Knitting Tips: Shaping

1. Decreases in Cables
2. Decreases in a Cable Pattern
3. Decreases for Raglans
4. Increasing Help
5. Toe Shapings
6. Bind Off - How Many?
7. Toque Top Shaping
8. EZ's M1 Increase
9. Cowl Neck
10. Knitted Coonskin Cap
11. Double Wraps in Short Rows

Joan Schrouder 1/20/03

It's usually easiest to simply stop doing the twist at the point at which the dec interrupts it, and just K the remaining st plain. Same thing with cables.

However, (you might guess there'd be a "however" <g>), I take it as a personal challenge to keep the patts going as long as possible as I rarely take the "easy" way out, plus I don't prefer the "plain" parts.

For the T-2, I would probably rearrange the order of the two sts to be twisted *before* I did the dec which eats up one of them. With larger cables, say a 6 st (3 over 3) cable, I'd still keep cabling 3 over 2, then 3 over 1 while the dec's gradually nibbled away at one edge.

BUT I'd also have to factor in how to accomplish this on the other side being dec'd. Sometimes you can do this fine when the dec's are eating into the right edge of the cable, but it doesn't work as well if they're eating into the left edge, for instance. This is mainly a problem if you only have one type of crossings in your cables, eg they're all right crosses.

If the crossings are mirror-image on either side of your V-Neck, then it's much easier to do and looks good.

That's why, if doing things in pieces, I would prefer to have both the fronts on the ndls at the same time. Then I could try what I thought was a good idea at one edge, then immediately do its symmetrical counterpart on the other edge and compare. If the first attempt didn't work well, then it's easy to undo and try again.

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Joan Schrouder 2/12/03

When decreasing as for the raglan of an Aran sweater and you are into a cable twist and have less stitches than needed for the cable, do you make the twist with the stitches available or do you disregard the twist and just do knit? I have done it both ways and just wondered what others do.

I like the look better when the cable is kept working as long as possible. Sometimes I have to experiment just what to do and how often to do it to see what looks the best to me, but that's part of the fun. You can just swatch this part of it, to practice. That way if you're not satisfied with your inital results, you don't have to rip back the whole piece (or in my case, the whole sweater, as I almost always work circularly) to try a different tack.

OTOH, if a cabled patt is very complex, and it becomes very difficult to figure out a compromise cable, then I could see the practicality of converting to plain stockinette. I usually try to plan ahead, tho' since I'd rather figure an alternate mode for combining patt sts and shaping as the integration of the two is a key issue with me.

I once designed a raglan cardigan with narrow lace and cable panels. I had great fun, when working the raglan dec's, figuring out how to incorporate the next vertical panels of sts into the cabling. It ended up looking like a French braid, when the intersecting panels become interwoven into the "main" braid. I never got around to writing it down; if I should ever do another one, I'd be challenged to reinvent the process all over again.

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Joan Schrouder 1/31/03

Actually, 4 stitches for one round is the right ratio for a stitch that is square (stitches per inch equals rows per inch), like garter stitch. Stockinette is not square, so you need to decrease more to actually get true flatness. If you decrease stockinette at 4 stitches per round you get a cone, not a piece of flat fabric.

This is a bit of a pet peeve for me. I like to knit top-down raglans. The standard instructions say to increase eight stitches every two rounds. If you do that, you get a sweater that has something of a cone at the neck, and the sweater won't fit people with big square shoulders- like me and my family. --Anne

You have a point; I've often noticed the same thing about circular raglans myself, either top-down or bottom-up (the direction makes no diff). But generally with things like square shawls, where stretch-blocking can make it conform, the 4 sts/rnd works very well. It's lovely to have some math simplicity so that st patts can be plugged in more easily.

My guess as to why the 4 sts/rnd inc works for many knitters is they do not have your broad shoulders.

One of the nicest "raglan" sweaters I ever knit was designed by Norah Gaughan in Vogue Knitting, in an issue prob. 13 yrs old now. It was reprinted in one of those "Best of" hardbacks that Vogue has published in the last couple of years...... something like "Best of American Designers". Her off-white tunic was knit from the top down with raglans, but also added a line of inc'ing at the top of each shoulder. Her raglans had inc's every 4th round, I think, so as not to end up with too many sts. The armholes are a little deep, but the shoulders fit really fine. If I do something like it again, I'd readjust my rate of inc to every 3 rnds on the raglans to speed up the rate for a shorter armhole depth. But it was/is the shoulder increases that made all the difference. Norah had pairs of inc's there, separated by a st. I moved the inc's farther apart, maybe 1-2" apart, to give more of an epaulet/saddle look to the sweater.

EZ also designed something along the same lines - in KNITTER's ALMANAC look for the "Hurry-Up, Last Minute Wishbone Sweater" in December's chapter. I reworked her formula to suit knitting worsted wt yarn, since she said it couldn't be done , by converting to garter st. After adding other substantial changes, I sold the resulting design to Cascade Yarns. It's called The Barnstormer Jacket and is in a leaflet, along with a Sidna Farley patt, called Round & Round & Up & Down II, in case you'd like to take a look at it.

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Joan Schrouder 1/28/03

I'm hoping you all can help me with a problem that has been vexing me for *years*. Yup, I have a WIP that has been occupying some needles for years because I have not been able to figure out the increasing on the arms.

I am working on a Kim Hargreaves design called Lily (Rowan Book Ten). The pattern repeat is as follows:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: *(K2 tog) 3 times, (yon, K1) 6 times, (K2 tog) 3 times, rep from*
Row 4: Knit
This makes a very easy, lovely, lacy, scalloped pattern.

My problem is that when I follow the pattern instructions to:
Inc 1 st at each end of 9th row and every foll 6th row, taking extra sts into patt as soon as possible.

I cannot incorporate the increased stitches into Row 3 of the pattern repeat. This creates an ever-widening set of stitches that are out of the pattern (basically stockinette with a raised row of purl stitches). It will be hidden somewhat at the seam underside the arm, but I'm so unhappy with the effect that I've put aside the project for years. I only have a few more inches on both arms to do... So close to finishing...

This pattern is a Feather & Fan stitch, sometimes called Old Shale. You've tried the simplest variation, which is to wait until you have enough sts to complete an entire repeat, which is 18 sts wide. Yes, it will have quite a bit of plain stockinette before that happens. If it's any consolation, this is probably what 90% of knitters would do, just accepting as a natural result.

Alternative #2 - Make short sleeves. Hey, such decisions have been based on less.

Alternative #3 - Study the patt. Note that, for every dec, there is 1 yo inc, coupled with a plain K1. That means that the smallest unit of your patt is 3 sts, 2 to be worked tog, and 1 to add to a yo. So for every 3 sts you add at each edge, you can begin working them into your patt. You'll have to follow the lead of your patt to see whether the inc precedes or follows the dec. For instance, if Row 3 fit perfectly into the sleeve sts, and then you added 6 more sts, 3 to each edge, I'd work the next Patt row as:
yon, k1, dec, *dec x 3, (yon, K1) x 6, dec x 3, *dec, yon, k1. (I'm assuming that you have an additional selvedge st; otherwise I wouldn't work a yon at the beg of a row.)

After 3 more sts are added at each edge, then it will be 2 inc's AND 2 DEC'S, then the *-* part, and ending with 2 DEC'S and finally 2 INC'S. And so on.

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Joan Schrouder 1/25/03

disccusion on different toe shapings to avoid Kitchener.... I was at dinner with 3 other teachers at Sts MW last summer, and we were discussing various sock toe shapings. We debated the merits of different shapes and found ourselves sharply divided between those who preferred round toes or those tapered at each side, and those who modified toe shapings to not have any dec'ing on one side like this.

| \ | \ | \

So we had to get to the root of this division of thought. There was no other solution but to take off our shoes and compare feet! (Fortunately the we were the only ones in the restaurant at that time, and the waitress had temporarily forgotten all about us! <g>) There we were, Ginger Luters, Sally Melville, Lily Chin and I, all with our nylon-stockinged feet together. I can't remember which of us had what kind, but it was quite startling to see that two of the feet had the 2nd and 3rd toes as the longest while the other two had the 1st and 2nd toes as the longest. I'm one of the latter, and if I make myself the center taper toe, I can bet that the big toe will wear out first on the sock.

My point is that it may not be as simple as subbing a different toe shape, if the intended wearer has a foot shaped like mine. While you could eliminate the Kitchener, you might be adding darning. And gosh darn, duplicate st is just like Kitchener! which starts with "K" and so does Karma.

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Dawn Brocco 3/28/03

How do you count when BO...meaning when they say BO 22 stitches....well you bind off by knitting 2 stitches...then taking the first stitch and pulling it over the second and so on and so forth...so does this count as 2 stitches or 1 bound off...so in other words you would actually be binding off 23 stitches instead of 22 or do you count the first 2 as 2 and then it is 22 stitches in total you are BO....hope that is clear, just thought it would be helpful to know exactly how you count it.

This is a good question, because, as you've seen, it is easy to not know exactly the BO count.

Now, as you know, to *start* the BO, you need to work 2 sts, pull the first over the 2nd = 1 st BO.

There *is* 1 st remaining on your RH ndl, though.

So, after you have *pulled over* 22 sts, count the remaining sts.

The remaining sts are *not* just what are left unworked on your LH ndl, but also add in the st that's remaining on your RH ndl.

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Joan Schrouder 1/31/03

Can someone explain the geometry of making a toque. Obviously, the brim is just a cylinder, but to make the top a flat circle, are the decreases handled differently than with a hat that continues rising to a point? I am working on one with a brim of 132 stitches and am ready to begin the top, but am a bit confounded....

To dec a circle (or any shape) so that it lays/lies (can never remember the rule on that one) flat, you need to get rid of st at the rate of 4 sts every rnd. This is the same ratio as dec'ing 8 sts every 2 rnds. If you did the 4 sts:1 rnd, you'd end up with a square. By switching to the 8 points, it makes an octagon, or with a little smoothing during blocking, a circle.

Your 132 isn't evenly divisible by 8; it gives 16 + 4 sts left over. So I would do 1 rnd where those 4 sts are dec'd evenly spaced arnd. Work 1 rnd plain. Dec rnd - *K14, dec (your choice)*. K arnd. Dec rnd - *K13, dec*. K arnd. Alternate the dec rnds with the plain rnd, having 1 st less in each section. When you're down to the final 8 sts, break yarn and draw thru remaining loops.

Finesse points -

• To make a sharper fold line when you begin your dec's, work a couple of P rnds first.
• Set up those first 4 dec's so that when you do the regular ones, the 4 will line up with every other one of the 8 decs. Then they'll blend right in.
• I often eliminate the last 2-3 K plain rnds at the end. IOW, I just work 1 dec rnd after another. Otherwise, for some reason, the circle wants to have a bit of a cone right in the middle. This may just be an idiosynchrocy with my st:row gauge ratio, so not necessary for everybody.
• If you need to divide into 7 or 9 sections, because that works better into the pattern, etc, go ahead and try it. Knitting is flexible enough that these hats can be blocked flat, too.

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Joan Schrouder 4/4/03

I'm never happy with the M1 result at the yoke. My increase row always ends up wavy. Is this because of the rapid increase, or the way I'm making the increase stitch (into the strand between the just-worked-stitch and the next one on the left needle, k into the back of the new loop). After the yoke the sweater is worked in gull stitch, and it always turns out very pretty. Thanks for your help in advance.

EZ's M1 is done a little differently. You put a half hitch loop on your knitting ndl, rather than k'ing up a st from the running strand. Give that a try and see if you like it better. An alternate inc is to K into the front and back of a st; that should blend into the garter pretty well.

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9. Cowl Neck

Joan Schrouder 4/6/03

I've had good luck making cowl necks by just changing ndl sizes as I go. Knit up sts with the usual ribbing size ndl, then every 2" change to 1 size larger, for ~4 times. I used I-cord bind-off with a double strand of yarn. It spread out the cowl edge so that it flared appropriately.

For I-cord bind-off: Cast on 3 sts with the double strand (and a larger ndl - experiment). Slide 3 sts onto ndl holding cowl sts. *K2 sts, SSK. Slip 3 sts as to purl back to left ndl and rept from *, until only 1 st of neck left. Cut yarn, leaving ~8" tail. Thread yarns on blunt darning ndl and graft 3 sts to cast on 3 sts, incorporating final neck st.

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10. Knitted Coonskin Cap

Joan Schrouder 4/8/03

My sister wants a coonskin cap out of the same yarn (Funny). I've looked at pictures of coonskin caps on Ebay and am not sure how to proceed. The top is flat and therefore unlike the usual hat patterns. Anyone with words of wisdom? Would I just have to increase from a certain number of casted on stitches and then decrease back to that number to get a somewhat circular flat piece of fabric and then pick up stitches and knit down, in the round for the sides?

The top on this cap isn't really circular, but more oval or a football shape. Eons ago I tackled something similar. Cast on ~an inch worth of sts. Inc a st at each side every or every other row until it's ~4-6" wide, work straight for ~an inch, then dec a st at each edge at the same rate as you increased. You may have to experiment to get the right rates. If you know your head circumference, work the "straight" part until the circumf of your work-in-progress (not measuring across the sts on the ndl) is 1/2 your head circumf, then reversing what you've done so far to get the second half.

For the straight part, K up sts all arnd the perimeter of the oval, join and purl a couple of rnds to make a sharp turn, then K arnd for maybe 3". To make this part stiffer, I'd be tempted to purl a rnd and then work a hem for 3" before sewing down.

I'll leave it to your prowess to figure out the tail.

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Joan Schrouder 4/10/03

I'm working on section five of the Curlicue Coverlet and part of the section calls for picking up stitches that are short rowed/wrapped twice. So for two rows they haven't been knitted, just wrapped and turned. When I do knit the resulting stitches, they are elongated and sloppy looking. I've tried picking up just one wrap and I've tried twisting the stitch. Nothing seems to help reduce the size of these stitches so they fit the look of the pattern better. While I try to snug up my wraps when I make them, it's too late to go back and do this now. Or will they even out once the blanket's been washed a couple times. I'm using a superwash merino, sport weight, gauge is 5.5 st = 1 inch.

If there were just one or two stitches I wouldn't worry, but there are 26 short rows to be worked in this part and section five gets repeated a couple more times in this blanket.

What happens if you *don't* do anything to the wrapped sts, ie don't K or P the wraps, but leave them where they are? Yes the wraps will still show, but since they're made in an even spacing and manner, it may look like a design feature.

That's also the way I'd treat the turning sts, too. It's natural for them to become elongated from using them in this manner. If left alone, ie not even wrapped, then they leave a holey line, which becomes its own pattern when done in a regular fashion.

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