Spring knitting is here

I am happy to say that I have finally accomplished my first successful cotton garment ever! I have tried and failed numerous times to make a cotton sweater, and they normally end up sack-like, laying in the back of my closet. They all too often weigh in at what seems like 10 pounds as well

I decided to try and make a Gemini, by Jane Richmond. A simple top down tee from Knitty. I had some Knitpicks Cotlin in my stash, and went to work. Since I had already knit a sweater with Cotlin (a very unsuccessful Buttercup), I knew what my gauge was. Wrong! Once again, the knitting Gods smote/smited me for not making enough gauge swatch sacrifices. I ended up just past the arm holes, tried it on, and it was way too big. I frogged it and started again, this time using a 3.5 mm needle for the lace portion and a 3.75 mm for the rest. Jane’s advice on fit and the behaviour of cotton yarns was extremely valuable and also explains why my other cotton garments have ended up in a time out at the back of my closet.

Jane is a genius! My second successful garment that I have made by her this year. I’m hooked The other cool thing I learned is how to join in a new ball of yarn when knitting with cotton : It’s the overlap join shown at the bottom of the post…it really works!

A couple of more FOs: I made another Ann Hanson shawlette called Leafprints Shawlette. This one in my Tanis Fibre Arts March 2012 colourway, Sprout. It was a new base from Tanis, comprising of 75% merino and 25% silk in a fingering weight yarn. What a drape!

Speaking of Tanis, here is the club offering for May 2012:

It’s a very pretty purple, and I am totally thinking of making some socks with it. I got Hunter Hammersen’s new Book, the Knitter’s Curiosity Cabinet for my birthday, and given the floral theme of the book, I think some of the patterns would be perfect with this yarn.

A couple more FOs to share:

My first beaded knitting project, and I loved it! The pattern is Restless and the yarn is Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock Yarn in Farm Fresh.

Yes, more striped socks. I used two lonely 50 gram balls of Regia socks yarn I had kicking around. The pattern is Laurelhurst.

I have a couple more projects on the go; I try and keep it to 2 or 3 or I lose focus. Hope everyone is having a wonderful spring!

About these ads