Hurricane Irene Pullover - knitting content

Yes. Real knitting content - with pictures. Because TheQueen does still pick up sticks and string. She just hasn't been very productive, this long, hot, summer of adjustment. Perhaps she is not knitting tricky Victorian green lace, but at least She's still within the same hue. Here I offer you glimpses of a wonderful green yarn - not really electric green, not spring green, though perhaps you could say it's baby leaf green - The label says Lime Green  but it's got sunshine yellow blended in with the green fibers. It's happy and bouncy and vibrant without being loud. The fiber is soft but still has some scrunch to it. I know this sweater will cheer me up when I am sick of my winter clothes; all brown and dark and sad.

In fact - I am imagining it with a Munro plaid tartan skirt - either pleated like a kilt or in something narrower. The Munro plaid is BD's family tartan and I've always wanted to get myself something in the old colors. Yes. there are "new" plaid colors too - pretty much the same, but slightly more vibrant.


As I said in a previous post, I got this yarn at the most darling yarn shop - Dog House Yarns -  in my favorite shopping town - Culpeper, VA. Poor Culpeper took some wicked hits last week with serious earthquake damage - to the point where several downtown buildings will have to be torn down. Weep weep - the Culpeper folk have really worked hard to keep the town vibrant and alive so to lose actual buildings seems so unfair. To have inches of rain dumped on them too seemed doubly wicked.

Dog House Yarns has one of the best selections of sock yarns I've ever seen in a shop. My mouth drooled at the different offerings - and if I didn't know I already had miles of sock yarn already I might have maxed out the Visa card. Instead I was really looking for something to make a go-to sweater. Something plain, but beautiful, substantial, with crisp heft, but not scratchy. I almost succumbed to the Cascade Echo Wool - and I still plan to get some - but I fell for the Shepherd's Wool colors. Both are super reasonably priced - coming in around $5 per 100 yds. These are prices a knitter can indulge with.

Anyway - I am making this sweater a pullover, knit from the top down, with set in sleeves. For the most part I just used the schematics of Kristy McGowan's red dress that I knit last winter from her book Modern Top Down Knitting. The gauge is different - but the proportions are similar. I'll add sleeves and short row bust darts, and of course I'll stop somewhere around my hips. I'm getting a gauge of 6 rows per inch so the rule is I have to knit 6 rows every day till I've knit 60 from the underarm join. Then I'll decide on a hem treatment. I have an idea but I want to see how much yarn is left.


Because you know TheQueen can't do something completely plain. There needs must always be a wee bit of fancy to everything she does and she has such an idea for the fancy bit. I'll let you know about it when get body done. In the mean time - don't you believe it - it is easy being green - when it's such a pretty green.

In the mean time - it's Friday evening of a 3 day weekend. How good is that? Lots of knitting can be done in a 3 day weekend. May your needles speed you ahead.

Swatches - and tough decisions.

Soho Dress Swatches

I cast on two swatches last night, the Elann.com Highland Wool and the K1C2 Camelino.  I was lookng for 4  things: 

What the fabric looked like

What it felt like

How easy to knit the yarn was

How fun to knit the yarn was

I switched back and forth between the two swatches so I could get a good comparison. I really like the Highland Wool color - it's a deep russet brown - almost a sassy color. It sort of twinkles, which is something you won't pick up in an amateur photo shot in my kitchen. Knitting it was pleasant with little splitting and a cooperative stitch definition. The fabric created had a nice texture but nothing out of the ordinary. There was still the hint of scratch to this wool, though, that worried me. As the swatch grew I kept placing it on sensitive body parts, hoping to find a definite "Yes" or "No" reaction. It never happened. The itchiest place was right at the base of my neck ... and the dress doesn't really touch that part of my neck. all those other sensitive spots had no complaints.

The Camelino is a softer, duller color. It also knits into a softer plushier fabric. On #7 needles it came in at 4.5 spi in contrast to the Highland wool's 4.25. In either case I have to go down to smaller needles to reach the 5x7 SxR gauge called for in the pattern. Truth is - the knitting pleasure factor of this yarn beat out the previous swatch, hands down. The thought that kept coming to the surface was "Butter!"; not just with the stitches on the needle, but also with the delicious, plump fabric I was making.  And at 10 o'clock at night, I was sitting up in bed thinking "Boy! Knitting this yarn is FUN!"

It's just a wee bit more expensive - but there is another secret savings stash in my house that could pony up the extra $30 or so needed to support my SILM jar contribution.  And when I think of the millions of stitches I'm going to have to knit to make this dress - I believe the actual knitting pleasure is as important as anything else.

So. Why haven't I placed an order yet? Well. I had to get my thoughts in order, of course, which is why I'm writing this out. And then - there is color issue. The Camelino's soft color - which matches the soft fabric vs the Highland Wool's bolder color, and somewhat itchier fabric. I'm more of a big bold color sort of person. Even when I try to mute it down, I tend to pick louder colors than anybody else in the room.

Still and all - this is a WHOLE LONG SLEEVED DRESS. Do I want a lighter softer color all over my body or do I want to go big bold. Well. The highland wool isn't big and bold. It's just a sort of twinkly brown. But it isn't plush. Honestly this is a tough decision,  being pushed by the fact that the yarn is on sale ... and could be sold out quickly.

Sigh

Decisions, decisions.

Choosing a yarn

My package from Elann.com came yesterday - the one I ordered on Friday - the one full of different red yarns. Alas, the photo doesn't really do justice to the colors, but right away there was an elimination. The Sonne is the wrong red. It's a bright cherry red that longs to be stranded with some beautiful  whites and greys and blacks, or put together with a kelly green, lemon yellow and sky blue to make some little girl her favorite jacket. Alas for this. It was $1.85 and would have knit me up a dress for $50 which is just about what was in my SILM jar.

Of the other three, this is the one that had the most delicious color. It's Elann.com's own merino/silk/bamboo yarn and is of a redness that makes my mouth water. The silk gives it glow, the wool gives it heft, the bamboo gives it a next to the skin softness. Alas. It is also the most expensive, coming in at $3.98 a ball (still very reasonable) and I would need $104 to make this dress. I'm a little worried, too, about the sag factor. I haven't actually ever worn anything with bamboo in it and, really, the butt sag worries me with this yarn.

Elann.com's highland wool is a wonderful color - a little browner than red, but still very Bess-ish and Queenly and a dress this color would be flattering to me. At the end of the day, when I'm a little more tired and a little more sensitive, this yarn had a little more of a scratchy feel to it. Since I'm considering wearing this yarn over my entire body ... itch factor plays into the equation. This morning, all rested and post-morning coffee and feeling snuggly and relaxed, I can't find any scratchiness to it at all, so this not only a definite possibility, but also puts this yarn in the lineup for a swatch.

Alas, when I purchased this sample skein last Friday they were selling this color in blowout sale bags of 10 for something like $1.98 a skein. That also put this yarn in the front running since it would knit up a dress at $53, which is what's in the SILM jar. I can't find it on sale today - but them's the breaks with a place that sells remainders. Its regular price is still low enough to bring me in a dress at around $67.

K1C2's Camelino is another strong contender. The color is much more a clay color than a red, but that's still a lovely shade for TheQueen. I can wear just about any earth color. This yarn is very smooth. It doesn't have a lot of bounce to it and is more tightly spun than the highland wool. It has a fabulous next-to-the-skin feel to it. A dress in this yarn will come in at $80 but I'd have to jump on it toot sweet. This is in their discount bargain bin. Today there are still 50+ skeins in stock but I would need 27 of them to knit up my dress.

Guess what I will be casting on today.

And in case you are wondering what TheQueen has been knitting on the past week or so - I am sad to say ... it is not the Shawl Collared Vest which is languishing on a dresser by my bed - but somewhat out of sight. I have been making hats, from other yarn that has been languishing ... more in my line of sight, on the chair by the window. Evidently if I have to stare at unknit yarn long enough, it's misery will register and I will knit it out of it's unhappy state.





Here I am trying on the hats I've been knitting - this one is of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and something south american ... maybe Manos ...  a single ply in variegated colors - I'll get better photos when it's actually done.

And here is the sample hat I've been knitting along with my students. I think it's a little big because the brim covers up the first row of colorwork, but hey - it's a sample. 

Thinking out loud about a knitted dress

From Mod. Top Down Knittng
by Kristina McGowan

I'm still drooling over the designs in Modern Top Down Knitting and as I read through the pattern for first design - the Soho Smocked Dress I discovered McGowan's ideas for adding sleeves. 



Whoa Nellie! Much as I heart the Promenade Dress at the very end of the book, this red dress stole my heart from the first moment. The only reason I didn't start planning to KnitThisFirst was because it's the beginning of autumn and the dress is sleeveless.

Elann 100% Wool

Elann Wool/Silk

Well! Thank you MissyMcG!! You knew I wanted this dress with sleeves in it, didn't you?    

She suggests picking up stitches all around the arm hole, putting in the short row sleeve cap (think 'sock heel') and then zipping on down to the cuff - where, wouldn't the smocked waist pattern look pretty around your wrists?

Sonne 100% Wool

So now I am just sort of looking, you know, for a luscious red yarn to knit one for me. I'm going to need something in the neighborhood of 3,000 yards if I want to add long sleeves. These are all possibilities from Elann dot com. I'm just, thinkin' out loud, you know. Just thinkin'. 'Cause I've got this little jar of SpendItLikeAMan money ...

K1C2
Wool/Camel

SILAM $

Serendipity with books

September was my birthday month and this year I put in serious requests. I had recently perused Meg Swansen's School House Press website and come under the spell of a number of books I knew I wanted to own - and happily I had beloved friends and family who were willing to get them for me. My September runneth over in good books and I am thoroughly pleased with all of them. So who would have thought that it was the book I bought sight unseen, for the library, even, and on a mere hunch, that would turn out to be my favorite book?

Kristina McGowan's Modern Top Down Knitting has bowled me over. I always feel that if a book has three good patterns in it - three  patterns I want to knit - it's a good buy. If it's under $30 it's a great buy. This book hit both targets, coming in at $27.50 and having 3 hats, 3 dresses, 2 skirts and and a sweater that I would make and wear! The library owns the book now but I am afraid a second copy will have to come live at my house soon and once I'm finished with the big UFO's in my stash I am going to hunt down some yarn to make red Soho Smocked Dress. Yum!

I'm not a big top down knitter. Probably because I learned in the more traditional bottom up mode, top down is just ever so slightly out of my ring of habits. I know you can do it, I'd just need a reason to. Also, I almost exclusively wear set-in sleeves and to do that in top-down kitting you have to knit back and forth on the shoulder area. That's fine if there is no colorwork in the knitting, but there you have it - I am also a sucker for colorwork. But in a solid color, the flat knitting at the top is not a bar to my knitting pleasure. And these designs are all set-in sleeve styles - pure temptation to someone like me. They're elegant, classic shapes that would be attractive on almost any body type AND for almost any age group. The skirts are slim without being tight. The dresses are all a-line shapes with added touches that make them interesting but not tedious to knit. There are some cute accessories: some long fingerless gloves and a belt and slippers, that don't tempt but the hats are wonderful. Two, with fuller crowns, look like they would leave your hair in tact and the Subway Hat is flat out darling and looks like it would knit up in a flash.

I really like how the Abrams website displays this book and how they let you see the projects inside, so if you're curious, go have a look here. But if you want to know what the Bird Family thinks about it...

Happy Hump Day.