Claire’s Sweetheart Dress

My sister had bought the Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic in a light periwinkle, before Claire was born, intending to knit her a dress for when she would be around 6 months old. Her busy law practice got in the way.

Claire is now 3 years old and I wanted to use the yarn to make something for her, but would need to combine it with other color(s) in order to knit her something that would fit. Thanks to the brilliant suggestion of Jan at Yarn Theory, we were able to find colors she had in stock to make this work. I will use the pale green  at each of the hems and the I-cord at the neck.   The butter yellow is for the bottom of the dress, and the light periwinkle the upper part and yoke; Val wanted the periwinkle to be up by Claire’s face.

Yarn for Sweetheart Dress

My photography hardly captures the true colors, but it gives you an idea.

I started swatching in late October/early November, when I was visiting them. By late November I finished the swatches — 4 of them all together.  On the first swatch, I used needles size US 6, the second US 7, the third US 8, and the fourth back to US 7. Because I’m really concerned about having enough yarn, I frogged the first one done with 7’s. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t compare the feel of the fabric to the others. Once I realized I could frog the swatches if necessary to use the swatch yarn for the dress, I had no problem doing the one on 7’s over again and I did.

The US 8 gave me the closest to the pattern gauge at 5.25 stitches per inch; it specifies 5 stitches per inch. I didn’t like the feel of the fabric at all and my sister was concerned it would be too “airy” for Claire. The one on US 6 was too dense at 6 to 6.5 stitches per inch. As Goldilocks would say, the one on the 7’s felt “just right!”    My gauge is 5.5 stitches per inch, so I am having to do math to adjust the number of stitches the pattern indicates to my gauge. It should be pretty simple until I get to the yoke where all the decreasing begins.

Swatches using light periwinkle

Once I got past that hurdle, now came the hem.  This was the first time I have knitted anything with a hem. It requires a provisional cast on.  I decided to do the Cast On Waste Yarn And Knit several rows provisional cast on thanks to the information I found about provisional cast ons at the TECHknitting^TM blog.  I did that just fine.  The holes are yarn overs; that is where the fabric is folded to form the hem.

Provisional cast on with blue yarn being the waste yarn

Here’s where my trouble started.  This was done in the round.  The next step was to remove the blue waste yarn; that results in the green yarn having “live stitches”, which are put onto a second needle.  Finally the fabric is folded and one stitch from each needle are knitted together.

Hem ready to be folded and knit together

It should have worked–it didn’t.  I couldn’t for the life of me get it to fold properly so the knit side would show instead of the purl side.  I finally did figure out a way to do it and went merrily along–wrong again.  Somehow, I twisted the fabric. The only thing to do was to rip it all out and start over again.

This time, I decided to use the crochet provisional cast on and to knit back and forth in rows until the hem was complete.  That would avoid my accidentally twisting the fabric in the round and since I hadn’t done a hem before, I felt that would be the best way for me to learn.

Crochet Provisional Cast On, Flat Knitting, Blue yarn is waste

That worked!  I finished the hem with flat knitting, then joined it in the round after starting the butter yellow.

Bottom part of dress

Detail on bottom part of dress

Knitting projects and Life goals — common threads?

Wow, talk about a very neglected blog. When I first started this, my intention was to have it centered around the yarn we sell at my family’s store, Organic Imaginings, as well as the knitting projects we have going on to show off what the yarn can do. The goal, of course, was to increase traffic to our site and increase our sales.

Now, I’m not so sure. I haven’t created another post since the first one clear back in September. So, then what is the purpose of the blog? I honestly don’t know. As of this moment, I seem to have something inside of me that wants to be expressed that compares my knitting projects and how I approach them with some of the other projects in “life”.

Like everyone, I have some major goals that I would like to accomplish in my life. One of them being to have a fit, trim body. The other, to be completely out of debt, save some money, and actually contribute to a retirement fund. I’ve had these goals for most of my adult life and I’m now 44 years old! I haven’t accomplished either of them.

I have completed every knitting project I started. One of them took me over 18 years to complete, but I got it done! I’ve been wondering lately what is so different between a knitting goal and a life goal? They have in common a starting point, a whole lot of stuff in the middle (sometimes including one step forward, two steps back), and an end point; then new projects, new goals are set.

When I choose a pattern, the yarn, the needles, etc., and then finally cast on, I know it may take months to complete the project, especially if it’s something big, like a sweater. I am OK with that and I know that it’s part of the process; I have no doubt that I will eventually finish my knitting project. But when it comes to achieving some of life’s big goals, I get totally stopped and overwhelmed. To be truthful, I’m sure I get caught up in “wanting it now and if I can’t have it now, then why bother”?

Of course, I am totally addicted to knitting. Could that be the only difference? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Cobblestone Pullover

I was all set to start a different sweater. As soon as I received my copy of the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits magazine and I saw Jared Flood’s Cobblestone Pullover, my plans changed. I love this sweater for its simple elegance. The tweed-like quality of Vermont Organic Fiber Company’s O~Wool™ Balance is a terrific substitute yarn for this pattern. The color I am using is Lapis.

If you are thinking that you would like to use the O~Wool™ Balance for this pattern, you need to be aware that it is a slightly lighter weight than that specified in the pattern. The pattern calls for a gauge of 18 stitches and 29 rows = 4 inches on US size 7 needles in stockinette stitch. The O~Wool™ Balance recommended gauge is 19 to 21 stitches = 4 inches on US size 5 to 7 needles.

I created many swatches to see the resulting fabric from different needle sizes. The swatch I liked best resulted from using US size 6 needles and I was getting a “post-wash” gauge of 21 stitches and 29 rows = 4 inches. I did the necessary calculations to account for my different stitch gauge that would result in a chest circumference of 43.5 inches. According to my calculations, I needed 228 stitches and the pattern has a size that requires 230 stitches. Life is sweet! That was so close, I decided to just follow the directions for that size. The sweater is made from the bottom up, in the round. I knit the first four inches, then I tried it on — it was huge! So, I started over, this time with 194 stitches, which the pattern specifies for my desired 43.5 inches. After knitting a few inches, I tried the new size on and it was still too big! So, I went down to the smallest size the pattern has, which calls for 176 stitches to be cast on. That one worked! The sweater body has no shaping and the chest has the garter stitch motif, the same as the first two inches of the bottom of the sweater, so I knew that the bottom of the sweater is just like the chest will be. The only thing that I can figure is that while the gauge is specified in stockinette, the wider garter stitches result in a bigger fabric. Moral of the story? Don’t wait until you are done to ensure you are getting the size sweater you desire! I am substituting the yarn and am actually using the pattern instructions for a size 39.5 inch chest circumference.

If you are making this sweater for yourself, try it on after the first few inches, then again after a few more. If you are making it for someone else, just measure the circumference. I recommend you do this whether you are substituting yarn or not. If you’ve never heard this tip before, you can try it on or measure the circumference by slipping 25% to 50% of the stitches to a spare circular and use rubber bands or point protectors on the ends of the needles to keep the stitches from slipping off. This allows the garment to expand to its actual size. Then try it on or measure it. If all is well, simply slip the stitches back to your original needle.

The picture below shows the first 4 inches or so. The sweater is made from the bottom up, in the round.

The last two photos are close ups that depict the garter stitch bottom border of the sweater; the garter stitch motif is carried up the sides of the sweater.