Wednesday, January 5, 2022

History of Knitting with an Eye for the Male Knitter

 The History of Knitting

with an Eye for the Male Knitter

By Frank H. Jernigan


Introduction

While exploring the history of knitting throughout the world, one must wonder why it has largely been an activity of women. Obviously there is nothing inherent in the process that requires a feminine hand, yet time and again we see that almost all knitters everywhere, with only a few exceptions, were girls and women. Through most of the 20th century, male knitters were so rare due to rigidly defined gender roles that it was a challenge for any man to buck tradition and learn the craft. As one author put it, “My research has since validated my previous observations that in America, where knitting has been assigned to woman’s domain, adult knitting males are stared at, fussed over, almost petted as daring, even darling, adventurers or avoided for being too ‘feminine.’” [MacDonald, loc 111] As we quickly scan the origins and development of knitting throughout various cultures, it is interesting to note when men were included in the activity and to note particular ones who made a difference by advancing the state of the craft. In the process of exploring the history of knitting perhaps questions  about how this prejudice against male knitters came about and why it persists even today will be answered.


Unfortunately, since this writer is not a trained historian, there will probably be mistakes made of the form Richard Rutt accuses James Norbury of making, when he says Norbury being “untrained as a historian drew broad conclusions from slender evidence.” [Rutt, 3] But at least there will be an attempt to understand when, where and why men were knitting along with the women...and maybe why not at other times as well.


Early knitting


It is generally agreed that the origins of knitting are obscured in history but probably originated in Egypt. [Rutt, 23] The oldest existing fragments of real knitting are blue and white so-called “Coptic socks” and fragments mostly known to have come from Islamic Egypt, which are generally dated to 1200 to 1500 C.E. [Rutt, 35 & Nargi, 12-13] but may have been as early as 1000 C.E. [Theaker] Earlier fragments of material often mislabeled as knitting are actually a different form of work called nålbinding, the earliest fragments being from excavations in Nehal Hemar, located in Israel today, dating from as early as the 6500 B.C.E. [Nargi, 120] Other fragments of nålbinding were found in Dura-Europos, on the border of Syria and Mesopotamia, which are perhaps several thousand years old [Rutt, 28 & Theaker] Though nålbinding continued to spread as far as Finland where it was still created up to the nineteenth century, it is assumed that nålbinding largely was replaced by knitting some time between 500 C.E. and 1200 C.E. [Rutt, 39] The earliest reported example of real knitting was a fragment, now lost except for a photograph, most likely dating between the seventh to ninth centuries. [Rutt, 33] Early examples of knitting were all done in the round and the oldest examples of back-and-forth knitting are as late as 1600. [Nargi, 17]



Development of Knitting in Europe before 1600

From these origins in Arab culture, knitting spread first to Moorish-occupied Spain from North Africa, possibly as early as the ninth century. [Norbury, 28, though the date is questioned by Nargi, 19] From Spain it then spread to Italy and continued throughout Europe, notably along trade routes. [Theaker, Norbury 51] The earliest examples of Spanish knitting are all liturgical garments, such as a pair of “finely knit liturgical gloves...often stitched with gold and silver threads.” The first occurrence of a purl stitch is found on a pair of stockings, c. 1562, owned by Eleanor of Toledo.  [Nargi, 19] The Spanish were also the first to knit with silk as all prior specimens from Egypt are made of cotton. Wool would not be used until several centuries later. [Theaker]


Knitting guilds arose in Europe in the thirteenth (France) and fourteenth centuries (Netherlands and Spain) and then throughout western Europe by the sixteenth century, spreading farther eastward with the first guilds appearing in Hungary in the eighteenth century. The guilds were entirely made up of men who progressed from apprentice to journeyman to master knitter as they progressed through rigorous training, ultimately proving themselves true masters in the guild fashion by creating a masterwork such as the knitted carpets of Germany, each made with up to 20 colors of wool. The guilds formed out of economic necessity as the demand for knitted goods became too great to be met by domestic workers. Though largely ignored in the beginning, the guilds grew in stature for a couple hundred years so that by the early sixteenth century the knitting guild of Paris was considered one of the six most important guilds in the city. [Turnau] 


A number of paintings of “knitting madonnas” were produced by various artists during the fourteenth century in Italy and Germany, showing that knitting was known before 1350 in that region. These paintings also showed that knitting was done at home by women. [Nargi, 21]



Knitting in Europe between 1600 and 1900


Even though the first knitting machine, which could only work flat stockinette stitch fabric, was invented by William Lee of Calverton in 1589, it was not until 1610 to 1614 that it was first used in manufacturing. Later Jedediah Strutt improved on the design, enabling the knitting of ribbing, and in the nineteenth century, Marc Brunel, developed a machine that could knit in the round. [del Vecchio, 8] Eventually machine knitting guilds emerged alongside but separate from the hand knitting guilds. In time the machine knitting guilds became the dominant method for general manufacturing of goods. Hand knitting declined, returning that role to the realm of domestic workers, hence back to the women. [Turnau] Knitting, however, was still viewed merely as a kind of work and was considered one of the few ways a woman could supplement the family’s meager income. [Nargi, 46]


It appears that the guilds were the last time that hand knitting was predominantly a male occupation. From that point on, it became an activity largely for women, with a few notable exceptions. One may speculate that the reasons for this are tied up with society’s assumption that it is the male’s responsibility to earn a living to support the household, where traditionally the woman’s role is predominantly “maintaining the household” or daily operations management of the household. When hand knitting was viewed as a manufacturing process of items for trade, men took up the task. Where it was no longer deemed profitable, it returned to the realm of “domestic duties.” When numbers of men are found knitting later in history, it is either because of local economic conditions that pushed them into it for the same reasons the guilds emerged, or because there was dire need, as in times of war, and men who could not contribute in other ways, such as wounded soldiers, once again learned to knit. Only when strict, arbitrary gender roles became questioned in the late twentieth century did large numbers of men begin to knit for simple enjoyment but they still remained only a fraction of the total population of knitters.


By 1600 knitting had spread throughout most of Europe. Each country where it spread adapted it somewhat to the local culture. For instance, the earliest examples of knitting from Spain all used cotton or silk thread. However, in England, where stockings became popular during Queen Elizabeth’s reign, by 1600 they were knitted in worsted wool from local breeds of English sheep. [Rutt, 75] Another example is in Denmark, where men, women, and children all knitted stockings for royalty, even though they were outlawed from wearing them in 1636 as they were considered proper only for the elite. For personal use, they also knitted undergarments for both men and women. [Nargi, 88] Many cultures also developed their own distinctive patterns and styles that were then passed down from generation to generation, such as the Sulbu star in Norway [Nargi, 105], entrelac designs in Scandinavia [Nargi, 125], twisted-stitch knitting in southern Germany and northern Austria [Nargi, 37], fishermen’s “jerseys or guernseys” from the Channel Islands between England and France [Nargi, 59] and, of course, Fair Isle knitting from the Shetland Island of the same name [Nargi, 78]. Apparently there was at least one male knitter on the island of Jersey, as Philip Picot was forbidden by the Jersey court to knit in public on June 22, 1615 “because of the scandal that had arisen.” He was however still allowed to knit at home alone. [Rutt, 186]


The spread to eastern Europe and Russia was slower, becoming popular in Russia perhaps as late as the early 17th century. This has been attributed to the fact that “the national male costume did not require stockings.” [Turnau, 28] It did not flourish there until the 18th century, when machine knitting became an important means of production. [Nargi, 161]


While most hand knitters in Europe were women, there were a few exceptions where men also participated in the craft. In the early 18th century, the shepherds of the Landes region in France, who herded their sheep while on stilts, were known to knit while watching their flocks that provided the wool. [Nargi, 23] In Selbu, Norway, when the local economy suffered from the “decline of the millstone industry” around 1900, both men and women participated in establishing a cottage industry producing first mittens and later socks and sweaters. [Nargi, 104] In Sweden, both men and women began knitting in the 17th century [Nargi, 109] just as they also did in Finland to produce the all-important knitted stockings both for sale and for home use. [Nargi, 118] The tradition of male knitters continued in Iceland where men, women, and also children participated in the commercial production of exported items by the 17th century. The tradition of including men in the craft has continued even to the current day as the Handknitting Association of Iceland employs both men and women today. [Nargi, 132-133] In Bosnia, men knit white stockings for their own use [Nargi, 168] and in the Dales of Yorkshire, England, men, women, and children created a cottage industry of knitted socks from yarn spun from the wool of the local sheep. [Nargi, 56] An interesting variant on the involvement of men in knitting is the production of fishermen’s sweaters in Sweden, where the women knitted the bodies of the sweaters and men and children knitted the sleeves. [Nargi, 63] One could speculate that somehow the sleeves were simpler or faster to work up, thus making them more suitable for children and men, who perhaps even in the 19th century were assumed to be less capable knitters than women.

 


Knitting in the Americas before 1900


Knitting came to the Americas with the earliest settlers from Europe. Indigenous peoples of South and Central America have been knitting in the Portuguese style for centuries, apparently as it was learned from the earliest Portuguese explorers. [Rutt, 203] It is known that the earliest women colonizers of New England were knitting caps and stockings within a few years of their settlement. [MacDonald, loc 289] It was common throughout the colonies to send young boys to school to learn “Arithmetick, Geometry, Algebra, Surveying, [etc.]” while girls were taught “Reading, Knitting, and all sorts of Needlework,” [MacDonald, loc 564] thus continuing the traditional gender roles brought from the Old World. This gender differentiation was then propagated in the New World throughout the next few centuries.


During the Revolutionary War with England, women rallied to support the troops in a variety of ways, including knitting socks and other garments to be sent to the battlefields. This tradition was to be repeated in other wars after that, notably both the First and the Second World Wars. In all these cases the knittings were done in “military colors,” usually blue or gray or beige, and were purely utilitarian designs. In each case, after the wars, the women were relieved to be able to return to knitting in a variety of colors and styles of garments. Rather than ceasing to knit after each war, a surge in interest in knitting took place.


In the 1830’s the first popular magazine for women appeared. Continuing publication through the 19th century, in addition to essays, poetry and short stories of particular interest to women, it also “contained a regular needlework department, headed by ‘Mlle. DuFour’... [which] offered instructions for everything from a knitted muff and ‘Victorine’...to knitted artificial flowers, holly, berries with fruit, and all shapes and sizes of ‘chatelaines’”. [MacDonald, loc 1116] Clearly, the craft of knitting had progressed far beyond the perfunctory stockings and caps for utilitarian ware.


Throughout the 19th century many needlework books and pamphlets were published, often plagiarizing patterns without acknowledgement from each other. Florence Hartley, however, acknowledged in the introduction to her book that she derived her patterns from sources in England, France, and Germany and also accredited some to “Miss Lambert’s ‘Guide’” and “Mrs. Pullams’ Lady’s Manual of Fancy Work.” Actually Miss Lambert’s Guide, a publication in England, was the most widely used of all the needlework books through unauthorized American reprints. [MacDonald, loc 1207]


With the discovery of gold in California in 1849, the westward expansion exploded across the continent. Pioneers ventured across the plains and mountains in wagon trains. While the men drove and the boys walked alongside, the women and girls were often in the back of the wagon “knitting to provide necessary clothing, facilitate relaxation during friendly encounters with other travelers and relieve the tedium of long days on the trail.” [MacDonald, loc 1448] 


After they settled, whether in Kentucky, or the Midwest, or the west coast, often children were called upon to assist in the production of goods for domestic use. Both boys and girls were often taught to spin and knit, “indicating no gender differentiation at the more tender ages,” producing socks, stockings, caps, mufflers, and suspenders. [MacDonald, 1753] 


But all of that was about to change as the 20th century approached. As early as 1880 or at least by 1890 and continuing up until the First World War, a “fear of feminization” swept across America. Because school teachers were all women, it was argued, people became concerned the education system would produce “effeminate and weak young men.” [Badinter, 18]


The “specter of the sissy” was everywhere threatening in the 1890s and 1900s to fill the nation with what one writer called “flabby, feeble, mawkish .. chicken-hearted, cold and fearful” men. Doctors, educators, clergy, reformers and politicians alike displayed pressing concern that men become more active, strong, athletic, and virile—what they call “manly” and “masculine.” [Wise, 37]


During this time, feminized men were considered even more threatening as effeminacy became increasingly associated with homosexuality. [Wise, 37] So boys were pushed into vigorous sports, like the newly popular football, and were ridiculed and shamed for any evidence of interest in “women’s work” such as knitting.


Knitting in the 20th Century


The First World War ended the period of panicky fear of feminization as young men were vigorously trained and sent off the battle, though the gender differentiation that resulted remained a constant throughout the 20th century. Meanwhile, women supported the war, as always, by using their domestic skills to produce useful goods for the battlefield. Knitting especially became identified as one way women could support the war effort by providing military colored sweaters, socks, and scarves to be sent to the men in battle. The knitting effort was deemed so important that often wounded soldiers took up the craft during their recovery period in infirmaries. They presumably escaped the stigma of feminization because they had already proved their manliness by going to war. But they were not the only men who started to knit. For instance, in 1918, the Navy League Comforts Committee sponsored a three-day knitting bee in Central Park to raise money to provide yarn to knitters for the war effort. Pictures of the event show several men participating. People gathered around Patrolman Patrick Fitzgibbons who was both knitting and singing, and rooted for I. R. Seelye, a Civil War veteran. The winners of a speed knitting contest, in addition to four blind women and four children under the age of 11, included two men. [MacDonald, loc 3656]


However knitting for the war effort did not entirely remove the stigma of feminization now associated with the craft. Men were subjected to being made fun of in spite of the nobility of their efforts. When reporters wrote about them, they continually had to emphasize the masculinity of their subjects. One such reference to male knitters called them “husky firefighters who are not idle between alarms'' and another referenced “‘athletic’ trolley conductors who knit ‘unostentatiously between stations’ and ‘hardy’ members of that city’s Chauffeurs Union were absolved of effeminacy.” Governor Hunt of Arizona was an unapologetic knitter of socks for the soldiers, declaring, “Of course, I can get more done at home in the evenings, but I find I have quite a lot of spare time that I can use on knitting at the office,” as he was quoted in the New York Times. Apparently being a governor of a State absolved one of the dreaded effeminate stigma, even though he had learned to knit as a boy from his mother. [MacDonald, loc 3864]


A more common reaction to men knitting was described by one writer, who told of a commuter “knitting openly and shamelessly” on public transportation while others took a derisive view of him, “winking at each other, and shaking their heads, as if he were some kind of curious freak.” [MacDonald, loc 3876]


As the war continued, more and more men began to participate in the effort to provide warm knits for the soldiers. Whole fire departments learned and knitted together. A picture from 1917 shows a roomful of male “stenographers” knitting during their lunch break. Men living in almshouses and tuberculosis and mental hospitals were taught to knit. Even convicts in prison participated in providing knitwear to the soldiers using yarn donated by the Red Cross. [MacDonald, loc 3907]


After the war, women did not quit their knitting, but rather changed the focus of their efforts to produce more fashionable items for themselves and for others. As hemlines were raised and the flapper craze of the 1920s emerged, women thankfully turned from the utilitarian colors and styles for soldiers, to exciting new fashions and colors. Enthusiasm for knitting continued through the 20’s and 30’s, the flames fanned in part by knitting contests promoted by women’s magazines. In the late 1920s Argyle stockings and sweaters became the vogue, especially for golfers wearing their knickerbockers. [MacDonald, chapter 12]


When the Great Depression hit in the 1930’s, knitting became more than just a fashion craze. It became a way for women to provide fashionable garments inexpensively. Both knitting and sewing became extremely popular activities. In 1935, for instance, yarn sales in department stores doubled the sales of 1932. As Vogue wrote in its instruction book, “Knitting is no longer a fad--it’s a national institution.” The knitting craze grew to as many as 10 million knitters at its peak, with college girls leading the pack. The New York Times called the craze “an ‘enthusiasm’ unequaled since wartime.” [MacDonald, loc 4615] Another publication said, “These are knitting days. Everywhere we go we see women knitting, old ladies,  middle-aged mothers, young brides and 16 year olds.” [MacDonald, loc 4627] It’s interesting to note that only women seemed to be included in this movement, though it never failed that in every contest there would be a few male contestants. One writer who was reporting on the male participants titled his article “MAN CAN KNIT AS GOOD AS WOMAN.” [MacDonald, loc 4703 & ff.]


As in the First World War, when the world was again drawn into another global war, knitting once again became an act of support for the troops. Sometimes soldiers passed the time at camp by knitting. One, while a prisoner of war, even showed his fellow prisoners how to unravel sweaters from the Red Cross to rework the yarn into badly needed socks using straightened barbed wire pieces as needles. [MacDonald, loc 4814] 


When the war ended and the knitting efforts once again turned to fashion and color, Argyle became all the rage during the remainder of the 40’s and into the 50’s. One company promoted twenty-one different Argyle patterns for a variety of items, including the right amount of yarn of each color in each pack. [MacDonald, loc 5145]


As the world recovered from war in the 1950’s, women once again turned to domestic duties, taking pride in providing a pleasant home for the family, including sewing, crochet and knitting. Gender roles once again solidified as exemplified by marketing blurbs like “‘Knit for the Man in Your Life’; ‘He’ll love you more if you knit for him’; … ‘Stitchers are Bewitchers’” [MacDonald, loc 5276] and the like, always assuming it was the women who knit and the men were merely the recipients of their products. In that environment few, if any, boys were taught the craft and, as in the case of this writer, any who showed interest felt too ashamed by the stigma of feminization to take it up.


Perhaps the most important figure in knitting in 20th century America was Elizabeth Zimmerman, who became widely known through books, TV, and her popular “knitting camps.” [Nargi, 235] Her book “Knitting Without Tears,” published in 1971, is as popular today as it ever was. Two other influential women were Barbara Walker, who published a several volume work of knitting patterns, and Mary Walker Phillips, a popular author and teacher. [MacDonald, loc 5509] Interestingly, their counterpart in Great Britain was a man named James Norbury, who was described as “the strongest single influence in British knitting during the 25 years after the Second World War, through his writings and designs.” He was a prolific writer of books and articles as well as a television knitting celebrity in the 50’s and 60’s. [Rutt, 151]


The social upheaval of the late 60’s, through the women’s liberation and gay rights movements, saw a softening of the rigid gender roles of the previous decades. In 1973, “Rosey Grier’s Needlepoint for Men” appeared with the football player pictured on the cover to the shock and amusement of many. Subsequent articles about him also revealed that he loved many needlecrafts, including macramé, knitting and crocheting. This writer was so liberated by the images of this man that he finally took up needles and yarn himself. Like many others, I’m quite sure, I thought, “If Rosey Grier can do it, it can’t be only for girls any longer!”


Also in the 1970’s an all-male group of knitters was created by a woman named Mindy Nix after she successfully taught her father and two brothers how to knit. The group ultimately “included an engineer, a lawyer, two United Nations translators, a graduate student in economics, a social worker, a writer and a real estate man.” [MacDonald, loc 5496] Men were finally coming out of the knitting closet.


Though interest in knitting appeared to be waning in the 1980’s, many local knitting groups joined together to form national organizations, “such as The Knitting Guild of America (TKGA), founded in 1985 as an umbrella organization for the rapidly growing number of groups open to anyone interested in sharing fellowship and knowledge with other knitters.” [MacDonald, loc 5660] TKGA, who has published “Cast On” magazine for decades, began offering certification in their Master of Hand Knitting Program. By 2016, however, a scan of the 300 names that have completed all three levels of the program shows that only two of them were male. 


Knitting Since 2000


Today knitting clubs and guilds have multiplied. There are local festivals, like the Taos Wool Festival, and national conferences, like Stitches events sponsored by KnittingUniverse.com, held all around the country attracting thousands of women, and, yes, a small number of men. At Stitches West in February, 2016, this writer attended four classes and was the only man in each one with 30 to 40 women.


Interest in knitting by men is also on the increase. Men’s knitting clubs have sprung up around the country, many of which also attend knitting retreats for men, like the Great Lakes Men’s Knitting Retreat and others sponsored by mensknittingretreat.com. There is even a knitting group at Folsom State Prison, where the men knit “matching hats and scarves, blankets, Christmas stockings and their specialty, stuffed animals for children in need.” [Staff Report, SQ News]


The Internet and social media have been a huge boon to knitters everywhere. It is now easy to find instructions for almost any technique on YouTube and there are many excellent blogs written by and about knitting. There are also many resources online for male knitters, such as MenWhoKnit.com, and Facebook pages like SF Men Knit (facebook.com/groups/SFMenKnit) and Freemasons of Knitting (a private group at facebook.com/groups/FoKme).


It appears there is a surge of interest in knitting today as shown by a survey in 2014 by the Craft Yarn Council, who says that 20 and 30 year olds are joining the 38 million knitters and crocheters [Craft Yarn Council]. More and more men are being brought into the craft. Social stigma against male knitters remains, but is no longer harsh and threatening. Whenever a man is seen knitting in public, it is still considered unusual, prompting inquiries from curious observers. But the male knitter no longer needs to fear harassment from strangers and is welcomed with open hearts at conferences of mostly women and everywhere his fellow knitters encounter him.


References


Badinter, Elisabeth, XY: on masculine identity, New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.

Craft Yarn Council, "Knitting & Crocheting Are Hot!," craftyarncouncil.com, 2014(?). craftyarncouncil.com/know.html

del Vecchio, Michael, Knitting with Balls: A hands-onguide to knitting for the MODERN MAN, New York: DK Publishing, 2006.

Jenn ("KnitsByJenn"), "The Notable James Norbury," RovingCrafters.com, July 16, 2016.

http://rovingcrafters.com/2016/07/16/the-notable-james-norbury/

Jenn ("KnitsByJenn"), "Knitting For a Living — The Medieval Knitting Guilds," RovingCrafters.com, July 17, 2015.

http://rovingcrafters.com/2015(_06/17/knitting-for-a-living-the-medieval-knitting-guilds/

MacDonald, Anne L., No Idle Hands: The Social History ofAmerican Knitting, New York: Ballantine

Books, 1988, Kindle edition. [Note: Because it is a Kindle edition, page numbers are not provided. Instead, references are noted with "Location" numbers.]

Nargi, Lela, Knitting around the World: A multistranded history of a time-honored tradition, Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press, 2011.

Norbury, James, Traditional Knitting Patterns:from Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Italy and Other European Countries, New York: Dover Publications, 1962 (Dover edition: 1973).

Richards, Ann, "Top 10 men in knitting," Knitty.com, Summer, 2005. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer05/FEATtopten.html

Rutt, Richard, A History of Hand Knitting, Loveland, CO: Interweave Press, 1987.

Staff Report, "Lions Club Honors Folsoms Knitting and Crocheting Program," San Quentin News, Vol. 2016, No. 9, September 2016: p. 14.

Theaker, Julie, "History 101," Knitty.com, Spring, 2006. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEAThistorY101.html

Turnau, Irena, "The Knitting Crafts in Europe from the Thirteenth to the Eighteenth Century," cs.Arizona.edu, publish date unknown
[This is no longer available on the Internet]

Wise, Benjamin E., William Alexander Percy: The Curious Life of a Mississippi Planter and Sexual Freethinker, Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 2012.





Sunday, May 2, 2021

 Here is Newsletter #1 that was sent on April 5. I don't know if I will continue posting these every month so if you want to subscribe, log into Phrancko.com. If you don't see the subscription form at the top of the next page, click "Help" at the top of the screen and you will see it there.





Monday, August 24, 2020

Measuring for a Woman's Sweater

I have been asked a few times, "Do I take the chest measurement across the bust or at the high bust area?" So I think it's time I answer that here. 

The simple answer is that it is probably better to take the measurement in the high bust area.

Here is what Amy Herzog says about it in her book Knit to Flatter:

Your upper torso circumference [or high bust measurement] is the single most important measurement you can take when knitting sweaters because it can and should be used as your "full bust size" when selecting a "base" pattern size to knit for yourself. When you choose a size based on your upper torso circumference, all of your seaters will fit nicely in the hardest area of the sweater to modify: the shoulders.

This is true of the Phrancko Sweater pattern as well. The shoulder width is determined from the chest measurement and it is constant no matter what fit is chosen because your shoulders do not get wider just because you want to work a looser fit. 

This is, in fact, one of the advantages of creating a custom-fit Phrancko Sweater pattern. Patterns published as Small, Medium, Large, etc. increase the shoulder width and all other measurements as you go up in size. Notice that the Phrancko sweater has only one size for shoulder width, neck width, and arm length for every fit because these measurements do not vary with ease.


If you have a sweater that fits the way you like, then after entering the high bust measurement for your chest circumference, simply measure the width of that sweater and choose the fit that gives the same chest measurement in the schematic on the page before you purchase it.

For large busted women however that may produce sleeves that are wider than desired (even though the shoulders will fit nicely). In that case, one could select a more standard fit to generate your "base" pattern and then modify it as necessary to either add darts or short rows in the front. The pattern does not describe how to do this so that depends on your ability to modify patterns to suit you. Again, I refer you to Amy Herzog's book for suggestions how to do that.

As a side note, remember this: Any and all inputs may be modified until you purchase the pattern. So pay careful attention to the schematic on the "Submit Payment" page. If anything does not suit you, click the "Change Sizes" button, then click other buttons to return to any page where you have input data. For instance, if you really think the shoulders are too narrow, go all the way back to your measurements and make the chest measurement larger. This will increase the shoulder width as well. Then choose a tighter fit to get the chest measurement back down to where you wanted it. Be careful though! The shoulder width may look narrow to you because the sleeves are set in. The mock seams between body and sleeve should be straight lines directly up from the underarm to the shoulder for a true set-in sleeve fit. So making this modification should only be done if you are experienced enough to know exactly how wide the shoulders should be for your set-in sleeved sweaters.


Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Updated Calculation of Bell Shaping

In the latest version of the pattern (Version 1.14 07-07-20) I have made an improvement to the bell shaping of the sleeve cap. What motivated the change? How did the shape change? How different is it? How has the pattern changed? Here are the answers...

What motivated the change? 

As I worked my latest sweater, when I got to the sleeve cap shaping, I noticed something that bothered me. The shaping usually is worked in three stages, each with different numbers of rounds between increases. For instance, the first stage may work increases every other row, the second work increases every third row, and the third every other row again. These three stages are intended to approximate the bell shape used in the caps of set-in sleeves. But sometimes, and in fact more often than I liked, one or even two of these stages had zero repeats. In particular the pattern I am currently working, had exactly one repeat in the first stage, 14 repeats in the second stage, and zero repeats in the third stage. That means there is almost no shaping and the cap has gotten reduced to having straight sides. We sometimes call that construction the "witches hat" sleeve cap, because it is flat across the top and has straight angled sides and then is flat again across the bottom. Well, actually Phrancko sweater patterns are never completely that way since there are always a couple of rows of rounding at the top and then a diagonal section at the bottom. But nevertheless, the collapse of the shaping into straight sides bothered me. So I took another look at the algorithm.

How did the shape change? 

Instead of having three stages of shaping down the sides, I have introduced five stages of shaping. Where they typically did increases every 2, then 3, then 2 rounds (or 3, then 5, then 3 rounds), the new shaping does increases every 2, then 3, then 5, then 3, then 2 rounds. Or alternatively they may use other ratios, like 1/2/3/2/1 or 2/3/5/3/2 or 3/5/8/5/3 or less likely even 4/6/10/6/4 or 5/8/13/8/5. (You may notice my use of the Fibonacci sequence here, 1 2 3 5 8 13, which is intentional.) With more stages, the pattern does not so easily collapse into straight angled sides when one or more stages has zero repeats.

How different is it? 

The change is actually very slight, amazingly enough. In fact it deviates only one stitch away on each side from what the pattern formerly did. Here is a mapping of one side of the sleeve cap which compares the original shaping with the new shaping:



Since the tiny key at the bottom is illegible (thank you, Blogger.com), the blue lines indicate the original shaping and the dark red lines indicate the new shaping. As you see, the cap is only a total of two stitches wider in the top half and two stitches narrower in the bottom half. But it is in fact closer to being a bell-shaped curve.

How has the pattern changed?

The only part of the pattern that changed is the Sleeve Cap Shaping section. Here are the instructions from the earlier version of the pattern for the sweater I am currently working on:

Sleeve Cap Shaping

CONSTRUCTION NOTE—Work increases as follows (these incs are on the sleeve cap, not on the body):

  • Sleeve Cap Increases: Work pat as est to marker, sm, M1L, knit to next marker, M1R, sm, continue pat as est.

Shape the caps as follows:

  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every other row/rnd, 2 (0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0) times—21 (19, 22, 23, 23, 24, 24) sts between sleeve markers.
  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every third row/rnd, 9 (12, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19) times—39 (43, 46, 49, 51, 54, 62) sts between sleeve markers.
  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every other row/rnd, 1 (0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0) times—41 (43, 46, 49, 51, 56, 62) sts between sleeve markers.

As you see, it's a 2/3/2 stage pattern where the Standard size (the bolded numbers) has only one repeat in the first stage and zero repeats in the third stage, reducing it to almost a straight line--not exactly a bell-shaped curve. 

And here are the instructions from the updated version of the pattern:

Shape the caps as follows:

  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every other row/rnd, 3 (1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2) times—23 (21, 24, 27, 27, 28, 28) sts between sleeve markers.
  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every third row/rnd, 3 (4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 6) times—29 (29, 32, 33, 35, 36, 40) sts between sleeve markers.
  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every fifth row/rnd, 1 (1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2) times—31 (31, 34, 37, 39, 40, 44) sts between sleeve markers.
  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every third row/rnd, 3 (5, 5, 4, 4, 5, 7) times—37 (41, 44, 45, 47, 50, 58) sts between sleeve markers.
  • Work an Increase Row/Rnd every other row/rnd, 2 (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2) times—41 (43, 46, 49, 51, 56, 62) sts between sleeve markers.

So now we have a 2/3/5/3/2 stage pattern where every stage has a few repeats. Even if it doesn't make much difference in the actual shape of the cap, I find that much more satisfying as a bell-shaped set-in sleeve cap. 

For comparison, the diagram above is made precisely from the Standard size of these two variants of the pattern I am currently working.

And a final note

If you download your pattern now, you will get the latest version. However, since the change was localized to this section of the sweater, I was able to preserve the previous version for anyone who has started the older version without printing it and is still in the middle of the sleeve caps. There is a link in the header box that will allow you to revert to the older version. This link will not be there forever, however. So I hope anyone who is in that state will print the older version of the pattern now, before it goes away.

Happy sweater knitting!

Phrancko


Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Two new how-to videos

I just posted two videos to demonstrate how to work two of the most difficult steps in working a pattern at Phrancko.com. They both are related to the Crew Neck pattern, but soon there will also be a V-neck pattern that will use these same techniques.

Here are the videos:

How to pick up stitches to start the front of a Phrancko sweater

How to pick up stitches across the tops of the sleeve caps

Happy knitting!

Phrancko

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Should you work your swatch in the round?

The answer to that question is, "It depends." Some knitters can get away with working the swatch flat and some may need to work the swatch in the round. If your knit stitches are not the same size as your purl stitches, then you definitely should work your swatch in the round because the sweaters from Phrancko.com patterns are all worked in the round. So they are made up entirely of knit stitches (except for a little bit on the shoulders of course). So naturally if half the stitches in your swatch are purled then your gauge for the swatch would not match the gauge on the sweater. So you would need to knit your swatch in the round and enter that gauge when you create your pattern.

How can you tell which you are? There are two ways to find out.

  • If you have a Stockinette stitch swatch that was knitted flat, look carefully at the back of the swatch and see if there are gutters between every other row of purl bumps. The gutters are the result of knits and purls being two different sizes. So if your swatch has them, you should knit your swatch in the round. Here are pictures of a swatch that has gutters.  Notice that you can also see enlarged rows of knit stitches on the right side. But sometimes these are even harder to notice. By looking across the swatch, the gutters and the enlarged rows, also call "rowing out," are more visible. 



Gutters, looking straight at the swatch
The same gutters, looking across the swatch
Rowing out, looking across the swatch

  • However, some people who are not used to looking for gutters just don't seem to see them when they are there. I know because I review submissions to the Master Hand Knitting program of TKGA and the first thing to do in the program is knit a swatch and answer the question, "Do you see gutters on the back?" It is not uncommon for people to say "no" when I see very prominent gutters. So if you are not sure, here is the sure way to find out. Knit a swatch in the round and then knit a swatch flat and see if the two gauges are the same or not. You don't have to do this every time you start a project. Just do it once and then you'll know whether you need to work your swatch in the round or not if the project is worked in the round.

How to knit a swatch in the round

You should always knit your swatch using the same needles you will use to work the garment. I assume that since we are knitting sweaters, that means you are using circular needles (I guess you could use very large double-pointed needles. I don't recommend that though). The obvious, but slower method, would be to cast on enough stitches to knit your swatch in the round, probably using the magic loop method or the two circular needles method to avoid having to work a 16 inch circular swatch. You could then steek (cut) the swatch from top to bottom, flatten it, block it, and then take your gauge measurements. 

But here's a simple method. Using your circular needles, cast on enough stitches for a 5 or 6 inch swatch plus about 5 or 6 extra stitches. Knit a row and then push the stitches back to the other needle. Drape a loose section of working yarn across the back of the swatch and knit another row. Push the stitches back to the other needle and continue in this manner until you have worked the size you need to work.

You can still use the two swatch method I described in an earlier blog entry. Just create each one as I just described with drapes of working yarn across the back.

You should block your swatch before you measure the gauge since blocking can change the gauge. And you also should cut the loops of yarn that are draped across the back so they don't mess with your measuring. Finally, there will be as many as three loose stitches at each edge of the swatch, so don't include them in your measurement. That's why we added 5 or 6 extra stitches when we did the cast on.

And please do not skip the swatching step. As I said in the earlier post, there is nothing more important to create a garment that fits. Your gauge will almost never match the gauge on the yarn band. 

My Workshop Last Weekend

I had the great privilege last weekend of leading a workshop for the What the Knit Guild in Bakersfield, CA. Sixteen women took part and worked through all the details of knitting a crew neck and a saddle shoulder sweater using the pattern on Phrancko.com. We has such a good time and I can't wait to see the sweaters they now produce. Check out PhranckoForum.com (or click the Forum link at the top of any Phrancko.com page) to meet some of the women who were there. Hopefully we will also get to see their works in progress and their finished garments as well.

The What the Knit Guild is led by one of my favorite teachers, Suzanne Bryan. If you are not familiar with her videos, check out her channel Knitting with Suzanne Bryan.





Happy knitting!

Phrancko

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Crochet Cast On - New Video

Crochet Cast On

Yesterday my sister Carol Ann asked me if I could help her learn how to do the crochet cast on that I recommend using at the underarm in the patterns generated at Phrancko.com. I first made a video just for her, but then I realized it might be useful for everyone to see how I do it. Also, that first video only showed how to get the stitches onto the needle, but did not include how to pick them up later, which can also be a bit tricky. All the patterns tell you to cast on a number of stitches but then later tell you to pick up one more stitch than you cast on. You may be wondering why that is the case also.

So I expanded the video to produce a full explanation of the crochet cast on, how to work it, why there are more stitches in the opposite direction than you originally cast on, and how to pick up those stitches when you are ready to do that.



Happy knitting!