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Weather Report: Anti-Wool

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

That wedding reception I wanted to wear the Goddess sweater to is still on, but I’m not going to even try to finish Goddess before I leave this weekend. The weather report says 85 – 90 degrees during the day. I am not thrilled about this – I don’t like hot weather and was looking forward to having a nice crisp autumn weekend, one in which I would get to wear a woolen cloche hat which is a new design of mine, currently in the testing and proofreading phase. I know that the hat fits, but I don’t know how well it fares over the course of a day, because there’s no way I could wear it all day here and be comfortable. I will also not be wearing the chevron pattern cowl I crocheted out of DB Cashmerino. I think I’m going to put the thick worsted weight socks I got from the Sockapalooza swap a few years ago in my carry-on so that I can wear them on the plane.

Okay, sometimes being a knitter in Hawai’i has drawbacks.

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August 2007 progress report for Goddess

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

After letting it hibernate for most of the spring and all of the summer, I started working on the Goddess sweater again. The wedding reception I plan to wear it to is in less than a month! I cast on for the back, realized I’d cast on the wrong number of stitches. Cast on again, realized I had not used the correct size needles, even though I’d written it on my printout of the pattern (because I’m using a different version of the tubular cast-on, it looks better done on smaller needles). Then, as I worked on the band of pattern stitch, a few stitches slid off and laddered down. Because of the nature of the pattern stitch, I figured it would be easier and faster to just start over.

Cast on successfully completed, I knit up the top band quickly and got started on the shoulder shaping while commuting. I <3 short rows, so this part went quickly and happily. I got started on the armhole shaping, again while commuting.

Nice, yes?

Sitting in a city bus during rush-hour traffic with a comatose iPod, no book, and no backup project is not when I want to smooth out my work and discover…

that I didn’t do the yarnovers for a few repeats on this side. I thought about continuing on anyway (stuck on a bus!), thought about how it was the back, would it really be that noticeable (again, I was stuck on a bus!), and then, while fiddling with my flawed knitting, looked at the other side of the piece.

Being a blog for those who feel the call of yarn, I know that you can see it too.

Sitting on a city bus isn’t the time to rip back a piece, either. I waited until I got home, ripped back to the end of the pattern stitch band, popped Everything Is Illuminated into the DVD player, and started the shoulder shaping again.

Posted in Stitch Diva: Goddess | 4 Comments »

Goddess: the commuter

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

Stitch Diva pattern: Goddess, size large
Elann Peruvian Highland Silk, Celadon 2117

Wednesday night, I remeasured my gauge swatches and found that I get gauge with US #5 needles, so my concerns about drape have been alleviated. This is still not going to be as slinky as the Louet Opal called for in the pattern, which is fine by me. I didn’t use the tubular cast-on instructions from the pattern (I prefer to start with a crocheted chain provisional cast-on) and worked a few rows of the neckline pattern stitch and then packed up my commuter project bag:

Marked-up printout of pattern, scratch paper, pen, yarn, stitch markers, project on needles – must remember to add nail clippers

Thursday, I took the bus to work and it was wonderful. Air-conditioning that really works, no need to pay attention to the road, a fully-charged iPod (currently holding several podcasts worth of Car Talk, Fresh Air, and This American Life), and a knitting project. I was a little miffed at having to pause when it was time to transfer buses. After work, I knit on the bus to the dentist’s office ("healing beautifully") and knit in the waiting room. After running some errands and browsing the craft book section at the big-chain bookstore, I headed over to Mocha Java early so that I could get dinner out of the way before the Aloha Knitters meeting. And I knit some more, and continued to knit during the meeting, which is kind of unusual for me (I will drink lots of tea and chatter, yes, but knit?). I did put the knitting down to dive into the bag of sock yarn that Keohininani brought, and to squee over the maneki neko stitch markers Barb gave me in exchange for some yarn I’d given her (no good photos of those items yet). Vron spun up some pretty purple yarn on a pretty purple drop-spindle, and I kept knitting.

Today I knit some more on the way home (I drove to work but carpooled home because The Teen needed the car), and now I have…

…decided that it’s a good thing I’m not planning on wearing this until October. I’ve gotten through one ball of yarn so far and I’m currently about 1/4 of the way through the armhole shaping section.

Posted in Stitch Diva: Goddess, other peoples patterns | 1 Comment »

Goddess: sleeves?

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Looking at the photos of the back, I was thinking about adjusting the pattern to make smaller armholes. Then, while swatching, I was thinking about the wool/silk blend I chose and how it might be a little silly for me to have a sleeveless sweater in this blend. A better choice for a warm weather top would be something like bamboo, rayon, or cotton. It would also be nice to have something warm that would also be a little dressy. I was wearing my enormous hooded sweatshirt at the time (it’s been raining a lot and has been cool but not cold), and while a big baggy sweatshirt is fine for much of my life, it would be nice to have something I could wear going out. So, to make a warmer top (that would still be not too warm for Hawai’i) and not have to make alterations to the fit, I’m thinking about doing sleeves. 3/4 length at most. I’m debating as to whether the sleeves should be done as a tube, or split open on the top in keeping with the chiton-inspired look of the top. I could leave the sleeve tops open from the shoulder to the hem of the sleeve, possibly putting in decorative closures so the sleeves could be worn closed or open. I’ve ordered 5 more balls of yarn for it (I had to order more yarn for the NAOSS anyway…more on that later).

I’ve also been working on a second swatch using #3, #4, and #5 needles, to see if I get a drapier fabric that I like better. This will mean reworking the pattern if I do change the gauge. The fun never ends here!

Posted in Stitch Diva: Goddess, other peoples patterns | 2 Comments »

Swatching for Goddess

Friday, March 16th, 2007

(photo: Stitch Diva)

I’m going to try to chronicle the progress I make on the Goddess sweater, a Stitch Diva pattern which I rushed over to buy as soon as I read the email alert.

Details:
Size: L (40.5" bust)
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Silk, Celadon 2117, 8 balls (pattern uses Lang Opal color 24)
Needles: 24" Addi Turbos, sizes #2 and #3

Notes:
Lang Opal is a shimmery, lightweight, very drapey yarn. Elann Peruvian Highland Silk has a subtle sheen and is heavier and not as drapey as the Lang Opal. Other Elann selections I considered were Filatura Di Crosa Millefili Fine, a mercerized cotton, Katia Firenze, a nylon/wool/acrylic blend chainette, and Katia Granada, a very shiny nylon/polyester blend. I chose a color very similar to the pattern, as it’s a color that goes well with my wardrobe as is not brown, black, gray, or light blue (I’m trying to expand my color range clothing-wise). I almost chose to knit this in a navy blue – if I really, really like this sweater, I may knit up another one in navy or midnight blue.

Additional photos of the back of the sweater have been posted on the pattern page at Stitch Diva; I don’t particularly like the way the armholes fit (too baggy for my taste), so I may be adjusting that.

I do not enjoy doing kitchener stitch (you can see my messy attempt on the top left corner of the swatch), so on the swatch I experimented with a couple of bind-offs and settled on a crocheted bind off (*ch1, slip hook through next two stitches, sc tog*). It feels stretchy enough; I’ll revisit it before finishing the sweater to be sure.

Swatch: