Texture

Texture in your knitting is more than pretty in each of your projects.  Texture is a design element that is often used to create longer wear, and greater warmth.  It changes the thickness of the fabric, and depending on how the texture is formed, it can trap substantially more air.  As we all know, more trapped air means greater warmth.

Silk Knitting Yarn .Com Worsted Silk

So why are some patterns that aren't textured so warm?  It comes down to the yarn.  The more "halo" or fuzziness a yarn has, the more air it will trap.  The smoothest yarns will trap the least.  And of course, loosely twisted yarns will trap a bit more air than those that have a tighter twist.

The yarns above in the washcloths photo are organic, vegetable-dyed cottons.  They don't hold much air, so adding texture to the fabric is one quick way to add warmth to a garment made with them.  The texture in each cloth is different, with the ribbed texture being the warmest, and the diagonal cable ridges being the coolest.

When you're modifying a pattern, adding texture can make a significant difference in the warmth of the finished garment.  It will also change the amount of yarn the pattern requires.  A general rule of thumb is the more texture you add, the more yarn you'll need.  Adding a few bobbles will require less additional yarn than changing the entire pattern to intricate cables.  Added texture can require up to 40% more yarn!  Plan accordingly.

If you know a pattern will receive hard wear, you may choose to add texture to increase the strength of the fabric.  Palms of mittens can be made stronger by making them seed stitch or linen stitch instead of stockinette.  Heels and toes of socks can be made in eye of partridge or 1x1 rib to extend their wear.

Lastly, remember that most textured stitches knit up at a slightly different gauge, so in order to make sure your garment will be the right size in the end, swatch the textured stitch.  If there are more stitches per inch, you'll need to go up a size or two.  If there are fewer, go down a size.  Enjoy the warmth and beauty of added texture in your work!

Making Patterns

Sketching is fun.  Getting an idea together with my colored pencils and some paper (and some coffee) is really cool. Turning those sketches into a pattern is a little tougher.  Add to that combining yarns, and thereby gauges and stitch counts, and it all gets a little complicated.  In some ways, that's what makes it fun.  But in some ways, when the sample goes wonky due to some unanticipated clash between design and human anatomy, it really ROTS!
I'm poking along right now on a sweater for winter 2012, featuring all kinds of texture.  I'm discovering that I really love designing cold weather knit wear, and have to be much more inspired to create warm weather knit wear.  Maybe it was getting caught in a snowstorm in Yellowstone last week, or maybe it's just my nature, but I'm feeling some cozy coming on.

All of this has lead me to a whole lot more knitting math, so I will be jumping in and continuing the series later in the week.  In the meantime, Seven Things that can "Make or Break" a Sweater™: Techniques and Tips for Hand Knitters, by Margaret E. Fisher, has some terrific knitting math.  I had never seen this book before last week, and am a little desperate waiting for my copy to come in the mail. 

Ms. Fisher has a very different approach from mine, teaching all the math as it pertains to one project - in this case a cute baby sweater.  I only got to scan someone else's copy for a minute, but I'm in love.  If any of you have read the book or made the sweater, tell me!  I'd love to know what you think! 

Coming Trends

Don't you love off-season yarn shopping?  Fill your stash with the stuff you love at prices that remove all power-shopping guilt pangs.  And what about all the summer yarn and fiber fairs, festivals and conferences?  You want to buy the yarn you'll use in your favorite fall styles, but you haven't seen them yet!  What are the coming trends in fashionable knitwear?  There are several, and they're all fun.  (Trends in woven fabrics will differ slightly.  These are knitwear trends.  For trends in off the rack fashion, search "2012 fashion".)

Color:  The summer 2011 palate for knitwear is an "opposites attract" theme.  Vivid colors in soft, thin yarns, and soft colors in thicker, more structured yarns make garments that look fresh for the season.  These color trends soften for fall/winter, with dusty colors in pastel through deep tones.  Crayon brights are not featured, but if you really love them, rock your own personal style!

Coming next spring and fall  (2012) are the joyful colors of Indian saris.  Beautiful jewel tones are blended with one contrasting pastel or light metallic.  These pieces will be on trend in the textures listed below.  In spring/summer, these shades are sometimes separated into layers, and in fall/winter, vivid tones are highlighted by a pastel in the same garment. 

Texture - Summer 2011 is a vista of smooth textures punctuated with a textured statement.  Tight clothes are taking a back seat to tailored fits that are close without being clingy.  A cabled belt over a smooth blouse, or a smooth tank with a textured crocheted wrap or lacy cardigan would be classic look.  Smooth on smooth is always flattering to most figures, but this summer it will look conservative.

Fall/Winter 2011/2012 is moving in the texture direction, becoming more all-over textured, punctuated by smooth, or mixed separates of smooth and textured.  Think boucle with satin, or ruching with smooth slacks.

Spring/Summer 2012 stays with the texture/smooth theme, with layers of contrasting light textures and flowing pants and skirts.  Lots of open weaves and open lacework make for fabrics you want to touch and caress.   Softness rules, with linens and hemps being scrunched, not ironed.
The chunky theme is repeated fall (2011 and 2012) and the trend is evolving.  Things have been trending quietly in this direction for quite a while.  The new stuff is even chunkier, and relies on a mix of longstanding traditions (cables and lace) and dramatic silhouettes.  Think big, dramatic simple geometrics: triangles, rectangles, trapezoids and ovals as silhouettes.  The cables should look deeply carved, and the lace focuses on texture over refinement.  These looks are made with fat yarns on big needles.  (US 11 - 17 and up.) For more fun, hold a strand of two different yarns together.

The fall/winter 2012 theme emphasizes very textured knits all over the place.  Keep your smooth knits in the drawer, and celebrate totally textured garments.  Ribbing, moss stitch, cables, stripes, lace - anything goes as long as it covers an entire garment.  Take the easy way out with this trend, and knit favorite patterns in a more textured yarn - tape, ribbon, faux-fur, beaded, eyelash, boucle, or any specialty finish. 

Designers are showing all-over texture in close fitting styles, which separates them from the chunky trend with the big, showy silhouettes. 

Shape: Shapes are continuing to emphasize curves, and through 2011 will focus on one statement piece and one lean piece.  The statement could be a flowing skirt, with a lean turtleneck, a tailored jacket with a slouchy camisole, or a drapey wrap with an otherwise slim silhouette.

The chunky trend has its own shape, and it's geometric.  Very little softly curving work is being shown outside of scarves and wraps.  It's all kindergarten shapes of square and boxy, straight lines, triangles both normal and inverted.  These garments tend to require only very easy shaping, focusing most of the interest on the wonderful chunky textures.  Doubled, and even tripled yarns make these quick knits.

Going into 2012 and right through winter, shapes become more and more contrast-driven:  big tops with little skirts, little tops with big skirts, big hats with lean knits, chunky sweaters with tiny handbags... Not quite more is more, the mood is pretty attention grabbing. 

Go off season shopping with an eye for what you'll be wearing in the next year or so.  Build up your stash on the colors and textures that will work for you.  Remember that these textured styles take more yarn, so grab about 25% more yarn per garment than usual.  And have a ball!

A Surprising New Favorite

Fall 2011 and all of 2012 fashion highlight all-over texture in every garment.  Gorgeous stuff if you're a knitter, to be sure.  But how?  Boucle yarns?  Complex pattern stitches?  I can be kind of predictable in my yarn preferences.  I wouldn't say that I'm in a rut; I'm more diverse than that!  But I don't usually go for a textured yarn, or a particularly chunky yarn.  Usually.

Then, over the weekend, I started playing with Katydid, a fully organic-cotton tape yarn (conventionally dyed) from Classic Elite's Verde Collection.  I had some mixed feelings at first: as beautiful as the colorways are, and as soft yet strong the yarn is, I was out of practice with tape yarns.  Would I find this tape yarn, technically a bulky (though extremely light) awkward?  The long and short of it is, NO!  I was pleasantly surprised to see that Katydid is as easy to knit with as any simple worsted.  Really!  Much of the credit goes to its easy drape and smooth hand.  If you haven't worked with tape yarns before, this is an ideal first choice.

Tape yarns can create rich and beautiful textures without the need for lots of fancy stitching.  Soft yarns often pill and shed, but tape yarns don't, due to the way they're woven.  Katydid has the best of both worlds.  In the swatch below, I worked stockinette, knit-purl alternating, reverse stockinette, yarn overs, and then bobbles.  None of these are difficult stitches, though I understand they may seem complex if you knit them in such close succession.  The question was this: the texture is great on stockinette, but does it enhance other basic stitch work?  My answer is definitely YES!

Tape yarn tips: 
1.  Use the recommended needle size, or larger.  Smaller needles will remove the textured affect.
2.  Use a dowel to hold your yarn.  Like your paper towels, tape yarns are much easier to use if you work the skein from the outside with the ball on a dowel.  Take a spare knitting needle and stick it into a block of styrofoam.  This will keep the ball from rolling around, which can lead to excessive twisting of the yarn.
3.  If you twist the yarn as you work (though the dowel thing makes this unlikely), untwist frequently.  Twisted tape yarns look like standard yarns if they are very twisted during the knitting process. 
4.  Tape yarns are not ideal for garments with negative ease, as they tend to be much less elastic than standard yarns.  If you are making a garment designed to have negative ease, consider sizing up to ensure a good fit. 
5.  If it isn't listed in the pattern, consider doing a cable bind off.  It's a little stretchier, and will make your seams and edges behave like the rest of your garment.

I encourage you to go get some.  Play with it.  It's delightful.  If you're unable to get your hands on Katydid locally, ask your LYS to order some.  Don't want to wait?  It's available online at WEBS, Yarn Barn, and many other shops.  Enjoy!