Mona's Knitting Room

I was in England last week for business. Since the Crayon Box Jacket is not a portable project and I have a friend who's having her second child after a 17-year hiatus (yikes!), I decided to start a baby sweater for her shower next week. I found a free pattern for a simple, garter stitch cardigan on knitting.about.com and picked some Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn, Red Sprinkles (86% acrylic, 10% wool, 4% nylon). I like using acrylic-based yarns for every-day baby items because they are so easy to care for, especially for moms that aren't into the hand washing scene.

I was able to nearly complete the sweater while I was travelling, and just have the sleeve bands left. I used Addi Turbo needles, size US #5 and 6 for this project. I haven't had a chance to photograph my progress but I like the look so far. Pics to come...

One week after taking my first CBJ class, I've completed the first sleeve.

I really like how all of the different yarns are coming together. The "problem" is that the more squares I knit, the more yarn I want to try for the squares -- trouble for the pocketbook! I did run over to a lys to just see what they had available. Of course, they had lots of purty things. I bought a few more skeins, Fiesta Kokopelli in cream and variegated, Great Adirondack Tribbles, and Rowan Kid Classic in vanilla. I need to force myself to stop "just looking" at yarn for this jacket. Otherwise, I'll end up with enough yarn for a second jacket.

I completed my fourth square today. I am really liking both the knitting and the finished fabric.

I decided to go back and measure the width of the first two squares because I didn't feel completely confident of my gauge. They are about a quarter inch smaller than the pattern states, which will result in a medium sized sweater rather than the large I need. I'm going to treat this as a design element and start the fifth block with a larger needle, an Addi Turbo size US #9. This will give me the additional room I want at the top half of the sleeve and should give me the correct gauge for the sweater body.

I obsess about my knitting. I'm not critical about others' work but I will nitpick my own to death. As a result, I had a very hard time starting this project. There's just too much of the actual design left up to the knitter. I get paralyzed, worrying about whether I'm going to like the finished product or not, especially since I've never knit anything like this before and cannot picture the finished product in my mind. I took a CBJ class and the instructor helped me tremendously to get over the hump. To help others, I thought I'd record the words of wisdom I picked up in the class:

1. Purchase the first set of yarns for the project. See my previous post for some suggestions for this.

2. Pick the size of garment you want to make. This dictates the number of stitches for your squares. I've decided to make my jacket in the large size.

3. Decide the needle size with which you want to start. The pattern calls for a US #10. Start with this size unless you usually knit loose, then drop down a size or two, or knit tight and then go up a size or two. I am typically a very loose knitter and have to drop down one or two sizes. I selected an Addi Turbo in size US #8 to start.

4. Pick one of your base yarns and knit the stockinette square as instructed by the pattern for your first sleeve. Don't obsess about your color selection; just grab one and begin to knit it. This is the most boring square you'll knit and it doesn't deserve a lot of thought. When you've finished this plain, stockinette, single-color square, measure it and compare it to the square sizes listed on the first page of the pattern. If it's close, you've got the right needles, if not, change needles up or down a size but do not frog the first square. I thought my square was a little small but decided to continue on. Since I'm making a Large, it won't hurt to have the sleeves a bit smaller at the wrists.

5. Pick another base yarn and knit the second square, the garter square, as instructed in the pattern. If you're adventurous, switch back and forth between this yarn and another base yarn every garter ridge or two (I wasn't adventurous and just knit the square with a variegated base yarn). If you are going to knit the square a single color, you should select a different color or color value than the first square for this square. Otherwise, the two squares will "run together" when you are at a distance and looking at the jacket, making the two squares seem like one large square.

6. When you are picking up and knitting stitches along the edge of a square, try to minimize the amount of needle you poke through the edge of the square, just the tip if possible. This will keep the size of the holes to a minimum.

7. For your third square, knit the garter ridge square as instructed in the pattern. Pick a base yarn to use for the first three rows and subsequent stockinette sections and one of your special yarns (or a combination of several) for the garter ridge. This is where the fun begins. I used a chenille yarn for my garter ridge and it pops out so much that the base yarn hardly shows. This gave me lots of ideas of how I could create variations of the garter ridge square (multiples of the garter ridges, for example), using one of the base yarns or a mohair combined with one of the fingering or dk weight yarns for the stockinette and the special yarns for the ridges.

8. When you are selecting yarn for the next square, make sure you can see all of your yarns. This will help you remember what's available. I put all of my yarns in a shallow Rubbermaid tote.

9. If you're not sure what yarn to use for the next square, close your eyes and grab one. If you like how all the yarns look in a pile together, you'll like what ever yarn you pick for the next square.

10. If you finish a square and decide you hate it, do not rip it out. Just make sure to repeat it at least three more times in other locations in your jacket. This one square will get lost in the 70+ of the whole jacket and the one you hate may be another's favorite. Don't obsess about making each square absolutely perfect in your eyes as a stand-alone square.

11. After completing your fourth square, go back and measure the first two squares again. If they're close, keep working with the same needles. If they're off, do not rip out what you've done so far; just change the needle size for the fifth square.

This post will be boring to most people. I needed some place to keep track of all the yarns I selected for my first CBJ and figured my blog was as good a place as any. Here's a picture of my yarns (as of this date):


I will update this inventory as I add more yarns. I've selected some pricey yarns, which isn't required to make this a very special sweater. I plan to sell sets of wind-offs from my leftovers to defray some of the costs and help others get some very special yarns for their projects. I also have some yarns I purchased in bulk from Webs and will only be using a small amount of the total purchased.

First, my base yarns:
1. Valley Yarns Monterey (cotton wrapped wool); 50% cotton/50% wool; 644 yds/pound; $35
2. Valley Yarns Blueface Leicester/Alpaca; 50% wool/50% alpaca; 700 yds/pound; $34.95 (if I use this yarn it will be in the bands only because it's special, although cheaper, than the Manos)
3. Manos del Uruguay Handspun Pure Wool; colorway 14; 100% wool; 138 yds/100 g; $14
4. Schachenmayr Nomotta Two in One; colorway 05; 63% acrylic/32% wool/5% polyester; 80 m/50 g; $8.50
5. Plymouth Yarn Alpaca Boucle; colorway 10; 90% alpaca/10% nylon; 70 yds/50 g; $5.75

Now my special yarns:
1. Valley Yarns Stirling (mohair loop); cream; 78% mohair/13% wool/9% nylon; 1000 yds/pound; $40.00
2. Valley Yarns Barrington (brushed mohair); cream; 78% mohair/13% wool/9% nylon; 1000 yds/pound; $38.50
3. Valley Yarns Worthington (silk boucle); natural; 100% silk; 1150 yds/pound; $27.50
4. Valley Yarns Quabbin (cotton boucle); natural; 92% cotton/8% nylon; 800 yds/7 oz; $14
5. tilli tomas Disco Lights; novelle peach; 100% spun silk with sequins; 175 yds; $39
6. Fiesta Yarns Gelato (ribbon); 3134 vanilla; 100% rayon; 262 yds/3 oz; $25
7. Ironstone Yarns Pizzazz (combo yarn); colorway 8; Felicia, Eyelash and Paris Nights; 122 yds/168 g; $38
8. Fiesta Yarns La Boheme (combo yarn); LB1204 painted desert; 100% brushed kid mohair/100% rayon boucle; 145 yds/4 oz; $32.50
9. Colinette Isis (chenille); 60 chamois; 100% viscose; 100 m/100 g; $25
10. King Cole Luxury Mohair; colorway 261; 78% mohair/13% wool/9% nylon; 110 yds/50 g; $3.50 (sale)
11. Plymouth Yarn Combolo (combo yarn); colorway 1025; 66% nylon/30% tactel/4% polyester in chenille flag + lurex ribbon + boucle slub; 47 yds/50 g; $12.25
12. Adriafil Liberty (boucle w/ ribbon flags); colorway 70; 40% acrylic/25% wool/15% cotton; 75 m/50 g; $11.25
13. FFF Kristha (ribbon); colorway 18; 100% nylon; 60 yds/50 g; $10
14. Plymouth Yarn Parrot (frayed edge ribbon); colorway43; 100% nylon; 28 yds/50 g; $10
15. Ironstone Yarns Paris Nights (metallic); colorway 28; 67% acrylic/21% nylon/12% metal; 202 yds/50 g; $13.50
16. Katia Tango (ribbon); colorway 3500; 68% nylon/32% polyester; 71 yds/ 50 g; $12.50
17. Cascade Yarns Annabel Fox (chenille); cream; 100% cotton; 72 yds/50 g; $4

Finally, my filler yarns:
1. Knit Picks Color Your Own Merino Wool (fingering weight); natural; 100% merino wool; 440 yds/100 gr; $3.49

I had the hardest time getting started on my CBJ -- six months with the yarn and pattern. After posting my frustration to the CBJ yahoo! list, many people sent me e-mails commiserating with me. However, after taking a class, I realized that the problem preventing me from getting my head around the design was that I had too few yarns for the pattern and that some of those I did have weren't going to work well. So, after completing a whopping 3 squares, I have the audacity to publish a "how to" list for selecting yarns for this project. Of course, many of these tips came from the class instructor. I hope these suggestions will help those of you who are stuck in the starting gate, too.

1. Select your color theme. This can come from a combination of your favorite colors, your favorite color + basic color like black, navy or cream, or an inspiration yarn that you absolutely love. I decided to use cream as the basis for my first CBJ -- a monochromatic masterpiece (I hope). I've never seen a photo of this design made up in a single color theme but it's stuck in my head. When I think of this color theme, I think of creme brulee or white russian drinks. Hmm, now yarn is reminding me of food and alcohol. I am beyond help.

2. Buy a minimum of 3-5 base yarns. These are smoothish yarns that knit to gauge (4-4.5 stitches per inch) and are typically wool or a wool blend. By "smoothish" I mean relatively evenly spun fibers, small scale boucles, or yarns with a bit of fuzz to them like a wool/mohair blend. Try to avoid 100% alpaca yarns or chenille and the like for your base yarns as they stretch too much; the finished sweater is heavy and these yarns do not maintain their shape well. You should also be careful in selecting mohairs for the base yarns. Mohair blended with another fiber into a smoothish yarn will probably work well for a base yarn. However, the standard mohair yarns that have a nylon wrapper may have a stated gauge of 4 sts per inch or so but the resulting fabric will probably not have the same amount of body as a 100% wool yarn like Manos. If this is the case, then use the mohair as a "special" yarn.


The base yarns can be solids, say one or two shades of each of the colors in your theme, or variegated. The base yarns will be used in many of your squares for the starting rows and to provide support and structure to the squares that are embellished with your "special" yarns. The fact that your base yarns may not all knit to exactly the same gauge doesn't matter; the squares will all adjust in size as they are joined by other squares as well as when they are stretched when the jacket is worn. Here's a picture of my base yarns. I think I will add a mohair blend to the selection.

3. Buy as many "special" yarns as possible. My guess is that a dozen gives you a good working palette and it only makes your jacket more unique if you add more of these yarns. You will be making over 70 squares and you'll want a nice variety. Of course, you can repeat the same yarn combinations many times and just vary the pattern. This will provide a nice look as well. The special yarns can be anything from metallic glitter to eyelash to chenille to mohair to yarns with globs and squiggles. The scarf bar of your lys is a good place to shop. The special yarns can also include the combo yarns (strands from multiple yarns held together) that you've purchased or combined yourself.


The gauge of these yarns isn't really important but they shouldn't result in stitches that are larger than 3.5 sts/inch when knit with the needles that give you the proper gauge with your base yarns. The colors should be in your selected theme and one or two "bling" colors will add pizzazz. For example, if you go to Chris Bylsma's website and click on the photo of the pink and black CBJ, you can zoom in to see the yarns used in this sweater. A bright gold yarn was paired with the black and it really stands out and draws your eye to these squares. This is the bling yarn. In addition, if you look at the close-up of the sweater you can see that many of the squares are repeated often but even with that, I count about a dozen different "special" yarns.

4. If you purchase one or more thinner special yarns, buy one or two fingering (sock) or dk weight yarns to combine with them to give them enough body. Alternately, you can double/triple the thinner yarns or combine them with other special yarn(s) to get close to gauge.


5. Spread out all of your yarns in front of you. Do they look pleasing to your eye? If so, then it won't matter which combination of yarns you use for a square or which colors you put next to each other. If one or more in the pile just don't "go", then set them aside for another project or carefully use them in a combination you find pleasing. I feel this way about the Katia Tango ribbon yarn in the upper left corner. I'm not sure whether I will actually use this yarn or not. Perhaps this will be my bling yarn.

6. Find some sort of box or basket in which to store your yarns. You want to keep them clean and safe and all together. You'll also want to be able to see all of your yarns as you work on the project so if you have something large enough to keep most of the yarns in a single layer, that will work great. Otherwise, you will need to constantly paw through your stash or spread it out on a working table. I found a Rubbermaid tote that's large and shallow for my stash.

I have a new WIP (work in progress). I can't believe I've done this to myself. I set several knitting goals for the year back in January and the first goal was to finish a project or two before starting a new one. Yeah, like that happened. One look at the Current Projects section of my blog tells the story. And this list doesn't include all of the UFOs that are stashed away and lonely in the bins in my craft room.

What is this new project? The Crayon Box Jacket by Chris Bylsma. For about six months, I've wanted to make this jacket. I had some cream colored yarn in my stash and decided I'd like to make a monochromatic version of this jacket. I've collected a few "special" cream yarns since then, along with the pattern, but have been completely stymied in trying to start the project. The problem is that I just couldn't visualize how to create monochromatic squares and combine them into a pleasing palette. I've searched the web, looking at various finished jackets. I also joined the yahoo! knit along for the jacket to try to get inspiration and advice. Alas, not a single monochromatic sweater in the bunch. I've been completely stuck with no idea how to get started with confidence.

Last week Thursday, I received a notification from the NETA list for a Crayon Box Jacket class that was being offered this weekend at a lys, The World in Stitches, in Littleton, MA. I immediately e-mailed the shop and learned that there was still space available. Yahoo! I was so excited I could hardly stand myself. On Sunday, I gathered up my stash of yarns and headed out to Littleton for an afternoon class. The instructor and former students brought in a variety of jackets to provide inspiration. Each jacket was gorgeous. No monochromatics, though. We immediately began our first square, which gets used as a gauge swatch. During the knitting time, the instructor discussed the best ways to combine base and special yarns to highlight the special, using the completed jackets as examples.

When it was time for me to start my second square, I was a little crabby because I was frustrated since I still didn't "get" it . Well, OK, more than a little crabby. I got some focused help and suggestions for additional yarns, which included class participants and the instructor tossing me skeins/balls of yarn from the shop. During the third square, click! The light bulb came on in my mind. Suddenly, my mind started racing and I had all sorts of ideas for square designs. I am so eager for more knitting time to get another square or two or three done.

I'm so glad I took this class. My pocketbook is still suffering, though, from the cost of all of the additional yarns I purchased. This project is not inexpensive by a long shot. There are two more class sessions, two weeks apart, and I hope to get the sleeves done before the next session where we will learn about the gusset construction. In the final session, we will cover finishing techniques. So, in the first class session, I completed three squares of the first sleeve and purchased more yarn. Can you believe that I had more than a dozen yarns that I reluctantly put back on the shelf due to monetary limits? Here's a picture of the beginnings of my sleeve:


And here's a picture of my yarns:

I'll inventory the yarns in a future post.

I've reached a major milestone in my Debbie Bliss Entrelac Sweater. Well, almost. According to the way the pattern is written, the back is now complete.

The back construction stops here. Then, the front is made in exactly the same fashion except a short scoop is made at the neckline. The last row of front rectangles point in one direction and the back rectangles point in the other. You then interlock the rectangles and sew them together, leaving an opening for the neck. However, I don't think I'm going to like the way the back neckline will lay like this. So, I'm going to rip back a row of blocks, add a closing triangle along the back neck edge and then knit another row of blocks. This will create a 3/4-inch scoop for the back neck. Although, I just had a thought. Since the front and back are interlocked, you won't be able to see a seam. So, if I made the front one row of blocks longer than the back, this will push the back down, effectively creating a lowered neck. Hah! I love these flashes (they're few and far between so I need to savor the moment). Am I right?

What a great view to knit by! For Labor Day weekend, I took my son and a friend of his camping in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The campground we selected caters mostly to tent campers and is situated along the shores of Conway Lake. Since we made our reservations at the last minute, there weren't any lakeshore campsites available but we had a nice spot in the woods. The campground has a boat ramp, a beach area with a floating raft, and rental canoes and row boats. While the boys swam and rowed, I enjoyed the sun and got a chance to getting some knitting time in on my Silk Waves Poncho. I made some nice progress on the second rectangle for my poncho, too: