Is it here? I don’t know. I keep hoping that we will get a freak snow storm. I feel robbed this winter. But alas, it is warm outside. And so I gave in to the temptation of our new spring yarns and cast on for a spring top. If you are planning to wear knitted items in spring and summer, you basically need to get them started asap. Otherwise, they won’t be done in time to wear! If you aren’t a quick knitter, just stick to winter sweaters and you will have a nice new garment when the weather gets cold again in September and October.
I may have been pulled in by the Rowan Purelife Revive booklet and its fabulous men’s and women’s garments. Ultimately, I cast on for this top:
Given that it is mostly stockinette stitch with absolutely no waist shaping, I thought I could knock it out pretty quickly. I modified the striping pattern slightly so that I could carry the colors up the side and avoid weaving in one million tails. If you want to do the same, work 4 rows of the first color, one row of the edging color, four rows of the second color and one row of the edging color again. Adding the extra row to the second color will mean that your pattern repeat will work out nicely and you will always be able to grab the color you need from below. To carry the yarns up the side, I always knit the first stitch with the color I need and the color that is being dragged along. Since I will seam in that first stitch anyway, it won’t be seen at all in the finished garment. I cast on Saturday and here is my progress:
I love love love this yarn. It is made from recycled clothing – cotton, viscose and silk. The silk makes little slubs of color that pop from the yarn. It helps the different colorways to really work nicely together. It is definitely like knitting with linen though, and I wouldn’t recommend double stranding it or doing serious cable work with it. It has no give. But for a wool addict, this stuff is pretty awesome. I think I might be converted to cotton again.
Be sure to check the schematics for this garment. If I made this as they instructed, it would be a dress on me. Luckily there is no waist shaping to modify – I just cut inches from my work and it will be fine. Now watch the weather turn to snow flurries on the day I get this blocked and ready to wear…