Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Button Back Finished




Hi All - finished my Button Back today. I thought I would post a photo (sorry about the quality) of the front, as there is no representation of the front on the pattern. It was a bit bland, so I made a patch pocket & used one of the Skif buttons on it. I also did a hybrid Neptune/Button Back by sewing a bit of the way down the back & using 2 buttons. I have mixed feelings about the finished product. It's not all that flattering on me, but very cozy, more like wearing a big sweatshirt. I chose an organic cotton that is a bit chunky, so if I do this sweater again, I will use a lighter weight yarn & definitely mix it up a bit more with some other yarns, as Skif suggests. I'm not sure I'm all that crazy about wearing the purl side as the outside, but then you wouldn't have the cool roll in the back. I love the idea of really taking a design & making it your own, as Skif encourages. I think the Habu yarns would have been more appropriate, even Noro, maybe. Happy knitting! -- Cara

Monday, November 26, 2007

Zena



I finished seaming Zena Thursday night. I'm very happy with the results.

Recall that I knit this with 2 strands of Habu A-33 Merino (one black, one a light olive) and one strand of Habu Silk Mohair hand-dyed Kasuri in green. The resulting fabric is very open and drapey, but the mohair makes it less transparent and gives it some body.

I made a few changes to the pattern:
  • After several attempts, I gave up trying to make the collar by picking up the stitches on each side. It just looked messy. I had even knitted several inches of the back before deciding to rip back and simply re-knit the back of the collar as a separate flap and then seam the three parts together later.
  • I did not use the larger needle on the sleeves, as directed, nor did I switch to a smaller needle for the last 4 inches.
  • I knitted the sleeves with the knit side, rather than the purl side called for in the pattern.
    Also, I knitted the sleeves flat because I my circs weren't flexible enough to magic loop and I wasn't into DPNs.
  • The sides and sleeves were joined with invisible seams using a sportweight yarn from the stash that had similar colors.
As previously mentioned here, the pattern was a bit of a challenge given the errors and the quirky wording, but it was well worth the effort.

I truly love Zena. It is the perfect foil for the Habu yarns, as many of us suspected.




I had planned to knit Neptune using the A-33 and silk mohair with a strand of Shosenshi Paper, but I'm thinking that combination might be more appropriate with Jess. Fun things to ponder.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

swatching


DSCF4338
Originally uploaded by Working Dog Smokey
I like the look of the resulting fabric (it's the Habu super fine merino and tsumagi silk and some laceweight cashmere from Hunt Valley Cashmere). The drape isn't quite what I want. My gauge is tight, but I don't think I want to go up a needle size because I'm not convinced I'll like the resulting fabric. I'll probably just modify the pattern to support this gauge (and, at the same time, make the sweater somewhat smaller).

Neptune2B


Neptune-to-be
Originally uploaded by Working Dog Smokey
Apologies, I'm trying to work out blogging pictures (and have turned out to be more of a luddite than I thought in this regard). These are the yarns I think I'll be using for Button Back

Friday, November 23, 2007

Zena is Finished!

Photographs, however, are another matter.


Additional photos and details to follow soon...




Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Understanding Skif Patterns

I am one of the Skif knitters. I am responsible for helping write the new Skif Hand Knit patterns. We are so excited about this adventure. Skif sweaters are so much fun to wear. I would like to ask you to tell me any problems you are encountering with these patterns and I will do my best to help. We tried to keep the patterns very easy to read and would like your imput.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Corrected Patterns

As those of you who purchased your SKIF patterns online from ShopKnits are aware (including Christine from the comments to a previous post), corrected patterns were sent to their customers recently. We didn't even have to ask! Thanks, ShopKnits!

I hope everyone else is having pleasant experiences regarding their corrected patterns.

As to the actual corrections, I glanced through Zena and it appears several numbers have changed, but I'm too far along to bother analyzing it. At least, I'll have the presumably correct numbers for Neptune.

As far as I can see, there were no updates to the instructions for clarity, which is too bad.

I think we can all agree--SKIF designs are awesome; SKIF patterns, not so much.

But, at least they're getting better. Thanks, SKIF!