Saturday, April 3, 2010

FO: Tarte


I just finished knitting Tarte, a Berroco free pattern. The yarn is Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK, a merino wool, microfiber, cashmere blend. I chose this pattern because I really liked the cables combined with open stitches in the front. (The back is all stockinette). The red color is more of a winter cheery color than a spring color, and I started it back in February in the post-holiday/Valentine's day/Chinese New Year red season, but I'm happy to wear in the spring because it's just the right amount of warmth.
The biggest adjustment I did with this pattern was to make the front narrower. In the smallest size, the front is 42 stitches wider than the back, and that just seemed too wide to me, even allowing for the scrunching effect of the cables. I made my front only 18 stitches wider. I based this on the fact that there is a maximum of 6 3x3 cables at any one time, and I allowed 3 extra stitches for each cable to compensate for the scrunching. In order to do this, I also had to narrow the stitch pattern a bit because the original pattern was wide enough to cover most of the front. I changed the four strips of open stitching from 4 YOs each to 2 YOs and also changed the K3tog and SSSK to K2tog and SSK, respectively. I also made my usual shaping and length adjustments for a good fit.

One of my favorite things about this vest pattern is the edging used to finish the armholes and the neckline. It's done as a row of single crochet followed by a row of reverse single crochet. The end result is this cool looking braided effect that does not even look like crochet to me.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a red person and I love it. Looks great on you.

Chloe

crochetgurl said...

Beautiful vest! I recently got my coworker 2 balls of RYC Cashsoft Aran. It looked very luscious.

Oh, and there's no rule for getting people gifts for Chinese New Year. I just wanted to make stuff for my parents. :-)

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

It's bright and fresh and perfect for Spring! It's a great vest and looks terrific on you. Thanks for the upclose on the braided edging. I've got a problem sweater I'm working on and that might be a a solution for the edging!

knitseashore said...

It is very flattering, and will fit right in with all of the nautical styles being advertised this spring!

yoel said...

It looks like your mods were spot on. I can't believe the front is 48 stitches bigger than the back! That is craziness. Love the gray + red combo--very mod!