Pattern Notes: Baby Bell Bottoms

I have gotten so freaking lazy about the blog and pattern notes in particular, that it is a little embarrassing. I've been even worse about visiting my pals' blogs and commenting, and I realize that staying in touch with all of you means catching up a bit here and making my rounds, both of which I want to do and have missed doing. It seems like summer is often the slow bloggy season for me, and this one has been especially slow with work, our trip to Italy, and most of all the impending baby. In a lot of ways I like that count down widget on my blog, but I have to confess that at other times it freaks the hell out of me! It's funny how predictable the phases of pregnancy are. First trimester is excitement, disbelief, and constant battling with morning sickness combined with an obsession to eat healthily and get the most out of every little calorie you can keep down. Second trimester is the honeymoon phase - which was well-timed for our honeymoon in Italy - you feel incredibly strong and sexy despite the fact that you are beginning to look like you swallowed a basketball - romance is in the air and you are one with the universe, mother earth as it were. Then comes the third trimester, and like clockwork, the panic of actually having to deliver the basketball sets in. Two weeks into my third trimester now, I look down and simultaneously think how great it is that the baby is growing so well and how much I hope that he grows only to the requisite 7 to 7.5 pounds because I can't even fathom getting him out of me now, when he probably weighs in at 3 pounds! I'm experiencing utter disbelief that this is actually going to work as intended, and words like "tear" and "contraction" cause me to immediately cross my legs and go into denial. I've been second-guessing the whole earth mama no drugs natural birth that I've been contemplating (I hesitate to say "planning," both because I am open-minded in terms of the epidural and because I know full well that babies do not allow you to "plan" anything!) I want to do it if I can, and I think that I can manage for the birth itself, but the thought of having an episiotomy without drugs scares the shit out of me. My doctor does all that he can to avoid them, but there's that no planning thing that comes into play, so I fear that I can't count on not having one.

It's a boy! And these are his pants!

Anyhoo, I'm beginning the parade of finished but unblogged objects with a real favorite of mine - Alison Hansel's Baby Bell Bottoms. These are the second pair of baby bells that I've made, and the second pair that have gone undeservedly without pattern notes. They are an absolutely great and fast knit. Both times that I made them I was in a bit of a knitting funk, and both times they were the "go to" knit that pulled me out of the funk. Last time I made a pair for my friend Jen's impending baby Graham, and this pair is for our little baby boy. Oh yeah - did I say we're having a boy? We're having a boy! Kay was right on the mark. No pansy binky for us - I'm crocheting a 100% "pensie" binky!

Baby Bell Bottoms
Free Pattern
designed by Alison Hansel
Jen's pair knit with 1.8 skeins (188 yards total) of Artyarns Supermerino (100% superwash merino) in colorway 101;
Our pair knit with 1.2 skeins (125 yards) of the same, with .25 skeins (31 yards total) Rowan's Wool Cotton (50% Merino Wool/50% Cotton) in (956) "Coffee Rich" used for the cuffs and waist.
Both on size US3 circulars - Addi Turbos (3.25 mm) and Inox (3.00 mm).
Gauge: 5.75 sts and 8 rows per inch over stockinette stitch.
Size: Jen's are size 6 months; mine are newborn size (not nearly as practical, but I wanted to use the yarn!)

Jen's baby's bells.The Pattern:
I love this pattern, and I already have plans to make it again. It's very easy but turns out an incredibly cute pair of pants. I like the idea of knitting baby pants, because they are slightly different from the usual knitted baby gifts - blankets, booties and sweaters. (Which I also love, don't get me wrong! Variety is nice, though.) The pattern is so straightforward that there isn't much to say - just that I highly recommend it. Go forth and knit a pair!
Techniques:
advanced beginner techniques - cast on, knit, purl, minimal shaping, working in the round, binding off, whip stitching, and braiding cord.

Modifications:
The only mods I made were to use a different yarn, work on two circulars for the body, use a different seaming technique for the cord casing, and substitute I-cord for braided cord.

In regard to the two-circular knitting: Try as I might, socks have never "soared" for me on circular needles. This has always been a sad thing, because I really like Cat Bordhi, and I would love to be all new-fangled in my sock-knitting. Not so shockingly, I am quite the traditionalist and do just fine knitting socks with four DPNs. (Not five - that bugs me, too!) My motto has been much closer to "Socks suck on circular needles!" Baby bell bottoms, however, are a completely different story. They are worked in the round after the legs are joined, and when I got to that point I realized that if I did have a pair of 16" size 3 circs I sure as heck did not know where they were. I was able to find two 24" size 3's however, and those did the trick quite nicely. Because one pair was inox and the other addis there was a .25 mm difference in the 3's, so in addition to having the chance to employ the two-circular method I was also able to verify Elizabeth Zimmerman's theory that it matters not a whit if one of your needles is of a slightly different size. Always good to know. Of course, you don't have to test out either of these methods to make the baby bells, it's just all by way of chattiness that I'm discussing them here.

For the casing, I left the edge stitches live rather than binding them off and sewed down the stitches. It's more trouble for the beginner, but this is the only type of seaming I use on casings because it eliminates some of the bulk. Just a matter of preference.

Folded up until D-day.Finishing:
Very little. Mattress stitch for the legs and sewing live stitches for the casings.

Impressions of Artyarns Supermerino:
For a girl with a lot of yarn I have an incredible propensity to use the same yarns over and over again. When I find something I love, I stick with it. And when I have used some of my stash of a particular yarn I have an almost obsessive need to use every bit that I have left, as is definitely the case with wool cotton below. I had three skeins of Artyarns Supermerino, so I used all of it, calculating that I would have enough to make newborn sized pants with the remainder if I used a contrasting color for the cuffs and hem. My baby's bells took care of two remnants at once, which was very satisfying.

Every time I use Supermerino it comes through for me. It's a great "rut" yarn and comes in fun variegated colors. Prior to this I used every bit of my stashed Supermerino in colorway 111 to make a Chevron Scarf. I loved it then, too.

Impressions of Rowan's Wool Cotton:
This is my go-to yarn. I use it more than any other, and especially for baby things. It is soft, classy, classic, has great stitch definition, and is machine washable. Plus it comes in a lovely array of adult colors. I'm not really a pastel girl, so this is a good choice for me.

Possible substitute yarns:
A ton. See what other people have used - Ravel it!

Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater: Pattern Notes

So here it is the end of February and I am just trotting out the first FO of 2008. If you had asked me in December what my first FO's of the year would be, I would not have guessed this! I have three to four designs in the works (depending on whether I decide to back-burner one of them or not) and one is very near completion. But I just have not had it in me to do math lately, so I thought I'd make one of the many baby things that I have planned for the spring and get a jump start on things. Voila!

A little sugar, a little sarcasm. Perfect.

Before I dive into the baby sweater pattern notes, however, I just have to put in another plug for Julie Jackson's Subversive Cross Stitch Book. Very few things could have driven me into the arms of cross stitch. It was just never a craft that I had as much interest in before. Howsomever, between this wonderfully saccharine book and the incredible single-color (almost Swedish) designs in the Japanese craft books I have, well, I just had to go there. And I'm so glad I did. Cross stitch can be a really fun diversion, and used sparingly on a beautiful linen backdrop I find it charming. I would definitely recommend Julie's book. Even if you never stitch a thing, the laughs alone are worth it. I will definitely be making another. (To Moxie's great chagrin - he still doesn't get it. Boys.)

Judy's Grandma's Baby Sweater
Greetings From Knit Cafe
designed by Judy Spector's Grandma
Knit with three and a half skeins (123 yards/skein) each of Rowan's Wool Cotton (50% Merino Wool/50% Cotton) in (955) "Ship Shape," on size US4 Addi Turbo Circulars and Clover Bamboo DPNs.
Gauge: 5.75 sts and 10 rows per inch over garter stitch.
Size: 6 months

The designated front.The Pattern:
Extremely well thought-out. If there is an edge on this puppy that can be self-finishing, it is. The construction is interesting, too. You work the sweater from side-to-side, starting and ending with the ties, and leaving live stitches and a bound of edge to pick up for each sleeve later. The sleeves are picked up and knit down to the cuffs, and then seamed along the top edge to finish.

If you've read my previous entries on this (the one on the Observatory), you'll know that there was a point where the sweater became a little tedious for me. The honeycomb stitch can be a little aggravating, because the action happens on the right side while you are knitting the wrong side. The wrong side, for its part, is not easy to read. If you get off by a stitch (which I did four times), you screw up the row. Normally, I am a stickler for fixing errors, but I was in the dead zone when I got off track and simply did not care enough. I kind of wish that I had cared a bit more now, but only a knitter is likely to notice. A six month old baby definitely won't! the honeycomb stitch is worth some effort, though, because it is very, very pretty.

My journey with this knit was not unlike my journey with every single scarf I've made. Somewhere in the second skein I was bored out of my mind, but by the time I got to the third I was into it again. The sleeves zipped by. Highly recommended, especially for those of you who enjoy repeating patterns. I've been in a knitting slump, so I spent three weeks with this sweater, but someone on a roll could pop it out in a concentrated weekend, and definitely over a week of bad TV and re-runs.

"Front" and "back" side by side. Really, it's fully reversible.

Techniques:
Intermediate techniques - cable cast-on, elastic bind-off, slipping and stranding stitches, knitting through the back loop, and picking up along edges.

Detail of the flap.Modifications:
The only mods I made were to use a different yarn, and a different seaming technique for the sleeves. The original yarn is Classic Elite Premiere, which I used for Mishka (same color, too). It has more of a drape to it, which is also very nice. I subbed because I was knitting from stash, but either is lovely. As for the sleeves, I just didn't feel like reading directions. I did a single crochet up one sleeve, across the front neck, and down the other sleeve. I'm sure that whatever the pattern does is fine, too.

Finishing:
Very little. For the most part this is self-finishing. I used the single crochet method to seam and neaten the front neck, as noted above. I didn't block this one and didn't even think to. I don't always block textured knits and the wool cotton is soft without washing. Blocking will add a little drape if you are looking for that effect.

The parting shot.Impressions of Rowan's Wool Cotton:
This is my go-to yarn. I use it more than any other, and especially for baby things. It is soft, classy, classic, has great stitch definition, and is machine washable. Plus it comes in a lovely array of adult colors. I'm not really a pastel girl, so this is a good choice for me.

Possible substitute yarns:
For this particular project, there are a lot of good substitute yarns. The original Premiere is a great choice, but you could use something like Tahki Cotton Classic or Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. Almost any fiber will do, because the shape is simple and the pattern lends itself to being sproingy or draping a bit. I could see it in a nice bamboo or linen.

Endpaper Mitts: Pattern Notes

I love my mitts!Good morning, peeps! Another set of pattern notes for you, though hopefully not quite so long as the last, because you have all knit these mitts before me! As you know, I often end up using the self-timer to take my photos, but this weekend I was lucky enough to have the services of stylist and photographer extraordinaire, Mr. Moxie. Saturday was a bright, chilly morning for LA (think about 50 degrees), so we opted to take the Z for a nice stroll through Elysian Park, which has sections that are about as "forested" as LA metro gets. Elysian also has grassy knolls, city views, and palm trees for scenery, but M was feeling the sylvan landscape, so that's what we did. Excellent choice, I think. I am just ecstatic that it is Endpaper weather here. I can stay toasty while typing in my chilly office or while romping with Z in the mornings and evenings. Quite nice.

Endpaper Mitts
Free Pattern
by Eunny Jang
Knit with less than one skein (191 yards/skein) each of Rowan's 4 Ply Soft (100% Merino Wool) in (393) "Linseed" and (397) "Teak", on size US0 and US2 Clover Bamboo DPNs.
Gauge: 8 sts per inch over pattern.
Size: smallest.

Outside & Inside.The Pattern:
Loved it. I did not find any errors, and the instructions were well-written and easy to follow. I will say that despite the fact that tons of people have knit these successfully as a first colorwork project it is still what I would term an "intermediate" project. So, if you are an intermediate knitter, especially one who has worked on dpns (can we say socks?), you should do fine, but if you are less experienced, don't be hard on yourself if you get frustrated. I had not personally done stranded colorwork in years, so I spent some time ripping back and starting over. If you put in a bit of concentration and effort in the first few hours it will pay off. Don't let the early attempts scare you. It gets substantially easier. From start to finish, with blocking, I did these in about a week and a half. Not long at all for some really lovely mitts.

The best part about this project was that I was finally forced to teach myself to knit continental style. I've always been irritated by the fact that I throw and therefore knit comparatively slowly, but every time I start to teach myself continental, I get tired of struggling and revert. In this case, there really wasn't any choice but to pick with the left. by the end I was choosing to knit the single color knit row in continental, because it was both faster and easier. Huzzah! I still have to work on purling continental style. I think I'm a natural combination knitter when I pick, so I'm deciding whether to stick with that or attempt to modify my ways before they get too set.

Endpaper Mitts in the Woods.

Techniques:
Intermediate techniques - tubular cast-on, circular knitting with dpns, stranded colorwork, sewn bind-off.

Modifications:
Very few. I used the first variant of the tubular cast-on in Vogue: The Ultimate Guide, rather than the Italian tubular cast-on, with which I am unfamiliar. The Italian version gave some people a hard time, so if you struggle with it, just use a variant of the tubular cast on that suits you. I used the sewn bind-off for one-by-one ribbing from Vogue to finish the mitts - I'm pretty sure this is the same, or close to, the tubular method/kitchener bind off suggested in the pattern. I'm sure you'll let me know if there is a big difference.

I'll just note here that when working one-by-one rib, these cast-on and cast-off methods are really nice to use. They create a professional finish and are worth the effort. I don't use one-by-one ribbing often, though I like it, but if I do, these are the techniques I employ with it. Highly recommended.

This one is more about Z than the mitts...
Finishing:
The most challenging part of this project for most people will be the final bind off. Sewn bind-offs are like kitchener stitch, and once you get the hang of them they are (almost) fun. The problem is that it usually takes a bit of binding off to get the hang of them. You may want to consider putting the live sts for the first mitt on some waste yarn and coming back to sew them off when you're done with the second as well, to avoid breaking your rhythm. It really depends on whether its more helpful to have something fresh in your mind or to have a task broken up into segments to make it more palatable.

After weaving in the ends, I blocked the mitts by soaking them in cool water with wool wash for a half hour, spinning out the excess water in the washer and laying them flat to dry outside. Although I thought my unblocked colorwork looked pretty decent, blocking made a huge difference in the smoothness of the patternwork and the hand of the yarn. Don't be lazy - block your mitts!

Impressions of Rowan's 4 Ply Soft:
This was my first time using 4 Ply Soft and I really enjoyed it. The yarn did not pill while knitting despite its softness, and I don't think it will pill easily with wear, either. It is soft. That said, the hands are a very sensitive part of the body (especially the wrists!), so even this soft merino is a little itchy when worn. I'm not overly sensitive to wool, so for me they work well, but if you are knitting for someone who is sensitive, consider a cashmere blend. It won't wear quite as well, but that's better than not being worn at all!

I would use this yarn again in a flash. I'm guessing that it would be even softer knit at a larger gauge, and would have a lovely drape for a sweater. The color palette is suitable for mixing, so it's a good choice for fair isle with few colors if you want something softer than Jameison's.

Possible substitute yarns:
For this particular project, any standard sock yarn is probably going to work, though the more resilient the yarn, the better. Colorwork doesn't have much give, so it's nice if your yarn has some give and take. I would probably go with Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock or Louet Gems Pearl if I were to use a different yarn.

Lucetta: Pattern Notes

Sometimes I knit something that turns out so well I can barely believe that I made it. Lucetta is that type of knit. It's not complicated, and it works up quickly, but you get more than a bang for your buck. It's an absolutely gorgeous sweater. I think that part of my enthusiasm probably stems from the fact that I wasn't sure what to expect from the finished project. It's from Rowan Studio, and those pieces are generally pretty fashion-forward, which means that you'll love them today, but it's a toss-up as to how you'll feel tomorrow - maybe "fantastic!" or maybe "what the hell was I thinking?" Happily it's the former. I feel fun and in the moment in it, but I also think it will stand the test of time. (By the way, I think Rowan Studio is great and I highly recommend the first four issues. Just be aware that it can be uber-current.)

Some days you just can't give good face, ya know?

Lucetta
Rowan Studio Issue 4
by Sarah Hatton
Knit with just over 4 skeins (229 yards/skein) of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze (70% Kid Mohair/30% Silk) in "Chill", on size US 7 and US8 Addi Turbo Circulars.
Gauge: 24 sts 21 rows per four inches over pattern.
Size: smallest.

The Pattern:

ERRATA:

Body Row 7 of Eyelet Patt: Last 2 Sts should be P2tog, not P2.

Row 1 of Main Pattern should be K all sts in the **first repeat** of each piece, but after that K the P2togs and ktbl on the yos.

In addition to the errata, there are a few helpful things to take note of:

When taking gauge, use the pattern as set up on the sleeves - the main body only has directions for the main pattern with decreases incorporated. It also leaves you to figure out how to increase in pattern. I started with a sleeve because I was too lazy to do a swatch, which is a good way to go. You, too, can be a lazy bum and swatch with your sleeve. It's something I do a lot of.

Detail of the lace.With those unpleasantries out of the way, let's move on to all the good things about Lucetta. It is very easy to knit, but it wasn't overly boring due to the funky eyelet action going on. Overall, the pattern is well-written and makes sense. It should be pretty easy to do even if you haven't knit much lace or worked with Kidsilk. You will want to have a certain confidence with your seaming and end-weaving abilities, because due to the nature of the yarn your seams are out there for all to see. You don't want them to be bulky and you need to make the eyelets line up. I love seaming (I know - crazy - don't hate me because I seam), so it wasn't an issue, but I can see the seams making some poor unfortunate knitters very unhappy. If your seaming skills are a bit weak, tackle the seaming portion with an experienced friend or under the protective guidance of your LYS.

I have watched Sarah Hatton's designs since Rowan 35 hit the stands, and have really enjoyed them. I always loved Kim Hargreaves, but I think it's been good for her and for Rowan to make a change. I like her designs better now, and I love seeing the new people that Rowan brings in. Sarah Hatton consistently creates really interesting pieces. I think Rowan Studio is a great venue for her talents. She's fresh and has a unique take on designing. I would happily knit something of hers again.

Sexy, sexy eyelets!

Techniques:
This is advanced beginner fare - easy but for the tricky yarn and the seaming mentioned above. It requires some shaping and the use of yarnovers.

Love the blousy, comfy sleeves.Modifications:
I use a long-tail cast-on, so one of my standard modifications is to do an extra row of ribbing on every piece. The long-tail makes one side of the work look "purl-ish" and the other more polished. I like the polished side to face the world. This is so standard for me that I don't think I've mentioned it before, but if you use the long-tail method and don't already do this, you may want to start. Just add one row to the ribbing and treat the first row as a set-up row (WS) and the second as if it were your first RS row. It's nice.

I also omitted the side-shaping on the body. After years of following (and designing) the standard method of decreasing to the waist and then increasing to the bust on the edges of the work, I've jettisoned the practice completely. It always looks like shit. If you need serious shaping, make the decreases and increases as darts about a quarter of the way in from the sides. If you need to maintain side-shaping but the shaping isn't too severe, try starting with the stitch count at the waist and only increasing up to the bust, rather than having shaping below the waist as well. This won't work for everyone, but it covers a lot of body types (steer clear if the piece is a bit clingy/closer-fitting and you have a little pooch, though). In cases where the piece has some ease, I usually just get rid of the shaping altogether. This worked well for Lucetta.

The last thing I did, which is also really standard for me was to pick up stitches fairly evenly around the neckline, ignoring the stitch count except to make sure that in the end it was a multiple of four (so that the ribbing works out properly). Usually this results in picking up more sts than the pattern calls for and I just reduce down to the correct number on the next round. In this case I was 8 sts short, and just made the collar with that number. It looks great. You need not be too attached to numbers when picking up sts. I think it's better to avoid gaps around the neckline. Just a thought.

Other than those little things, I changed nothing. The pattern is great as is.

More sleeves.
Finishing:
I seamed using a modified mattress stitch very close to the edges to minimize bulk. The eyelets were a little confusing to line up, because I had to "zig" from the edge of one to the middle of the other and then "zag" from the middle of the second eyelet to the lower edge. When you do it, it might appear at first as if things will not line up. Go a bit farther before making any judgments. If you are off, you'll know.

I blocked the body by soaking the pieces in cool water with wool wash, spinning out the excess water in the washer and pinning it flat to dry. I was lazier with the sleeves, because I really wanted to wear my sweater. I spritzed them with water while the sweater was on my body and tugged! Kidsilk dries so quickly that this works out fine! You will want to block, though - it's much prettier that way. Don't be alarmed by the way the kidsilk looks wet (rather like a wet dog!). It will come around nicely.

Impressions of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze:
When I first used this stuff it was my enemy - hard to see and easy to f*ck up - like dancing on ice. Years later we have become fast friends. I love its delicacy and loft and I appreciate its ability to add elegance to a piece. If you want to know more about it, read about the two pieces that I made with it previously: the Birch Stole that I made for my wedding (same color) and the more recent River Stole. I still love and wear both.

Possible substitute yarns:
The two best substitutes that I know of for Kidsilk Haze are K1C2's Douceur et Soie and Artfiber's Tsuki. At 515 yards/skein for $16 Tsuki is a steal, and can be ordered on line. Douceur has the same fiber content as Kidsilk, and Tsuki is close, with 10% more silk and less mohair.

Nautical: Pattern Notes

Talk about a stealth knit! I was going through my stash and came upon some Filatura di Crosa Brilla that has been bothering me forever. Sometimes I have something in my stash that I like well enough, but that I have in such weird quantities and color combinations that it really bothers me. Brilla has been a major offender in that way for some time, and I am always trying to come up with creative ways to get rid of it. When I do work with it, I love it. I made my friend Jen a beret from some forest green Brilla for Christmas last year that I just adored. But when it is sitting there, I loathe the stuff, probably because it seems so impossible to utilize fully. I was staring at two skeins of Brilla in platinum and all of a sudden I became hell bent on using it up. I had two skeins of deep navy as well, which seemed like a very good combo, and extremely current, given the nautical turn fashion seems to have taken for the spring. My goal was to use every inch of that Brilla, and for all intents and purposes I did. The result is my favorite summer knit top yet - I love it! Thank goodness I had that Brilla hanging about.

Photos taken in Portland, by the lovely Miss Marnie.

Nautical
MindofWinter Designs
by Yours Truly
Knit with two skeins (120 yards/skein) of Filatura di Crosa Brilla (58% Rayon, 42% Cotton) in Deep Navy (306) and two skeins in Platinum (394), using the Silver Reed LK150, carriage 3, tension 3 for the main body and Susan Bates size US 2 straights for the picot casings. Ties made from Wrights Prestige Ribbon in Organdy Navy, available at JoAnn's.
Gauge: 22.5 sts and 36.5 rows per inch.
Size: 32 bust, 27 waist.

The Pattern:
This is the first Hoolia design of the calendar year to actually make the execution phase. I have done a ton of sketching and swatching and am full of ideas, yet somehow I keep getting distracted by really cute patterns or by the need to use up stash now. I really did find myself driven to remove that silver Brilla from my stash for this piece, so I suppose this falls in that category as well. I went to sleep on a Thursday thinking about my plans for Nautical, and then made the main pieces on the machine on the following Friday evening and Saturday morning. I had swatched Brilla earlier on the little knitter, so I had notes and samples of possible gauges. I didn't even bother sampling the stripes, because I decided that in order to use every ounce of the stuff I had I needed to use a fairly even distribution of the two colors and that I wanted the stripes to be fairly fine - voila! - easy enough.

The part that took the longest was the picot casings, which I did by hand. I could have done them on the machine, but I wanted to leave them until I was finished with the main body just in case, so both edges were done afterward and then hand-seamed, which took some man hours.

Detail of the top with organza ties.The coup de grace is the ribbon. Marnie and I made an impromptu stop at the local JoAnn's in Portland, and I got an entire roll of deep navy organza for $2.99. (Since I scored the Brilla on Elann several years ago for about $4 a skein, the entire project cost me all of $20. Pretty nice, eh?) I am not sure how well the photos convey this, but the ribbon makes the top really different and special. It is sleek as a tube top and I will likely wear it without ribbons when I want a rather sexy evening look out of it with some flowing silk pants, but the ribbons really add a little Je ne sais quoi that gives the top a completely unique nautical flavor.

Tooting My Own Horn:
Although this was a relatively simple pattern to draft up and knit, it incorporates two of my favorite features. The first is the use of the ribbons, which is one of my big things in my wardrobe lately - just an easy way to be a little more fun and feminine in approach.

I wove the ribbons through the piece in such a way that they could be removed easily for washing and for the times when I just want an unadorned tube top. I prefer to have a single bow on the left, but the configuration could be easily changed to incorporate two bows, bows at the top, no bows, or to place the bows on the back, which could be really cute. I adore them.

The second is versatility - also a real favorite for me at the moment. I can wear Nautical with about half of my wardrobe. It looks great as a tube top with a simple silver necklace and some flowing black pants for an evening out, but it would also be cute with the organza ties, a denim mini and some navy espadrille wedges for a picnic. Marnie put together the smart ensemble with the khaki jacket (from her wardrobe) over jeans that I'm wearing in some of the photos, and I'm now pretty certain that I can pair Nautical with a suit (khaki, navy, maybe even white) and wear it in a work setting. As someone who prefers to have fewer pieces of clothing that go together in unique ways, the versatility of this little top is a big bonus for me.

Nautical paired with the white linen skirt I wore with Honeymoon, and some cute khaki capris with buttoned hems.

Techniques:
This would be beginner-easy but for the picot edgings which are sewn down. It incorporates stripes, minimal shaping, and easy yarnover picots.

With a jacket, for the professional look.Modifications:
If I knit this again I would make it just a skoosh longer. I only had four skeins of yarn to work with, so I was being uber-cautious with the yardage in the body. I have a little bit of each yarn left, so I may go crazy and add a half inch or so to the bottom edge, but I doubt it. The effort required to take out those picots doesn't seem worth it when I can simply throw on a jacket or add a sash to make Nautical less tarty in feel.

Finishing:
Once again, the most difficult aspect of making this piece is sewing down the picot casings. Even this isn't rocket science if you understand what you're trying to do. I intended to do a tutorial on this for everyone, but I never ended up seaming at a time when it was convenient to snap photos. I make these kinds of picot casings rather regularly, though, so I'm sure I'll have my chance soon.

Brilla blocks really nicely, but as I write this I realize I didn't even bother to block Nautical. It came off the little knitter in good shape and my picots were even, so it really wasn't necessary. I just seamed and went. I do think it will get even softer and have more drape after a wash, though. It's pretty soft and silky right off the needles.

An open jacket shows off the ties.Impressions of Filatura di Crosa Brilla:
I have a lot of Brilla in my stash in varying colors, so I do get tired of looking at it, but whenever I knit it, I love it. It hand knits nicely, and machine knits fairly well, though it is prone to snags and is slippery. The thing to know about Brilla is that it isn't going to stay in place if you have live stitches hanging around. It is hard to frog and get back on the needles, and if one of your stitches gets loose it will make a run of it. Just be aware and tink accordingly. From what I know of it, Brilla wears very well, has a pretty, shiny look, and feels gentle and silky. It's a very good choice for summer knitting, and for knits that you want to give a dressed up look to. I won't be buying more any time soon, as I still have quite a bit to use up, but I will enjoy using it.

Possible substitute yarns:
Anything shiny and silky with a cotton or silk content should do. GGH Mystik, which I used for my Honeymoon Cami, springs to mind, though beginners will find it a bit splitty.

Warshrag in Action: Pattern Notes?

I am so channeling my mother in this photo!
I am even washing her 1970's mushroom bowl.
I love the mushroom bowl!I know you guys must be sick of me prancing around the internets in my nightgown, but I can't help it - it's cute! And I just have to share how versatile it is. You really can wear it all classed up with jeans and a sash, or sleep in it and just pull on some shearling booties to do the morning dishes. (So California, so not fabulous. The Manolo, he would cringe.) It is that great.

As you may remember, the whole nightie thing began with an innocent little warshrag. I am not one to follow the trends in the knitting blogosphere, unless I can follow way behind. (In 2010, I will be making STR Jaywalkers.) I just can't do it when everyone else is doing it, because then I'm not sure if it was my idea. But afterwards? Sure! I'll always follow a trend after it's ridden itself out.

Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin.'So I'm knitting warshrags. Just two - enough to happily use up my Lily cotton and jettison the funky sponge that has been living at the edge of my sink.

Ball Band Warshrags
The Folks at Peaches 'n Cream
Mason Dixon Knitting
Lily Sugar 'n Cream Cotton, Colors 1712 (Chartreuse) & 1742 (Turquoise)

As free as I can normally be with the verbage, I can't bring myself to do real pattern notes on a warshrag, so instead I'll just say that I used cheapo Lily cotton from Michael's, and knit it on size 6 needles.

Click for exciting close-up.It was fun and I have a good enough attention span that I can probably finish the second one. I could not bring myself to knit thirty. That takes the kind of focus that can only be cultivated on the East Coast. As Garrison Keillor would say, such fortitude and industriousness can only be the product of harsh weather. I bet Minnesotans know from warshrags.

I am happy report that two skeins of Lily cotton create two coordinating warshrags, plus a smidge of another, which is all I need. They stand up to my dirty dishes, still look good, and seem to dry rather quickly as well. They are most excellent warshrags.

After Dark Nightie: Pattern Notes

I'm knitting a warshrag. No, really.As I walked out on the porch to do this little photo shoot for you, Moxie glanced at me and asked: "Are you taking pictures of yourself again? The neighbors are going to start wondering." And then, because I was clearly not uncomfortable enough, he added: "Your internet friends get more of a show than I do." It's true. You guys get the After Dark Nightie and Moxie gets sweats. He'll get to enjoy the nightie eventually, but while it's still just off the needles, you get the good stuff!

This was not an easy shoot. I had to strategically place that warshcloth (and my arms!) and be sure to sit down to keep things from getting tarty. I'm not even going to tell you how many full frontal shots I had to take to get one that qualified as "nice". My hat goes off to the model in the MDK book - she was able to pull off hot, classic and wholesome, all the while not revealing a single bit of what the French so delicately refer to as orange peel. Let's just say that it is no accident that most of these are arty "detail" shots rather than the whole shebang! This nightie is wonderful and I love it, but it leaves nothing to the imagination. (By the time it makes it to Mr. Moxie all will be forgiven for this very reason . . . )

After Dark Nightie
Mason Dixon Knitting
Designed by Alison Will Green
Knit with three skeins (270 yards/skein) of Louet Sales Euroflax Originals Sportweight (100% Linen) in Violet (2454), using size US 3 Boye Straights (garter edge, bust lace), US 4 Addi Turbo circulars (vine lace, short row stockinette), and the Silver Reed 150 carriage 4.5, tension 5 (plain stockinette).
Stockinette Gauge: 5 sts per inch. Gauge for the pattern is 20 sts and 32 rows per 4 inches, but my machine-knit stockinette was at a different row gauge, which I adjusted for.
Size: 32 bust, but I modified the length to be 27" (without straps) rather than 23.5". See below.

Detail of the top and velvet ties.The Pattern:
Watch for Alison Will Green. She designed this nightie and the coordinating robe for Mason Dixon Knitting, and she also has a design in the upcoming issue of IK. Alison's designs have a very clean, classic appeal, with nice lines, and run on the Kim Hargreaves-ish side of the spectrum of things that I like. The pattern was well-written and easy to follow. It's also a very quick knit. Using the machine for the stockinette portions, I finished it in a week of very light knitting. If you have more time, you can probably do the whole thing in a week or so by hand. The end product is, in a word, stunning! I've had a great year for knits so far, and this is no exception. It is an heirloom that I will hand down to my daughter (the one I don't yet have) when she is ready to be married and tarty (yet classic).

Shot of the upper lace band.The only possible errata that I spotted was in the lace band at the top of the nightie. There is no schematic, but the listed bust measurement for a size 32 is 32". (D'oh!) The lace sits on the top half of the breast, about a half inch above the nipple-line, so presumably it would need to be 32" in circumference, or 16" in width on each piece. There is no change in stitch count between the stockinette and the lace, so for the measurements to remain consistent, the lace would have to have the same gauge as the stockinette. This simply does not happen in nature to my knowledge. Lace will always have a larger gauge than stockinette, and you have to adjust accordingly. The lace repeat is only 4 sts, so it is very easy to adjust the lace. Simply swatch the lace to get your stitch gauge (it will be bigger than your stockinette gauge), multiply the stitches per inch by the width your piece should be to get the total number of stitches you'll want, subtract that number from the number of stitches on your needles, round to the next increment of 4, and evenly decrease that number of stitches across the purl row before the lace begins. It's easier than it sounds - I promise! I am not sure if the decrease row got omitted from the original pattern (errata), or if Alison's lace gauge was close enough to her stockinette gauge that the difference was negligible, and she simply did not need to decrease (not errata, just variations in personal knitting). Either way, the way to ensure your nightie works is to swatch the lace.

Strapless from the other day.
Sometimes the "candid" shots work best.Ina wrote me a comment about the side-shaping that goes on in this piece, and suggested that it would be better accomplished through darts. While I don't believe this is errata-worthy, I think she is right. The pieces of the nightie decrease in at the waist and then increase back out to accommodate the bust. All increases and decreases take place at the edges of the work. This is the standard method to use for this kind of shaping. I used it when I designed Honeymoon and Clementine. Kim Hargreaves used it for Bond, and many, many other pieces. It works well enough if you have proportions that are exactly standard, but if you are long-waisted, short-waisted, or like me, just a little off in one direction, this kind of shaping can stick out in a funny, less than attractive way. It is only through two decades of knitting that I have finally decided I am done with this sort of shaping. For me, it is going the way of the stepped shoulder - from here on out I'm doing darts to customize the fit of my garments.

For those making the nightie, I would suggest two things for the waist-shaping: First, move the decreases and increases closer to the center of the knitting. I think the best placement should be in line with where you intend to place the straps. For me, this was about 4 inches in, but this will vary widely, especially in those who have more womanly curvage going on than I do. Find a similar dress or top in your closet, measure where the straps are set, and go from there. Second, knit each piece to the point of the top lace, pin the pieces together and check the fit before finishing the top lace portions. This way you'll know if you need to make adjustments before the top lace panels are finished.

Neither of these adjustments require brain surgery smarts, so I would rate this pattern as intermediate and encourage everyone to give it a try if it appeals. The nightie is short and sheer, but we all have a little orange peel, and our husbands, significant others, lovers du jour, etc. are aware of that. The menfolk really just like to enjoy us as nearly nekkid as possible. Take the plunge and enjoy making the lace.

Another of the velvet ties.
Just because.Techniques:
Beginner lace. Beginner in this case does not translate to "easy." If you've never done lace, you will need to be patient, and even if you have you'll probably rip back a few times - I did! The vine lace is the harder of the two laces, as it is a little counter-intuitive. If you think that you are off, you probably are. Get a feel for what each stitch will look like after it is completed, watch the lace as you go and count, count, count! on the reverse side.

Modifications:
I knit this in the original yarn and the original color and I retained the side-shaping (this time!). The biggest modification that I made was in the top lace panel. The first time I knit it on US4's - the same size needle I used for the stockinette. I ended up with a gauge of 4 sts per inch as opposed to 5 sts per inch! (My open-lace gauge varies much more than most.) The piece I was working on was consequently 4 inches bigger than it was supposed to be, giving a total circumference of 40" rather than 32". Clearly a problem.

The gorgeous vine lace at the hem. Yummy!Last year I discovered that although one would think that one knitter's lace gauge would vary from their stockinette in the same proportion that another knitter's would, this is not the case. This is something that it appears not many designers realize, so it isn't unusual for gauge to be given in stockinette alone, when you actually need to know stockinette gauge and lace gauge. Hence, the sad demise of the Prairie Tunic. It seems that if the lace involves fewer yarnovers per knit stitch (such as the vine lace), my gauge will stay proportional. But if there are a lot of yarnovers proportionally (the top lace, the Prairie Tunic lace), my gauge will generally grow quite a bit proportionally, such that I need to swatch the lace to make sure all the measurements come out right. Some people will have the same gauge as the designer, so this won't be an issue, but the only way to be sure is to swatch.

There are two ways to fix this issue. One, mentioned above, is to decrease the number of stitches. Another is to go down in needle size. Here, I opted to do both. I could have simply decreased 16 sts to make gauge on US 4's, but I felt that my lace was too open on that size needle, so instead I decreased only 12 sts and went down to US 3's on the lace. Voila!

Vine lace lounging with MDK.Another modification that I made was to the straps. Initially, I intended to use a lucet to make straps out of the Euroflax. I had coveted Becky's lucet for a very, very, very long time (can't find the post, but I think its 2004), so when I found one at the Fiber Factory in Mesa while out in Phoenix last month, I jumped on it. Unfortunately, although making cord with a lucet appears easy enough, I am far from accomplished in the skill (more on that in another post). I decided to keep practicing and instead use some thin velvet ribbon that I bought for Christmas ornaments in DC a few years back. It gives a great tone on tone look - it's perfect!

My final mod was the length - I added 3.5 inches to the lower portion, which was perfect for me. If you have rockin' thighs, knit it at the original length - just don't go out on the front porch in it. Hubby will love it, but you won't be able to bend over to scoop up the Sunday paper!

Finishing:
Easy peasy. I dunked each piece in a nice warm Eucalan bath, spun out the excess water, blocked to dry and sewed two long seams. My tip for seams like this with lace at one or both ends is to seam the stockinette portion first, leaving a long tail to finish up seaming the lace afterward. Stockinette lines up really easily, so you'll stay on target for a long expanse and then pick your way carefully through the lace when you get to it. I did the same thing for the Daktari Skirt.

Impressions of Louet Sales Euroflax Originals Sportweight:
This was my first time using Euroflax or any other linen. (!!!) I am a convert. I completely understand why the girls at MDK love this stuff and use it almost as much as they use Tahki Cotton Classic (another old-time favorite of mine).

And now we return to our previously scheduled warshrag . . .Euroflax will not be for everyone. It has a rough hand while you are knitting, and no resilience, so if you are sensitive working with it will be hard on your wrists. I am more sensitive to changes in needle size than fiber, so it was just fine for me, but I also only handknit the lace panels and the short-row portion, so my exposure was not what most people's will be. I also had a lot of work to do the week I knit the nightie, so my knitting sessions were short and well-dispersed. If you are sensitive beware, and give yourself breaks.

The resulting fabric is wonderful. It's soft enough to wear next to the skin (though again, I am not very sensitive - try a swatch first), and the stitch definition is insane. Euroflax holds its shape beautifully and has an excellent crispness to it.

Price points on the linen are great, too. I initially bought some of this for Marnie and thought it was expensive at $15/skein. What I didn't realize was that Euroflax has incredible yardage - 270 yards per skein! So compared to your average-sized skein, that works out to about $6 per skein, which is pretty darn good. On sale at Black Sheep for 50% off, it was even better. It took about 2.5 skeins to make the nightie in the smallest size, and I'm pretty sure I could make a tunic version (to wear over jeans, Kay!) in just over 2 skeins.

Possible substitute yarns:
Although I am sure there are other linens out there, I am not aware of them. I would imagine that Hemp for Knitting might be a nice substitute, but not having worked with it, I can't be entirely certain. If anyone reads this far and has other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Pattern Notes: Marseilles Pullover

Marseilles pattern notes at last! I've been done with this sweater for two weeks and have worn it on several occasions already. At this point it feels more like an old friend than a new sweater. Sunday was Moxie's birthday, so we got up at a decent hour and immediately packed the Zosh into the car and headed over to Eaton Canyon in Pasadena for a morning hike to the waterfall. If you are ever in the area, this is a great hike if you prefer less strenuous activity and gorgeous scenery. It starts out in a sunlit wash full of wild flowers and cacti, and then moves through a wooded canyon along a stream for about half a mile to the waterfall. The most difficult aspect of the hike is navigating back and forth across the stream. It's accessible enough that a lot of families hike this trail. At the end, you can sit in the shade and enjoy the beauty of the waterfall.

Marseilles on our hiking excursion to Eaton Canyon with Zosia.

Marseilles Pullover
Designed by Kathy Zimmerman, Interweave Knits, Summer 2006
Knit with nine skeins (147 yards/skein)* of RYC Cashsoft DK (57% Merino/33% Microfiber/10% Cashmere) in Madame (fuchsia) (511), using size US 6 and US 7 Addi Turbo circulars.
Gauge: I'll check my notes soon. Promise.
Size: 38 bust. For me, the final blocked dimensions were 40" at the bust and 25" in length. Unblocked the sweater was closer to 39" at the bust and 23" in length. I made modifications that added drape, but regardless you should plan for growth. See below.

Smiling, but really cold as hell.
The waterfall is fed by a mountain stream.
The Pattern:
This was my first Kathy Zimmerman sweater, surprisingly enough (I love cables, and cables are what KZ does). It will not be my last. This pattern was extremely well-planned out, harmonious, and nicely executed. You can tell that Ms. Zimmerman either is or has an excellent tech editor - I'm guessing that the former is the case. There are no errors that I could spot in the size 38, and the only thing that I would suggest changing is the number of stitches that you reserve for the shoulders. The boat neck, as written, is not even close to workable for me, nor was it for my best friend, Laura, who made the sweater in the size 34 in RYC Cashsoft Aran. My bloggy pal Marie also made the Marseilles Pullover and followed my suggestions on the boat neck, so unfortunately I can't point to anyone I know on the internet who worked the shoulders/neckline as in the original. (Definitely check out Marie's gorgeous sweater and the awesome montage she put together for us.)

In both dk and aran weights of RYC cashsoft, the neckline was too wide for Laura and I. The instructions have you bind off the center neckline stitches and reserve the shoulder stitches on stitch holders so that you can do a three-needle bind-off of the shoulders when both the front and back are done. Since Laura warned me that the neck was too wide, I opted to keep all the stitches live until both pieces were done, and then played around to see how many stitches I needed to bind off to make the shoulders the perfect width for me. [Go to one of my previous Marseilles posts for photos of this process. Notice the two circular needles hanging from the neckline.] My definition of the perfect width is the point where the sweater is still technically a boatneck, but you can't see my bra straps hanging out. On the size 38 sweater that is twenty-four stitches per shoulder. The original pattern would have you use thirteen stitches per shoulder, so rule of thumb if you want shoulder-width like mine is to add eleven stitches to the number suggested for your size in the pattern and tweak from there. Once you've done the three-needle bind-off on the shoulders, you can simply cast-off the neckline stitches in the round.

A shot of the garter ridge that runs up the side seam.

Clever and simple.
This is not a beginner's cable pattern. There isn't any complex shaping, but the cable pattern itself is complex, particularly because some of the diamonds are filled with garter stitch. The garter creates a really pretty effect, but until you get the hang of it, working these sections is counter-intuitive, especially on the wrong side. The chart is correct. Follow it verbatim and you'll have a gorgeous sweater - I 've also included some tips of my own below.

One neat technique used in this sweater is a garter-stitch seam. It's interesting because it is very, very simple to seam, and the resulting seam is loose enough that if you leave extra-long tails on either end, you can stretch the seam after you finish it, so that it has the same resilience as the knitted portion of the sweater. It's also very pretty and decorative. Although it wouldn't work for me in every situation, here it mirrors the garter sections within the the cable diamonds nicely.

All laid out and ready for wear.Techniques:
Advanced cabling with garter filled diamonds. Minimal shaping. Cool garter-ridge seam (see above).

Modifications:
I substituted a DK weight yarn for the worsted weight Goddess Yarns Phoebe called for in the pattern, so I ended up having to make some adjustments for my row gauge. (My stitch gauge was pretty close to the pattern, surprisingly, and definitely close enough to ignore.) I added a half repeat (notice that my version ends at a different point in the cable pattern at the neckline than Laura's does), and re-worked everything to make the armscyes the correct length on the body pieces. I was able to keep the pattern exactly the same as the original for the sleeves. How's that for serendipity? Sometimes, things just work out well.

Here's a good tip: Use a crochet hook as a cable needle. This is my new thing. When you screw up the garter segments inside the cables you can just whip out the crochet end of the needle and ladder those stitches into the correct orientation.

Finishing:
Easy peasy. Those garter ridge seams go very quickly and make adjusting your seam tension a snap. I washed and blocked per usual, in tepid water in the sink with eucalan, spun the pieces in the washer to remove excess water, and laid them carefully on towels to dry. The big trick here is not to let the pieces stretch too much when you gently squeeze water from them or transport them. There is the potential to end up with a very big sweater if you're not cautious while the pieces are wet.

Enjoying the great outdoors.Impressions of RYC Cashsoft DK:
I used this yarn for my Clementine sweater in fall of 2005, and really enjoyed working with it both then and for the Marseilles Pullover. This yarn is not the one used in the pattern, and because it is a DK weight rather than a worsted, using it requires some adjustments. This substitution is entirely unnecessary, as the Goddess Yarns Phoebe used in the original is a great yarn that would work nicely without modifications. I just happened to have the Cashsoft hanging around in my stash, and wanted to use it to clear out room for future yarns. Due to the cashmere content, the RYC Cashsoft line, like the very similar Debbie Bliss Cashmerino line, will show wear almost immeadiately. If you are pill and halo averse, go with the original yarn or a nice merino instead. The Cashsoft works just fine for me, but it does not have a pristine appearance.

Possible substitute yarns:
There are about a gazillion substitutes out there for the Goddess Yarns Phoebe used by Kathy Zimmerman in the original. I personally think that if you are going to purchase yarn, sticking with the Phoebe is a fine choice. The alpaca content will give it drape and durability, and the price is good. If you substitute, I'd recommend a nice alpaca or merino worsted. My beloved Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK (a heftier DK than the Cashsoft) would be a good choice, and Karabella's Aurora 8 could also do the trick quite nicely.

Tips & Tricks: Although there really aren't any errors that I could spot in my size, I do have several suggestions for making your Marseilles Pullover successful:

She who climbs up must climb down...First, be aware that the gauge swatch you make is not going to grow to the same extent that your sweater will. On cabled sweaters this is always the case, because once your knitting reaches a certain heft, gravity is going to kick in and create added drape. This feature will not show up in your swatch because it is substantially smaller and less hefty. Additionally, the sweater has no cables in the sleeve pattern and the sleeve pattern is the pattern used to establish gauge, so the swatch will have even less drape and growth than it would if it were in the cable pattern. So, use the swatch as a guide, and be sure to wash and block it, but realize that you will very likely get an inch or two of growth in the body of the sweater. You can compensate for this by subtracting half a repeat, if you are very petite and think it necessary. Just remember to adjust the pattern so that the armscyes fall at the right place proportionately. I re-gauged the sweater to work with DK weight yarn, and also wanted more length, so I added half a repeat.

Blow up the cable chart, make several copies, and code and color the copies if it will help you. I did. The set up row is tricky, and I find that it's easiest for me to just write out the number of knit and purl stitches to work for that row across the bottom of the chart. I still had to knit each set-up row twice, but I would have had to knit them about five times if I hadn't written out the stitch counts for myself.

Use a crochet hook as a cable needle. This is my new thing. When you screw up the garter segments inside the cables you can just whip out the crochet end of the needle and ladder those stitches into the correct orientation. I made much use of this trick. The fact that the cables have garter inside in some cases makes this pattern a little challenging and unintuitive to work in the beginning. You will have to reign in your instinct to purl every time a purl stitch pops up in the row below in those sections. It's tough!

Some Parting Shots:

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.

The Stuff of Amy Butler's Nightmares

Although I would have loved to wow you all with my chic taste and amazing sewing prowess for the first journey out on the sewing machine, it was simply not to be. Instead, my sometimes odd sense of humor and extremely rudimentary sewing skills got in the way:

Whahahahahawha!

Here's a detail I love -
the towel loop.Soon after I inherited Marnie's machine and got it up and running, Larissa announced that she was putting together a fundraising auction for Cafe Au Play, a wonderful family-oriented cafe project in Portland, which is slated to take place tomorrow night. In the past, I have done some minimal sewing on the borrowed machines of friends, culminating in much of the piecing work on this quilt. The last time I did any substantive sewing was over three years ago, and it was fairly rudimentary then. Still, I got pretty excited about this apron drive and decided that I really wanted to participate, so I signed up, thinking that I would make an apron or two for myself as a test run and then complete one to mail off to Larissa. Oh, the hubris!

The bow in back.Life, as usual, got in the way. I spent much of the last month either working or spending family time with Caia and M, and really didn't allow myself any time to play with the sewing machine. Then this week came and I attempted to cut fabric. Apparently I need to go back to kindergarten, because I cannot use scissors to save my life. Happily, I have a Michael's nearby, so I was able to pick up a rotary and self-healing mat and avoid the cutting issue. But then the issues with the machine itself began. I should probably say the issues with me. I am sure that if I had threaded it properly the machine would have been just fine. Instead, I spent all of Wednesday night meticulously taking the machine's guts out, removing thread, and cursing steadily. I was only set right by a desperate trip to the repair shop during lunch yesterday, wherein the repairman took mercy on me and reminded me of the most basic of sewing steps. Last night, with the deadline looming (thank god for fedex), I was determined to make the apron work. By early this morning it was finished. (Don't worry, I did not sew all night. I took a "Survivor" break and had a nice healthy sleep before returning to stitching.)

Another view of the pocket.The resulting apron definitely has its flaws. My esteemed photographer is capable of making it look quite nice in these photos, but if you look closely, you can see the way the stitching at the waist undulates like a series of gently rolling Iowa hills. The fabric is not cut in a straight line (as you can tell by the way that the skulls fail to line up), and there are likely thread ends hanging about, but for all that I still love it. I think that this apron would be a ton of fun for the mother of a little boy, or even for the occasional hip, secure dad (though I suppose even a hip dad would prefer to lose the pleating). It's not vintage, lacy, or delicate, like some of the other lovely pieces that I've seen donated, but I hope that it will fill the niche for fun. Although many of the seams are not straight, they should be strong. I'm hoping that the homemade nature of the auction will draw the kind of edgy Portland types who will like its rustic charm. If not, I am happy to bid myself!

For those who are interested, the pattern is the Pleated Apron from Amy Butler's recent book, In Stitches. It is extremely well-written, as evidenced by the fact that I, who cannot thread a sewing machine or cut with scissors, was able to follow it and produce an actual apron. (Yay!!!). The skull fabric is Talking Heads from the Alexander Hamilton Collection. Personally, I would make an entire quilt for a little boy out of this fabric, but as you know, my fabric taste has been questioned before.

Thelma: Pattern Notes

It feels like I am long overdue on writing up some pattern notes for poor Thelma. Happily, what she's lacking in notes, I've made up for in wear. Although we have had the occasional nippy or overcast day, for the most part, it's been a typical Southern California early fall, which means that although it's chilly at night, temps still soar into the 90's in the middle of the day, so Thelma has gotten lots of play.

Andrea complained that our view never makes it into the photos.
Ask and ye shall receive!

Thelma
Designed by Erika Knight, Rowan Denim People
Knit with four skeins (110 yards/skein) of Rowan Denim (100% Cotton) in Memphis (229) and less than 50 yards of BluJeans Indigo (Medium) on Marnie's little knitter (tension 5, carriage 5). Finishing and hems done by hand using size US 4 Addi Turbo circulars.
Gauge: 18 sts and 25 rows per 4" square.
Size: xs, to fit 32" bust.

Close up of the keyhole, top hems and ribbon straps.
The Pattern
This is a really quick and easy knit. The machine knitting on the body took me about 3 hours total, including time for swatching and adjusting the pattern. Following in the footsteps of Miss Marnie, I never use the machine's cast on or cast off edges, but instead treat them as provisional and add two rows at each end for easy transfer to the needles for handknitting. I knit the lighter-colored hem at the bottom by hand and all the hems at the neckline by hand as well. This took a bit longer - about 7 hours! You never realize how long finishing takes until you machine knit a piece. In this case, it was 70% of the work.

If you use a machine, don't be afraid to try some hand-knitting in stockinette on a continuous piece. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to match machine gauge, but it really hasn't been an issue. The machine generally knits at the tension of the "average" knitter from what I've found, so since I knit loosely, I go down a needle size for hand stitching. If you knit tightly, simply go up a needle size instead.

Techniques:
Nothing new here for me. It was very fun to knit the picot hems, though. I love me some picots! The hardest part of this little tank is the finishing. I had to sew down all my hems afterward, rather than using the snazzy k2tog method of hem fastening, because I machine knit and then handknit down from each edge afterwards. I could have done the bottom edge on the machine, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it until after the main knitting was done. If you plan ahead, some of the sewing can be avoided.

Modifications: Just a few. The original piece uses a curved hem at the bottom which rolls up slightly. I didn't want this tank to be belly-baring, so I lengthened the body a smidge and then added the lighter picot edge at the bottom. I omitted the pocket, and changed the denim straps to ribbon. I used some leftover grossgrain ribbon from Asana to do this. The color is a really rich green, a little lighter than hunter green, and it happens to perfectly match one of the skirts that I wear with Thelma a lot (not this one). Eventually I want to outfit several different ribbons with snaps, so that I can change colors when I like. I think a deep chocolate ribbon would be nice. All of these mods dress this pattern up a little, which I like, and make it more wearable for me. I still think the original is really cute, though, and I would love to downsize it for my little niece, Sophie. It would be adorable on a toddler.

Finishing:
Much of this is covered in techniques, but if you skimmed there, be forewarned that the finishing is where the work comes in on this piece. It's a beginner knit with intermediate finishing.

When you work with denim, it always comes out substantially longer (about 15-20%) and a little bit wider off the needles than it will after washing. So part of the finishing process is tossing your knit in the washer (solo, please, in case it bleeds!) and then into the dryer. I didn't check the washer during the soak cycle to see how much bleeding went on, but the color did lighten up (as it should) and the fabric softened and bloomed substantially - in a good way. It shrunk exactly as much as it was supposed to - good job, Rowan!

Rowan suggests that you wash the piece before any seaming occurs, but I went ahead and seamed and stitched down the hems, which turned out fine. I seamed the sides after drying, and added the ribbon then as well. I also steam-ironed the pieces so that they looked crisp. I threaded the ribbon through by clipping a safety pin to the end of it, and snagging that with the tip of a straight needle which I then pushed through the hem. Voila!

Impressions of Rowan Denim:
This is the first time that I used this yarn and I really enjoyed it. Rowan Denim didn't bleed onto my hands while I knit the way that other denim yarns have. [edited to add: Note that Christine mentions it did bleed for her in the comments below - which makes sense since I only hand knit the hems, whereas she knit an entire piece.] I works up very crisply, but it softens and fades nicely once you wash and dry it, and the gaps created by the stiffness of the yarn are filled in when it blooms.

Possible substitute yarns:
I also used some really old stash yarn, BluJeans Indigo, for this project, and it works well, too. It starts out a lot softer, but it also tends to bleed onto your hands while knitting, which is kind of annoying. If it isn't discontinued, the price points are good, though. I have a ton of this stuff and will use it for some other denim projects. The gauge is interchangeable. I think that Elann sometimes carries a denim that would also work, though I haven't seen it in the blue colors on their site lately.

Shots with the Caia Koosher:
I wanted my photoshoot to include Caia girl, but trying to get her in there and get a good view of Thelma was nearly impossible, so I had to do some photos without her. Here are a few where Caia is the star.

What am I saying? Caia is always the star.

[Read all entries on Thelma.]

Reversible Cable Scarf: Pattern Notes

Since the Redwoods were so incredibly beautiful, and because they were chilly enough to truly merit the wearing of cool-weather knits, we decided to do both of my FO photoshoots there. As an aside to Laura of the comments - the weather was perfect. I think the fog makes the Redwoods even more beautiful and spectactular. We would have loved to meet up with you as well, but as a matter of safety I only post my driving routes after I take them - unfortunately not everyone on the internet is a sweet knitter! - if you leave me your e-mail address I'd be happy to get in touch next time I plan to be in the area. We could have used a pal! You are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. I know I'll be back.