Knititude

Farnia Cardigan

The March 2018 issue of Twist Collective has gone live, and includes my Farnia Cardigan! This cardi features one of my most-loved textured stitch patterns, "Hearts of Oak" from Barbara Walker's Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns ("Farnia" is Italian for a particular species of oak). In fact I used it years ago for a fitted skirt design, the Selva Skirt.

The stitch pattern has a deeply sculpted surface, and direct light really picks out its edges and hollows (as in the second of the two swatches shown below). But it also has a lovely, more subtle effect in diffuse light; plus it creates a nice firm fabric, which I thought I could use to great effect in this cardigan, with its hip length and subtly peplum-y border. (I find that around the waistline, I prefer a fabric that's not too clingy or drapey).

  

AND-- Hearts of Oak is a fun stitch pattern to work. It is a little labor intensive, which is why a wide border seemed to me just the right amount of it. When I got the top of the border, the stockinette stitch body seemed to be done in no time! I kept the rest of the cardi plain, to keep the focus on the hem-- just rolled edgings at the cuffs and neck (or it would be quite simple to substitute garter stitch or ribbed edgings). I also elected to use button loops rather than buttonholes, for increased flexibility with button number and placement.

I decided to use seamless set-in top down sleeves, which I also think are fun to work; I like to see the sleeve cap growing as the short rows progress around the edge of the armhole. I also think this type of sleeve gives a clean look to the shoulder and upper arm area, with no need to ease the cap into the armhole in a separate finishing step. 

Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK works wonderfully for this design; it has great stitch definition, is machine washable, and comes in a wide range of colors. And now that Twist Collective has partnered with WEBS, the yarn store, they've put together yarn+pattern kits in every size (there is a link on the pattern page for yarn kits, as well as for the pattern alone).  

(Modeled photos copyright Crissy Jarvis)

Selva Skirt Backstory Part III

To be quite honest, the Hearts of Oak pattern is not the speediest knit around, especially when worked on US #3 needles.  The unblocked fabric is fun to look at in different lights, and its almost crunchy texture invites you to grasp a handful and squeeze-- but even so, it seemed to me that I knitted endlessly on Selva before finally reaching the point where it was time to start the waist decreases.

I had swatched the "ribbon" stitch pattern I used for the top of the skirt, and measured the swatch stretched to determine whether a zipper was necessary:  I decided no.  As I progressed toward the waistband, decreasing steadily in the plain purl sections at the sides, I instead started to worry that the waistband would stretch out of shape:  the "ribbons" weren't quite as firm as I had hoped, and of course the reverse stockinette wasn't firm at all.  That's why I decided to add the elastic to the waistband.

In the case of this pattern, the sizing was dictated by the stitch pattern:  the difference between sizes is two repeats or 20 stitches (or 2 1/2 inches) at the hips.  Having said that, it is easy to change the frequency and number of waist decreases to customize the fit for a larger or smaller waist in relation to hips.

Filatura di Crosa "Zara" is a great choice of yarn for this skirt; it has tight twist, lots of resilience, and seems to be fairly durable (standing up well to frogging).  It also comes in an extensive palette of colors.  If another yarn is substituted, I would encourage using something with similar characteristics.  A quick glance at yarndex suggested these as possibilities (note that I have no personal experience with any of them):  Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK or Extrafine Merino DK; Dale of Norway Falk; Classic Elite Classic 150; Debbie Bliss Rialto DK; Louet Gems Opal; or Knit Picks Merino Style.  Note that for most of these (as for Zara), the suggested needle size is larger than US #3, and the gauge thus looser than the 6 sts to the inch I got in stockinette stitch with #3s.  SWATCH!

Selva Skirt Backstory Part II

I always planned to work Selva in the round, especially since I had not originally included a slit.  Since the skirt was quite fitted, I realized this would require that it be above knee length; but after calling to tell me that Interweave wanted to use the design, Eunny Jang, the editor, told me she thought it might require both a slit and a zipper closure.  This got me wondering whether I should work the skirt flat and then seam it up the back, thus easily allowing for a slit and a zipper-- but I decided against this, mainly because I thought it would be significantly slower knitting.

A bit of good news:  Eunny wanted me to use Filatura di Crosa Zara, the exact same yarn I had used for the swatch (very unusual, in my experience!).  Unfortunately, not expecting this, I hadn't bothered to take any notes on the gauge of the Hearts of Oak swatch I had sent to Interweave, so as soon as the yarn arrived in the mail, I swatched again.  After blocking, the swatch seemed a little too loose to me, so I did another one on smaller needles, and decided to use the smaller needles for the skirt to get a slightly denser fabric (trying not to calculate how many extra stitches I would have to knit to finish the thing!).

My 2 cents on swatches:  I've decided that patterns which include stitch patterns other than stockinette stitch should give gauges both in stockinette stitch, to make it easier to find substitute yarns, AND in one or more of the pattern stitches used in the design, since working cables or lace or garter stitch, or whatever, might cause changes in yarn tension among different knitters.  In future all my patterns will include at least two gauges (I can't imagine myself creating a design using only stockinette!).

Back to Selva:  First, I decided I didn't want to have a facing around the slit; this meant that I would have to find a way to make the edge of the knit fabric itself look finished.  With no facings (meaning that working in the round and then steeking was not an option), the skirt would have to be worked back and forth for the length of the slit, and then joined to work the rest in the round.  After some experimenting I came up with a modification of the Hearts of Oak pattern which looked adequately finished at the edges; I also found that having a 2-stitch stockinette edge was important, to keep the edge fairly straight.   I started knitting, only to realize after several inches that I had no idea whether the Hearts of Oak pattern worked on circular needles would show a jog at the beginning of each round!  At this point, I just kept my fingers crossed until the skirt was about 7 inches long, joined for working in the round, and...no jog whatsoever!  In fact, I found that the increases and decreases in the stitch pattern caused the beginning of the round to move in and out along the edges of the "overlapping scales" (as described by Interweave), which is why I set up the chart for rounds (at left) the way I did.

Next and final post on Selva:  waistband issues and sizing.

Selva Skirt, Winter IK 2007

I know a knit skirt isn't everyone's cup o' tea, but isn't the Hearts of Oak stitch pattern super-cool?  And it's crunchy enough to hide the panty lines--yes, I am wearing them.

So che una gonna fatto a maglia non e la tazza di te' (??) per tutti, ma non e' il Cuore di Quercia disegno super-cool?  Anche e' abbastanza croccante (??) di nascondere le rughe  delle mutandine--si, le sto indossando.

(I've decided to rename the Dragon Skin Wrap for women the Wyvern Wrap--a wyvern is a type of dragon, according to Wikipedia--to avoid confusion with the juvenile version.  I hope to finish the pattern tomorrow; however, daily life threatens to delay me for a day or two--patience, please!)

(Ho deciso a ribattezzare il Dragon Skin Wrap per donne il Wyvern Wrap--un wyvern e' un tipo di drago, secondo Wikipedia--per evitare confusione con la versione giovanile.  Spero di finire il modello domani; pero', la quotidianita' (amo questa parola!) mi minaccia di ritardare per un paio di giorni--pazienza, per favore!)