Showing posts with label ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ideas. Show all posts

Friday, January 30, 2009

It's Soft and Brown and Bulky


Wrenna
Originally uploaded by sunasak
Here are the nicer photos of the Wrenna cardigan I finished on Tuesday. You can see the pattern a bit better in these photos, but I have always found it hard to photograph dark lace. There’s a black sweater in the French Girl Knits book that I wish had been done up in a lighter color just so I could see the patterning a bit better, so it’s not just my poor lighting situation (we really need to get the separate flash for the good camera—that will fix things).

I’m still deciding exactly what I want to do for closures on Wrenna. I almost bought another agate button at the LYS, but hesitated. I am now thinking of doing three large-ish buttons fastened by loops on the edge of the front. I think it wants to close up a bit more, and that more buttons might give it a different look from others I’ve done recently.

I’ve been faithfully knitting along on the back of the Bridget cardigan. It looks tiny to me at the moment, but when I look at the Land’s End cardigan I’m wearing right now, I realize it’s pretty much the same size. I made it to the armholes last night, so it won’t be long until I to the fronts, which I am pretty sure I’ll do at the same time to ensure they are mirror images. Come to think of it, I should also do the sleeves at the same time. The yarn on this cardigan is really the star—such subtle grays and browns flowing around, but not distracting. I do like the pattern, though, which is in the Fall 2008 Wild Fibers magazine. It is a simple, pieced pattern done well, with subtle waist shaping and nice short-row shoulder shaping and other touches that will make it look good when finished, I think. Right now it’s hard to tell how it looks, since it’s all stockinette-like and folding in on itself at every opportunity!

I keep looking at other patterns and thinking about making them, but nothing, even that incredibly cute Montera cardigan on the Knitty Surprise, tempts me more than the thought of knitting up some of that yarn in my stash and those patterns I already have picked out. Two ideas are fighting it out in my mind as candidates for the next project (of course, after finishing a WIP). I am deciding between making Sara (Ravelry link), a little cabled top, in pink Rialto wool that I bought the yarn for last year or maybe earlier, and the temptation of making the Raglan Rust (Ravelry link) pattern in the Knitter’s Winter 2008 issue that I liked so much using the very special Brooks Farm Duet DK weight yarn I got at Kid-n-Ewe rather than doubled sock yarn. I don’t have any sock yarn that I have two 400-yard skeins of, so I can’t make it in the right yarn until I finish up knitting with stuff I have. Well, it’s decisions like these that keep the mind occupied during lots of rows of stockinette at a small gauge!

Thanks for all the nice comments about Dawn. I know she appreciated them, too. For Wednesday Wonders, I’ll probably alternate among people no one knows but were important to me in my knitting past, “famous” knitters whom I admire, and people in my life now. But, I’d love suggestions and nominations, too!

Friday, January 16, 2009

An Inspiration

Today I found in the back of my closet this old vest that my step-mother gave me a long time ago. I think it's from the early 90s or 80s, because it is quite square. I was looking at it while thinking about some technical writing task at work, and I realized how they'd made those stripes.

The garment is knit in reverse stockinette. The yarn is a cotton that has been dyed indigo. The stripes appear to be the same yarn in two natural shades. What they did (see close-up) was weave the light yarn through the every other purl bump for a few rows, staggering the weaving so that it makes quite a nice basketweave effect. And at the bottom of the sweater, they did little decorative squares.

The third picture I am posting shows the back of the work, which is also nice looking. It might be used in a garment, too. I wouldn't tie knots in MINE if I did it.

I got lots of ideas for using this weaving in garments. It sure livens up reverse stockinette! I might try it on a mitten, since the extra yarn would add warmth, and it is so tightly woven it wouldn't catch on your nails or anything. Or, of course, a vest would be great. Perhaps in one of those organic yarns in a natural dark brown with a natural off-white stripe. Hmm. I have some yarns like that.

I'll put this idea on the back burner and let it simmer (wow, what a boring cooking metaphor, sorry). If you have any ideas for other ways to use this technique or have seen projects using it, feel free to post!