Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
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Knitting Friday

What a week! I posted Website Wednesday on Tuesday and I got to see enough of Prometheus that I think I can write a Move Monday next week. Things are still hectic around here so I don't think MM will be up and running regularly for a while. I have never spent so much time cooking except when the girl was very little and a rotten eater so every meal was a challenge. I'm going to try sweet potato burgers this weekend. That should be interesting.

It's unbelievable how little knitting I've been accomplishing since I do have a lot of down time, though I'm beginning to think that has just become cooking time. Didn't realize how much stirring it takes regular pudding (not instant) to thicken. 

Today, I do have some pictures where I solved some construction, and other, problems. But first let me show you what's on my knitting wish list: (Sorry that you must join Ravelry [free registration] to view it.)

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/roundabout-dk-ribbed-baby-vest

All you observant souls will see "baby vest" in the link and that it is. But you cast on 68 stitches for the neck (I CO 70 on my top-down tops) and after the collar you double your stitches and join them to work in ribbing rounds to the bottom hem. Does this construction sound familiar to you? It's my generic top-down top, minus the ribbing stitch pattern. I have always wanted to work one of these tops in ribbing and I have a little less than a full skein of Lion Brand brown fisherman wool (the large skein) so this is going to be my next project.

OK, I really don't like the look of this top. It looks messy for an adult but cute for a kid. I'm hoping to improve on this; more later.

The hospice nurse comes on Thursday so yesterday I  wore a blouse with one of my generic tops over it. That's when I noticed the top had a really bad knitting error. So bad that the whole thing is in the frog pond. It's a wriggly mess of cotton yarn which is only good for the trinity/blackberry stitch unless I wash it and hang it with weights to unkink it. And this was one of my favorite tops! More on this later also.

It was when I put on this top (before I discovered the knitting error) that I noticed the saggy stitches at the underarm and I thought this might be a good time to expand my "how to fix a saggy stitch underarm" lesson from an earlier posting.

#1 Saggy underarm

In pic #1, you see the orange top I'm currently working on. I have cast on the stitches for the underarm (top needle) and knitted one row on them. You can see, to the left middle, single threads of yarn between the needles. I'm just about to work a second row on the underarm stitches and if I just knit along all those single threads will just remain there and look like this finished top (#2).

#2 Single threads on finished top

As you can see in picture #2, this top is done but I have 4 single yarn threads in the center. (I'll show you have to fix this later.) Back to the orange top.

#3 About to fix it

The crochet hook in #3 is through the left-most single thread in pic #2.  (The one on the diagonal.) That's the thread I'm going to work through the other threads to the right of it in #2 and up onto the needle. By doing this I'll be tightening the area and turning these single threads into a firmer construction.

#4 a new stitch

In #4, the first stitch on the horizontal needle is the new stitch I just made. Since this row is a *YO, K2tog* lace row, I'm going to have to K3tog here (new stitch with the two to the left of it) because you want to keep the stitch count. But you can see already that the problem in #1 is gone. In #5, here's the underarm section a row later.

#5 Problem solved

It's obvious that the saggy underarm look in #2 is gone.

I know I showed this technique before but this time while working it I thought about all the tops I made before I figured out a solution, like the top in picture #2. So I got out this top and did the same thing as I do when I'm first knitting the underarms. That is, working a new stitch up to the needle. Except with a finished garment there are no needles so I just tacked the new stitch at the back of the underarm.

#6 T-pin holding new stitch

Looking at picture #2, I picked up the 4th single thread to the left (there is a 5th single thread to the left but that's part of the design) and worked a new stitch through the other threads to the top.  As you can see in #6, a T-pin is holding the new stitch in place and in #7, you see the finished product with the new stitch invisibly tacked to the back.

#8 All done

Thinking about methods, fixing the problem as you work or making the new stitch and tacking it to the back later, I really can't say which way is easier. But I am happy that I was able to fix the problem long after I created the top. (P.S. This saggy underarm look is a major problem with knitters according to Ravelry.)

Which brings me to a minor rant against the expensive antiperspirants which advertise: only on your skin, not on your clothes. Liar! Liar! Pants on fire! They don't work and they lead to a lot of pre-prepping of the underarm area of the garment as you get ready to wash it.

#8 Antiperspirant white

Since my lace tops are made to go over camis they come in contact with the antiperspirants and unfortunately "wear the white streaks." I noticed it when I went to fix the underarm of this top in #8. You can see the whiteness by the single thread.

So I decided to finally "cure" this problem. First, I soaked the underarms in conditioner for 20 minutes. Nothing happened, still white. Then I took out fels naptha soap which is an old family remedy (if fels can't remove it, nothing can) and gently scrubbed the area. Well, the white is gone but I'm pissed that I had to use fels (it's not gentle.) However, I don't know what the solution is to these white streaks except removing them in intensive washing.

Right now, the blue top is drying and I'll post a picture next week.

That's it for this Friday. See you next week. Happy knitting.