. . We've got a bunch of things on the agenda. for today, and I've got my favorite little. . squirrel, my favorite. little doggy image here.. . I don't know if you know this movie.. . It's from the movie,. I think it was called Up.. . And the little dog was just. very easily distracted.. . And he was talking in this scene.. . He was talking and he was in the middle of. a word, not even a middle of a sentence.. . I think he was in the middle. of a word and he went, squirrel.. . He saw something run by.. . Well, I've been squirrled all all. week for probably about two weeks.. . I cannot seem to focus on one thing.. . I'm squirled all over the place.. . Everything is so much fun,. and I'm so excited about. . Knit It Now and Learn Design a Knit.. . So if I'm a little squirled today,. please forgive me in advance.. . I've got a number of things I'd like. to talk about today,. . and I'm going to try and stay focused here. and not go off on a tangent somewhere.. . But I will warn you that this is going. to be a little bit of a soapbox day.. . I've got a couple of things that have just. been on my mind and I'd I'd. . like to share with you.. . So one of the first things is,. I woke up this morning to. . a message through our bot.. . We have a bot, we call her Betty Bot.. . She's down on the lower right-hand corner. of our website, and she is an AI bot,. . and she answers questions.. . We fed her everything about Knit It Now.. . We fed her all the information on the. site, and she's there to answer questions.. . I monitor her every day,. and she's doing a really pretty good. . job about answering people's questions.. She's learning.. . We're constantly feeding her information,. and I'm constantly correcting her,. . but she is a bot, and she's not a knitter.. . So I woke up this morning to a message. from a knitter who wrote this long. . chat message through Betty,. and she gave her knitting instructions.. . And her basic question was, what side. of the machine should my carriage be on?. . Should it be on the left or the right?. . I'm working short rows.. . Betty doesn't know.. . Betty's not a knitter.. . And then, sadly, this person didn't leave. their email address,. . so I can't contact this person.. . So I woke up this morning knowing. that there was a knitter who needed some. . help, and I can't help them because. I can't get in touch with them.. . So please, if you use Betty,. please leave your email address.. . If you're logged into the site,. even if you're logged into the site,. . Betty doesn't know who you are,. and I don't know who you are.. . So if you're going to leave a message. with Betty or she gives you a bogus answer. . or she doesn't know the answer,. send us a message through our chat or. . leave your email while. you're talking to Betty.. . That's very, very helpful to me.. . And in this If you are this person who is. asking Betty about short rows. . and which side of the bed your carriage. should be on, she has not a clue.. . So please leave your email address. and I'd be happy to help you.. . The same thing also happens with our. Leave a message on the site.. . Let's go to the desktop here.. . On the site on the right-hand side,. if I am online and I'm in the chat. . application, this is green.. . And I love talking to people through chat.. . It's just very quick and we. can get some things done.. . But if it says, Leave a message, please,. when you leave a message,. . leave your email address.. . If you're logged in,. we do know who you are, and generally,. . I can tell who who you are. and I can respond to you later.. . If you send me a message at 2: . in the morning, you're not going. . to hear from me for a few hours.. . But if you're not logged in or we don't. have no way of knowing who you are, again,. . please leave your email address or contact. me through the Contact Us link. . at the bottom of any page.. . Again, it just breaks my heart when I see. messages come in and someone needs some. . help or they have a question that I can. answer, and And I can't answer it. . because I don't know who they are.. . So please, that's my first. soapbox rant for this morning.. . All right, so we've. got lots of folks here.. . Pauline is back.. . Jacqueline is here from Indiana.. . Carol, Anne from St.. . Louis, Yana from Pennsylvania.. . Marie-jo.. Thank you, Marie-Jo, for being here.. . Jenny, meetings from North Wales.. Oh, my gosh.. . What's the weather like in North Wales?. . We don't We need to talk. about the weather here.. . We're talking knitting today.. . All right, so the next thing on my list. past that rant is a little. . bit of another rant.. . Now, I know that today's topic has to do. with what we're going to talk about today,. . we're talking about something else.. . But I want to start. with talking about ease.. . Again, I've been talking to a number. of knitters lately,. . and there's so much confusion around ease,. and And I don't understand where. . all this confusion is coming from.. . What is ease?. . Ease is the difference between your. body size and your garment size.. . So think about your skin, right?. . You took your skin off your. body and you measured it.. . That is exactly what your size is.. . You put a sweater on,. it's going to fit over your body.. . It's going to have some. room for you to maneuver.. . And that is what ease is.. . So when we're For knitting,. we normally don't want our sweaters skin. . tight unless you want to show off all your. curves, but you're going to want to add. . a little bit of ease to your patterns.. . We don't add any ease.. . When you create a Knit It Now pattern,. we don't add any ease.. . I don't know how much ease you want.. . If you tell me you want a -inch. circumference sweater,. . my pattern is going to give you. the measurement for the the cast. . on and the stitches for inches,. not or randomly, maybe ,. . or if it's oversize, I don't know.. . I don't know what you want.. . You tell the pattern what you want.. . So anytime you're using any pattern,. whether it's a Knit It Now pattern or any. . other pattern, please, please,. please keep ease in mind.. . I really get so sad when I hear. knitters say, Nothing I make fits.. . Well, did you take. that into consideration?. . You're not measuring your body.. . Don't measure your body.. . I don't want you to take this tape measure. and put it around and say, Oh,. . this is how much I am,. but maybe I'll add a little bit more. . just so that I have some breathing room.. . What's a little bit more?. . Or you'll take a pattern,. somebody's pattern that says it's an extra. . large, and you think, Oh, okay,. extra large, that sounds right.. . What does extra large mean?. . What do those terms mean?. . They don't really mean anything.. . They're just labels.. . The measurements are what are important.. . So again, ease.. . I'm back to being. on my soapbox a little bit.. . Another knitter wanted. to knit a coat or a jacket.. . She knew she was going to be wearing this. coat, this knitted coat, over other. . sweaters, so she needed more extra ease.. . She needed more room to get it over. and around her so that she. . can have the bulk underneath.. . Her initial question was, well,. should I just knit a bigger size?. . No, there's a whole bit.... . No, don't knit a bigger size because you. knit a bigger size,. . your neck opening is going to be bigger,. your neck depth is going to be bigger,. . your wrist is going to be Everything's. going to be bigger when you really only. . want an ease, maybe in the upper arm,. where you can have more room in this coat. . that you're knitting and you have more. room inside there or. . more room in the body.. . So I know that hand. knitters do it all the time.. . They'll say, Oh, I just want. mine a little bit bigger.. . I'll just knit the next size.. . The next size gets bigger everywhere.. . So be sure that you measure something. that you wear and use those measurements. . when you're building knit It Now patterns. or when you're checking any other patterns. . that you're planning to knit.. . I heard someone the other day said, Oh, I. don't have anything that fits me anymore.. . Okay, you have something that's too tight?. Well, you measure it.. . And if it says and it's too tight,. you're probably going to want to make. . it a little bit bigger than , right?. . But even better, go shopping.. . Take this tape measure with you. into the dressing room.. . Put something on.. Oh, I really like the way this fits.. . I like the way it lays on my shoulders.. . I like the way the arm hole is.. . Measure it, write it down,. take a notebook with you,. . and then use those measurements to build. your Knit It Now pattern or to modify. . any other pattern that you may be using.. . So I get really sad when I hear people say. nothing fits or they ask. . questions about ease.. . Do your patterns have ease?. . No, we do not.. . We make our patterns based. on what you are telling us.. . I have another little funny story.. . A knitter was building. a pattern, a new knitter.. . She was new to knit it now.. . She was building a pattern that had shaped. a waist shaping, right?. . And as she was building the pattern,. she entered zero for the waist shaping.. . In our bad, we shouldn't have. allowed her to do that, but it did.. . And so what the pattern was doing,. it was trying to go from her hip down. . to zero and then back up to her bust.. . Well, needless to say, the instructions. looked really funky and were not correct.. . So again, keep in mind how. our patterns are built.. . If you have any questions about how our. patterns are built,. . or if you have any questions about. a pattern that you're using,. . please let me know and contact me.. . Maybe not through Betty and maybe not. through the chat, but email works best.. . Susan says, I'm also a seamstress.. . There are ease charts online to give you. an idea of how much ease. . you want for fitted.. . Well, Susan, you were. one step ahead of me.. . We have a whole classroom. on ease, knititnow.. . Com/ease.. Let me go there.. . Go to the Classroom, go to Ease, And. . the very last section. . has a comparison chart.. . Now, this comparison chart. is from the sewing world.. . It was the Association of Sewing. and Design Professionals gave. . me permission to use this chart.. . And for my lady who was making the coat,. we talked about the fact that in the bust. . for her coat, she probably. would want to add 3 to 4 inches.. . Now, they're talking 3 to 4. inches from the body measurement.. . So it gets a little confusing,. which are you using body measurement or. . measurement of something you're wearing.. . But just please keep all of this. in the back of your head.. . And if you have any questions,. this classroom is here.. . It's called Ease.. . Knititnow.. Com/ease.. . And this chart is really helpful because. what it shows also is that. . you're not going to be adding a lot. of ease, maybe at the wrist, half inch. . to three quarters of an inch, maybe.. . So if your wrist measures seven inches,. you might want to make your. . sweater maybe eight inches.. . And then with ribbing, it's going to pull. in, but that's another whole story.. . Luttgar is here from Belgium.. Welcome.. . Jane from California.. . If I miss. a comment or a question in the chat,. . please enter it again or contact me after.. . Please Sometimes these go through pretty. quickly, and I don't see them,. . and I'm busy chatting.. . Another source for ease. tables is Designinit.. . Designinit does have, I think,. four different levels of ease that they. . put into their patterns that they. use to measure their garments when you're. . building a pattern in designing it.. . Again, a whole 'nother' story,. but that is another source of saying,. . How much should I add here?. . And is this going to be big enough or not?. . Best thing to do is to measure something. that you wear and that you like.. . This whole ease subject brings up fit.. . And again, I get really, really sad when. I hear someone say, Nothing I make fits.. . As a matter of fact,. I was recently looking through,. . and I'm on a crochet kick for some reason,. and I was on a crochet site,. . and the crochers were saying, Well,. I don't knit, so I only knit blankets.. . I only crochet's blankets because. nothing I crochet ever fits.. . It's the same thing.. . They're not planning ahead.. . They're not reading the pattern.. . They're following the pattern.. . And just because it said it was extra. large, well, that seems to be okay.. . Between that and gage,. that's where crochers might get. . into trouble and knitters as well.. . So think about fit.. . If If you struggle with fit,. we have quite a few resources about fit.. . Here are some of the. things you want to think about as far. . as fit is to identify your fit issues.. . Do you have a high shoulder or maybe. the pump in the back or one. . high hip or something like that?. . Think about your specific fit issues.. . When you're planning to machine knit. something, one of the big things is,. . do you have enough needles. to knit this thing?. . Whatever you're planning to knit,. do you have enough needles?. . If not, you're going to have to put a seam. and some panels in.. . Swatching and gage,. and I will not get on my high horse about. . that today, but gage. makes a huge difference.. . I think that's why the crochers got. into so much trouble is because they. . didn't know how to measure gage and apply. that to what they were crocheting.. . The yarn and the stitch pattern,. consider those things.. . Consider the yarn.. . Let's say you're knitting something like. a rayon or a bamboo yarn that's. . real drapey and real clingy.. . You might not want as much ease because. it's going to be clingy anyways.. . Something to consider.. . If you're knitting something that's. in a really stiff fabric or it's a really. . thick yarn, you might want a little more. ease to get a little more wiggle. . room in there for yourself.. . Again, measure your favorite,. measure you wear, go shopping,. . measure something, and see what it is that. you like as far as sweaters are concerned.. . And then double-check your pattern,. whether it's a Knit It Now. . pattern or anybody else's pattern.. . Double-check that they're going to. The cast on and the row counts are. . all going to be what you wanted.. . If you want your sleeves X length, you. need to knit X number of rows, correct?. . So double-check your pattern before you. start knitting and before you. . end up with a I'll leave this.. . This is long.. . All right.. So okay, I'm off my soapbox there.. . Let's get to the topic du jour,. which are hems and decorative edges.. . I think you may have noticed that the. title of this was Ditch the Ribbing.. . And forgive me if you disagree with me. and you think that every sweater you knit. . needs to have ribbing. at the hems and the wrists.. . I don't.. . I want you to stretch your imagination. a little bit and open your mind. . to the idea that your sweaters could have. other finishes than. . just plain old ribbing.. . I get a lot of new knitters who say, Well,. I can't knit sweaters because. . I don't have a ribber.. . Well, number one, you can. always hand knit that ribbing.. . Number two, you don't have. to put ribbing on sweaters.. . It's the whole point of us getting. together today is ditch the ribbing.. . Let's take a look at some. options that we have.. . And if anybody disagrees. with me, raise your hand.. . Just tell me in the chat and tell me.. I'm full of it.. . But I think that most of us have. decided that ribbing is good.. . There are times for it, but let's look. at some different things that we can do.. . We have a classroom.. . It's called knititnow.. Com/hems.. . There's a ton of information in there.. . Let me go there.. . Go to Learn, Classrooms.. . We're going to go down to Hems.. . Hems and Edges.. . You can see that there's a ton. of information here, lots of suggestions. . for things for you to use.. . And I will put links to.... . Most of what I'm going to talk about today. is in this classroom and one I will put. . links to the things that I talked. about today in the show notes.. . Show notes will always be on this. page where you are now, knititnow.. . Com/live.. . So where the video will be,. the replay will be there.. . And also there'll be a list of the links. of the things that I'm talking about. . today if you want to go back to it.. . So I'm going to go through. this pretty quickly.. . We've got so many options as. far as hems and trim and things.. . How about no ribbing,. no hem, no fuss, let it roll.. . Just embrace the curl.. . Again, we have new knitters that come. on and they whine about. . the fact that Knitting.. . I don't like machine knitting. because the knitting rolls, coils.. . So it coils.. So it coils.. . I'm not going to get a camera here.. So it coils.. . You're going to be putting. two seams together.. . Who cares if that's going to be be be be. You're going to be seaming it anyways.. . You're going to be finishing the edges.. . The only time that it really matters if. you're knitting a blanket or if you're. . knitting a scarf, and I think a lot of new. knitters get discouraged because they want. . to just knit a scarf and they take it. off the machine and it's all curled.. . Well, yeah, it is what it is.. . There are things you can do about it.. . But when knitting sweaters or knitting. garments, embrace the roll and think about. . putting rolled rolled hems on things.. . The one on the top left here. is just a plain old rolled hem.. . We just let that hem roll up.. . There are some ways of making them. a little bit prettier and a little neater.. . So you're going to embrace the roll.. . The one on the right is fair-isle.. . So I actually made a couple of little. stripes in the roll so. . that you've got some color in the roll. as well as in the fair-isle.. . So it matches, and it makes. a really nice decorative finish.. . So you'll notice that the little kid's. sweater here is completely. . rolled edges, right?. . Cuffs, hem, everything is rolled edges.. . Very casual, very fun, very pretty.. . Without a whole lot of fuss, let it roll.. Embrace the roll.. . One thing I will point out on this. sweater, and you really can't see it too. . clearly, however,. the sweater is tuck stitch.. . So I started knitting my hem, right?. . Or roll, whatever,. knitted about eight or rows,. . then took it off, took. the knitting off the machine,. . turned it, put it back on the machine, and. then knit the tuck the other direction.. . This way the curl. came to the front of the tuck because tuck. . uses the Pearl side as the right side.. . So it's something to consider,. which way is that curl going to go. . if you're knitting in pattern?. . The yarn tree off the top of my head I. don't have it, but Anne,. . I will definitely.... . I will put that in the show notes because. I don't know off the top of my head.. . All righty.. . So embrace the curl.. . The next way to finish off your edges. without ribbing would be hems,. . just your basic hung hem.. . What's a hung hem?. . Think about the sewing.. . We go back to our sewing world again.. . It's just your fabric folded over. . and doubled, right?. . So you've got a nice hem.. . A hem will give some. weight to the knitting.. . So if you've got a large piece, it'll add. some weight and help it drape more nicely.. . It'll help you drape nicely.. . And you can also finish that hem. in lots of different ways.. . Now, basic hung hem can be ugly sometimes,. but there are things to do. . to make them even better.. . You can jazz them up with the fold edge,. the folded edge.. . Put a picot edge along there.. . Change your tension.. . Put a little garter stitch in there.. . Maybe do a chain cast. on in that folded edge.. . Do something to change colors.. . Just put a stripe of a different. color along that edge.. . So you can jazz up a plain hung hem.. . Now, we do have, if you haven't done any. hung hems, we do have. . a Skill Builder Challenge on hung hems.. . It gives you an opportunity to do. hung hems in different ways.. . Some of them might be nicer than others.. . Some of them are easier than others,. but I really encourage you to try hung. . hems if you are thinking of substituting. that for your ribbing on your sweaters.. . The peekaboo hem that you see here,. and I'm You probably could get to a larger. . image, but it's basically the front side. or the public side of that hem is lace.. . It's got holes in it.. . The private side of that hem is done. in knit in stockinette in a solid color.. . So you can see that the white is showing. through that pink and it's. . peaking through the hem.. . Very pretty, very feminine,. which leads It brings me to a conversation. . I had with, I think it was Mary,. who wanted to.... . She was knitting in pattern,. and I don't remember if she was knitting. . in ferrile or tuck or some stitch pattern.. . And she said, I don't want. a plain stocking at hem.. . So Mary, God love her,. didn't want to put ribbing on her sweater.. . Thank you, Mary.. She's a convert.. . And she wanted to start the edge of her. sweater in her stitch pattern,. . but still have a hem,. giving the weight and finishing off. . that hem, finishing off. the bottom of her sweater.. . So we talked about the fact that she. could just start knitting at the fold.. . That could be her stitch pattern,. like this lace here, just. . completely fleet,. just start knitting at the fold in your. . stitch pattern and knit up from there so. you have no break and you don't. . have that stocking at hem there.. . One of the things we did talk about,. however, if you're going to do this,. . have a a stockinette. private side of your hem and a stitch. . pattern public side of your. hem is to consider your gage.. . Think about this.. We're knitting a sweater in tuck.. . We all know that tuck is. much wider than stockinette.. . If you try and do this little technique. and do the inside in stockinette. . and the outside in tuck,. you're going to have a little bit of a. . mess because the gage is so different.. . So it's something to consider.. . It's something to try before you start. your sweater, you swatch with it.. . You might just.... . The easiest thing might be to just knit. the stock in that section at a looser. . tension, so it's going to be wide. enough to accommodate that tuck.. . Maybe not.. . Maybe you would knit that stock in it over. every other needle, so it's wider. . and would fit in with that tuck.. . So consider hems.. . They don't have to be boring,. plain old hung hems,. . but you can add stitch patterns to them.. . So let's take a page from an all-time. knitter, Bonnie Triola.. . She created, I don't know if she.... . I'm sure she didn't invent this, but she. shared this with us, a perfect hem.. . As I said, hemms can be.... . Hung hemms can sometimes be ugly.. . They flip out.. . They're thick.. . You think about it, you've got two layers. of knitting here, and they're thick.. . And And sometimes you'll get a ridge.. . There are techniques that you can. employ to make hung hems prettier.. . But take from Bonnie's book here.. . And I believe we're calling. this a perfect designer hem.. . I'll put a link to it in the show notes,. and I believe it's also in the classroom.. . Basically, she's knitting the hem. separately from the garment.. . So instead of allowing that hem to flip. out or be too wide or wonky,. . she's controlling the width and the depth. of that hem in comparison to the garment.. . So you might knit the hem first and. . then continue to knit your garment or knit. . your garment first. and then create your hem.. . So some things to think about. as far as the perfect.... . I think we're calling it this perfect. designer hem,. . and I'll put a link to that one.. . That one's very pretty.. . And you notice this being a skirt,. the weight of that hem is going. . to help that skirt hang more nicely.. . So if she just did an E-wrap cast on or. even just a rolled hem on the bottom. . of that skirt, number one,. it'd be too casual, but she wouldn't have. . the advantage of the weight on that skirt. to add to the drape and how. . beautiful that skirt is.. . So it looks like Joette just. joined us from Pittsburgh.. . Welcome, Joette.. . Okay, here's another idea.. Hems.. . They don't have to be ugly.. . They don't have to be boring.. . They don't have to be ribbing.. . Make them fun.. . In this case, we made the front. shorter than the back.. . So you've got a little. bit of a slit there.. . You could even carry that slit up. the side into the garment itself.. . But very modern-looking, having. a slit and having an asymmetric hem.. . This one also is very interesting. in that the body of this sweater is. . I wanted to say garter stitch, forgive me.. . No, it was reverse stockinette.. . Looks like Mott Carter, right?. . So you've got the pearl side showing. in the body of the garment,. . and then you've got the niche side or. the stockinette side showing in the hem.. . Very nice, again, a very modern look,. a very different take. . than plain old ribbing.. . Thinking of construction, another thing. is to consider making shirt tail hems.. . Curving those corners.. . Don't even need to have. those corners, right?. . Again, a very modern looking,. a very updated style.. . We have a Skill Builder challenge on the. curved hem as well,. . showing you how to chart. it and how to knit it.. . Basically, you'll be doing short rows.. . This particular one looks like.... . I didn't do anything fancy to this one.. . I think that is just decreases.. . It might be an I-cord trim.. I don't remember.. . Forgive me.. . But you could actually curve a hem. and put ribbing on it if you so choose.. . Or you could curve a hem with a. hung hem or some other finish.. . You just can't make that curve too deep. because you're going to have. . to accommodate that length of that curve.. . But try the challenge.. . Again, another thing for you to try. is the Skill Builder Challenge.. . It gives you some options for charting. your own curved hem or any curve.. . You can make a curve on a pocket, right?. . And make it curved like this.. . Or I'm trying to think what else.. . I've actually seen a lot of shirts lately. have a big slip,. . and this is all open here, like this,. but it's not designed to be.. . It's just all open.. . And you could just curve those edges, too.. . It would be very pretty,. and they wouldn't get into your lunch as. . you've got that big floppy thing going on.. . Okay, so that's some construction. techniques, but let's have some fun. . with our edges and our. bottoms of our sweaters and cuffs. . of our sleeves with stitch patterns.. . How about scalops?. . There are about a zillion. different ways of making scalops.. . This particular way is using tuck stitch.. . So you're tucking up some stitches,. and what it's doing is. . curving that edge for you.. . There's three different examples here.. . I think the video shows all three. examples, and those are. . different cast on edges.. . So think about this.. . So you're going to do a double E-wrap cast. on, two strands of yarn, E-wrap cast on,. . and then start knitting a scalped edge.. . You've got a really nice firm edge.. . You've got a pretty scalp.. . Think about that scalp. on the cuff of a sweater.. . Be really pretty and it'll really show off. your pretty bracelets or. . whatever you might have.. . So scalops are a great way to start. your sweaters.. . Pico hems, probably one of my favorites.. . Again, there's probably a zillion. different ways of making Pico hems.. . This particular one, I believe,. is called Ielet Pico or Picos and Ilets,. . and it just has the little îlets across. the top along with that. . little scalped edge.. . Consider that again at the bottom of your. sweater or at your cuff of your sweater.. . Very, very feminine.. . You could even apply that to the bands. of a sweater or even around. . your neck band, whatever.. . So again, we have another Skill Builder. challenge on picohemms,. . different ways of doing picohemms.. . Again, there's a zillion ways,. and I think there may be three. . in the challenge that are different. that you may not have tried before.. . All righty.. . So I'm off my soapbox, I think, here.. . I'll get back on camera.. . Off my soapbox about ease,. fit, and ribbing.. . Anybody disagree with me?. . Anybody have any comments here?. . Tell me I'm wrong, but really,. let's bring our sweaters into the . . century and Yes,. there's a place for ribbing, but let's do. . something a little bit more fashionable.. . We've got lots of ideas in our. Hems and Edges classroom.. . So I know we're a little delayed.. . I'm going to pause just a little bit here. and see if anybody has any comments or you. . want to call me out about. my dislike of ribbing.. . The last thing.... Thank you.. . Thank you, Susan.. . The last thing I want to mention also is. we have been,. . in spite of my being squirled,. We have been really,. . really hard at work on learndesigninit.. Com.. . If you use designinit, I would really ask. you to please go visit learndesigninit.. . Com.. . You're not going to see. all the changes yet.. . They're still work in progress.. . However, hit the site and then we'll be. able to send you messages,. . send you email about all the new changes. and all the new stuff that's coming up.. . I hear from knitters who use designinit I. ask them, what is it that you. . want or what do you struggle with?. . And nine times out of ,. they struggle with the fact that they. . don't have enough time to learn it.. . They don't have enough. time to play with it.. . And it is an older software.. . I had a conversation this week. with another knitter, and she's going,. . I just don't understand all. this jumping around stuff.. . And I had to remind her that Designit,. I believe, started pre-windows,. . and then they ported it into windows.. . Windows, which congratulations. to SoftBite for doing it.. . I've worked for software companies. who didn't make that transition. . from pre-Windows to Windows.. . They did, and they've got a fabulous. product that's very, very, very powerful.. . However, it It does have. a large learning curve.. . So that's where learn,. design, and it comes in.. . Our goal with all these new changes. that we're making is to make it easier so. . you're not investing hours and hours. and hours at your computer,. . that you're back there knitting.. . You can get knitting and you can. pick things up in short little bites.. . We're trying to do minute quick wins so. that you can get some knowledge. . of designing it in a very fast manner.. . So stay tuned for all the changes. in learn, design, and it.. . Karen says, She often uses hung hems. with fair-isle patterns at the hem,. . it's hiding the floats. and jazzing up a plain sweater.. . So just the hem is in fair-isle?. Cool.. . Love it.. . Susan says,. I'm a hybrid knitter and sometimes leaves. . stitches on the cast on and do. a hand picot bind off.. . I love hybrid knitters.. Congratulations.. . Love it, love it, love it.. . There is no reason that everything has. to be done on the knitting machine.. . And I'll have people just jumping through. hoops because they want to do. . everything on the knitting machine.. . It's like, pick up your hand knitting. needles and finish it. . off for heaven's sakes.. . These things are wonderful,. but they can't do everything.. . And your hand knitting needles,. you can hand knit everything,. . but it's going to take you a long time.. . Is designing it too advanced for rookies. and would it work on an LK?. . Designing it is not too advanced. for rookies, and I do have to tell you. . that it is really designed. more for the electronic machines.. . One of its big features is that you can. create stitch patterns and download. . them to an electronic machine.. . However, another fabulous feature is their. charting to built in charting. . device or interactive knitting.. . And that's what you would. use with your LK.. . So instead of reading a pattern that says,. . Cast on stitches and knit for rows. . and then decrease one stitch, one stitch,. every other row three times,. . all of those words,. you would be following a graph that would. . show you on screen what to do visually. without all those numbers. . and with all that text.. . So that charting device or. interactive knitting is just fabulous.. . It also is absolutely fabulous. for knitting in Tarsia,. . and you can do that on your LK.. . Also, Fair Isle,. if you want to do Fair Isle on your LK. and you're needing to pull needles,. you follow along the interactive knitting,. . and it'll tell you when to pull certain. needles, which needles to pull,. . so that you can knit your. Fair Isle on your color work.. . Dana says, I like doing as much. as possible on the machine.. . And most people will agree with you, Dana.. . It's just that when it gets down to some. really, really funky stuff,. . why make yourself crazy?. . Pick up your hand,. knit needles, and just do it.. . Susan needs a refresher on ease,. so go to nittenau.. . Com/ease.. . If you have any questions,. just let me know, and I'd. . love to talk to you about it.. . Pauline says she likes. some of these suggestions.. . That's great, Pauline,. and please try them out.. . We've got the skill builders.. . Speaking of skill builders,. if there's a topic of something that you. . would like to learn how to do,. someone the other day was confused. . used between So As You Go and Cut & So.. . She just didn't understand. what the difference was.. . So we talked about it.. . So that's on the list of things. to do is a Cut & So skill builder.. . It's like, oh, my gosh, heaven forbid,. I'm going to take a pair of scissors. . to my knitting, and I'm going to.... . Whatever.. . We want you to be comfortable with that.. . Also, a skill builder on so as you. go is something that is in the works.. . So watch for new skill builders. and make any suggestions.. . If there's skills that you'd. like to try in a quick fashion.. . Not going to go into some big. old long course about something.. . It's, Here's what you need to do.. . Here's a challenge.. . Here's another challenge.. Here's another challenge.. . Take some pictures,. upload them for your own sake so that you. . can come back and refer to them sometime.. . That's what the skill. builders are all about.. . It is rib, Maryanne.. It is rib.. . It's got a lace It's got a lace hem.. . I don't know if you can see it, but. there's a lace hem there, too, as well.. . It's getting close to summertime here, so. . I'm bringing out some of my summer things.. Hokey-doke.. . So I need to get the information. about the yarn tree.. . I will get the links in the show notes,. . links to the things we talked. . about today in the show notes.. . If there's anything else anybody needs,. you know how to get hold of me.. . There's like different ways of getting. hold of me through Betty,. . through leave a message, through email,. send smoke signals, whatever.. . I'm here to help, and I hurt. my feelings when I can't help somebody.. . So please just let me know. what I can do to help.. . Lucard says, Sometimes crocheting around. with a hook gives you more. . control over the result.. . So there's another hybrid knitter, right?. . She is combining the crochet. with your knitting.. . And I agree.. . And I actually crochet. my set in sleeves in.. . So I use do slip stitch with a hook. because it's the only. . way I can set in sleeves.. . So to the hybrid knitters, I love it.. . Susan said she'd love. a live session on necklines.. . Shaping necklines or. finishing necklines, Susan?. . Let me know.. . A course on machine knitting a sweater. and doing the ribbing afterwards by hand.. . I don't have that specific course.. . However, there's There. are two ways to do it.. . Number one, cast on, scrap on.. . So you leave all those live stitches. at the bottom of your knitting, right?. . When you're done knitting your sweater,. pick up those stitches with your hand. . knitting needles and knit. your ribbing down.. . The other way would be to knit your. ribbing with the number of stitches. . that you need and then hang that ribbing. on the machine and then knit your sweater.. . So that works, yes?. . V-shaped necklines.. . Pauline and Susan, is you're talking,. again, finishing or shaping or both.. . We can do a live on that.. . We could also do some skill. builders on it as well.. . Shaping and finishing.. . I don't like ribbing on a neckline.. . I'm with you % on that one, Susan.. Absolutely.. . But there's always crochet.. . I've been crocheting like. crazy lately for some reason.. . I don't know why.. . Okay, so definitely that'll. be on the to-do list.. . We've got to get this design in it thing. launched, and then we'll. . be taking a look at.... . Maybe we could We can do a knit along. or something on finishing necklines.. . It's an idea.. . Both.. Okay.. . I will put some links to what we have on. on shaping on necklines in the show notes.. . I'll put some links to what exists.. . And then if there's anything else that we. can create for you,. . we'll definitely look into it.. . All right.. Well, thank you.. . I've taken up your time this morning.. . Thank you for joining me.. . We sincerely appreciate your being here.. . We sincerely appreciate your support.. . And if there's anything that we can do. to help you with your knitting,. . that's what we're here for.. . So until June, oh my gosh,. June, we will see you then.. . And in the meantime,. happy knitting, everyone.. . Bye-bye..