Saturday, February 02, 2013

to coin a phrase...

I'm a sock knitting machine!  (Thanks, Dr K)


Second pair of socks for January!

A Twist of Citrus (with mods) - free pattern on Ravelry, and part of the Thrifty Knitter Sock Club
Poem 4ply
2.5mm bamboo needles


Pretty pleased with these socks, mainly because I got them knitted up so quickly, but also I think I quite like the yarn/pattern combo?  The Poem has a bit of a fuzz to it, as you can see on the toe in the photo above, and the gradient colour is tonal enough as to not distract from the lace.

I modified the pattern to work it top down, because it's my preference, and I omitted the cable twist in-between lace because quite frankly, I wasn't in the mood to fuss around with cable needles!  I did try to do it sans needle, but quickly decided it wasn't worth the effort.

I'm a bit disappointed the gradients don't match better, as I tried to start at the same point in the repeat as the first sock, but this yarn is unpredictable in it's repeats.  I think where I finished the second sock is actually where I started the first one?


Of course, once these were off the needles (in a mere seven days, ta-da) I went in search of something new to cast on.

I have rearranged my stash on Ravelry to chronological order, and found some Jo Sharp 8ply merino that is officially my "oldest" stash - circa 2007.

I can't guarantee there isn't older yarn in the stash, because I have a feeling some pre-Ravelry yarn was never documented, but this would seem about right.  I bought a garment's worth on eBay super cheap, and haven't been able to find the right pattern for it...until it dawned on me!

Seberg Sweater by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark.  Published in Knitscene Spring 2012.



I'm pairing the dark chocolate brown with some Rustic from Bendigo Woollen Mills, in a warm sandstone colour and so far, I'm LOVING it!




I'm having some dilemmas though...


Size 38 & 3/4"  is exactly my measurements - bust, waist and hip.  I mean, exactly.
Gauge is 20st/29rows, on 4mm.
I swatched on 4mm, in the round. got 22sts/28rows per 4 inches which would mean (by the logic of math), I would need to knit the next size up, or reswatch on bigger needles and have looser fabric.  
4.5mm needles gave me 20sts/26rows, and most of the directions are in length not rows, so that's easily modified, but the fabric is fairly loose and I'm concerned about stretching?
A quick search on Ravelry has shown a lot of people have trouble with the neck being far too big/wide and it really spoils the look of the jumper.
so, my dilemma:
DO I TRUST THE SWATCH??!!!!

5 comments:

Leonie said...

Have you washed the swatch and treated it as you would the jumper? Say you were to hang it folded in half on your washing line, this would add weight to it and drag it longer as it dries, perhaps emulate this by hanging pegs off the bottom of a wet swatch hung on the line?

kgirlknits said...

I haven't, but that did cross my mind as an option - might do that!

kgirlknits said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rose Red said...

You ARE a sock knitting machine!

I think I would trust the swatch, and the size that accords with your measurements - because it will stretch a bit when you wear it. And Leonie's advice is good too!

DrK said...

trust the swatch! and i think a sweater like that should be fitted, so i'd go with 'exactly'. a TOTAL sock knitting machine even, look at you go! i like the mis-matchy anyway.