pepperknit

The Twist-Front Top by Adrienne Vittadini is complete! I decided the Met would be the best spot for my photo shoot. It went great, but right as I was finishing up I was informed that if you want to use a tripod at the Met, even one as small as my Gorillapod, you have to check in with Security and get a permission slip. Apparently it’s easy to get permission, but you must seek it. Security guard who told me this? Crabby. No need to get snippy, lady.

I’m thrilled with this knit. Especially after having wanted to make it for more than two years, it’s particularly satisfying to have had it come out just right. Fits perfectly, flattering shaping, great color–what more can I say? I’ll let a bunch of photos tell the story. It was hazy up there on the Roof Garden–ah, October days in the 80s. Oppressive.

I think this top will be great for the winter/late fall under this blazer. The wool of the tank and the necessary camisole underneath (I made a special shopping trip yesterday to get one) actually made me quite warm–it wasn’t just the crazy hot weather. Which means this is a tank top that isn’t just for summer!

Twist-Front Top by Adrienne Vittadini, Spring 2005
Yarn: Brooks Farm Acero, purchased at Maryland Sheep & Wool
Skeins: 2, but I still have quite a bit of the second skein left
Needles: US 3 and US 4, Addi Turbos
Started: Thursday, September 27
Finished: Saturday, October 6
Notes: I did not get the prescribed gauge, but I liked the way the Brooks Farm knit up in this stitch pattern, so I did some math and chose to work the largest size of the pattern. Even with this, I was accounting for a decent amount of negative ease–crucial since this is a lace-based stitch pattern. (Ravelry reviews support this, too.) And the Acero really blossomed when it was washed–grew a decent amount in length and opened up nicely. I think because of the laciness you have a lot of leeway for sizing down. It’s kind of a fluke that mine turned out so very very perfect.

The pattern is definitely for an experienced knitter. This is not to say that anything about knitting this was actually difficult or tricky, but the pattern expects you as an experienced knitter to understand the knitting thoroughly enough that you can accurately process the directions. Let me explain. The decreases that happen along the miter will eventually smack into the lacework. You have to know enough about the lace pattern and the decrease to ensure that you are actually decreasing on those rows (that is, know when to take out a yo). There were some other pattern oddities: When you’re working the two fronts at the same time, they expect you to imagine the work as a continuous piece. So when they say “at the beginning of the next two rows” they really mean “at the armhole edge.” If you decided to work the sides separately (I think it goes faster when you do), you can get very screwed up. While you’re knitting, it’s pretty obvious, but it’s potentially confusing.

The armhole finishing, which I really like the look of, has you pick up stitches, purl back, then immediately cast off. But I think it called for too few stitches be picked up. For the size I knit, it said to pick up 92 stitches, and it felt pinched. I took it out and picked up what seemed like a natural number of stitches, not really counting but aiming to have the same amount on the front and back, and I ultimately picked up about 104.

If I were to do it all over again: I’m very tempted to knit another version in plain stockinette, so that the twist at the front is the focal point and doesn’t get lost in the pattern. If I were to knit this again, either using the pattern or in stockinette, I would:

1. Add a selvedge stitch on both sides. Seaming this up was a little bit of a stab in the dark without them.
2. Start the miter lower and decrease slower, so that the bottom edge of the miter really comes up under the bust. They have all sizes begin the miter 6 inches from the bottom–I’m not sure if that’s really the best way to go.
3. Maybe leave the edges of the miter “live” and use short rows instead of decreases at the edge, so that when you pick up for the left and right fronts, you get a more seamless edge (this wouldn’t work with the lace pattern as written, but would be nice in stockinette, I think).

Recommendation: Do yourself a favor and purchase an undergarment that is DARK, not light, to produce flattering results. A light one will produce too-high contrast. Skin tone undergarments are a bad idea when the pattern is this open, too; you look like you’re naked. I got a brown V-neck camisole at Express for $7.99 on sale. Perfect.

PS: Rachel, I like to think this is another example of, to use your words, “Minty Makes Somewhat Questionable Knitting Patterns Look Hot” (look at some of the comments and–cough–photos on Ravelry and you might see what I mean).

It’s not the weather, since the past week stayed hot and humid. It’s not a return to school, since I work a full-time job and haven’t been in school for years. It must be some inner psychological link to the equinox, because we hit the official start of fall and I’ve been in a knitting frenzy ever since. Proof?

You may recall I posted this yarn in a yarn cake back on Wednesday. Late Thursday night, after swatching for a sock pattern, I cast on–finally!–for the Twist-Front Top (Ravelry link) by Adrienne Vittadini (scroll down; it’s the second photo). I’ve been wanting to make this top for years–evidenced by the fact that this is from the Spring 2005 booklet. I first saw it in one of those ads in the back of Interweave. And now I’m done with the back and about 1/3 of the way up the front. It’s a simple 4-row pattern repeat, and everything is chugging away quite easily so far. I’m eager to get to the miter shaping to see how it all comes together.

I’m using the Brooks Farm Acero I got at Maryland Sheep and Wool, and it is much thinner than the yarn called for in the pattern, but I did some math and it seems that using the largest size in the pattern should yield a sweater that fits me. Plus some of the comments on Ravelry indicate that it stretches (it is lace, after all) and knitting a smaller size is recommended. Keep your fingers crossed.

Yesterday was Spin-Out, and since I don’t spin, I showed up with this in tow and knit happily away for several hours with the crew from Sit ‘n’ Knit New York. The weather was perfect, perfect, perfect. There were lots of spinners who even dragged wheels to Central Park. It was the first time I’d ever seen spinning live. And . . . I still have no desire to learn.

I want to finish this NOW! The back is blocking while I work on the front. Happily, it seems that 2 skeins of this yarn should be the perfect amount for a tank top. Note, the color is most accurate in the outdoors shot.

I started the Cabled Bandeau last weekend when my parents were visiting. I kept twisting the cast on, because the craptastic Crystal Palace bamboo circs were difficult to control. They’re craptastic in other ways, too, and I really need to never ever use them again. I switched to my Addi Turbos. But I digress . . .

I was knitting the size S (not XS) because my gauge swatch (with the Brooks Farm Acero doubled–yes, it’s a fingering yarn, not DK) was a little small, and the XS would have been too small. Or so I thought.

When I got to about 3.5 inches, I put it on waste yarn and tried it on. I realize that this isn’t the most accurate time to measure, but it was enough to see that it is Too Big. The piece will stretch out to excessive proportions, and if it’s a tube tob, I need it to be just a bit more clingy. Not suffocating, of course, just clingy. The solution might be as simple as knitting the XS, but I might actually want to do the math and get the measurements exact. I think it will be easy to adjust to a smaller size–make the moss stitch panels on the sides smaller–but I want to know for sure.

There’s no rush to figure it out, though, because I am now using the needles for something else. My Swallowtail Shawl has begun!

Thursday night.

Sunday evening.

At first, I wasn’t trying to memorize the lace or attempting to read the pattern, but it happened without trying–the motif that’s the body of the shawl is so super simple. Only three pattern rows to remember, two of which are identical except for being offset slightly. As usual, I am too cocky to use lifelines–and last night it nearly did me in. Something was wrong–just one row down!–and instead of tinking like a smart knitter, I pulled it off the needles and ripped. I initially had a lot of trouble getting it back on the needles, and I was cursing my devil-may-care attitude, but then I concentrated just a little bit more and all was well.

The pattern calls for 14 lace repeats after the initial row, and i’ve done 12. I might want to do more, as I want the shawl to be larger, but I haven’t decided for sure yet. I can’t wait to get to the lily of the valley part of the pattern (it’s the motif that I really like; these leaves are ho-hum)!

Last night I finally got myself to knit again, and I knit up the whole right front. And then, about two rows from the end of the decreasing, I realized that there were too many stitches on the needles, because I’d forgotten about those initial two rows, in which you k2tog at the beginning and end of one of them! Argh! So I pulled it all out, hence the going down. The knitting of this part takes only about 20 minutes, so it wasn’t so much time lost, but still, it was irritating. I’m now back up, and I’m nearly finished with the right front (probably only four more rows before I work 2 inches of strap).

I finished the left front of the X-back, and have simply stalled out. I’m bored! I don’t want to knit! It’s hot, I’ve been going to the gym a lot, and by the time I’m done with dinner I’m not much in the mood to do anything. Once I get myself back on track, however, it should be no problem to finish.

The only forseeable problem is going to be estimating the straps without having my mom try the top on. I want to present her with a finished product, but I also want it to fit right. I think I’ll make my best guess but won’t totally finish it off (I’ll do the bindoff but I’ll leave long tails hanging). That way I can further tweak it if necessary. Maybe I’ll err on the side of too long so that I won’t have to worry about needing more ribbon.

I finally started knitting the x-back for my mom last night, after a complete knitting hiatus. I took out most of what I’d started already, leaving one ball’s worth knitted up to deal with later. So, a few details:

Yarn: Katia Ola #38 (blue and white stripe)
Needles: US 11
Size: S

I’m using 95 stitches instead of the called-for 96, becuase who in the world writes a pattern in seed stitch but keeps the number of stitches even! I knit up one whole ball last night.

Ribbon yarn really takes some getting used to. I am more than a bit obsessive about the tape not folding up or twisting into something small–ideally each stitch is a full width of tape lying on the needle. It’s something of a struggle at first, but eventually I get it. Took about half of the ball last night to get it; it also required a lot of untwisting, which the last x-back never needed.

Mom’s bday is July 25, so I have just a little over a month–should be no problem.

I sent my mom pictures of me in the x-back and her reaction was so enthusiastic that I think I’ll make the current project for her instead of me, which solves the problem of owning identical homemade items myself and also helps with the whole gift giving awkwardness. I mean, c’mon, it’s my mom, she’ll love whatever I make her!

Unfortunately, my mom is smaller than me, so I’ll have to drop the size a bit, which means frogging the ball and a quarter I’ve already knit. But that’ll just add another–what–two hours to the total time spent on this version? I can handle that.

It’s one thing, certainly, to show off a completed sweater and revel in the successful way it came out. It’s quite another to wear it for a full day and deal with whatever surprises come up.

The x-back held up quite well, I must say. I was a little self-conscious, mostly for the same reasons I’m always self-conscious when wearing a selfmade item. (I feel as if I’m showing off or something.) But also because a tug at the bottom or a twist in the wrong direction would have revealed a bit more of my bra than I’d like. The whole thing started to feel a little loose by the end of the night, but whenever I saw myself in a mirror, it looked fine.

It does give me pause, however, for making a second one. Is it really necessary? I like this one a lot, don’t get me wrong, but do I like it enough to own another? Will I wear it, or will it be just a little too ridiculous to have knit myself two identical tank tops in different colors?

Is there someone I should (or could) make this other one for instead? Or is there a way I could tweak the pattern to make it somehow different. If not x-back, maybe halter top. It’s worth playing around with, I suppose. But that will make me completely rethink the whole process. I’ve started this one, and could go merrily along on it, but now I think I should stop and think some more.