Millcreek Tank KAL

Video with Tayler Harris showing Millcreek

knitting techniques

RESOURCES

I. Choosing a sweater you will want to wear: Video and Worksheet

II. Swatching Tips

•Knit a large enough swatch. Our goal is to have our swatch fabric be representative of what our sweater will be.

•For our tank, cast on about 6" worth of stitches (it's a lightweight, fine yarn and Patty Lyons says 6" should be good!) Knit enough rows for 6-8".

•Knit in the way you will knit the sweater - in front of the tv, in the car, while drinking wine (relaxed), or coffee (buzzing with energy), you get the idea.

•Don't add fancy borders to the fabric. Knit the swatch from start to finish in Millcreek's ribbed pattern. Once you bind off, measure gauge and record. We'll compare this to measurements taken after washing and drying our sample. Why do this? We want to see how the sample changes.

•Wash the sample and dry flat in the manner you intend to block your sweater. Once dry, let the sample relax before measuring. Measure stitch and row gauge, record. How well does your sample match pattern gauge? Do you need to make needle size (or possibly even needle material) changes? What about the fabric itself, do you like it? Do you get stitch gauge but not row gauge? We can talk through the problems and find a best solution together.

II. Choosing the correct size pattern (or combination of sizes)

Kim McBrien Evans is a knitwear designer who is dedicating her career to helping knitters make sweaters that will fit them. If you get a chance to take a class with Kim, do so! You will learn so much on fit, pattern sizes, shaping, and more. 

Kim has a series of articles published online through Interweave that will help us.

Make Better Sweaters with Kim McBrien Evans