Decisions decisions but no photos

At least, decisions made after trial and error knitting. I had thought I'd want to do 2 inches of hem treatment - either garter stitch or seed stitch - on the HCJ. Not any more. After knitting one inch I realized that was all the hem treatment I want. More would look heavy on this already bulky fabric. And I'm not sure I want the garter stitch either. With this bulky yarn, the ridges are too far apart. Hadn't realize that would be the case, since I seldom knit with bulky yarn, but it does. And garter stitch in bulky thick'n'thin yarn only exaggerates the effect.

I already did a swatch (over a year ago) with seed stitch - that looked fabulous. Sigh. It will be one inch of seed stitch all around the sweater, even if seed stitch is tedious and even if this means I'll have to figure out how to keep it from widening. I'm thinking rather than try to fudge math, I'll go down a needle size. Between a 9 and a 10 there's quite a bit of difference.

So - a chunk of my knitting today will be fiddly knitting. But afterwards will come the confident knitting.

Happy Chanel Jacket progress shot

I thought I would be showing you proof positive that it's time for me to start the edge treatment on my Happy Chanel Jacket, but as I look at this photo I am wondering if it needs to be another inch longer. I tried it on last night and was sure, but I am also sure I want to be able to wear a turtleneck outside my waistband if I choose to, and not have it sticking out beneath the bottom of the HCJ. And I have definitely decided - garter stitch for the bottom 2 inches, the button bands and - maybe the neck trim ... though that could do just fine with a simple crochet edging. After all - why would I do all the work of seed stitch - to create that pebbly effect - when the yarn creates that all by itself. Another thought would be i-cord all around the outside.

Whatever I do - I'll be doing it this weekend and starting in on the sleeves too. I'm going to be a lot more careful with these sleeves than I was with the dress. I'll actually measure the length I want to knit, and figure out where the decreases ought to be. Not difficult - just a wee bit of math.

Isn't it nice it's Friday?

Sentinel Cedars

I love these two tall cedars - the sentinels that greet you when you drive up to my house. Once I thought of trying to grow one of those Lady Banks climbers up into them, thinking they might join overhead. The thought of an archway of cascading fragrant roses filled me with such romantic thrill. How fortunate I found out I don't like the scent of Lady Banks, because I did let a large red rambler grow up into another cedar tree and it just dragged that poor tree to the ground. I have lots of cedar trees, so the loss of one is not so sad but the loss of either of these would be a tragedy!

But what's this between my two watchtowers?  Yes! It's the last quarter moon! Still bright even though dawn is probing ever westward.

 Now that's an image - Doesn't that moon look saucy? As if it would turn and wink at you any moment now. My mother used to sing me a song about the Man in the Moon, who winked his eye and had dozens of good dreams to sell dear little girls and boys. I sing it to my story hour children sometimes ... when I have a voice ... which is not this week.

Knitting? Oh. Well. More Inches of stockinette in thinck'n'thin yarn. Actually, I'm getting to the point where I will have to decide what the edge treatment will be - got to do something about all that stockinette curl. I am thinking seed stitch because I like how that looks, but seed stitch widens your knitting and I don't want that. I could make a few judicious decreases though ... Or I could just make it easy on myself and do garter stitch. But this kind of pondering is what makes the time fly when you are knitting, or when you can't get to sleep at night. This is part of the fun of it all.

Okay - almost time for breakfast. Ta. Photos of the Happy Chanel Jacket soon. 

Love me some Short Row Magic

I'm knitting right along on my Happy Chanel Jacket - gosh this bulky yarn goes fast. And the more I do this top down set in sleeve stuff, the more I like it. Usually, when I've knit from the bottom up, by the time I'm where I should start the short rows I'm getting just a wee bit tired of the project. I often skimp on the number of short rows I really need. Doing them this early in the project, I don't mind doing enough to really make something fit right.

The other big surprise - which shouldn't be such a surprise - is how fast bulky yarn knits up. And how few yards it takes. These skeins are 200 yards long and I have used about 1.5 skeins so far.

Anyway - too bad I have to go to work today - I bet I could finish the body if I had the whole day off? Why aren't I independently wealthy?

What was I thinking?!?

This top-down Happy Chanel Jacket doesn't need to be knit in the round and steeked. duh. It's plain stockinette stitches - no stranded colorwork or even fancy cabling that is easier to knit when you're always looking at the outside. duh. So glad I slept on this.

The plan now is to finish up the back shoulder area (have about 8 more rows to do) then do the front shoulder area in 2 separate sections down to the underarm joins - which is about where the short row bust darts have to be. Then it's just one big flat sweater body.

I've also been thinking about how many stitches to pick up for the sleeves. When I'm knitting flat I like to slip the first stitch. Makes a nice neat even edge that lies flat. But when I made the dress I was dissatisfied with picking up one stitch per edge stitch - which comes to one stitch for every other row. That's fine on vertical parts, but along the top of the sleeve cap you really need more stitches. I had intended to NOT slip the first stitch of the first couple of rows on my next top-down project - and of course, completely forgot. So here's my solution. I'll pick up one stitch for every edge stitch and then on the next round I will double the stitches across the top of the sleeve cap. Ought to be no more than 6 stitches - maybe only 4 since this is such bulky yarn. Final decision will come later. I plan to knit the whole body before I add the sleeves since this is just a wee little sweater, not a great mound of dress.

No photos since all I have is a blob of curling, lumpy purple and orange stockinette right now. I'll photograph it when there's some sort of shape to it all.

In Other Knitterly Thoughts ... for Christmas I gave myself  Sweater Quest, by Adrienne Martini.  I love a Christmas Book and this year I was in the mood for a knitting themed read. This one is a blog-into-book book, a la Julie/Julia.  Since I hadn't ever read her blog I couldn't tell if there was any of that editorial micromanagement that can ruin a fine blogger's style by its strict adherence to the publisher's policies.

It's a quick read about the author's desire to knit an Alice Starmore sweater. I don't suppose there's a knitter out there who hasn't both heard of AS and admired the magnificently elaborate stranded colorwork garments she designs. But we all also know that she's got attitude and it permeates everything about her. Still and all, she certainly is an artist worthy of note in the fiber world. Sadly, much of her early design work is just not avaiable - though happily I see she's reissued her basic work on Fair Isle Knitting - which I popped $78 for on the used book market a few years back.

Anyway - the thing about Martini's book that I found ... well, exceedingly weird, but also interesting, in a turn the rock over and see what's underneath it kind of way ... was her constant question "If I make any changes as I knit this sweater, is it still an Alice Starmore sweater?"

I think if I knit for a quatrillion years that is a question that would never ever occur to me. Ever. At All. This is so entirely alien to me that every time she'd ask someone "Is it still an AS?" I would have to put the book down and go take several deep breaths. And at the point where she stated right out that the sweater looked terrible on her I almost quit reading the book. I just felt so awful for her. And yet she didn't feel awful. She didn't care. I can't imagine finishing something that didn't look good on me. For that matter, I can't imagine even starting a project I knew up front was going to look bad on me. And, honestly, only the flattest, squarest straightest people look good in a drop shoulder sweater - and that group doesn't include many women.

For Martini, though, the whole project was an attempt to absolutely obey somebody else's instructions - even though it was impossible to do that because even on E-bay there just isn't enough of the old Rowan yarn AS designed that sweater for. So the effort was both expensive and futile and yet she was so pleased with herself.

Which just goes to show you that there really are all kinds of knitters out there. Aren't you glad you get to be the kind you are and don't have to be the kind Someone Else is?

Jumping in with Hubris er Confidence!

That's right - I've decided to just jump in and try my hand at a steeked cardigan with set in sleeves knit from the top down. Of course I don't have a pattern. But I have Kristy's book and sooner or later someone will bring back the Barbara Walker book that's checked out from the library. And it's a Chanel style - boxy, short, minimal shaping (though I will put in bust darts and I may nip the waist just a tee tiny bit. Or not.)

Look at those ginormous needles! #10's. It's weird knitting with such thick yarn, and this stuff is barely spun at all. I like the pebbly fabric it creates - sure to disguise any lumpy knitting on my part.

So. What made me decide to leap in so lightly aided? Well. After all, it's just a sweater - it's just three tubes. But also, I'm pretty sure I've grasped the construction concepts in set in sleeve top-down knitting. What I did was measure my shoulder width - which is somewhere close to 16 inches - and I erred towards the larger - since this is supposed to go over top of turtle necks and t-shirts. 

Using a crochet cast on, like I did for the Soho Dress I figured:

16 inches times 3.5 (gauge) was 59 stitches - which looked a little wide to me, so I dropped it back to 57.

A 4.5 inch wide neck opening had me putting two markers 16 stitches apart in the center. (K 19, pm, K16, pm, K19)

I did two pair of short rows at 4 stitch intervals and now I'm knitting straight. I will probably knit 8 inches and then begin widening the back to create the underarm stitches.

Then I'll remove the crochet cast on and pick up stitches for the front shoulders. I'll knit the two front sections with separate balls for 2.5 or 3 inches which ought to give me a jewel neckline that I hope will be wide enough to accommodate a garter stitch neckband. The good news is ... I 'll be able to try it on before I join the front sections!! If it needs to be bigger it'll mean ripping out only a few rows. Then I'll join in the front, adding 5 steek stitches to the center and knit down to the armhole shaping.

Okay - that's the plan for the weekend. One Happy Chanel Jacket coming up!

Won't I feel virtuous if I finish two whole garments this winter?

Soho Dress and New Project Yarn - it doesn't get any better than this.

At least, for a knitter it doesn't. A real live finished object - one that fits, one that is the right color, the right shape and well. . . one that's just right. I had the best time wearing this dress yesterday. I adore the way the skirt swings about my legs. I am thrilled with the texture of the yarn - even if it is already showing signs of it's Merino-ness. I knew that when I bought it. That is why there are sweater shavers and very sharp little scissors. Wearing it is like wearing the most luxurious hug, the silkiest bubble bath, the best heated massage. This is a winner.

I wish the photos weren't so yellow - but that is the light I was working with and, of course, these are reflected photos from my bedroom mirror. The one photo I let ThePrince take ... oh god. It was so butt ugly it would make you weep. Honestly he is the absolutely worst height for taking pictures of me and when I think that every time he looks at me he sees me looking like that!! It's a miracle he loves me. Or else his aesthetic judgement is so out of whack I can't trust anything he says ....

I couldn't help posing like a grouchy librarian - because when one is taking one's own photo in a mirror - it's hard not to get silly.

And so. Next up is this - Happy Yarn purchased several years ago at a Stitches event when it was still being held in Baltimore. It's a very bulky yarn. It's actually orange, purple and a lovely steely grey. It knits up at 3.5 stitches to the inch on a #10 needle - and it is going to be a boxy Chanel style jacket in stockinette stitch with garter stitch cuffs, hem and side edgings. I'll knit my tube with steek stitches and slice it down the middle. I believe I'll knit it from the bottom up because I already know how to do this ... but I will take a peek at the Barbara Walker knitting from the top down book first. I do like the idea of getting all that neck, shoulder, bust and armhole shaping done first and then just zipping on down to the hem. If I can figure it out quickly I will give it a try. I may also send out a distress call to Kristy McGowan, my new go to guru who designed the Soho dress. She is accessible via Facebook and is smart, warm and generous with help.


I am, at last, voiced again, though it's a weak voice. It's been a long slog of feeling sorry for myself and dopey and tired and schlepping around the house. I'm glad I had that dress to work on, since, by that time I was knitting the skirt and that was pretty mindless knitting. But as I begin to speak at last, the brain is beginning to think as well - strange wonders - and perhaps I shall have more interesting thoughts to post in the near future.