I finished the body this afternoon and am now onto the sleeves. I don't think you can tell from the photos, but it has a kind of kimono collar - the straps that you see at the top are grafted together, then the edge is sewn against the back neck so that it will stand up. I don't know how I feel about the edging, personally. I know the pattern description says it is supposed to roll, and it's a "design feature" (we all know what that means. *wink*) but I find it very annoying. I am considering sewing a fabric facing and blocking the heck out of it to make it more... kimono like, and less like I am wearing rubber tubing over my lady bits.
Also, the sleeves increase a lot right about the ribbing, and while I like it on the model, it looks very blouse-y. I'll keep it, but I just thought you should know before you get there that there is no gentle increasing outward, just one free-for-all 16 stitches increased in one row. So, you may want to increase slowly along the seam line if that's more your style.
(Oh, and the sleeves aren't going to be elbow length on anyone who isn't 6' tall. As written, it's a 3/4 length sleeve on me.)
At one point, I had knit the entire body... only to realize that I had missed two decreases on the left front, meaning that from the armpit up, it had two extra stitches. To help my frustration, I dug around in the stash to begin thinking about the next project since this one should be done in the not-too-distant future. Out popped 9 balls of Artful Yarns' Candy, an elastic/cotton blend with a cool, tweedy mix of colors. (I'm using Sweet Tart, which is cream, aqua, purple, and blue.):
At 20 sts/4 in prewashed, and 22 sts/4 in post wash, it does shrink a little. (This included a dryer, since I thought it would be a nice change to own a sweater that wasn't a pain in the ass to wash.) However, since I think this sort of yarn is better suited to more figure-hugging designs, I'll be knitting it at 20 st, then when it shrinks in the wash, it will have the perfect snugness required to frame my lady parts in all their glory.
In case you're wondering, it's nothing at all like Fixation or any other extremely stretchy yarns. If anything, it's more like a very elastic merino. Some give, but keeping tension was easy, though I did snag the loosely-spun plies a few times. I'm considering a top-down, deep-V long sleeve sweater, but we'll see. I have a few more days of work on the Minimalist Cardi, and when it's done I may just feel like knitting a t-shirt. :)
1 comments:
I just ran into your blog clicking around. I'm planning to do the Minimalist Cardigan with some alpaca I have in my stash. I was looking at that collar, though, and it was worrying me that it would curl. I was thinking of knitting the kimono part in k1p1 rib instead of stocking stitch. Think it would work?
Coincidentally, I made a cardigan with the Art Yarns Candy a while back, and it was terrific to knit with. I really loved the colors. But the sweater never fit right (because as you say, it shrinks), and it had a front that nothing in the universe would keep from curling. One day I'm going to take it apart and make something else with it!
Post a Comment