The yoke is the most complicated part of a raglan sweater, but I think you’ll find that if you take it slow and workcarefully, it is not very hard at all! The trickiest thing is that the raglan decreases and neckline shaping will be workedat the same time.This is also the most exciting part of the sweater--we arenearing the finish line and for the first time, you’ll get to see your work really start to come together. Pun intended.Let’s get started! Read on for the videos and worksheet:

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Hi there! As you'll see in this week's video, my sweater is coming along swimmingly! Now that I am deep in the process of working the waist shaping, I am remembering why my row counter is my best friend! This week, we'll be discussing how to calculate the increases and decreases that will shape the torso of your sweater to the finished dimensions you desire. It may be helpful for you to look over and print out this week's handout so that you can follow along with the video lesson, in which I'll be walking you through all the math required in this step. I promise, it's not terribly hard :) Click the link below to get the handout: Lesson 3 - Shaping the Torso And check out the videos below!

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Ok, are we all ready to start swatching? Last week we discussed yarn choices and design dreaming, and this week we are going to solidify our yarn choices (if you haven't already!) and find the right needle to get the fabric that your design requires! I've done some extensive swatching (the results of which I share in the videos below) and have settled on knitting my Swish Worsted on US 6 Zephyr needles. Swatching can seem boring when you're itching to cast on a project, but it is one of the most essential parts of the design process, so it deserves a lot of time and attention! In this lesson, I'll be giving tips on how to swatch for the fabric your design needs, and then covering the measuring of gauge from your swatch, and the measurements needed for a succesful knit. All this information ins contained in the pdf linked below, which also has diagrams and blanks for you to fill in with your personal gauge and measurments. Don't worry if you're math-phobic; I've done my nest to keep it simple and to walk you through all the claculations step-by-step! Lesson 1: Swatching and Measuring Read on for more info and Videos...

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Hi Knitters! This final edition of the sweater class is all about finishing. In this week's video and handout, I'll discuss weaving in ends, how to finish your turned hem, closing up the underarms, and working the neckline trim! Whew! Each step goes pretty fast, but make sure to take the time to do these steps right, as a well-finished sweater will look a lot better than one with sloppy finishing. Check out our tutorials on finishing, too--they'll give you a lot of information on how to execute the techniques discussed in this lesson. Finshing Tutorials Another resource I really like and use a lot is Nancie Wiseman's Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, which is a wealth of information on every bit of swea=ter finishing you could imagine! And without further ado, here's your handout for this week:

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Are you tired of knitting from patterns? Do you have a sweater in your imagination that you can't quite find the perfect instructions for? Are you an aspiring garment designer? If any of these questions piqued your interest, then you are probably ready to design your own sweater! I'll be teaching an online class over the next 8 weeks right here on the Stash Blog, which will cover everything you need to know to knit a seamless sweater from the bottom up to fit your personal measurements precisely! Each week, there will be video discussions of the curent topic and free pdf downloads of my notes and worksheets. I'll be knitting my own sweater as we go, and if you knit along with me, you'll be able to easily have yours done too in the 8-week period. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section of the posts--I'll answer as many as humanly posible and other will chime in too, so that folks who can't knit along with us can still access the class later! As I learned while shooting the first video, I can really run off at the mouth! So I'll stop writing now and just let the videos speak for themselves. This is our introductory lesson. I'll be giving an overview of the course, encouraging you to knit a sweater for yourself, and discussing yarn options from a design perspective so that you can select your yarns and be ready to start knitting with them in time for next week's discussion on gauge and swatching. Click through for the videos, and Enjoy!

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