Lion Incredible ribbon yarn for sweater?

I've only ever used ribbon yarn (alone) as a scarf. I don't know if it would hold its shape enough to be used as a sweater. Welcome to RCTY, BTW. I hope you'll stay and post often.

Higs, Katherine

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in message news:46523680$0$27227$ snipped-for-privacy@news.sonic.net...

Hi, Melinda, It has been my experience with most cuff to cuff knitting that it sags with wear. There are no seams at the shoulders or arm holes to help bear the weight of the sweater. I would think that nylon with be very "drapey" to begin with, and would need more structure to look and wear well. DA

I hate to play devil's advocate but I say: "dive in the deep end and see what happens".

I've had some of my greatest learning experiences from not asking sensible questions first and just throwing myself at a project. Granted I wouldn't recommend this method if the materials are radically expensive or if you're really not going to handle an unexpected result with good grace (or good denial - sweet, sweet denial).

I have no experience with this yarn but I've never let a lack of experience or skill hold me back. :)

I'm not all in jest here - really the best learning experiences (and some of the best creative experiences too) do come from just wading into something and learning from your mistakes (if you make any, really it could all go exactly as you thought it might). If you like the yarn and the pattern and you want the two to marry then make it happen.

VP

Who only learnt that she really does need to baste a zipper before she sews it in place by machine after about a hundred attempts that skimped on the prep. :)

Actually, the reason I asked about it here rather than just jump into it is because at this point in my life I don't have that much extra time to have the luxury of being able to waste it. So for a first big project, I'd rather follow the rules to learn them before I have a feel for when to break them.

I am guessing it is going to take me until cold weather hits (i.e., November here) to be able to finish this -- like I might have a half-hour to an hour a day and maybe not even that and not every day to work on it (e.g. for the past month or two I have had so much work I've been going on 3-4 hours sleep a night and whenever I can get catnaps in elsewhere). Especially for a first project and not really having any significant previous experience, I'd rather do something that more experienced people think will be more reliable. Otherwise I will have spent approx six months of my very limited spare time on something that I will have to throw away because it didn't work.

I stopped doing a lot of sewing a long time before I got pattern drafting software because I was spending limited time on projects that ended up having to be tossed. And I gave up on trying to knit socks a number of years ago because it took me 3-4 months to finally finish one sock, and it didn't fit.

Now OTOH, if I had an hour's commute on the commuter train a day (not in the last 20-some-odd years) and nothing to do during that time, I might be willing to take more chances. But my time is still limited right now.

Thanks! Would you recommend cotton, acrylic, or wool (listed in order of what I would prefer to use) to give the best structure?

Thanks, I don't know how often I will post, but I *have* been reading here a month or two, getting up the nerve to start something big. But you folks seem to be another pretty civil, not-terribly-catty group, so I felt comfortable posting here.

15-ish years ago when I first got on the internet, I used to be on a knitting mailing list (it was VERY high volume) because I enjoyed reading what everybody was doing. I don't remember the name of the list

-- but those were the days before free listserv software, and I think there was only one big mailing list -- and I was on it at the time this one lady posted this poignant story of going to buy a fleece from farmers and buying this one fleece that had belonged to a little stillborn lamb, and it about broke the heart of the lady selling the fleece to have to sell it, remembering the poor little lamb, and she spun it into superfine yarn and made a shawl from it of knitted so fine that it would pass through her wedding ring, and then she decided to take it back to show the lady she had bought the fleece from what she had made, and the lady cried from knowing that her poor little lambie had had its fleece turned into something so beautiful.

Anyway, I don't know how tolerant you folks are of that type of conversation, so I will just quit for now and go back to work (was just taking a break).

Regards, Melinda

Melinda, We are tolerant of all kinds of stories - in fact, we love them - so feel free to drop in whenever you take a break from work.

Higs, Katherine

Melinda, I knitted both the cardigan and pullover from this pattern many years ago.

explained on the page, the sweater is done from a variety of yarns. Bothversions "grew" with wearing, the cardigan sleeves got longer and theneckline on the pullover stretched out of shape. Crocheting around theneckline of the pull over added firmness there, but then the sleeves "grew"like the cardigan sleeves.Cotton yarn has very little elasticity, and knit at a firm tension may work.After experiencing two disasters with cuff to cuff knitting, I prefer toknit patterns with either shoulder seams or sleeves which change stitchdirection at the arm hole, i.e. knitted from the shoulder down.DA

Hmm. Well, a disaster is not exactly what I am interested in spending

4-6 months creating. I really don't want to get so frustrated again that I decide to go back to trying to sew and then doing nothing because I don't have the time or space to haul out my sewing machine and work. What would you recommend for a foolproof, "even a 6YO with no prior knitting experience can do it" type of cardigan-type pattern for a SSBBW (size 28-ish) who wants to experience a reasonably good success with her first big project?

Thanks bunches! Melinda

Lion Brand has some free patterns for Incredible yarn

There is a cardigan pattern listed on the page below the yarn. Patterns from Lion Brand free patterns are usually pretty easy, so I would try that one. The brief picture I saw shows it as being two colors, but you can work it in just one if you have enough yarn. There is also a pullover freebie.Make sure that you do a gauge swatch.DA

I make sleeveless shells with ribbon yarn. You'll want to knit at a pretty tight gauge to keep it from drooping.

The LIon Incredible is kind of scratchy when knitted (in my opinion.) I would buy one ball and try a swatch and see what you think. There are other, softer ribbon yarns if you're set on ribbons. For patterns

- I like the Vermont Fiber Design patterns.

have very extended size ranges - the only ones I've seen that goto 6x for instance (and start at xxSmall.) I just saw their newsummer patterns and am absolutely in love with this one I'm making this short sleeved sweater in cotton (K2P2 SecondTime Cotton): not affiliated, no how, no way

Here's another thought to keep in mind. A few years ago I wanted to knit an Aran sweater for my DIL. She can't wear wool, so asked for it in cotton. I asked here about using cotton and was disuaded. A number of people warned that 100% cotton in an Aran design would be very heavy and would "grow". Even though I'm not a fan of acrylic, I ended up using a yarn made from 30% cotton, 70% acrylic in the off white Fisherman colour. It's Bernat Denimstyle, worsted weight 18 sts, 24 rows over 4" on 5 mm needles. That sweater is the nicest sweater I've ever knit, especially as a gift. She was very happy with it, can wash it in the machine and same for the dryer. You can see it here:

's a link to see the yarnttp://tinyurl.com/2adrmo Let us know what you finally decide. Shelagh

I can appreciate that but even with the perfect pattern and the perfect materials you may not get a finished product you are 100% pleased with. If you will only settle for a desirable end product and the journey to that end is not satisfying for you then pay someone else to make it.

It may be everything you imagined and more (and I hope it is), but when one is a novice at anything (and even when one is an expert), doing something for the first time often leads to a less than perfect result. If you can love the journey and love the outcome even with its flaws then happiness will be yours.

Okay, enough preaching from me (even I'm sick of myself). Best wishes for the project.

VP

I can appreciate that but even with the perfect pattern and the perfect materials you may not get a finished product you are 100% pleased with. If you will only settle for a desirable end product and the journey to that end is not satisfying for you then pay someone else to make it.

It may be everything you imagined and more (and I hope it is), but when one is a novice at anything (and even when one is an expert), doing something for the first time often leads to a less than perfect result. If you can love the journey and love the outcome even with its flaws then happiness will be yours.

Okay, enough preaching from me (even I'm sick of myself). Best wishes for the project.

VP

I must not be expressing myself correctly or something, because this is absolutely NOT what I was trying to get at. All I'm asking is, "Am I making a incredibly foolish mistake by trying this pattern and this yarn for a beginner project?" and I want the truth, not "Well, just try it for yourself and see if it works."

I just don't want to start off with something that will automatically start with one or two strikes against me. I'd like to start off with something that is simple, relatively foolproof, and likely to be successful. If I start off with a good pattern and an appropriate yarn, my chances of success are going to be far greater than if I start off with a pattern incompatible with the yarn.

IOW, I would prefer to learn from other people's mistakes when they are easily avoided. I'm sure I will make enough on my own without making ones that I could have avoided had I take the time to ask the advice of more experienced knitters, which is exactly what I am trying to do.

Here are two examples of the kind of thing I am talking about (sorry that they are sewing examples -- I have 30-some-odd years of experience with sewing and that's the only parallel I can think of to try to give examples with): On the sewing newsgroup, we get people asking about buying new sewing machines and they only want to spend $100-200. (Or worse, wanting to buy a serger and only wanting to spend the same amount of money.) They may be sincere and may think they have a chance of success, but those of us who are more experienced and have already tried those machines (BT, DT, GTTS) try to gently steer them toward buying an older reconditioned machine, because they will have an easier time on an older machine rather than the new el cheapo machines that will not hold their tension. Those who listen to us and change their minds are generally glad they did so. Are these people going to make mistakes when they start sewing? Yep. But they will make fewer mistakes and be less frustrated than if they have to fight with their shoddily-made sewing machine (or especially a serger) while they are learning to sew. And that is what I am trying to accomplish by asking advice of knitters more experienced than I am.

Another example: My daughter wanted to make her own Christmas dress one year when she was 10. She chose a complicated Princess-line pattern and chose velvet fabric to make it with. Unfortunately, she chose the same types of pattern and same fabric for three years in a row. It was so frustrating for her to complete these complicated projects in a difficult, unforgiving fabric that she got burned out on sewing. I don't want to burn out on this before I get the chance to try it and see if I really like it, and since I am better at wanting to learn from other people's mistakes, that's why I am asking.

The answers that I have gotten that this yarn might not hold its shape, is somewhat scratchy when worn, etc., are helpful and I can use them to temper how I complete this project, and I appreciate that. But if I just wanted to launch into this whether it's a good idea and see what happens, I wouldn't have come asking for advice in the first place.

*scratching head in puzzlement, thinking that a "go ahead and try it and see if it works or not" approach sounds remarkably like the Kaiser advice nurses I used to call when my children were babies whose only answers to whether I needed to have my child seen in the middle of the night or if it could wait until the morning was "We can't really tell you anything over the phone. If you think there might be a problem, you need to bring your child in to be seen," which, I am pretty sure, was not why Kaiser was paying them big bucks to man phones in the middle of the night*

Melinda, already starting to wonder if trying to knit on needles was a mistake and maybe I just should go back and try to find the time to use my knitting machine again :(

Are you saying that it is never wise to get advice and help from more experienced people, that one needs to just thrash it out on their own and take their lumps when they get them?

If so, if someone came to this group and said, "I have knitted scarves and plain rectangles and am ready to try something a little more challenging like a sweater/jacket/cardigan/whatever that doesn't have anything really fancy, just regular knitting and learning how to create the basic item before doing anything fancy like fancy stitches or whatever. What would you recommend as a good beginner project?" would you just tell them to pick out the first pattern that appealed to them, ignoring the difficulty level, or would you have some good suggestions?

Melinda, hoping that this group is not antipathetic to people who are trying to learn to knit in their limited spare time

I'm sorry Melinda, I've obviously upset you and that was not my intention in any way. Please don't take what I say as criticism for asking questions - you are absolutely right to do so and this group is very helpful and wise.

What I've been trying to express (but have obviously not succeeded in doing so) is that even with the best laid plans things go wrong in knitting and I wouldn't want anyone to be too disapointed when that happens. In my mind (and this is just my opinion), if someone really enjoy the process of knitting and not just the outcome then it's a pastime they will find rewarding.

I really like experimenting with knitting and that's why I recommended the "the try it and see" approach. That doesn't mean that no questions would be asked (or that you are wrong to do so). I do recommend being ambitious and creative - I sincerely believe this to be a rewarding approach to knitting but again, it is my belief and as such may be disregarded.

My apologies for any offense I have caused.

VP