Me in 2 D

I am so pleased to be able to say that I am done all the cutting, knitting and finishing on the so-called Pencil Sketch Camisole. I am reasonably certain it will fit because I tried it on before blocking. It was, I could say, a little "snug." It had to be stretched to fit so I took some measurements while I was actually wearing it and blocked it to those numbers.

I will admit it feels almost indecent to post that pic since it is essentially my body in 2 D. (I did say it fit a little snug, right?) But considering it's called a camisole, a snug fit shouldn't be that surprising. It took two tries to get it all blocked out, and it still looks a little asymmetrical to me, but good enough to try. Maybe next time I'll make a paper (or plastic) pattern that I can follow and reuse. I'll have to pin and block every time I wash it so it might be worth it.

And speaking of washing, did this yarn ever make the wash water dirty! Ew! It's possible it was some of the dye rinsing out and blending into a nasty brown colour, but I don't really thing so. I got the water to rinse clear before I was done, so I'm calling it clean.

I got inspired to finish up the armholes this afternoon. I had done the crocheting around the steeks a few days ago so it was ready to go. After cutting, I needed to pick up the stitches to knit the armhole bands.

Here's a pic after I've done about half of the front of one side:
The main body of the shirt is below the needle, and the little bit you see above the needle is the facing which will end up being turned under. You want to pick up the stitches following a single row (or, column, in this case).

With this particular facing, I am picking up stitches between the second and third column from the edge of the facing. But you could also use this method to pick up stitches one row in from a selvage edge, as long as you are travelling perpendicular to the direction of the knitting (like, let's say, for a button band).

Here's how I pick up stitches:

Insert the left needle between the second and third column of stitches 2 or 3 inches ahead of the right needle.
Then bring the left needle up right in front of the last stitch on the right needle. (You'll still be between the second and third column.)
You should have caught no stitches (or anything else) on the back side.

Now when you press the knitting against the needle, and sort of fold it, you can see all the little bars of yarn that connect the second and third columns.
These are what I'm going to knit to pick up the stitches.

So I did just that:
In this method, you can see I work very close to the point of the needles to keep from stretching out the base fabric. (I also use a much smaller size for the left needle.) When you run out of things to knit on the left needle, you just pick up some more in the same manner.

Another thing to keep in mind is to knit only three of every four bars. So I pick up all the bars on the left needle, and then knit, knit, knit, drop a bar. Knit, knit, knit, drop a bar. This gives you three stitches for every four rows which is a good general rule-of-thumb ratio. In most cases, this will yield an even fabric that will not pucker or stretch out.

In the next pic, if you look closely you can see the pattern of three close stitches separated by spaces.
It's very subtle and will even out with your first row. You do not have to worry about gaps.

Here's a shot from the backside with the facing folded down like it will be in the final product.
A close look will reveal the purl bumps right along the needle that come from the stitches being knit up. The green contrasting yarn is the crocheted edge of the steek. (Nice and neat, isn't it?) [Toot! Toot!] (Oh, was that my own horn?)

I am on pins and needles waiting for this to dry so I can wear it!! I'm sure you are too!

More pics to come then, as you can well imagine,

christina