Organizing an Aran Sweater

I am so happy with the color of this sweater! The funny thing is that Kim pointed the color out to me. I have two traditional Arans already – one pullover and one cardigan. So I wanted to use a color but I was completely at a loss. I have autumn coloring so that set the parameters. But, I already have plenty of green, chocolate brown and orange sweaters and jackets. I knew that I needed to choose a relatively light color so that the cables would look good. I took my Wool of the Andes color card to the Knit Picks department seeking advice. That’s when Kim pointed out Wheat. It doesn’t look that impressive on the card but you see that it is working up nicely. This sweater is going to look good with everything. You should see it next to my turquoise turtleneck!

I think I need to explain the Excel spreadsheet a bit more. Before we get started, let me tell you that the whole thing did not take very long. Particularly when you think about how much time you save not having to keep finding your place among a bunch of different instructions or fixing mistakes because you got confused.

The reason I did the Excel spreadsheet was that I was using three different books for my cable instructions. If I were following someone else’s instructions everything would be coordinated in advance. Ok, Excel spreadsheets are made of vertical columns and horizontal rows (or in my case I like to think of them as rounds).

I started with the columns. One column for every single section of the sweater.

1^st Column – Steek (5) *number in paraenthesis represents the number of stitches used.

2^nd Column – Rice Stitch (8) This is one of the spacer sections between the cables

3^rd Column – Right Front Weave (26)

4^th Column – Rice Stitch (8)

5^th Column – Underarm Stitches (6) These are different because I want to keep them in stockinette stitch to make it easy to cut for the sleeves later

6^th Column – Rice Stitch (4)

7^th Column – Right Back Weave (16)

8^th Column – Rice Stitch (4)

9^th Column – Center Back Weave (34)

10^th Column – Rice Stitch (4)

11^th Column – Left Back Weave (16)

12^th Column – Rice Stitch (4)

13^th Column – Underarm Stitches (6)

14^th Column – Rice Stitch (8)

15^th Column – Left Front Weave (26)

16^th Column – Rice Stitch (8) After these stitches I am back to my steek stitches and I start the next round (row)

Remember that when you choose cables, it makes life a lot easier if the have a common denominator in terms of the row repeats. My smallest cable is 16 rounds and the large cable on the back is 32 rounds. That means one complete repeat of the entire group of cables is 32 rounds. So I marked 32 rows as Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, etc.

Now I had a excel box (or cell) for every section of my sweater and for every round. I dealt with one column at a time. In other words, one set of instructions. The Right Front Weave, for example. Type in the 1^st row instructions in the appropriate box. The Front Weave takes 16 rows so once I type in the 16 row instructions, I can copy them for the second 16 row instructions. Then I can copy the entire 32 cells and paste then into the section for the Left Front Weave. You can do this for all the Rice Stitch areas as well. You can see how setting up this spreadsheet doesn’t take very long.

I went on to add color for alternating rows to make them easier to read. You can see where I noted a couple of changes with pen but it still is very easy to follow. This weekend, I’ll be continuing my Aran adventure.

Comments

[Susan]

Did I miss a posting about the hurry up sweater? Is it finished?

No, Susan, you didn't miss anything. I'm still working on the Hurry Up Sweater but the progress is so slow you wouldn't notice any change. Hopefully, this weekend will be productive for both sweaters! :)

Kelley

[Cindy]

Wow, I am impressed with your organizational skills---when I make an aran I have tons of post-it-notes which leaves room for error-this is much better-I will send you my next aran pattern to 'translate' it to a spread sheet for me :) The work and color is beautiful!

[Starr]

Kelly, You must have a different Knit Picks WOOL OF THE ANDES COLOR CARD than I do. I have 2 color cards - Solid Colors & Heathered Colors. Is Wheat a new color? I will check the Knit Picks websight and see if I am missing a color card ** Should I be reordering these color cards each season? What do you recommend? ** By the way, I shop exclusively Knit Picks now BECAUSE no yarn store in the Portland area has a good selection of good worsted weight yarns - can you believe it? It's true! (Specifically 4.5-5 stitches to the inch). And, if I do find a color I like, then they do not have the amount I need & nobody seems to have a good selection of heathers or similar to your Shamrock line. ** I also listen religiously to your podcast. I hope you aren't thinking about cancelling it! I'd be so upset! Starr

[Jenni]

WOW! This is fab. I just finished an Aran that I did in about a month. In worsted it should be totally doable!

[Vickie]

I love your use of a spreadsheet for organizing your varying repeat pattern rows of the aran. When you first mentioned the technique I was trying to imagine how you used it...thanks for the images! It is an excellent approach for people who are venturing into repeat patterned knitting of any kind. It really helps in achieving the rhythm of knitting that is so important to the enjoyment and the quality.

Thanks also for your podcasts, I look forward to them every Friday, it is such a pleasure to listen to them.