MEL MAKES STUFF: Special Episode - Finishing the Oak Cardigan by Marie Wallin

Oak Cardigan by Marie Wallin
Yarns used: Marie Wallin British Breeds and Jamieson and Smith jumper weight
For more about how I converted this pattern from knit flat to in the round, see Episode 10: • MEL MAKES STUFF Episod...
Alice Starmore steeking videos: virtualyarns.c...

[@nisoZ]

Hands down the best knitting podcast out there! You are such a great natural teacher! Cutting the steek was so satisfying and terrifying, and the final product is perfect! I want to make the cardigan one day and I'll incorporate the majority of your changes. I hope you would do a series of going back into some iconic knits of yours and talk us through what you learned, what you changed and how you deal with mistakes such as you did brilliantly with the neckline decreases here. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and craft with us! Much love and admiration! ❤️🧶

[@melmakesstuff]

Thank you so much! What a great idea for going back and looking at some older knits, I'll definitely keep that in mind!

[@nixkbing1192]

Congratulation!

[@alliecravulz]

you're my favorite podcaster. super knowledgeable + humble

[@melmakesstuff]

❤️❤️❤️ thank you SO much, I appreciate that!!

[@suedenick8287]

This is one of the best video tutorials on steering I have watched in all my searches. Your sweater turned out beautiful and your handiwork is great. Thank you for submitting this video tutorial it’s the best.

[@valturner2151]

Woooow. This was some serious brain work, but your sweater is so gorgeous it was worth it.

[@melmakesstuff]

Thanks sis ❤️

[@chet1051]

LisaR: Ingenious Mel ! Never have seen two sleeves knot simultaneously in this way🫠 I don't like the usual methods to to "two at a time " anything / lol , I have enough to keep track of one at a time - .

[@brennaparansky7758]

That sweater is amazing!! Aside from the anxiety of watching you steek (argh!), I love the expertise that you share. Your explanations are so clear and I really appreciate you sharing them. Thank you!!

[@hannahforsyth4570]

This entire video is fantastic, but the cherry on the cake is seeing the background tour of your other fantastic knitted sweaters on different days!

[@crivensro]

WOW! Thank you so much for a fantastic video! I enjoyed it very much and love the way you are explaining your next knitting steps

[@anitasenyszyn5314]

I love your podcast. I recently found you and have watched all of them to date. The detail you show when you make a garment is fascinating. As a new knitter I find your analysis of patterns and how you can fit to your body very educational. I am disappointed that I have watched them all now and will have to wait for each new one now. Thank you for allowing us to share your makes. Please don’t stop x

[@ptty44]

Thanks for the in depth video on the steeking process of a full colourwork garment. Wow there's a lot to consider, but you definitely cleared up multiple questions I had. I am also super excited to see the finished garment as it looked beautiful when you tried on the pieces and whilst blocking. A stunning heirloom knit.

[@melmakesstuff]

Thanks so much, I can’t wait to show you how it turned out (spoiler alert - it fits 🎉)!

[@GiFtEoS]

So instructive. I'm so happy to have found your podcast (from which I realized I was already a suscriber!). I love to hear all the possibilities you are looking at when you meet a "problem". I learned a lot. Thank you! now I will watch the Reveal!

[@alysonrodrigues122]

Absolutely beautiful work. Great to hear about your work, ideas, thought processes. Learned a lot. Beautiful make.

[@rachelcarey486]

thank you for sharing that link! your video and Alice Starmore's are saving my butt right now.

[@meisanlau2680]

It was a wonderful experience to watch your video. I don’t think I can start this project anytime soon but I will work in my skills. Thanks for sharing!❤

[@leslienero7884]

Wow! That was at times scary to watch. I would like to learn to steek eventually, so it was helpful to see.

[@melmakesstuff]

Don’t be scared! Once you do it the first time you’ll be hooked. Cutting a swatch first helped me get over the fear 🥰

[@VirgsB]

FANTASTIC!! You made such a beautiful sweater, you should be so proud of yourself. Absolutely lovely!!

[@melmakesstuff]

💚 thank you!!

[@sarahwilliams6488]

Fab! Thanks so much for sharing - really interesting hearing you chat through the different steps and options and reasons for deciding to do things the way you did. It is absolutely gorgeous, I cant wait for the reveal!

[@ellenhenrie4826]

Beautiful and inspirational! Look forward to seeing the next epi. I really appreciate you sharing the process in such detail.

[@this_skipper_knits959]

Mel your sweater is gorgeous and fits you so well! Congratulations, love love love ❤️

[@cpjrietveld]

Wow Melissa, you are amazing!! Thank you for sharing.

[@kristinm3729]

This video is terrific. I wish I'd had access to it before I started steeking. And beautiful work on the cardigan.I'm particularly impressed by your neck work-around. It takes guts to put this much time and skill into something when you don't know if it will work until it does.

[@melmakesstuff]

Thank you! I did spend a good amount of time debating whether to re-knit the top of the body after I realized what had happened with the neckline, so in this instance I’m glad the gamble paid off.

[@sonjastickel3811]

Thank yo for taking us along this journey. Your calm confidence in tackling such advanced projects is something to aspire to! Looking forward to the big reveal :)

[@lilluna5416]

Ammmmmmazzzzzing video progress on this nearly FO it’s so gorgeous!

[@melmakesstuff]

Thank you!!!

[@janetdaniels8816]

Mel, I started watching your channel on the recommendation of Amy Palko. Your podcasts about the Oak Cardigan are great because they are detailed and clear. I also appreciate your willingness to admit when you're not sure about something. Mostly, I just enjoy your getting down into the weeds of the knitting. Keep up the good work. I'll be working my way backwards, chronologically speaking, through your videos.

[@melmakesstuff]

Welcome Janet, I really appreciate the nice feedback!

[@CelticPurl]

That is a beautiful sweater! Your work is amazing. Thanks for sharing 🙏🏼❤️

[@balancedskein]

Ohhh man I can't wait to see the fit!

[@melmakesstuff]

It’s been a long time since I’ve made a set-in sleeve project and I can see a LOT more of them in my future now 😉

[@snowfall7557]

Thank you so much, that was very helpful! :)

[@tamarafinkelstein4719]

Wow that looks gorgeous! I love listening to how you work things out and make, or change, your approach. It helps me understand the challenges of knitting on a more advanced level. Thanks for another amazing video!

[@aldiia]

I’m starting Marie Wallin’s Lerwick and have a question. Where do you change colors so when you cut all of your ends come off and you end up with such a nice edge? Marie has you change on the 1st stitch of the right, but then you have to knit or weave in all of your ends adding bulk. This video was super informative. I love hearing your process.

[@Stumpybear7640]

Hi, just a note. Moss or seed stitch works and behaves the best when knitting a band on pure unsuperwash garments! I wonder what Marie does to her garments? 🤔 Beautiful job on this cardi 💖

[@melmakesstuff]

That’s a good call - I have seen a lot of seed stitch on her edgings!

[@heidishomestead9475]

Your work is impeccable! Thanks for sharing. Also, what sweater were you wearing in this video?

[@mindykannon4650]

okay I need to know what sweater you are wearing at 23 minutes in.....all your sweaters are gorgeous but this now is fantastic!!!

[@melmakesstuff]

Thank you!! That one is the Blueberry Pie pattern by Johanna Kunin 😊

[@pipmcconn]

I am SO glad I found you. I am working on my first Marie Wallin sweater and I too am working in the round rather than flat. You have helped me so much! I would love to know about the sweater that you are wearing at 15 Min. Gorgeous. What type of yarn? Thanks again.

[@melmakesstuff]

So glad this helped! The sweater at 15min is the Sorrel by Wool & Pine, it’s a combo of blue shibui mohair and various hand dyed fingering weight yarns.

[@pipmcconn]

@@melmakesstuff Thank you!

[@myriamverstrepen914]

Waw, I knitted my cardigan flat and have a lot of floats to weave in. This creates a lot of bulk. I still don’t know how to solve that problem. I put my work down in February last year. I have to knit the sleeves still, I started the first one in the round. I also think that I will run out of yarn of the main colour for the buttonbands ... A lot of problems for such an expensive project! Its a pitty! Your cardigan is beautiful! Well done!

[@melmakesstuff]

Thank you! Bummer about your project, were you knitting the Oak pattern too, or a different one?

[@myriamverstrepen914]

@@melmakesstuff no it is honeysuckle

[@trinefrickmann8693]

Cool that you didn’t reinforce before cutting. No issues afterwards?

[@melmakesstuff]

Nope, no issues to this point and I’ve worn it a bunch!

[@diannbruce9542]

What type of wool are you using? Can you recommend a book on fairiesle technicae ? Your yt is so great it gives me encouragement to try a sweater !

[@dianaromer7134]

curious why you didn't knit the sleeves separately on dps

[@nadiarogo4511]

Watching this episode for the 3rd time. So incredibly helpful! I'm currently modifying a cardigan for steeks with the same type of neckline decreases and wondering if, looking back, you would do the decrease column with your 1st and 7th steek stitches instead of the first and last body stitch. I'm thinking, this way when I pick up stitches between steek and body there will not be the decrease column (it would disappear inside the steek). What do you think?

[@nadiarogo4511]

Oh, also for finishing the cut steek I'm thinking of making a bobbin lace ribbon out of the same wool and attaching it instead of the herring bone stitch. If the bobbin lace ribbon is airy enough it shouldn't be adding bulk I think...

[@melmakesstuff]

Glad you’re finding this helpful! If I’m correctly envisioning what you are asking, in this scenario I think you’d effectively just have a 5-stitch steek, and involving the steek in the body decreases like that could make it a little confusing to follow the original stitch counts in your pattern. In other words, I would do it again in the same way I did for the Oak if I was converting another cardigan with the angled fronts like this 😊. The flat pattern as written would be expecting you to pick up for the front bands one stitch into the body anyways, so that would cover up the decreases if you are doing them right at the edge (or right up against the steek in this scenario). For a cardigan with regular straight fronts, that’s when I would usually pick up right between the steek and body, but picking up right at the steek vs. one stitch into the body is not going to make much of a difference either way (especially at a fingering weight gauge).

[@melmakesstuff]

And this bobbin lace idea sounds lovely, I’ve never seen this done but would love to know how it turns out - please report back!

[@nadiarogo4511]

@@melmakesstuff Thank you very much! Makes sense to me. :) I think I will follow your method for this since I do not yet have experience with picking up stitches on decreases around the steek (I only did straight edges so far). May I ask another question? I see that you have all the tails in the middle of the steek. Is there a reason why you were cutting the yarn at each color change? Does the finished project look neater this way? Because I always just drop one yarn and pick it up later when I need it again, without cutting it. I only have tails in the beginning and at the end.

[@nadiarogo4511]

@@melmakesstuff Will do! I've only done bobbin lace with cotton or linen threads so I am not even sure it will work with lace weight woolen yarn (it might rip every time i pull it around the pins). We'll see how it goes :)

[@wendyrowland7787]

This looks over complicated to me. For a start you can knit the sleeves on four needles and knit back and forth when you get to the armhole to shape the shoulder seam. The button band needs to be knitted more firmly on a smaller needle and the cut edge down the centre could be neatly bound using an interlocking stitch on the sewing machine before picking up and knitting the button band.

[@ancapistiner5167]

Bonjour, c’est très très joli votre cardigan. How lirn you this tricot sitil ? Bravo

[@dededraper7016]

Fabulous episode. Just found you and just in the nick of time as I'm converting a color work in pieces to in the round. And knitting sleeve tube for first time too. Your sweater is so beautiful. GREAT job!

[@melmakesstuff]

So glad you found me!!

[@pambutler5437]

Excellent episode! Thanks for sharing your experience. I learned a lot!

[@Maya-ii6im]

Beautiful tutorial , beautiful podcast and a lovely Podcaster , thank you very much

[@jandkcon]

All of the finish time makes so much difference in your result!👍🏻👍🏻 Kudos, Melissa!❤️🧶

[@desnayoung4704]

So inspiring. Thnx for sharing this.

[@sylviafikiert4825]

This was so good to see 😊

[@meganolivia6970]

Eek!! Can't wait to see the reveal! Amazing work! I have a pattern in mind for Marie Wallin for myself to make. It's a goal project that I have with the amount of work they are. Loved the video and your podcasts in general! can't wait to see you in the next one :)

[@melmakesstuff]

That’s great, I’ll be cheering you on once you decide to start yours! These feel like a huge undertaking at the beginning but then you just get in the groove 😊

[@meganolivia6970]

@@melmakesstuff I find with colourwork that happens. Once get going, you just can't stop because you want to see the next row! I appreciate the support! I'll you know when I start ;)