Knititude

Treccione Pullover

The pattern for the Treccione Pullover is now available on Ravelry! I worked with the Dream in Color yarn company to design this pullover; they kindly allowed me to pick any of their yarns and the colorway, and provided yarn and photography (1st and 5th photos courtesy Dream in Color yarns). I decided to use the worsted weight Classy with Cashmere, and it wasn't easy to pick a colorway among so many gorgeous options, but in the end I chose Magic Orchid, a rich blend of plums and burgundies; the color is most accurate in the photos taken outdoors.

I actually came up with the idea of using short rows to shape a sideways-knitted cabled yoke at least two years ago, did a swatch using the bulky cable I ended up using for Treccione, and submitted the design proposal for publication at least once (and maybe twice). I thought it was a cool idea, and so it was one of those times when I was a lttle surprised that it wasn't accepted (there are times when I'm not sure it's exactly what the publication is looking for). But you never know whether a design proposal will be accepted or not, and one of the nice things about self-publishing patterns is that I know I can always publish one of my designs myself! 

Of course, with a sideways-knitted yoke, the sweater must either be a cardigan, or the ends of the yoke have to be joined somehow. Having never had great success with Kitchener stitch (the ends of the graft in particular always looked funky) and not liking the idea of a visible seam, I was delighted to come across a post by Techknitter on grafting using the duplicate stitch or contrast color method. For me this worked perfectly, even across the knit-purl transitions between the cables, and even on both ends of the grafted seam! (The safety pin in the above photo marks the grafted row; for more on the duplicate stitch grafting method, see this post.) 

The next challenge in writing the pattern was figuring out how to write the instructions for the short rows, and how many short rows to insert to make sure that the top and bottom of the yoke were the right size. I was able to insert the short row instructions into the instructions for the cable repeat, and by working with the desired finished measurements for the neck opening and the bottom of the yoke, I was able to figure out how many short rows were needed per cable repeat. (Not that there was only one answer to the the question of how many short rows; by inserting more short rows, I would have ended up with a more flared yoke, which could have been pulled down farther over the shoulders.)

The rest of the pullover was straightforward; I wanted to keep it simple to focus attention on the yoke. So there is some waist shaping, and rolled hems, and that's about it! There were only two issues that came up: First, I realized I was going to run out of yarn if I did full-length sleeves. Totally my fault-- I told Dream in Color how much yarn I thought I would need, and I didn't realize that the cabled yoke would gobble up so much yarn. So I went with 3/4- length sleeves. (If you want to do full length sleeves, buy a skein or two extra, then figure out how long you want the sleeves and how many more stitches you need to decrease to end up with your desired cuff circumference. You may have to recalculate the decrease frequency, OR you may even be able to keep the sleeve decreases at the same frequency. Then just keep going until sleeves are the desired length.)

Second, I realized when I was almost done with the yoke that there was noticeable variation in color between skeins (see photo of back of sweater, which shows a darker patch in the center of the yoke). So for the rest of the pullover, I divided the skeins into two groups, with the skeins within each group similar to each other, and used one skein from each group at all times, alternating between skeins every few rounds. For the sleeves I divided two skeins into two

balls each, and used one ball from each skein for each sleeve. Since there were no seams in which to hide the transitions between skeins, I switched yarns in the underarm area (sleeves ) or the side (body), and by twisting the yarns once around each other every time I switched, and making sure the yarn carried over several rounds was the correct tension, I found that the switches were virtually invisible. And yes, working from two skeins was a nuisance, but for me it was worth it, to 

avoid having slight color variations between skeins show up as thick stripes on the finished pullover. Of the last three photos, the top one shows the side with the yarn switches, the next shows the side without switches, and the last shows the wrong side with switches.

 

 

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New patterns and an exciting new* technique!

Cambia Capelet, Girls' Version

 

I wanted to have a sample of the girls' version of Cambia in one of the smaller sizes, since the body proportions of pre-adolescent girls are so different from those of adult women (by the way, I compared the CYCA guidelines for Child and Woman sizes to ensure that the two Cambia sizes which can be made for both girls and women, sizes Girls' 10-12/Women's XS and Girls' 14-16/Women's S, will work for both). 

In addition, after knitting the original women's size sample, I decided to change the cable stitch pattern slightly for the pattern, so I wanted to make absolutely sure that it still looked good, without too much space between the cables (for an explanation of why I made the change, seehere).  For this sample, size 2-4, I used Dream in Color's "Visual Purple," and I followed the pattern directions as written.  Keep in mind that this is the smallest size, and that cables will look proportionally smaller in the larger sizes.

I've added a couple of photos of the girls' version to the pattern pdf, so I will email the updated pattern to everyone who has already purchased it.  In addition, I made a slight change to the directions, simplifying them.  For suggestions for yarn substitutions, see here.

 

Yarns for Cambia Capelet

I usually like to suggest some possible alternative yarns for my patterns:  I like to hit several yarn price points (and maybe if we're lucky, some of those yarns can be found on sale), some knitters are sensitive to one fiber or another, and some-- okay, all-- knitters have a few yarns in their stash that they are looking to use up. 

For Cambia, I have to put in a plug for Dream in Color Classy* (100% superfine merino wool), mainly because I feel that the color variations really add interest to Cambia's fairly simple stitch pattern.  The colors are beautiful, and there is no pooling of color in the finished garment (for photos of the Visual Purple and Deep Seaflower colorways, see here, hereand here).  The yarn is also machine washable and a pleasure to work with, but there are many yarns with these last characteristics, so they are less of a factor in my strong recommendation that you give DiC Classy a try.  Note that some of their colors are more semisolid than others; I tend to prefer the semisolid colorways to the more wide-ranging color mixes. 

But of course there are many other yarns out there!  For this project, I would avoid 100% cotton, because the finished project would tend to be too heavy, and more likely to stretch out of shape than a pure or mixed animal fiber or synthetic.  Ditto for linen and silk-- except for the caveat that if you only want to wear the capelet "normally" (over both shoulders), the drape of a pure linen or silk yarn might be nice (but the cable stitch pattern would definitely have a flatter look to it).  Plant fibers mixed with wool or synthetic fibers should work fine.  Here are a few I like (as always, be sure to make a good-sized gauge swatch and measure it after blocking, whenever you substitute yarn in a pattern!): 

Cascade 220 (wool):  also comes in a superwash version.  

Cascade Venezia (wool/silk)

Classic Elite Verde Collection Solstice (cotton/wool)

Debbie Bliss Fez (merino/camel)

Fiesta Yarns Boomerang (superwash merino wool)

Knitpicks Andean Silk (alpaca/silk/merino wool)

Malabrigo Worsted (merino wool)

Spud & Chloe Sweater (wool/cotton)

Tahki Yarns Savoy (silk/merino) 

 

*Full disclosure:  I purchased all of the Dream in Color yarn I own, including what I used for Cambia,  from various retail yarn stores, and have received no payment or compensation of any kind from Dream in Color.

Cambia Capelet

Pattern now available!

As promised, here are some more photos of the Cambia Capelet.  I took advantage of the recent snowfalls, which provided a pretty background for pictures, but in fact I think Cambia is really perfect for fall or early spring, when it makes a great outer later. 

 

Having said that, I've been throwing it on inside the house when I feel a bit of a chill, and it's been wonderful!  I can still knit or work at my computer while wearing it, and with no front or back (and no right or wrong side-- it can be worn with either side facing out), it couldn't be easier.  

And I think it's quite flattering.  The wide neck opening frames the face nicely, and keeps the wool from touching the neck-- a plus for those of us with sensitive skin.  It's sized so that it fits comfortably (not tightly) over bust and arms, but without a lot of ease; the above-elbow length and the stretch of the fabric are what make it work (although if you're planning to shoot baskets, or hail a cab, you might want to wear it over just one shoulder, or as a skirt!*).

 

I should mention that the sample pictured differs slightly from the pattern version: in the pattern, for all girls' sizes and for women's sizes XS-L, there are 2 additional stitches in each purl section (between cables), and for women's sizes 1X and 2X, there are 3 additional stitches.  The photo below shows a swatch with the 2 added purl stitches, superimposed over the sample capelet. 

Why the change?  Well, each yoke-shaping decrease removes one purl stitch from between the cables, and when I started grading the pattern for different sizes, I quickly realized that this method wouldn't get the neck opening small enough for sizes L-3X. 

 

The reason this was only a problem in the larger sizes is that the increases in bust and arm circumferences with each size are not proportional to the increase in cross back (shoulder width), which changes only an inch from sizes L to 3X.  I didn't think the capelet would look right if the upper edge didn't fall inside the ends of the shoulders (even though this would also mean that in sizes 1X and 2X, the over-one-shoulder and skirt options would not work-- the upper edge circumference just would not be large enough). 

 

So my only choice was to start with more stitches in each purl section, and I reluctantly decided not to offer a size 3X, which would have required adding 5 stitches to each purl section (compared to the pictured capelet) to achieve the shaping I wanted.

Other than the cables being slightly farther apart in the pattern vs. the pictured version, the other difference, in women's sizes XS and S ONLY, is that the neck opening will be slightly smaller than pictured (about 2" smaller in size S).  It will still be a wide boat neck in all sizes, and should still allow the capelet to be worn as a skirt or over one shoulder (except for sizes 1X and 2X).

 

I'm working right now on a sample for size 2-4, from the final pattern, so hopefully I'll soon have photos of the girls' version of Cambia! 

 

*Except for sizes 1X and 2X-- see text for explanation.

Which is better, One or Two?

In the last month I've taken myself and both of my sons for eye exams, which is perhaps why I have that phrase, "Which is better, one... or two?" stuck in my head.  I can picture myself sitting there, that funky optometrist apparatus in front of my face like some futuristic Carnivale mask-slash-headdress, and hear the clicking of the lenses as they are shifted back and forth with each repetition of those words.

But that is neither here nor there.  In this case, I'm wondering which of these swatches you like better:  One...

or Two?  The first would normally be called the "right" side, with the clearly delineated cables, but when I swatched for this capelet, I discovered that because of the way I set up the cables, and the way they move diagonally, narrow tendrils of knit stitches traverse the "wrong" side surface.  I liked this side enough that I decided to make this capelet reversible, paying attention to the transitions to ribbing at top and bottom of both right and wrong sides, and carefully weaving in my loose ends (of which there weren't many, thanks to those nice big 4 oz. skeins of Dream in Color Classy*).

And I decided to name this capelet Cambia (Italian for "it changes"), because it can be worn with either side out; over one shoulder only; or even as a skirt!  More pics coming soon to demonstrate.

*By the way, the yarn colors (colorway "Deep Seaflower")-- many subtle shadings of turquoise, blue, violet, and pewter-- are reproduced quite accurately in these photos; pretty, aren't they?

Rhodopsin*

I've been doing a lot of swatching in the past few weeks, both for unbloggable projects and for this capelet (thanks, Karen and Erin-- "capelet" is a much better term than "poncho"!).  I really loved the Dream in Color "Grey Tabby" swatch for the capelet, but I only had two skeins of it, and had trouble locating more, so I decided to try another one of their many tempting colorways. 

My nearby LYSs don't carry Dream in Color Classy, so after looking at many of their colorways on different websites, and worked into different projects on Ravelry, I finally bought some Visual Purple online fromWoolgirl (great store and wonderful customer service, by the way).  Unfortunately, each of the three skeins was noticeably different in color from the others-- not completely unexpected for handpainted yarns, which don't usually have dye lots.  So I decided that, as is generally recommended with these yarns, I would have to alternate skeins, working a couple of rounds in one, and then switching to another. 

After a few rounds I put this project aside for a week or so-- I just got scared by how very intensely purple it was!  (Much more vivid than it looks in these photos.)  I started thinking about how my wardrobe tends toward neutrals, and wondered if I would ever dare to wear such a royally assertive hue...but every time I glanced over at the fledgling capelet, I was struck by how gorgeous the color variations were, and how they changed in different lights (the bluer photo was shot in daylight only, and the redder one under incandescent light and daylight combined).  So after I got used to the purple, I started working again. 

But I'm afraid this project is destined for frogging, for a few reasons; I might have persevered if only one of them was true, but the combination was too much.  1) It's a pain to switch skeins every couple of rounds.  2) More importantly, it leaves little floats on the wrong side, and when I swatched this stitch pattern, I realized that the wrong side is very interesting, so I want this capelet to be reversible.  If the yarn wasn't superwash, I would have done felted joins-- but it is, so I didn't (and what a pain all those felted joins would have been!).  3) Most importantly, I think it would have been too big.  It was a bit tricky measuring my swatch because of the way the stitch pattern slants.

In the future, I will try to do as Connie recommended:  buy my handpainted yarn from a bricks-and-mortar store, so I can match the skeins, and forget about alternating from skeins while knitting.  Luckily, I had also purchased (online from WEBS) five skeins of Dream in Color Classy in Deep Seaflower, a wonderful combination of blues and violets, and was able to match three of those quite closely-- I think.  So I've already started my capelet again, with fewer stitches and a slight change in stitch pattern.  Wish me luck!

*Rhodopsin-- the retinal pigment that allows us to see in low-light conditions-- is also known as "visual purple."  From Wikipedia:  "Exposed to light, the pigment immediately photobleaches, and it takes about 30 minutes to regenerate fully in humans."  This is why it takes your eyes awhile to adapt when you go from a bright to a low light environment.  Did you know that your eyes dark-adapt separately from each other?  This is kind of fun:  in a dim room, when your eyes are fully dark-adapted (so you can see objects in the room fairly well), cover one completely, and then turn a bright light on for a few seconds.  When you turn it off, the uncovered eye will hardly be able to see anything, but if you uncover the other eye, it will still be dark-adapted, and you'll be able to see just as well as you could before!

I'm rethinking the tweed...

Sto ripensando il tweed...

I'm trying to work up a design rather quickly-- it's for a sort of short poncho*, and I'd like to make the pattern available before the holidays, as it seems to be a good fall/winter project:  something that wil knit up quickly and simply; something to keep you (or some lucky giftee) warm in a chilly house, or to throw over your shoulders on one of those sunny winter days when you don't need that knee-length down coat that makes you look like a sausage, or to transition into spring, when it finally comes.... 

I was thinking I would use some of the 20-odd balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed that are languishing in my stash, but after swatching with it-- hmm, not feeling the love.  The first photo below is of my original swatch, done in some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran left over from my Rib & Braid jumper, and shows the stitches really clearly.  The second is in the Jo Sharp, and the stitch pattern just doesn't stand out very well. 

So I thought maybe a cable pattern would stand out better-- the thicker areas of stockinette would perhaps be more visible against the purl background.  Somewhat successful, I thought (third photo) but still not the clear stitch definition I was looking for.

But I did like the diagonal cable, so I decided to pursue variations on that; the way the decreases on the Diagonal Relief swatch (the first two) muddy up the purl fabric near the top was problematic for me, while the decreases on the diagonal cable swatch are more successfully hidden.

Possibilities for yarns:  I have recently been loving the many semisolid yarns that are now available (my design in the upcoming Twist Collective uses one), so I decided to try one of those.  In the last photo (clockwise from left):  Cascade Jewel Hand-Dyed, 4 different shades of Classic Elite Waterlily, and Dream in Color Classy in Grey Tabby.  So hard to choose!!

As for all of that tweedy green, I think it would be lovely knitted into mostly stockinette, but I don't see myself doing anything like that in the near future.  I know I've been super lazy about responding to blog comments--sorry to all who have left comments, I do appreciate them!-- so I'm thinking there will be some kind of contest giveaway in this blog's future....

*Ugh, I think the word "poncho" is really ugly.  Anyone know of a prettier term for this type of garment?