I'm Feeling Chilly...

The fall/winter edition is out!

Head on over to Magknits and check out the Swirt that I designed, along with the patterns of many other blogging buddies.... It's time to think fall.....

Pia

Pia, Rowan 35, designed by Kim Hargreaves
Knit with just under 3 skeins (137 yards/skein) of Rowan All Season's Cotton(60% Cotton, 40% Acrylic) in Fern (214) on my Aero Bernat Straights in sizes US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 8 (5.0 mm).

Pattern Notes:
I made this tank in the XS size. It looked tiny coming off the needles, but it actually has a very baggy fit. This is partially due to the fact that there are no decreases after the bottom ribbing (which causes the fabric to pool - no doubt the intended effect) and an absence of shaping throughout the body. Surprisingly, when I compared it to another very close-fitting tank that I made for myself, the width measurements are almost identical, so the place where the pattern picks up extra room is actually in length. I knew this and tryed to compensate by shortening the straps a bit, but that only helped so much. Luckily, knits shrink considerably more in length than in width if you toss them in the dryer, so there's a good chance that once I make my way over to the laundromat again Pia will be a perfect fit. I'll definitely let you know.

The big lesson I learned from Pia is that tanks and camisoles really do need to be knit a lot smaller than you think. I've knit another cami since Pia (you'll see it soon) and had the identical experience of thinking that it was just way too small. (That one, however, is a perfect fit.) I think we all tend to knit a bit big on these pieces, probably mostly due to our experiences with sweaters, which require ease. Next time, remember - size down on that tank!

Now that I've pointed out my trials and tribulations, I have to say that Pia was really fun to make. I love the eyelet pattern and the straps were really fun, too. Most of all, the D-rings are totally cool. In my opinion, this pattern is probably best for someone taller than me who has a little bit of a bust. It's perfect for someone who's around 5'7"-5'8" with a solid B-cup. (I'm guessing this describes Sharlyn, Jen(click Knitting and scroll down to see Pia) and Amy - because they all look great!) There's shaping at the top that requires a little something-something. However, with a little tweaking (or perhaps just a roll in the dryer), I think Pia would work well on a frame like mine, too. I like the pattern enough that I may play around with it next spring.

Impressions of All Season's Cotton:
This isn't quite Desert Island yarn, but it's close. Pia is the second thing that I've made using ASC. (You might remember the Daring Tank?) It's the perfect thing if you're looking for a chunky cotton with bounce that comes in nice colors. It's very fun to knit with, and if it were a finer yarn I would take it to the desert island. (I'm just not a big yarn girl for most things). As an additional bonus, ASC seems really breathable. I would wager it really is great for all seasons.

Possible substitute yarns:
ASC is the yarn called for in the pattern, but if you're looking for a substitute, try GGH Samoa. The composition is really similar - 50% Cotton, 50% Microfiber, and it will give you that nice springy feel that ASC has at the same guage. If you want a similar yarn in a different guage, GGH makes two other cotton/microfiber blends that are exactly the same as Samoa. One chunky (Goa) and one fine (Bali).

Tips for Others Making Pia:
A while ago someone on the Knitty Board asked how to go about doing a swatch for Pia. I posted a tutorial on the blog, so if you are interested, go check it out. I think the general principles are applicable to swatching for any pattern that is a little more complex, so beginners may find it helpful. (If you do, please let me know - it's nice to feel that I'm not just typing for myself every once and a while!)

My other advice is to use Ms. Hargreaves' chosen methods on the edging and straps with this one. I strayed from the pattern and had to frog the front and back tops twice. She really does know what she's doing...

Anouk

Ah, the Olympics.... By early Saturday, my Anouk looked like this:

Now it's all done and pieced together, but I haven't managed to take a decent picture of it, so I'm holding off on writing out the project notes. I will say that I love the pattern - thanks Kate! - and the yarn is exquisite.

My one word of warning is that Cascade Pima Tencel really drapes, so it is best suited to the smallest sizes. I made the largest of the sizes that Kate includes in her instructions, and the yarn works just fine, but I wouldn't recommend upsizing the pattern without either tightening up the guage a little or substituting a lighter yarn with less drape - the more you get on the needles the more drape you get!

Also, for those of you trying to figure out how to attach the pockets, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of Vogue Knitting, the Ultimate Guide. For the sides of the pockets, I used Vogue's method of taking a single DPN a couple of sizes smaller than the needle I knit with and threading it through one side of the "V" made by the knit stitches in a column. I picked up a column equal in stitches to the pocket at the place where I wanted to attach the side. Then I simply sewed from the half of the knit V's on the edge of the pocket to the picked up V's and back again. It probably sounds complex, but if you pick up the book the illustrations will guide you through. Fot the bottom of the pocket, just sew through both pieces of material using duplicate stitch. I'd highly recommend starting at the outer edge of the pocket, doing the bottom and then fastening the last side. The bottom edge is much easier to handle if you can flip the fabric back and forth and look at it as you go along.

Alright, so I lied. I did stick some project notes in there - whoops. I just thought that those two things might be important. You gotta share the wealth, right?

Wrapping up the Knit-Along Soon I'll be doing a final entry to wrap up the Anouk-Along soon. Cathy and Boston Nicole are both on the verge of finishing, so I will post one final entry when they do to show off all the beautiful remaining Anouks (including mine!). If you are part of the Anouk-along and you don't see your name in red at the right (which indicates that you're done), please comment to this entry if you are done and want to submit a picture or if you aren't done but really want me to wait to wrap things up until you are. (Which I will happily do). I've closed the Anouk-along comments, since we haven't had any new joiners lately and I keep getting ads for Viagra!

More Fun Audrey Photos

For some reason, Moveable Type has been unfriendly with me lately, so it's taken a while to post my extra pictures of Audrey. Here they are - hope it was worth the wait!

Get Me My Vespa!

Audrey, Rowan 35, designed by Kim Hargreaves
Knit with just under 9 skeins (137 yards/skein) of Jaeger Extrafine Merino DK(100% Extrafine Merino Wool) in Cream (931) on 24" circular Addi Turbos in sizes US 6 (4.0 mm) and US 7 (4.5 mm).

Pattern Notes:
First of all, thanks to everyone over at the Audrey-Along, who brought my attention to this fun sweater and convinced me (through their own fabulous pictures) to make it, too!

I made this sweater in size XS, and substituted 9 balls of Jaeger merino for the 6 balls of Calmer called for in the pattern. (More on that below.) I loved this pattern and found it pretty straightforward to follow. As Rowan patterns go, it's a pretty good entry-level piece. Not a first sweater, mind you, but a pretty easy knit for someone who has attempted shaping and knows her way around a decrease. (Actually, even if you don't know a ton about decreases, there is a lot of support out there through the Audrey-along, so I still recommend that you give it a try! See my own tutorial on the decreases here.) The most complex part is the lace at the neck edging, but with a good reference book someone who hasn't tackled lace before can do that, too.

I changed very little about the pattern. I varied the increases slightly (I don't think this is a significant innovation on my part, so no blogging on them - not better, just different), and shortened the sleeves by about 18 rows. My intention with the sleeves was to have them end up at 3/4 length, which, as you can see, they did not! I think this is mainly due to the fact that I did 20 pattern repeats of the lace at the neckline edging. It makes the sweater a bit off-the-shoulder and lengthens the sleeves. If the neck were cinched, the sleeves would hit just above the wrists at their current length. At any rate, the result was just fine for me, since I decided part way through that I didn't want shorter sleeves anyway. (How convenient!).

If you are making the XS size, I would estimate that 18 pattern repeats would give you the cinched effect at the neck, 20 repeats would give you the almost-off-the-shoulder thing that my Audrey has, and 19 repeats would be a happy medium. For a close-up of the neckline, click here. I would probably be happiest with mine if I did the 19 repeats, but it's not so big a deal that I'm going to redo it. I'm not a girly-girl, so this sweater is more of an occasion piece than an everyday sweater. I can suck it up and put on a strapless bra for the days that Audrey makes her debut...

Impressions of Extrafine Merino DK:
This yarn is on my list of yarns that I would have if I could only have 5 types of yarn and was stranded on a desert island. It feels beautiful, looks beautiful, and knits like a dream (especially on my beloved Addis). I'm a traditionalist, and I hate working with novelty yarns (though I do it from time to time for the results), so if you aren't, take my recommendation with a grain of salt. Extrafine Merino DK is all I ever need. (Well, some nice alpaca wouldn't hurt, either...)

Possible substitute yarns:
I substituted Jaeger merino for the Rowan Calmer called for in the pattern, since the six balls of Calmer that I own are in a deep purple color (Zeal, it's discontinued), and I just didn't see Audrey on me in that color. (The Calmer is destined for other uses, perhaps Soul and a minisweater?)

Although wool and cotton are not interchangeable in many instances, they are here because Calmer is a spongy, elasticy cotton that acts like a wool. It's a blend of Cotton (75%) and Microfiber (25%), rather than a pure Cotton. In fact, I would hesitate to substitute another cotton for Calmer, unless it had at least 25% of another material that helped to give it elasticity. Audrey and the other patterns I've seen in Calmer rely on its light weight and ability to bounce into shape. This isn't a characteristic of 100% cottons. A yarn along the lines of GGH Bali might work (50% cotton, 50% acrylic).

The substitution is also appropriate in this case because Audrey has long sleeves and can really be worn as either a fall or a spring sweater, when the weather can be chilly. Since I knew that my Audrey would be finished for fall, wool worked well for me. Audrey will also transition well into the early spring in a wool in cool, damp D.C., which is where we'll be when that season comes around. Since the sleeves are long, you could use any type of wool that wasn't too itchy and allowed you to make guage.

Tips for Others Making Audrey:
1. For my tips on the body decreases or "darts," go here.

2. For a wealth of information on every aspect of this sweater, check out the Audrey-along, where many have documented their exploits in detail.

More fun Photos:
Coming soon. I'm fighting with MT today!

Other People's Knitting

Hi all, sorry if I've been away for a while. I spent a few days in San Francisco and then experienced a little server outage, so there hasn't been an opportunity to post. I'm done with Audrey and making progress on some other soon to be FO's but I'll post about those during the week. This post is about other people's knitting, since that is what has been on my mind.

San Francisco was great. I was there for business, but did get a fleeting chance to stop in to Artfibers for about 20 minutes. This shop is everything that it's hyped up to be. Totally original and well laid out. All the yarns are one-of-a-kind, brilliantly dyed, and well, just special. A few of my favorites are Kyoto, Whisper (no pictures, it's a mohair wool blend in warm tones), Siam and Chai. The pictures don't do these yarns justice, because although some of Artfibers' yarns are novelty, these are fine natural fibers with a twist - the kind of substantial materials that I love to work with. Needless to say, those yarns will make their way into some of the WIPs you'll see coming up. I'm so sorry that we'll be moving east soon, because it means I will be further away from this amazing store. My only solace is that Habu Textiles will be closer...

Blogger/Designers of Note:

Lately I've discovered and re-discovered several bloggers that I think are well worth mentioning here. I visit more people than I link to, and I change my preferences from time to time. These are people who have gotten my attention and who I think you might want to check out if you haven't already:

Marnie MacLean: Marnie recently made her Knitty debut with a design called Allusion. Being the Knit Design Geek that I am, I went through the entire Knitty issue checking out designer homepages. When I got to Marnie's I found a very cool array of cleverly-constructed free patterns. I loved Marnie's unique sense of style, so I kept up with her blog to see what would be coming down the pike. I haven't been disappointed. She's totally wowed me with some really amazing original work, like this piece (scroll up to see the picture). She works almost exclusively with Artfibers yarns, so if you're interested in Artfiber-appropriate patterns, she's a great resource. She's also just a really nice person, and for me that's the most important thing. Go by and check her out.

Kate Gilbert: If you've read my blog you know that I've hyped Kate extensively in the past. She's another Knitty Designer, who has some amazing children's designs for sale on her site. She's recently started making things for big girls, like Mon Petit Chou, and a little bird has told me that she will continue to do so in the coming months, so expect to see some cool stuff from Kate this fall.

Stefanie Japel: Those of you in the know have probably been following Glampyre Stef for a while, as she has had many fun little designs in Knitty. On of my favorites is Bad Penny, which I will make some day! Stef also offers free patterns on her site, and she's been getting some recent well-deserved attention for her awesome minisweater. It comes highly recommended as an easily-customizable quick knit. I think it would be a great way to use yarn that you just don't have enough of for a larger piece. Check out Stef's top-down raglan, too, which comes with directions on cardiganizing.

Amy (King) Boogie: Another really great girl. You've seen her Lolita Legs on Knitty, but she has some other really fun free patterns, too. My faves are the kidlet tank and Boogie. Amy's also working on a reader's gallery to show off your versions of her knits-which you know I think is a very fun idea. Amy just has a great sense of humor, too. Her site is full of fun ideas and creativity, so it's fun to visit.

Reverie Knits Clara. Clara's not a designer yet, but she has a great blog. It's clean and clear with excellent photography. She chooses really cool patterns and her knitting is quite skilled despite the fact that she's been at it for a short time. My favorite fact about Clara is that she just finished highschool. With the level of sophistication going on at her blog I find this to be really impressive. No doubt she'll be designing soon.

Honeymooners:

Four more finished honeymoons have been added to the Gallery - go look! This round has been pretty exciting for me, since it includes my very best friend Laura (pictured above) and several knit bloggers who I read and like - Amy K. of The Boogie Knits (mentioned above), Sarah C. of Knitting, Etc., and Shannon of La Gringa Tejedora

The Knitalongs:

My plan was to post about the Knit-alongs this weekend, too, but then I picked up Anouk again and decided to wait until I finished it to post. I think that my Anouk will close the Anouk-along, as everyone else who has started it has finished. If you aren't a blogger and you are working on your Anouk or have finished it, write and let me know so that I can include you in the next posting.

The Charlottes are still trickling in. We have several people who have recently finished (in red font at the right) and many who have the web on their needles. In true Knit-Behind fashion, I can see this one going on for quite awhile, perhaps even past my own completed Charlotte. For those of you who are interested, I did pick up my Charlotte and am in the first color change, but I have an extra stitch, so I need to tink a little. When I make progress worth photographing, I'll post on her!

I'm off! You'll see me sporting Audrey soon!

Pia's Finished...

Okay, so I've been really sneaky lately. In between finishing Audrey and making cups and saucers I also took an evening to rip Pia back and redo her. Here are the goofy cell phone pics to prove it:

I made Pia with Rowan's ASC, as called for in the pattern, color fern. I absolutely loved knitting it, but I have to admit that I don't love it on. Despite the fact that the schematic made it appear tiny in the smallest size, it is pretty big on me. I significantly shortened the back straps, which helped, but not enough. The stitching is also a little wonky, mostly due to the large yarn and the funky decreasing. (It's not me, of course!) Hopefully, this will come out in the blocking. Anyone have any thoughts on Pia? Sharlyn? Jen?