A Refashion of My Own

Before I get into the refashion I'd just like to give a big welcome to those of you who are here for the first time cuz the lovely Sherrill from Bell of the Ball Podcast pointed you guys in my direction. Thank you Sherrill. (If you're looking for the Obama pictures you can go here or follow the links on the side bar. I hope you can find something else that interests you as well.) Michelle from You Just Gotta Keep Knitting gave Sherrill the heads up about me so many thanx go to Michelle as well. Welcome one and all.

Now onward and upward to the subject matter of todays' post. A refashion of my own.....

Yep, I did it. Before I ever wore the second petal sweater I refashioned it. Remember this post in which I contemplated my sanity and the buttons for the second fitted petal sweater?
Insanity won. I banished the garter stitch button bands in favor of a stockinette edge with a zipper. It was not without great fear and trepidation, but my instability was obviously greater than the fear. Behold the beginnings of the stitch drops.

I began by ripping out the bind off and putting the stitches on a holding thread. Then I went a couple rows pass the first button hole and threaded in a life line. I might be crazy, but I'm not a fool and if this wasn't going to work I didn't want to ruin everything I wasn't exactly sure how dropping stitches through a button hole was going to work. I thought it would be easy enough but hey, I've been wrong before.....many times in fact. :o)


The button band consisted of 6 garter stitches. The button hole spanned the three stitches just inside the edge stitch so I freed the outer 4 stitches from the holding thread and then replaced the edge stitch on another holding thread. Next I dropped the three stitches. Dropping pass the button hole was not a problem so the drop continued the entire length of the button band stopping one row short of the cast on edge.




Here is the neck edge with the three stitches that were just dropped on a holding thread. Looks kinda scary doesn't it. At this point I started to work the stitch just inside of edge stitch back down in stockinette stitch. I didn't like it. It left the edge loose, loopy and inconsistent, not a good thing for an edge that will have a zipper on it in yarn that is made of 8 individual threads that are not plied, so I dropped it back to the neck line. I went back to the bottom edge and dropped the remaining two garter stitches of the button band up to the neck. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at things) the pix of all 5 stitches dropped didn't turn out it, it is just as well though it was a sight too ugly to witness anyway, believe me.

After working all 5 dropped stitches I had some space left over. I figured there would be some slack merely by changing the stitch from garter to stockinette but I didn't think there would this much!




Yes boys and girls there enough to slack left over between the newly reworked 5 stitches and the edge stitch for another entire stitch!! So up at the neck I kinda made a starting stitch with my crochet hook and made another column of stitches between the original 5 use-to-be-garter-stitches and the original edge stitch.



I'm very happy. Yes, the gauge is off a little, it's tighter, but I don't think I'd change anything. I think a tighter gauge where a zipper is going to be is a good thing. And I suppose it will be lots less noticeable after blocking and few wearings.

In other knitting news, I started a couple more things this week. Yet another cardi, more sweatershirt casual like. Drops #81-10. I'm using up multiple yarns and threads from stash to beef up some black cotton I had in stash as well. The body is done and sleeves are nearly done. I'll post about it soon.

I started a pair of socks as a last resort to squelch my insatiable need for bedtime knitting that has been the impetus for all the new starts of late. I really don't understand why it took so long to start a pair of socks. I use to make sock all the time. I use to have at least one pair if not two or three on the needles at all times. It's been eons since I made a pair of socks (although now that I think about it, it could have something to do with the fact that IdaMae loves hand knitted socks). If all of these new project starts are the Knitting Goddess's way of telling me to start knitting socks again she could have been a bit more clear in her intentions. I would have happily obliged, I'm enjoying these socks. The sock thing got off to a rocky start though. As a matter of practice I always begin knitting at least 1 if not 2 needle sizes smaller than recommended, that's just how it is for me, but after a few hours of knitting toe up with very little visible progress I pulled out the tape measure and figured my gauge. Um yeah, 16 stitches to the inch is a tad bit ridiculous. I dumped those needles and that yarn and am now knitting a respectable 7.5 stitch to inch sock.

Big Red and the Open Cables top are coming along nicely. Open Cables is done except ends need to be woven in and a slip stitch crochet edge I want to work around it. Big Red is just getting bigger and bigger, I'm still not exactly sure when I'll stop but I have been coming up with some nifty things to do with it.

Am I Insane?

Yes, I am. I am seriously insane.

The Petal sweater is done, almost. Seams sewn, ends hidden, steam blocked, done, except for the buttons.....sigh.

After spending waaaay too much time contemplating buttons this morning I ended up with these 3 choices.
As seen above, we have your traditional pewter buttons, some wannabe wooden buttons with an nifty spiral of "carved' circles on the surface, and some typical but tiny jewel colored pearl-ish plastic shanks.

The "wooden" buttons:
Not bad, I kinda like it just laying there, but I think they are tad bit too heavy for such a fitted sweater. This sweater fits so well that it's more of a top than a sweater, so I think the buttons are a bit much. (Yes, the colors do alternate between a blond "wood" and a red oak. Srsly, how many lots of 8 identical buttons do you have in your buttons jars???)

Next up the pewter buttons:
OK, not bad, they are a good size for this sweater, but the whole pewter thing is a little bit too traditional for my tastes. Which is the main reason I'm not even considering any of the bazillion gold buttons in the jars!

The tiny jewel colored buttons:
I'm liking these, unobtrusive, not traditional, but will require some creative button sewing cuz they really are too small in depth for a sweater. Frankly I'm afraid they will have a tendency to pop open and if I'm wearing this as a top.....lets just say wardrobe malfunctions aren't my thing. But oh they looks so nice, wish I could get the colors right for you. The top itself is nearly black it is such a dark navy, the buttons have deep jewel colors of red, purple, olive, and purple....they is purty.

So there I sat pondering the situation, when the insanity crept in. I had a brainstorm. Of course there are multiple never ending cyclones in my brain, but this thought fought its way to the top and sounds reasonable. It has replaced the wooden and pewter buttons on the likability scale, and is slowly edging out the olympic-button-sewing needy tiny jewel colored buttons. I'm considering dropping all the stitched of the front garter stitch button bands, working them back up in stockinette stitch and putting in a zipper. There, I said it out loud. It sounded better in my head.......sigh.

Any encouragement from the peanut gallery??? It wouldn't take much to entice me to take that plunge. If one person says it's not a totally insane, or just a little bit crazy, then I'm all in.

FYI
This top took 591 yards of worsted wt. at 15 st = 4 inches. I have another 916 yards of this yarn left.

ADD much?

Oy! The pilot that navigates my flights of fancy has been putting in overtime.

Have I finished any of the vowed completion knitting since the last post? NO.

Have I made any of my dresses? NO.

Have I patched any more of Bart's pants? NO.

Have I worked one tiny bit on my planned freeform foundation piece? NO.

Have I begun a new sweater? Why yes, yes, I have.

I really need someone to be my personal task master cuz just a tiny glimpse into my workroom will confirm beyond any doubt I can NOT manage my own urges.

I started this sweater the night before last. It is my second Petal Sweater, a pattern from the early 60's.


I made this sweater a while back in wool, this one is in reclaimed cotton. If you recall, or followed the link, you'll know I had some size issues with the first rendition of this sweater. It's one of those sweaters that has multiple sizes to it (in two different booklets) but the sizing is merely changes in gauge and the pattern is a tad skimpy with finished measurements (they don't exist). The first time I made the adult size touted to fit sizes 10-18. (the first clue I ignored) This time I'm making it in a gauge that is ever so slightly larger than the child's size 8/10! I love the big sloppiness of the wool one I made, it is the perfect wintertime, slob around the house sweater, but I think I'm going love this fitted summertime cotton version just as much.

Oh, btw I made the exact same error on this one as I did on the first. I put the first buttonhole in the wrong place....sigh I assumed the first time around I misread the pattern, this time, either I misread the pattern in exactly the same manner or, the pattern/designer really does think the top buttonhole should be that close to the edge! I don't agree, I've made HUGE notes-to-self on the pattern now.

I've been holding on to this cotton since last summer with plans for something else I've been working on for quite some time. I completely forgot about those plans when I grabbed the yarn and cast on the night before last. In fact, I just remembered about that previously planned project as I began writing this post. Oh well, there's plenty of other stuff where this came from!

This week was Joe's "long weekend" which translates from his work-speak as the entire week off, so we've been hanging out together. :o) In addition to Joe-time, the weather has been great, lots of time spent outside, lots of grilling, and a few trips into town, makes a week of few fibery pursuits. Although I did manage to get a couple more rug squares done.

I also followed through on my thoughts of the other day regarding keeping the loom warped on the chance of a stolen moment row woven from time to time. It's been working out fairly well.

Today I'll work on the body of the new Petal, and think about what other summer tops to make with the remainder of this cotton. Oh brother, I really do need personal task master to keep me focused.

Petal Cardi done

Ahhh the Petal Cardi, a vintage pattern (60's) from Coat's and Clark's.

First off I just gotta say, calling a pattern from the 60's "vintage" is tad bit disturbing but some times we just have to accept everything is what it is.......sigh

I invoked Knitter's Denial to an extreme measure on this one. Oh hell's fire, I just about denied everything and completely threw common sense out the window.........since when is it ever true that one size fits sizes 10 - 18? Nonetheless, I knitted on. I didn't even bother with measurements, other than the ones that told me I was on gauge, and I never once took advantage of what is prob'ly the most endearing quality of a top down sweater...I never tried it on as I knitted merrily along. Thus the result of all that fool heartiness:






Vital Stats:
Coat's and Clark's #185 booklet Quick Fashions pattern called "Two-Skein Petal Cardigan"
Patterns calls for 8 oz of Red Heart Sayelle
I used Bear Brand De Luxe knitting Worsted used double throughout (this is the yarn I kool aid dyed a while ago)
Size 10 and 13 needles gauge 11 st/14/rows = 4 inches
Finished bust measurement: 44" ( just little bit more than 10 inches of ease lololol)

Pros and Cons:
Well aside from the obvious that it doesn't fit worth a hoot, I actually like this sweater. I was sure it was destined for the pond, but the more I wore it today the more I liked it. It's warm a cuddle-ly despite the lacy yoke, and even though the yoke comes down nearly to my elbows it's comfy, so I might just keep it.

I suppose I could rip it back and just do three tiers of the yoke, but then again I like the width of the sleeves, so I'd prob'ly have to do some figuring there. I'm not sure it's worth all that. Maybe if there is a "next' sweater from this pattern I'll do that figuring then.

FO's, Glass, and Dyeing

I reeeeally hate doing this......a post with no pix........ :-( ....but let me explain.

Bart (number 2 son) is a glass artist in his own right, but furthered his glass journey this weekend in classes taught by Steve Sizelove. (I can't urge you enough to follow that link for some breathtaking glass.) So before classes began on Friday, Bart borrowed my camera, thus no pix today. I can't wait to see Bart's pieces and the pix he took. His classes included many of the goblets and vessels you'll see in the link as well as the human figures. I promise pix from the class as well as pix of Bart's work as soon as I get my camera back! :-)

As for FO's...I finished the Petal Cardi as well as the Zippered Vest, Drops 0-399, I'll explain all pros and cons regarding the petal cardi and the zippered vest when I can take pix.

I have now found myself with an intense need to begin something else. Um, let's just forget all the other things on the needles right now OK? And since Sillian called the other day requesting a multitude of scarves for herself and friends I began searching for scarf patterns. I started a totally mindless garter scarf in a tweedy purple with a fuzzy carry a-long, while I was at my guild meeting on Saturday, but, I also need something that has a little bit more to it, but still somewhat mindless. So I decided that this was going to be the next, somewhat mindless, project on the needles. Problem is, I don't have a decent yarn with the proper color spacing, so I dyed some today.

Dang, I really wish I had my camera, but..... oh well. I made a skein about 17.5 yards long, and I dyed it with various blues, and greens, a sections of purple, red, and yellow. I used both the "regular" as well as the neon food colorings. I just took the yarn out of the microwave, and I'm not that thrilled with it. I wanted to do it on the stove top with a bunch of dye baths in my big pot, but I didn't have enough glass jars......sigh. I'll see how it looks when it's dry and maybe I'll overdyed it a bit.

I made the skein (reclaimed lambswool) in the same manner I used when I made the 9 yard skein for the spaced bleach experiment with a couple of improvements. Using one of those adjustable free standing needlepoint frames, I stuck 10-penny nails up through the holes, ran a strip of masking tape along the heads and wound up the skein zigzagging around the nails. It's a quick easy set up , that is totally adjustable for whatever length of skein you want to make, although I imagine 19 - 20 yards is about the max length, unless you add another frame or two, but I can't imagine wanting a skein longer than 60 feet, but who knows. :o) Another nice thing about this "skeining board" is that it breaks down into a few strips of wood and a handful of nails. I won't break it down and I'll take some pix as soon as I can.

As for the scarf, of course I'm not going to follow the pattern exactly. I'm going to widened the scarf as well as do the center portion in a plain ribbing in the manner of a seaman's scarf as the designer (Kim Salazar) muses in her notes/post about the scarf.

Round and Round...

The rack on the swift goes round and round,
round and round,
round and round....

I've been busy. This what I skeined, washed, and balled, on Monday and Tuesday and finished it up today.




I'll tell you what I did yesterday after I talk to my bro. Hopefully he'll have a "better" pic than I......go figure mine didn't turn out.....sigh.

I have definite plans for 5 of these lots. Of course that could change at any moment, but I have already made my reinterpretation of the patterns for three of them, so I'm pretty sure I'll do them. And yes, they are Drops patterns from Garnstudio.com. :o)

I also worked on the Petal Cardi a tiny bit.

I'm doing both sleeves at once cuz I have this horrendous tendency to take lousy notes while I'm working on something, and I'm making these up as I go. In the real pattern they are only short sleeves. I don't know how long I'll make the body, but I've stopped at this point to make sure I have enough yarn for the sleeves and I'm considering an afterthought pocket. According to the pattern I only have a couple inches to go for the body length, I just stopped here cuz that's where the balls ran out.

I still don't know how it's going fit wise, I'm invoking Knitter Denial and just plowing on. Again, according to the pattern, it is suppose to fit size 10 - 18......LOL

Yesterday was a good day, and worthy of something new on the needles, cuz the Petal is nearly done, so I swatched, more about that when and if I get the pix I'm hoping for.