New Project

While I'm making good progress on the Lace Coat during my "at home" knitting, I have a lot of time away from home to knit with as well. One project I had been taking along is the second bias scarf I was working on for myself. It is now blocked and waiting for pictures to be taken. For a few days I worked on my Mock Monkey Socks, finishing the first one and getting the second one past the heel.

But then it occurred to me that I could be working on better things. (Plus it wasn't taking all that long to do the second sock so I would need a new project soon anyway.)

I had a long weekend with plenty of time at home to figure out something new. I've had this alpaca lace or fingering weight yarn since last April when I picked it up at Red Purl's last "Green Sale":

I had in mind to make a tank or camisole out of it, mostly to wear as an additional warm layer in the winter rather than as a summer top. I've been perusing patterns on Ravelry for a while, but when it finally came down to it, I picked one I hadn't seen before, Cotton Bam Boo Little Shell Top by Tonia Barry:

Things I like about it: real shoulders (not spaghetti straps), a deep V neck so it won't show no matter what I wear over it, and enough lace to make it pretty and interesting, but not too much.

The pattern is written bottom up, but I will be turning that around. For one thing, I'm starting to prefer it. For another, I probably won't have enough yarn to make it as long as I want. (That is, long enough to stay tucked in securely.) But at least working top-down, I can make it as long as possible. If I really run short, I'll have to add something different to the bottom, but I'll worry about that when I get there.

I printed the pattern, did some figuring and wrote out a bunch of notes. The first day I got the back started and the shoulder shaping done. It's the usual "cast off 7 sts the beginning of the next two rows, then cast off 8 sts the beginning of the next four rows..." (That's if you're working bottom up.)

One way to convert this is to cast on the number of stitches for the back neck and then cast on the right number of stitches at the beginning of all those rows. But casting on is kind of messy and your shoulder seam ends up with "steps" instead of a smooth line.

Another way to do it is to cast on the total number of stitches you're going to need. Then to work short rows from the center out to add the shoulder shaping. This is what I chose, and it's the same method I used on the Snowflake sweater. Worked great again.

By the third day I had this (it helped that I had to work on this during the Superbowl since I couldn't be looking at a lace pattern):

and tonight I actually finished this part of it. The back is now completed down to the underarm. The next time I have time to sit down, do some figuring, and write out a bunch of notes, I will convert the pattern for the front to top down. (Yes, this means I'm back to the socks for travel knitting right now--oh, the irony.)

The yarn is soft as alpaca should be, and I'm counting on it being warm, but I also have to say that it is "hairy." I'm hoping it will still be comfortable against my skin. I'm pretty tolerant so I think I'll be ok.

Sahara Update

Remember the "Sahara" that I was working on? I got as far as joining the front and back below the underarm (recall that I am working from top down), and started to do some of the waist shaping decreases so it was time to try it on and see how it is fitting. That's supposed to be one of the advantages of working top down.

I didn't really feel like doing this because for one, I had a good rhythm and momentum going and didn't want to stop. For two, I  knew it would be cold and I don't like to be cold.

As a way to force myself to do it anyway, I transfered all the stitches to waste yarn (because you can't try it on with the needle still in it). So now I couldn't knit on it until I had tried it on. The plan sort of worked because I sure didn't knit on it. But I didn't try it on either...for about two weeks. Poor Sahara.

In addition to the cold, I also had an issue of where to take the picture because all of my mirrors have unsightly things in the background. Then a day or two ago, I had a zinger of an idea, and that was enough to make me brave the cold, try it on, and even take some pictures.

There's not much to fitting the front yet since it's still open. But it looked and felt like it was right. You can see the bright yellow waste yarn I used to put the stitches on. (No mistaking that for the real yarn when I'm putting the stitches back on the needles!) And you can see my little yellow stitch marker (the half circle thing) which marks where I need to do the decreases. Stitch markers are one of those things I caught onto late in life because you can do without them, but it sure is easier with them. They sell fancy beautiful ones, but simple plastics rings are very cheap and there is no reason not have some if you're doing any kind of knitting more than a dishcloth. (And even then they might come in handy.)

I think the back looks a little more like the final product. It's hanging right, and fits over the shoulders. You'll see more waste yarn holding the stitches for the collar. (I think the pattern says to cast them off, but I always prefer to just put them on yarn and then knit them up in the collar. No rigid seam then--I prefer some stretch.) You can also see a couple more stitch markers, again for the decreases.

The knitted fabric felt really nice, and I'm glad I still really liked the colour after not having seen it in a while. (Sometimes you can fall in love at the store, but it's not lasting.)

Now that I am reassured about the fit and feel that I have "done the right thing" I can put those stitches back on the needle and get going again. Yeah! Also in the spirit of "doing things right" I am working from two different balls. Hand-dyed yarns can vary from ball to ball quite a bit even when they're marked as coming from the same dye lot. These look pretty close, but just in case, I am knitting 2 rows with one ball and the next 2 with another. Then if the balls vary, it still makes an overall pattern and colour impression and your sweater isn't splotchy.

All for now,

christina