I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

Lu guessed that the design European Tour Set from the book, It’s In the Bag, was in my knitting bag and she was correct!  Lu wins a copy of the book.  Thanks to everyone who played along.  If time is on my side this week, I have a little project to share that I made using the weaving technique I blogged about.  But no finished photos yet, unfortunately.

I’d like to send out sincere thanks to everyone who purchased my patterns on November 19th.  I transferred a grand total of $259.64 to the Red Scarf Fund on the morning of the 20th.  Awesome!

Don’t forget that in addition to cash, the Red Scarf Project needs hand-knit scarves.  Norma just put out an “urgent” call and I intend to answer it with at least one more scarf.  Although I rarely knit for charity when store-bought items will serve the same purpose, the Red Scarf Project really is different.  The scarves are not so much for warmth as they are a means to communicate a message of encouragement to the recipients.

I know time is at a premium during the holiday season but please consider knitting up a red scarf and sending it to OFA.  My son is a sophomore in college and I just boxed up a care package that I’ll send to him during finals week.  I know how much he loves receiving these packages and I can visualize the eye rolls when he unpacks the silly items I included with the food.  College is stressful and difficult.  A few hours of your time can really make a difference to a college student with no family support.  All the details are here on the OFA website.

On Friday I’ll be participating in the blog tour for the book, It’s In the Bag.  Since, I’ll be highlighting a very unique project from the book, I thought I’d take a stab at working up a little sample.

Interesting, huh.  Stay tuned. There will be a contest, too!

Wednesday’s post seemed to strike a nerve with some people.  To clarify, I’m not telling anyone what kind of sweater she should or shouldn’t knit.  Make a top-down raglan with 6 inches of positive ease in Red Heart Super Saver if you want.  You, alone, are the master of your knitting.  I just expressed my opinion that good-looking, well-fitting, top-down raglans are few and far between.  I was curious as to why people knit them when a seamed garment, almost without exception, gives a better fit.

Several people confessed an inability to execute a nice mattress stitch seam.  Thus, it would seem, some knitters are making a trade-off between not-perfect fit and sloppy looking seams. I can totally relate to this explanation since I am needle-and-thread challenged myself.  But, it might help to think of seaming as a knitting skill that improves with practice and one which is undeniably worth learning because it opens up a whole universe of new knitting opportunities.  Would any knitter say she refrains from casting on because her cast-on stitches are sloppy and uneven?  Well . . . um . . . no, since that attitude would surely limit the number of things you can knit.

Seriously, though, there are some wonderful videos, blogs, and books that do an excellent job of explaining how to work a perfect mattress stitch.  I think Theresa’s article for Knitty, has some wonderful, clear photos that show how to sew straight seams.  Roz has this great blog post showing how to sew a vertical edge to a horizontal edge–which is what you must do at the top of a sleeve cap.  Marie Grace has a comprehensive post on how to sew a set-in sleeve.  Click on her photos to enlarge them.

As a way to encourage you, my dear reader, to perfect your mattress stitch, I offer up a wooly carrot.

Wanna win this lovely skein of hand-dyed, lace-weight merino?

It’s easy.  Simply leave a comment to this post with (1) a link to a photo of a seam that you proudly joined with mattress stitch and/or (2) a tip or trick to help a newbie perfect her seaming technique or a link to a good source of information on seaming with mattress stitch.  I’ll pick a winner at random next Tuesday. (FYI, my spam filter blocks comments that contain links and holds them in moderation.  It might take a couple of hours ’til I have a chance to approve your message.)

ETA: Any photo of any seam will do.  Take one of something you seamed long ago, upload it to Flickr, and post the Flickr link in the comments.   Perfect or not perfect—all seams are welcome here.

Here’s my entry–the armhole of my Gathered Pulli.

If I can do it, you can do it.