Fit & Finish

At the recent Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair, held at Darling Harbour, I ran a short workshop for visiting knitters each day, focussing on the fit & finish of knitted garments. These two areas are typically where most problems with handknit projects are encountered. And what could be worse than investing large amounts of money, time & devotion into knitting something that you ultimately discover to be unwearable ? The good news is that the success, or otherwise, of the outcome is almost 100% within the control of the knitter themself (but how often have you heard a knitter blame the pattern!). The bad news is that many knitters are so eager to get their project on and off the needles that they tend to omit some of the vital preparatory stages that would ensure them success. Basic things like being familiar with your current body measurements sound like common sense, but there’s many a knitter who’s not placed a tape measure anywhere near her own body in years! And then there’s the familiar dread raised in knitters across the globe at the mere mention of the words ‘tension swatch’!

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words – here are a couple that make a very simple point about how critical tension swatching can be towards achieving a perfect fit.

Same number of stitches, same number of rows!

Both these samples in Iona, each worked on different needle sizes, have produced a fabric that at first glance looks and feels perfectly acceptable, neither too stiff or overly  sloppy. Both swatches have exactly the same number of stitches and the same number of rows in the very same yarn. Yet look at the difference in the physical size of the two pieces! The swatches themselves represent only a small percentage of a full garment, so multiply the ‘error’ margin across the circumference of a garment body and what do you have? Either a garment that’s too tiny to get around you, or one that is so oversize that it’ll swamp you.

While this is an extreme example, made to get the point across, it’s clear why so many knitters are dissatisfied with the sizing of their garment: a small variation from the patterns’ required tension can make a significant difference to the finished size. Answer? Swatch, swatch (and swatch again) until you can match the given tension exactly. Unless you match the tension given in the pattern instructions, your resulting garment will not be of the given measurements.

What a difference a stitch makes

Here’s another very graphic example – this time about the importance of measuring your swatch over the same stitch pattern that your pattern instructions require you to. This time, in Jitterbug,  we have even used exactly the same needle size, over exactly the same number of stitches and the same number of rows. The difference this time is only in the stitch pattern: the left hand swatch is worked in k2, p2 rib and the right hand swatch is in moss st (seed stitch). Need I say more?

The last element of the workshop was dedicated to blocking and finishing – while the given time of 20mins is hardly enough to even scratch the surface of such a complex topic, the thing that many of the participants expressed particular gratitude for was my demonstration of how to sew up a seam using mattress stitch. Surprisingly, there were a good number of seasoned knitters who’d never before come across mattress stitch – such a neat and near invisible way of joining pieces. At the completion of one of my sessions, a lady in the audience proclaimed she’d been knitting for 40 years and couldn’t believe that she’s actually just learned something new to her.

Yes, and I’m still learning too! And long may it continue.