The Walker Treasury Project - and one more swatch option

from The Walker Treasury Project

Thanks Diane - I like that knit and purl stitch too - and it's almost the chosen one. Almost, but not quite. Just before I left for work yesterday I was flipping through BW's Second Treasury of knitting patterns and found this one, called Arcade Pattern. Woops. Stacked atop each other around the hips and waist so that they form a gentle upwards slope - something like this only, obviously, balanced accurately along a central axis. Imagine each X in the grid representing one of the arcades.

The upper part of the sweater could be in plain stockinette (and thus easily accommodating short row darts) with a stand-up collar of one row of arcades marching around a somewhat wide crew neckline. I could put that same pyramidal arrangement of arcades around the cuffs too. Hmmm.

I love the stitch patterns in her first 2 books but I hate that they are not charted. I like being able to see the repeats instantly, not having to find them within the written directions. Sometimes the repeats are easy to locate right there between the (Rep from *) but not always. Since 99.9999999999999999999% of all my knitting is 'in the round', knowing which stitches are part of the repeat and which are add-ons needed to make a flat piece symmetrical is paramount. So. I've printed out some blank knitting graph paper from my spreadsheet program and am off to chart a stitch pattern. Back tomorrow with my own swatch, but in the mean time, have a look at The Walker Treasury Project website.

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.

Mail-order Treats

Saturday a pretty little package was in my mailbox when I got home from TheCity. You are all well aware of my preoccupation with the right yarn for a knitted dress - and before I realized I could add long sleeves to the Soho Dress from Modern Top-Down Knitting I was searching for sport yarn to knit the Promenade Dress at the end of the book. (heh heh I will spare you any cliches about loving this book from beginning to end, or first to last, or start to finish.... but you know I'm thinking them.)

The big surprise to me was how hard it was to find sport weight yarn! DK weight ... slightly thicker than the once more common sport weight - is all the rage now. Mind you. I like DK weight. And I appreciate the efforts of all the fiber councils to get us to refer to yarns by their international yarn number. but old habits die hard and I've always called them sport, worsted, bulky ... I can never remember that sport weight is #2 and worsted is #4.

After checking out some of the larger on-line sites and leafing through the fall Patternworks catalog, in search of more options for sport weight yarn, I turned once again to that font of yarn information, Clara Parkes and her vast, rich, deep yarn review resource. I always go to MissyC first because I trust her research and unbiased reporting more than anybody else. And she did not disappoint me - because among the dozens and dozens of yarn companies she writes about I discovered Quince & Company. Rediscovered, actually, since I remember reading the review when it was first published.

I was looking for a reasonably priced sport weight yarn in solid colors to knit the Promenade dress. Something with some spring to it and a nice texture. I don't need merino softness, but I certainly didn't want anything scratchy - this is going to cover my whole body. I wanted a fairly firm twist to this too - nothing loosely spun. It's got to stretch over a derrière that occupies a chair 50% of the work day.

I've been a big fan of Pam Allen, owner of Q&C for quite some time. I love her ...Style books, put out by Interweave Press, especially Scarf Style. The Q&C yarn looked like it might just be what I was seeking. At $5.75 for a 181 yard skein, the price certainly hit the target. The web page was fun to search. Simple, but deceptively so. I ordered a skein of sportweight Chickadee and the irresistible fingering weight Tern, a blend of wool and silk. Just to play with, you know? And, just in case I fell in love with all the Q&C yarns, I ordered her color card so I wouldn't have to depend on my monitor to make future selections.

And the package came on Saturday - less than a week after I placed my order. all wrapped up in pretty tissue paper with a sweet little postcard welcoming me to the fold, signed by Pam. It was much more like getting a present from a friend than a purchase from a store.

The yarns are lovely. Smooth and springy, the sport wt wool has no itch factor (for me) and the wool/silk blend is just slightly silkier. duh. it's got silk in it. I can tell these yarns will take some abuse before they begin to pill. The ply and the springiness of the yarn gives it resiliency. The colors are muted. Even in the color card the bright colors don't scream at you. They are bright. Not loud. I know where I will look when it's time for me to start my next big colorwork project.

And so here I am with these 2 single skeins plus the 4 red samples I ordered on Friday on the way. It seems to me that the next few months will be all about the Swatch.