Short Row Shaping (Knitting Sideways Bust Darts)

One of the main attractions (for me) of making your own clothes is getting them to fit right. Apparently I am not regularly shaped and I really don't know many women who are the same shape as a mannequin. We all have different proportions that don't necessarily mirror the proportions of garments on the rail in shops. For me the main problem is though I have an "hour glass" figure the measurements on the garment usually don't equate to my narrow back and large bust size.

When I started knitting I found out there was a magic solution to ill fitting garments - it was called "short row shaping". When I first saw these magic words on my screen I knew I needed to find out more. Especially since my first knitted garment didn't really hang right. I wanted to make sure that the next item I knit was a perfect fit. However it has been a bit of a long trek to find out how to work out the magic formula that changes a standard pattern, into one that fits. I think I have finally worked it out and thought that I would try and explain a little about my methods here on this blog so that I wouldn't ever forget my working out and to help others by compiling all my research in one place. I hope it helps other people wade through all the blurb that it is available.

I will start by listing my resources:

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book
Yarn Forward Magazine Issues 15 and 16
Knotions Magazine
White Lies Designs Shapely Tank Pattern
Knitty.com article by Bonne Marie Burns
Picking the brains of Elizabeth Jarvis at my knitting group.

It was by utilising the above resources and working through the Shapely Tank Pattern that I felt able to start thinking for myself about how the short row shaping thing actually worked and why. The first time I did the calculations myself was a bit tricky but I came up with the Boccolo Jacket. This jacket wasn't a snug fit but it wasn't intended to be really. All the hems lined up properly and there were no bits that stretched or gaped. The second time I worked out the calculations for short row shaping I decided to make a spreadsheet so I didn't have to work it out from first principles again. The short row calculations are pretty straight forward and I will try and explain them here.

Short row shaping doesn't increase the width of the garment at the bust, what it does is increase the length of the garment at the front in the place where you need it most. The above diagram shows that if you have a larger than average bust, the front piece of the garment is longer than the flat back of the garment. One way of adding extra rows at the front, and making sure the sides seams still match up, is by adding short rows. This blog entry does not tell you how to do wrap and turns to create short rows, it only explains how to use it in relation to bust shaping. There are plenty of good tutorials on the web to explain how to do wrap and turns or short rows in knitting so if you don't understand these terms, go and search for them now - then come back to read the rest of this entry!

By adding extra rows at the front the fabric becomes three dimensional rather than flat. The short rows essentially add extra length in the front between the wrap and turns, which form a fold in the knitted fabric to make it follow the curve of your bust, the line of which is shown above.

When adding your short rows you should start with the wrap and turn nearest to the armhole edge, adding a mirror image wrap and turn at the opposite edge of the garment, and work your way nearer to the centre of the fabric, with each wrap and turn at alternate sides of the garment. This pattern of wrapping and turning is shown in the diagram below.

If you are working with a garment which has an opening at the front, each front piece should only have wraps at the armhole edge but each turn should be worked twice, once at the armhole edge and secondly by turning at the central edge of each front piece of the garment, as though it were a normal end of row.

In order to work out how many short rows you need for your bust size you need the following information, worked out in inches:

(A) Measurement from the top of your shoulder to your waist at the back of your body.

(B) Measurement from the top of your shoulder to your waist at the front of your body.

(C) Distance between the points of your bust.

(D) Number of stitches per inch in your garment

(E) Number of rows per inch in your garment.

(F) Number of stitches in the front piece of your garment.

With this information you can work out how many wrap and turns you need and where to put them.

The first thing you need to do is work out how much longer the front of your garment needs to be than the back of it.

(B) - (A) = (G) Where (G) is the Additional Fabric Required at the front of the garment

Next you need to work out how many rows you need in order to make that additional (G) measurement.

(G) x (E) = (H) Where (H) is the number of rows required to create the right length of fabric at the front of the garment.

Each wrap and turn creates a two new rows so calculate how many are required:

(H) /2 = (I) Where (I) is the number of wrap and turns needed at each armhole edge.

So now that you know how many wrap and turns are needed to create your extra rows, you need to know where to place them. The reason you need to know the distance between your bust points is because you don't want to place any wrap and turns in that area of the garment. That is the area that we are trying make bigger. All the increasing must be done on the outer edges of your garment. It is also a good idea to add on a extra inch on either side of this measurement so that the wrap and turns don't form a line that points to the tip of your bust (if you don't add this increased measurement you will end up looking like a 1950's Sweater Girl).

(C) + 2 = (J) Where (J) is the area at the centre of the garment without wrap and turns.

To work out the number of stitches you are not using for wrap and turns you calculate the following:

(J) x (D) = (K) Where (K) is the number of stitches in the centre that will not have any wrap and turns.

To calculate how far from the armhole edge your closest wrap and turn should be we need to calculate the following:

((F) - (K))/2 = (L) Where (L) is the number of the stitch from each armhole edge which should have the most central or last wrap and turn.

The first wrap and turn should be a couple of stitches in from the armhole edge to allow for seams to be sewn up.

Each wrap and turn should be spaced out as evenly as possible in the number of stitches allowed.

The short row shaping section should start level with the bottom of the bust if you are knitting from the bottom up, or start level with the top of the bust if you are knitting from the top down. This does not need to an exact measurement because we are dealing with a knitted garment that has some element of stretch. This stretch is the reason that only the larger busted amongst us have to add these extra rows, so our bellies are not on display.

These calculations may look quite complicated but if you take them apart step by step you will get there in the end. I have created a PDF that you can print off, with a worked example and a blank form for you to use for your own calculations, using the above formulas.

I really hope that this blog entry has helped some of you. If you need any further clarification I recommend going to the sources listed above, which is where I got my information from, or you can always leave a comment and I will try and answer any questions you may have. Good luck in getting your patterns to fit you in the way you want them to!

Needle Turn Applique

This week I have been sewing applique using the needle turn technique. I have found it very satisfying in a strange and finicky way. The first exercise was for the sampler quilt and the block is the Friendship Dahlia. I have only appliqued the petals of the dahlia as I decided that the centre circle of the flower would be determined when the quilt was finished. At the moment I am leaning towards the dark red fabric though.

The tutor suggested that maybe the fabric I use for the sashing could be used for the centre of the dahlia. I'm not sure of that because I intend using the original swirly green grey fabric I bought for the background fabric. I don't think that would work as a centre of the flower. However I am planning on using that fabric for the next block I do on my sampler quilt, the Hawaiian Quilt Block.

Before we make the sampler block we are going to make a cushion to learn the techniques of quilting. I love the look of Hawaiian Quilting. I had never really know what it was before this course though I had seen it. I have tried a search on Hawaiian Quilting and you can find more at this page which seems to be a good summary of what it is.

I decided to try and tie my cushion into the quilt by using the background fabric on the cushion, but I used a different plain green background fabric that goes in our lounge and goes fairly well with the sampler quilt fabrics.

The shape I cut out looks a little like acorn leaves to me and I'm pretty happy with the way the applique part has gone.

I think I will keep the same applique shape for the sampler quilt block as it feels quite pleasing to me to stitch and to look at.

The cushion block will be used to learn how to hand quilt so hopefully when I go back to the class after the half term break I will have something quilty to show you.

Bag for a Birthday Boy

My nephew has a birthday this weekend. He is a lovely boy and deserves lovely presents, especially as we do not see him enough as he lives several hours drive away. This weekend his grandparents are coming to visit us and we thought we would get them to take the presents back and deliver them by hand.

We started by buying a book and then I decided that I would make a book bag for it to go in. Basically I was looking for an excuse to use the fabulous fabric I bought with my nephew in mind. Apparently pirates are all the rage in their household at the moment so I bought some skull and crossbones fabric and got busy with the rotary cutter and mat.

I cut out 2 pieces of exterior fabric with heavy weight interface ironed on and 2 pieces of lining fabric that were sized 16" x 14". I sewed the exterior with right sides facing inwards along the sides and bottom edge. I sewed the lining fabrics in the same way but left a gap along half of the bottom edge. I pressed all the seams open.

I turned the lining fabric out so the right side faced outwards. I then inserted this bag inside the exterior fabric and lined up the top edges to that the right side of both sections faced each other and pinned them. I sewed around the top edge and then put my hand through the hole in the bottom of the lining, pulled the exterior fabric through the hole and turned the bag the right way out. I then sewed the bottom edge of the lining before inserting the lining inside the bag and pressing the seams.

I then put eyelets into the bottom corners of the bag and around the top edge. This was my first time using eyelets and in the end I abandoned the eyelet gadget and simply bashed the eyelets closed with a hammer. It seems to have worked fine!

I used cord threaded through the eyelets at the top of the bag and threading the cord through a bead on the outside of the bag at the centre and back of the bag to ensure the cord threaded through all the eyelets evenly.

To attach the cord to the bag, I threaded the cord through each bottom eyelet and stitched the cord together using zig zag stitch. I then slipped another bead over the cut end to hide it.

The bag is pretty strong because of the lining and the interfacing and I hope this means it will stand up to everything a small boy can throw at it, because I really like the bag and I think my nephew will too.

He can wear it either over one shoulder,

...or rucksack style to keep his hands free.

I was really happy with the finished article and may make other bags in this vein to use as project bags. I may have a hunt through my fat quarter collection and see what I can come up with as I am feeling a little inspired now!

Noro Shawl

Today I took my Noro shawl off the blocking wires and I have to show you how pretty it is! Here it is with all it's full wingspan showing.

You can tell how excited I was about this project because I didn't even wait until I looked halfway decent to take photos. Please don't tell me how ill I look, this is how I look without makeup (which is most of the time and I know I look ill, that is because I am!)

And I am aware my hair is all falling out of the clip!

But just look at my pretty zingy shawl!

I am so pleased with this shawl which was knit using almost 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon sock yarn, starting with 10 pattern repeats and working until I ran out of yarn. It is the perfect size for me and finishes just at my elbow.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed in my opening paragraph a brief reference to blocking wires. Yes I finally succumbed to the need for these marvellous tools of the knitting trade. It makes blocking so much quicker and easier. I love how straight it makes the edges and easy it is to move around huge chunks of knitting to get it to line up properly. I hated blocking before the wires because getting a knit straight used to take dozens of pin movements to move just one edge slightly. It was always very tiring for me stooping over the blocking mats for long periods of time. The blocking wires have reduced the time it takes to block by over a half. I got my blocking wires here. It really was £20 well spent and I can definitely recommend getting a set if you don't like placing your pins!

Patchwork Progress

I have been keeping rather quiet on the stitching front of late. I assure you that doesn't mean I am not doing any. The problem is I am doing so much I haven't had time to take photographs and blog about it. We are currently a week ahead on the class schedule because we are proceeding with our homework so quickly!

So far I have three completed blocks for my sampler quilt and I have done the preparation work on one more. The first two blocks I completed were English Patchwork, one in hexagons and one in diamonds.

One of the things that helps the patchwork stand out is the new background I have chosen. When I selected my original background I was a little confused and thought I was actually choosing backing fabric. As backing fabric it is great but as background fabric it did not work, as you can see on this planning shot.

The colour of the background fabric is too close in colour to one of the fabrics in the patchwork. So before I started attaching patchwork to the background fabric I spent a good hour looking through the fabrics at Mary Clare and chose the new one that really makes the patchwork "pop".

Sorry about the lighting but this time of year it is really hard to get good clear photos of fabrics. The original background fabric won't go to waste and probably will get used for the backing of the quilt or possibly sashing, or even both. I love the fabric and as my OH has actually specified that he "really likes" that fabric I will use it, as normally I can barely get a grunt of acknowledgment when I show him my projects.

The third completed square is the Heart Applique square. The hearts were cut out of fabric and out of sew in interfacing and then wrong sides facing inwards sewn together. Once the 1/4" hem was completed, the seam allowance was trimmed and cut and a cut was made in the centre of the interface. The heart was then turned right side out and the edges were finger pressed.

The placement of these pieces was harder than I was expecting. Even with lines marked on the fabric and pinning the shapes in place, I had to unpick several hearts multiple times as they had migrated off centre. But I think all the hard work was worth it and it has become my favorite block so far.

Hopefully next week I'll have you some more interesting work to show you. I am feeling really positive about the direction this quilt is going in. I think the fabrics are working well and it will hang together nicely when the quilt is all put together.

Download Links

If you are a regular to my blog, you may have noticed some additions to the page, mainly the photos on the right hand side of the page.

These photos and "buy now" buttons show you quickly the patterns I have designed that are available to buy, or download for free. The prices are shown above each pattern so you know what you are paying before you click the button.

These links do not give much information, just the picture and the cost, but they are only placed there for your convenience. If you want to know more about a pattern you can either click on the link at the top of the page marked "CraftyCripple's Downloads", check out the patterns on Ravelry or if you don't have access to that resource my website has much more information.

I hope you like the changes, but let me know if you have any suggestions about other information you would like to see.

Beaded Bracelet

Today I finished a project that I started a few weeks ago. I decided randomly one day that I really should use some of my stock of seed beads. I bought my beads when I was at college and starting to learn to knit. I only needed to buy one pot of beads for the course, but I sort of went a bit mad in the shop and bought a few more than I needed. Since I left college I've not used many of these beads at all. So I decided to use some of these beads for a knitting project. The only problem with this bright idea was I had forgotten how to knit with beads. I had a complete brain freeze and I couldn't find my college notes. At this point I probably should have given up, except I had spent around 10 hours stringing beads onto some crochet thread. I couldn't give up after spending all those hours threading, now could I?

So I hunted round the net and found a video on YouTube (the source of so much knitterly goodness).

This video was short and sweet, with no narration but I think it was one of the clearest instructions I could find.

Using this video I cast on and knit stocking stitch while adding beads for some time and came up with this:

I decided that this silk I got at a show a while ago would work well with my little band of beads and I managed to track down some ribbon that matched it really well.

I took the silk and ironed on some interfacing before cutting out two pieces to be sewn together and then turned the band right side out. I then stitched on the knitted band and got this:

I sealed the cut ends of the ribbon by holding a lit match close to the edge until they melted slightly.

I tied the ribbon into a double bow so that it would stay fastened. I decided that slipping the band over the hand would be easier than trying to tie a pretty bow one handed.

If anyone is interested I may write this little project up as a tutorial and include the sewing pattern piece as it is knocking around at the moment. If no one shows any interest, I'll probably consign it to the depths of the rubbish bin and forget about doing this again. For the moment it has served as an excellent little exercise in knitting with beads.

In search of the warmest hat

You may have noticed that over the last few months I have knit a LOT of hats. Not all of them were for me mind you. In fact hardly any were for me, but I do have quite a large selection of hats now. Unfortunately none of them seemed to be up to the job of keeping my head and ears warm whilst going out on my mobility scooter. The main problem seemed to be that when it is really cold I have a sort of rain cover "thingy" that covers the scooter and me. It isn't perfect in its design but it keeps me dry and quite a bit warmer because it keeps the wind out. The main problem with this cover is the fastening and the hood. When you turn your head to check out oncoming traffic before crossing the road, the hood pulls whatever hat you are wearing back or round on your head. Last week when I went out I was actually in pain because my ears were so cold and the rain was coming down in spades so I couldn't rearrange my hood/hat without getting soaked.

So I hatched a plan, a plan that involved a pattern from Simply Knitting Magazine, April 2009 and two skeins of Rowan Cocoon. The pattern I had selected had jumped out at me when I first saw it and it was in my box of ripped out magazine patterns. I originally bought some blue green Cocoon to make the hat but a few months ago someone contacted me and bought them because they needed the exact dye lot to finish a project. Always happy to help a fellow knitter in need I sent her the yarn. I decided to replace the blue green with a dark slate gray colour that matches my Winter Coat. Even though I knew what I was going to do with the yarn (make this hat) I hadn't got round to it because I have a lot of hats. Last week pushed me into reevaluating knitting up the pattern in to a matter of some urgency. Especially as I saw the weather forecast for the coming week - more snow!!!!!

The pattern is by Amanda Crawford and is called "Darling Buds". It has some lovely cabling and bobble detailing on the sides of the hat, that run down over the ear flaps. The ear flaps were what prompted my desire for urgent hat knitting. I thought even if the hat slid back, my ears would still have some coverage.

It is hard to see the stitch pattern as the light wasn't great yesterday - what with the snow and all.

When I tried the hat on, before the pom-pom and cords were attached, my other half stated that I had a bit of a "crazy frog" vibe going on. Thankfully the pom-pom and cords helped alleviate that "look" somewhat.

I'd just like to state for the record Cocoon makes great fluffy pom-poms but the yarn doesn't like being pulled firmly to hold it all together, in fact I had to tie the yarn twice as the first bit of yarn snapped in my hands. I held it double the second time.

I loved making the cords, as I've never had a reason to make them before. They look so sleek and professional looking. I replaced the small pom-poms on the ends of the cord for tassels as I couldn't be bothered to make another two of them. I know it's lazy but I was on a deadline! I needed my hat before I had to go out in the cold.

I feel my plan was a complete success. I don't think I will get cold ears in this hat, but I have yet to try it out with the scooter cover/rain/cold/hat combination. I'll let you know if the cords hold the hat in place, and if they don't whether the flaps still cover my ears. I think if this hat design doesn't work I'll just take to riding around in my sleeping bag, the hood for that is lovely and snug!

Endo Blip

Over the last few months I have been doing really well (well for me anyway, it's all relative). However over the last week I kind of hit a wall. When you are merrily moving along through life at a constant and predictable level of pain it always surprises you when you have a blip. I think it is sometimes harder to cope with pain when you haven't experienced that higher level in a while. When you let yourself relax and start to believe that what you are doing every week is going to be possible in the long term and start to make plans, it is harder to cope with when you are reminded that nothing can be taken for granted.

This week hit me very hard. The pain levels I have had this week are nowhere near what I have had to cope with in the past but I have found it much harder to cope because the pain levels had been so stable. I had several days when I couldn't face doing patchwork because that involved thinking and the pain was interfering with that. So to cope with the pain I dug out my long lost blanket. The blanket is made up of lots of squares, many of which are very simple to knit, and I can slip into the meditative state that knitting without thought induces in me.

This blanket has been ignored for far too long so I worked out what I needed to do in order to finish it. I have made a note of all the squares I need to produce in order to complete the blanket and it is not that many. I have made the decision to work only on the blanket squares when I am knitting in public. I will take the blanket squares as my outside the house knitting. The squares are portable, require not that much thought and quite often I can get a square done in a knitting group session.

By restricting my public knitting to this one project I hope to get the blanket finished before the end of the cold weather. I stopped knitting the blanket last year when it got too hot, so hopefully I can get it finished before that happens again.

In the meantime I will allow myself to knit what I like at home to keep me challenged. That is if there is time left over after I finish my patchwork homework each week. It seems to be taking up lots of my time.

Noro Multnomah

After my success with the Ishbel I think I was light headed with shawl loving glee. I decided to cast on almost immediately for another shawl. I love my comfort shawl and have worn it a great deal during the cold snap we have had this winter. It is snuggly and of course comforting. However, it is very heavy and hot. This is great for Winter, not so great when it becomes milder. This realisation of mine has lead to a plan, a plan for a lighter weight shawl.

I looked at lots of shawl patterns and chose one that was pretty straight forward. I didn't want a repeat of the Ishbel debacle so I wanted a shawl that didn't confuse my poor head. I settled on the Multnomah by Kate Flagg. The yarn I used is Noro Kureyon Sock yarn and I decided to use 2 skeins of it.

I love Noro yarn. I may have stated that just a few times before. I love the colours and the natural feel to the yarn. It feel "authentic" somehow and I just wish it didn't cost so darn much so I would use it all the time. Using Noro sock yarn is my way of circumnavigating the hideous cost of the yarn. At around £10 each skein the shawl becomes an affordable luxury, unlike making a full size garment.

Like the comfort shawl this pattern is based around the feather and fan stitch pattern, but starts with a garter stitch portion until the required stitch count is reached. I decided to make a large shawl, rather than a shawlette so I started with enough stitches for 10 pattern repeats on each side of the shawl.

I like the way the ends of the shawl curl around, so it sits on the shoulders more easily. One thing I don't like about the comfort shawl, if I want it wrapped tightly around my shoulders, I end up with a collar on my shawl.

I love the colours in this yarn. They are bright and zingy and are destined to cheer me up on a damp Spring or Autumn morning. They look like sherbet sweets to me and particularly remind me of "Striper" bars that I used to eat after swimming as a child.

I have managed 44 rows of the feather and fan pattern which means I have 13 pattern repeats on either side of the shawl. The pattern is getting a little bit more tricky and a couple of times I have almost resorted to a glass of wine to calm my tattered nerves. However despite a couple of wobbly moments it is progressing well.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have more to show you.