Thursday, May 18, 2006

Seams I Need Some Assistance (again)


That there yarn is Noro Blossom in colourway 15. Yes, I know you may have seen this before, as this is the exact same stuff I knitted the Blossom Shrug from. Same colour even. That's because I loved the colourway so much once I started knitting with it (having been a bit unsure about it when it arrived in the post). The fact that I had a skein left from the shrug helped to make my mind up - such a skinflint, aren't I? I had been planning a variation on the tubey, but maybe I'll make something completely different up. Something with ruffle bits round the neck. Yep, sounds gruesome enough - let's get started. Have to check out exactly how to do ruffley bits first. May I take this opportunity to be bossy and opinionated and say, "if you haven't tried out blossom yet, jolly well what are you waiting about for? Get some right now". This stuff, I could rave about it. It warms up immediately you touch it and keeps that heat and throws it right back at you, but at the same time, it's very light and soft against the skin. Magic. Or at least it was when I knitted it with 7mm needles for the shrug.

Right. The thing I need to ask you all about (if you're out there, anyone, today/whenever)... I'm just over half way through this Celandine and am thinking about seaming. You must understand I've only ever seemed one proper garment - Orangina - and because the ribbing at the bottom was knit in the round I thought it was obvious the side seams above the ribbing should be joined invisibly. Can't remember what it's called, but you lay the two halves side by side and sew one stitch from each and you can't see the join. Okay, for this angora tank-top, I'm assuming that would not be the way to seam. Can I just put the back and front right-sides together and sew them, like when you're sewing, not knitting? I'm assuming it's acceptable that not every knitted garment can be seamed in that invisible way.

Charles hasn't been very well for a few days. Twice since November I've taken him to the emergency doctor in the night and twice I haven't been convinced of the diagnosis and twice now I have been correct. One of these times the GP concerned (the emergency GP) failed to spot that the reason my son was having such difficulty breathing was not just that he had a bad cold, but that his tonsils were swollen and sceptic. And last night they told me he was screaming uncontrollably due to teething. I felt that wasn't right, as he appeared to recoil from pain as soon as anything touched his mouth, and took him back today, having see that the roof of his mouth looked sore. I was told it's covered in coldsores and this is extremely painful. Nobody in our family suffers from coldsores, so I don't know how he got them. Charles is generally a very robust and healthy child and I can see right away when something isn't right. Anyway, the message in this is, when it comes to your health, or that of your loved-ones, trust your instincts.

The photo above is of Celandine, but hey, check out this pattern (the Diamonique)- don't you just have to have it for the Summer? In black.

8 comments:

  1. I have some Blossom I am saving for something special. I don't know what.
    I always join mattress stitch (invisible), when I make a sweater. I do not saw it. If you sew like sewing, it makes for a bulky seam, which does not lay flat.
    poor baby Charles. The cold sores kids can catch from anything, since they touch all and all goes in the mouth. :-( hope he feels better soon .

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  2. For those smart people out there, mattress stitch is the way to go. But if you're, um, not so good at mattress stitch (which is prolly because I'm not doing it right) then there's the 3 needle bind off. really really easy as all you do is pick up every stitch along the seam on both pieces and then with the third needle, cast off the stiches like you would any garment, knitting through two stitches at once (like k2tog). It also makes the seam REALLY strong.

    Hope that helps a little.

    Sorry to hear about poor Charles. you can pick up cold sores anywhere. I'm the same, when Maddie gets sick it's usually instantly noticable. She was in the hospital last november for pnuemonia - 2 days before the doc said she just had a normal cold. As severe as her pnuemonia was by the time we got her to the hospital, she obviously had it when the doctor gave us his 'expert' opinion.

    Hope Charles is better soon. It's so awful when your kids are sick.

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  3. Thanks to both of you! Oh, I detest seaming.......

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  4. Can't offer much more advice re seaming (I'm the one who just backstitched the shoulder seams on the BdF jacket ..), but hope Charles feels better soon. Those coldsores must be awfully uncomfortable (OK downright painful!) for him, and he's too young to understand what's going on.

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  5. I'm with the mattress stitch brigade. Backstitching means the seams won't be stretchy, which is usually a bad thing.

    I read somewhere that there are some really lazy people out there who pay people to sew up their finsihed garments for them. So we can all feel good about ourselves for making the effort and doing it ourselves!

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  6. Who said anything about doing it myself? Ha ha. Not really.... Thanks everyone.

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  7. I've got a purchased handknit sweater that clearly was knitted in the appropriate pattern pieces, blocked SEVERELY, and the pieces were then sewn together using a sewing machine to make standard seams. I'll just go and get it...
    yup. And it's not lightweight wool, must be at least DK/worsted. The seams were sewn, then the two internal edges have been zigzag-stitch bound together. I'm torn between thinking it's cheating and thinking it's an extremely good idea -- but this is a relatively loose-fitting garment and I don't notice the seams while I'm wearing it. The technique might not be so effective for something close-fitting.

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  8. I hope Charlie's mouth is getting better. Poor you too - very stressful.
    I like the sound of the three needle bind-off. I've sewn my garments together using an attempt at mattress stitch but will try that next time.
    Will also investigate Noro Blossom though I'm scared of getting addicted to really expensive yarn!

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