Category: project – Shanghai Tee

Well, Shanghai is a bust. 

I finished the body, and it fit beautifully, but I somehow did not like it on.  I like the knitted fabric and I knew the colors weren't my best but thought I could make it work, but somehow, when I put it on it was worse than blah, it was just plain old "yuck". 

Not the shape, mind you.  If I could just look at the sweater without the added bonus of the complexion of the person wearing it, the sweater was quite nice.  And no, I am not going to show it to you.  It is destined for ripping. 

I kind of fudged the armhole shaping, decreasing more in front and less in back, then increasing a bit back out to the shoulder at the neckline.  I also added vertical bust darts and some bust shaping using short rows and the fit was really really nice.  Luckily I did make notes.  So I can think about this sweater much like I would think of a muslin if I were sewing something.  But a knitted muslin takes longer.  Bummer.

My first reaction was to ditch the whole thing, but I do still like the yarn.  Tonight, while I was working on my new project (which I love by the way) I had another idea, which might actually work quite nicely.  It will be a little further down the queue.  Shanghai and I need to take a little break from each other's company for a while.

Well, I am done with the mindlessly boring section above the decreases.  Even though it was only a few inches, it seemed like endless rounds of k3 p2.  No distraction was enough to end the tedium.

Truthfully I hid in a corner and read over the weekend, when I could find a spare minute that is.  Nothing like escaping into a little historical fiction to avoid the stresses of life and calm the overactive brain.  I have been reading World Without End by Ken Follet and it has been easy enough to lose myself in it.  The book is far more gripping escapism than Shanghai has been of late.  But although I have a weakness for historical fiction, especially if it is set in the British Isles prior to 1800, and although I am loving this, it is not as dear to my heart as Pillars of the Earth was.

But back to Shanghai.  It is looking good.  And I have finally measured and calculated the increases, so we are getting back into fun knitting territory again.  From the photo, 6 more inches to the armhole shaping, with increases…fun.

The Shaghai tee is progressing nicely.  I am making this a good 25 inches long or so, so I am not quite at the waist (it looks longer and narrower here than it does on me).  So far I have gotten the decreases just right.  I need to decrease another 12 stitches in the next 3 inches (18 rows) and then run evenly a little bit before beginning to increase again.  I'll do another try-on before I get to that point just to make sure everything is going smoothly.

Otherwise I like the color combinations that I have chosen as they are appearing in the knitted fabric.  Once again, I don't have a plan here, I am just knitting.  So everything is looking good.

Given the amount of yarn I have used so far, and how much is left, I am thinking that this sweater is going to have sleeves, probably 3/4 length, but I could be wrong.  The sleeves will be another experiment. I've never just winged sleeves without a plan before. But then again I am going to wing the armhole shaping too, just trying the sweater on and knitting to fit. 

I am considering knitting the sleeves from the sleeve cap down.  This is something else I haven't done before, although I have read about it.  This might make it easier to make sure any striping across the shoulders matches perfectly at the sleeve. I am about to end the striping on the body, at least until I get above the bust and into the shoulder area, and the sleeves will also be mostly plain.   If yarn quantity is an issue, knitting the sleeves from the top down will also give me a much better idea of  how much sleeve I can get from the available yarn.

What can I say??

In the end, my life might be more integrated, but my interests remain scattered all over the map and my mind has difficulty organizing them into one coherent whole.  A single blog, although probably more interesting that scattered bits and pieces, does not seem to work for me.  All the while I felt like I could not fully explore everything I wanted to explore, both in knitting or sewing, and I decided that I was trying to do something that might make sense in a logical world when I have often been accused of not being at all logical.  If I had looked around my environment I might have seen the experiment was ill-fated:  After all I keep sweaters in one closet, shoes in another, spoons neatly stacked on top of each other, and I hate utensil drawers where everything is just tossed in willy-nilly. 

Why would I like a blog where all my ideas are jumbled together?

I didn't.

The consolidation was an attempted stress-reliever which failed.  I am dealing with stress in my crazy life, but I don't need to add further stress by trying to be or write or sew or knit something I'm not.

So I am back here with knitting and those random purls of thought that wander through my mind while the yarn runs through my fingers.

I'm not going to pull the knitting posts from sewdistracted, but I will post pictures and links to the few works I completed, hopefully in the next week or so.  I have so many things I want to write about though, that I may get a little backed up.

Here is what I am working on now, meaning this week so far:


It began with a familiar refrain:  I needed something to knit that was simple and relatively mindless.  I couldn't find the pattern for one yarn, I couldn't remember what pattern I wanted to use for another.  But I needed something right then.

I found a bag of mixed yarns centered around an old Filatura di Crosa Missoni yarn called Shanghai.
A few skeins of solid-colored cotton in complimentary shades had been thrown in.  I have no recollection of what I intended to do with this yarn, which meant it was perfect for an off-the-cuff design.  Because the yarn provides all the interest, and would hide detailed stitches, the design should be something simple.

Someday I may look at a particular pattern and exclaim to myself "That's what I was saving that Shanghai yarn for" but by then it will be too late.

Desperation reigns supreme here.

I did not make a gauge swatch.  I looked at the  recommended gauge on the ball band.  I figured that I usually have to go down two to three needle size in cotton, picked my stitch (a knit 3 purl 2 rib) and cast on in the round.    I will figure it out as I go. 

I do have an idea of how I want the shaping, and when I have knit a few more inches I will put it on a larger circular needle (I have a 60" one in this size, which should even give a clutz like me more than ample squirm room) and try it on.

What is the worst thing that can happen?

I'd have to rip it out.