Drifting, as Intended

win·some. Pronunciation: \ˈwin(t)-səm\ Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English winsum, from Old English wynsum Date: before 12th century
1 : generally pleasing and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence

There's a little growing room in there - never a bad thing.

She looks like Helena Bonham Carter, don't you think?


And little Ruby, in these lovely pictures, has done what so many other children failed to do - she has made me all broody. I'm only 34, after all, and I always did want one with dark hair...

I wish it fit me.

Ruby's Drifting

Pattern: Fiona Ellis, Inspired Fair Isle Knits, Potter Craft 2007
Size: 2 years
Cast on: August 2, 2008
Bound off: August 21, 2008
Tension: 22 sts, 28 rows in stockinette
Needle: 4.0mm and 4.5mm Clover Takumi bamboo circular
Yarn:
SandnesGarn Smart, 100% pure new wool, 50g (100m)
5226 (A - Plum, 2 balls)
1012 (B - White, 1 ball)
7033 (C - Aqua, 1 ball)
4715 (D - Pink, 1 ball)
8615 (E - Lime, 1 ball)
SandnesGarn Lanett Superwash 100% merino wool. 50g (195m) #5836 (F - Blue, 3 balls, held double throughout)
Yarn Source: Needle & Arts Centre
Yarn Cost: around $60
Modifications: None (ETA: forgot that I did change something. The instructions for the front neck band call for picking up 46 stitches - that works out to more than the number of stitches/rows. I knit the neck band as directed and it was way too long. It was wavy, wouldn't lie flat, and distorted the neck edge. I ripped it out and tried picking up 36 stitches instead - it worked much better. I also decreased after the eyelet row on the front neck, one stitch on each side of the centre 6 stitches, to help it lie flat. This worked beautifully.
Notes:
1) There is an error in the chart, on row 9. The last 7 stitches should be k3 in colour E, k4 colour A. Chart has k7 colour A with no symbol.
2) I don't like that the fair isle band is worked flat. It would have been just as easy to work the sweater in the round to the armholes, then divide - that would have made the FI band so much easier, and the finishing so much neater.
3) I LOVE this sweater. I wish I could make one for my daughter but I have a feeling it wouldn't look as cute in a gigantic size like a 7 year old, or a 4 year old, would need. I think I have enough yarn scraps to make a hat, though, so I'll get my final Drifting fix that way.

All right, on to the photos.



This first one is to show you how many ends you are looking at weaving in, if you knit this sweater (I'm talking to you, Kristine). It took me two and a half days of weaving - not steadily, but whenever I had a chance. I am careful with ends, and these are superwash, of course, so you do have to run them in pretty thoroughly as they won't felt in by themselves. It was okay though: I just queued up about 15 episodes of Cast On and let my butt mould into the shape of the corner of the couch. When there are this many ends, you have to be careful, too, to not run them all into the seam at the same place...you don't want the seam too thick.

See? Seamy goodness. (The side seam shot is kind of a trademark of mine.)



On this sweater the left side button band opens, but the right side button band does not. You're supposed to just sew the buttons right through both layers, but to make sure Ruby's grownups aren't confused by the mysteriously "stuck" buttonholes, I also whip-stitched the right hand button band closed, so it would stay purty. Didn't get a very good picture of it, though.



Here you can see the left-hand button band as well - the one that opens.



I love the feel of this sweater - the weight of the finished fabric. It's very heavy and warm, but so soft and pleasantly drapey. The two different wools do feel different - the purple on the bottom is "new wool", a bit scratchy, and the blue is merino. Divinely soft. I suspect that the blue may pill up a little bit, but the purple should be good for a long while.



And it's time to pack this up for its trip back east...of course I am a gigantic geek so I have wrapped the sweater in five colours of tissue, matching the yarn colours.

Yes, I know. Go ahead and laugh. It would have been six but I can't find the purple.



I would knit this beautiful sweater again in a heartbeat. It was fun, very quick, and so satisfying to see all those vivid colours together. I think it's going to be so lovely on little Ruby, who has dark hair and eyes.

Joe and Dave, I hope you like Drifting. And I'd love to see some pictures of it on Ruby, after her birthday. Thanks for commissioning me to do this - it was an absolute pleasure.

XO
S

Land Ho!

Drifting is almost completely finished. I have numerous - not to say multitudinous - ends to weave in, and she will be all done. I tried to get some nice pictures for you but it was horridly dark today and the flashed shots were just too garishly lit for my taste. I opted to suppress the flash, ending up with a more subdued colour than in reality, but preferring the mellow tone of these photos.

I went to the fabric store this evening in search of buttons. Buttons are difficult. Buttons are problematic. Buttons are a tricky thing. You don't want them to overwhelm the garment, but it's all too easy to err on the side of caution and end up with nondescript, boring buttons. You want them to be eye-catching, but not obtrusive. As to size, you have to be careful with knitted items because the buttonholes are often fairly tight to begin with, but are easily stretched. A too-large button will pull the band out of shape - a too-small button will come undone at inopportune moments.

Today I had a pretty good button-search experience, actually, only trying seven different buttons before I found the winner. I tried two or three rather rustic-looking, matte plastic hearts and flowers, but though they looked fine on the papers, they looked cheap on the sweater. I went to a more standard, round button, but they were jaw-crackingly boring.

Then I spotted, hiding on the bottom rack of the button spinner, some beautiful pewter butterflies. They are a great shape for knitwear - about twice as wide as they are tall, so they will be easy to button (provided you put them in wing-tip-first) but the width will keep them in place once they are there. Also - butterflies! Pretty!








And here's more button love for you.





I spent yesterday blocking the sweater, and tried a new technique this time - forcing steam through the knitting using my iron, without touching the soleplate to the fabric.







It worked remarkably well. The knitting smoothed out beautifully, and dried quickly. I love blocking - everything looks so right, pinned flat and with a patina of mist over it. Wool loves water, and water covers a multitude of sins. I'll use the steam blocking method again, because it was so darn fast and easy. I still prefer the soak-and-stretch, but this garment was already biggish for the child's age.







Which brings me to, how can the final knitted piece be three-quarters of an inch bigger than the pattern says it will be, when my tension was spot-on? I am getting exactly 22 stitches over 4 inches - I should have a piece that is identical in size to the schematic given. That it is not, is just another example of how knitting can mess with your mind.










I'm trying not to get too annoyed, because it doesn't really make any practical difference in this case - the child is not going to get any smaller, after all - they can always roll her sleeves up for the first year she wears it.



But still. Irritating.

I will soon have the FO post ready, but I have a date with a tapestry needle, first. I will be busy for a couple of days, I think, weaving in ends, and then I will give the entire thing a once-over with the steam just to pretty it up a bit. The button bands need a good steaming, as they weren't knitted yet when I blocked the four individual pieces.




The button band, before the advent of buttons.

This was a nice quick knit - I would definitely do this pattern again. More notes on that, in the FO post later this week....or possibly next. In the meantime, here is a glimpse of the (pre-blocked) wrong side of the Fair Isle band, in case that floats your boat (as it does mine).

Don't Be Afraid to Let 'er Rip

Thanks everybody, for your well wishes on my anniversary post. Mr HalfSoledBoots even read it, after I told him his anniversary card was online and he'd have to go to the blog to see it.


These photos are very dark - I took them outside hoping for some natural light, but there was just enough to disable the flash and not enough to show the colours.

Drifting is coming along beautifully. I've finished the sleeves and the front, which means I would be completely done the knitting except that I need to knit another back since I ripped out the first one.

When you're knitting fair-isle, as everyone knows, you have to be careful to keep your floats loose or the knitting pulls in and ripples the surface of the work. To make tensioning easier, the designer calls for a needle change just for the colourwork band - you move up to a 4.5mm from a 4mm. The problem was, I usually handle the tension issues myself, by pulling the stitches along the right hand needle as I work. This, combined with the larger needle, made the colourwork band simply too loose and sloppy-looking. You couldn't tell from the picture, but it just wasn't good enough for Ruby.

So I ripped and I'm now one inch into The Back, Part II. I should be done it by this weekend, and then I can block, seam, and knit the button bands.

The pattern itself is a good one - these vivid colours really keep my interest. I also like the natural sections of the pieces - it keeps you knitting to the end of that section. You knit merrily along, enjoying the feeling of the wool, then suddenly the purple is over. So you start the colourwork, and then you feel like you really should carry on just until that's over, but then the beautiful blue starts and the decreases begin, and you think "Well, it's only a few inches, it would really be a shame to stop now." Then it's 1:00 AM and you bind off in triumph.


The front.

I do have two criticisms, though. One is for the book in general - I really do feel that "Fair Isle" should be done in finer yarn. It looks pixelated and clunky when it's in anything above a sport weight.

The second is that this pattern (and, probably, other patterns in this book) should really be knit in the round. A steek would not be necessary - you could knit in the round from the hem to the underarm, then divide. That way, you do the colourwork band in the round and save yourself the torture of the purl rows, not to mention the abhorrent looseness at the edge of each piece, when your yarn ends are dangling there looking pointless and sloppy. I think no matter how carefully I block, steam, and seam, there is going to be some rippling at the side seams. AND THAT BOTHERS ME.

This shows the colour better.

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Piper is six months old now.

And after putting up a 6+ foot fence to keep the hateful deer at bay, I have blooms on my hydrangea for the first time in three years.



So altogether the world is spinning nicely today.

You wear a smile but it's...

Thank you all for your votes -- after carefully considering all the options, Joe and Dave chose Drifting for Ruby's second birthday.

On Saturday I went to my LYS for the yarn, and was, to say the least, quite keen to get going.

I'm loving this knit. It's so cute. The colours are gorgeous, and it will be so toasty warm. What I DON'T understand is, why is no one else on the interKnit making this? I was doing some Google-fu and couldn't come up with a single project. Ravelry is completely Driftless too, and in fact the design is not even listed as one of Inspired Fair Isle Knits' projects. It's very weird.

It's knitting up fast. I am almost half done the front, the back is finished (but it's a little bit bockety and I may redo that piece) and the sleeves, being raglan, will come together quicker than either of those.

I did have to do a little yarn sub for the blue on top. I couldn't find a satisfactory colour in the yarn I had chosen, so I used a different wool, Lanett Superwash fingering weight, and doubled it to make a DK. Knitted up, the doubled Lanett is gorgeous. The softness is incredible, the stitch quality is excellent - very balanced. I've used this yarn for a couple of things before, but the more I knit with it the more I love it. It's sold as a baby yarn, but the colour palette is impressively varied - not just pastels.

Anyway, it shouldn't be too long before this is an FO, even taking into account the probable reknit of the back. I'm not exactly sure of Ruby's birthday, but ideally I'll get this done, blocked, seamed and mailed by the third week of August.