O is for Olive

You know how it is when you see a pattern and you fall in love with it and you simply must knit it, even down to using the actual yarn specified in the pattern? Except the pattern is hard to come by (not sold at all in Australia) and ditto for the yarn. So you file it away but never forget about it, hoping that one day you'll manage to find both and stump up for the postage from overseas.

Well, the fates aligned for me on this one - you know it, Olive, I've posted about it before. Ms Funky found the pattern book in the US (hurrah #1). And then Pru destashed the exact yarn in the colour I would have chosen if I was buying it myself (hurrah #2). Which also provided me with the perfect opportunity to meet her in person so I could collect the yarn (hurrah #3!). So of course it was meant to be. (Fortunately for you all, at some point after I got my hot little hands on the pattern book, it became available as an individual download...)

And it has been perfect knitting for me - stocking stitch, in the round, with a little easy shaping and then some colour on the striped garter edges. Oh yeah, and a heap of research and maths before and during the process, as I had to modify the pattern to fit me (upsizing) and to add waist shaping and remove the blouson effect of the original - which is lovely on the willowy stick-thin model, but not so much on stumpy log-large me.

But it was all worth it, I think:

Details

Pattern: Olive by Helga Isager from Amimomo Knit Collection Autumn/Winter 2008 (and now individually). I don't know why exactly I fell in love with this, but I did. I suppose it was the simplicity of it as well as the gathering at neckline and the pouffy sleeves (I am a sucker for a slightly pouffed sleeve!) and the dash of colour provided by the stripes at each edge.

Yarn: Isager Strik Alpaca 2, a lovely fingering/4ply, 50/50 alpaca/merino, in a gorgeous blue/grey (011), approximately 4.5 skeins - the 50g skeins are a generous 250m each! And Noro Silk Garden Sock in S252 - a great colourway I must say - has black, grey, blues and a vivid lime green. I did have to butcher the Noro quite a bit - I cut out a lot of the black and grey, as well as the other colours, so that I'd get a variation of colours on each of the bands. Thank goodness it spit splices beautifully!

Sticks: 3mm KnitPicks Harmony Options for the garter bands, 4mm for the body and sleeves. The smaller needles are great for ensuring the garter doesn't ripple like it can with stocking stitch, and the larger needles make a beautiful drapey fabric.

Time: 1 October 2010 - 18 February 2011. Another of my pre-2011 projects bites the dust!

Modifications: I made extensive notes on my Rav project page, so you can have a looky there if you so desire! But I will say here that my modifications were helped immensely by the notes other Ravellers made on their own project pages for this pattern - so I encourage you all to add notes to your projects if you can - even if just about yarn substitution or needle size used - it really is very helpful and makes Ravelry an even better resource than it already is!

(one of the obvious modifications was to knit the garter bands flat and then close them with a button and crochet loop - no way am I doing garter stitch in the round unless I absolutely have to!)

I also couldn't have made such a good job of the fit if I hadn't done a big swatch and done the maths before I started knitting, and then keep measuring and trying it on as I knitted (a huge benefit of the seamless top down garment!). The maths alone wasn't enough, as I'd failed to include in my calculations various fit factors, so it was only by trying it on that I knew I'd (for example) reached my waist and so needed to stop decreasing, and start increasing!

I'm very happy with this project! I'm looking forward to some cooler weather now so I can wear it! I think the lightweight alpaca blend will be lovely for our climate - warm without being suffocating!

WIP-athon 2010-2011

I'm not sure if many of you look at my WIP list there is the sidebar (I kinda hope not many!) but it is embarrassingly long. So a little while ago I decided to do something about it. Nothing radical, mind, like only knitting on WIPs until they are all done. Because that's clearly doomed to failure - if I had that kind of focus and stick-to-it-ness, I wouldn't have so many WIPs in the first place!

So what I'm going to do is formalise my commitment to a WIP-athon for 2010-2011 (and possibly 2012, if it takes that long!) by openly promising on this here blog to "WIP one, start one". In other words, finish a WIP, start a new project. Finish the new project, then finish a WIP. Repeat until WIPs are done. And don't allow any of the new projects to become a WIP! Of course if I'm feeling particularly virtuous, I may even finish two WIPs in a row!

Is anyone with me?

I started my WIP-athon with the Shaped Lace Tee. Once I got that out of the way, I was allowed to cast on for my Olive (you'll recall I swatched for her back in August). I needed to modify the pattern and do some maths, so I spent a couple of days researching other projects on Ravelry and crunching the numbers, and then I started. Using the Noro Silk Garden sock for the contrast in the yoke.

And this project is perfect for my knitting life right now - miles and miles of stocking stitch in the round that I can pick up and put down so easily. And I do love this pattern and yarn.

I just hope it fits me ... and doesn't take forever to knit! Have you seen the size of my queue in Ravelry lately??!!

Up here for thinking

On Saturday, I attended a knitting workshop by Liz Gemmell, put on my my branch of the Knitters Guild of NSW. It was, I suppose, an introduction to designing your own knitwear - or adapting existing patterns, either in size or construction method or technique. Liz also told us a bit about her career as a knitwear designer and showed off some of her garments and other designs, including the most amazing knitted floor rug - knit in the round from the centre out, in traditional fair isle, into a square, using 12ply (bulky) wool and 4mm needles. Just amazing!

For homework, we were asked to knit a 25cm swatch - that's a big darn swatch, especially when you don't have as much time to knit as you used to, but it was worth it in this case. I decided to swatch for Olive, because I am so keen to knit and wear this! I used the Isager Strik Alpaca 2 yarn the pattern specifies (thanks Pru for destashing!!), which is a fingering weight 50/50 Alpaca/wool.

The newspaper is the pre-blocked size, the post-blocked swatch is underneath. I was surprised that the swatch didn't grow more in length on blocking, as alpaca usually will do that. I think I will reblock it, and hang it while damp - that will be a better measure of true gauge I think. I will not, however, shake and thwack it while dripping wet, as Liz advised. I just can't!

Liz suggests measuring gauge in 3 different spots on the swatch, and averaging. An interesting exercise, as my gauge did differ a little bit over the swatch (by 1 stitch or 1 row).

I've decided I'm going to alter the pattern a bit - I love the gathered neckline and striped garter edging, but I think the blouson style body will just make me look pregnant. I could just not decrease before the garter edge on the bottom, but as there is no shaping in the body, I think that will also look like a maternity top. So I'm planning on putting in waist shaping. I'm glad the pattern is knit all in one piece from the top down, as that will make it a lot easier for me to try on as I go, but I will also, as Liz taught, draw out the pattern in its entirety before knitting it, and ensure my gauge and measurements will all match up (that's the "up here for thinking" reference).

Yeah, maths. Not my favourite way to spend an afternoon, but it will be worth it I hope, to ensure the fit of this garment is what I want it to be. Because really, my hatred of frogging is far greater than my dislike of a few sums!