Bright Colors

As soon as I saw Fall issue of Vogue Knitting magazine last year, my mind was set to knit Ms. Wallin’s brightly colored pullover.  Yes, yet another project with the design by Ms. Marie Wallin!  

I was knitting Avril Silk Tsumugi tunic at that time.  Since I decided some years ago that I was not going to have two major projects at the same time any longer, I decided to wait until I have time to tackle the pullover.  I was tempted to start such a beautifully colored pullover, but I persevered.  Though I began planning the project immediately.  It was obvious to me to knit it in round.  Also, to add some waist shaping to it.  Other than that, I followed the pattern when I began knitting it in January.

Here are some close-up of the gorgeous colors and stitches.  Notice something?  The Fair Isle pattern in this pullover involves both knit and purl stitches in about 80 percent of rows.  It reminds me of Bohus knits.  I just love those purl bump mingling of colors adding extra dimension to the fabric.

I must add that the yarns are fabulous, Rowan Kid Classic and Rowan Alpaca Colour. I used the specified colors, but there are a few versions knitted using different colors on on Ravelry and they are gorgeous as well.  This was the first time I used Rowan Alpaca Colour and I find it very soft and warm.  I was glad that the sleeves were not in Fair Isle pattern.  I have been wearing the pullover with such joy.  Perfect for this long snowy winter.

So, what's next?  Well, I will be honest, another design by Ms. Marie Wallin!  

Ms. Marie Wallin

Sometimes I do not pay much attention to the designers of my knitting projects, especially when they are from magazines.  Last winter, though, I noticed that I was knitting two of the designs by Marie Wallin.   Over all, I've knitted five of her designs: namely Bronwen, Gelsey, Harris, Curio, Orkney and Harmonie.  Not only that, four of my to-do projects are by Ms. Wallin.  If you are on Ravelry, you will see which one I am talking about: Kintyre pullover, Rannoch dress, Glade pullover, and Dietrich cardigan.  Obviously, I love Ms. Wallin's work.  I wish her well in her health and her creative career.

Bronwen

I love Bronwen by Ms. Marie Wallin.

The original version is knitted up with a gorgeous yellow green called Hubberholme, as well as lighter burgundy, yellow, and brown edging.  Although I love these colors, I thought I need something to go with my navy blue work clothes and changed colors.  I am quite happy with my color choices: Askrigg, Wensley, Burnsall, and Gunnerside.

A friend of mine said the cardigan reminded her of a Chanel jacket.  Now, that is a compliment.  Then, another friend said that this is the best garment I've ever knitted.  Oh, my!

In stead of requiring two balls each of the four colors, I needed a third ball of the three colors used in stripes.  I think it is because I knit relatively loosely and I may have knitted sleeves longer than instructed.  At any rate, with such compliments, I cannot complain about this garment. 

I am wearing Christine Jonson Pencil Skirt with Bronwen in the photo above. The skirt was made with a black wool jersey, and I added a two-inch wide elastic to the waist band since my wool fabric does not have the required

Fluffy Gelsey

I started Gelsey while I was knitting Harris.  It requires now discontinued Rowan Kidsilk Aura in two slightly different shades: Bark (darker brown beige with hint of green) and Antique Bronz (light gold/beige).  Its stitch patterns are basically two row stripes with slipped and crossed stitches.  When knitting two rows with the darker color, one stitch in lighter color was slipped every four stitches.  When knitting rows with the lighter color, the slipped stitches were crossed with two adjacent darker stitches.  By switching the direction of the crossing, right or left, the zigzag pattern emerges.  Not complicated at all.  Yet, its result is very sophisticated looking and its fabric is so plush, like a fur.

 

The design is by Marie Wallin and from Kidsilk Aura booklet.  I was in love with Gelsey as soon as I saw it back in 2007, yet it took me so long to knit one. 

Next up will be another Marie Wallin design, Bronwen, from Rowan Tweed Collection.   I already started with it.  I changed colors so that my Bronwen can be worn with navy trousers and skirts.

The wrong side:

 

 The right side:

Harris and Vogue 8859

My Harris is finally completed.  It is gorgeous with perfect fit, light weight, and warm.  This is not a project to plunge in and finish without distraction.  One needs to maintain sanity when dealing with intarsia.  At least I did. 

I used the specified yarns in the exact colors.  I have one ball each of Peat and Kisdon untouched.  I am wondering why I have so much leftovers.  For the single-row stripes, I did the following: knit one row with Peat, without turning the fabric knit one row with Kisdon by going back to the right edge of the fabric, turn the fabric to wrong side and purl 1 row with Peat, and without turning the fabric purl 1 row with Kisdon by going back to the right edge of the fabric (wrong side).  This method worked fine until I met with armhole shaping.  When you are to do "decrease X stitches at the beginning of the next two rows," you may not be able to do so unless you are on the second knit row or the second purl row: i.e. even numbered rows.  At any rate, I fudged a little and the finished garment suffered no evidence the problem.  I am wondering if the method I used is the reason for extra yarns. 

The only change I made was pockets.  Instead of single layer of pocket linings which are to be sewn onto the bodice, I knitted them twice as long for double layer.  For the ribbed pocket edging. I picked up stitches from the bottom of the pocket lining and knitted them together with bodice stitches on a waste yarn.  I also anchored the bottom corners of pocket linings to the top of the ribbed bodice hem.

One more thing.  In the photos above, I am wearing newly sewn Vogue 8859 with my regular pant modifications.  I used a thick rayon double knit with 2% Lycra from my stash.  I love the long pants covering my short boots, and providing me with an illusion of longer legs.  Highly recommend the pattern.

 

 

Bonbori Curio

I love Curio for its dolman sleeves and wide ribbed band on the model.  Yet, I was not sure about the design when reviewing the schematic.  Looks too wide? 

 So, I tinkered on it.  This time, I was quite sure how I want to change it with the yarn I wanted to use.  The original uses Rowan Kidsilk Trio, very airy, soft and super light, yet bulky.  My yarn is Noro Bonbori, not airy at all.  It is definitely bulky and light.  Not super light, however.  So, the instruction of gathering the knitted fabric does not apply to my yarn. 

 

Changes made:

• Cast on fewer stitches (78 stitches) and increased every 6 rows 6 times after switching to the stockinet stitch (90 stitches).  Once at underarm, the length of the gathered fabric was knitted, not the flat fabric.  Then, I decreased at each end to shape shoulders by casting off 4 stitches at the beginning of every row for 12 times, and 6 stitches two times, with 30 stitches left on the needle. 
• Sleeves were knitted per instructions, except I did not cast off stitches at the end.  I grafted live stitches onto the bodice to reduce bulk.
• For the assembly, I used half stitches for seam allowance in order to reduce the bulk of the seam.

I love the result.  It was a rather quick knit as well.

Lovely Orkney Cardigan, Part 2

Now a shocking discovery to report. I made a major error in knitting the bodice of Orkney: I forgot to make button holes. I was drawn to Orkney for its clean front edge without button bands, yet I forgot to knit button holes! I realized this error when I was decreasing stitches at shoulders. Too late, I said. I need to figure out how I could force button holes.

I recalled reading about button holes can be made after completing by manipulating yarns around a stitch. That’s what I decided to do. I was worried that ‘manipulation’ and ‘coaxing’ of yarn might cause too much wear and tear. In order to provide some support, I decided to use petershams for facings instead of knitted ones.

Here is what I did. I used 1” wide petersham tape for the left front, and two stripes of ½” wide tapes, sewn together except for button holes, for the right front. After the petershams were applied, I gently forced button holes on the knitted bodice. Ah, when I was applying the petershams, I realized that my steeks was too wide since the button hole had to be made through steeks as well. This was to be avoided. So, I had to re-work crochet anchoring and cut off excess.

The photo below shows the left front facing sewn on, and the right facing being assembled.

The right facing sewn on the right edge with button inserted in the button holes. 

 

And, here is it.  Finally done!  All the buttons are sewn and corresponding holes are made.

 



 

One more note on the project. The color Mineral was used in sleeves only. I have a lot of it leftover. The yarn amount was all sufficient even though I added steeks. The least amount left was in Billberry.

It is too warm to wear Orkney now.  Must wait for some cooler days to come back. 

Lovely Orkney Cardigan, Part 1

First of all, I love the colors in Orkney. The colors of Rowan Felted Tweed yarns are so well coordinated that any combination of the muted hues seems to be pleasant and beautiful. I also love the clean front edge without button bands. Since the magazine came out, I was in love with Orkney.

One thing I did not like about the design was its instruction, written to knit pieces in flat, back and forth. Like many knitters, I dislike knitting Fair Isle designs flat. I decided to add steeks to bodice and sleeves. Yes, sleeves. Since knitting in circle with small circumference is not my forte and I have tension issues, I decided to knit two sleeves together with steeks added between them.

So, I began knitting sleeves as I often knit them first as a swatch alternative. I was lucky this time and stitch gauge was spot on. My row gauge seemed okay as well. I knitted two cuffs flat first so that steeks won’t show at the cuff edges, and placed them together on a circular needle with eight-stitch steeks added. It so turned out I could have used six- or four-stitch steeks since there are edge stitches. Instead of following the pattern instruction in words, I followed the chart. As I could not see the line for the size M clearly in it, I ended up with having six extra stitches, three on each end, for size M. In order to accommodate this addition, I increased the armhole depth somewhat.

Fronts and beck bodices were also knitted together with an eight-stitch steek added between the fronts (this should have been a four-stitch steek so as not to have too much fabric at front edges). I cast on 248 stitches for the ribbed edge and knit: k3, k2 p2, repeat * to , k3 (the first and the last stitches are edge stitches). On row 1 of the Fair Isle section, add two stitches to front bodices and one stitch to the back bodice, with the total of 253 stitches for bodice. I placed markers after 65th and 188th stitches to indicate the side seams. Also I marked the center back stitch to aid anchoring the motif. When the Fair Isle chart was inspected, I noticed that the center back is not necessarily the middle of each motif. I shifted motifs as necessary to remedy this defect. I decided to make the cardigan longer and chose to knit 35 cm before armhole shaping began. Also, the armhole was lengthened to 21 cm.

Here are bodice, left, and sleeves before cutting steeks. 

Sleeves alone.

 

And after sleeves were put together.

 

I found the sleeves to be just right in tightness and the cuffs are nice and snug.  Some knitters mentioned sleeves being tight and I am wondering if it was due to knitting them in round in small circumference. 

I just adore the colors of the garments!  Now, the next post will be about a disaster and how I overcame it.

Harmonie Stripes

This cardigan is a modified version of Harmonie from Rowan’s The Milk Cotton Collection. Its fabric is knit with two-row stripes with slip stitches. Slipped stitches produces considerably thicker fabric. The row gauge here was 50 per 4 inches. My thought was that this fabric would not suitable for a pullover but great for a jacket or cardigan. I also had a large leftover stash of cotton and cotton blends in DK weight.

 


The only new yarns I had to get were in lilac pink for front and collar bands and stone for the finished version. In between, I tried with other color schemes which included dark green and plum. They did not look right among my other pale colors. So, they were out.

When I try a new stitch pattern, I usually start with a sleeve to test and it was knitted per pattern instruction. For bodice parts, I wanted to add more side shaping and length, which was accomplished by measuring my favorite tee shirt and calculating row and stitch counts. Once that is done, the back was knitted. With the back bodice on the dress form, I decided how deep I want the front neck line to go down. More calculation was followed. I made the front wider by the width of the front band.

I am quite pleased with the result.