Lion Incredible ribbon yarn for sweater?

Hiya, I have played around at knitting for ages and now that I am
suffering from impending-empty-nest syndrome (youngest started junior
college this last year) I have decided to take up knitting on a casual
basis.

I found this *gorgeous* ribbon yarn called Lion Incredible that I used
to make a cell phone holder (with afghan stitch) and the more I worked
with it, the more I fell in love with it. Now I am thinking of using it
for a sweater. I have an easy cuff-to-cuff pattern to start with and
would knit with two strands on size 15 needles to make it go faster,
then maybe proceed to something a bit more complicated on the next pass.

It's nylon ribbon yarn, though, and I don't know how well it would hold
up, and all the pattern ideas from the manufacturer only use it as an
extra yarn, so I'm sorta concerned. Is anybody familiar with this yarn
and do they know if it would hold up to being used as a sweater? Or
does anybody know how to research these types of things to find it out
without having to bug youse guyses about it?

Thanks,
Melinda
(who hangs out a lot on alt.sewing and r.c.t.sewing as well)

On May 21, 8:16 pm, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
wrote:
Hiya, I have played around at knitting for ages and now that I am
suffering from impending-empty-nest syndrome (youngest started junior
college this last year) I have decided to take up knitting on a casual
basis.

I found this *gorgeous* ribbon yarn called Lion Incredible that I used
to make a cell phone holder (with afghan stitch) and the more I worked
with it, the more I fell in love with it. Now I am thinking of using it
for a sweater. I have an easy cuff-to-cuff pattern to start with and
would knit with two strands on size 15 needles to make it go faster,
then maybe proceed to something a bit more complicated on the next pass.

It's nylon ribbon yarn, though, and I don't know how well it would hold
up, and all the pattern ideas from the manufacturer only use it as an
extra yarn, so I'm sorta concerned. Is anybody familiar with this yarn
and do they know if it would hold up to being used as a sweater? Or
does anybody know how to research these types of things to find it out
without having to bug youse guyses about it?

Thanks,
Melinda
(who hangs out a lot on alt.sewing and r.c.t.sewing as well)

I've only ever used ribbon yarn (alone) as a scarf. I don't know if it
would hold its shape enough to be used as a sweater.
Welcome to RCTY, BTW. I hope you'll stay and post often.

Higs,
Katherine

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
Hiya, I have played around at knitting for ages and now that I am
suffering from impending-empty-nest syndrome (youngest started junior
college this last year) I have decided to take up knitting on a casual
basis.

I found this *gorgeous* ribbon yarn called Lion Incredible that I used to
make a cell phone holder (with afghan stitch) and the more I worked with
it, the more I fell in love with it. Now I am thinking of using it for a
sweater. I have an easy cuff-to-cuff pattern to start with and would knit
with two strands on size 15 needles to make it go faster, then maybe
proceed to something a bit more complicated on the next pass.

It's nylon ribbon yarn, though, and I don't know how well it would hold
up, and all the pattern ideas from the manufacturer only use it as an
extra yarn, so I'm sorta concerned. Is anybody familiar with this yarn
and do they know if it would hold up to being used as a sweater? Or does
anybody know how to research these types of things to find it out without
having to bug youse guyses about it?

Thanks,
Melinda
(who hangs out a lot on alt.sewing and r.c.t.sewing as well


Hi, Melinda,
It has been my experience with most cuff to cuff knitting that it sags with
wear. There are no seams at the shoulders or arm holes to help bear the
weight of the sweater. I would think that nylon with be very "drapey" to
begin with, and would need more structure to look and wear well.
DA

On May 22, 12:16 pm, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
wrote:
H It's nylon ribbon yarn, though, and I don't know how well it would hold
up, and all the pattern ideas from the manufacturer only use it as an
extra yarn, so I'm sorta concerned. Is anybody familiar with this yarn
and do they know if it would hold up to being used as a sweater? Or
does anybody know how to research these types of things to find it out
without having to bug youse guyses about it?

I hate to play devil's advocate but I say: "dive in the deep end and
see what happens".

I've had some of my greatest learning experiences from not asking
sensible questions first and just throwing myself at a project.
Granted I wouldn't recommend this method if the materials are
radically expensive or if you're really not going to handle an
unexpected result with good grace (or good denial - sweet, sweet
denial).

I have no experience with this yarn but I've never let a lack of
experience or skill hold me back.

I'm not all in jest here - really the best learning experiences (and
some of the best creative experiences too) do come from just wading
into something and learning from your mistakes (if you make any,
really it could all go exactly as you thought it might). If you like
the yarn and the pattern and you want the two to marry then make it
happen.

VP

Who only learnt that she really does need to baste a zipper before she
sews it in place by machine after about a hundred attempts that
skimped on the prep.

Vintage Purls wrote:

I hate to play devil's advocate but I say: "dive in the deep end and
see what happens".

I've had some of my greatest learning experiences from not asking
sensible questions first and just throwing myself at a project.
Granted I wouldn't recommend this method if the materials are
radically expensive or if you're really not going to handle an
unexpected result with good grace (or good denial - sweet, sweet
denial).

Actually, the reason I asked about it here rather than just jump into it
is because at this point in my life I don't have that much extra time to
have the luxury of being able to waste it. So for a first big project,
I'd rather follow the rules to learn them before I have a feel for when
to break them.

I am guessing it is going to take me until cold weather hits (i.e.,
November here) to be able to finish this -- like I might have a
half-hour to an hour a day and maybe not even that and not every day to
work on it (e.g. for the past month or two I have had so much work I've
been going on 3-4 hours sleep a night and whenever I can get catnaps in
elsewhere). Especially for a first project and not really having any
significant previous experience, I'd rather do something that more
experienced people think will be more reliable. Otherwise I will have
spent approx six months of my very limited spare time on something that
I will have to throw away because it didn't work.

I stopped doing a lot of sewing a long time before I got pattern
drafting software because I was spending limited time on projects that
ended up having to be tossed. And I gave up on trying to knit socks a
number of years ago because it took me 3-4 months to finally finish one
sock, and it didn't fit.

Now OTOH, if I had an hour's commute on the commuter train a day (not in
the last 20-some-odd years) and nothing to do during that time, I might
be willing to take more chances. But my time is still limited right now.

DA wrote:

It has been my experience with most cuff to cuff knitting that it sags with
wear. There are no seams at the shoulders or arm holes to help bear the
weight of the sweater. I would think that nylon with be very "drapey" to
begin with, and would need more structure to look and wear well.


Thanks! Would you recommend cotton, acrylic, or wool (listed in order
of what I would prefer to use) to give the best structure?

Katherine wrote:

I've only ever used ribbon yarn (alone) as a scarf. I don't know if it
would hold its shape enough to be used as a sweater.
Welcome to RCTY, BTW. I hope you'll stay and post often.


Thanks, I don't know how often I will post, but I *have* been reading
here a month or two, getting up the nerve to start something big. But
you folks seem to be another pretty civil, not-terribly-catty group, so
I felt comfortable posting here.

15-ish years ago when I first got on the internet, I used to be on a
knitting mailing list (it was VERY high volume) because I enjoyed
reading what everybody was doing. I don't remember the name of the list
-- but those were the days before free listserv software, and I think
there was only one big mailing list -- and I was on it at the time this
one lady posted this poignant story of going to buy a fleece from
farmers and buying this one fleece that had belonged to a little
stillborn lamb, and it about broke the heart of the lady selling the
fleece to have to sell it, remembering the poor little lamb, and she
spun it into superfine yarn and made a shawl from it of knitted so fine
that it would pass through her wedding ring, and then she decided to
take it back to show the lady she had bought the fleece from what she
had made, and the lady cried from knowing that her poor little lambie
had had its fleece turned into something so beautiful.

Anyway, I don't know how tolerant you folks are of that type of
conversation, so I will just quit for now and go back to work (was just
taking a break).

Regards,
Melinda

On May 22, 7:53 am, Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
wrote:
Katherine wrote:

I've only ever used ribbon yarn (alone) as a scarf. I don't know if it
would hold its shape enough to be used as a sweater.
Welcome to RCTY, BTW. I hope you'll stay and post often.

Thanks, I don't know how often I will post, but I *have* been reading
here a month or two, getting up the nerve to start something big. But
you folks seem to be another pretty civil, not-terribly-catty group, so
I felt comfortable posting here.

15-ish years ago when I first got on the internet, I used to be on a
knitting mailing list (it was VERY high volume) because I enjoyed
reading what everybody was doing. I don't remember the name of the list
-- but those were the days before free listserv software, and I think
there was only one big mailing list -- and I was on it at the time this
one lady posted this poignant story of going to buy a fleece from
farmers and buying this one fleece that had belonged to a little
stillborn lamb, and it about broke the heart of the lady selling the
fleece to have to sell it, remembering the poor little lamb, and she
spun it into superfine yarn and made a shawl from it of knitted so fine
that it would pass through her wedding ring, and then she decided to
take it back to show the lady she had bought the fleece from what she
had made, and the lady cried from knowing that her poor little lambie
had had its fleece turned into something so beautiful.

Anyway, I don't know how tolerant you folks are of that type of
conversation, so I will just quit for now and go back to work (was just
taking a break).

Melinda,
We are tolerant of all kinds of stories - in fact, we love them - so
feel free to drop in whenever
you take a break from work.

Higs,
Katherine

"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" wrote in
message ...
DA wrote:

It has been my experience with most cuff to cuff knitting that it sags
with
wear. There are no seams at the shoulders or arm holes to help bear the
weight of the sweater. I would think that nylon with be very "drapey" to
begin with, and would need more structure to look and wear well.


Thanks! Would you recommend cotton, acrylic, or wool (listed in order of
what I would prefer to use) to give the best structure?


Melinda, I knitted both the cardigan and pullover from this pattern many
years ago.
http://www.knitarena.com/store/index...d&productId=32
As explained on the page, the sweater is done from a variety of yarns. Both
versions "grew" with wearing, the cardigan sleeves got longer and the
neckline on the pullover stretched out of shape. Crocheting around the
neckline of the pull over added firmness there, but then the sleeves "grew"
like the cardigan sleeves.
Cotton yarn has very little elasticity, and knit at a firm tension may work.
After experiencing two disasters with cuff to cuff knitting, I prefer to
knit patterns with either shoulder seams or sleeves which change stitch
direction at the arm hole, i.e. knitted from the shoulder down.
DA

DA wrote:

After experiencing two disasters with cuff to cuff knitting, I prefer to
knit patterns with either shoulder seams or sleeves which change stitch
direction at the arm hole, i.e. knitted from the shoulder down.


Hmm. Well, a disaster is not exactly what I am interested in spending
4-6 months creating. I really don't want to get so frustrated again
that I decide to go back to trying to sew and then doing nothing because
I don't have the time or space to haul out my sewing machine and work.
What would you recommend for a foolproof, "even a 6YO with no prior
knitting experience can do it" type of cardigan-type pattern for a SSBBW
(size 28-ish) who wants to experience a reasonably good success with her
first big project?

Thanks bunches!
Melinda