Purple! Mohair! Lace! Ruffles!

I can't imagine any one who would try to classify my "style" would ever put this T shirt in it.

But I love it irrationally. Ever since I first saw the pattern. Ever since I found the perfect purple mohair. Ever since I first put it on. It's luscious, I can't deny it.

The lace pattern was slightly modified from the pattern. (A mistake I decided to embrace instead of correct!) I think the outlined diamond shapes look a little like stain glass windows.

It was pretty easy to memorize, although I definitely had to use a row counter as it was 12 rows long and "reading" the mohair proved very difficult.

I finished the shirt last Thursday after blocking it twice. The first time was after everything but the bottom hem was done. It looked like it might be a little short, so I wanted to make sure blocking could make it right before I went any further. Although not perfect, it was close enough.

So then I picked up and knit the picot hem around the bottom.

Then I had to block it again. The picot edging curls up like crazy and that drives me crazy. After blocking, it was a lot flatter, but it still tends to a little flip.

The same picot edging was added to the neckline:

And look at that sweet ruffle! It was cleverly made from short rows of alternating garter and reverse garter panels. The short rows mean there is more fabric on the two sides then there is in the middle (making it gather) and the alternating garter and reverse garter make it alternate between concave and convex curves (making it gather nicely). Project Stats
Started: 20 Mar '10
Finished: 6 May '10
Pattern: Lace Top by Erika Knight from Glamour Knits ($5)
Materials: 127 g of Mohair in Motion by Betty Todd ($39)
The pattern called for some organza but I couldn't find anything that matched. And I like it as it is.

I was hoping for mother of pearl buttons but I didn't find any in my button tin. These will do nicely, and if I see ones I like better some day I can switch them then. (I can't believe I went to Soutache recently and didn't pick up ribbon or buttons there! What was I thinking?!)

This is the fifth item off my "Spring to Finish" list. I'm really banging them out and quite pleased about it, I must say! Today is "Halfway There" check-in day at Jacqui's blog, Tallgrass Prairie Studio. I'm happy to have five of eight done, although I think the ones that are left are the harder ones! But I have three more weeks and am confident I will get the Whistler and tablecloths done. Yes I will! (The siding, I'm not promising...)

Meanwhile, another look at this luscious T:

Oh yes, and my reward for this item was finally wearing the skirt I had bought last fall to go with the as-yet-not-even-started shirt. When I pulled it out of the spare room closet, I couldn't see why I thought it matched this shirt. The threads running through it look blue not lilac, lavender or even purple. But then I saw that the lining matches the shirt quite closely. Fooled by lining again!! Or maybe those threads are lavender, but only look blue because of the surrounding colours. (It happens!)

But I still liked the style of the skirt--seems a little retro. So I went with the theme and pulled out some T-strap shoes, and a old crocheted purse, and gloves. Yup, I went all out. But it was practical too...it's a little cool yet for Tshirts, and full length gloves do help keep bare arms warm. The rest of me did great with what felt like a big hug of purple mohair!

WhIP it into Shape

It is snowing here. April 8 and snow is falling. You would think that would inspire me to get back to my Whistler. I mean, should I get it done, it would do me a lot of good right now. But instead, I've been working on my spring project. (Partly because it still travels well. The Whistler at this point, not so much.)

I could have sworn I blogged it already, but I see no mention of it since last summer when I found the mohair for the pattern. My deadline to get it done has always been this spring, and I was happy to get it cast on a few weeks ago.

I couldn't get gauge and my 4" swatch ran 5 inches instead--that's a big difference! I went down a size, in pattern and needle size, but after a few inches realized that it was still going to be way too wide.

So I did some figuring and calculating (taking into account the fact that it's horrible to frog mohair) and decided to add waist shaping instead of starting over.

It worked out nicely to take out one repeat of the pattern on each side over 24 rows. I have been taking meticulous notes (for once) and should be able to easily reproduce this on the front.

Then I got far enough to do the armhole shaping. Since my stitch count no longer matched the pattern I had to refigure all the numbers slightly. Although I thought I had done a mathematically correct job of it, after getting about 7 inches done, I realized that the shirt was way too narrow. (This would be the measurement between the shoulders.)

So I was finally forced to frog my mohair. It wasn't exactly fun, but I got it done without any major crises or Prozac.
But I was smart about it: instead of undoing all the shaping and redoing it with new figures, I just picked a point that was wide enough and frogged to that point only. The new width seems good.

Yesterday I got back to the point where the back splits in the middle to form the back slit. (Yes, I had gotten that far before deciding I had to frog it.) And then tonight--even sooner than I expected--I got to the shoulder shaping.
And that is all the shaping for this work in progress (WIP--now you get the title in case you hadn't yet).
Now on to the front. It's the perfect project for this weather and season actually. The colour does me a world of good at the end of winter, and yet it's still cool enough to work with the mohair. My hands literally get hot from holding the knitting on the needles! It's a wonder how thin it is, and yet how much substance it seems to have at the same time.

I can't wait to wear it!

Michigan Fiber Festival (2009): What I Got

Now that I've told you all about the Fiber Fest, are you wondering what I actually got? You might be surprised...

I've been hankering for some mohair to make this very sweet little item

from Glamour Knits by Erica Knight which I snagged at Big Lots for $5. (I thought that was a killer steal til I found out that this particular pattern is available for free. But the book is inspiring to look through and has other patterns I like so I won't cry over it.) Back to the mohair, it was nothing urgent, but I was just keeping my eyes open...

And what I found was this beautiful bundle of gorgeousness:

dyed by Betty Todd out of White Cloud, MI. I love the colour even though it's not one I wear a lot. Of course, I don't wear a lot of fuzzy either so this will be "out of the box" for me. I think it is, however, perfect for the pattern and I'm looking forward to making it.

I especially love the ruffled fake placket. Can't wait!

The other thing I got a the fair wasn't from a vendor. Remember I mentioned that Amy bought a spinning wheel? Well, it came with all sorts of accessories, some of which duplicated what she already had. Like a ball winder. She mentioned it to me, knowing I kind of wanted one, and we struck a deal.

I set it up the next day and put it to work on some yarn I had laying around from a sweater ravelling session.
My ad hoc set up worked pretty well and let me work while sitting on the couch. Can't beat that! It's meant to be used in tandem with a swift, and my tinker toy swift worked great.

In case you're wondering what the big deal is (after all, I can wind balls by hand, can't I?), the ball winder turns skeins of yarn into nice neat center pull yarn cakes. (I call them cakes; that might be a misappropriated quilting term for a certain cut of fabric. I'm not sure)

I say, "Ta da!"

Center pull balls are a lot nicer to work with while you're knitting because the ball sits still and doesn't try to roll around the whole room. (Or all around my knitting bag, tangling itself with everything.) And they just feel more professional.

The only issue I noticed with this ball winder is that it doesn't have room for very big yarn cakes.
I got about 100 g of this bulky yarn wound but then the guide started hitting the ball itself. You need the pin to put the yarn in the right place as the ball turns around on its tilted axis. I was able to cheat by holding my fingers very steady and guiding the yarn by hand. Troy says he can extend the pin out for me so we may pursue that.

And that takes me back to my 1000 yards of mohair. I haven't decided if that would be a bigger cake than 100 g of bulky or smaller. I may just ask Amy if I can do it at the store, just in case. (Winding it off of the hank may be an adventure in itself because mohair loves to stick to itself. Could be a lot of "fun" doing that!)