Whisper

Pattern: Whisper, from Spring 2009 Interweave Knits

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock (~2.5 skeins)

Needles: US 1 1/2, 3 and 6 (2.5mm, 3.25mm and 4.0mm)

Comments: A really fast knit - I actually finished this in 2 weeks, but kept putting off the photography. Clever seamless construction, this is more a "shrug" than a true cardigan as it doesn't really close completely in front.  The front is basically a pair triangles that come together like a wrap - the cross point on me appears to be about the same as for others who have knit this - slightly below the bustline.  This will definitely do nicely as a light pullover when temps are just a little chilly.

As you may guess, I did indeed modify - the most obvious may be that I didn't use the called for lace yarn, and as a result knit to my own gauge/fabric only using the instructions as a guide for construction.  The sleeves and bottom hem feature seed stitch (I wasn't fond of the idea of the rolled hem).  Also, the sleeves are more traditional in shape - starting with the notched edge, and increasing slightly in size as the sleeve grows in length (rather than starting wider and tapering downward).  I also knitted the lower portion of the back to include some waist shaping to make the garment more closely follow natural bodylines, and I also added a bit of length to make it hit at about the same place as a regular cardi would....technically I guess I'm not quite done, since I still have sme ends to weave in!

Birthday Bog Jacket

Pattern: Bog Jacket, with modifications/add-ons - found in Knitting Around
Yarn: Southwest Trading Co Karaoke, in Durango (I think), with accents in Forest and a tan colored discontinued colorway.
Needles: US6 / 4.0 mm, gauge 4 st/ridges per inch
Size: 42"

Comments and modifications: and there are many! Lets start with the general commentary, shall we?

The Bog Jacket is a garment made essentially from a square or rectangular piece of fabric with little to no waste - for more information and instructions on constructing your own Bog Jacket, please refer to either the book above, or check out this PDF on a woven fabric Bog Jacket. Knit in Garter Stitch, this version of the Bog features the similar construction details - the Garter Stitch fabric was chosen because it lends itself easily to the math and grafting required in assembly. That said, it also lends itself to its own peculiarities. In particular, I re-discovered what I already knew...that Karaoke + Garter St + water (by way of blocking) = Ginormous Knitting - so much so that once I properly blocked the jacket, it is now probably considered tunic length (well past my hips, which is where it was pre-blocking) and the sleeves...oh my goodness. The Sleeves are crazy long. Like long enough for an orangutan - Right now, I'm calling the Bog "Done" - without any closures on it (initially I was thinking zipper, now I'm thinking frog closures, or something similar), and with the crazy long sleeves turned back about 3 times for really fat cuffs. If they bother me too much having those massive bumper-like cuffs bongling around my hands and wrists, I'll consider it Steek practice and use a crochet-reinforcement to mark the cutting point.

Now then, the modifications - I did the various modifications that were suggested by EZ with the exception of the fake seams and the pockets - these included: Short rows in the back to make a slight dropped hemline in the back of the jacket, short rows in the sleeves in an attempt to make them less kimono-like, shoulder shaping (moved out just a smidge from the recommended location, and they hit my shoulders perfectly now, even with all the extra stretch in the fabric), waist shaping (though I had to rip out the entire bottom of the jacket once I had it seamed to relocate the shaping to be much higher), and applied i-cord all the way around. Other modifications or diversions from the proscribed formula: I made the "body" portion of the bog jacket shorter than recommended - I don't recall the as-knitted length, but with the stretch that occurred during blocking, it is more than long enough! For extra sleeve length, I measured my own "wing-span" and determined and cast on the "appropriate" number of stitches to get me to that length - unfortunately I think with all the stretch that has occurred, I may well have been okay casting on very few extra stitches, though I will have to go back to my notes to double check!

Comments for possible future bog knitters - keep in mind that the knitted bog jacket should allow you some flexibility to make the garment fit you in a customized manner. Keeping in mind the extra stretchiness of garter stitch, depending on your personal circumference, you may want to make note of the following:

• Seriously consider the growth that might happen with your yarn choice and the knitted fabric for your sleeves - you may not need to cast on many extra stitches at all to obtain proper sleeve length!
• 50% of your circumference may well be way too much fabric for both the sleeves and body lengths - I'd recommend measuring the armscye of a t-shirt that you like to determine the appropriate number of rows to knit for the sleeves.
  
• Consider knitting the bog from the top down - if you're really clever, this will allow you to basically make a shrug-like garment - you'd get the kitchenering of the sleeve(s) done earlier on, and you could determine if you've knit way too much sleeve depth or not enough. You may even be able to do the kitchnering without even doing the "thumb trick" but I'm not certain ;) since I haven't completely thought it through. Anyhow, once you have the shrug-like garment completed and the bottom all held on a huge circular needle, you can try it on, and knit your waist shaping accordingly.

Now updated with a photo of me *in* my bog jacket, and all it's stretched garter stitch glory :) Don't get me wrong, I learned a LOT in this construction, and I do like the jacket - it's just it will likely wind up being more like a house / car coat kind of thing rather than an every-day cardi like my Ribby Cardi or my Cabled Cardi.

ps. yes, I know my cardi matches my cat. I wish I could say that his posing on it was planned....but you know cats ;)

Twinned Knits

Pattern: Fake Isle by Amy

Yarns: For the Red one, I used Patons Classic Merino in Burgundy paired with SWTC Karaoke in the Black Sheep Colorway. For the other, it's all Karaoke - Black Sheep and Forest colorways.

Needles: For the Red one, I used US6 needles throughout. For the other, I used US4s and US6s.

Sizes: The Red was the Larger size, and the green is the smaller size. Sadly, neither fit perfectly.

It started with the red hat, knit according to the pattern, with a couple extra rows at the brim as the only modification - mostly because the hat looked a bit short in the photos on the pattern. I'm not sure what it is with my knitting, but it seems every time I knit a hat, it always develops a bell like shape where it is fairly wide at the brim. Seeing as a normal person's head does not do this, it makes for an ill fitting hat. While the top portion of the hat seemed to be about right for circumference, the hat wound up being too deep - and rather than rip it all out, I debated with myself over felting it or turning the bottom of the hat inside - due to the belled shape, I figured the 2nd option would make for lumpy lines, so into the sink it went.

Sadly, the felting experiment didn't go so well - instead of shrinking, the hat seemed to bloom (in case you're wondering, no, I did not wash my swatch. I'm one of those knitters that swatches rarely - and I fix my knitting on the fly. It can sometimes be my downfall). Anyhow, back to the hat - it seemed to bloom and expand. While the stitch definition became less defined, I saw little shrinkage. I also noticed that even after blocking the hat nicely, it seems to have a point at the top - nowhere near as pointy as my meathead, but the hat definitely does not lay flat against the top of my head - even when I pull it down tightly. I suspect an issue with my floats combined with the possible change in gauge for the very last bit of knitting (all one color for the very last bit).

Undeterred, I cast on for a 2nd hat, this time opting for modifications including knitting 2x2 (rather than 3x1) ribbing on smaller needles. I also stayed on the smaller needles after switching to stockinette for about 4 rows. This was successful in preventing the dread bell shape.

Unfortunately, the hat is still too deep - not by too much, but some. While the hat does fit better than the first, it still doesn't quite stretch right at the very top and also has a slight lump at the very crown of the hat. I'm thinking my head is not suitable for the pattern of decreases used on this pattern.

Excuse the baleful eye in the left hand photo :) I assure you - my head is not cone shaped as it appears in that red hat. Now I'm stuck with a dilemma. 2 lovely hats - neither of which fits quite right - I might keep the red one for my own, I can't see foisting the cone head on someone else. I'm still debating gifting the green one away - it was intended as a gift, but I'm not sure it will fit the recipient properly given that it doesn't quite fit me (or my DH) Comments? Suggestions for yet another hat pattern? I hate to say it, but I might be relegated to yet another Pirate Hat.

Regardless of the fit issues, I think the stitches look nice, don't you?

Hat with Holes...

Pattern: Urban Homesteader by Christy
Needles: US 6 & US7
Yarn: SWTC Karaoke - Held Double stranded for most of the knitting

Comments: Sorry about the "flashy" photo - I was needing to do the self portrait thing and I wasn't having any luck outside. This hat was a really fast knit, and it worked well to help bust some of my stash :) While it does make my head look a little jelly-fish like - especially in that center photo - I love how deep the hat is. It means my ears definitely stay completely covered when worn (even when I don't wear it with my hair sticking out one of the flaps). Right now, I'll probably be using it mostly in Pony tail mode, only because my hair is much longer than I realized it was :) Definitely recommended. Don't skip out on whipstitching the edging on those flaps, btw - otherwise you may notice your flaps are really curly!

Avast, at last!

Pattern: Avast from Knitty
Yarn: SWTC Karaoke in Black Sheep Colorway (50-50 wool & soysilk)
Needles: US 5 and US7 - managed to hit gauge perfectly :D
Size: Medium
Modifications: Slightly longer torso (I think) longer sleeves, and I opted to knit the sleeves in the round and kitchner the underarm seam rather than seam it. Essentially the sweater is seamless :)

Comments: I honestly don't recall if I washed the swatch before carrying on with this sweater - though it is fair to say that even if I had, I'm not sure I would have captured the increase in length of the finished object or not - after all, a full size sweater has quite a bit more material and weight to it than a tiny little 4x4 swatch. That said, the sweater fits great through the torso, though both the arms and the body are a touch on the long side...some of this may also be simply due to the ease that is allowed - when I took the measurements to knit to, I took exact measurements from the underarm to determine sleeve length and body length on the sweater - it should be obvious that the sweater does have some ease to it, and does not fit tightly into the underarm of the wearer (thank goodness) :)

The zipper (hard to see) actually goes all the way from the waist to the top of the collar - so in cooler weather, it can be zipped completely to form a mock turtleneck. I opted to take the sweater in to my local tailor to have the zipper installed - at 31.5-inches, I wasn't about to hand sew it in, and I certainly wasn't about to trust it to my sewing machine.

Classic in design, and easy to knit (oy, the miles of stockinette!) - I wound up knitting from a couple balls of yarn at a time in an attempt to reduce the broad striping that Karaoke tends to do. This is actually the first sweater I've knit for my Dear Husband, and he seems to like it well enough - we'll see once the weather cools down since he wasn't thrilled to be modeling it with the temps still over 100F down here!

More Singles

A full day of spinning results in three full bobbins...11 ounces and almost 800 yards worth of lovely yarn with a slight sheen.

Fiber Content: 50-50 Fine Wool & Soysilk - I purchased the fiber dyed, but then decided to add some additional color to it by overdying prior to spinning. I'm calling it Tropical Sea because it reminds me of the bright yet blue-overtoned colors of a tropical reef.


Specific yardage on each skein will soon be available as I'm planning on listing these at the shop. I'm hoping to have them listed by the beginning of May.

**Whoops. While I did indeed have them listed at the beginning of May, I apparently forgot to activate these beauties in the shop. They are there and active now :) Note: I'm linking to the DK weight skeins, though there is also 1 skein in sport weight also.