An Old Dog Learns New Tricks

A few months back I became pretty intrigued by the concept of convertible clothing:  If a garment could be worn two ways, wasn't that just twice as cool?  Lucky enough for me one of my various knitting books had a pattern for a convertible shrug that could SUPPOSEDLY also be worn as a shawl, scarf, cowl or hood.  I began my attempt at the Shape Shifter Shrug from Vampire Knits.

I decided to use one of my favorite yarns, Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Wool, to make this pretty little sweater....then, as I am known to do, the pattern modifications began.

The pattern recommended to put 10 buttons/buttonholes up each arm.  A good suggestion, and I'm sure it had a reason, but as I scrutinized the instructions I realized that if I were to wear the finished product as a shrug I would have buttons around my neck hems, tangling in my hair.  I decided to make only 6 up each arm, only enough to button up as long as would need the sleeve to be.  I also lengthened the sleeve dimensions, thinking that if I did happen to wear this as a scarf or shawl I would prefer more coverage.

And then, of course, came the "I know best when it comes to knitting my own clothes" flub.  The pattern suggested knitting the garment in 2 halves, beginning at the lace portion, working some rows in stockinette, then grafting both halves together with Kitchner Stitch, a method of grafting two ends of live stitches done in stockinette together seamlessly.  Well, knowing best, of course, I continued on thinking "Kitchner Stitch my butt......I'll just work the lace pattern backwards when I get to it....I'm just that cool."

Yeah.  Lesson is, I am NOT that cool.  This lace and it's varying row end count is not one to be done in reverse.  So after some frogging, picking up stitches and, I will not lie, mild cursing I attempted Kitchner stitch.  Lucky for me I have some fabulous co-workers to talk me through it.  Even taught me this handy little ditty to chant along while I wove the pieces together:

Yarn on Back Needle

Set up: 

FN: Purl, Stay

BN: Knit,Stay
Chant:

FN: Knit, Slip, Purl,Stay

BN: Purl, Slip, Knit, Stay

End:

FN: Knit, Slip

BN: Purl, Slip

Yes, I know it may sound like gibberish, but if you sing this along with grafting you're less likely to forget where you are....Like I typically do....

Anyways, here's the finished result.  And, the seam is barely visible except for one BIG hole where I stopped singing and got lost, then had to sew up later.  Still not bad for a beginner!

 Problem is, even though I know it's convertible, I've only worn it as a shrug and have only seen demos of it being worn as a shrug.  Oh well.

I was also able to try a new product that I had my eye on for quite some time: Bone Knitting Needles.

These things are lovely.  Like, seriously lovely.   They have this glossy smooth amazingly cool feel in your hands, they glide through your stitches, and they have this amazing ability to make you feel like you've stepped back in time.  Despite the fact that they are horribly heavy....and not suggested to be bought other than in person due to the fact that a matched set is rare being as they are crafted individually with natural material.  I learned this after testing out a pairs of size 4 and size 6 "set" where one was nearly an entire size off from the other. Test for conformity with a sizer, and if you can find a set that matches you're set!

So pretty.........

It's a Good Thing This Pattern Was Easy...

Let me just start by saying I absolutely LOVE my job working at my LYS.  It allows me so many opportunities to see fabulous needles, yarns and patterns...This, too, is my constant downfall! So many neat knitting things!  Darned stash enablers.  But I digress.  I'll simply say I saw a nifty pattern for a cute sweater and had to try it =)

This is Plymouth Yarn Company's Quick Top Down Jacket in Baby Alpaca Grande yarn, pattern # 1756.  Quick is definitely a plus with my currently busy schedule, and I had always been intrigued by that particular yarn.  Of course those who know me also know that I do NOT like working in bulky weight yarn.  Ah well, no matter, I'd try it anyways.

I was in lean times, so at the pricey cost of the yarn and my poor decision making in what size I am I decided to make it in 2 strands of worsted weight in a cheap yarn just to see if it turned out well and in a size that would fit.  I ultimately made a purple and black combo sweater in what I thought would be an appropriate size, for a 36" bust, the smallest size on the pattern.

Of course, for that to work smoothly would be waaaaaaaay too easy.  It DID knit quickly, in 2 days, and the purple and black yarns made it have an awesome tweed appearance!  Too bad even though I knit it exactly according to pattern with a comparable weight of fiber and exact needle sizes it was SO not my size.  Boo.
Fortunately it fit my best friend Robbin, and she loved it!

So, back to the proverbial drawing board.  I decided to make the same pattern in only one strand of worsted this time, and on one size smaller needles.  I also omitted 4 stitches from the back section of the pattern, thus altering the size to a 32" bust.  Success!  Result!  This time the finished product fit!  An added bonus was that it only took 145 yards to complete!  And, I don't know if this was a bonus or not, but since I had already made it once the day prior it only took me 1 day to complete this time...

 

It's a good thing that I got more proficient with this simple project and was able to complete them in less and less time.  Another friend saw me in mine and wanted one, then so on and so forth until I had made 4 in one week.  I have a feeling that I could make them in my sleep at this point.  Maybe that's why I look less than thrilled in my photos.

Good thing I liked the pattern!