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Lee Wittenstein: Getting Gauge is Making me Tense

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This isn’t the first time Lee Wittenstein has visited this blog.  Creative brain behind Harper & Figg, she’s created some stunning patterns!  Today, she’ll be talking about an important subject to any knitter: Gauge.
I’ll let her take it away from here:

Go on, admit it. 
You know who you are.  Yes, you in
the back corner.  You don’t always knit a
gauge swatch. Oh, I know.  There are some
of you thinking, “What’s the big deal? I always get gauge.”  Well, bless your hearts!  After many years of knitting and working in
yarn stores I know that there are others of us who do not “always” get
gauge.  And the knitting gods have
punishments in store if you think you do. 
Eventually it will catch up with you. So our first lesson is, knit a gauge swatch.

Even when you do knit a swatch you can have
problems. I have been thinking of this ever since a problem with a pair of mittens–Pinion
from Brooklyn.  These are knitted
sideways, so a mistake in gauge means that the mitten is too long and you can’t
just frog back and shorten it.   I knit a
gauge swatch and I did the first mitten correctly.  And then I knit a second one, defeating
second mitten syndrome. I used the same yarn, needles and pattern.  But my gauge changed.  Not a lot, but enough to make the second
mitten longer than the first. The lesson here–even if you knit a swatch and
got gauge, even if you knit a whole mitten and got gauge–keep checking your gauge.

So along comes LightWaves–a small shawl originally
designed to be knit with worsted-weight yarn. 
Now, shawls and cowls are among my favorite things to knit for many
reasons but one of them is that gauge is usually a non-issue.  Substitute yarn to your heart’s content and,
as long as you like the fabric you are making, you can always knit it a little
longer or a little shorter and voila!  I
wanted to use Noro Silk Garden(NSG) for part of my shawl and a coordinating
solid yarn for the rest.

Reader, I made mistakes. The first one–I didn’t
knit a gauge swatch. In my memory NSG was a light worsted weight yarn.  I dug into the stash and found a skein of an
alpaca/wool blend–a light DK weight.  Perfect.
I knit blithely along until it was time to add the NSG.  (Insert the sound of squealing brakes.)  The Silk Garden was way too heavy.  So I checked the gauge of NSG—4.5 st/inch.  Back to the stash, another yarn.  This time I read the label—4.5 st/inch.  So I cast on but not for a swatch, for the
whole shawl.  Not until a customer at my
LYS said, “That looks kinda stiff for a shawl,” did I realize that to get a
good drapey fabric I would have to knit this yarn at 4 st/inch or even more.
Not a good match for NSG. So the third lesson– read the label and swatch anyway.

To shorten this already very long story, the third
try was a charm. The little shawl is finished and lovely and just what I wanted
it to be.  And I think that all the gauge
rules can be summed up in two words–pay
attention. Read the label, swatch, check your gauge often as you knit.  This should take care of most problems.  But don’t say that out loud.  The knitting gods are always listening.

Check out Lee and her patterns at www.harperandfigg.com.

Interview with Lee Wittenstein and Walk the Dog

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Today we’ve got an interview for you in two
parts to celebrate Lee Wittenstein’s release of a new pattern – Walk the Dog.  One part is here, the other part is at TheYarn Spot’s blog.  I can claim both on
behalf of myself and The Yarn Spot that we’re so proud of Lee, and are looking
forward to seeing more of her patterns published by herself and others in the
future.
A little bit about Lee:  I first met Lee at The Yarn Spot, where I was
working my normal shift.  I had heard
about the talented Lee, but had never met her as our shifts and schedules
rarely overlapped.  She came into the
store that day to pick up some yarn, and I remember her big smile, her cheerful
personality and her incredible knowledge about knitting.  I told her as she was leaving we would have
to get together more often, as it was already clear that I wanted to get to
know her more.  Lee is really a member of
the “fiber tribe” having been taught knitting by her grandmother and being
raised in a “fiber friendly” household. 
Her mother co-runs the popular Yarns International, and Lee has been
working at or with yarn stores since 1987.
So
Lee, tell me a little bit about the Inspiration you had for “Walk the Dog?”
Lee: My friend the dog walker wanted a hat
for her “big head.” She is outside all winter long and needed to be
warm.  She also wanted it to match her coat and be machine washable. 
One of my go-to-yarns for machine-washable is Spud and Chloe Sweater. 
There was a great match for her coat and so the first version was born. 
Once that was knit I gave it to her, of course, and then set out to make a
second one for my pattern.
What
was the Yarn you used for the second one?
For the second one I wanted something more
luxurious.  Cascade’s Venezia Worsted fit that bill and is available at my
LYS, The Yarn Spot.
What
is your design process like?  Do you
sketch or swatch?
I don’t sketch because I can’t draw.  In
fact, for a long time I thought that I couldn’t be a creative, artistic type if
I couldn’t draw.  Now I know that is so not true but I still can’t
draw.  I always swatch.  To get a feel for the yarn, to decide what
needle size will give the effect I want, to check gauge. That said, I don’t always
fully block the swatch. (Bad designer) I design on the needles so I use my
finished piece to determine final gauge.
What
kind of questions or problems do you try to solve as a designer?
I like that question.  I think my
best designs have come out of trying to fill a need for someone
specific.  Like Walk the Dog.  And a secret design
that will be revealed in a few months. (Did I pique your interest?)
Other design inspirations are visual – a pattern I see on a blanket and want to
try to make work on a hat.  Or a mosaic tile pattern that would
look great on a cowl.  One of the things I love about being a
designer is that everywhere I go there is fodder for my
designing.

I
know I have designers in the industry I look up to – either because of their
business model or because they’re doing something really cool that I wish I had
thought of.  Who are your favorite
designers right now – the people you would like to emulate?
There are a lot of people doing really
interesting things. It is hard to mention only a few.  But I
will.  I admire people who think outside the box–Norah Gaughan springs to
mind.  Ann Weaver‘s use of color and her sources of inspiration are
amazing.  Kate Davies is an inspiring designer who has a modern take on
traditional knitting. 
How
do you envision your business in the next five years?
I hope I am still here, still doing designs
that I love and that lots of other people love too.  I don’t have a formal
five-year plan or anything like that.  The designing business has come out
of my real love for knitting, yarn and the knitting world.  I hope to
still be a productive, creative part of it all in five years (or more!)
What
are some of the projects we can look forward to from you in the future?
I have three projects that are just a wee bit
away from being ready to publish.  One is a cowl with easy lace and fun
colors.  Another is a mitered squares cowl which would be a good first
pattern for this technique.  I’m working up a class with that one. 
Finally, a scarf-ette in lace and garter stitch which would be a great holiday
gift.  Other things I am playing with are a cabled hat, traveling stitches
mitts and a child’s cardigan.
Lee, thank you very much
for taking the time to answer my questions. 
Check out the rest of the interview over at The Yarn Spot, Lee’s website
at http://harperandfigg.com/, and her pattern
at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/walk-the-dog.

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