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I'm still a bit stuck on 2009. I realised that I had one more finished object, you see - the apron that I made for Di's son, C. You can see him putting it to good use here.
Excitingly, this was made predominantly from stash. The fabric that I used also features in my vintage fabrics quilt. And I have actually used it in two further sewing projects already this year (details to come). Pretty good mileage for one shower curtain. The pattern came from Better Homes and Gardens 167 Things to Make for Children.
So, including my recent appendix, this brings my 2009 tally to:
projects: 36
knitting: 18, sewing: 17, other: 1
recycled/refashioned/upcycled: 26
made from stash: 8
2009 was also significant in terms of what I made, particularly what I knit - garments! adult garments! three adult garments! I don't think that I expressly stated that this was an aim for the year, probably for fear off jinxing myself. But I did it - Sunrise Circle, Wallingford and the Pimlico Snug. I am going to dare say it for 2010 - I would like to knit an adult garment for someone else, namely Tim.
And I also completed my first ever piece of knitted lace - the swallowtail shawl - which is pretty much the reason why I started knitting.
On other matters of repeating - Clapotis is going well. I agonised quite a bit about how large to make it, about how large I could make it, about how to maximise how large I could make it given the amount of yarn that I had. I only did one increase more in section 2 than the pattern directs but am up to 15-odd of the section 3 repeats. I think that I could do as many as 30! The pooling is still happening but never mind. I'm having fun dropping the stitches and helping them to ladder down - it's so contrary to normal knitting practice. Each one is deliciously transgressive. So, I've done about 15 repeats now ... oops, repeating myself.
One of the advantages of breastfeeding is that, once you've got the positioning right, you get a few minutes to do some stitching. One of the disadvantages of breastfeeding is that you are so hormone addled that it is difficult to get all of your thoughts together to write something about it.
I wove the ends in on my Pimlico Snug this evening baby at the breast after seaming the last ten centimetres or so yesterday evening - hooray!!
The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Pimlico Shrug by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark from Knit 2 Together.Size: I cast on for the smaller size but knit it even smaller length-wise than the pattern called for - more details below.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in shade 9322 which I believe is otherwise known as Silver Spruce Heather. The pattern calls for Koigu Kersti which is a crepe yarn, Cascade 200 on the other hand is a plied yarn. I'm not sure how much difference this makes to the final product - it would be interesting to do a comparison swatch with another crepe yarn.
Needles: 4mm and 4.5mm
Start to finish: 8 November 2009 to 16 December 2009.
Comments: Wow, I have so much that I would like to say about this pattern but am not sure that I can get it all together in my head. Maybe I'll just keep posting further thoughts as they come to me.
To start - the architecture of the shrug is essentially an envelope, a square or rectangle folded in half, cast-on edge to cast-off edge. However 'long' you knit the square/rectangle becomes the length of the shrug from the back neck to the back hem. The number of stitches cast on and cast off forms the neckline/sides/bottom hem.
I looked at other people's projects on Ravelry and read the notes and it was clear that the pattern as written came out rather larger than I was looking for. Indeed, it says that it is a cross between a shawl and a cardigan and I was going more for the latter. So, instead of knitting the length to 34 inches, I knit only 17 inches and blocked it out to about 18 inches (hence mine is a snug rather than shrug).
Ah, and the stitch pattern - it's great but difficult to work out from the instructions. I'm not sure that I ever ended up doing it 'right' but was happy with the outcome. You could of course (and many people have) use any lacey pattern (or no pattern) that you please. If you ever need help with it, send me an email!
Then came time to pick up stitches around the cast-on and cast-off edge to knit the ribbing. As it happens you pick up precisely as many stitches you cast on and off so the moral is - do a provisional cast on and do not cast off! Then you can just knit the ribbing from the live stitches. Much better idea.
I also knit the ribbing back and forth, instead of in the round as the pattern suggests because I don't like that final cast-off stitch when you knit in the round.
The sleeves then presented me with a bit of a dilemma because a) I was running short on yarn, and b) changing the 'length' of the shrug affected where the armholes hit on my arm, namely mid-upper arm instead of mid-lower arm. I decided on short 2x2 rib sleeves (after some experimenting with flaring out the way the main ribbing does) - 62 stitches, 18 rows, sewn into a 12 inch armhole.
Verdict: This project was real curiosity casting on that just took on a life of its own. Although I am very happy with the finished product, I don't know that this shrug is really me. The stitch pattern is great, I'm very impressed with the value you get from a skein of Cascade 220 and the fan collar truly does fool you into thinking that you have a neck like Audrey Hepburn. I might have to wear it a few times and see.
So here is what a shrug looks like without its sleeves but with its (miles and miles and interminable miles) of ribbing. It's just an envelope really.
What did I last say about this project? Oh, that I was about to start the ribbing. That would be right, it took a full week - 322 stitches of 2x2 ribbing for 2.5 inches, increasing to 482 stitches of 3x3 ribbing for a further three inches. Ugh. The pattern actually calls for the ribbing to be done in the round but I have trouble with that final cast-off stitch when you knit in the round. Sometimes it's ok, but not with ribbing.
Anyway, am now having some sleeve dilemmas. As I knit the body section significantly smaller than the pattern calls for, instead of the armhole falling at the mid-forearm it falls at the mid-upper arm. This means that the sleeves would need to be considerably longer than the pattern directs. I am not sure whether long sleeves are really what will suit this snugger version and besides, I am almost out of yarn.
I finished knitting the patterned portion of the pimlico shrug a couple of days ago, blocked it out yesterday and let it dry overnight. I am now ready to start on what I am sure promises to be an interminable amount of ribbing.
To be sure, I have taken some major shortcuts with the pattern thus far. To begin, I knit eight repeats of the eyelet pattern (as pattern directs last repeat knit to only row 11 instead of 16). As such my knitted panel measured only 17 inches in depth, rather than the 34 (!!) called for in the pattern. Now, I know the pattern notes tout this shrug as a 'cross between a cardigan and a shawl' but that would have been way too shawl for me. Besides, I only measure 17 inches from back neckline to lower waist. And in addition there's 10-odd inches of ribbing to go ... so, it blocked out an extra inch or so and I'm hoping to get the fit that I desire. Let the ribbing commence.
Elsewhere, I seem to be channeling Dame Westwood in the stitching department at the moment. What else to do with a stylish and reasonably sedate woollen check than to stick some (safety) pins into it? Inspired by my pyjama pants I drew some paisley motifs onto my maud with tailor's chalk but after three days of being draped over the back of a chair the chalk was wearing thin. I meant to do some rough outline stitching over the chalk lines but feared that the chalk would be all but gone in the time that would take, so pinned instead.
Unfortunate consequence is that I now can't wear the maud until I have indeed outline stitched those motifs for fear of turning myself into a voodoo doll.
Ok, so I got around to it pretty quickly. I have so far completed about two and a half of the 16-row repeat on the pimlico shrug, this time using a 4.5mm circular needle. I'm enjoying the knitting, it's pretty mindless and seems to be what I need just now. I also have the eyelets mastered and although I'm not entirely certain that I am doing them 'the right way', I am happy with the way that they are turning out.I plan to knit eight repeats and then take the fabric off the needle and block it out (with a safety line in there to prevent unravelling of course!) to get a better idea of eventual size and shape. Then I'll clasp it all together with my trusty mini-hair clips and make decisions about whether any further knitting is required. I am aware that for many people this garment turns out way too big so I am going to be very conservative in the sizing, although of course I will only be able to change how long it is (from neck to waist) and not how wide (those 161 stitches are remaining 161 stitches whatever I do).
Australian friends of a certain generation - do you remember the ABC's The Curiosity Show? I do - kyuuu-ri-O-si-tyyyyy.
Anyway, have been doing a bit of curiosity casting on recently - just patterns or yarns that have long been bugging me, that I wanted to quickly try my hand at. The Pimlico Shrug was always a stand-out project for me from Mel Clark and Tracey Ullman's Knit 2 Together: patterns and stories for serious knitting fun. It was also one that was a bit tricky in the sizing department as evidenced by a quick look at various projects on Ravelry (seems to easily end up way too big). But I have long wanted to try it and the serendipitous availability of some Koigu Kersti (the yarn used in the book) was just what I needed to give it a go.
I actually didn't even end up casting on in the Kersti because when I got it home from knit night into the light of the next day I found that it was too murky a green for me. So, to find a yarn to knit in ... no appropriate 8ply/dk weight yarn in the stash so I actually went shopping for yarn. This is quite an unusual phenomenon because I almost always knit with recycled yarn or something that I already have. I was quite stumped. Usually I have a clear idea of the {pattern}x{colour}x{fibre} combination but this time I drew a complete blank. I wandered around Weaving Works and just felt overwhelmed (which is certainly an experience that I recommend).
I eventually came to my senses later at Stitches which has a limited (and thereby manageable!) range of Cascade Yarns and was able to make a choice, a mid-green heathered (shade 2100) hank of Cascade 220 which is a strange weight of yarn (or at least it confuses me). It is supposed to be a 10ply/aran weight yarn but behaves more like an 8ply/dk weight. Perfect though I think for the Pimlico Shrug which calls for an 8ply/dk weight yarn to be knit at a gauge of 19 stitches to 10 cm (kind of 10ply/aran weight).
I cast on for the smaller size (small/medium) and knit about ten rows which covered one row of eyelets. The eyelets were hard! There are some odd stitch instructions, particularly K1B, which I would usually interpret as knit 1 through the back of the stitch but in this instance involves knitting through the back of the stitch below (as in, from behind the work). I am happy with the eyelet pattern. Many people have substituted a different eyelet pattern, or even an entirely different stitch, but I find this one to be large and modern.
Which brings me to some more thoughts about this pattern. Like Eowyn, this is another one of those conceptual patterns that you could do so many different things with. It is basically a rectangle so you could do that any length and width you want, in any gauge yarn, in any stitch really. Making the rectangle into a garment is about folding the rectangle in half and sew up some of the side seam to create armholes. Then add ribbing.
So, the outcome - on 5mm needles I found my gauge to be too loose so I am going to frog and try again on 4.5mm needles. When I get around to trying it again.
I'm still a bit stuck on 2009. I realised that I had one more finished object, you see - the apron that I made for Di's son, C. You can see him putting it to good use here.
2009 was also significant in terms of what I made, particularly what I knit - garments! adult garments! three adult garments! I don't think that I expressly stated that this was an aim for the year, probably for fear off jinxing myself. But I did it - Sunrise Circle, Wallingford and the Pimlico Snug. I am going to dare say it for 2010 - I would like to knit an adult garment for someone else, namely Tim.
On other matters of repeating - Clapotis is going well. I agonised quite a bit about how large to make it, about how large I could make it, about how to maximise how large I could make it given the amount of yarn that I had. I only did one increase more in section 2 than the pattern directs but am up to 15-odd of the section 3 repeats. I think that I could do as many as 30! The pooling is still happening but never mind. I'm having fun dropping the stitches and helping them to ladder down - it's so contrary to normal knitting practice. Each one is deliciously transgressive. So, I've done about 15 repeats now ... oops, repeating myself.
