Wednesday, June 30, 2010

More Garment Knitting


I'm back to garment knitting. It's only taken 7 months to get the garment-itch, again. Now that Summer is in full swing, I'm thinking "sleeveless" tops. I found a cute chevron top in one of my Tahki Yarns booklet. I'm doing some major omissions/modifications to the pattern...no sleeves and no front button placket. Oh, and no seams(!)...just knit in the round. Make it simple.

Here's the body of the shell. I really do like the colors I picked out. I'm using Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic. I believe this is the first garment I'm knitting with smaller than #8 needles. I'm using #6 needles! This knitting project is going fast. I've already separated the front and back section and now knitting the back.



Also on my needles (size 7), is the Leaf Yoke top that's from last year's Knit.1 magazine. As you can see, I'm using two colors for this top. Just wanted to knit something different. I've learned how to do short row wraps (shaping). Something new for me to learn.



I'm alternating my time between these two projects. I hope to have both completed by the end of our upcoming holiday weekend.

Happy Knitting!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Why Settle for One, When I Can Knit Another


Yep, I did it again. Once I find a really good TNT pattern, I can't seem to stop thinking about different versions. After I finished my Blue Liesl, I was itching to cast on for another. This one is called Linen Liesl. I found this gorgeous Plymouth Fantasy Linen (linen, cotton, rayon) yarn in my stash. I purchased this yarn on sale last year with no idea of what I was going make.







Here I am, trying it on after sleeve separation. Gotta love top down knitting and the ability to try on the garment while it's still being knitted.



Since this yarn has no give, I ended up knitting a size 42 or a Large. I normally knit a size Small. I started out with a size Small and found that the front edges wouldn't meet (for a wide neckline). I frogged my first attempt and made a conscious decision to try size 42 and see what happens. I cast on and knitted the yoke with #10.5 needles and then switched to #10s one row before sleeve separation. I was worried that the body of the lace cardi would be too roomy for me that's why I went down a needle size.

As I'm coming down from my knitting high with Liesl, I'm now looking for another garment to knit. I've pulled my warm weather magazines and stacked them into a neat pile. I'm off to do some searching....

Friday, June 4, 2010

Back to Garment Knitting


I needed a break from shawl knitting. I've put Panache on hold for a few days so I could crank this beautiful Liesl lace cardigan. I went yarn shopping over the holidays and came across this beautiful Stacy Charles Victoria Print yarn. After knitting a test sample, the knitted fabric had a loose slinky feel to it. I knew this would be a perfect match.



I knitted a size 34" and got gauge with a size 11 needle. I did a picot bind off on the sleeves and at the bottom of the cardi. The pattern comes with both charts and written instructions. This is definitely a TNT pattern for me.

I went searching in my stash for more yarn to make another version. I did find a lovely linen/silk/rayon blend yarn. I knitted a sample and got gauge. I'm ready to go again.

I missed knitting garments and I think this was the lovely break that I needed.