moderna.

In an effort to continue with my finishing streak, I bring you Selbu Modern by Kate Gagnon Osborn. This was a great knit – fun, fast and enjoyable. I was just starting to get bogged down with the colourwork and then I was decreasing and it was finished. Great stuff :)

I made no modifications, no needle change, nothing. I just cast on and knit, following the pattern and instructions. It was quite relaxing – completely stress free knitting.

I have no complaints, only compliments! I love the subtle cast on edge, the perfect amount of ribbing, and the star crown.

Knit Picks Palette was used for this – again, it was part of my Christmas gift from husband. I used colours White (no. 9437) and Wallaby (no. 1170). I love these two together, especially since these are the two colours I wear most: grey, white and black. Boring, I know.

But effective. Especially in this particular knit! Prior to dunking this into it’s eucalan bath, I stretched it over a 10 inch dinner plate. This helped to keep it’s shape, while still getting a perfect block. I find trying to stretch wet fabric just makes everything worse.

I am significantly happier with this compared to my last project (as you can tell by the photos!) and am hoping this is a sign of more good things to come :)

-r.

vines.

I have been having a lot of success lately with my knits. The process of knitting, choosing the fibre and patterns, as well as putting together the projects has been enjoyable and lovely. This was also one of my New Year’s Resolutions: To continue to enjoy and love working with fibre.

This made this knit even more disappointing because I planned and re-planned so that it would be successful. Therefore, the more I dwell on this project, the more I am concerned that I will allow it to over-shadow the great things that have been happening in my fibre world recently. This means that I am making a personal commitment that once I write this post and unload about this knit, I am going to move on and not think about it (other than when I sit and rip it out). I am going to treat the washing and re-skeining of the yarn as a cleanse, deciding what to do with the yarn after it’s dry and ready to tell me what it really wants to be when it grows up.

Vine Yoke is an awesome knit – I loved every minute of it, which I think is what makes it even worse that it didn’t turn out. The construction is interesting, innovative and ingenious. Most of the reasons that this didn’t turn out was due to me – there were multiple things that I should have done differently, that I didn’t and am now reaping the consequences. Here’s what I did wrong:

1. I added 10 stitches to the bottom, which was too much – I think I should have left it the length that Ysolda had written to cast on. This made an already stretchy cardigan longer, heavier and even more stretchy.

2. I added 10 stitches to the arms to make them longer. Same mistake. Too long. Too heavy. Stretched out. I think I am in denial about how short I really am, regardless of the person who will remain anonymous in knitting group saying, “You’re really quite stretched out.” haha I am still only 5’4”.

3. The i-cord is waaaaay too tight. I either needed to do it after (like in Audrey in Unst - it’s added as a finishing touch) or knit it looser. I think, if I knit this again, I will add it after.

4. Since the sizing it such an issue, I think I would knit this on either 5.00mm or 4.5mm needles next time. I used Cascade 220 Wool for this, expecting it to stretch a little (like people have said) but it stretched a lot. And I knew that it would because garter tends to be stretchy!

Decreasing the needle size may help with the unruly stretching. I knit a size 32” bust, which I would definitely knit again. I am a 36” bust and a 34” upper bust but since this is so stretchy, the smaller size would fit perfectly if I hadn’t added the length and hadn’t knit the i-cord so tightly that the puckering in the yoke wouldn’t have been so bad. The other idea was one that someone in knitting group had, which was to knit it in St st instead of garter. I am seriously considering this … seriously …

Overall, I am really unhappy with this sweater but I think I learned some good lessons from it and there are mistakes that I wouldn’t make again. Like I said, rip it out, wash and re-skein the yarn and I think I will be feeling a whole lot better!

~r.

stilwell. a sweater.

While this sweater soaks in its Eucalan bath, I thought I would do the write up for it prior to taking some photos later in the week once dry. When I initially saw this sweater (prior to the book being released), I knew I wanted to knit it. I didn’t have high hopes that I would like it – I just wanted to do some simple colourwork that I could learn from and enjoy. Going in with no expectations means I didn’t expect a lot from this sweater … and guess what? I LOVE IT!

I cast on for this sweater at Christmas time after receiving the yarn from husband. I love the softness. I love the colours available. I love the tweed. Jared’s sizing is great – I was a little worried about the bottom being narrower than the bust size since my hips are wider (40 inches) than my bust (36 inches) but it fits perfectly. I knit the 36 3/4 inch bust (size Small).  On me, the sweater has about a 1 to 2 inch ease. The pattern calls for a 2 to 3 inch ease. The short row shaping at the waist is genius – it gives me the room in the upper hips/lower waist that I need. This means that the sweater doesn’t end up with a bunch of bulk between the shoulder blades – also a bonus since my body doesn’t need that extra room to accommodate my bust. I know for some women’s bodies this is a blessing but for me, I need the extra all in my hips and buttocks!

       

Getting gauge however was a little difficult but on 4.0mm needles for the non-colourwork sections, I actually got gauge. And a beautiful fabric as well. I used 3.5mm needles for the colourwork sections and the tension remained consistent with the slight needle change.

There were no modifications in this knit (thank goodness). This meant casting on the stated number of stitches and knitting (something I rarely do). I added another 2.5 inches to the bottom of the sweater, which I am glad I did since the length is now perfect (after washing).

A note about the collar. A few people said that they didn’t like the collar too much and changed it, so I went into this thinking, “I’ll see if I like it and go from there.” The collar is what kept me from finishing this, to be honest. I cast off the collar and was left with the grafting under the arms and the weaving in of ends (which took forever) but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish those things because I was worried that when I tried it on, I wouldn’t like the collar. One of the girls at knitting group showed us her finished Cowichan sweater on Thursday, with almost the same collar. I loved it. Loved it. And so the sweater was finished with an excited anticipation that had been lacking in this project up until that point. No expectations brings brilliant surprise and glee. Yup - glee.

That said, I am glad to have it finished and off the needles. The yarn is great – I would knit with it again. The Knit Picks City Tweed HW is soft and creates a really nice finish. The yellow is a-w-e-s-o-m-e. I love it and am so glad I chose it. I think this will see a lot of wear (especially camping and in evenings outdoors).

The buttons were in my button stash – they are wood buttons that are cut, which creates a slightly star-like pattern. The wood has almost a yellow tinge to places where the wood has been carved so I thought rather than go searching for the perfect buttons, I would go with what was right in front of me – I really like them on this sweater and now more of my stash buttons have been used up! Yay to using what I already have. Now, onto other projects :)

-r.