Did you bind off your Burning Branch Shawl? One of my favorite parts of any project with lace is the blocking.

Because of the unusual shape of this shawl, it can be a little tricky to block  I laid it out on m blocking board and pinned out the SSKs then smoothed the rest of the shape and pinned it.

 

I love taking a dried lace project off the blocking board. It is so satisfying when you remove the pins, pick it up, and the beautiful shape stays.

Now you can wear your finished shawl. Check out the different ways Katie is wearing our sample.

  

Do you love your shawl? Any questions we didn’t answer?

Now that we have completed our three leaf repeats, it is time to work the last leaf and twig border. You’ll work the first part until there are 9 stitches between each marker.

The twig pattern is formed in the next section and is repeated until you have 2 stitches before marker B. This will be your k1 and ssk like before.

Tip: As you’re working, you’ll being to be able to read your knitting. There were a couple times I was purling back on the wrong side row and I realized I missed a yarnover. This is super easy to fix without undoing what you’ve already done. When you get to the point where there should be a yarnover, simply pick up the bar between the two stitches and purl it – instant fix.

Kirsten designed this pattern to use all of the BFL skein, so you may run out before you finish the pattern repeats, but the great thing about how she designed it is that it’s okay! I ran out (with enough to bind off) when there were five stitches between the markers and it still looks amazing. You could also do the last section in a coordinating color for a different look.

Next week, we’ll wrap up the Burning Branch Shawl KAL and block our shawls!

This week, we move on to knitting the leaves of the Burning Branch Shawl. I love the leaf pattern of this shawl and the way it develops. It has me thinking spring, and I’m definitely ready to see leaves on the trees again.

In the first row of each leaf section you’ll be placing your ‘B’ markers. this is why it is important to have two different colors of markers.

Tip: If you don’t have different color markers, you can use scraps of yarn. I often just grab a short length of yarn from a nearby scrap ball and tie it and use it as a marker. Then I don’t have to worry if it falls off and rolls under a chair since it is just scrap.

For each repeat you’ll work until there are two stitches before your ‘B’ markers. These will be your k1 and ssk.

After working the first leaf you’ll repeat it two more times.

The wrong side purl rows are starting to get long! Purling is not my favorite thing to do, but I’ve been catching up on old TV shows on Netflix as I knit this.

How is your shawl coming?

We’re kicking off our latest KAL (knit-a-long) here on the blog today! When Kirsten finished 514 Burning Branch Shawl, we loved the unique shape and the BFL Fingering dyed by Gail is amazing to work with and wear.

 

For the KAL, you’ll need a skein of Valley Yarns BFL Fingering Hand Dyed, size US4 needles (I used 32″ Addi Lace circulars), and stitch markers*- 6 each of 2 different colors, and the pattern.

In the first section, you cast on, place you ‘A’ markers and work 12 rows to set up the pattern.

If you’re going to be at Stitches West this weekend, make sure you come visit us in booth 604-612 and 703-711. We’ll have the sample, pattern, and yarn so you can start right away. You definitely want to check it out in person. It is gorgeous!

We’ll continue next week. Hope you’ll join us!

*My stitch markers were purchased from Knitifacts etsy store.

We’re wrapping up the Classic Elite Yarns Sebastian Gloves Knitalong this week. How are your gloves coming along? I’ve finally finished one of the ribbed cuff gloves and I’ve started a cable cuff glove too.

Cable Cuff Clarification – First up, if you’re knitting the Cable Cuff version of the gloves and haven’t started knitting from the second chart yet, there was a missing line in the instructions. After you finished knitting the 16 rows of the Cuff Cable Chart, BEGIN FOLLOWING CABLE CHART OVER 18 STS BEGINNING WITH ROUNDS 4 TO 8, THEN WORKING CHART RNDS 1 TO 8 TO COMPLETE GLOVE. Some of you may have picked up on this omission. But some may have started with round 1 of the second chart. But no worries. Your gloves will still look great. You’ll just have an extra twist in your second middle cable crossing. You can see an example of the extra twist here.

Change to Smaller Needles for Fingers – After you’ve knit the last Reverse Stockinette Ridge and placed the stitches on waste yarn, be sure to change to your smaller needles. I missed this step in the directions, but it’s not the end of the world. By knitting the fingers on smaller needles, this will create a more dense and durable knitted fabric. This is exactly what you want on the finger tips which is where my gloves wear out first. I’ve mended the fingertips of these gloves so many times. I love them and will keep mending them until I run out of yarn. So keep your yarn scraps from the gloves for future mending.

Use Short DPNs – If you never knit glove fingers before on double pointed needles, you may find a shorter needle such as the Knitter’s Pride Dreamz 5″ DPNs to be easier to work with. You’ll only have 3-5 stitches on each needle, and longer DPNs may feel more awkward and just get in the way.

Shaping Finger Tops – Once you’ve knit to the top of a finger and after threading the tail through the remaining stitches, I like to tighten up the stitches from my last round before pulling the tail tightly to close up the top. I find this creates a more tidy looking finger tip.

Closing Up the Gaps – Once you’ve finished all of the fingers, you may find some gaps between each finger. Since you left nice, long tails at the beginning of each finger, with just a couple of stitches, you’ll be able to easily close up those gaps. Before weaving in your ends and cutting off the extra yarn, try on your gloves looking for any other gaps that you want to close up.

Embellish Those Gloves – I really like the look of the cable pattern without any embroidery. But I’ve seen others do some really nice embellishing too. Have fun with this part; you’re almost done!

Thanks again to everyone who have been sharing their glove progress with us. It’s great to see so many knitting along. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments below. And if you’re on Ravelry, we’d love to see a picture of your finished gloves in the Sebastian Gloves thread.

Happy Knitting!

- Dena

So is everyone ready to get started knitting their Sebastian Gloves? I’ve been working on the Ribbed Cuff Version and have really been enjoying having a portable knitting project again.

First off, I’d like to answer a couple of questions people have had on social media this past week. Some of you may be having the same questions.

1. “I’m not very good at knitting on double pointed needles. Would it be possible to magic loop these?” Absolutely! I would suggest knitting the gloves using your favorite small-diameter circular knitting method. I started out knitting my glove on DPNs, but once I got to the cable portion, I found it easier to knit on two circular needles. With this cable pattern, I didn’t like having a cable cross between two double pointed needles. With two circulars or the magic loop method, it’s easy to have each cable portion on a separate needle.

2. “I don’t want the cable pattern on the inside of the glove. If I recall, cable draws the fabric in compared to the same number of stitches in stockinette. If that’s true – is there a way to figure out how much I’d need to reduce the number of stitches on the inside without knitting it, measuring it, and pulling it out?” Kristin Nicholas‘s response to this question: You would have to figure out your stockinette gauge and substitute in. You would also have to adjust the finger stitch numbers for pickup. The reason I put the cable on both sides is because if a glove is the same on the front and back it can be worn on both hands. The gloves I have that are either right or left handed always wear out on the right hand first. You can swap the gloves between hands so they will wear evenly and you won’t have to re-knit the fingers so often.

3. “Is there a fingerless version of these?” or “Wonder if I could make these as mittens instead of gloves?” If you want to make a fingerless version, there has been suggestions to bind off after the last reverse stockinette ridge or to stop knitting the fingers at the first knuckle. If you want to make mittens, I would suggest skipping the last reverse stockinette ridge and continuing the cable pattern. Follow a basic mitten pattern to shape the top. But you’ll have to do some extra work figuring out how to end the cable pattern.

Now let’s get knitting! Below, you’ll find some notes, links to video tutorials, and tips as you knit the gloves.

Cast On – I just used my go-to Long Tail Cast On. Unless I need a really stretchy cast-on edge, I use this most of the time.

Needles – If you’ve never used DPNs before or need some tips, check out our Knitting in the Round on DPNs video.

Changing Colors – If you’ve never changed colors in your knitting, check out our video on How to Add a New Color to Your Knitting.

Ribbed Cuff – For the first row of ribbing in the ribbed cuff, I would suggest knitting all stitches. If you do the ribbed pattern on the first row, you’ll get a messier transition between the color change (see photo at the right). I ripped back and reknit this row. Check out our tutorial on how to knit clean stripes in ribbing for more explanation.

Knitting Cables – I love cables because they add a lot of fun texture and look a lot more complicated than they really are. If you’re a cable newbie, watch our How to Knit Cables video before starting the cable section. One of my favorite tools to use to keep track of where I’m at in a cable chart is highlighter tape. Really, it’s awesome. You can see it in use here. But sticky notes work really well too.

Marking the Thumb Gusset – Later in the glove, you’ll need to measure from the beginning of the thumb gusset, to where you knit the last reverse stockinette ridge. For ease of measuring later, I would suggest slipping a locking stitch marker in the middle of the cable pattern of this row. It’s easier to see where the thumb gusset begins.

Knitting the Thumb Gusset – You’ll be using a Make 1 stitch (M1) to create the thumb gusset. For a refresher on how to knit Make 1 Increases, watch this video.

Once you’ve knit the thumb gusset, you’ll hold the thumb stitches on waste yarn and continue knitting the rest of the glove hand. You’ll need to knit until the hand measures a certain amount from the beginning of the thumb. Don’t make the mistake that I made and measure from where you put the thumb stitches on waste yarn. You’ll need to measure from the beginning of the thumb gusset. So I had several rows I had to unknit. And unknitting cables is definitely harding then knitting them. Learn from my mistakes.

That brings us to the last reverse stockinette ridge. We’ll pick up there next week. Now take a moment, slip on your glove, and take a picture. Looking good so far I bet. Share your progress on our Ravelry page here. I’d love to see everyone’s color choices and gloves so far. I’m knitting the small size, which is a little snug for my hand.

If you get stuck, please post your questions in the comments.

Happy Knitting!

- Dena

 

We loved Kristin Nicholas’s Sebastian Gloves the first time we saw them. But we were blown away by the incredible response they got when we featured them on the cover of our Fall 2012 Catalog. Their cheerful cuteness were hard to resist.

Last week, Kristin Nicholas kicked off a two-day Sebastian Gloves knitting class. But not everyone is fortunate enough to live close enough to WEBS to take our classes. So we’re starting a knitalong today for the Sebastian Gloves! If you’ve never heard of a knitalong (also known as KAL) or participated in one before, they’re a fun way for a group of knitters to virtually knit a pattern together. We’ll offer tips, answer your questions, provide tutorials on techniques used in the gloves. You’ll share your progress, ask questions when you get stuck, and definitely post photos of your finished gloves.

If you’ve never knit gloves before, a knitalong is a great excuse to try a new kind of project. You’ll find lots of help and encouraging words here.

This week of the knitalong you’ll be collecting the supplies you’ll need to get started.

Step 1 – Purchase the pattern. You have two options. The Sebastian Gloves can be found in the Classic Elite Yarns 9209 Color by Kristin Book 1 pattern book which we currently have in stock. Or if you prefer a digital version, you can purchase the Sebastian Gloves PDF pattern on our website too.

Step 2 – Purchase the yarn. The yarn used for the gloves is Classic Elite Yarns Color by Kristin, a 50% wool, 25% alpaca, 25% mohair worsted weight yarn. If you’re knitting the Ribbed Cuff version, you’ll need 1 skein each of 4 colors. If you’re knitting the Cabled Cuff version, you’ll need 1 skein each of 3 colors. In my Ribbed Cuff gloves, I’m using the 4 colors pictured at the right, with the Turquoise Sea color as my main color.

Step 3 – Decide which color will be your main color and contrast colors. Especially if you’re going to knit the Ribbed Cuff version, I recommend drawing a quick map of the glove and where each color will appear in the glove. This will save you time later to prevent you from knitting the wrong color. Believe me, it happens.

Step 4 – Check your gauge by knitting a swatch. Some people swatch, some people don’t. Sometimes it depends on the type of project you’re going to knit. Check out our blog post on Checking Your Gauge if you’re not sure if you think you need to swatch or not. If you do swatch, use the color that appears the least in the gloves you’re knitting.

Step 5 – Get together the other materials you’ll need. After you determine which size needles to use, you’ll need a set of double pointed needles in that size (larger needles) and then a set about two sizes down from there (smaller needles). The recommended sizes are US 5 & 7. You’ll also need a cable needle, stitch holders, and some waste yarn.

Note: if you prefer to knit gloves on two circulars or use one long circular needle for magic loop, go right ahead. I’m finding using two circular needles easier to use when knitting the cabled portion of the gloves since I don’t like it when a cable crosses between two double pointed needles.

Step 6 – Decide which size you’re going to make. This pattern is written in small, medium, and large sizes for women.

Step 7 – Share your color combination and questions. Please share your color choices in the comments below or in the Sebastian Glove KAL thread on Ravelry. And if you have any questions, ask away. That’s what we’re here for.

We’ll start knitting the gloves next Sunday. Then the knitalong will wrap up a week later, which leaves plenty of knitting time left if you’re making them as a gift for the holidays.

I can’t wait to see which color combinations people are going to come up with. This is a great project for trying a color you may not normally use. Have fun with your color selection.

Happy Knitting!
- Dena

Hi Everyone!

Did you finish your Caeles? We all completed ours and we’re excited to show you our finished project!

 We all used Valley Yarns Goshen, except for Tina (grey Caeles). She chose to create more of a layering piece by knitting hers our of Valley Yarns Northampton. It looks great in both yarns!

We all chose to shorten the top because we were more comfortable with a shorter style. Since it is knit from the top down, this wasn’t an issue. We kept trying it on until it was a length we were comfortable with.

Caeles is a great top that you can wear casually with jeans, or dress it up like Dena did with a skirt for this picture. You can also customize it by adding a picot edge like Lise did.

We hope you had fun knitting along with us. If you head over to the All Things WEBS group on Ravelry, make sure you post a picture of your finished project. We would love to see them!

We took last week to work the body up to the hem in our Caeles KAL. We have four of us here at WEBS that are currently working on the Caeles, and we have three different options for the hem that we chose to do. Here are three videos that show the different hem options we chose to use.

Woven Hem for Top-Down Knitting

Bound-off Hem for Top-Down Knitting

Sewn Hem for Top-Down Knitting

Another tip for the hem is to run a length of yarn through your stitches at the point where your live stitches will meet the back after it’s folded, so you can sew your stitches down all along the same line.

Next, you’ll pick up stitches and work short rows on the sleeves and collar. We found that the best way to do attach the live stitches on this part is by sewing them down. It lays the flattest, and you don’t want any extra bulk at the collar or the arms, especially the underarms.

How is your Caeles coming?

I hope that your armhole shaping and neck shaping went swimmingly. Now, you’ll join the fronts and backs, including casting on for the front neckline and a few stitches for the underarms.

Make sure you place the safety pin on the stitch that the pattern calls for. You’ll need this spot later. You can use a safety pin, but it’s just as easy to use a locking stitch marker.

When you join the pieces, make sure nothing is twisted! One of use discovered this the hard way (and that knitting when you’re tired isn’t always the best decision!). It’s easy enough to go back and undo it, but it’s better to save the hassle before you get there.

As you continue the body, you’ll be using the make one increases again for the shaping on the body.

One of the best things about working a piece from the top down is that you can try it on as you go. We put our stitches on waste yarn and tried them on. (In the pictures below, you’ll notice Tina’s working her sweater in Valley Yarns Northampton for a fall/vest option.)

Next week, we’ll finish up the body and work the hem.

Happy Knitting!