beautiful things

Asymmetrical wrap

I've been suffering from knitting withdrawal symptoms this week after all those quick FOs. It is particularly strange to miss the dishcloths. They were surprisingly satisfying to knit although I have yet to um, get up the nerve to actually wash dishes with them.

However, I am getting busy again. I've decided to start with spring knitting and have been swatching for the Indigo Ripples Skirt by Kat Coyle from Interweave Knits Spring 2007, only my version is green.

Before I really get going on that though I wanted to finish my last major project -- and that's the big news for today. I finally finished the asymmetrical wrap!

Asymmetrical Wrap

Date:
November 9th, 2007 - February 24th, 2008

Yarn:
Just over 9 skeins of Classic Elite Montera in pacha mama 3876

Needles:
US #10-1/2 Knitpicks Options circulars

Pattern:
Asymmetrical Wrap by Tom Scott from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007.

The story:

Well, I was seduced by the tall blonde with the blowy hair, and even though I suspected at the time that it might not be an entirely practical project, I decided to go for it anyway.

And even though I'm not sure I will actually be able to wear this in public (at least not without a lot of strategic safety pins) it ended up looking better than I feared it would so I'm pretty happy. And maybe I will try wearing it some day.

I went with the yarn specified in the pattern and it ended up being a little more hairy/fuzzy than it looks in the photo. And while I love brown, brown is... a little bit relentless when you're knitting with it. Nevertheless, the needles were big and the pattern pretty straightforward so it was a relatively fast knit. I finished the bulk of the knitting towards the end of December but then it kind of sat for a while.

This past weekend though I set about completing the finishing. I was not entirely sure how to do the "vertical crochet lines" that were supposedly looped across 2 stitches. I tried that, and it didn't really seem to work, so I took the left loop of one stitch and the right loop of the other and it looked about right so I went with it. The fringe was pretty straight forward. In fact, the entire pattern was pretty straightforward.

As I hoped, a little steam blocking of the lower edge worked wonders, although did not quite eliminate the weird flaring around the waist, and amazingly the detailing did seem to really help. I think the vertical crocheted lines emphasized, well, the vertical.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I originally knit the long side of this much longer, about another 12" longer actually, per the pattern, but decided it was too long for me. So get this -- I cut that section off, picked up the loops and re-knit the 2x2 rib border.

I see two major problems with actually wearing this piece. First of all, the sleeves are too tight fitting to wear anything with sleeves underneath, and while the yarn isn't overly scratchy, I don't think it's going to be the most comfortable thing that tight to the skin. Plus it's also a very warm fabric so this is not so much the evening event piece I was imagining. However, I like how it looks with jeans so I guess one could wear it to... I don't know, a winter barbecue or something?!!! I suppose you could wear a tank underneath and take the piece off if you get hot.

The other big problem is that the one pin isn't really enough to give it the structure it needs to hold itself in place at the front, thus my earlier reference to needing many other safety pins. But the long side of the wrap in particular is too heavy for pins to really hold well. I wonder if you could line it with fabric to give it more structure.

Even with my misgivings, I think I will try wearing it some time, perhaps to some kind of low key family event to start with. It was kind of fun wearing it to take photos, although it was hard to get good shots. I even tried to use a fan to get the blowy hair effect... but it wasn't strong enough. I wish my camera at least had a remote control -- it would have made it so much easier. I have a few shots that I'm happy with though and overall, I'm glad I tried this project.

Finished shots:

Flickr set is here.
Ravelry link is here.

Thought I'd forgotten the asymmetrical wrap?!

Well, here's a quick in progress shot of the asymmetrical wrap. The knitting and seaming (and even most of the end weaving) is done. I just have to add the mysterious crocheted vertical lines and the strands.

To be honest, I'm... a little uncertain about this piece, which is not entirely a shock. I think I was seduced by how well it photographed on the model and perhaps it would look better on someone taller. And, you know, with the long flowing hair. Maybe if I stand in front of a fan...!

I wish I'd seen some "normal" people wearing it but so far, while I know of one or two people knitting it, and a few people have put it in their Ravelry queue (since I added the pattern) I have not seen any other photos of it. It's not that I don't like it, and I'm definitely glad I'm making it. It's kind of an adventure. I will say though that I'm not sure I'll knit anything this big and dark brown again for a while. It was a pretty quick knit, and I love brown, but it's... very brown. And the yarn is a little more hairy than I was expecting.

But enough complaints. Perhaps with blocking the weird flaring around the waist and the curling edges will settle down, and the finishing will give it just that special touch. The more I look at the photo, the more I think it has potential.

The nice thing about knitting though is that even though it's the dead of winter (and hasn't even become really bad yet here in New York) I'm already feeling like I should be starting on spring knitting... yay!!!

Going strong

Yes, I am going strong on the asymmetrical wrap.

The yarn (Classic Elite Montera) arrived last week and for once, it looks exactly like in the magazine!

Of course, unlike the two above, most of the photos I've taken so far don't look anything like the real thing...

I don't know why people don't photograph their yarn in unraveled skeins more.

Anyway, here's how far I was a few days ago:

Amazing how brown can look so grey. I'll have to take some better photos.

So far it's been a good knit, nice and chunky so pretty fast moving. I did have to chart out the pattern a little to make it easier to follow as it seems to be written to take up the least space and not necessarily for ease of use. No biggie.

By the way, I did find Tom Scott's website. You can find this piece under fall/winter 2007.

Also, there's errata for the pattern here.

NaNoSweMo

Anything that gets you giggling before 7am is good right?!

Remember NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month? People sign up to write a 50,000 word novel in a month.

Well, as featured on a recent Stash and Burn episode, knitgrrl has come up with NaNoSweMo, National Sweater Knitting Month. Only, as someone in the comments points out, it really should be "NaNeSweMo" because otherwise the current abbreviations make it National Novel Sweater Month.

National Novel Sweater Month!

Ok, maybe that's the kind of thing that is only funny before 7am ...

Anyway, I have decided to take the plunge and knit the asymmetrical wrap. I just ordered the yarn! According to my calculations, this sweater only has about 35,000 stitches so it doesn't really qualify for NaNoSweMo which is for 50,000 stitches. But still, if I were to knit it in a month, it would be a little over 1,000 stitches a day, at 78 stitches a row, that's about 15 rows a day... piece of cake, right?! I have no idea how many stitches per hour or whatever I knit. I've never really paced myself out like this. I'm not going to be that strict about it anyway. I would like to finish it and wear it around the holidays.

In the end I went with the exact yarn and color from the pattern (Classic Elite Montera in 3876 Pacha Mama). I'm not yet confident enough in yarn substituting to make changes for large projects, and although I thought about going with a different color (the yarn comes in many many pretty colors) I decided that brown would mean it could be an evening as well as day piece, and I convinced myself by telling myself I was going with the "designer's vision." ("The collection features a palette of earthy browns, grays and black; in his hands, the colors feel versatile, not restrictive.") Plus, I love brown.

In the meantime, I've read over the pattern and it looks pretty straightforward - basically you knit a giant scarf and add arms. Yet the magazine has given it the most difficult rating.... I imagine this is because of the finishing, and granted I really have no idea how the "crocheted vertical lines" are done, but I'm hoping I'll be able to figure that out through the power of google and some swatching. We will see...

Next big project...?

You know how sometimes a pattern just whisks you off your feet and captures your imagination? I haven't been browsing patterns much lately but there have been three such patterns the past forty eight hours that I feel like I want to knit NOW!

The first is Flicca by Anna Bell, which I saw on my friend activity page on Ravelry. Gorgeous! It also looks beautiful here and here (sorry, second link is Ravelry only but the photos are private on Flickr).

The other two are in Vogue Knitting Holiday 2007, which I guess just came out a few days ago. To be honest, most of the patterns in the magazine don't appeal to me, but flipping through it in the store, I came across a couple of designs by Tom Scott that I immediately fell in love with - #25 fringed wrap and #26 asymmetrical wrap. I can't find any photos online so I took a couple myself.

This is the fringed wrap, simple yet appealing, perhaps because it looks so cozy as the weather is just turning here in New York.

The asymmetrical wrap though is just stunning, I think - understated yet dramatic. I'm not sure though, is this the kind of thing that only looks good in a fashion magazine in a beautiful model with her blonde hair blowing in the studio created wind? Would I actually wear such a thing? Unfortunately, no one that I can find online has actually knit it yet, which is of course understandable as the magazine only just came out, but is it my imagination or do fewer people knit from Vogue Knitting than, say Interweave Knits?

Speaking of Interweave Knits, here are the Tyrolean Stockings I've started from IK Fall 2007:

I really fell in love with the oatmeal version shown in the magazine, only, you tell me, does Vermont Organic Grey specified look at all oatmeal-y to you? Plus they're sold out, so I got the Maine Organic Grey instead, thinking it would be the most similar to the magazine, but I should have known better - magazines shamelessly manipulate the colors in their photos so they resemble nothing like the actual yarn!!!

I probably should have ust gone with Vermont Organic White or even the New Mexico Organic... but I didn't really want white white socks. Anyway, they'll look good with my black leather skirt, only I'm really not sure what shoes I would wear them with. I haven't worn knee high socks since I was in middle school!

Anyway, back to my next big project, which hopefully I can actually finish before the cold season ends... I was pretty much ready to jump right into Flicca but now I'm thinking I might just give the asymmetrical wrap a go even though it is much less practical. The yarn the pattern calls for, Classic Elite Montera, looks like a beautiful yarn. Would I just go with brown or something more striking like the green that happens to be on sale at webs? Or does that ruin the understated-ness?

Off to yarn shop...