mind of winter: Calling All Crocheters: Project MIL

December 28, 2005

Calling All Crocheters: Project MIL

It's vacation time and I have an unprecedented amount of free time on my hands, so the task of the day has been deconstructing my MIL's favorite (and sadly well-worn) sweater:

We here at MindofWinter take our sweater construction seriously.

Since I know you guys are likely to be skimmers like me, I'll present you with the single outstanding issue first, and then give you a tour of the fun aspects of this sweater later in the post. The issue is this lovely edging along the hem, sleeves and neckline:

Elegant, no? It prevents the stockinette from curling and leaves a smooth edge. Need another view?

My best guess is that this is a single row of a very simple crochet followed by a bind off, worked on live knit stitches. Upon close inspection, the ratio of crochet sts to knit looks to be about 2:3, but I could be wrong about that. I'm hoping that my closest knitting buds who are also excellent crocheters, Marnie and Mary Heather, are out there poised to solve this great mystery. However, I am of the opinion that it's never a bad thing to have many expert opinions, so this is an open call to all the crocheters out there. If you think you can identify the technique, please speak up in the comments. Single crochet? Double crochet? Crab stitch? As one who crochets on an as-needed basis, and sometimes not even then, I just can't tell.

Now, on for a fun tour of the sweater. Here's the whole shebang unfurled for you:

I got pretty lucky. MIL's favorite sweater is stockinette, short-sleeved, and waist-length.

My MIL likes this sweater so much that she says she would be really happy to have just this sweater in six different colors and no others. Since I'm pretty sure that was meant as a hint, I decided to get started on the prototype. My plan is to knit the "original" by hand, and then impose upon my friends with knitting machines to let me borrow equipment to whip out several more over the year. I think that large enough segments of this sweater can be machine made that the finishing won't make me batty. I figure if I pound one out every few months, she'll have a full set by next year. I'm not usually one to take knitting requests (as all who know me know!), but in this case the pattern was both interesting enough to spend time deciphering and straightforward enough to spend time producing. Challange! (Imagine that in a Frenchy accent.) There you have it.

The fun features of this sweater (aside from the clever edging), reside mostly in the sleeve area, where the designer made use of fully fashioned single and double decreases. The decreases on the back body do not match those on the front exactly (there are fewer back decreases, for the broad of shoulder gal), and there is increasing on both the front and back shoulders at the armhole edge (also for the broad of back). This was a really interesting sweater for me to deconstruct, as it was created for someone of a very different body type than myself. My MIL is tall, short-waisted (but thin-waisted), buxom, and has strong swimmer's shoulders. We have identical ideal length measurements for armholes and body, but we vary widely in our width measurements. I've never owned or seen a sweater with increases at the shoulder, but for her body type, they work perfectly. I've made schematics and written out all the instructions for her perfect sweater (sans crochet edging) and found it really instructional. I feel I'm one step closer to getting the sizing on other body types, which is a great thing for someone who likes to design. Now all I need is some yarn....

Posted by Julia at December 28, 2005 06:02 AM
In machine knitting | main | project MIL

Comments

The schematics you have pointed out are really unusual so thanks for the lesson!

Posted by: Emy at January 4, 2006 07:12 AM

The edge looks to me like a tubular cast on with a row of single crochet to finish. Like maybe the tubular cast on wasn't enough to keep it from curling so the crochet was an afterthought? Dunno. I do love that you have pointed out the shoulder increases. I've always had problems with broad shoulders and I think this is the solution! Thanks for another great post!

Posted by: Audrey Daigger at December 30, 2005 03:46 PM

Thank you sooo much for the pep talk. I was really having a rough couple of weeks with finals, the holidays, etc. I'm feeling much better about life lately-I just haven't had a chance to update my blog since Christmas!

I really enjoy reading your blog. I think it was the first knitting blog I found a couple of years ago. Wonderful stories, and fabulous knitting, and lots of inspiration.

Take Care!
Lucky Liz

Posted by: Liz at December 30, 2005 07:19 AM

From the picture, it doesn't look to me as if the crochet was worked over live stitches... that would be easier to tell in person (ie, feeling the bulk of it) so I'll trust you... but it looks like single crochet on the cast on edge, but worked into one stitch, then skipping a stitch (but working a chain to keep the same number of stitches...?). Then, single crochet over that row. When I have crochet hooks at my disposal, I'll try and copy it for you. This looks like it will be a fun project!

Posted by: Mary-Heather at December 29, 2005 02:35 PM

Perfect use of a knittng machine. I have *cough* several and they really save my bacon when there are miles of stockinette. I agree with Marnie that you should have no problem doing the whole she-bang on a machine.

No clue about the crochet, sorry!

Posted by: KT at December 29, 2005 04:38 AM

That is the perfect use of a knitting machine! I have *cough* several and they can really save my bacon when miles of stockinette are required. And I have no idea about the crochet. Sorry!

Posted by: KT at December 29, 2005 04:36 AM

I haven't the slightest bit of useful advice to offer but I am watching with interest! I think it is becoming one of my favourite things to watch bloggers copy (and improve on) their favourite sweaters (or their loved one's favourite sweaters as the case may be). I know I have a couple I should probably make a new version of before it is too late... well at least one.

Posted by: Jo at December 29, 2005 02:57 AM

I know zip about crochet, so any cast-on edge that looks that neat, I say, Tubular cast-on! That's my solution for everything. Fiddly yarn? T.C-O. Runny custard? T.C-O. Broken arm? T.C-O.

Beautiful sweater, tho. You're a braver woman than I. Vaya con Dios.

Posted by: Rachel at December 28, 2005 08:33 PM

Happy Holidays!!
Mostly a lurker, but had to chime in. It appears in your photos that the final ratio is 1:1.
I'm with Kathy that there are 2 rows of C going on here. There are 6 K st between ribbons and 6 st on the final crocheted edge between the ribbons.
There are definitely *not* 1:1 sc to knits on the inside row. Looks like 1:2?
I'm thinking the first row is *sc ch1* around and the second row is sl st in each st around.
I'm pretty sure about the 2nd row, but that 1st one looks a little mysterious.
It'll be interesting to see how it all works out in the end. :)

Posted by: karen w at December 28, 2005 04:28 PM

It looks sort of like a reverse crab stitch, but it also looks like it's fairly tight on the sleeves. Maybe you could do your own edging that would look even better?

Posted by: Lauren at December 28, 2005 03:47 PM

It looks like a row of slip stitch, followed by a row of single crochet. Hard to tell without looking at the actual garment, but I'm almost 100% sure there are two rows of crochet involved.

Posted by: Kathy at December 28, 2005 03:38 PM

I can offer no advice (after all you are the pro, certainly not me) but good luck. I'm sure you'll replicate it to a "t"!

Posted by: Kate at December 28, 2005 03:34 PM

You know, the more I look at it, the more I think it might just be two rows of single crochet, each done on a different sized needle.
Hopefully, I'll have some time to play later and try to reproduce it. :)

Posted by: Marnie at December 28, 2005 03:15 PM

I think the trim might be in afgan stitch (done with the super long crochet hook) It's similar yet slightly different than single crochet. It may be a combo of the two.
Are you going to be able to take the sweater with you? I suspect not, huh?

If you can, send me a super sized copy of the image and I'll see if I can't experiment and match it exactly.

I do love the various details...would love to knit it once just for the experience. I think you'll have no problem reproducing this, full fashioned decreases and all, on a knitting machine.

Posted by: Marnie at December 28, 2005 03:10 PM