Colinette Poncho: May 2004 Archives

So I finally did it. I succumbed to the draw of Colinette. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. The past few LYS visits have always included fondling of the Colinette.

While at Sophie's this weekend I spotted a shawl she had made up in Colinette and Berocco Cotton Twist. I loved the look of it, but shawls are just not for me. Too fussy. So I decided to modify the pattern and make it into a poncho. Take a look:

The colors are more vibrant than what's being picked up on the digicam. Here's a closeup too:

I'm really enjoying knitting this up. And boy is it fast! On 10mm it only took a couple hours to get to the point where I start decreasing.

I'm also considering posting the pattern for it when it's done (assuming I actually like it when it's done!).

Oh, and I had much better luck with Smooch last night. I re-cast on (over 200 stitches!) and the picot edge is measuring up correctly now.

I've just started the first row of yo's, so there's no real design yet to see other than the edge. I love the way the edge knits up though. I can definitely see using this edge on other designs that need that bit of frill.

I was finally able to do a knitting weekend! I spent most of Saturday and Sunday either browsing at a LYS or knitting. The weekends always go so quickly this way!

First off, Maude. She's just about done. I finished the front on Saturday and steeked the sides on Sunday. Here's a pre-steek pin view:

As you can see, it was way too big for me. I took off about a total of 6 inches from the waist down, and about 4 inches at the bust. BTW, the lines do actually go straight across my body. Trying to hold the camera and take a pic while wearing always gives you weird angles.

The steeking went very well and the new and improved Maude is all seamed up on the sides. I took progress pics to show how I steeked the sides and I'll post them later this week. All that's left on Maude is shoulder seaming and edging for the neck and armholes.

Oh, and I should mention that Maude has already been washed and dried once. It did beautifully. I turned it inside out as per the label and washed it in cold water. I dried it til almost completely dry. The colors didn't run at all. It did shrink about 10-15% in the length but I had lengthened the top to take that into account. Since I really wanted to have an easy care top I decided to do the extra few inches. It did almost backfire though -- 3 colors have only a couple of feet remaining!

I also knit up a small sachet for my mom. I ended up using a pattern in Vogue Knitting to Go Pillows book. It came out very cute and I'll post pics later this week. I'm - ahem - a bit late in finishing this. It's all knit up but needs to be seamed and filled.

Then, I cast on for Smooch in a navy blue Cotton Classic. Let me tell ya - thank god for Alison's explanation of the picot edge (scroll down to the May 26th entry). There's no way I would have figured it out based on the directions. However, going with my knittng karma of late it's too big. I had to make an adjustment for gauge and I have about 2 inches extra. However, I'm only 6 rows in so no biggie to rip. Now that I have Maude to size things up against it's pretty easy to tell when I'm off course.

I also cast on for a meshy knitting poncho that I'll tell you more about tomorrow. It's a pretty big departure for me in terms of the type of knitting I do and I'm really enjoying it!