Pretty in Pink

Ready for some pictures? I've got a number to show you!

I finished my "Big Bias Collar T" a number of weeks ago. Although I was happy with the fit, I wasn't very happy with the collar. Even as I was making it I knew it was going to be tricky to get right.

After blocking the sweater, I didn't dare wear it. The collar wasn't right. But as time went by and I didn't make time to block it again, I couldn't wait and wore it anyway. Twice.

People were kind and made nice comments. They noticed it was new (it's kind of hard to miss in that bright colour!) and said it looked good even when I said I felt like an extra from the Jetsons.

The sleeves were also a little narrow. I really needed to re-block it and try again.

Second go was a big success!! Instead of blocking the collar straight out, I laid it flat. Here's a little comparison. (Yes the pose is a little goofy but I wanted to make sure you got a good view of the collar.)

I hope it's obvious that on the left we have a Jetsons outfit and on the right we have a wonderfully draping shawl-like collar. Blocking it this way lets bias fabric of the collar work for you instead of against you.

Here, have a few more pictures:

So. Much. Better.

Another issue I was worried about was the itchiness of the wool. I think I mentioned that before.

The first time I tried it on (before it was even done), I almost exploded from the itchiness. The ladies at Red Purl encouraged me by saying that this wool is known for getting softer with each washing. So perhaps it was a good thing I had to block it twice.

Much as I trust the ladies at Red Purl, I went ahead and found something to wear under the shirt. The wide collar keeps it away from my neck (=very sensitive skin) and the shirt underneath keeps it away from my tummy (=also sensitive skin). My arms don't seem to mind at all.

Speaking of, the second blocking allowed me to stretch the sleeves a little wider and they fit better now too.

More pics just for fun...

Project Stats
Started: 11 Feb '12
Finished: 13 Mar '12
Pattern: Seberg by  Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark ($7.19)
Materials: Peace Fleece Worsted 3-1/3 skeins in Perestroika Pink, 1/2 skein Antartica White ($28.50)

I can also add that this shirt is very warm. I wore it out on Saturday without a jacket and was surprised at just how chilly a sunny day could be. However, whatever was under the shirt stayed quite toasty while anything out of the shirt was way too chilly. For some this would be a bad thing in a tshirt. For me who is always cold, it is perfect.

P.S.: In case some of you were wondering, I did have enough yarn after ordering the extra ball--I only used about a third of it. The colour matched perfectly which isn't always the case even within the same dye lot. But lucky me, it all worked out great!

I Blinked

I have had quite a day of productive knitting. I took care of a couple household chores this morning, but by 11:30 I was knitting and by 1:30 I had decided that was what was on the docket for the rest of the day and I was going to stop feeling bad about all the other things that wouldn't get done. And except for some short breaks and a time out to make and eat supper, that is what I did until about 9:00. Yup, more than eight hours of knitting and catching up on "Bones" on Netflix. A good day.

So what was I working on? The body of my pink tshirt with the big bias collar. In my last post, I mentioned that I would probably show pictures of a fitting the next time you saw this shirt, but it's not quite long enough for that. Instead, I had my pillow model it:

You can see that I finished the raglan shaping, split off the sleeve stitches and in fact have started the gradual waist shaping. Trying it on was an adventure of figuring out how the collar should sit, but it also indicated that it is fitting good. It's the right size and seems to be proportioned properly. I am going to have to lengthen it as much as I can (as my patience and yarn will allow) and most of this will happen in the waist area.

Some raglan style sweaters do not have you add any stitches under the arms when you split off the sleeve stitches. I have never found this to fit very well and was relieved to find that this pattern called for some additional stitches to be cast on.

Since these stitches will be picked up and knit for the sleeves, I went ahead and used a provisional cast on so that the underarm will be completely seamless. Some parts of a garment (like a shoulder) can benefit from a good seam for structure and other reasons, but underarms are a good place to have a lot of stretch. (I'm sure you can recall a time of hearing that seam ripping "popping" noise as you have taken your arm out of a sleeve the wrong way. It's not good.)

I did some knitting on this shirt last night as well and that was when I finally "did the numbers" and weighed the pink ball I was working with. It wasn't good--I had already used two thirds and wasn't nearly far enough.

I looked around on Ravelry to see if someone had the same dyelot for sale, you know, just in case. And someone did! She had one of my dyelot and two of unknown dyelots. I went ahead and sent her a message to ask about price, you know, just in case. She responded this morning and said she had just listed them the day before I wrote her and wasn't I quick like a bunny. She gave a very good price and was able to tell me that the two mystery balls do not match the known dyelot.

As I was knitting today, I reached the end of my first (of three) balls before I even got to the underarm. I realized I was staring at the very real possibility of not having enough yarn. And it was staring back at me. I kept knitting even as I joined the second ball (with a very neat Russian join when my braid join didn't work), thinking that I could wait and see if I could stare the monster down. But then I blinked. I couldn't let that one ball that showed up on Ravelry get away. I sent a message to its current owner and said I'll take it! I'll take it!

I may gamble at times, but sometimes you have to know when to fold them.

Now, I hope four balls is enough...

Magicking

I was innocently flipping through a magazine at Red Purl the other day, minding my own business when WHAM! I saw this picture and had to make this sweater. Just like that. I can't even say that I absolutely love the sweater but I had to make it. Right now.

It may have had something to do with the fact that Amy had Peace Fleece on sale for $5 a skein and there were three pink ones left and one white to go with it. I did some calculations for the substitution and figured it would get me close enough. (I apparently love to run out or almost run out of yarn at every chance I get.) I'll lengthen the body, but shorten the sleeves if need be. And no turned-over hem; that will save some yardage too.

I got the collar done the other day--that's where you start.

It's knit to make a strip of knitting on the bias:

You can see that even as the edges are straight, the knitting rows are slanted at 45 degrees. This is done with increases and decreases. No magic in that. I moved my increases/decreases in one stitch from the edge so I could have a neat selvage stitch--that is why you can see the stripes "straighten out" at the edges (especially visible in the top of the picture above).

I like the stripe effect, but briefly considered using the back side:

It's also striped but like colours are separated by a little space. This is because instead of the top and bottom of each row being done with the same colour, the top of one row and the bottom of the next are done in the same colour. Sort of like two halves coming together to make a whole. In the end, I decided to stick to the "right" side.

Because I was changing colours every time I started a right-side row, I went ahead and knit the first stitch. (Usually I slip it.) I made sure to purl the last stitch on the wrong side rows and that gave me the nice selvage stitch on one side:

On the other side, I slipped the first stitch on the wrong side rows as I normally do. Slipping it as a purl stitch yields the nice "V" selvage stitch:

You can see that this edge has only one stitch per stripe whereas the previous picture had two stitches per stripe. That's what you get with slipping. I was concerned with getting a nice selvage on both edges because the body of the sweater is picked up and knit off one edge, and the other edge is sewn down--both good times to have a convenient selvage stitch.

The bias strip collar is started with a provisional cast on. I used the crochet cast on. I started it while waiting for choir to start. You should have heard them all howl when they saw me working with a crochet hook instead of a pair of knitting needles. The basses seemed especially incensed. They are used to seeing me and my knitting but apparently a crochet hook is just going too far!

Anyway, once the right length is achieved, it is time to take out the provisional cast on and put the released stitches onto a needle:

Here I am pulling out the purple yarn of the crochet cast on
and picking up the white stitches that are freed.

Once that was done, I had two ends on needles and it was time to put them together to make a continuous loop:

The pattern called for a three-needle bind off. This would have held the ends together but it would have left a seam, causing a bump on the inside and an interruption to the garter stitch pattern. Now, we know better than that, don't we!? Have you guessed yet which word I will utter next? Yup, it's time for Kitchener. Now there's some magic!

It was going so well that when I was half done the seam, I thought I should take a picture or no one would believe me that it was sewn together:

The Kitchener seam is half done. The right side is finished;
the stitches on the needles on the left are waiting.

You can't tell which rows were knit and which one was sewn; there's no interruption to the stitch pattern, and the colour pattern is kept consistent. I love Kitchener and its mighty power.

When it was done, I had this:

Try and find the seam!

How does all this make a collar? Well, you fold it in half and just sort of imagine it laying across my shoulders:

I've since picked up the stitches around the collar and have just begin to knit the body.

The yarn contains mohair and it's definitely "hairy." I don't mind working with it, though, and I don't think I'll have any problem wearing it. If nothing else, I'll wear a tank under it and that will only help if the neckline ends up being too wide open for bra straps. (I'm old fashioned--I'd rather not show mine.)

But there's enough time to worry about that later. Meanwhile, I'll keep knitting. Obviously the shirt's being done top-down, so next time you see it, I'll probably be trying it on.