Replies

1. 
   Jean | Jul 24, 2002 10:33pm | #1

   What is the URL for the pattern? Some patterns can be adjusted by doing a little math, although a diagonal conversion may be a little more difficult.

1. 
   Barbaran8 | Jul 24, 2002 11:15pm | #2

   Well, I'm not sure how to make a link, but I can copy and paste.

   http://www.fibershop.com/iro_vest/vest.shtml

   This is a photo of the finished vest - it actually looks like it would be easy to upsize intuitively, I think I could also make the back into a chevron and have the sides as separate pieces, I just feel I would be going outside of my confort level on the knitwear designing limb... There's another sweater kit offered by the same shop for another vest with smaller diagonals that i think is really cute, but the kit price almost gave me a heart-attack!

   http://www.fibershop.com/coolstuff_vest/kit.shtml

   barb

1. 
   Jean | Jul 25, 2002 02:31am | #3

   I like the first one best.  The  yarn is very interesting.  That pattern is basically just some rectangles.  I think  you could easily chart your own if you make a good gauge swatch.    If you give it a try let us know how it comes out.

1. 
   sanderson | Jul 25, 2002 09:47am | #4

   Lately my knitting has consisted of making dishrags...cotton yarn, garter stitch.  I think, by looking at the pattern, that the same drill would work for the front panels.  My directions are to start with three stitches and cast on one at the beginning of each row (I usually knit the first stitch, make one, knit to end and turn. Repeat until there are 40 on the needle and then for a dishrag you decrease one stitch each row...knit two together, make one, knit two together, knit to end of the row.  The make one on the decrease row keeps the little loopy things going that happen on the increase rows.  Don't you just love how I have all of the right lingo!  Seems to me you could get the rectangle shape by increasing to the width you want your front to be and then just increase one stitch at the beginning of each row and decrease  one stitch at the end.  Thanks for the design idea. BTW the silk/wool yarn sounds great.

2. 
   ElonaM | Jul 25, 2002 10:00am | #5

   Cute vest. As to patterns for it, I've worked with that yarn, and the company has produced a number of pamphlets with designs made from their yarns. You should be able to find some of these at a real knitting store.

   However, here is another possibility: Knitter's Magazine (www.xrx-inc.com) has featured quite a few patterns with this diagonal design feature. A search at their site or bulletin board might help you.

1. 
   Jean | Jul 25, 2002 05:29pm | #6

   That's an interesting site! http://www.knittinguniverse.com/xrx/universe.asp

   Thanks for posting. BTW, how many real knitting stores are there anymore? The only yarns available to me are the Walmart variety. :( Anything fancy has to be mail-order or on-line.

   Sanderson--you've got it!  That's just the way I would try it too.

   Edited 7/25/2002 10:34:15 AM ET by Jean

1. 
   Jean | Jul 25, 2002 07:00pm | #7

   Here's directions for a similar vest. I couldn't find a picture of the finished vest though. You need Acrobat reader to download it, but it's free.

   http://knittinguniverse.com/downloads/vestpattern.pdf

2. 
   ElonaM | Jul 27, 2002 02:13am | #8

   Boy, that looks like THE vest!

   There are still a couple of really nice knitting stores in my part of California, but rumor has it that it's only because personal wealth has made the big profit a non-issue, in terms of hanging onto the lease as well as putting bread on the table.

3. 
   Tish | Jul 27, 2002 03:14am | #9

   That's a good question about the knitting stores, Jean.  The Washington Post recently ran a story about a resurgence of knitting in this area.  Mom's who knit have put up notices in community centers offering knitting lessons in return for other services, like rides for their kids, or child care, and they et more takers than they can handle.  My church has a group of knitters who meet after the service once a month to knit and chat.  They make mittens and hats for United Community Ministries to distribute in the winter.  They have several new knitters already starting to make mittens.  There are plenty of knitters out there, why no stores?

   I use knitting stores to get yarns for weaving.  I can buy supplies and yarn on-line, but nothing beats touching and seeing the wool.  I could never good results with experimental color combinations if I couldn't twist the yarn ends together and see how they look.  I am lucky that the best knitting store in the DC area is about five miles from where I live, but it is the only one!  I don't like the owner, tho' I do like the other staff.  I'd like to have more choice.

   I recently discovered that Michael's Craft Store has a nice selection of yarn.  Well, nice in comparison to  Ames and KMart.  Not many pure wools, but fashionable blends.  Over-all quality is mid-range.  Is there a Michael's near you?

   The Mannings, in near Oxford PA, is a weaving store that also serves knitters, and they'll send you a selection of yarn swatches for a few dollars.  They carry excellent quality wools and blends.  It's a four hour drive there and back, so I only go once a year.  They have a website, if you want to contact them.

   The Cloverhill Yarn Shop near Baltimore has the finest yarns I've ever seen in one place.  (I am not broadly experienced in this area.)  I've been there once, with my weaving teacher.  They're a knitting shop that used to be a weaving shop, and they serve both markets.  The wools were so luxurious--I'm trying to find a way to describe them.  Like ice cream.  Like what you'd get if angels did tie-die.  They had this hand-died, hand spun wool made by a man in Vermont that was so beautiful it made you want to dive into the basket.  Sigh.  Cloverhill has a website, but only a fraction of there stock represented.

4. 
   lin327 | Jul 27, 2002 04:17am | #10

   I'm quite lucky in the knitting store department.  One of my favourite stores is a little independent shop downtown Waterloo, Ontario called Cloth and Clay.  The sell gifty things in the front and the most exqusite selection of designer and fancy yarns in the back of the store.  The owner has told me that if I see a yarn in a magazine she can try to get it for me.  There's also a chain of fabric and yarn stores heere in Southern Ontario called Len's Mill that has a huge selection of Paton's, Coat's and other brand name yarns.  The stores aren't the fanciest, but they make up for that in selection of yarn and fabric.  It's one of those places you have to visit once a week because you never know what they'll have.  Othrwise it's just micheal's, walmart, and Zeller's.  Ho-hum.

5. 
   Jean | Jul 27, 2002 06:13am | #11

   There is a Michaels about an hours drive from here, but we're usually strapped for time when we go to town and there is little time for browsing. I will keep it in mind to check them out next time. I could get lost for a week in those craft stores. :) Thanks.

2. 
   VictoriaMars | Jul 29, 2002 12:56am | #12

   Here is an article on charting knitting patterns on the bias.

   http://www.knittinguniverse.com/downloads/lewis/45_Degrees_Again.pdf

   Is this what you mean by diagonal knitting?

   Victoria

1. 
   Barbaran8 | Jul 29, 2002 05:48pm | #13

   Boy, that knitting universe site is great! It took me a while to figure out that I needed to boot up the PC and swap to the horrid Microsoft browser to get the downloads, so now I can read the downloads but not print them out.

   As far as knitting stores, I'm in the Seattle area and blessed with a number of good stores, (I live quite close to the actual store that Yarnies.com is based on, and work near Nancy's Sewing Basket) but when I have some bonus money burning a hole in my pocket, I go to the Weaving Works! It's a very large stand-alone store in the University district, with a huge variety of scrumptious yarns. I did find the pattern for the vest that started these posts there, and looked it over, but I decided that it was simple enough to copy and resize - we'll see how sure I am of that a month from now....

   Barb