Heather's Cable Tee I didn't design this sweater myself, although I did adapt sections of it to suit myself. The pattern came from the Ample Knitter's list Cable Tee Knit-along project. It's a wonderful pattern, satisfying to knit and satisfying to wear. The yarn is Amazon DK cotton in magenta, which is a really smashing purple. I liked the baby cable rib trim so much that I decided to do the sleeves for the Cable Tee all in baby cable rib. I used a sock technique for the sleeves that I hadn't tried before -- knitting both sleeves at once using the magic loop method on two circular needles. This is supposed to ensure that the sleeves (or socks, if one was knitting them) match, but I'm not sure that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. It is kind of cool to see both sleeves grow at once. Pat's design for the armscye and shoulder fits really well. I use a lot of rolled hems in my knitting. I like the way they look, and I like the fact that they eliminate a cast-on (or bind-off) edge. Rolled ribbed hems are nice and stretchy, and rolled ribbed necks are warm and cozy. I'm using a baby cable rib for the edges of my Cable Tee, which is a cabled k2p2 ribbing. I used a reversible cast on and knit the turned-under part of the hem in simple k2p2 ribbing with the knits and purls in place for the horseshoe cable at the center. I used a size 4 needle for the turned-under part of the hem, then switched to a size 5 for the purl fold line and the rest of the bottom ribbing. As I was working the joinery row for the hem, I wondered whether rolled ribbed hems would work better if the turned-under part was worked backwards from the main fabric. It seemed to me that the ribbing might be less fluffy and pull in a bit more if I worked it so that a knit stitch on the front was backed by a purl stitch on the turned-under part and vice-versa. I usually work rolled hems like this ([ for knit stitches and - for purls): [[--[[--[[--[[--[[-- [[--[[--[[--[[--[[-- foldline -------------------- [[--[[--[[--[[--[[-- [[--[[--[[--[[--[[-- What would happen if I worked them like this instead: [[--[[--[[--[[--[[-- [[--[[--[[--[[--[[-- foldline -------------------- --[[--[[--[[--[[--[[ --[[--[[--[[--[[--[[ When I cast on for the sleeves, I tried it. When I turn under the hem and join, the knit side of the facing stitches is pointed the same way as the knit side of the main fabric. It looks and feels more like it's the same fabric rather than a rolled hem. The instructions for a rolled hem of this type for 2x2 ribbing go something like this: Cast on required number of stitches using reversible cast-on. Join if knitting in the round. Knit around with needles one size smaller than used for ribbing. Work *p2, k2* for facing for 6 rounds. Switch to needles for ribbing and work one round of purl. Work *k2, p2* for ribbing for 6 rounds. Pick up cast-on edge on original needles. Remove removable cast-on. Turn under facing along purl ridge. Line facing stitches up with ribbing stitches. Knit together one facing stitch with one ribbing stitch in pattern to join. Continue in ribbing to desired depth of ribbing. It's a fun sweater.

Copyright © 2004 by Heather Madrone. All rights reserved.