat that I ran over, my small female Australian cattle dog Jasmine to breast cancer & just this month my 7 year old male border collie Buster to cardiomyopathy. I am comforted by the knowledge that I did my best for them, lots of love & a warm bed along with good food.