Nautical Knits

Minquiers Breton Sailor's Shirt by St. James of Normandy


Nautical knits appeal to me. The crisp stripes in contrasting colors, usually some shade of blue plus white or écru, the flattering bateau neckline, easy fit, and perhaps interesting textured stitches, ribbing or cables are all design elements I like. I've made a few in my day, and wear them nearly year-round. To me they go beyond spring or resort wear; they are seasonless and timeless.

Here's my interpretation on a Martin Storey nautical knit. I used the flattering fit, bateau neck, and general dimensions to turn a striped sailor top into an evening sweater made of sparkly Filatura di Crosa Sera.

I still like the original, especially the red bobbles along the ribbing; I may make it yet.

This Cornelia Tuttle design was published in Vogue Knitting way back in 1987.

It needed bulky yarn; I chose Schoeller and Stahl Merino Stretch in Midnight (deepest navy) and Cream. It's actually light enough to be worn into May where I live, and the stretch in the Merino a nice body, clings without being too obvious.

Kristen Spurkland turned blue and white into black and taupe for Vogue Knitting in 2002.
A novel twisted stitch that begins in the ribbing creates a rope-like plait. The taupe is Classic Elite Avignon (sadly, discontinued) and the black yarn is Lion Microspun. I wear this nearly year-round; it's good for warding off frigid air conditioning in summer; with a cotton turtleneck underneath, it's good for winter.

Though I haven't made this one yet, AS' Mystic has long intrigued me. I keep thinking I should make it more fitted, use one anchor motif in the center flanked by ropes and braids on either side. I'd like to use a DK-weight cotton-wool blend in a lovely shade of blue. We'll see.

I should have kept this cutie-pie gem I made for DD#1 (also worn by DD#2), found in VK Spring/Summer Special 1991.
I didn't make the matching beret, being that both Ds preferred baseball caps. I made it in Bernat Berella in a pretty aqua, rather than the specified yarn, Gloucester.

And speaking of Gloucester, we come to my current nautical knit, one I made previously of blue and cream Gloucester. This is Michele Rose Orne's toggle knot cable pull, also found in VK Spring/Summer Special 1991. I brought it along on a business trip to Switzerland so I could finish the sleeves and wear it. On the train from Grindelwald to Geneva, I finished the last stitch. I wore it to my conference, sightseeing to Annecy, France, and on the plane home. Wore it so much that I wore it out. Now I'm remaking it out of another cabled mercerized cotton, Reynolds Saucy in Natural and Denim, great buy from WEBS.

Look at how well the knot pops out. I love dimensional cables. Saucy is a bit thinner than Gloucester, almost DK-weight. It'll be more fitted, which is what I want. I'll make it longer, instead of a crop-top. I'll make J-sleeves, rather than dropped shoulders. Just by decreasing 5 or 6 sts at the beginning of 4 rows is enough to take a lot of bulk away from the armholes. Will I keep the round neck or make it into the bateau neckline I so love? For that, stay tuned: I have yet to decide.

Finishing a (Martin) Storey

Last night was devoted to finishing the Martin Storey Milkshake pattern I adapted for a dressy top in Filatura di Crosa Sera. While working the first sleeve on Sunday, I noted that the sleeve cap shaping did not match the armhole. Indeed, the series of decreases in the sleeve cap was more like raglan sleeves than set-in sleeves, though the sleeve ended with a wider top than a raglan sleeve does. I was concerned. I crudely pinned the finished sleeve to the body (after sewing the cotton shoulders together) to see if the sleeve will fit or not; I had thought the cap would be too narrow and too short. Roughly pinned, the sleeve fit: no missing inches in either direction. After breathing a sigh of relief, I began sleeve #2 and worked until the armhole decreases. Last night I had a large block of unclaimed time (rare these days, with D#1's wedding looming in the near future), so finishing the sleeve and seaming the sweater went on the agenda. And here's the finished product:

The fit, she is parfaite!
I have only to attach one of my labels and decide if I need to do a row of crochet around the neckline. With weddings coming up on the 14th and 21st, I plan to wear this with a long navy slinky skirt, navy peau de soie shoes, and a navy bag with rhinestone clasp. Update: I did a row of single crochet around the neckline for a neater finish.

Final thoughts on this pattern: it was a quick knit even on size 6 needles; using locking markers every 10 selvedge loops helped keep things even. But I truly disliked the way the instructions were written; must be a Martin Storey thing, since I had no problems knitting Rowan patterns by Kim Hargreaves that were much more intricate. I've admired photos of current Storey designs for a while now but hadn't read any directions. In my opinion, they could be written a lot more clearly. And the schematics aren't helpful because they are just sketches of the item, not real schematics. I hate that. I rely on schematics to see the dimensions of all parts of the item. Bleah on Rowan for that!

Today when I pulled my one and only long-sleeved ivory sweater (commercially-made, 100% cotton, mock turtle neck) out of the drawer I noticed the stitches around the neck are dissolving from years of wash and wear. Oh joy! An excuse to go yarn shopping (as if I needed one) to make a replacement ivory sweater. Even DH said when I showed him the dissolved stitches that anything I make, he knows I can repair. He ought to know; just look at his vest wardrobe now. Readers, suggest a soft ivory yarn for me in sport or DK weight. Fiber should be a cotton blend. I'd like to hear about cotton yarns you love.

Paging Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel

Thursday's New York Times covered Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel show earlier this week. This passage caught my eye:

It was Mr. Lagerfeld’s 54th couture collection for the house, a milestone noted by a man who doesn’t easily observe anniversaries or birthdays. He mentioned the fact only because that’s the number of collections it apparently took him to figure out how to make a dress that doesn’t appear to have seams.

Making a seamless dress was a goal of futurists like Rudi Gernreich and Issey Miyake, and, no, Mr. Lagerfeld didn’t quite succeed. But at least he thought about it. The method he used requires four hours of handwork to cover a length of two inches, but the effect of flat, random stitches on pastel wool bouclé dresses and jackets was successful enough to make the seams appear magically erased.

Pastel wool bouclé. Any bouclé for that matter. In other words, yarn. We knitters know how to make seamless garments, n'est-ce pas? M Lagerfeld, je peux vous tricoter les chemises sans sutures!

In other (knitting) news, I have finished Sleeve #1 of Milkshake. Voilà!

I took the photo right before completing it. It has a strange sleeve cap: all decreases from the armhole. Quite different from the body shaping.

And I did more work on the Shetland Triangle shawl:
This shawl pattern is nice and easy; I don't think my next shawl project Evenstar will be this relaxing. Speaking of which, I ought to start swatching for it soon. I plan to use the JaggerSpun Zephyr 2/18 I have in stash (I have nearly a pound of it, that's over 5,000 yards). Plenty for mistakes, frogging, tinking, and any other disaster I can think of. No joining either. And a pretty dark maroon color (maybe dark is good for hiding mistakes?). This will be my first circular shawl. It'll be an adventure. Maybe not on the order of Frodo's and Sam's; here's hoping it won't feel as if I descended into Mordor!

Cutting it Close and Some Elective Surgery

No pun here (not that I'm above such things).
Finished DH's Rugged vest III last eve, with just about 10 yards of yarn to spare:

I didn't make the neck or arm bands as wide as called for, for fear of running out of yarn. If I were smarter, I would have striped some of my black Tapestry (I have part of 2 skeins somewhere) into the ribbing everywhere. But I didn't think DH wanted a multi-colored vest. Well, what's done is done (most times). The right arm band curves around I think because the ribbing is so few rows. When DH put on the vest, the arm band lied flat.

And DH is picky about fit, let me tell you. Remember I had found this vest in the back of the cedar closet?

It's made of Rowan Magpie Aran. Well I needed to know why DH never wears it. Turns out that he wanted it a tad longer (could he not have told me that while it was on the needles, I ask you?). In addition, DH's infamous destroyer-of-vests belt buckle had done a number on the ribbing of this vest too. Not yet ripped a thread, but close. Ergo, I did elective surgery on the vest. Truly, this is not for the faint of heart. I cut off the ribbing about half-way. The gore! The mess! Being this is a family blog, I could not in good conscience post photos of the ordeal. Several times I needed to do what EZ advised, and lie down on a darkened room with a cold cloth over my head. Once the surgery was done and live stitches back on the needle, I reknit the 3x3 ribbing to DH's desired length. Note to self: always bind off a top-down job on ginormous needles, else wind up redoing last ribbing row. Which is what happened to me.
I would show you a photo of the refurbished vest but I can't get it off DH, he now loves it so much. Maybe when he's in the shower...

On a personal knitting note, I finished the back of the navy Sera top and started ribbing for the front (1 row to go). The back is just a curling mess now. When I block it, I'll take pics. I have a wedding on Valentine's Day. I plan to wear this top with my long navy skirt. DH just cannot have any more vest emergencies between now and then!

Some eye candy for you: I made squares from the Great American Afghan
years ago to teach myself new techniques. Here's my first entrelac:

The flip side is a pretty jacquard pattern by Sidna Farley:

Here's a dainty Victorian lace pattern designed by Jacqueline Jewett:

For some reason, the Bernat Berella pilled more on this pillow than on the others.
The flip side is a cabled lace pattern by Eugen Beugler:


If you don't have this pattern, and like different types of textured knitting, do get it. The directions are really clear. Disclosure: I subscribed to Knitter's at the time the pattern came out.

One last note on the earthquake in Haiti: I'm selling some of my stash (hard to find yarns) to raise funds for Doctors without Borders. If you're interested in checking it out, go here. Thanks for looking.

Lost and Found Department, II

So as the frigid weather continues, I find myself rummaging deeper and deeper in the cedar closet. As I rummage, I come across more lost FOs from years past.

First, this wool-blend sweater from a McCall's pattern I made for my father. Turns out it's too warm to wear in LA, where the rest of my family live, so it came back to us in the Northeast to use. I'll wear it, believe me!

If anyone recognizes the MCall's pattern from the late 1980's or early 1990's, please let me know? Thanks.

Next, a waistcoat for DD#1 knit of Harrisville Designs Orchid Line, a silk/mohair/wool blend that is so soft:

She is packing to move to her home, so this will be joining her. Such a fine, soft yarn! Pattern is from Classic Elite booklet #820.

Last, this vest made for myself, modified from a Rowan Magpie Aran brochure (#553) into a vest and made of Magpie:

I'm wearing it today. It looks quite sharp with a grey turtleneck and slacks.

Rugged marches on; the front is more than a third done:


And I started a new "mindless" project after the Tahiti scarf, the kind of project that doesn't need much mind-power for knitting to churn on.

The yarn is Filatura di Crosa Sera; the pattern is from Rowan Classic Colour of Summer #25, by Martin Storey, and the pattern is the cover sweater. The yarn used is a DK-weight, which Sera matches. I like the hour-glass shaping in the pattern, and the subtle shaping of the neckline. I changed from 3x3 ribbing to 1x1 ribbing, and used a cable cast-on, purling in back of sts for the first row to create a picot effect. The simplicity will really show off the yarn, and this will be a dressy warm top. Which is quite needed!