On the Block

The front and back pieces are finished and blocking. I focused my blocking efforts on the seams so they will lie flat for sewing up, and left the gathered and ribbed areas unpinned and did not spray them with water. (I try not to block the life out of my knitting, after having done so in the past.)

For the first time ever, the measurements of my finished pieces lined up almost exactly with those specified by the pattern. A shocking development. It's amazing how a small thing like a gauge swatch can really help.

Now, on to the sleeves ...

Draping Knitted Fabric

Perhaps it's because I learned to sew before I learned to knit that I'm intrigued by the idea of creating knitted garments in a similar fashion to garments that are sewn from fabric. Lily Chin's design, "Ruched Magic," appealed to me for this reason. (Pattern is from Knitter's Magazine, Fall 2002.)

I wear the color deep red a lot and am a big fan of soft, comfortable things to put on my body, so I chose this beautiful KnitPicks' Andean Silk yarn in Hollyberry.

I've finished the back and am three-quarters of the way done with the front. Sorry, no pics yet. Look for a F.O. soon!

A Saga in Stitches!

It's finally done! I put this aside for almost 7 (!) years. However, because I loved the pattern of leaves, I decided to commit myself to finishing it. "Commit" is probably a good operative word here as the steeking process nearly drove me crazy. Never having steeked before, I blithely created a steek by securing only one of the colors! What was I thinking? This gargantuan mistake had to be corrected by a lengthy process of crocheting, sewing, and creating a facing. I guess it was all worth it, as I do love the finished product!



Here you can see the pretty striping that was called for by the pattern when shaping the underarms. I don't know if you can tell, but the first repeat of the pattern is inexplicably shorter than the elongated versions higher up on the body. Did my knitting get looser as I went along?



Here is a close-up of the button placket and the sleeve design. One drawback to this pattern is it defies memorization. I literally had to check each stitch in the stranded body, and really struggled to remember the sleeve design. In the end, I gave up on the cuff design and skipped it. I actually think it looks okay plain.


Pattern: Poetry in Stitches, by Solveig Hisdal, page 160
Yarn: Hifa 2
Needles: US 1 and 2