Pattern Notes: Daktari Skirt

I am so freaking excited to finally be at the point where I can write up pattern notes for this skirt. As you may know from my last post, it's been a long journey. But the results are so worth it. This skirt is both feminine and extremely comfortable, which is a rare treat. I can feel "pretty" when I wear it, but still feel as comfy as I would wearing jeans. It goes well with both flip-flops and ballet flats, so you can dress it up or dress it down.

My "photoshoot shot" graciously taken by Moxie.

Lacy Skirt With Bows
Designed by Kat Coyle, Greetings from Knit Cafe
Knit with four skeins (167 yards/skein)* of Twisted Sisters Daktari (100% Slubbed Cotton) in Cappuccino, using size US 5 and US 6 Addi Turbo circulars.
Gauge: 21 sts and 29 rows per 4" in Stst using US 5 needles; 25 sts per 4" in lace on US 6 needles.
Size: small, 26" at waist, 36" at base. This size should fit sizes 0-4. I have a 37" caboose, which it accommodates nicely.

Close up of the lace and ribbon, with Mr. Townes.
The Pattern
First things first. There is one pattern correction: at the point where you start the waistband, you will begin on a RS row, rather than a WS row. Please make a note of this if you decide to make the skirt.

Other than that the pattern is wonderful, easy to follow, and a surprisingly quick knit. I have watched Kat's work since she was first published in Knitty in 2003, and had the pleasure of becoming friends with her through our work with Suzan on the Greetings from Knit Cafe book. I have long admired her amazing lace pieces, and her incredibly wearable knit skirts.

The waistline.Generally speaking, I am wary of the skirt as a knitted item, but Kat's skirts are the exception. She uses a wonderful a-line shape which works beautifully. During the photoshoot for the book I got to see many people try on the Lacy Skirt with Bows, and had a chance to put it on myself. It works well on a surprising range of body types. I generally wear pants myself, and am pretty picky about the few skirts that I do wear, so it's no small compliment to say that I could happily live in this skirt. This holds true for Kat's other skirts as well. I tried on the skirt Kat designed for the upcoming issue of Interweave Knits and it's a keeper as well.

Going back to the pattern, although it looks complex, I think that it's the type of garment that a newer lace knitter could work without frustration. The panels are worked from the bottom up in crest of the wave lace, capped with eyelets for the bows (or in my case, ribbon). Then it's stockinette and another eyelet section for the ribbon drawstring. The lace will eat up much more yardage than the stockinette, so don't be concerned if you get to the end of your first skein soon after your lace is done for the first panel. You will have plenty of yarn for the stockinette.

The knitting goes very quickly. A fast or dedicated knitter could bang this out in two weeks easily.

Candid shot by Moxie.
This one's for Kodachrome - I wear my knits!Techniques:
Advanced beginner lace knitting. Nothing overwhelming here, just a fun, lacy diversion.

Modifications: The only modification I made was the use of ribbon rather than a second yarn. I found a wonderful coordinating ribbon in the garment district at Michael Levine. I purchased 6 yards to be safe, but the skirt only required about half of that. (Buy 4 yards to be safe if you go this route - that should be more than enough). I omitted the bows and just threaded the ribbon through the eyelets. At the waistline I did the same. Other than that, my skirt is exactly like the original.

Finishing:
I had some issues with the color consistency of the yarn, so I took special measures to combat those. I am not sure this was the best solution, but it worked. Afterwards, I soaked the panels in woolwash, gave them a whirl in the spin cycle to get the water out, and blocked like mad. I did the panels one at a time, both because of space constraints and because I wanted to use the blocked measurements of the first piece to guide me in blocking the second. The pattern said to block gently, but to get the dimensions I needed I was more aggressive. I'm pretty sure that the skirt would "wear" into those dimensions anyway - knit skirts tend to settle in and grow several inches in length after they've been hanging in the closet for a little while - so there was no harm in moving that process along. With blocking, the panels grew about 5 inches in length and 3.5 to 4 inches in width. Here's a shot of the unblocked panel resting on the blocked one, and here's a close-up of the unblocked lace on top of the blocked lace

Impressions of Twisted Sisters Daktari:
Sadly, I had major issues with color consistency within the same dyelot for this yarn - three identical light skeins, one medium skein, and one dark skein. The color also ran substantially, which is another indication that the dying process was not what it should have been. For more details on the color issues, read my last post. If you have read my blog for long, you will know that I do not usually speak ill of yarn companies or designers. If I have constructive criticism, I try to include it in a friendly way, so that my fellow knitters will be aware of the potential pitfalls and the pleasures of working with certain products. My last post was a bit harsh regarding this yarn, but I felt that it was really important for other knitters to understand that they should proceed with caution if they chose to use it. I am pretty easy-going about subtle variations within a dyelot, especially from a smaller distributer. If Daktari were produced by an indie company, you can rest assured that I would work with the individual dyer regarding the problem before discussing it on my blog. I have written patterns, and I have made mistakes, and I know how difficult it can be to monitor quality control as a party of one, or even few. Twisted Sisters is still a relatively small operation, but they have reached the point of growth where knitters will expect more, and I don't want my readers to be disappointed if they purchase something that I recommend. So there you have the pitfalls.

There are substantial pleasures to this yarn as well, which I hope you can see in the finished product. It is a slubbed cotton with a wonderful organic feel, and the colors, consistent or not, are truly beautiful. It reminds me of something that Blue Sky Alpacas might produce if they partnered with Habu Textiles. I haven't seen anything quite like it, and honestly, I might very well purchase Daktari again for this very reason. I will definitely work with it again, as I have a skein and a half left. I will just have to plan for the variations.

Possible substitute yarns:
This is a tough one, as I really haven't seen a cotton quite like this on the market. For the skirt you could use a smooth cotton - something like Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece or Tahki Cotton Classic would look great - but to get a similar texture you'd have to go to something along the lines of Jaeger Trinity (finer gauge), Rowan Summer Tweed, or possibly Manos Cotton Stria. Of those three, Trinity has the best reputation. I have not used the other two yarns, but they've gotten mixed press on wear. Although it isn't a cotton, I think Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Wool (finer gauge) would be a wonderful substitute for this skirt. I may have to design a skirt in it myself. If anyone tries a substitute, let me know how it turns out. I'd love to see the variations.

A Parting Shot:
Naturally, we had to get a photo with our little stink pot in it.

The Zosh.

*Yarn Market has this yarn listed at 145 yds/skein. I am not sure if Twisted Sisters has changed the yardage or if this is a misprint. For the small size skirt, 4 skeins should still be enough, as I only used around 3.5, but it may be wise to check before purchasing if you have concerns about yardage. I would also highly recommend buying an extra skein to ensure that any color variations can be worked out.