Category: project – stormy wildflowers

Just finished!

Basic tee shape, my pattern adapted from a combination of a favorite RTW tee along with those alterations I have learned I need to make, to wit:

1.  One inch of length was taken out at the center back waist to account for a bit of a flat/sway back, This was done by adding short rows from the center to the sides so that the front and back side seams would be the same length.

2.  An inch of length was added at the center back near the top of the armholes, before the shoulder shaping.  This was done using short rows.

3.  About 1 1/4 inch was added at the center front at the bust line, to add length to go over the bust and keep the sweater from pulling up.

Yarn:  Linie 125, Maya, from On-Line.  This yarn is discontinued and is 45% cotton, 45% acrylic, and 10% rayon.  I had 720 yards in 8 skeins and I used 7 of them.  I needed extra yarn to complete the sleeves.  The colored stripes are Dolcino by Trendsetter, and acrylic and nylon microfiber, which happened to coordinate and knit to the same gauge and drape as the Maya.

I love this tee.  The striped sleeves keep it from being boring, it is light and comfortable and fits well.  I'll try to get pictures of the sweater on me tomorrow or over the weekend

I found myself in knitting limbo at one point last week, wanting something to knit in the evening after a long day, but not wanting to start another sweater at a time when I felt overwhelmed with the number of UFOs hanging around.   

 Looking through the various project bags I remembered this project from last April using On Line LInie 125.  I knew I had to knit the sleeves and thought it would be a quick easy project although that proved not to be the case.

I only had 4 skeins of yarn and I wasn't sure if this was going to be enough or how much of a sleeve I would get.   I thought I could pick up the sleeve at the shoulder and knit down, ending the sleeve when I finished the first two skeins.  But I really didn't know what I was doing.  I don't really understand top down knitting well enough, or how to accommodate the shaping of the sleeve cap as I knit from the body of the sweater.  

I suppose I could have looked the information up, but it was actually easier for me to just rip out the sleeve spread the sweater out, and write a quick pattern for a sleeve including the cap shaping, then knit it flat from the hem up.  I guessed that I would have enough yarn for elbow length sleeves.

 I was wrong.  I ran out of yarn before the cap was finished.  Since I decided I don't really want shorter sleeves I had to come up with another plan.  Luckily, in the bin where I store odd balls and leftover bits of yarn, I found two colors of Dolcino which work perfectly and I cam up with the striped sleeve shown above.  It seemed rather lucky that I had two colors that worked so well and knitted up to a fabric with similar hand to the original sweater.

I started the second sleeve last night and should finish it soon.  I don't have anything written down, and am using the first sleeve as a pattern for the second sleeve.  To finish the sweater I will use the two colors of Dolcino to finish the neckline, carrying the colors from the sleeves to the body of the sweater.  I think it will work out quite well.

The last couple of weeks have been rather frantic and frazzled and my knitting time, when I have been knitting, has been focused primarily on the wildflower cotton tee for rather obvious reasons.  It is simple.  At 3 1/2 stitches to the inch it moves quickly so it doesn't take much to feel like I have accomplished something. I don't have to carry a pattern around iwth me. 

The front and back are now done, and have been sent to the blocking board.

I am very happy with how this is turning out.  In fact, seeing the entire front and back, I am happier with the muted color blending than I was initially with the knitting.  I am also quite satisfied with the actual knitted fabric, it is light and soft, with nice drape, but it does not grow uncontrollably in the wash, nor feel waterlogged, stiff, and heavy, like some cottons.    I am gaining confidence that is going to be something I will wear quite a bit.

Even more surprising, the 726 yards of yarn looks like it will be more than adequate.  I started with 8 skeins originally and have used 4 plus a little extra, but not a full quarter of the 5th skein.  I used the fifth skein only to do the shoulders, on either side of the back neckline, 200 some-odd stitches perhaps?

Since I originally envisioned this sweater with 3/4 length sleeves it looks like there will be enough yarn.  I haven't figured out the sleeve pattern yet, that is next up.

Sorry about the odd angle of the photograph, I snuck it in quickly between tasks in the late afternoon light and this was the only angle in which I could get the entire sweater.  It really is symmetrical and looks better in person.

I have not finished Avril.

 By the time I get to my knitting I have been mentally unsuited for anything other than simple mindless entertainment.  So I have been creating a simple tee shaped sweater out of the On-Line cotton.   It is amazing what a difference 3 1/2 stitches to the inch makes in terms of progress compared to the almost 6 1/2 of ruby bubbles.

I am calling this my stormy wildflowers tee and I am not quite sure what I think of it yet.  It is simple seed stitch and the knitting is going quickly.  I love the weight and drape of the knitted fabric, but I am not yet sure what I think of the colors.  Sometimes I love them, other times, not so much.  I'm willing to wait and see how it progresses though. It is not so much the way the colors become more muted with in the knitted fabric, but that the yellow seems more dominant than I expected.  I'm not sure though, and I think how I finish the sweater will make a difference.  

I am enjoying knitting though, and am willing to wait and see how it turns out.