July 2007 Archives

  

Good friends know just what you need. Jacq's package was the perfect surprise during a time when I've been a little uninspired with my knitting. I mean, how could I *not* be tickled to make something out of the knittery's cashmere merino sock yarn? Plus, chocolate, tea, handmade soap, and an eyemask -- everything I need to make for a relaxing weekend.

The yarn is *so* soft and is handwash-only, so I'm thinking about making a pretty scarf instead of socks. The color is perfect for use close to my face, and it would look great against a variety of colors of coats (including that green coat I've been hoping to find for three seasons now). I'm thinking a denser lace or stitch pattern would work nicely. Any ideas on a need-to-make scarf?

Thank you all for you sweet comments on the skirt. It was such a pleasure to knit and has quickly become my favorite FO (aren't most new FOs our favorites though? I guess we'll really know in a couple years).

I omitted a few things in Sunday's post that I want to add here.

First, a big thank you to Lolly for the idea of making this skirt in linen. I wouldn't have thought of it myself and it was the perfect marriage of yarn and pattern.

Several of you asked about my experience knitting with a linen yarn. It's true that the yarn feels more like twine than yarn, but it didn't bother my hands or effect my knitting experience. However, I knit in a rather unorthodox way so I may not be the best person to ask. I will say that I needed to stop worrying about how uneven the piece looked in its unwashed state. It really looked pretty bad -- definitely not something I'd wear out and fess up to having actually made. But after a wash and dry cycle everything evened out perfectly.

You've also been wondering about saggage. I wore the skirt all day Tuesday and there was a teensy tiny bit of change in the shape of the skirt. I think it was more of a bit of stretching along the back than sagging. Whenever I sat down I'd be stretching it a bit so over the course of a full day the back ended up being 1/2 - 1 inch longer than the front. When I make another cotton skirt I may do a few extra rows in the front with short rows to compensate, but it's really not bad at all.

Julia had warned me that wearing linen as a bottom can be a little rough on your skin, and she was SO right. I had forgotten the comment until mid-way through the day when I realized I had little purl bumps wherever I didn't have an undergarment. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle, but I did have a bit of a laugh over it.

Lolly asked for some more details on how I did my skirt in the round and top-down. I thought it might help others, so I'm posting it here instead, as well as some other thoughts that have come to mind in the past few days.

It's a long entry, so you can get the details behind the cut.

pattern Lacy Skirt with Bows by Kat Coyle in Greetings from Knit Cafe
yarn Claudia's Handpainted Linen in Plumicious (3.5 skeins)
pattern thoughts The pattern is great as is. My mods were just to suit my own personal knitting preferences. This was my first time knitting a skirt and can I tell you? Knitting a skirt is simple, simple, simple! Many thanks to Kat Coyle (the patron saint of the handknit skirt) for creating this pattern and so many other cute knitted skirts. I finally had to give in and give one a try.

I'm often torn about knitting and lace because it can -- to me -- look a little matronly. I don't feel that way about this skirt at all. It's feminine. It shifts when I walk. It creates those sexy slits, but it's still modest enough to wear to work or out. It's a handknit but can be -- and should be -- washed and dried. What's not to love?

mods

• yarn - I used a different yarn. I got the same gauge so this was an easy sub. Some of you who are familiar with Claudia's linen (which is Louet's sportweight) is that the gauge I got is larger than specified (5.25 sts per inch). I knit it at 6 sts per inch, but after washing and drying it plumped up to just over 5 sts per inch. This is always my experience with linen -- once I wash and dry it, it grows a lot. BTW, I do a full dry cycle, not just the 15 minutes recommended on the label. The hand is a lot more supple this way. There isn't even a touch of linen crunchiness in this skirt.


• knitting direction - I knit it top down. Since this was my first skirt I really wasn't sure how I'd be sizing it, and knitting it top down just felt more comfortable to me.


• in-the-round - I also knit it in the round. Combined with doing it top-down I could try it on whenever I wanted to. I even washed it twice to make sure the skirt behaved the same way as the swatch.

#1	#2

I've knit up a couple swatches for Road to Golden (and enlarged them with some Photoshop help).

There are things I like about both of these swatches. #1 is my favorite of the two, but I do like parts of the other as well.

I think #2 needs a non-white color for that single line that goes across it. And, the orange and red (even though they're never next to each other) create a muddiness rather than a distinct line.

I may try one or two more swatches before casting on. I want to make sure I get this right!

I loved the clever use of 2 colors on the sleeves in Road to Golden when the Fall 07 Knitscene came out, but the colors are really not me.

These colors though. These are me!

They're Rowan Felted Tweed in a variety of colors -- too many right now. I couldn't pare it down to just 6 so I brought home a few extra for swatching. There's a possibility this is my Rhinebeck sweater. We'll see how it goes after a few weeks.

I picked up the yarn at Rosie's and while waiting at the register I spotted this...

Yeah, this is the book that goes for almost $300 on Amazon. Same book, but I only paid $14.95! My favorite part? The book's description listed OOP so they knew the book was worth more and they still sold it for list price. That's one of the reasons I try to frequent local stores. They treat you right.

I mentioned a few months ago that Kate Gilbert was going to be releasing a new sock pattern soon. Marina Piccola is finally here. Originally released as a part of Scout's Indie Swag Club it's now available for purchase.

I loved this sock the first time I saw it several months ago, and after working on this latest round of tech edits, I think I love it even more. The big swoosh of stockinette flanked by rippling water on either side is another one of those great patterns for subtly handdyed yarn. And you know what a sucker I am for subtly handdyed yarn.

The best part? This pattern comes in 7 stitch gauges (from 6.5 to 9.5 stitches per inch) and 8 foot circumferences (from 5.5 to 13.5 inches around) so you're bound to have a good yarn in your stash to use with it.