KnitWithMe No1 C

Now you have knit with me all the way up from the armpits to the neck line. Still you need to be satisfied with the fake light weird shades of my OOW (25% arctic dog wool and 75% Finnsheep wool) (100g = 220m) and AAW (50% our own ethic produced arctic angora wool, 40% ethic produced FinnSheep wool, 10% nylon) (100g = 238m) yarns. The real plant dyed shades of the yarns you can see on this post.

You can see the back side of the vest is higher than the front side. My back side is one repeat higher than the front side. In my case I have total 180 stitches. It depends on your stitches how many you now had at front and at back. At the end you need to have exactly the same number of stitches on the shoulder line because later you stitch them together.

(The repeat means in this case one stripe figure stitched by the colors 2-4 plus the color 1 there in the between of each stripe. The repeat ends with the color 1.)

The shoulder line final number of stitches is 20 (or few more if your vest is bigger than mine) on the both sides. You need to decrease all the extra stitches by the neckline. At front I decreased at 1st 10 stitches on the both sides of the central stitch + the central stitch. It makes total 21 stitches. And then 4 more (on both sides) by the neckline during the next repeat. Knit one more repeat with these 20 stitches. Leave the stitches "on rest".

Notice: Make the first central decreases by the color 1 at back side's back side (= purl). This means you end up to knit at first the right side back shoulder (but it really doesn't matter). Then you knit the left side back shoulder.

Make sure your back side is one repeat higher than the front side. Because you have less rounds left to make the decrease to 20 stitches on both shoulders you need to make it faster. Which means more on the central line. You make the decrease during one repeat and then your're done with the back side.

Calculate how many stitches you have. At front you need to decrease so many stitches that you end up on both shoulders with 20 (the number you have left at the end at the front side shoulder) + 2. 

After decreasing the needed number of stitches at back's central point you need to decrease 2 more by the neck neck line.

Notice: Make the first central decreases by the color 1 at back side. This means you end up to knit at first the right side back shoulder. Then you knit the left side back shoulder. Leave the stitches "on rest".

Now you have got rid of your knitting needles, haven't you. 😊

For the next well meet to connect the shoulder lines!

KnitWithMe No1 B

Here we are, by the armpits. We've knit all the way from the hem to the armpits. First, check out you made this and if not, do it now.

"Place the slip markers on both sides. Make sure it gets even right in the middle front. Meaning that I have 180 stitches. Half of it is 90. The middle front is between the stitches 45-46. In my size the pattern of the 4 stitches figure doesn't fit right in the middle.That's why I marked again the sides so that the back side of the vest gets a bit smaller so I can match the pattern repeat right in the middle front. If it is even one stitch skewed it will be noticed because it comes right under your face at the end. So make sure you match the middle front center there where you want. The front part of the vest can be a bit bigger than the back side. It really is up to one or few stitches so it doesn't matter much."

After you have found your sides and front & back part of your vest, make sure you are there where you want to make the armpits. Meaning the hem part of the vest is high enough.

Armpit decreasing

1st decreasing round: 

cast off 4 stitches right after the 1st slip marker 

knit on according your design until cast off 4 stitches before the next slip marker

cast off 4 stitches more right after the 2nd slip marker

knit according your design 'til the end of round

Turn around. Now you stop knitting circular despite you can still use your circular knitting needles and let the stitches rest on it. This is the back side of your vest.

Cast off 4 stitches purl

knit rest of the stitches on the back side according your design, make sure you purl each stitch because you are now inside your vest, also remember to slip when ever you need to do it

Turn around and keep on knitting the back side of your vest.

You need to cast off about 20 stitches more. That makes about 10 by each armpit at both front and back side of the vest. And if your back side included more stitches, you need to cast off the extras too. Meaning that when your casting off is done you have as many stitches at front and back. Cast off always on the front side by the armpits after the 1st stitch. It is easiest there. Cast off always on the color 2-3-4 stripes.

When you have cast off needed number of stitches on your back side. Do the same on your front side.

When you have cast off all the needed stitches, your front and back side have exact the same number of stitches. I have now 69 stitches on both sides. Make sure your front is still there where you want it to be.

Knit on until you are there where you want to start your round shape neck line at front and back. It is somewhere at the top of your sternum at front and few centimeters higher at back. So, your back side will be a bit taller than front.

These two lowest pictures show you how the color shades change when you use electric lights. Actually that's the reason why I didn't publish this B-part for this KnitWithMe earlier. The polar night season has started. I have been waiting a bright daylight time to make the pics for you but no change. This is the most grey season of the year. So, I decided that these 2 pictures does just fine. The point is we get on!

See you by the neck line!

Lints

I tried out Prym's wool comb to remove lints from my sweater I have used a lot since last December. Always before I have used shaving razor. Now I asked my students' opinions and experiences how they do it. This little low budget thing had warmly recommendations so I tested it out. And I do am very satisfied with the result. It is not suitable for loose knitted garments but works well with AAW that includes angora quite a lot.

Taking good care of your garments is an excellent way to make them last longer and avoid the need to buy new ones. This is what PlanetEarth loves too. And it is very fashionable if you think about FashionNOW.

ForSantaClaus

I made the warp for these tablet weave bands in last month. They are my own design but I bet very traditional style. Now I was able to finish these for Fathers' Day 2025. They are for Santa Claus' fur shoes which also our hunters use. So, they really are going to be a real traditional shoe bands for fur shoes Sámi and other arctic nations have used since the old times.

HomeDecoKnitting

Just take a look how cute home decoration knitting I made! It is a sweeping brush handle woolly sweater! It is made of left over / loose end yarns. It is very easy to complete. It is done by circular knitting with 5 knitting needles. I had no 3 needles and the yarns approx 100 g = 200 m. It actually doesn't matter. You can mix all kind of yarns as long as they are about the same thickness. You can mix 100 % wool and artificial fibres. I even had some glittering in few, which you can't see on the pic.

I used 4 stitches on each needle (16 stitches total). I knit all the stitches. The length is of course individual but the basic handles at my corner of the world are approx 140-145 cm high. I just made a knot at each different yarn start/end and left 3- 5 cm loose end and pushed it inside the sweater. At the end I just knit together 2 stitches on each needle, and on the next round again 2 stitches together on each needle. Then I had 2 stitches left on each needle (8 sticthces total) and I cut the yarn and pull it through these 8 stitches and tightened. I never turn around the sweeping brush sweater. I just carefully used a needle to zig zag the yarn back and forth inside the sweater. It really was possible because I didn't do it longer than the length of the needle. Then I pulled the loose end of the yarn to the front side, tightened a bit and cut it off. 

 

At some point the sweater started to get a bit too long to be easy to knit so I used safety pins to keep it in order and easier to work with. It was all fun. And, this actually is low budget gift idea for the upcoming Yule tide with FashionNOW idea if you use your loose end yarns and don't buy any new! Knitting this is easy and fun so it does good on your mental health and on the other's health too because I can promise it will bring a smile at everyone's face who will see it! 💖