Winter Dress - Finished!

I finished this up on Monday and blocked it yesterday.  Somehow when I was knitting the Autumn Dress I completely missed directions on the armhole and neck edge - type and placement of the decreases and keeping the edge stitch in reverse stockinette.  This time I followed the directions and even did the crochet edging.  I'm always a little nervous about crochet edging.  With a knit edging I know the gauge and can figure out how many stitches to pick up, but I don't know the crochet gauge so I just have to wing it.  Now I have to find the right turtleneck, leggings and boots to go with it.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Winter Amethyst
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Winter Dress - 5 Skeins Done

I finished up Skein 2 this afternoon.  On my Autumn Dress I switched to skein 1 when I started working the front and back separately, but on this one I continued with skein 2 after the split, working front and back at the same time by working from both ends of the skein.  I've not done this very often, just because you have to be careful to avoid twisting, but with gradiant yarns in any kind of garment other than a shawl I think it is the easiest way to make sure that you are using it evenly without having to weigh it.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Winter Amethyst
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Winter Dress - 3 & 4 Skeins Done

I finished up skein 4 mid-week, and finished up skein 3 this morning (which may seem strange until you remember that I started with skein 6, so I'm working backwards through the set).  I like the way that the striping changes depending upon how many stitches are in the rows.  This is a feature of all gradiance and striping yarns and there has been a lot of work lately on controlling that with careful pattern selection, but I have no desire to control anything and I like letting the yarn express itself.

Now I'm done with the lace.  The bodice tends to go pretty quickly.  I'm thinking of using one of the sets that I bought for Peter Pan for my Spring Dress.  The Tinkerbell colorway reminds me of Spring.  If I do, I will start with the green.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Winter Amethyst
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Winter Dress - 2 skeins done

I finished up skein 5 last night and started skein 4.  There have been enough decreases (5 sets, with 16 stitches decreased on each set) that the rows are going faster.  So far the color changes have been pretty subtle, but I think they will start to get a little more dramatic from here.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Winter Amethyst
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Winter Dress

Once I got back I cast on my Winter Dress using Winter Amethyst on Luxe from the Unique Sheep.  There is a create along in the Gorgeous Gradients group on Ravelry that I'm participating in.  I cast on yesterday.  It took me two tries to get it right.  The first time I twisted it when I joined in the round.

This afternoon I finished up skein 6 and started on skein 5.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Winter Amethyst
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Autumn Dress - Finished!

I finished this up this past Sunday.  I would have finished it last week, except that I was in Tucson all week for work.  I did take a small knitting project with me, but didn't pull it out at all while I was gone.  I did a lot of reading instead.  Before I left I had gotten this dress up to the point where I split it for the front and back of the bodice, so it didn't take me long to finish when I got home.  I did have some yarn usage figuring to do, though.  I put together a spreadsheet to get an idea of when I wanted to switch to the final skein.  With the addition of some hand-written notes I was able to use my spreadsheet as the shaping directions.

The pattern calls for a single crochet edging on the neck and armholes.  I did one on the neck, but didn't really like how it looked so I pulled it out and picked up and knitted around the openings instead.  For the neck I did two rounds of knitting before binding off and for the arm holes I did one round of knitting before binding off.

The finished dress comes down to mid-calf on me.  On the model in the magazine it only comes down to mid-thigh.  I'm thinking I would have to be a lot leggier and bustier to get it to do that on me.  The fit on my dress maker dummy is pretty much how it fits me, with the lace ending at my waist.  I thought about trying to shorten the next one that I make, but I would have to shorten it a lot, and I prefer longer dresses anyway, so I'm going to leave it as is.  I have also contemplated making a lining for it, just to give it a more finished appearance.

After I finished this one I immediately cast on my Winter Dress using the set of Silverlode on Luxe that I have had in my stash for a few years now.  I wound the first skein and weighed it and was shocked to discover that it was light, 4 grams light.  I don't think this has ever happened to me before with Unique Sheep yarns, usually they are heavy.  I hoped it was an anomaly and started knitting.  I got through most of the first skein on Sunday and went to wind the second skein, and it was also light, and once again by 4 grams.  Now I was really getting worried, so I wound and weighed the rest of the skeins and they were all light.  Instead of 300 grams I only had 280.  I need 288 grams for this dress.  Confronted with this situation I did the only sane thing, I ordered more yarn.  This time I ordered Winter Amethyst, which goes from purple to silver.  I thought it was even more appropriate than Silverlode.  It has "Winter" in the name, and it has purple, which is one of my favorite colors.  Keeping with this convention, the Spring Dress should be knit in Spring Grass, and the Summer Dress should be knit in Summer's End.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Autumn for Ana
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Autumn Dress - Lace work done

I finished up the lace work and I still have some of the 4th skein left over, pretty much as I predicted.  I go back and forth on the transition rows/no transition rows question.  For this particular colorway the first two skeins that I used blended quite well, but the next two have a more dramatic color change.  The photograph emphasizes it, so it is more dramatic than it would be in real life.  I have noticed that about photographs.  When I am blocking a shawl I take a photo of it to see if I have it laid out symmetrically.  I may not be able to see it when I look at it pinned out on the blocking mats, but it will jump out at me in a photograph.  I keep thinking that there must be some mathematical progression that would make the transition smoother, more organic, but I just haven't had the energy to pursue it.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Autumn for Ana
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Autumn Dress - 3 skeins done

I finished up the third skein this morning.  Actually, it is skein 4 in the set because I started with skein 6.  I have about 50 more rows of lace work to do and then I will be on the bodice.  Based upon my yarn usage, this skein should get me through the lace work and into the bodice.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Autumn for Ana
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Autumn Dress - 2 skeins done

I have finished up the second skein and started the third.  I would have been a skein further along except that last weekend I had to start all over again, ripping completely back. My first error was not catching an error in the set up row, which left me two stitches short in each section.  I figured that out about half way through the first skein and decided to handle it by just skipping one of the decreases.  Then I was merrily knitting along with the second skein when I realized that somewhere along the line my stitch count had gotten all messed up.  At some point (possibly more than once) I had randomly messed up my rows, decreasing on rest rows I think was the chief culprit.  I counted stitches in my sections and realized how messed up things were so I just ripped back.  When I got to skein 1 I cut the join and then cast on again, knitting while unraveling.  But now that first row is correct and so is everything else.  I'm counting on the lace rows and using a row counter, neither of which I was doing the first go around.  It just goes to show you what over confidence can lead to.  This time around I am also tightening up the decrease stitches, especially the centered double decrease (CDD).  I noticed when I was knitting the first go that sometimes the stitch just in front of the CDD was loose.  Now I give the yarn a little tug after working the CDD and the next stitch as well and things look better.


Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Autumn for Ana
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Autumn Dress - 1 skein done

I have knitted up the first of my six skeins.  Well, actually it is the 6th skein in the order of the set.  I have already wound up the next skein and joined it to my first one.  If you look at the strand of yarn the runs to the ball you will see the join, a little thicker and with two ends.  Once it is knitted in you will hardly be able to see it, and after it is blocked all I have to do is snip those two ends, no further weaving in is needed.  It is a brilliant way to join lace and fingering weight yarn in shawls.  It is not my invention but was shared on The Unique Sheep's Mystery Lace KALs by Steph, also known as Seccotine on Ravelry.  The rest of the skirt is more of the same, with spaced decreases gradually reducing the circumference until you get to the bodice.  Easy mindless knitting, made fun by the changing colors of The Unique Sheep yarns and the magic that they put in to every skein.  I've said this before but I'll say it again, working with their yarn makes me happy in a way that no other yarn I've ever worked with does, not even the softest merino wool or silk or cashmere.  There is special magic in their work.

I didn't bother with a gauge swatch, but when I checked my gauge it is spot on.  Sometimes things just happen that way.  Serendipity.

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Autumn for Ana
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Serendipity

I don't know about you, but I get several knitting magazines, and their arrival is always a treat.  It is a chance to sit down with a cup of tea and flip through the pages to see if any of the patterns catch my fancy and sometimes I even read the articles.  If I see something I like I check the yarn for type and content (there are some weights and fiber contents that I tend to steer clear of) and if it is something I really think I am going to make I will even order the yarn.  This is one of the reasons that I have such an extensive stash, but the alternative is wanting to make the pattern later and the yarn being discontinued.  These days when I see a pattern I check my stash on Ravelry first because sometimes I have forgotten what I bought that yarn for and sometimes my tastes have changed and the original pattern that I bought the yarn for no longer appeals to me.  The saddest situation is when I look through the magazine and no patterns catch my fancy, fortunately that does not happen too often.

The latest Knitter's Magazine arrived today and there are several patterns that have caught my fancy, and one in particular has inspired me to dig some yarn out of my stash that has been languishing for at least 3 years waiting for the right project to come along.  I've pulled this yarn out a couple of times trying to find a project that would suit it, but have always been unsuccessful, until now.  This yarn, one of the first sets that I bought from Unique Sheep, is going to become the Alita Dress.  The pattern calls for lace weight (Schoppel-Wolle Lace Ball 100 (100% Merino)) held double, but I will be using the fingering weight held single.  When I bought the yarn I remember being a little disappointed in the color because it just wasn't right for the project that I had bought it for, but when I pulled it out again just a few minutes ago I discovered it was beautiful, it just needed the right project for me to realize that. 

Project:  Alita Dress by Adrienne Larsen from Knitter's Magazine 116, Fall 2014
Yarn:  The Unique Sheep Luxe in Autumn for Ana
Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm)

Caribbean Blue - Finished

I finished this top up a week ago, but by the time it was dry from blocking the rain had moved in and it didn't stop raining until today.  I've even worn it to work already.  It was tricky getting a decent photo of it.  There is an interesting optical illusion going on with this yarn, in the top of the bodice, where I was working back and forth, the different colors are distinct from each other, but in the body where I was working in the round, they blend and seem out of focus, like a Monet painting.

Pattern:   Cables & saddles by Julie Gaddy, Knitter's Magazine K112
Yarn:  Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Short Sport in Caribbean Blue
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Caribbean Blue - Top of the top done

This is a project from the latest edition of Knitter's Magazine (K112), called Cables & saddles by Julie Gaddy.  It has a very interesting construction.  You knit the two saddles first, then pick up stitches along the edges of the saddles to shape the shoulders and neckline, then join the shoulders to knit the back and then the front, finally joining the front and the back to knit the body in the round.  The sleeves are picked up and knit out from the front and the back, and are sewn to the underarm to form a sort of gusset.  I was very intrigued by how all of this would work, so when I got to the end of a skein on the body I decided to go back and do the finish work on the top.  Besides which, there were a number of yarn tails and stitches on holders and the whole thing was just a little too chaotic and messy for me.

So, when I got to the end of a skein, I wound the rest of my skeins up and started on a sleeve.  The sleeves use live stitches on the saddle and picks up stitches from the body.  Then you knit back and forth, keeping the cable pattern going along the top of the sleeve until the sleeve measures 4 inches.  After you cast off you sew the sleeve to the underarm stitches to form a sort of gusset and sew the rest of the sleeve seam together.  Of course I had to modify things.  Once the sleeve was long enough to sew to the underarm I joined the sleeve and knit the rest in the round.  After I cast off the sleeve stitches I sewed the gusset.  Once I had finished the sleeves I tackled the neck band.

I was supposed to do a provisional cast on when I knit the saddles so I could use those stitches as part of the neck band.  Of course, if you do this, your stitches are off by half a stitch, but don't worry, the photo caption asserts, it is virtually undetectable.  Wrong!  I looked at the photo and all I could see was that mismatch.  So I didn't do a provisional cast on, instead I picked up stitches and it is barely detectable.  When I did the bind off on the neckband I did not bind off in pattern, I did a knitted bind off.  I just thought it would lay better.

The sample in the magazine was knit in Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Short Sport in Rubies Playing and Silk Lace in Chocolate Cherry, with the yarns held together.  The fact that they were two different colors didn't really register so when I ordered I looked for matching colors, which limited my selection somewhat.  Fortunately I found the Caribbean Blue in both yarn weights and I love the colors.  Once I got the yarn and started working the pattern I realized that the point was to create a subtle variegated effect.  Well, given the color that I had order I didn't need two different colors of yarn for that, so I just used the short sport, which means I have the same color in a lovely lace weight just waiting for the perfect shawl pattern.

Pattern:   Cables & saddles by Julie Gaddy, Knitter's Magazine K112
Yarn:  Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Short Sport in Caribbean Blue
Needle:  US 5 (3.75 mm)

Campanula - Finished

According to my projects page on Ravelry, I started this back in April of 2009. It took me three tries to get the body right. The first time I had somehow failed to cast on enough stitches, the second time I had failed to notice the different lace patterns for the two front sides. When I finally got it right I was distracted by Year of Lace. I finally got back to this project last month. Having completed two lace shawls in the meantime I was much better at lace when I picked this back up, and it was a pretty easy knit. It fits perfectly. Now I'm just trying to decide if I want to line the body with some silk so I don't have to wear anything under it.

Blocking Lace in the Round - Campanula Sleeves

I finished the sleeves for the Campanula top today. They were pretty easy, once I figured out the decreases for the shaping, and how many stitches I needed to cast on for knitting them in the round. But then I was confronted with the issue of blocking. I didn't really want to lay them flat. Two cookie tins and a couple of pieces of tape later, and voila!

Campanula Update

I finished the body of Campanula. I've gotten a lot better at lace, having two lace shawls under my belt, and this pattern is now downright easy. I modified the pattern to knit the body in one piece, rather then three, but I do have a fake seam on the sides. I did this to make the stitches work out when I started the shaping. I charted out the top parts (where the shaping occurs) using Stitch Motif Maker V3 on my tablet PC. Now I just have to knit the sleeves, but first I have to convert the instructions so that I can knit them in the round and create the chart.

Let's try this one more time - Campanula

Well, I got up to the shaping and realized that I had messed up the lace pattern in a pretty basic way. See, I had modified the pattern to work it all in one piece, rather than three, but I didn't take into account the differences in the lace pattern for the two sides of the front. As a result things weren't set up right for the shaping. I guess I should have read the directions a little more closely. Sigh. So I ripped it out and started again. This time I graphed out the lace pattern for the body, plus the lace charts for the shaping, in Stitch Motif Maker.

I'm thinking of giving this one to my friend/adopted-sister Carol of Beadcats, if she likes it. I've got enough of the Vintage Cotton in purple to make another one for me.