There were so many good questions in the comments on my last blog post (about my Noro Kureyon coat) that I thought I’d answer them here.
Q. I think you said you were going to felt it–how will you control the felting process so you don’t felt it too much? Have you done any test felting on that yarn in advance? I would like to knit some garments for felting also, but have hesitated as I don’t know if I could control the shrinking.
A. I have felted Noro Kureyon quite a few times, so I have a good feel for what it will do. But for a yarn with which you have no felting experience, knit a fairly good-sized swatch, like at least 4 by 4 inches, keeping track of the number of stitches and rows, as well as the exact measurements. Send it through the washer until the fabric looks the way you want it to look. Then measure the swatch. You can now knit your piece according to the gauge achieved after felting.
Q. I can’t remember if you were doing your own pattern or following one?
A. This is my own concoction, based on standard instructions for knitting a mitered square.
Q. Are you going to make the pattern available?
A. I’m not writing up a pattern for this because it is too hard to resize it. I’m knitting fairly good-sized squares, so to offer different sizes, I’d really need to resize the squares used and do a lot of test-knitting and math that would likely make my head explode. I am pretty much winging it, rather than following a pattern.
Q. Are you planning to line it (I know from past experience that a lining can help a larger garment hold its shape)?
A. I really should. But I probably will not. I haven’t done any sewing in ages for a variety of reasons. The fact that I am going to felt it will definitely help in the “holding its shape” department. I hope. We’ll see when it is done.
Q. Are you joining the squares as you knit, or are you sewing them as you go? I DESPISE sewing, and try to avoid it at ALL times, but if you have figured out a way to knit those bad boys together as you go… Wow!
A. I am indeed knitting these bad boys together as I knit. This is modular knitting: you pick up stitches along the side of a square to start the next one. There are several books on the subject of modular knitting that anyone interested in the technique might find interesting. I did an Amazon search on “modular knitting books” — the results are here.
Lucy sez:
“Cat nap!”