Knit Red KAL Finale!

Our first Knit Red KAL has come to an end and we've loved every second of knitting Diane Soucy's A-line Hoodie from the Knit Red book! I want to thank each and every one of you who participated, whether you made your participation known or not. I know there are quite a few of you out there. I enjoyed my interactions with each of you and learned a few things myself. I have to say that you all have created some remarkably beautiful sweaters and I'm in awe of the talent, hard work, speed and persistence shown. Kudos!!

Some of us are still working on finishing our sweaters. Myself included. I'm only about halfway through the skirt of the sweater. I hope to have enough time to get it done in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'm still available for questions and help anytime, so please don't hesitate to contact me.

I hope you all enjoyed the videos Diane and I made to help you out. I think I speak for Diane when I say we really enjoyed making them for you. There are still two more left to do, but due to some equipment issues we won't be able to get them done for another week or two. I'll be sure to post them in the Ravelry threads and here on the blog when we have them ready for you.

In case you missed the videos, here are links to them so you can watch anytime on our website.

How to Decide What Size Sweater To Make

How to Measure Your Gauge Correctly

How to Cast on for a Top Down Sweater

How to Create Buttonholes and Divide Sleeves for Top Down Sweater

How to pick up Stitches for the Neckband on your Top Down Sweater

I would love to see more photos of your projects, finished or not! Please keep posting them or emailing them to me to the address below so I can share! Now, before I get to the fun part of show-and-tell, how did you all enjoy the Knit Red KAL? There are plenty of projects in the book...we could certainly do another! What do you think? Any projects catching your eye? Share your thoughts and maybe we can get another KAL started!

Now for the fashion show!

Tylette was able to pop into the shop while she was visiting Reno and show us her project in person! She was the first to finish hers and she did a wonderful job! 

Front

Back

Justfeltcreative joined us late, she didn't start until September 7th and finished September 24th! Her brown hoodie is gorgeous! I just love the color!

Just the sleeves are left for Grosslf - here is her progress photo. I love that she chose a subtly variegated yarn.

Last but not least, Sara! She's still working on finding the right buttons - they have to be as perfect as her sweater is! :)

There are a couple more people who are still finishing, so I'm sure a follow-up finishers post will be in order in the coming weeks!

Thank you again for participating! I look forward to doing this again soon. Be sure to let me know if you would like to participate in another Knit Red KAL and which project you would like to nominate. Post a comment here or send me an email at askTerry@jimmybeanswool.com.

-Terry

Week 5 of the Knit Red KAL!

Just a quick update this week! One week to go and we have another nearly finished hoodie! Sara, who has just returned to work part-time at JBW (YEAH!), has been gracious enough to allow me to photograph her progress as she's participated in the KAL.

Our swatches! 

For those of you who follow us on Facebook, you may remember this photo of our swatches (left). Sara chose to use MadelineTosh Vintage in the Badlands colorway. She alternated three hanks throughout the body because they didn't match as well as she would have liked.

The staggering made all the difference!

Here's her sweater with the body nearly completed (right)! This was her second try. Working with hand-dyed colorways can pose to be difficult and Sara struggled a bit to get the colors to come out just right the first try. She opted to stagger the spots where she changed from one ball to the next, which really made a big difference and really helped mix the colors well.

Here's a little photo collection of Sara's Badlands A-line Hoodie!

This is how a top down sweater's raglan line should look, with that nice elongated stitch! 

The back view shows off those beautiful raglan lines!

Sara opted to do a three needle bind off for the top of her hood. The photo to the left shows how it looks on the right side. The photo to the right shows how nice and tidy the bind off is on the inside of the hood. This is a great join that is very sturdy and brings some structure to the soft drape of the yarn. Never done a three needle bind off? Have no fear! We have an instructional for that! 

Sara! 

And last, but not least, here is Sara modeling her gorgeous A-line Hoodie! As you can see she made some modifications. Instead of increasing for the A-line shape she did waist decreases and then increased again for the hips. She also added buttonholes all the way down the front and made the sleeves three quarters length. Here's how she did the waist shaping:

• Decreased 4stitches every 23 rows, 3 times (12 stitches decreased)
• After the last decrease round, work even for 13 rows
• After working even for 7 rows, increase 4 stitches every 7 rows, 5 times (20 stitches increased)

She still hasn't decided on buttons so we fastened it with a shawl pin. We'll have to wait and see what buttons she chooses, but based on her past choices I know they will be fabulous!

We have a few more A-line Hoodie's coming along beautifully - I can't want to see more finished projects! You're welcome to stop by our Facebook wall and share a picture of your finished A-line! 

Stay tuned, Diane and I will be filming a couple more videos! 

Happy knitting!

Terry

Week 3 of Our Knit Red KAL!

It's still not too late to join us! Feel free to start anytime.

To catch up those of you who are just hearing about this KAL for the first time, we've been knitting machines since August 6th as we work on Diane Soucy's A-line Hoodie from Knit Red by Laura Zander. If you're just starting, have no fear! We'll be working on this project until September 17th! If you're still hemming and hawing over your yarn selection for the A-line Hoodie (hey, yarn selection is important!) we recommend Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Collection, Cashmere Fleur de Lys #416 or Berroco Vintage #5150 (that's what I'm using!). Of course, you may use any yarn you like that you can get gauge with and it doesn't have to be red!

Diane and I have filmed more videos for you. We decided to redo the How to Cast On for a Top Down Sweater video to make it shorter and more concise. Take a look at the new and improved video!



Then we show you how to create buttonholes and divide for sleeves for a top down sweater. This video also shows you where to measure from to start your waist shaping.




The next video shows you how to pick up stitches for the neckband on a top down sweater. The same technique applies for hoods as well. There is a reason patterns suggest picking up stitches around the neckline before you make your sleeves and we'll let you in on why! I loved this part because I have always wondered why Diane instructs us to always work the necks before the sleeves. Now I know why and feel a little silly that I hadn't thought if it! It makes so much sense and I'm so glad I learned it. Watch the video to find out!




All of our videos are available on our instruction page. I've even added text to all the existing videos and we're always adding more!

And finally, a couple of A-line Hoodie progress photos!

Tylette totally rocked this KAL! She's done! She used Plymouth Encore in color #174 for her sweater.

Tylette's A-line!

Sara is cruising right along, she's alternating three hanks of MadelineTosh Vintage in Badlands and they don't quite match each other as well as she would like. She was nearly done but didn't like the way the color was working out so...she frogged back and started again. Here is her second try which she is much happier with! She has decided to not make it an a-line sweater and instead is decreasing for the waist, increasing again for the hips and she's putting buttons all the way down the front.

Sara's A-line..looks beautiful!

I would love to share photos of your projects. Please feel free to email your photos to me and I'll share them here and on our Facebook!

Remember, I am here to help you each step of the way. You can post your comments and questions in the Ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red, or email me at askTerry(at)jimmybeanswool.com.

Happy knitting!

Terry

Knit Red KAL - Progress!

So we're off and running on our first official Knit Red Knit-a-Long! (It's not too late to join us!)

I'll be blogging about the KAL each week right here and on the JBW blog as well as having on-going discussions, camaraderie and support in threads on both Ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red.

From August 6th to September 17th we're working on the A-line Hoodie pattern by Diane Soucy and it can be found on page 22 of Knit Red by Laura Zander. The pattern calls for Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Collection, Cashmere Fleur de Lys in color #416. But you may use any yarn you like that you can get gauge with and it doesn't have to be red!

As I mentioned last week I'm making mine with Berroco Vintage in #5150 Berries. I'm nearly to the end of my first hank and to the second buttonhole so far. I've been been knitting quite a bit lately with fingering weight yarn and so this project just seems to be flying along in worsted weight.

As promised, Diane Soucy and I have started filming some videos to help you make top down sweaters! We're very excited to be able to do this for you and these videos will be available to view anytime on our website, YouTube and in the future you'll also be able to link to them from Diane's website: Knitting Pure & Simple.

Here are the first three videos- Diane will be in this afternoon to film more!

First, Diane and I show you How to Decide What Size Sweater to Make:

Then we talk about how important swatching and gauge is to getting the results you want. How to Measure Your Gauge Correctly:

Now that you know what size to make and have gotten gauge, we show you how to cast on for a raglan top down sweater and explain what all those stitch markers are for, where they go, the parts of the sweater, increases used, and finally how to cast on at the beginning and end of rows to work a seed stitch button band. How to Cast on for a Top Down Sweater:



And because this is a Knit Red KAL in support of heart health, chime in with your heart-healthy tips here in the comments or in our Ravelry groups. I will be reading all of them!

So there you go! Now you're all set to cast on!

And remember, I am here to help you each step of the way. You can post your comments and questions in the Ravelry groups, Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red. Or email me at askTerry(at)jimmybeanswool.com.

Happy knitting!
Terry

P.S. Are you on Facebook? So are we! C'mon over and "Like" us to get all the latest news! 

Ready, set, GO! It's time for a Knit-A-Long!

This time it's a Knit Red KAL! We will be knitting Diane Soucy's (of Knitting Pure & Simple) pattern from the Knit Red book, the A-Line Hoodie. We chose this pattern not only because it is one of our favorites from the book (although I think they are all favorites!) it also has the highest number of favorites on Ravelry of all the Knit Red patterns!

Diane Soucy's A-Line Hoodie

We've been receiving such positive feedback on using Diane's pattern! We are so excited that everyone loves the A-Line Hoodie as much as we do because Diane is one of the people who helped inspire Laura to start Jimmy Beans Wool; which we're sure you read about in our Hand Dyed catalog. What's even more exciting is that Diane is going to be participating in this KAL right along with us by filming some videos with me (Terry) that will take you through the steps of how to knit a top down sweater! We'll learn things like how to decide what size to make, the importance of gauge and how to find it, how to cast on and what are all those markers for? And, the big one I know you all want to know because it was a much discussed issued in our last KAL, how to pick up stitches for the underarms without holes!

The KAL will start on Monday, August 6th and run for six weeks until Monday, September 17th.

We'll be blogging each week right here on the Stitch Red blog and the JBW blog, as well as having an on-going discussion, camaraderie, and support in threads on both Ravelry groups- Jimmy Beans Wool and Stitch Red.

For our local customers, I'm willing to hold KAL Knit Nights on Tuesday evenings every other week if enough interested people respond to this blog post by Sunday, August 5th.

The A-Line Hoodie pattern can be found on page 22 of Knit Red by Laura Zander. The pattern calls for Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Collection, Cashmere Fleur de Lys in color #416.

The Cashmere Fleur de Lys is an absolutely lovely and soft yarn and as always you are welcome to use any worsted weight yarn that you want. If you have questions on if a yarn is worsted weight check the yarn band for the suggested gauge. A suggested gauge of 18-20 stitches to 4" (4.5-5 stitches per inch) on a US 7-8 needle will work for this pattern.

My swatch - it feels wonderful knit up!

Personally, I'm going to be sticking with the Stitch Red color theme and making my sweater out of Berroco Vintage in their Stitch Red color, #5150 Berries. I'm choosing this yarn because I'm not always as gentle with my hand knits as I should be and I want this sweater to be an everyday sweater that is durable and easy to care for. In addition, I don't look my best in blue-reds so I need to stick with orange-reds or reds with a hint of black and the Berroco Vintage fits the bill for me in every way.

I would also like to suggest a few other Stitch Red colors you can consider (if you'd like to join me in supporting Stitch Red):

Encore Worsted #475
Fantasy Naturale #3611
Shepherd Worsted - Bold Red
Shepherd Worsted June '12 LLE - Stitch Red (we still have some!)
Merino 5 #1012
Bamboo Ewe #5280
Red Heart Soft Solid Color #5142

I've already made a swatch for my sweater with the Berroco Vintage on US 8 and US 9 Knitter's Pride Cubics and after washing my swatch I got gauge perfectly on US size 8.

So choose your yarn and get swatching! This is going to be so much fun!

Terry

What are you doing August 6th?

We hope you'll be joining us for a Knit Red KAL! Pick up your needles and Cashmere Fleur de Lys (or any worsted weight Stitch Red yarn, Terry is using Berroco Vintage) to furiously knit with us as we begin this Stitch Red inspired KAL.We couldn't think of a better way to start sticking it to heart disease one stitch at a time!

The pattern we've chosen is not only one of our favorites, but you have given it the highest number of favorites on Ravelry: Diane Soucy's A-Line Hoodie! The two-button closure and draw-string hood make this classic design more modern for women on the go. It's the perfect flow-y sweater to slip into on cold afternoons. When we received our Knit Red trunk show at the beginning of June, Casey slipped into this cozy knit and wouldn't take it off! It quickly became a shop favorite, not to mention it has over 515 likes on Ravelry!

It was a tough choice; we had to choose from Ysolda's Slip Stitch Beret, Martin Storey's Lace Heart Cardi and Kit Hutchin's Reversible Wristers. In the end Diane's simple, yet sophisticated top down design won because we could see so many knitters falling in love with the design just as we did! 

This won't be your typical KAL, in fact, we have Diane Soucy in our store preparing to film some helpful videos about her A-Line Hoodie design! We are so thrilled to be working with Diane on instructional videos on how to do various parts of top down sweaters.

Be sure to stay tuned for KAL details! We will be posting right here and on our Jimmy Beans Wool blog as well.