Knititude

A short revisit

I wanted to mention a couple of tiny pet peeves; these are not on the order of chronic lateness (my own or someone else's), crazy drivers, or even PMS headaches or frizzy hair.  No, these are niggling concerns--yet nagging nonetheless.  First:  the tendency of drapey and/or fine gauge sweaters to show the outlines of hardware such as belt loops, belts, snaps or buttons (and I'm sorry, but I refuse to wear leggings under everything); second, the tendency of many sweaters to hang shapelessly at the small of the back (which is after all part of the waist).  These are two reasons I really like how the Chinese Lace pullover fits; the lace has enough relief and texture, plus a slight flare, which combine to conceal the tops of jeans very nicely (and yes, even the dreaded muffin top--not saying that I have one, but...); and the ribbing and side waist decreases and increases give a shapely fit, even at the small of the back.

And this?  A gorgeous version of Chinese Lace, from Angelika, in Germany; it puts my own to shame.  Thanks, Angelika!

WISTERIA Child's Sleeveless Dress

Pattern now available for purchase!

As this dress took form, its violet color and the waterfall effect of the lace border brought the cascading blossoms of Wisteria sinensis to mind. And since W. sinensis means Chinese wisteria, and the lace border is a variation of "Chinese Lace" from Barbara Walker’s 2^nd Treasury of Knitting Patterns—well, the name seemed perfect.

Wisteria is a sleeveless dress worked in the round to the armholes, and the pattern includes instructions for girls’ sizes 3 months through 10 years. The Chinese Lace forms a wide, graceful flounce at the hem, and the vertical ribbed columns give a lean yet non-clingy fit, then curve gently around armholes and neck to echo the undulations of the lace.

Difficulty level:  adventurous beginner to intermediate; stitches used include k2tog, k3tog, SSK (or sl1, k1, PSSO), SSSK, and YO.  Pattern requires chart reading, and the neckline finishing uses an applied I-cord.

Sizes:  3-6 mo [12-18 mo, 2 yrs, 4 yrs, 6-8 yrs, 10 yrs], for chest sizes 16-17 [18-19, 20-22, 23-24, 25-27, 28-29] inches, or 41-43 [44-49, 50-56, 57-62, 63-69, 70-74] cm.

Garment measurements in inches/cm:  Chest circ:  18.5/47 [21/53, 24/61, 26.5/67, 29.5/75, 32/81]; length in inches/cm:  18/46 [19/48, 20/51, 22/56, 26/66, 29/74].

Materials:  Classic Elite Provence (100% mercerized cotton; 205 yds/186 m per 100 gm skein), color #2622, Japanese lilac.  2 [2, 3, 3, 4, 5] skeins; US #6/4 mm circular needles OR SIZE TO OBTAIN GAUGE, 16-24 inches long depending on size worked. Even after dividing for front and back, I like to work on circular needles, but if you don’t, (optional) 1 set US #6/4 mm straight needles OR SIZE TO OBTAIN GAUGE; 1 set US #6/4 mm double-pointed needles (dpns) OR SIZE TO OBTAIN GAUGE; stitch holders or waste yarn; tapestry needle.

GAUGE:  21 sts/26 rows = 4 inches in rib patt (*p2, k5; rep fr *), slightly stretched.  CHECK GAUGE ON BLOCKED SWATCH.

Some possible yarn substitutions:  Tahki Cotton Classic; for an all-seasons version, try Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, and for a cool weather jumper, Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Superwash or Karabella Aurora 8.

Purchase pattern here!  Includes full written instructions, schematic, and chart for Chinese Lace, in the form of a pdf file which will be sent via email.

Wisteria on Caroline

I've finished the written part of the pattern, so all that remains is to proofread, draw a schematic, and put it all together with a photo or two.  Or three.

By the way, I'm afraid this one will not be a freebie--too much work and time fiddling with that lovely Chinese Lace!   

Wisteria hysteria

I just had to demonstrate what I meant when I said the hydrangeas must love all this rain; I've never seen them like this before.  I mean, don't they look Seussian, like they should be blooming under Truffula trees?

What's that?  What do hydrangeas have to do with wisterias?  You think this post should probably be called "hydrangea hysteria"?  You don't give a flying f--- about a bunch of freaking freakishly blue flowers?  Where the f--- is the CHINESE LACE?

Ah, yes.  Here, here she is, in child's sleeveless dress form, and I shall call her...Wisteria.  Why?  Well, the first time I remember noticing a wisteria vine, I was a college freshman, and knew (and cared) very little about gardens--and yet the cascades of purple flowers adorning the entrance to the Frick Chemistry Lab amazed me enough that I asked someone the name of the plant.  Since then, I've seen Wisteria sinensis (or Chinese wisteria--how perfect is that?!) on buildings, on pergolas, and ascending tree trunks, and it never fails to amaze.  As this dress took form, its violet color and the waterfall effect of the Chinese Lace border brought the wisteria to mind.

And yes, instructions will be available soon, for girls' sizes 6 months to 10 years; I reworked the neckline today, and so the pattern should be up by (dare I say it?) next week. 

Silly mistake #486

Sometimes it seems to me that the entirety of a knitting life must involve careening from one knitterly mistake to the next.  Some are not so silly--a consequence of pushing the envelope of one's skills, trying a new technique or stitch; some are GALLING--how many times while following a pattern for something knit in the round have I read the admonition to join, taking care not to twist stitches?  And yet....

Well, last week's silly mistake was on the order of the latter.  I started a sleeveless child's frock using a variation of the Chinese Lace pullover I've been working on.  I had gone back and forth on which yarn to use:  Classic Elite's Provence in Japanese Lilac (also used for this project), at around 5 sts per inch, or diVe Cotone Egitto (which I'm using for the Chinese Lace pullover) in cream, at around 6 sts per inch?  I cast on 242 sts and worked for several inches before I realized that, while I had calculated the number of stitches for the Cotone Egitto, I had at the last minute decided to use the Provence--meaning this baby was going to be four or five inches too large in circumference.

If I had had a 6-year-old girl handy, I might have just kept going, but I only have a 3 1/2-year-old, and she (my lovely granddaughter*) is only visiting for another week.  Not wanting to start over, I decided instead to cut out 2 pattern repeats.  So on the next round I put the first 2 pattern repeats on some waste yarn.  I worked two more rounds, skipping the held stitches, and then, using sewing thread, I hand-stitched up and down the rows, a couple of stitches away from where I would cut out the extra piece, trying to make sure I caught all those slippery cotton strands.      

Did  I mention that this was my first steek?  Here it is after cutting; luckily, all of the strands held firmly.  I then seamed as I normally would, from the right side, and below is the result:  not bad, not bad at all.  Of course it's a different story when viewed from the wrong side, even though I trimmed the yarn ends as closely as I dared, and will flatten the seam forcefully when blocking. 

This episode did make me realize something:  while I'm happy to give the finished dress to my granddaughter, and chose the size so that it would fit her, it is first a pattern prototype, and second a gift.  If the gifting was the first priority, I would have taken a deep breath, frogged and started over.  Is that kind of sad?  I'm still trying to decide.

STILL coming soon--okay, realistically I have to say sometime in August--the pattern for the Chinese Lace pullover.

Ummm...in a moment of masochistic math geekiness, I just calculated the total number of stitches needed to make the sample for my pattern (due in September) for Big Girl Knits 2:  at 49 inches around and 22 inches long, with three-quarter length sleeves, at a ball band gauge (eep! I haven't even made a swatch yet!) of 23 sts/30 rows per 4 inches, or 43 1/8th sts per square inch, I got...58,908 3/4 stitches.  Dear Lord.  I feel faint.  Better make that August or September for Chinese Lace.   

*Vanity compels me to add that while I am, strictly speaking, old enough to be a grandmother, Caroline is the daughter of my husband's daughter from a previous marriage.

 

Showstopper

I was going to call this post "Naked Gardening."   My almost-three-year-old "helped" me do some planting this morning and, since I froze my ass off last night at my other son's baseball game, in 50-degree wind and drizzle, I got us both up in fleece and boots and headed out...to find that it was probably 80 degrees in the sun.  Chucked the fleece right away, and after an hour or so, the kid stripped off everything else.  I shot a few pics of him with (garden) hose in hand, but later, while trying to erase one, I accidentally hit "erase all."  Oh well.  I probably don't want to post anything that could get me accused of purveying internet porn, anyway--no matter how innocent the flash of bare buttocks might be.

So.  I'm not sure why this photo is so gray--I'm mystified as to why the camera sometimes sees things so differently than the human eye--but I didn't think it worth Photoshopping for the hue, when the detail is really what I'm interested in.  After the nice comments on my last post, I got inspired to sew one of the raglan seams just for the heluvit, and gosh, I think it looks pretty cool.  And when I held it up to myself (calling the main piece the front, for the moment)--well, it will take a bit of maneuvering to get a photo, seeing as there's no back and no other sleeve, but...this one could be a showstopper. 

Better late than never

Fall is my favorite season, hands down, but if spring in New England had more days like today, where the sapphire hue of the sky is more September than April, and a slight breeze is stirring the bloom-laden branches of the weeping cherries...plus, I realized that very young leaves range in color from yellow to chartreuse to burgundy, which is not so different from...the range of leaf colors in the fall!  A detail I probably should have noted at some point during the last several decades I've spent on the planet, but hey.  Better late than never.

Also BLTN:  this photo of a rejected Chinese Lace sleeve prototype.  I knit it weeks ago and tossed it in a pile with all my other Chinese Lace flotsam; I'm surprised by how intriguing it appears in the picture, but trust me, it's not so good on the arm.  I tried an eyelet rib to transition between the lace and stockinette, and then I tried making all of the sleeve increases just above the rib, to give the sleeve a full shape above the elbow--well, I think that look works better with a handkerchief-weight cotton or linen, or an organza, than with knitted fabric.  Also visible is the decreases I tried working into the lace pattern (the panel that comes to a point just left of center) to create a bell shaped cuff.  Not terrible, but I can do better; in fact, I'm thinking that if I can really do the decreases nicely, Chinese Lace would make a cool hat.

Good News/Bad News

Although I've been knitting furiously for the past week, little or none of it has been bloggable (bad news).  However, by next week, I should have 2 or 3 completed pattern submissions to send off to knitty in time for the deadline for their July issue (good news).  My limited experience with submissions for publication, whether print or online, has been that rejections are to be expected (bad news).  I've heard that knitty's editor, Amy Singer, at least lets you know quickly whether your pattern will be used (good news), and if NOT (bad news), then I will be posting those patterns here on my blog, instead (good news).

I haven't given up on Chinese Lace, and the other day I was flipping through the yellowing pages of 1500 Patterns, a softcover "Knitting Encyclopedia" from Mon Tricot that I've had for about 20 years, when I found this.  Look familiar?  Aside from using k2togs instead of SSKs, it is a block of four pattern lines from Chinese Lace, and that lovely diagonal has me thinking I might resurrect this idea--or at least the mock wrap part of it, combined with C.L. sleeves.

Square egg

Even though I've been knitting madly for the past few days, I'm not sure any of it will be with us for long, if you know what I mean.  I lengthened the belled lace cuff, then tried an eyelet rib to transition into the upper sleeve, then tried making the upper sleeve fuller, and then gave up and went back to my earlier version.  I was wondering how the raglan decreases would look with the lace.

And here we are.  Not bad, was my first thought.  My second thought:  The two sides are not symmetrical.  Now, this is not a vertically symmetrical pattern, so of course I knew this would be the case, and it didn't really bother me, at least where the left and right sides of the front were concerned, for instance.  And this pattern does have strong diagonal movement to it, so I thought raglan--diagonal--okay; better than a wavy set-in shoulder seam, anyway.  But somehow, picturing the left sleeve looking very different  from the right sleeve at the raglan seams--this bothers me.

Possible solutions:  I could make one sleeve a mirror image of the other sleeve.  I could do this and make the body stockinette, achieving an odd-couple pairing of baseball jersey and lace which might be edgy and cool--or disastrous.  I could use the lace pattern as an accent panel only...which is why I created this swatch. I started with simple wide stockinette ribs, then tried the "waterfall" pattern from BW's 1st Treasury along the sides.  Notice how the Chinese Lace bullies the adjacent stitches into undulating along with it?  So then I tried increasing and decreasing on either side so the resulting combination has straight edges, allowing other stitch patterns to be combined with it more easily.  But am I fighting the very qualities of the lace which attracted me in the first place?  Am I trying to make a square egg?    

Sleeve me

I like the belled cuff, and the stockinette is okay, I think...I hope...I tried swatching some small eyelet patterns which I thought might complement the lace, for the upper part of the sleeve, but wasn't crazy about any of them.  The lace cuff could be another inch or two longer, I think, and then this sleeve really needs something at the lace-stockinette juncture, maybe something a little ribby, with a few eyelets, or maybe even just a row or two of reverse stockinette....

The above photo would be benefit from better lighting, but it's only 20 degrees outside right now, so outdoor photography is, well, painful.  At least it's almost April; If it were only January, I'd have to seriously consider cutting the mullions out of the window to get rid of those shadow bars falling across anything I try to photograph in natural light.

I mean, this is kind of ridiculous.