Through the kind help of folks making this sweater,
I've put together a list of FIXems!

Handy Dandy SitCom Chic FAQ

1. The Needles: I knit the garment using circular needles for both the sleeves and body. On the sleeves, I used the 2 Circular Method, and 2-24" #5s, then 2-24" #8s (US sizing).

I'm a total klutz with Double Points, but have mastered the other method.

BUT, since so many folks found this info as written confusing, I've changed it. Those using the 2-Circular Method will know what they need if they want to use that method. :)

2. The Sleeves: There was a typo in the original, (which has been fixed on the site).

The info for increasing for the sleeves didn't make sense either and I've re-written it.

Why Increase beyond the Needle Joins? It's easy to get loose stiches around the place where you change needles when knitting in the round, so I always do my increase a few stitches into the group of stitches on the needle that holds the increase area.

Also, the cast-off stitches should be centered over the increase area.

3. Front Edge Rolling: Like any sweater, even those made from cotton/poly blends need to be blocked. Work on the Wrong Side ONLY.

I lighty steamed the whole thing with my garment steamer held a good distance away. You can use the Cotton Blend setting on your Iron.

The Front Band can be more heavily steamed to what is referred to unfortunately as *killing* the acrylic in the yarn. This sets it forever but must be done carefully so you don't get into the body portion of the sweater.

I also washed my sweater before wearing to test the yarn. I do not dry most of my sweaters in the dryer, and dried this one flat. I patted and smoothed the whole thing down, especially the front bands.

So far, I've had no problem with rolling. Your mileage may vary, but if it does, don't despair!

If you want a completely washable/dryable garment, try using a matching grosgrain ribbon stitched right up to the edges of the fronts. It looks beautiful and will definately tame the ROLL - tres haute couture!

Claudia, over at Claudia's Knitting/Spinning Blog has been kind enough to help me de-bug the SitCom and has made a FANTASTIC sweater as you can see! Thanks so much for your input Claudia - and if any one else out there has any suggestions to make this more clear, let me know HERE.

She also hipped me to the fact that the pattern did not specify the needle size for picking up the edge stitches (use the smaller needle) and that you want to have a non-rippling front edge so you might have to fudge with the picked-up number of stitches. This is always true with cardigans so use the provided number as a starting point and adjust as necessary to your gauge.

Also, I changed the pattern to reflect the actual measurement you need to knit up to certain pattern changes instead of rows.

4. The Yarn: I bought my yarn online HERE. (No Affiliation, YaddaYaddaYadda...)

5. The Pattern: Click HERE for a printable, corrected version of the SitCom Chic Pattern

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Thanks to everyone who's making this sweater - I'm on my second and want to make a third as well. If you feel like it, drop a line to Lion Brand Yarn telling them how much you like this yarn and want it in more subtle *Fashionable* colors!

Comments (16)

Monday Morning Mirth

Jack Frost Handbags Volume 48

Busy embracing your Inner Grandma?

Looks like she was busy clutching just the coolest purse in the Universe! I just got a booklet from eBay with the most amazing purses I've ever seen!

Those Old School stitchers were especially Haute Chic with their accessories and shoes! OOh la la...

I'd like to hereby declare a new online controversy - the homogenization of the world by the GAP! It's what the handbag backlash is all about! Women seem to be sick of being cookie cutter khaki clones. Accessories are fun and frisky again - sexy shoes have never left the building.

One of my co-workers was almost fired for surfing on the clock. Were there XXX sites all over the network? Au contraire, Pierre, she was just trying to buy Fendi on eBay...

Comments (11)

Working Girl Discovers Radical Wearing Yarn!

It only took two years for me to discover the wonderful durability of the yarn in the 2 Sisyphus sweaters. I bought it all in 2001, knit one whole project and a partial project then frogged, washed and re-knitted them both. Both sweaters turned out great and have been really dependable on the street.

My whole idea was to make some hard wearing *neutral* garments and upgrade my working look after the day a reporter asked me if I always had to dress like I was "going to Vietnam?" What the...

But, my *after school look* WAS much more chic and feminine. The only thing holding me back was that most of my handknit sweaters were too delicate for the daily wear and tear of ENG.

So I decided to roll the dice on some black, dark brown (Bark) and Charcoal Bartlett Fisherman Yarn. Since I've been so happy with the Bark & Charcoal cardies, I've been working on a black Ribby Cardie on the #66 Bus ride commute and it's just zoomin' along. I got some nice big black snaps for the front and am on the second sleeve already. If I get a lunch hour or am stuck somewhere, I've been working on the body.

And away we go...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lucky me. Today I go into work at 3:30am. We call this the Vampire Shift. Not only do you get to drive in (I double dog dare you to take the #66 at this time in the morning when it's fondly referred to as the Vomit Comet...) with all the bar closers, but you get to meet Chicago's finest nightside citizenry roaming about. There'a a flip side to every coin and this one certainly would be called Tails.

Once I had this shift for two years, with Mondays and Tuesdays off. I came out to my car and a TV hooker was *working* a suit on THE HOOD OF MY DATSUN. I shouted, "HEY! What the..." And He/She said, "HEY! Give us a minute here..."

As if...

Comments (5)

Although this is a color that defies photography, I've sort of captured the back of my Magenta Bulb Cardigan. It is 8 inches of a very cool slip-stitch pattern that just could morph into a whole cardigan at a later date. Looks like ribbing but it's not; it lies flat and is broken up every 5 repeats by a 3-stitch column. For a wonderful look at how you can use this effect for stunning relief texture, check out the designs Here. Scroll down to Jaeger Handknits JB11 Albany Brochure, where you'll see Amanda Griffiths' modern and amazing work like the design called "Otto". (Memo: who is AG - must look around for this info.)

NOW back to my back: here comes the fun part - the bulby bird-cage looking twisted stitch cables that form an entire textured pattern to the shoulders. This was very intimidating when I first started it, but since I finished the sleeve, I've realized that if you can keep your row count correct on the graph, it's a piece of cake.

This feels like a design binge coming on. I look at the galleries over the winter and see the Theme was Ruffles! Maybe now I'm easing into Aran World by Twist/Cross stitch patterns. They don't need a needle and go pretty fast.

It's a little quirky but I get mentally stuck like that; ie. I only do lace that permits purling back on the wrong side or just working the stitches as they appear. No pattern work to speak of for every other row.

It's amazing how many lace patterns there are out there that you can do this on! WHICH is one of the reasons that I'm never bored knitting because you will NEVER RUN OUT of new combinations of things to create.

And that's really what it's all about. Creating.

Comments (5)

Stand-by Unit 10: High Maintenance HiJinks
POV of a Chicago Photojournalist

One of the most universally enduring fiction genres are tales of High-Brow Criminal Duets. Holmes & Moriarity. Clark and Lex. Hannibal & Clarice...

Clarice Starling is especially interesting to me because she prevails, at least for a little while, amongst the food chain of the male dominated bureaucracy of the FBI. Her nemesis, Hannibal Lector, declares that his cannibalism is thoroughly justified because he only tries to clear the anthropological landscape of the "free-range rude..."

My job daily puts me in the jetstream of rapidly-moving high-rollers. The rollers, be they co-workers or from the public sector, tend to roll all over *everybody* in their path. Those holding the cameras are especially at risk because they equate us with perhaps the valet that parks their luxury vehicle - or maybe the butler that lays out their especially coordinated monotone ensembles. Understanding that we are not papparazzi, but essential sprockets in their PR machine makes no difference.

Early Monday morning, under the cover of 2am darkness, Roller/Mayor Richard M. Daley, with police escort, authorized the demolition of Miegs AirField. This small plane small field landing area is right off of the Chicago downtown, bordered on the East by the Lake. It is mainly used by corporate jets and small twin engine props or choppers. The Mayor used asphalt eaters to plow up huge X's in the runways so they were no longer usable. It looked like something out of M Night Shyamalan's "Signs" - a coded invitation for some alien visitors to land on our kind of town...

BUT what really landed?

The HUE! The CRY! THIS IS the Windy City! Although this is Park District property and under his jurisdiction, this covert plowing was unprecedented and just plain slimy. Monday was also Election Day here and the Mayor ran un-opposed to victory. No One however was yelling, Long Live the King!

Instead, 20 stranded cardiologist/pilots attending a convention here and an odd group called Friends of Miegs Field took up the challenge and threw down on his Honor.

They likened him to Hussein, Chicago to Not-Iraq, Miegs Field to the Statue of Liberty. They swore at us for not educating the public to the value of keeping the Glitterati happy and close to their fabulous hotels and restaurants when they are in town. I almost got my wrist broken when the CamPack whiplashed itself onto a car to get one last sound-bite from a bloated MD who bragged about the dinner he was going to eat at the taxpayer's expense that evening. I was the only one front and central to the car window as it started to roll down and the whole group moved en masse and tackled me right out of the way.

Oh, Hannibal, dinner is served...

Comments (7)

a ChicKnits Runway Presentation

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courtesy of Crystal Palace Yarns

Forgeddabout the Cabin!

Think Spring! (I saw 5 robins yesterday and some crocus...)

Get ready for the warm weather that's coming!!!

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click on above picture for pattern

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Thanks! Beverly for the heads up!