WIPs

First off, thank you all for your lovely comments about my Leaf Yoke Top. It should get some good wearing this summer and early fall.

I'm dashing towards the finish line with Hey, Teach! from knitty.com I just have the sleeves to go, and they are short sleeves. The yarn is Knit One Crochet Too 2nd Time Cotton. I liked this pattern when it first came out, except for the ribbed waist band and the ribbed button band. I figured that the center band, with the loose gauge ribbing, would just stretch with wear and the sweater would look baggy. And I could not deal with the loose button band concept -- it had too much of the button band "gaposis" that I hate and have blogged about in the past. While traveling through da web, I stumbled upon the linen stitch, described as a very dense stitch, and I figured this is the stitch for me. The body is knitted with size 6 needles, and I knitted the waist band with size 8 get the equivalent width, and knitted 12 rows instead of the 8 ribbing rows specified in the pattern. I used size 7 for the button band. I'm really happy with the end result -- the waist band does not stretch much, and the button bands are nicely dense. I think the sweater has better finished look, if I may say so myself.

My bottom section is an inch longer than the pattern's length, and I did some increases above the band to get more ease at the bust line. I also did tapered decreases on the bottom section instead of doing them all in one row.


Next, I've cast on for Veronique, from French Girl Knits (ravelry link). I'm using Jaeger Trinity, which is the same yarn that I used for Paloma, but in denim blue. Mine will probably not look as ethereal as the pattern version because the yarn is denser, but it's still pretty loosely woven and light.

FO: Leaf Yoke Top

The pattern is the Leaf Yoke Top from Knit.1 Spring/Summer 2009 (ravelry link). The yarn is Berroco Comfort. I love this pattern -- the yoke is flattering and the I-cord edgings and folded hem are great finishing details. I'm keeping the pattern around because it serves as a good template if I want to substitute some other yoke design.

I was a little concerned that the cutaway armholes would be too wide and those little wodges of adipose tissue (a.k.a. fat) just above my armpits would poke out. I picked up 45 instead of 50 stitches on the lower armhole edges to keep it tight. The end result is that the armholes are a little wider than I would like in the front, but it does manage to cover most of the unsightly wodges. If I knitted this again, I would pick up a few more stitches after the yoke just on the front and do fewer underarm increases.

Most of the sweater was knitted using size 5 needles. I used size 6 for the lower half of the yoke because I was concerned that it might be too tight because there aren't that many stitch increases. I used size 3 for the armhole I-cord, and size 5 for the neckline I-cord. I used size 4 for the inner piece of the folder hem. I knit it to my favorite pullover length, which is probably about an inch longer than the pattern's length.

I love the look of the sweater, but I'm not that thrilled with the yarn because it feels slightly scratchy to me. But then again, I'm quite the delicate flower about these things. I wore it all day today with no problem, but there were times when I was aware of my sweater. I never want to be aware of my clothing.

I'm thinking of making a second one of these later in the year, using this charcoal/black/metallic Lily Chin Times Square yarn. It would make a nice sort-of-dressy top.

Summer knitting goals and contest

I stumbled into Skeins Her Way's Summer Knitting Goals contest via crochetgurl's blog. I had some moderate luck with blog contests last year, and maybe my luck will continue. I normally just plod along in my knitting without any goals other than very short term ones like "I'll finish this sleeve by Friday". In the spirit of this contest, I'll list some summer knitting goals:

Finish the Yoke Leaf Top -- no-brainer since I only have about 1.5 hours to go
Finish Hey, Teach! -- also easy because that's a quick knit
Start and finish Veronique from French Girl Knits -- this assumes the yarn I have in mind from my stash will work. If not, I will pick another pattern or maybe use this as an excuse to buy some yarn
Start and mostly finish some other sweater -- I haven't selected which one yet.

For the record, I think of summer as ending on Sept. 22, the autumnal equinox, and not the U.S. Labor Day holiday.

Happy summer solstice, everyone!

New magazine

I visited Border's at lunch today and checked out the magazine stand. I found this Yarn Forward knitting magazine that I had never seen before. The best part was that, unlike other magazines from the U.K., it was not encased in a plastic bag, so I could skim through before buying. The patterns are nice because they each feature at least four different photos of the modeled sweaters, and they also feature photos of the sweaters lying flat, both front and back. The styles are modern. My two favorites are Morning Echo (ravelry link) and Meadow (ravelry link).

For Morning Echo, I'll probably have to scale it to a higher gauge. I don't think I could finish a sweater knit at 24 stitches/4". Also, I think the only way I could achieve that kind of gauge is to knit with dental floss. Meadow has bobbles down the front, and I normally don't like bobbles, but these don't offend me. It also has nice saddle shoulder detailing.

In the meantime, I'm on the last 2 inches of the Leaf Yoke top, and those last 2 inches always seems to take forever.

WIPs

Both of my current works in progress are in the land stockinette. First I have the Yoke Leaf Top from Knit.1 Spring/summer 2009 (ravelry link). The yarn is Berroco Comfort, a nylon/acrylic blend. I'm hoping the sweater will be cool enough for summer. It's sleeveless, but the nylon might not be that great in hot weather. I really love the leaf design on the yoke. I've already done the I-cord trim on the armholes because I wanted to test out the fit. I just have the neck I-cord and the remaining stockinette body section to do.

I've also cast on for the ubiquitous Hey,Teach! from knitty.com. 1172 ravelers can't be wrong. Miracle of miracles, I'm actually using the recommended Knit One Crochet Too 2nd Time Cotton. I think this is the first garment in which I'm not doing a yarn substitution. I really like this yarn. The hank feels stiff, but once knitted, the garment is really soft with a nice drape.