Fashion: Yarn Style

Knitting for the New Year

 

 

New Year is almost with us! It’s been exciting to read the buzz in different chat rooms on Ravelry, as knitters are casting on for their first projects for 2010! The anticipation is mounting, and I can’t wait to start!          

 

It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that I haven’t had much time for knitting lately, as I sold a gorgeous, 1.5M house in Palo Alto to the loveliest couple imaginable at the end of the realtor calendar year, and completed a short story for the Mammoth Regency Anthology. The editing of my novel, Secret Possessions,is also slowly progressing.

 

As a result of all these exciting developments, my knitting has really taken a back seat. As the year draws to a close, I have 2 WIPS on the needles that are still haunting me.

 

My Cocoon project, which I had hoped to wear to Montana (oops, I fly there tomorrow at 6am!) stalled out. Sadly, my attempt to design my own armholes and then pick up stitches and knit the sleeves down totally failed. I used Wendy Bernard’s short row technique to fill in 2/3 of the sleeve cap, then knit the sleeve down, but the result was a disaster. I don’t fault Wendy Bernard, it is probably a combination of my own inexperience using this technique, the bulky yarn, and the white color, which shows every inch of the resulting seam in stark relief. The obvious line that separated the body of the sweater from the sleeve using this technique was bizarre and ugly, so I unraveled the whole thing on the spot.

 

 The Mosaic Sweater

Since I had hoped to use the same short row technique to complete the armhole/sleeves for my mosaic sweater, that project is now stalled out as well. However, help is on the way! Stitches West comes up in early February, and I am taking two classes on armhole/sleeve design. 

 

So I am putting the Cocoon project aside, unless I can adapt the Rowan Oslo pattern, which also uses Cocoon, and just knit that pattern's instructions for the armhole and sleeves and superimpose them on my Cocoon improvization. I'm going to give that a go, and if it doesn't work, I will take a little break over the New Year by knitting a simple scarf and drooling over the knitting projects to come.

 

 Rowan Kidsilk Haze, "Liqueur"

Of course, the project I am most excited about is new. Why are the new projects always the most exciting? But it goes together with the New Year! It is a new, old pattern actually—Paisley, by Kim Hargreaves, from one of the old Rowan books. It is a gorgeous pattern, using Kidsilk Haze doubled throughout, that I have been drooling over for the past year. It is in a gorgeous, dark wine red color, “liqueur.” And cowl-necked sweaters are so popular this season, I want to get in on the fun and knit one for myself.

 

 

So, drool no more! I have ordered 10 balls (Ouch!) of kidsilk haze yarn on sale, and am hoping that I will return from Montana to see the package of ultra soft, fuzzy yarn on my doorstep. I will be bringing the neckline up, as I feel if it's cold enough for me to wear this sweater, I probably don't want to be bearing that much cleavage to the frozen North. Otherwise, I think it's a gorgeous pattern.

Happy New year, everyone!

The Finished Sea Sweater

  

 

The Sea Sweater is finished at last! Phew! Handmaiden seasilk has such a fine gage that I had to knit this entire cardigan on size 1 & size 2 needles. As a result, it took me 4 months from start to finish to complete this project.

 

However, I feel that the time was worth it. Because of the fine gage, the silk cardigan looks polished enough to qualify as a work sweater. It has a lovely drape to it, and I love the shimmer of the silk/seacell yarn. I  also like the fact that I can wear the cardigan both open or closed:

 

 

As I had hoped, the silver edging I created, using Rowan’s Shimmer, did create the effect of foam glistening at the edge of an ocean wave. The rhinestone buttons also compliment the sheen of the silver yarn:

 

I did add quite a bit of extra waist shaping to the pattern, as well as vertical and horizontal bust darts to ensure a better fit. I think the one thing I could have done better was to create even more waist shaping than I did, as it feels as if there is some extra fabric in the middle. For that reason, it probably will look better worn open, then buttoned all the way up, as in the photo above. At least the cardigan fits well in back:

 

 

 It has definitely been a learning experience, approaching my knitting with the expectation of creating a finished-looking garment that I can wear out in public. I have found that my overall sweater production has gone down, but that the sweaters I am creating are more successful and getting worn a lot more often! So I think I am probably moving in the right direction. 

 

 

The only thing that I regret with this cardigan is the edging in the Rowan Shimmer yarn, which has a distressing tendency to deteriorate. I am worried that, over time, having the Shimmer so close to my buttonholes will create snags. In retrospect, I wouldn’t use this yarn to do a garment edging again. It’s just not stable enough.

I’m afraid that recently this has been less of a BLOG and more of a NOG, as in NGO (nothing going on) over the past month. That’s because I entered into my first publishing contract (yay!) In early  December, giving me a little more than 6 weeks to produce a story ready for publication to go into an anothology!!! My story, “the Panchaamabhuta,” is a romantic mystery about the theft of an Indian Star ruby from a dashing military widow. It was great fun to write, and I hope it will be great fun to read as well! I have finished the story, and celebrated by finishing off my cardigan! I will update you all when the anthology of stories is due to come out in print. The book will feature amusing romantic stories by some established regency authors, such as Barbara Metzger.

 

In the meantime, I’m happy to end the year wearing the seasweater! It is time to think about resolutions for 2010, and perhaps to fantasize about buying more yarn!