Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
Sign up for my newsletter here: Sign up for the DRK Newsletter: eepurl.com/diPxsr
In this week’s episode we cover:
1. Hi Andrea, thank you for this awesome series. I’d like to ask about spinning… I’m a bit worried about doing a 3-ply spin. I’m afraid that the colors won’t look good for a colourful braid. Is there a way to tell if the spin may look better as a two ply, or if we should avoid a 3 ply, from just looking at the colors of the braid? ❤️
Yarnitecture: tinyurl.com/5n8y93ft
Unbraided: craftyjaks.ca/ourstore/books/unbraided-the-art-and-science-of-spinning-colour
A New Spin On Color: alannawilcox.com/portfolio/anewspinoncolor
2. Hi! I'm finally at the blocking stage of the Traveler hoodie I made for the March to May knit along! I'm a new-ish sweater knitter so your clear instructions were a joy to work through.
My question is about gauge swatching with stitch patterns that tend to grow a lot. I knew from a prior experience with half fisherman's rib that the "growy" nature of the Traveler's stitch pattern would not be accurately represented in my blocked swatch because sweaters are heavy and swatches are not. My swatch didn't grow much at all for this project, but I trusted the process and followed the pattern's recommendations on calculating how long to knit the sleeves and body to fit me. So far it looks like my hoodie is going to fit just fine, but is maybe just a tiny bit longer than I expected.
I'm wondering: What's the best way to get my swatch to behave more like a sweater when using a stitch pattern that's known to grow? I've seen some posts about putting weights on blocked swatches, but how do I know how much weight is appropriate? Is there an accurate or correct way to "dress" a swatch in anticipation of vertical growth, or is it kind of a guessing game? So far I've been lucky that my sweaters come out okay, but I'm hoping to really get a handle on the swatching process for the future. Thanks for any insight!
3. I’m knitting your Comebackigan cardigan, but I’m fairly petite with shorter arms. I know 17” length sleeves will be way too long for me, but I’m having trouble deciding how long to make the sleeves since they’re bottom up. Any tips to get the length correct? Thank you and welcome back to Michigan!
4. Hello! I learn so much from your podcast and appreciate it greatly! I just knitted my first sweater: a top-down, all stockinette stitch raglan using worsted weight yarn. I chose to do the optional short rows in the back of the sweater using the German short row technique. I am a very tight knitter when knitting but not so tight when purling. Therefore, my short rows on the back of the sweater are extremely obvious. I thought that they would even out with blocking but that did not happen. Now I'm afraid to knit another sweater with short rows in case the same thing happens. What advice can you give me so that I do not have noticeable short rows in my next sweater? Otherwise, I'm going to steer clear of all sweaters with short rows from now on. Thank you for your help!
Combination knitting:
5. Sweater fit and learning to adjust patterns for my body - do you have any books or other resources you recommend for learning to make sweaters that fit my body better? For example my bust cup size is a little large and if I pick a pattern for bust size then my sweater ends up too big in the shoulder/upper bust, both in circumference and yoke depth. But, I'm afraid to size down and end up with a sweater too tight in the chest. I recently made a tee (Tolsta Tee) by another designer and was introduced to bust darts which helped the fit some yet made me aware I have a lot more to learn. Plus how to I incorporate this technique into a pattern with texture.
Bust darts blog post: tinyurl.com/bdf2vvb3
Great blog: aimeeshermakes.com
Little Red in the City: ysolda.com/products/little-red-in-the-city-ebook
Knit Wear Love: tinyurl.com/5n89kkms
Ultimate Sweater Book: tinyurl.com/2u6bsy7n
Today I am wearing the Tessellated Cardigan:
Ravelry: ravelry.com/patterns/library/tessellated-cardigan
My Website: dreareneeknits.com/shop/tessellated-cardigan
Spinalong Challenge
Ravelry Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4353630
Instagram Hashtags: #3ply2ways ; #drkspinchallenge
March 2 May KAL 2025
Shawl Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4351754
Sweater Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4351752
Instagram: #DRKmarch2maykal25 Ask a question for next week’s Q&A: https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
Ask a question for next week’s Q&A: https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
Sign up for my newsletter here: Sign up for the DRK Newsletter: eepurl.com/diPxsr
In this week’s episode we cover:
1. Hi Andrea, thank you for this awesome series. I’d like to ask about spinning… I’m a bit worried about doing a 3-ply spin. I’m afraid that the colors won’t look good for a colourful braid. Is there a way to tell if the spin may look better as a two ply, or if we should avoid a 3 ply, from just looking at the colors of the braid? ❤️
Yarnitecture: tinyurl.com/5n8y93ft
Unbraided: craftyjaks.ca/ourstore/books/unbraided-the-art-and-science-of-spinning-colour
A New Spin On Color: alannawilcox.com/portfolio/anewspinoncolor
2. Hi! I'm finally at the blocking stage of the Traveler hoodie I made for the March to May knit along! I'm a new-ish sweater knitter so your clear instructions were a joy to work through.
My question is about gauge swatching with stitch patterns that tend to grow a lot. I knew from a prior experience with half fisherman's rib that the "growy" nature of the Traveler's stitch pattern would not be accurately represented in my blocked swatch because sweaters are heavy and swatches are not. My swatch didn't grow much at all for this project, but I trusted the process and followed the pattern's recommendations on calculating how long to knit the sleeves and body to fit me. So far it looks like my hoodie is going to fit just fine, but is maybe just a tiny bit longer than I expected.
I'm wondering: What's the best way to get my swatch to behave more like a sweater when using a stitch pattern that's known to grow? I've seen some posts about putting weights on blocked swatches, but how do I know how much weight is appropriate? Is there an accurate or correct way to "dress" a swatch in anticipation of vertical growth, or is it kind of a guessing game? So far I've been lucky that my sweaters come out okay, but I'm hoping to really get a handle on the swatching process for the future. Thanks for any insight!
3. I’m knitting your Comebackigan cardigan, but I’m fairly petite with shorter arms. I know 17” length sleeves will be way too long for me, but I’m having trouble deciding how long to make the sleeves since they’re bottom up. Any tips to get the length correct? Thank you and welcome back to Michigan!
4. Hello! I learn so much from your podcast and appreciate it greatly! I just knitted my first sweater: a top-down, all stockinette stitch raglan using worsted weight yarn. I chose to do the optional short rows in the back of the sweater using the German short row technique. I am a very tight knitter when knitting but not so tight when purling. Therefore, my short rows on the back of the sweater are extremely obvious. I thought that they would even out with blocking but that did not happen. Now I'm afraid to knit another sweater with short rows in case the same thing happens. What advice can you give me so that I do not have noticeable short rows in my next sweater? Otherwise, I'm going to steer clear of all sweaters with short rows from now on. Thank you for your help!
Combination knitting:
5. Sweater fit and learning to adjust patterns for my body - do you have any books or other resources you recommend for learning to make sweaters that fit my body better? For example my bust cup size is a little large and if I pick a pattern for bust size then my sweater ends up too big in the shoulder/upper bust, both in circumference and yoke depth. But, I'm afraid to size down and end up with a sweater too tight in the chest. I recently made a tee (Tolsta Tee) by another designer and was introduced to bust darts which helped the fit some yet made me aware I have a lot more to learn. Plus how to I incorporate this technique into a pattern with texture.
Bust darts blog post: tinyurl.com/bdf2vvb3
Great blog: aimeeshermakes.com
Little Red in the City: ysolda.com/products/little-red-in-the-city-ebook
Knit Wear Love: tinyurl.com/5n89kkms
Ultimate Sweater Book: tinyurl.com/2u6bsy7n
Today I am wearing the Tessellated Cardigan:
Ravelry: ravelry.com/patterns/library/tessellated-cardigan
My Website: dreareneeknits.com/shop/tessellated-cardigan
Spinalong Challenge
Ravelry Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4353630
Instagram Hashtags: #3ply2ways ; #drkspinchallenge
March 2 May KAL 2025
Shawl Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4351754
Sweater Forum: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4351752
Instagram: #DRKmarch2maykal25 Ask a question for next week’s Q&A: https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
Ask a question for next week’s Q&A: https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
