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!

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…

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: