. . Welcome to the Knit It Now!. . Knit Club for May .. . We're so excited to be here.. . We're going to talk today about something. . that's common for all of us,. no matter what you knit,. . whether you're knitting clothing,. or you're knitting blankets, or anything,. . not having enough needles. on your needle bed.. . It's just a really common thing.. . Many new knitters get really caught up. in this and are surprised when they first. . sit down and try and make a large blanket,. and they realize that they have to do some. . things in order to get larger pieces. of knitting on their knitting machine.. . So we're going to talk about a number. of things, three particular things.. . What's the problem?. . Why does this happen?. . What can you do about it?. . And some suggestions and some. . solutions for working around. our needle bed limitations.. . As always, if you (forgive me).. . As always, if you're new here,. please let me know in the chat.. . I'd love to give you a special shout out.. . We got lots of folks here.. . If you ask me any question or make. . a comment and I've missed it live,. please email me afterwards.. . I'm happy to talk to you.. . I don't mean to ignore anybody,. but sometimes I've got too many things. . going on with this airplane. cockpit in front of me.. . I did remove the Timer.. . We got it.. . Hi, Dawn, from Southwest Ohio.. . And Shane is enjoying Mid in Colorado.. . Well, enjoy Shane on vacation.. . All righty, so let's get started here.. . Not enough needles, we're going. to talk about the problem.. . What is the problem?. . We only have so many. needles on our needle bed.. . How does this impact our knitting?. . I'm going to talk about. tools and the solution.. . Now, I'd like you to just keep in mind. . throughout this whole thing,. it's just math.. . It's the fact that at your gage,. . it's going to take X number. of needles to knit a certain size.. . And that's limited by the number. of needles that you have available.. . Maybe your machine has needles,. maybe it has needles,. . maybe you've borrowed a few from the edges. and you have needles, whatever.. . We do have that limitation.. . So let's talk about how. we can work around that.. . Earlier this week, I talked to a knitter. who was making this shul, this shrug.. . And this shrug is basically. just a long rectangle.. . You can put some ribbing around the cuffs. and just make it a shoulder warmer.. . She went ahead and knit one. . and wrote to me and said,. It's completely the wrong size.. . So I get an email like that,. and the first thing I think of is gage.. . And that's probably what you're. thinking of too, was her gage correct?. . I had her email me images of her. Swatch with rulers.. . Excuse me.. . So if you are ever. . struggling with gage and you need a second. set of eyes to take a look at your gage. . to make sure that you're measuring it and. counting correctly, just send it to me.. . Send me a picture of your Swatch.. . And I don't have one here.. . Yeah, I do.. . Picture of your Swatch with rulers. between the marks, between the marks.. . And I'll go through. and help you out with that.. . So we did that for this knitter.. . Her gage was fine.. . So why did her shrug turn. out to be the wrong size?. . She said it's just too small.. . We determined. that she chose the wrong size pattern.. . So when she looked at her pattern,. which I think is the next slide here,. . she looked at her pattern,. it said select sizing across the top.. . And I think it's large, medium,. . extra large, whatever. the sizes are on that pattern.. . She said, Well, I'm not an extra large.. . I'm not a plus size.. . So she chose large, but she never looked. at the dimensions of the pattern.. . With the Knit It Now patterns,. . you determine what finished size. your garment is going to be.. . So she just randomly chose a size and then. . didn't even look at the section. where it said create a perfect fit.. . So let's go to that pattern. just real quickly.. . If you haven't used one of our patterns,. this is where she went wrong.. . When she went to perfect fit her garment,. . she said large, but she never. looked to see what the sizes were.. . And she just went ahead. and knit the thing.. . Point number one was,. was her gage correct?. . Point number 2 was did she. choose the right size?. . So the funny thing that happened after. all of that,. . she went ahead, rebuilt her pattern,. put in the dimension she wanted.. . She measured from arm to arm,. . from wrist to wrist,. and that's how this shrug thing goes.. . She went from wrist to wrist.. . She put in the dimension that she wanted.. . The shrug also is a length. that just goes over your shoulder.. . So when you put it on, it goes. from about here around down the back.. . And it's just basically. the opening of the garment.. . So she put in the size that she wanted.. . And then she wrote to me and she said,. Your pattern's wrong.. . It's asking me for needles.. . Oh, my gosh, I don't have needles.. . Your pattern's wrong.. . Okay, again, so we needed to talk about. the fact that there's not enough needles.. . It's a math thing.. . It's what we all run into.. . Whether you're making a blanket or a shrug. . or anything, you only have. as many needles as possible.. . You only have so many needles possible.. . It's the width, your desired width of your. . garment times your stitch gage. equals the number of needles knitted.. . It's just math.. . So again, a lot of new knitters. are surprised about that.. . What can you do about it?. . You can use some tools.. . Number one are the knit it now patterns.. . We try and point out to you. how many needles you need.. . Some of the patterns. format looks like this.. . Do you have needles?. . And then there's a little. question mark there.. . You can click on that little question mark. . and it gives you a little bit more of an. explanation, suggestions that you can do.. . Some of our other patterns have a great. . big box warning that says your pattern. requires needles on the bed.. . So use the tools,. use the knit now patterns.. . Now, if you're not using knit it now. . patterns, there's. something else you can do.. . You can use one of our charting tools.. . Let me go there for you.. . We go to patterns,. go to not sizing charts, forgive me,. . Patterns, Charting tools,. and go down here to maximum knitted width.. . It's the little icon. with the three needles.. . And the tool is very simple.. . It asks you, step number one,. how many needles do you have?. . Let's say I only have needles. on my needle bed,. . and my stitch gage is . stitches to 4 inches.. . The largest piece that I can. knit at that gage is inches.. . So if I want to knit a blanket that's . . inches wide, I like my blankets. to be inches wide.. . There's no way I'm going to be able. to knit inches wide on that machine. . with only needles. at stitches to the inch.. . So this little tool is really. helpful for you to plan ahead.. . Okay, my gage is X.. . I have needles.. . This is the largest amount. that I can possibly knit.. . Makes sense?. . Has anybody used this tool before?. . It's called our maximum. knitted width tool.. . And there's a shortcut to it.. . You can look in our tools for the three. . little needles here,. but there's a shortcut, knittitnow.. . Com maximum width.. . It takes you right to that tool.. . Does anybody use that tool?. . Let me know, please.. . Okay.. . So Matt's chiming in here in the chat. . about the shul pattern,. that shrug pattern.. . It is one that's on our list of patterns.. . We're working through the list of all. of our patterns and updating them,. . making lots and lots. of improvements to our patterns.. . You'll see updated, I think it's a purple. color on the patterns that have been done.. . I think I say this every month,. . we're working on them, we're working. on them, we're working on them.. . And this one is one of them.. . So let me know, has anybody used that tool. . to give themselves an idea of how wide. they can possibly knit with their machine?. . Now, another thought is that the tax money. machines now have an extended bed,. . but it's only going. to give you a few inches.. . So if you're going to try and make a . . inch blanket, I don't care if you have. an extended bed, knitting machine,. . you're probably not going to get. a inch blanket in one piece.. . So we need to talk about what you can do. to overcome that needle bed limitation.. . Okay, Sherry said she wants. to try that tool out.. . Maximum knitted width, it's really cool.. . You've got needles on your needle bed.. . Let's say your stitch gage is stitches,. stitches to 4 inches.. . The maximum widest piece,. . if you use all needles, is ,. a little bit over inches wide.. . I will also bring up something. that came up this week.. . I was speaking with a gentleman who does. knitting machine repairs,. . and he was struggling with someone who had. damaged their machine.. . And I'll just share this. with you as a warning.. . The machine was a Brother machine. that has the timing belt across the back.. . If you're familiar with Brother machines,. it's just a device. . that moves with the carriage and reads. the needles for the punch card or. . electronics, actually controls. the needle positioning.. . She was knitting needles wide. . and taking her carriage all the way. to the very edge of her knitting. . and literally taking. that carriage off the edge.. . It kept slipping off the edge.. . So when she wasn't careful when she was. putting that carriage back on the needle. . bed and somehow damaged. that strip in the back, I just call it.. . Anyways, so it's something to consider.. . If you're going to try and get the max. width, consider the fact that it's hard. . to take your carriage all the way. to the very edge of the machine and back.. . You might want to knit a few less rows.. . Just a warning.. . Does anybody else run. into that that it's hard?. . I know on my taxma machine here. that carriage comes off really easily.. . If I try and go all the way to the edge,. that carriage comes off very easily.. . And I have to be really careful about. . getting it seated properly. to get back again.. . Just again, something. just to keep in mind.. . Some of the tools you can use,. . if you don't have enough needles,. is to check your knitting pattern.. . If you're using a machine or a hand knit. . pattern and converting it to machine. knitting, you really need to read. . that pattern through for the number. of stitches that it requires.. . So you may be following along. and from following along a hand knit. . pattern, and at some point it's. telling you to do some increases.. . And then in the little parenthesis after. the instruction to do the increases,. . it might tell you that you. need stitches.. . Don't be surprised,. . read that hand knitting pattern. in advance, or use a knit it now pattern,. . and we try and tell you in advance. that you need X number of needles.. . So what do you do if. you don't have enough?. . What can you do?. You can change three things.. . Number one, because all of this depends. on gage, you could change your gage.. . We'll talk a little bit. more about each of these.. . You can change the size. of what you're knitting.. . For example, instead of knitting my . . inch blanket, maybe I could. knit two inch pieces.. . Or you can knit your garment. in pieces like the blanket.. . You can knit panels.. . In sweaters, you can knit panels.. . We'll talk about how you can incorporate. panels, color blocks, sideways knitting,. . all that stuff in order to work around. the fact that you don't have enough. . needles to make your sweater. as large as you need it to be.. . Mary Ann says the Brother machine has. . extension rails that will keep. the carriage from coming off.. . And that's correct.. . Thank you for reminding me of that.. . The person who damaged her machine didn't. . have extension rails, and I think. that's how she got herself in trouble.. . Dawn used the rails.. . Tina says, Some plastic bed. machines can be joined together.. . For my first project address, her hand. knitter had needles less than needed.. . So the first thing I did was purchase. a second bond to make a better machine.. . And then she started collecting. machines after that.. . Is that typical?. . Typical machine knitter is like,. Oh, this works really great.. . Well, I think I need a different gage.. . Oh, I think I need a different machine.. . Maybe I need a punch guard.. . Typical machine knitter.. . But you're correct, Tina.. . Some of the plastic bed. machines you can put together.. . Metal bed machines,. it's not going to happen.. . You're not going to be able. to join two metal bed machines.. . The titaxims do have the extended bed,. but it's really only a few inches,. . and you've got this gigantic. machine you have to deal with.. . All righty,. so how can you change the gage?. . If one of the solutions here is to change. the gage, how do you change the gage?. . By your choice of stitch pattern.. . We know, for example, that tuck knits. considerably wider than stockinette.. . Sometimes just by knitting a simple tuck. . stitch will give you enough width. to give you the width that you need.. . Lace also knits larger,. wider than stockinette.. . You can also take needles out of work. and do maybe tuck lace or something. . with needles out of work or just. straight needles out of work.. . Take needles out of work,. you can stretch that fabric quite wide.. . One of the things that I've done is a tuck. with the ribber.. . So I've gotten a nice wide blanket. . by knitting a double bed tuck. for nice width.. . Now it's not inches,. but it does make it wider.. . Morris says that's why I have five. . knitting machines, and she's knitting. a shul by hand because it's stitches.. . You're knitting a shul by hand because you. like knitting by hand, that's for sure.. . What's the other thing that you can do?. . Instead of changing your stitch pattern,. you can knit it a looser tension.. . Think about it.. . You crank that tension loose,. you'll also be able to get more width.. . It's just enough, maybe enough to give you. the width that you want that you need.. . And then the third thing. is your yarn choice.. . Consider what you've chosen for your yarn.. . If you're using sock weight yarn on a mid. . gage machine, you're not going to get. very many stitches to the inch, right?. . You're not going to get very much width.. . So maybe you need to knit. with a heavier yarn.. . Just a thought.. . So those three things are things that can. . change your gage since. we're limited by the amount of needles we. . have based on your gage. and the width that you want to knit.. . Change your gage.. . How can you change the size of something?. . I mentioned it before.. . If you're making a blanket,. you could You don't want that .. . You want a inch blanket,. maybe you need it in pieces.. . Or maybe your machine allows. you to get to inches.. . Well, maybe a inch blanket is. just as good as the inch blanket.. . So you might just want to consider. changing the size of what you're knitting.. . You can't really do that with a garment,. but with other home deck things or. . blankets or scarfs or shawls,. you could adjust instead of your shal. . being inches wide, your shal could be. inches wide and it'd be just as warm.. . So consider just changing. the size of your garment itself.. . So another solution for our needle. bed limitation is to knit in panels.. . Here's an example.. . Here's some panel sweaters.. . These are some knit it now patterns.. . One of the first ones there is. a panel down the center front.. . So let's just say that you split your. . garment from the neckline. just straight down.. . You could knit a lace panel in the front. . and stocking it on either side or knit. the whole thing in one stitch pattern.. . It doesn't matter.. You will have seams here.. . So your challenge is going to be to make. . a decorative seam on each side and make. it look like a design element.. . The second choice there on the right is. a vest pattern of ours.. . That pattern has panels under the arms, so. . it took the armhole and split. the garment at the armhole.. . So you have one panel on each side,. so there's four pieces to your sweater. . instead of two, but you can. get a lot more width that way.. . And the third one,. this is a man's sweater.. . The first one was a woman's sweater.. . That's A line that we have.. . But there's also a man's sweater here. that's got panels, center panels.. . Another thought,. . if you're not using a knit it now pattern,. is just to take the pattern that you have.. . Let's say you have a hand netting pattern. that's telling you you need stitches. . across the garment itself, well,. cut that in half and make that and . . and put a seam right down the center front. and the seam right down the center back.. . Now, that may not be appealing to you,. . but you can always, again,. make it a design element.. . Do some fancy something.. . It's fancy join of some sort. to make that a design element.. . Another thing is to use color blocks.. . Again, break your garment up into pieces,. seam down the center front and make just. . the top left yellow and the lower right. yellow and mix and match your colors.. . Do some color blocks.. . Also, you're making smaller pieces so. . that you don't have. that needle bed limitation.. . You're not having to cast. on or needles.. . So panels.. . Let's take a look at panels. here at Knit It Now.. . If we go to patterns,. we're going to find a pattern.. . I'm going to go ahead and choose. . Miss Women's P lus, and I'm going. to scroll down here to panels.. . And we have patterns that have panels.. . Some of them are fitted,. some of them are A line.. . Chili is one of my favorites. because it's an A line.. . It's nice, comfortable.. . It's a cardigan.. . Here's the vest in a cardigan. and a pullover.. . So you have some choices in doing panels.. . Makes sense?. . Tina would like to get more information. about Princess Seam, how to construct,. . and what would be a nice. panel work for a garment.. . Princess seams are a real challenge. . for machine knitters because. princess seams have a curved shape here.. . They're really hard to draft.. . They're very hard to draft for sewers,. . for seamstresses, and they're also. very hard to draft for knitters.. . There's a designer,. . and if anybody knows of her name,. I want to say it's Laura Kinnan.. . Kinnan has a princess garment.. . But the other thought, Tina,. would be to use cut and sew.. . So find a sewing pattern. . with that princess seam that you like,. that you can get to fit.. . They're also a little bit hard to fit.. . Princess seams are, whether you're sewing. . or knitting, they're a little. bit difficult to fit.. . But think of cut and sew. for princess seam.. . Then you don't have all that crazy. shaping on both sides of your piece.. . You've got that curve on one side. and the curve on the other side.. . It's tough knitting.. . So it's something to consider.. . And if anybody knows of a gal who has. . a princess seam machine sewing. pattern, let me know, please.. . Another solution for not enough. needles or sideways knits.. . We have a sideways knit pattern,. and it's a really cool pattern.. . It includes darts.. . It includes go days so that you can knit. . the thing with more of an A line shape. with some short rows there at the hem.. . You can make a cardigan or pull over.. . This is a really cool pattern.. . The only problem with sideways knits is. . you still have your. needle bed limitations.. . You can only make it so long.. . You can't make a sideways knit tunic. . because you're not going. to have enough needles.. . So again, something to keep in mind.. . I talked to a knitter this week and she. . wanted to knit the front of her sweater. sideways in slip, I believe,. . and the rest of her garment the other. way from hem up, which was fine.. . But what she hadn't considered was. . the fact that she needed more length. for the front of her sweater.. . So the only way to take a sideways knit. garment, make it longer is to add a skirt. . of some sort or add a wide,. long hem or something.. . You'd have to add to it because you. still have that needle bed limitation.. . Instead of the needle bed limitation going. . this way, the needle bed. limitation is now this way.. . Priscilla said, use the ribber. and knit open circle concept.. . That's another thought,. Priscilla, absolutely is.. . Panels, sideways knits, color blocks,. or tubular circular knitting.. . Remember that circular knitting is really. . only stocking up unless you hand. manipulate some stitch patterns.. . You only pattern on the main bed.. . So if you're knitting main bed and ribber,. main bed and ribber in a circle or a U. . knitting to get a wide,. you can get a really wide piece.. . You've got needles on your needle bed.. . If you knit circular,. you're knitting over needles.. . So you've got twice the width,. which is great for even for blankets.. . But again, it's only stocking up unless. . you hand manipulate any. stitch pattern in there.. . Tina says, And then there is. the drop with sideways knits.. . Absolutely.. When you think about sideways knits,. . you've always got drop. with your switches, right?. . So your knitting is going. to stretch this way.. . But knitting stretches even more this way.. . So one of the things I reminded the gal. who wanted to do the slip stitch front was. . she needs to really be careful of her gage. and this drop or the front of her sweater. . is going to hang a whole lot longer. than the rest of her sweater.. . All righty, so this has been a really. popular topic over the years,. . and we do have more information about. this topic in a classroom and a course.. . Both of them are called, I believe. they're both called Not Enough Needles.. . I can go there and show. you where they are.. . If we go to courses, go to full. . course list, and Not Enough Needles.. . So the course has got lessons and eight. . videos, and it's got all. sorts of good information.. . Pretty much what we talked about here,. but in much more detail.. . If you go to Learn, Classrooms,. . and also Not Enough, I think. it's also called not enough.. . Got real creative with. these names, didn't I?. . And there are a bunch of tips.. . There's a replay on this subject.. . Maybe I said something a little. bit different in the replay.. . I don't know.. . And there's some panels here,. patterns here, list to the patterns.. . So lots of good information. at Knit It Now about not enough needles.. . This topic has come up many,. many times over the years.. . I mentioned blankets.. . I believe there's a blankets classroom. also that can give you more ideas about. . panels for your blankets,. different ways of knitting your blankets.. . And I think I did a live. on that subject as well.. . So I'll put it in the show notes.. . If you come back to knititnow.. . Com live, where you are right now,. there'll be show notes at the bottom. . of the page and at the right hand side,. I guess, depending on what you're using.. . And there'll be some show notes in there.. . And I'll put some links to some blanket. suggestions as well as both of these. . courses and the previous replay,. the previous live we did on this topic.. . Anne says, The rails need to be. on a brother when using needles.. . And I agree, I think most of us think. . about putting the rails on when. you're using the Lace carriage.. . But if you're knitting really wide pieces,. you definitely need the rails.. . Anne says you can make a cardigan,. . the back piece in stockinette in tubular,. the front with pattern.. . Absolutely.. Great idea, Anne.. . Great idea.. And that would fit in with what I think it. . was Cheryl who wanted to do a slip stitch. front and plain the rest of the body.. . So she could then,. . if she needed more width,. she could do the rest of the body tubular. . or U knitting and do the. cardigan fronts in pattern.. . All righty, so our two courses.. . So that's what I have today. about not enough needles.. . If it's something that you are. interested in, please let me know.. . I've had knitters ask me to help them work. through making a sweater for themselves.. . They're plus size.. What do I do?. . Where do I start?. . What are the things I need to think of?. . If you're interested,. we can put together a little workshop so. . that you could create your perfect. plus size pattern.. . Make all the decisions.. . What sleeve do you want?. . What shoulder do you want?. . What neckline do you want?. . How are you going to knit it?. . Are you going to knit it in pieces?. . Are you going to knit it in panels?. . Are you going to knit it tubular?. . Some of those thoughts let me help you. . walk through all the choices so that when. you're done, we can have a pattern. . that you can knit and you. can show us your success.. . I always love to see people's successes.. . So please email me,. let me know topic of plus. . size knitting workshop,. and I can put something together.. . So let me know if there's interest.. . Other than that, I don't. know what else is coming up.. . Matt and I are working on patterns.. . I've got some design. in it stuff coming up.. . We've got another design. in it workshop coming up.. . So please stay tuned.. . Watch your inbox.. . We've got some fun things coming.. . Thank you, Diane.. . Leesanne says, When knitting across. . the whole bed, needles,. did you just use weights at the edges?. . I would use weights across,. even weights across.. . Just think about why you're knitting with. weights, especially at the beginning.. . Why are you knitting with weight?. . Why are you adding. weights to your knitting?. . You want those needle.... . You don't want the needles to pop off. . the needle bed and you want. them to knit correctly.. . It's like when you're hand knitting. and you're using your fingers to hold. . the stitches in place as you. insert the second needle.. . Same thing here.. . If those stitches.... . I need to come up with a better.... . Something other than waving my fingers. here, so I will work on this.. . Think about the fact that you. have a loop over the needle.. . You've got a loop of yarn over the needle. . and that needle goes. in and out and in and out.. . If that loop is way up here. and that needle goes in and out,. . in and out, it's not going. to form the stitch properly.. . If that loop is closer to the needle. and the needle goes in and out. . and in and out, the stitch. is going to form properly.. . So you need weight for that.. . Once the knitting gets a longer,. . pretty much in the middle, it's going. to have enough weight of its own.. . But especially in the beginning,. I would put weights evenly across. . the knitting, especially depending. on what stitch pattern you're using.. . All righty, so I think we're going. to tie this up till next month.. . Hey, June.. Oh, my gosh, June already.. . Thank you for joining me.. . If there's ever anything you need,. please let me know.. . Join me in the community.. . It's knittednow.. . Com community, I think it is.. . Our heartbeat community, that's it.. . And in the community,. you can talk to other knitters and connect. . with other knitters and ask questions. and make comments and share your wins.. . So appreciate it.. . Thank you so much for being here.. . Until next time, happy knitting, everyone.. Bye bye..