Starry Night - Finished!

I finished this up this past Wednesday, knitting while watching PLY Guild videos - Season 1, Foundations, the episode on spindle spinning, which mostly convinced me that I don’t want to do that (even though spindles are such a beautiful and simple tool).  As a side note, I’ve found the videos to be extremely well done, and useful, and am happy that I backed them on Kickstarter, and am a lifetime member as a result.  But back to knitting.  I love how this came out.  I know the yarn label says “Super Sock”, but maybe it really should be called “Super Soft”.  It has a wonderful drape, and also feels very light.  The top fits me perfectly, just the right amount of ease and length.  I even have the perfect set of jewelry to wear with it.  I honestly think it was the perfect yarn for this pattern.

The colorway was a two-skein set by Sundara Yarn, inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night.  I did not do any of the patterning in the main colorway (the blue) knowing that it just would not show up, but I love the way the different blues stripe, and the contrast between the darkness of the top half and the light and airy bottom half.  It is just dreamy.  I went up a size, knowing my gauge did not match the pattern (I had more stitches and rows per inch than the pattern called for), and added extra length in the bottom half (after chart E).  I had plenty of both colors, although I did use more of the blue.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Super Sock by Sundara Yarn

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)
 

Starry Night - Time For Chart E!

I have finished knitting the 3.5 inches after placing the sleeve stitches on holders and casting on underarm stitches.  Per the pattern, the rest of the body is supposed to come out to 6.5 inches, so based on my row gauge I need another 16 rows of the yellow to make everything come out correctly.  I should have enough of the blue to do the few rows on the body between chart E and chart F, but I’m not sure if I will have enough to work the few rows on the sleeves before I work chart G.  We’ll see.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Sundara Yarns Super Sock

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Starry Night - Yoke Done!

Even though I have been focusing on sock knitting, I have not abandoned my Starry Night Tee (unlike Tessellation Nation, which has been languishing).  This project is something I can work on while reading, or while watching TV that I need to actually watch.  Last night I finished up the yoke and put the sleeve stitches on stitch holders.  I’ve tried it on and the fit is perfect.  How I finish the body and sleeves will depend on how far my yarn goes.  If I run short of yarn I’m sure I can find something in my stash that I can use.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Super Sock

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Starry Night - Cast On!

As I was knitting my Kaya Tee I decided that I wanted to knit another one, in these two yarns, which were inspired by Van Gogh’s painting Starry Night.  This yarn is Sundara Yarn.  I love her colors and her Daily Dream emails, they are the only impulse yarn buys I am allowing myself at this point, and I do have a fair bit of her yarn in my stash.  Even before I had finished the first one I dug these out of my stash and on Monday I caked them up and cast on.  I did do things a little bit differently.  I am working the next size up (my first Kaya Tee was a size 2, this one is a size 3), I joined in the round immediately after cast on, did not go down a needle size for the first row and the first two rounds, and did not do any of the patterning on the first two rounds.  I just joined in the round after the cast on and started knitting.  The cast on edge curls as stockinette stitch will.  I may just leave it like that, I may work a single crochet round (as the pattern calls for) or I may work an I-cord.  If I do any embellishment I may do it in my contrast color, just for fun.

I did, of course, do the lace pattern in my contrast color.  I really do love how that band of lace looks in the yoke, and of course I added beads.  The beads are from Earthfaire, and came with the yarn that I used for my first Kaya Tee (they go with the purple yarn).  I am not working any of the textured stitch patterns in the main color as the yarn is variegated and I don’t think they will show up well, plus I like the mindless stockinette as I can read while I knit.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Sundara Yarn Super Sock

Needle:  US 6 (4.0 mm)

Kaya Tee - Finished!

After a marathon session on Friday I completed adding the length and grafted the two pieces back together again.  Everything went well and you can’t even tell that I did the surgery.  I also added stitches to the sleeves before I extended them, picking up three extra stitches on either side of the underarm in that section of knitting that always seems to get stretched out and distorted regardless of what you do and is always a source of holes that need to be closed up again.  I’ve picked up extra stitches in this area before, but this time I did not decrease them away as I needed that extra circumference and I am pleased with how they came out.  I think it gives a smoother underarm and will use this technique again in the future.  After blocking I checked my gauge again on the completed tee, and my gauge swatch did sort of lie, but really only because I knit the gauge swatch flat and this is worked in the round.  I didn’t think my gauge was that different but apparently it is different enough (in this case 1.5 stitches and 2 rows tighter over 4 inches).  Lesson learned.  The top fits, not much positive ease, but at least not negative, and the yarn (Extrafine Merino Wool) is very soft and feels great against the skin.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm), Hook G (4.0 mm)

Kaya Tee - Body Done!

And it is too short!  I tried it on, I am not into the cropped look, and not even an aggressive block is going to save this one.  To be clear, my gauge swatch did not lie, I just wasn’t listening to it the way I should have been.  I did know that my row gauge was tighter (32 rows vice 28 rows per four inches) and I added extra length to make up for that.  I just didn’t add enough extra length.  I also added extra length to the yoke, and that did work out.  While I was pondering what to do to solve this problem I went ahead and worked the sleeves, adding extra length to them as well and using up most of the purple yarn (2.6 grams left).   My stitch gauge is also a little tighter, so there is not much ease, but at least it is not negative ease!

Fortunately I have a convenient place to take the knitting apart to add length, right after that first blue section on the body.  So, I put in two of my Clover Circular Stitch Holders and started pulling out the row in between them (the last blue row of that section).

I really love these stitch holders.  I use them as after-thought life lines, and to put stitches on hold (I have two shorter ones holding the sleeve stitches in the first photo).

Here is a photo part way through the separation process.  I ended up cutting the piece of yarn that I was pulling out once it got too long to handle easily.  I didn’t need it, and it was getting a little worn.

And here are the two pieces separated.  I’ve put the stitches from the top back onto my needle, attached my yarn ball to the tail of the yarn that I ripped out and have started knitting.  I’m going to just do stockinette.  I thought about repeating the motif, but just don’t feel like working it over and over again.  Once I’ve added enough length I’ll graft the two pieces back together.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasco Multy Botany Lace

Needle:  US 4 (3.5 mm), US 6 (4.0 mm)

Kaya Tee - Yoke Done!

This past week I focused on this project to give my hands a rest from the sock knitting and the crochet and I finished up the yoke.  I will confess that I was get a bit tired of the textured patterning, even though I do like the look and was relieved to get to straight stockinette (which lets me read while I knit!).  Turns out my gauge was not quite as spot on as I thought it was, my row gauge is tighter than the pattern calls for (32 rows vice 28 rows), yes I know that is a fair bit of difference.  If I had gone up to a US 7 maybe I could have made that gauge work, but I doubt if I would have liked the fabric (too loose, I’ve knit fingering on US 7 needles, and it is always too loose).  So, I’m sticking with what I have.  I like the fabric and it fits.  It might have a little less ease than the pattern calls for, but that is okay, so far it fits me just fine, and it looks like I’ll be fine on the yarn usage as well, even though I will use more.  And if I do run short I have some of the same base in the teal that I used for the gauge swatch that I can use if I absolutely have to, and I know just where I would use it.  I enjoy these kinds of knitting challenges.  Overall I like the pattern and am thinking of making more with some of the Artyarns that I have in my stash, although I may skip the patterning and just do the lace.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa 

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasca Multy Botany Lace

Needles:  US 6 (4.0 mm) and US 4 (3.5 mm)

Kaya Tee - Cast On & Chart A Done!

What?  Casting on another project?  I am supposed to be reducing the number of projects I have on the needles, not increasing them!  But, yes, I did cast on another project this past weekend.  Since I retired I have been working on two things (among many others), finishing up (or frogging) unfinished objects, and knitting from stash.  Being an engineer, and also not a fan of expending energy making decisions that ultimately don’t really matter, I simply grabbed the first box of fingering weight yarn in my stash and opened it up, determined to knit everything in there.  At one point I had gone through my voluminous stash and sorted and cataloged (on Ravelry) and boxed everything that I had (at that time).  I sorted by fiber weight, and then alphabetically by fiber manufacturer/maker, so this box (F1) has yarns that start with the letter A.  My Lightning Thief shawl was knit with yarn that came from this box, and so is this project.  In fact it is the exact same yarn brand - Araucania Huasca.

I also bought this yarn from Earth Faire as a kit 10 years ago, and according to my Ravelry stash page it was supposed to become a Vestland Shawl, but when I went and looked at that pattern my response was “meh”, maybe not.  I have lots and lots of shawls, so how about a tee?  A quick Ravelry search led me to the Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa.  Two colors, and some pretty lace, to which I can add the beads that came with the yarn.  Yesterday I pulled the pattern in to knitCompanion, grabbed my leftover yarn from my Lightning Thief shawl, and knit up a gauge swatch.  The pattern calls for US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm) needles, with the gauge given for stockinette on the US 6.  I knit my swatch with US 4, US 5, and US 6 needles, matched the US 6 gauge and, more importantly, like the fabric.

I caked up my two skeins (a lovely blue and lavender) and cast on.  It took me two tries to get the join looking neat because you actually knit one row after the cast on before joining in the round, but paying careful attention to the tension at the join was all it took.  Setting up the charts in knitCompanion was a little problematic as they were obviously not made using charting software as the columns were not a consistent width.  I briefly considered recharting them (I have charting software on my laptop computer as well as my iPad), but decided that I could work with what I had and it just wasn’t worth the effort.  I am delighted with how it is looking so far.  As preparation for taking the photo I put some Barber cord on the needles and stretched it out, and then popped it over my head and turned to my husband with a big smile and said “there!”.  Unfortunately he had just taken a sip of coffee and he started to laugh at the little collar over my t-shirt, which resulted in coffee up the nose, which got me laughing, and apologizing.

So why did I cast on, when I just picked up an unfinished object (the Taliesin Socks)?  Because working on socks for too long (and I will, just as I will crochet for too long) will cause muscle strains in my hands and forearms, plus the pointy needles poking my fingers (because I like pointy needles for working socks) make my fingers sore, and switching what I’m working on is the best way to avoid that.

Pattern:  Kaya Tee by Megumi Shinagawa

Yarn:  Araucania Yarns Huasca Multy Botany Lace

Needles:  US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm)