TESP : 0 Introduction

I actually started this blog to share a simple raglan sweater pattern, henceforth called "The Easy Sweater Pattern" (TESP). It is a knit-in-one-piece, fit on the go, no-hassle pattern, ideal for the first ever sweater or the 10th. It is astonishingly variable and quite forgiving of accidents and bad decisions.

You can make cardigans with it,
click here for more photos.

But I have also made sweaters and t-shirts and no two look the same. I will post more examples (see links at the bottom) and detailed instructions along the way. If you look at the cardigan, you will see that the raglan part and the increase holes are quite prominent, I like to emphasize this structual detail and make it part of the design. As you can see by the dummy (which is really my size) I am pear shaped with a defined waist. Emphasizing the raglan part broadens the shoulder and the pattern is easy to fit around the bust and waist. Actually I fit it, by trying the stuff on during knitting (needles and all). This pattern is ideal for impatient, lazy knitters, only the most basic measuring required. And if you make the effort to buy the right needle lengths, you don't have to sew it together, it will be finished the moment you drop the last stich.
You can find photos of a t-shirt with basically the same pattern here. Photos of a very old (and very worn) sweater, one of my first, which is very suitable for beginners here.

Simple pattern, complicated result

DSCN1359
Originally uploaded by craftingchaos.

It looks complicated, but it was very simple to knit. I didn't have a plan, I just started with the squares you see at the bottom and this was the result. This was one yarn type, which changed colors. Because sometimes I had a lot of stiches (at the top) and sometimes there where only a few (the squares) the pattern varies from stripes to color blocks. The top and the sleeves are knittited in one piece.

On days like this ...

Ok, my digital camera has lost a battery and I have to work during the weekend :-P, actually I wanted to start with some example photos of things I knitted and some things in progress. So the universe is set against it, but chaos is used to chaos. On the bright side, this being a blog, I am halfway through the Nintendo DS pyjamas and I have a virtual black Labrador called Kiko, she can sit and lay down on command ;-).
My scanner hasn't yet left me. The PDA cover I knitted in about 3 hours, after they told me at the store that they only have this ugly, military looking, hardboiled, black leather cover, which costs a fortune, so I bought some cheap cotton and got to work.



And the DS pyjamas in progress, you can faintly see the D, which is illusion knitted, an S will follow. I knit it in one piece, because I hate sewing things together and I am incapable of producing 2 equal things, this is a mental block. My brain gets bored, my hands would have no problem with that, my eyes don't get involved anyway.



I apologize for the quality, I just put the items on the scanner, not the best way to get nice pictures of nonflat things, but it works, somehow, anyhow, whatever.

Maybe I can use my webcam for the larger things, will see tomorrow or rather today.

Lets start !

This is maybe less a Blog , than a howto to make a sweater without swatches, counting and acurate measurements page for impatient chaotic, like me. That is the plan, in any case. But I never finish the same sweater I started, so maybe this will lead to something different. Maybe I will throw in some movie, game or book reviews and share some of my photos. Some of the posts will be in german and some maybe even bilingual. Don't be to shocked if there is some science and software stuff also, I make my money this way, so sometimes I feel the urge to communicate stuff ;-) . And I love gadgets, I don't have an IPod, I did get a PDA instead, I am more into reading than listening to music. And I bought a Nintendo DS today, this thing is amazing, not because of the machine, which is in my case a nice blue, but because of the innovative games. I am now the proud owner of a virtual black labrador. Yes I bought the Nintendogs Labrador and Friends game bundle, maybe I will write something about this game later. Oh and I am knitting a bag for the DS ;-).