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!

Mindless Knitting Time Again

So last night was State of the Union night. In the Knitter household, that's taken fairly seriously by DH (who insists I watch along with him so we can discuss it afterwards; we are such eggheads). Watching calls for mindless knitting, the kind one can do when lights are dimmed. No lace knitting (no Shetland Triangle, sorry, you stay in your bag); no cables (Carefee, you'll come out again another night, I promise). So casting on for a sleeve for Milkshake commenced. I decided to do one sleeve at a time to save on my nerves if I tangle this delicate yarn up. Using a novel cast-on, a first for me, I began. The cast-on I chose is the Estonian lace cast-on. I'd read about it in Nancy Bush's sock books but it wasn't until Spinnermaid on Ravelry pointed me to her video (made especially for us southpaws) that I could accomplish it. Now look at the pretty edges it makes! Both sides are decorative in their way. The side I chose as the right side blends into the 1x1 rib better, IMO. I like this cast-on a lot and can't wait to try it out on socks or a hat.
Here's my knit side:
And my purl side:
See how the cast-on edge makes a little braid on this side? That might look pretty neat on a future garment.
So after completing 9 rows of ribbing and switching to stockinette stitch, I could put knitting on autopilot (as long as I remembered to increase on schedule). By the time the Republican governor of Virginia had finished his rant rebuttal, the sleeve was halfway to the armhole. Congress, I show you progress. Now get to work.

Memo to Governor McDonnell: In case you didn't know (and I understand if you did not, having been in office only 11 days): the Federal government already DELIVERS healthcare. Guess during your 11 days, no one has told you about Medicare for seniors yet, or what the Department of Veterans Affairs (my employer) does. Scold your staff for not having briefed you.

Haiti Earthquake Relief update: My ebay auctions raised about $150 dollars for Doctors without Borders in one week. Thanks to everyone who bid and won. If I find more stash to put on auction, I'll add a line to a post. I'll leave the widget up as long as DwB are needed in Haiti.

Book Report Time Again

My other two books finally came, Wrap Style by Pam Allen and Ann Budd, and Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn Clark.

First the rap on Wrap Style. It has gorgeous pictures, clear instructions, but few items I want to knit. Most of them are short tight wraps or capelets, not shawls or larger wraps. I bought it primarily for Evelyn Clark's Shetland Triangle Shawl pattern, though Norah Gaughan's cabled capelet and Nancy Marchant's brioche stitch wrap have me itching to get my needles and worsted wool stash out (no pun intended; I'm OK with most wools, though Shetland wool right next to my skin makes me turn red). I'd make both of these longer though. There are general directions for designing your own capelet, but in general this book leaves me underwhelmed. Page numbers are hard to see: turned sideways and printed in light green ink. Not being spiral bound, I'm having a hard time keeping pages open to the charts I need, and the charts are small to begin with. We'll see how long it takes up valuable shelf space after I knit the shawl and maybe a capelet or two. Recommendation: Buy it if you love the patterns or foresee the need to knit wraps and capelets.


On the other hand, Knitting Lace Triangles is a strategy for, well, knitting lace triangles into shawls or scarves, and includes general directions for knitting the same Shetland shawl as in Wrap Style (though the lace pattern is called something other than fir cone lace in Clark's own book). I like the spiral binding, allowing you to lay it flat as you knit. The charts are very clear and large. The instructions are quite good (that's true of most of Clark's patterns; I was able to knit her sock patterns as a sock neophyte). She gives several methods for starting a lace triangle, and I find that to be invaluable. In the back she gives information on approximate required yardage for several yarn weights. This is great for using up stash yarn. Since she planned the triangles in multiples of 10 rows, it's easy to modify sizes by knitting more or fewer 10 row repeats. if you want to add beads to the points of your edging, there are close-up photos and clear instructions for that too, and the chart in the back tells you about how many beads you need, whether you add 1 or 3 beads per point of edging. If you're getting into lace knitting, this book is pretty good to have. It's not as advanced as other lace knitting books, so you won't be frustrated and will complete your project. The edging is completed on the shawl, rather than casted on separated and then knitted to the shawl; I think this is easier for lace neophytes (at least for this one). Recommendation: A good book for lace neophytes or the geometrically-challenged to own.

To put theory into practice, I used a cast-on from Knitting Lace Triangles to start the Shetland Triangle shawl. I'm using Beaverslide Dry Goods light sport in Whitetail Fawn from stash and size 5 needles (6 would probably be a bit better but my size 6 needles are claimed by other WIPs; oh well). The garter tab at the base of the neck and the first 20 row pattern for the neck are complete:

BTW, this is my first time knitting with BDG light sport, previously I'd only knitted with the heavy worsted-weight yarn. Opinion? Lovely yarn but when I wound all 440 yards into one center-pull skein and tried to start the skein from the center, it snapped. So I'm unwinding from the outside as I knit. It's not plied (it's 1-ply), so joining may be slightly visible if I add another skein. It's called light sport, but fingering weight may be more accurate; it's described on the site as a 20 wpi yarn, 6-7 stitches per inch on a size 2 to 4 needle. I had bought it initially for a pair of socks, but even non-knitting DH (my human swift, who observed the snapping of the center strand) remarked that the yarn is not strong enough for socks. I agree. I think it's great for lace though. And I love the color. Moreoever, the yarn has some mohair and therefore isn't real slick. I think that will be an advantage as the number of stitches grows on the needles. There's a one pound cone of it in this color on sale on the website right now.

Front and back of Milkshake are done. Even after blocking, the back of Milkshake looks pathetic. I'm going to take out the big guns, er steam iron, and see if I can't flatten those seams better.
Pathetic-looking, right? Wait 'til I take the iron to it.

OTOH, Carefree is looking more like something. Lovely depth to those staggered cables, just love them.

A More Carefree Carefree and Other Assorted Stuff

There's only so much plain stockinette I can knit (maybe anyone can knit) before going absolutely bored bonkers. So I put aside Milkshake (more on that later) and started Carefree. This lovely pattern is a bit deceptive. It begins with the ominous words "Cast on 300+ stitches and join without twisting." I mulled over the implications of this for a bit, looked at the pattern chart, then decided to do a bit of reverse engineering (to call it unventing would be something of which I suspect EZ might not approve). I decided to knit it in the flat, casting on a mere 150+ stitches plus 2 selvedge stitches. And to make counting easier on the circular needle (something I find tough to do on a circular needle, for some reason), I placed markers to set off the ribbed sections and each 18 stitch repeat of the staggered cable section. Counting was a snap. I should have been doing this all along but now I know. The pattern itself is a cinch, 2x2 ribbing and the staggered cable, 16 row repeat to the pattern. Here's a macro shot of 1 pattern repeat:

The second reason that knitting Carefree in the flat may be better than knitting in the round is: biasing. Biasing happens when the twisted plies of the yarn are constrained by knitting in the round (it can also happen when knitting in the flat but since you are not knitting in a spiral, it's less severe). The JaggerSpun Zephyr is pretty well twisted, enough so that biasing is a real possiblity. Add to that the cable and rib pattern means that only gentle blocking should be used (so that biasing would not be blocked out). The upshot of this is that knitting in the flat may help this pattern realize its most beautiful potential, at least in my hands and with this yarn.
And how do I like this yarn? Oh, it's so lovely to work with, though a bit thicker than I thought it would be. DH is jealous he can't have a vest of it (if it came in a worsted weight, I'd make him a dressy vest of it). It's more slippery than pure wool but not so slippery I can't cable without a cable needle. The heathery color glows, guess that's the silk. At $44 per 1040 yard cone (1 pound) from Weaving Rainbow, it's a good price too.

Milkshake was 2/3 finished (front and back). I say "was" because as I was finishing up the front I decided to change the bateau neckline to one that would require no picking up stitches afterward. A self-finishing neckline, as it were. So that meant that the blocked back had to be frogged to the correct place for the new neckline to be reknit. That's where the back is: live stitches on smaller needles just waiting for me to knit those last inches. Well here's the completed back before I frogged:

Doesn't look like much, does it? When the back's redone and the front is blocked, and the pieces joined, then it should look like a garment. With a finished neckline!

We went for fittings last week, the bride and I. My dress is nice, though the skirt is way big and the top way small. The dressmaker is altering it. The bride's gown is nearly perfect. See for yourself:

Her train I fear will be in the next zip code:

It's not nearly extended in the photo, there's not enough room in the shop for it! We need to rent a few pages now.

Last evening DH and I saw Crazy Heart. If you haven't seen it, do. It won Golden Globe and SAG awards for Best Actor (Drama) and Best Song. Jeff Bridges was amazing. Those awards were well-earned.

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!