Tuesday, May 01, 2007

On how knitting is like engineering

The Mission:
To use the basic construction and shaping of the Rowena cardigan to create the perfect vintage-y cardigan.

The Inspiration:

Rowena Cardigan from Knit2Together.

For sleeve ideas

The Goals:
To create a unique vintage-style cardigan;
To build upon knitting techniques learned in last project;
To learn new and exciting knitting techniques;
To learn how to adapt a knitting pattern to meet my needs.

The Strategy:
Shorten the sleeves to just barely below the elbow;
Change the ruffles on the sleeve to a lighter more fluttery style;
Convert the pattern from knitting flat to circular knitting (or Knitting in the Round) to eliminate side seams;
To use steeks to create the cardigan to completely eliminate having to do so much purling.
To contemplate creating a different neckline that is less wide;
To contemplate attaching the sleeves differently instead of the step bind-off technique in the pattern


The Yarn:



Is this mission impossible? Or could this just be the best way to move knitting from the School of Home Economics into the School of Engineering with Yarn? I feel myself turning into a scientist. :)

Oh, and check back once in a while to see if this mission succeeds.

2 comments:

AuntieAnn said...

This sounds interesting to me. I am particularly interested in knitting in the round and steeking a pattern written flat, since I am wanting to do that very thing with Rogue, by Jenna Wilson, and other patterns also, but haven't had the time or the nerve just yet.

Erica said...

Yeah, I feel somewhat like I'm flying by the seat of my pants with this. Though I checked a bunch of websites to see how to exactly convert the flat to circular pattern and the steeking, I'm giddy with excitement to see if it all works. I also really want to try changing how the sleeves are constructed (perhaps knitting top down, adding steeks for the armholes, etc.), but I might just be a getting bit above my station on that point. I'll definitely keep you updated with pics on the blog and all.