Jul 17 2008
swishy skirt for the singapore summer
If you recall my last skirt, the Snapping Turtle, well, it was hugging my then-minimal curves. My curves have gotten a bit bigger now that I’m in Singapore—you have been reading about all my food adventures, after all. Yes, in Singapore I need a swishy, hide-all-evils skirt.
Skirt #12 (they can’t come up with real names for the patterns in that magazine?)
Knit.1 Magazine
Size: Medium (36 1/2″ hip; I wanted it to sit on my hips so I went with that measurement)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton
Skeins: 10
Needles: Addi Turbo US 5 (and 3)
Started: Sunday, June 29
Finished: Blocked and dry Sunday, July 13
I cast on all 455 stitches for this skirt the day before I left to come to Singapore, and worked on the bulk of it on my 30-hour trip (and during lots of in-flight movies). The Friday before, my friend Julia and I had been poking through a pile of old Vogue company knitting magazines I have. This skirt from knit.1 caught my eye. I trust Norah Gaughan, so another knitted skirt made me intrigued rather than nervous. Plus I could see that the stitches were going in different directions due to the bias; I figured that would combat any butt sag.
So I went stash-diving and found the burgundy Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton. I knit Pam out of it, in blue, years back, and I’d bought the yarn in bulk at Stitches back when Stitches was still in King of Prussia, PA.
The skirt is held up with a long twisted cord woven into a ribbed waistband. I have plenty of room to make this bigger or smaller. And the drape of the skirt allows for any amount of gathering—I think it would hang nicely no matter what!
The eyelet feature is dead-easy to remember (it’s only 2 rows of eyelet—though the pattern is written in such a way that you might think it was more complicated). The pattern itself is also so straightforward, it made for excellent plane knitting. I’ll admit to major impatience to have it DONE already. It felt like it was taking forever, and I was also afraid I was going to run out of yarn. I have more at home, so it was going to irritate me greatly if I’d not brought enough. But I had just enough, so this was blocked and dried last weekend! The skirt barely touches your skin, so the 50% wool wasn’t too hot in the Singapore humidity. I swear! I’ve also grown really used to the heat here, so maybe I’m delusional. But if you get too hot, you can swish around and create your own breeze!








