Knititude

We have winners

Man.  Y'all are good.  Who knew there were so many gardeners out there?  I did eliminate "Gruss an Aachen," "Mrs. Bosanquet" and "Sparrieshoop" from the list of light pink rose varieties, because Googling any of those would have given an instant answer.

I didn't specify how to enter the contest, so I accepted the first three correct comments, as well as any correct emails submitted during the same time period.  And the winners are:

1. Eva Smith (email)
2. Grad School Knitter
3. Anne
4. Macoco

Yes, there are four winners; conveniently, I actually have two prizes worth of the DiVe Cotone Egitto.  So, once Eva lets me know via email which yarn she prefers (Garnstudio Silke-Tweed, Classic Elite Classic Silk, or DiVe Cotone Egitto), and where she'd like her prize sent, I will let Grad School Knitter know which yarns are still available--and so on and so forth.

Congrats to all!  Next post--what this all has to do with knitting.

It's all about the earrings

Sure, I'm inspired by a particular yarn, by "stitchionaries," by just about anything, but really, it all comes down to the earrings.  Unlike some other knitters, I don't have a thing for shoes, nor socks (too many knitters to reference!)--you know, the feet are awfully far from the ears.  Normally speaking.  And in theory, I like bracelets and necklaces (in that order) but I just don't wear bracelets that much, and necklaces--I know it's an opportunity to make a wish every time you have to move the clasp around, but it just annoys me that the thing keeps inching around from the nape to the front of my neck.  Someone should invent a decorative clasp that also holds the pendant, so the whole kit'n'caboodle hangs in front, without requiring any fiddling.  I do have necklaces in which the centerpiece is part of the necklace, rather than hanging from the chain or cord or whatever, but every time I turn my head, it moves, and has to be re-centered.  Can anyone tell me whether a little dab of superglue, or whatever it is that starlets use to keep their plunging necklines in place, might work in this situation?

But I digress.  My point is, I often buy yarn with a pair (or two) of earrings in mind, and to a lesser extent, create designs to go with my favorites.  The chalcedony and crystal pair I got in Nantucket (above) inspired my purchase of the Classic Elite Posh I used for this sweater--unfortunately, not one of my better efforts.  The yarn in the third photo must go unnamed for now, but it's a paler yellow than it appears in the photo--buttery enough to spread on toast, in fact.

As you can see, I have a lot of pink earrings:  top, rose quartz and pink pearl; bottom, the same.  I bought the yarn for this sweater because I realized that I had hardly any clothes to go with all those pink earrings.  I don't dislike pink clothing, necessarily, but the color must be just right:  for me, hot pink and pastel just don't work, but a pale pink, almost neutral, or a dusty pink--those are possibilities.

This  Empire Silk yarn, from Karabella, is absolutely gorgeous (the bad photo doesn't do it justice), and it's sitting in my stash waiting for the perfect pattern.  When I purchased it, I could only find five skeins of that lovely deep gold...I wonder if I should buy more, now that kpixie seems to carry it. 

Anyhoo.  I've saved the best for last.  I love, love, LOVE these confections.

And the yarn ain't bad either:  Alchemy Yarns Synchronicity in "Good Earth."         

    

At long last

Nice house!  Wonder who lives there?  Wonder when it was built?  Wait a minute--what's that in the foreground over there...could it be...Chinese Lace?!

Yes, it most certainly is--and it's not too short!

Hooray!

Note to self:

Next time, don't be a lazy slug:  treat ripped yarn properly to remove the kinks before re-knitting! It's not terrible, but you can see the difference between the new yarn and re-knitted yarn if you look closely (and if you can get past the moire patterning--for some reason it's really noticeable in this photo).  Modeled pics and pattern coming soon--the former when she dries, the latter ASAP.

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.

 

Indecision

I have several swatches of Chinese Lace sitting on my desk, and I can't decide which version I like most!  I've been wanting to try one of the yarns in my stash:  "di.Ve Cotone Egitto," mercerized cotton, a closeout from WEBS--such a good deal I bought three different colors.  For this project, I chose the one I'll call "pale rose."  First swatch (left):  I omitted "Chart B," the 7 stitch panel which alternates with the main panel in the original lace pattern, instead using p2 between the main panels.

I think I've decided which size needle to use, at least.  The label suggests using US 6 or 7 needles, so I tried 7s, but thought the fabric looked kind of loose (or not?).  I switched to US 5s for the other swatches, which makes the leafy sections much tighter.

This swatch was worked according to the original pattern directions.  Notice how the ribs seem to curb the undulating tendencies of the leafy panels?  I also experimented with a border, adapting "Chart B" for use along the top of the swatch.  I wondered how the "Chart B" repeat would look with centered decreases instead of alternating left- and right-leaning decreases, so I tried that along just the top left half of the swatch.  The centered ribs are too neat, I think; the original ribs have an organic, branchy look that goes better with the leafy panels.

The color of the yarn in this photo is more peachy than it really appears (the first two photos are fairly accurate).  Notice the yarn kinking?  An especially annoying problem for me, because the bane of my summer avocation (sailboat first mate) is kinky lines ("ropes" to you landlubbers).  Luckily, I found that keeping four or five feet of yarn between needles and ball kept the kinks from taking over.

For the last swatch, I used only the main panels; I wanted to see if the leafy motif would just get lost.  But, darn it, it's not bad.  It's quite pretty...true, it's on the solid side, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for a sweater.  I also added a little stockinette at the top, to see how the lace might look as an accent, although I'm leaning towards an allover lace pattern at this point.

Well, decisions must be made, and if they lead to ripping, then so be it.  Here again, the three candidates; I'm thinking the ribs may be too dominant in the original lace pattern... but then again, they really make the leafy panels stand out... but the other two are also lovely, in a more subtle way....

(I have made a few decisions--assuming I do go with the allover lace!-- no ribbing at hem or sleeves, minimal shaping, pullover, probably boat neck, raglan sleeves.)