Recalculations

my knitting is colour coordinated with the plants in the garden

Yesterday, I got up some speed and completed the body of the cardi  adding some small modifications of my own.  Because The Little Model is so tall and slim she looks better in clothes that are slightly A line.  So I cast on 20 more stitches than the 24mo size required and decreased 2 stitches at the side seams (by SSK, K2tog) every 10 rows.  I then had the required number of stitches by the time I reached the point where extra inches can be added to the length (I added 1.5 inches).  I had been worried about running out of the main colour yarn so added four more rows to the garter strip at the beginning too.  I didn't run out but it was a pretty close run thing (only the unravelings of my swatches left)

showing the decreases to create an A line

Next came the joining up of the body with the sleeves.  Despite adding more stitches to the underarm section (placed on spare lengths of yarn) it is still quite fiddly.

The tricky bit is adding in the sleeves, you effectively have to make a 9/10  circle into a straight line.  I suggest you put your sleeve stitches on one cable and use a good long cable for the cable you are knitting on to.  Knit the required number of stitches from the right front then arrange your sleeve stitches with a loop of cable peeking out of the stitches half way round (a little like the way stitches are held for magic loop), knit off the first half stitches then rearrange the second set and knit those (remembering to reserve the 6 underarm stitches from the sleeve and the body).  Pul a loop through at the middle of your knitted stitches if you need the extra flexibility. Knit the back stitches, then the sleeve, in the same semi-magic loop way, then the left front.

All Done...  Now comes the placing of the markers.  I am working from the revised pattern.  Stephanie explains the placement by purling back along the row in your main colour placing markers as you go.  Alas in the 24 mo size the stitch numbers and intervals are not right.  SO I got out my calculator and a new set of markers

recalculating my holiday reading behind (great read!)

The pattern says you should have 120 (128, 136, 152, 168, 184) sts  but by my calculation I think it should be 120 (128, 146, 160, 178, 192)

Looking back at the original pattern and checking where the markers should be in relation to the shape of the yoke rather than counting stitches, here is my suggestion for placing the 9 markers based on position rather than stitch count

Begin from the centre back and work towards one side at a time placing :-

M5 - midway on the back section

M4 - 2(1, 2, 2, 1, 1) stitches from the point sleeve joins back

M3- on the mid point of the sleeve

M2 - 1 (0, 2, 1, 1, 2) stitches into the sleeve, from the point sleeve joins front

M1 - the M1 - M2 interval is  the same as between M4 &3 

Place Markers 6,7,8&9  in the same way along the second side

And I'm ready to go, although I'm now off for a swim, lunch and an afternoon lazing around in the sun, perhaps reading the odd chapter of my book.

Last night we meandered the back streets of a nearby town spotting

pretty balconies

classical architectural detail (this one's for JTH)

Bright colours

and dwellings ripe for conversion.

 

xx

c

 

A surfeit of exuberance

It's not that I haven't been knitting - I have, every evening.  But I don't have a lot to show for it...  yet.

I really want to finish the half done WIPs (I really do) but I began by un-ravelling.  The Araucania cardigan, begun months ago, was over half finished (back and fronts done, side seams sewn and shoulders grafted) but when I tried it on I knew it was all wrong.  And it's to do with The Problem.

The Problem does not only affect my choice of pattern, and my propensity to further embellish the pattern with little modifications of my own but also my choice of yarn.

When choosing what to knit and what to knit with (or lets be honest what-yarn-to-buy-never-mind-what-I-shall-knit-with-it) it's all about superlatives - gorgeous, beautiful, soft, fluffy, intense, rich, jewelled. Then there is beaded, indy-dyed (and spun) BFL*, alpaca, silk and simple good merino.  Buying yarn is a little like buying sweets or cake - I have a tendency to go for the bright and fancy with lashings of cream.  Patterns are no different - I go for the frills and furbelows. It's my undoing... It's The Problem

Yet if I go to a shop to buy ready made, restrained is my watchword.  I look for elegant lines, cool neutral colours, natural fibres and most definitely no fancy trimmings.  No wonder sometimes I finish something with a big fanfare and much rejoicing only for it to come out very rarely as once more I pull on my old fine cashmere crew necked sweater. Or cotton knits in cream and grey

And so it was that last week  I ripped out my Araucania, marmalade** coloured jacket with its contrasting garter stitched stripes in a slightly different weight and colour yarn, the peplum and the planned button band made of applied i-cord.  The colour is fab, all the colours of  Seville orange deliciousness; the yarn a beautiful blend of hand finished fibres but why was I tempted to embellish?

There's another connection with marmalade as well as colour.  Have you seen how many ways there are to mess with the original, simple stuff made of oranges, sugar and water?  You can buy it with added whiskey, spices, nuts - even marmalade made without oranges!!  But the best way is surely plain and simple, just as with this yarn.

And so I have reined in my imagination and chosen a simple sweater pattern with a shawl collar.   I am not absolutely sure I shall have enough yarn so I began with the sleeves and will knit the body in the round up to the armholes so if necessary I can make it a little bit shorter.

 And so the Araucania is sorted, that just leaves the multi-coloured, multi-textured stash (some with beads) much of it in very small amounts - there might be a lot of hats and scarves (and several pairs of socks!)

xx

c

(I bought this today, isn't it pretty?)

*BFL - Blue Faced Leicester, a breed of sheep whose fleece spins into the perfect knitters yarn
** Marmalade - after last week's blog a twitter friend @KismetIslander suggested one could not combine Marmalade and knitting.  Ho Hum...