Yarnmule

So it would seem that I've taken a rather long break from the blog. Whoops. Life, you know, getting in the way.

I've been doing a lot of "secret" knitting for the last several months. Since I can't talk about that, and I haven't been doing much else, knitting blog fodder has been hard to come up with. Finally, though, I can tell you a bit about what I've been doing.



Treetop Socks, now in the latest issue of Knitty. I'd be thrilled if you checked them out, and even more thrilled if you knit them. You can see current projects at Ravelry.

Labels: FO's, patterns, socks

The shawl/blob is, admittedly, taking most of my knitting time. It's progressing nicely; I'm through the first two sections, and have moved on to the biggest baddest main section. The markers are multiplying, the rows are taking longer, but the rhythm is really getting addictive.

The shawl stays at home though, and there's got to be something else to do on the subway, in the car, and and knitting night.



And so, the Christmas knitting begins. These are teeny tiny little tree ornaments (that's a quarter in the middle), one for everyone who will be at the cabin for Christmas this year. Really, they're just miniature socks with little crocheted loops added.



Those are short-row heels and toes, and a little turnback hem. The girls get picot hems:



I did spent the better part of a weekend attempting to embroider names, dates, etc. onto these. It was rather disastrous, and please note they are now plain. I'm calling them finished.

Labels: FO's

Another FO, and this one is almost the love of my life.



You may be wondering why "almost". Well, notice it is being modeled by the floor, not me.

Yep, another sweater knit, finished, and washed, only to not fit. This one is at least a size too small, maybe a size & a half. I haven't even bothered to figure out why. Probably a gauge problem.

I can't take it out on the sweater though. Just look at it. There's the main stitch pattern, which is both interesting to look at and to knit.


There's the mosaic yoke. This was my first experience with mosaic knitting, and I have to say, I'm a big fan. It's really fun, and knits really fast. This one was done in garter stitch, and the effect is just beautiful.



Then there are all the little details, which are always my favorite part of a good pattern. First , the shaping on the upper part of the yoke.



Isn't that nice? There's something similar going on at the side "seams":



I had so much fun knitting this. It might fit my mother-in-law, and if it does she gets it. If not, I actually may re-knit the whole thing. I would even mind. It was that good.

Pattern: Mosaic Yoke Jacket (Ravelry link), by Veronik Avery. It's published in Color Style, but was excerpted in the most recent issue of Interweave Knits. Again, a brilliant pattern with lovely details.

Yarn & Needles: All stash yarn for this, perhaps another reason I'm not super upset about the failure of it all. A few skeins of black Bernat Lana, two different shades of grey Paton's Classic Merino, and several leftover bits of Cascade 220.

Most of this was knit on a size 4 aluminum circular, with the yoke in size 6 aluminum circular. The sleeves were knit on size 6 bamboo DPN's.

Mods: Yes, but none that I'd recommend. The hems on this are doubled; the pattern tells you to bind off and then seam them on the inside. In my infinite stupidity, I thought it would be cleaner to do a grafted seam instead. Can you say tedious? Also, the inside didn't lay as flat as I would have liked, since I misjudged the amount of room the grafted seam would take. Bad idea.

If I Could Do It Over: Oh, you know.

Labels: FO's

I preface this entire post with a quote by BBMM: "You hate all of the finishing it and washing it and taking care of it. You just want to knit it and be done with it." When he says things like this about me, he is pretty much always right.

We have an FO, and right on schedule. I finished the knitting on Saturday night, and decided to wash and block it before bed.

Now, I read a lot of knitting blogs, and every once in a while I'll find an entry by a knitter who loves blocking lace. They make it sound like a fun little party, this lace-blocking process. I've never had a good time blocking before, but hey, I'd never knit lace before either. I was ready to believe it.

I got out my blocking wires, which I purchased thinking maybe they were the cake & ice cream of lace-blocking parties (not required, but is it really a party without them?). Also because they were rumored to create perfectly straight edges, and there is nothing I like more than a perfectly straight line. I got out my super-lame blocking mat and assembled. I poured myself a Bailey's and coffee, figured that liquored up and wide awake was the best way to approach the project.

I washed the stole, let the extra water drain, laid it out, and started threading the wires through the edges. That was a lot like a party, if by "party" you mean "the most tedious thing I have ever experienced". Granted, it was first time doing this, so I was really bad at it in the beginning, and had to re-do it several times. And granted, I had laid the blocking mat out on the floor, so I was kneeling on the ground the whole time. And of course, I was terrified to damage the thing, so I refused to lift it more than three inches off the mat. And then there's my eyesight, which is not good, and forced me to lean over until my eyeballs nearly merged with the thing. OK, all of that is really my fault, and not the fault of the knitters who lie about how fun blocking is.

So a couple of hours later, I finished threading the wires through. I had another drink and started pinning it out. This part was not so bad. A pin here, a pin there, measure, pin, have a drink, measure, pin again. This I can do. Especially the part where you line up the wires so they are exactly perpendicular to each other. Oh yes, the anal-retentive geometry part; this I am good at. This, of course, was all very narrow-focus, inch at a time type work. When I finally finished, I looked up, and oh my. What had been, just hours before, this crumpled mess, now looked like this:



So yes, I can see where that would be worthy of a party. I've already given you the money shot, so I might as well zoom in for the edging:



The hearts in the edging slay me; I didn't know they were there until after I bought the pattern. It's for a wedding, so it's appropriate, but gawd, how cheesy.

Most of the other blocking shots didn't turn out as well, what with the brightly colored letters and numbers. After it was dry, I couldn't help but lay it out on a dark background and snap away.



Yep, more hearts. They're upside down, but they're there. Here's the center motif:




So I will admit, I can now see where the blocking excitement comes from. I too was very excited to be finished blocking. The result was well worth the effort. And there WAS liquor. Maybe next time I'll hang a disco ball or something.

Pattern: Scheherazade, by Melanie Gibbons (that's a Ravelry link; sorry if you can't get to it!). Again, this is my first lace project, so I have no comparison, but I can tell you this: this was one of the easiest patterns to follow I have ever used. There was nothing confusing or ambiguous or frustrating. The charts are large and clear and easy to read. It seemed almost easy to knit (almost). It's also a great first lace pattern, because the wrong-side rows are straight purl stitch, so you get a little break from the tough stuff. I loved knitting it.

Yarn and Needles: Alpaca with a Twist "Fino", 70% baby alpaca, 30% silk. I used 2 100-gram skeins, and I have plenty left over for a scarf. Lovely stuff; it's almost weightless, but pretty warm. I knit it on size 2 metal circulars; pretty small needles for lace, but the tighter background made the YO's pop really well.

Mods: Oh no, not this one. This may, in fact, be the first time I have ever knit a pattern without changing a single thing. Huh. I might mark that in my calendar.

If I Could Do It Over: I would not change a thing. Except I'd put the blocking mat on a table.

Labels: FO's

Another FO! This one is long overdue; I finished the knitting well over a week ago, but I couldn't seem to motivate myself to weave in all the ends. I finally finished this week, and threw it in the wash over the weekend.



Pattern: All from my little head, with some help from Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage method. I worked it hem-up in the round, joined at the underarm, then raglan decreases to the bottom of the front neckline. Some short row fun, then a turtleneck, and voila!

Details; I worked the hems and the turtleneck in 3x3 rib. The hem depth is about four inches on each, and the turtleneck is six inches long total. I continued the ribbing up the sides of the body (7 ribs) and the sleeve (3 ribs). The raglans are also three stitches wide; one center stitch, and a K2tog or SSK on either side. Yarnmule likes symmetry. Here's a shot of the ribbing on the side:



And here's one of raglans and the turtleneck:




Yarn and Needles: For some reason, I was sure that I would run out of yarn on this. I actually calculated the number of stitches at one point. Let's just say that math is devious and dastardly. Either that or I cannot count.

All the yarn was Suss Cotton. I used almost 3 jumbo skeins of red, less than 1 skein of brown, and about 1/2 each of khaki and teal. This leaves with two untouched skeins, and a whole bunch of partials. I really liked working with this yarn. It's a single loose ply of cotton, but it's wrapped with a tiny thread that appears to be mercerized (it's kind of shiny). This gives the yarn a little texture, and it also seemed to give it a little more bounce than your average cotton yarn. I didn't have any trouble with snagging on the needle tips, and it knit quickly.

The needles are a story all their own. I swatched with size 8 and size 7, and decided on the 7's (I've had about enough of floppy stretchy cotton sweaters). I worked the body on a Boye interchangeable metal circular. Then I worked the sleeves on Bryspun DPN's. After I joined it all, it went back on the metal circ. After I finished I started the post-project clean-up; bagging up the leftover yarn, putting away the needles, etc. I twas then that I realized I had done the body on size 7 and the sleeves on size 8. In all honesty, I tend to knit a little tighter on DPNs than on circs, so the difference is completely unnoticeable.

If I Could Do It Over: You've probably already read The Story of the Ugly Stripes. Obviously I'd do that right the first time. I also had a sizing issue that I'm not going to fix. Every cotton sweater I have ever knit has grown in the laundry or on the body. When I say grown, I mean GROWN; we're talking sleeves that are three inches too long, bodies that could be classified as dresses, the whole deal. When I calculated my measurements for this one, I took that into account, and worked everything about an inch shorter than I really wanted. Lo and behold, the thing shrunk in the wash. After a full day of wear, the body is fine, but the sleeves can best be described as 3/4 length. Not what I was going for. In the end, I tend to push up my sleeves anyway, so I'm going to keep it as is. The sleeves are a little tight too, but only in the forearm. In the end, I tend to push up my sleeves past my elbows anyway, so I'm going to let it go.

The only other minor quibble is with the raglan decreases. I did the standard "decrease on either side of the marker every other row" raglans. This works fine, and if this were a bigger, baggier sweater I'm sure it would be great. But in this slightly fitted version, the sleeve is just a wee bit tight over the shoulders. Shoulders are pointy, after all. Next time I might try to plan the raglans a little more carefully to compensate.

All in all though, I'm pretty pleased. It's a great weekend sweater; very comfortable, pretty well fitted, and more attractive than my average T shirt.

Labels: FO's

Another set of socks finished, and again, they're for BBMM. I do believe they're his favorite yet.



Pattern: I'm a little blown away by this pattern. It's argyle, of course, but it's not done with intarsia or stranding. Every diamond is knit individually with short rows. There's no stranding on the back, no stress about gaps at color changes, and most importantly, no seam. Look at how smooth the color joins are:



This link will take you to the Short-row Argyle Sock calculator, created by Lucia Liljegren. It's a completely customized pattern; you enter foot measurements and gauge, and it will give you complete instructions. It's a brilliant pattern, but it's not easy. I found that it didn't make any sense at all until after I had knit a diamond or two. I will say this though; if you don't like working short rows, don't make this sock.

Yarn and Needles: Aussie Sock, 90% superwash Aussi Merino, 10% nylon, 400 yds/100 g per skein. I used nearly a full skein of Moca (color WS06) for the main color. The contrast is Oak Moss (color WS040). I used less than half a skein.. I used size 1 aluminum DPNs for the whole sock, but I think this would be much easier to knit on two circulars. For most of the sock you are only working on half the stitches, and I had a lot of trouble with held stitches sliding off the needles. I ended up with tiny rubber bands on the needle tips I wasn't using. It worked fine, but sliding the stitches back and forth would have been a lot easier without six rubber bands to undo every time.

Mods: Only one, to the pattern. The originl calls for the diamonds to be on the leg only. When I was done knitting the diamonds I didn't really want to stop, so I added one more on the top of the foot.



It was not an easy modification; I was knitting a little blind, and I definitely made some mistakes because of it. I'm ignoring them though, because I like the finished product.

If I Could Do It Over: Oh, I will. I already want a pair for myself in black and grey. I know BBMM would like a pair in greys as well. They're a great stash buster; 50 grams or less for the contrast diamonds, and just a few yards for the crossing lines. I will probably leave my modification in; I don't like the idea of the pattern stopping at the ankle.

One more picture. This one is in purely for the "Where's Waldo" nature of it. Hint; it's orange and furry, and looking right at you.

Labels: FO's, socks

I've gotten a bit behind on the blogging. in honor of President's Day (or really, a day off work) I'll post a few things over the long weekend.

As I mentioned before, these are actually a little loose. For his next pair (you'll see a glimpse soon) I am using the same needles over 72 stitches. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that would be enough stitches, but it works, and I probably should have done 72 for these. At least the ribbing keeps them from falling down.

Labels: FO's

I guess I shouldn't have been worried about not having enough time for booties.




I always forget just how small these things are. They took one evening each. The hat, here modeled by Mr. Bowl, took about a day.



Mr. Bowl has a rather flat head; I'm hoping the baby doesn't have the same problem.

The sweater, of course, took a while longer. You can see pictures of it in progress in my last post.




Well worth the effort I think; a little over a week for the whole set. Not much time, not much yarn, but maximum cuteness power.

Pattern: The sweater is Trellis. I really loved knitting this pattern. The cables look complicated, but they're intuitive after a while. The pattern is really thoughtful; the cables all flow together and decrease away really nicely without random extra stitches.

The hat I kind of made up. I started with i-cord, then increased into earflaps until the seemed like the right size. I cast on between the earflaps for the front and the back and worked seed stitch for a while. Then I used the charts from Trellis, and started decreasing when it looked right.

The booties are Ruth's Perfect Baby Booties. It really might be a perfect bootie pattern; it's simple enough that you could really customize it. You can change the ribbing or add a stitch pattern to the top of the foot pretty easily.

Yarn and Needles: Dale of Norway Lerke, 52% merino wool, 48% cotton. I used 3-1/2 skeins (50 gm each) of color 6621, a lovely pale aqua. I could not have picked a better yarn for this pattern. It's soft, not even remotely itchy, and machine washable. Something about the combination of cotton and wool makes the texture look absolutely incredible.

I used size 4 needle circulars and DPNs throughout the set. If you prefer using straight needles you can for the sweater and the booties.

Mods: The sweater was worked pretty much as the pattern. I worked both fronts at the same time and put the buttonholes on the wrong side, but I think that was the only change.

I used a provisional cast-on for the booties so I could graft the sole seam. I also worked the cuff in seed stitch (to match the sweater) instead of ribbing.

If I Could Do It Over: I might work the sweater without side seams, and do the sleeves in the round. I can't do that when I actually do it over though, since the two sets will be seen side-by-side. I think I'll re-block the hat a little smaller. Other than that I'm pretty happy with it.

Next time: the return of the stole.

Labels: FO's

Success! As I expected, I finished the socks on the plane. She put them on immediately after opening them, and a few hours later turned to me and said "Wow, they really are warm!"



Pattern: My own Chevrolace.

Yarn and needles: Trekking XXL, 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon. One 100gm skein in color 66. Knit on size 0 Inox DPN's for a foot circumference of 8 1/2". I loved this yarn. I've seen complaints that it is hard on the hands, but I didn't have that problem. While it's not as soft as some other luxury yarns, I found it to be a step up from Patons Kroy or Opal yarns.

Mods: None. I did make a discovery though; if you are on a deadline, knitting from a pattern you've already memorized is quite a time saver!

Labels: FO's

For your knitting pleasure...





Pattern free of charge at the always fabulous Knitty. Go. View. Knit. Enjoy!

Labels: FO's, patterns

My Mom was here for the week. Among the topics of conversation; the difficulty in finding wool socks. The hatred of seams on the toes of socks. The irritation of always having cold feet. The last straw was when she looked at The Ugly socks and said "oh, they're so cute!". In the end, the family decided that they were kind of like the circus...

Labels: FO's

This weekend we were, oddly enough, gifted a corn cob pipe. It's a long story involving a snowman, a Christmas tree, and free gifts with purchase, but there it is. The timing of it has simply added to my complete and total amusement with my latest finished object.

Labels: FO's

Another pair of socks off the needles.

Pattern: All from "Sensational Knitted Socks", but in pieces. The stitch pattern is Slipstitch Rib, but I used my favorite toe-up short row recipe. I love the stitch pattern. It's really, really simple, but not quite mind-numbing. It's quick; when 1/3 of the stitches are slipped it moves right along. And of course, Charlene Schurch should be named Queen of Sockland.

Yarn & Needles: Paton's Kroy Socks (again) in Glencheck, two 50 gm skeins. Toes, heels and cuffs in the Charcoal Grey color Kroy I used for BBMM's last pair of socks. It seemed like about a half a skein leftover, but I didn't actually check at all, just eyeballed it. In the main color, I probably had about 5 yards per skein leftover. In the Charcoal, I unraveled my gauge swatch from the last pair, spliced the yarn twice, and had about 5 inches left. It was really not pretty. My new mantra: I will always buy three skeins. Seriously, that was totally not worth it.

I knit the foot, through the heel, on size 0 needles, and the leg on size 1. As usual, I actually knit 3 socks. The first time through I forgot to switch up to the size 1's. I'm fairly certain I actually finished the sock; I may have even woven in the ends. (I do this every time. Really; it never gets better. I am currently working on two different pairs of socks. They have both been ripped out all the way back to nothing. One was literally halfway up the leg; probably about 3/4 of the way done. You know the saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Yeah, I am clearly nuts. I think I'm going to tattoo "Try it on" across my knuckles.)

Mods: Nope, not really.

If I Could Do It Over: I'm not sure about the contrast bits. The heel is a little small and triangly. The cuff is a little funny; it would look better if it were two inches long instead of one. The toe is nice, so maybe next time just toe and long cuff.

If I were making these for anyone else I would have made the whole leg longer. But BBMM likes his socks pretty short, and since the whole point of handmade socks is perfect fit and customization, they are exactly the right length.

I haven't decided on the next pair of socks for BBMM yet. I know they will be brown or beige. I also know I will buy a better yarn. The main benefit of Paton's Kroy is that it is cheap. When I wasn't sure how I'd feel about knitting socks, that was a big benefit. But I am now hooked, and I'm working my way through some better yarns. I used some Fleece Artist; loved it. I'm currently working with Louet Gems; absolutely heavenly. I've swatched with some Mountain Colors Bearfoot, and drooled on it. I thought I had a rule about making sure my sock yarn had nylon in it for durability. I am totally over that; the difference in handfeel (footfeel?) between the Kroy and the better yarns is astonishing. I think he would appreciate it. I know it would make the knitting more enjoyable.

Labels: FO's

Now that's a fitted sweater! Try number two is finished, and it's what I envisioned it being all along.

A little front detail:

Labels: FO's

Look at that; two finished pairs in one week!



Again, a few more pictures here.

Labels: FO's

I never mentioned that I made friends with Baudelaire again. I re-started them last weekend, and finished them today. The second sock went smoothly, thank you very much.



There are a couple more pictures here.

Pattern: Baudelaire, by Cookie A., from Knitty. My gauge was tighter than called for in the pattern, so I knit the largest size to compensate. After figuring it out the hard way, I used the alternate instructions for the larger instep. It's really a fantastic pattern. The stitch pattern is beautiful, the instructions are very clear, and the toe-up heel flap is a little something different.

Yarn and Needles: Patons Kroy Socks, 75% washable wool, 25% nylon. I've got ball bands for several different colors floating around, so I don't know which belongs to this yarn. We'll call it a dark heathered oatmeal. I used four size 0 bamboo DPN's.

Mods: I ended the foot halfway through the pattern repeat, but wanted to start the leg pattern at the beginning of the repeat. I added a few extra rows of pattern on the front, stockinette on the back after the heel turn.

It seemed like the cables were twisting toward the front of the foot on the pattern (this may have been me misreading) so I flipped them around to face the back.

Instead of doing 1x1 ribbing, I used an uneven ribbing that followed the pattern of the sock. This ended up being 2x2 for most of the sock, with some 1x1 around the cable.

I also made a weird mod right before the ribbing. The cables up the sides were 8 stitches wide, and I wanted to slim that down for the ribbing. I slipped the first 4 stitches of each cable to an extra needle and held them as if I were going to knit a cable. Instead, I knit together a stitch from the front needle and a stitch from the back needle. This decreased to 4 stitches for the ribbing. It still fits over the heel, and it keeps the ribbing nice and tight.

If I could do it over: The heel flap is written as plain stockinette, and I think I would prefer a slip-stitch heel for strength. But I love how these look, and they were really fun to knit. I would still love a pair in red, as pictured in the pattern. Of course, I have a pattern queue a mile long, so who knows if I'll ever get to it.

Labels: FO's

This is one of those times when I remind myself I like the knitting, not the sweaters.

If you recall, I thought the sleeveless sweater was maybe not so great. I thought maybe a wash would help. I am sometimes blind to the simplest math. Like this equation here: Linen + washing = soft & drapey. Not smaller. Softer. Drapier. Therefore bigger. I will admit that the hand is much nicer, but the sweater is not even close to fitting. First, click the link above and see how this is supposed to fit. Nice and snug. Know that I knit the smallest size, got gauge, and am a normal sized girl. Now, if you need a laugh, look at the pictures below. It's not pretty, people.






Yes, I took the pictures myself in a mirror. Art shots were not required here. Pretty awful, no? I look approximately 3 sizes bigger than I really am. The waist shaping appears nonexistent. The side seams are bulky and awful.


1. Shove it somewhere really inconvenient and forget it ever existed.
Cons: Admitting defeat is not a strong suit of mine.

Pros: This thing could be really, really cute if done correctly. I could knit in the round this time. I could lower the neckline. Also, the yarn is now softer, so it might be easier to work with.

3. Frog it and use the yarn for something else entirely.
Cons: I have nothing else in the queue for this yarn, so it would go back in the stash. And again, the yarn could be splitty mess, as mentioned above.

Pros: People might think I'm nice.

5. Burn it. The whole freaking thing, pattern and all.
Cons: I'm pretty sure there are burning ordinances in the city. And burning yarn seems so very, very wrong.


Please vote in the comments. I am very near making a decision which I think I might regret mightily. You will either reinforce it and eliminate the dread, or talk me out of it.

Labels: FO's

This started a sock frenzy. I was getting antsy about the Baudelaire, so...



I told you I wouldn't be able to leave it alone. I worked two repeats of the chart, and made the other toe. That's on waste yarn; we wouldn't want to draw the attention of airport security with metal objects. So far I'm loving the pattern, but I managed to put it down.

That wasn't quite enough sock knitting, so I started on Christmas.



Tiny Christmas stocking ornament, shown with a (very shiny) quarter for scale. I finished this in an afternoon, then picked out a million other colors of yarn (more on that later) so I can work on one at a moments notice. No two will be alike, but I imagine they will all be this cute.

I also felt a strong urge to buy more sock yarn. To stop myself, I organized my sock stash. I paired up all the sock yarns I have with patterns I'll make them from.

Then I swatched a couple stitch patterns for BBMM's next pair of socks. I settled on Slip Stitch Rib, from Sensational Knitted Socks again. These will be my next pair of subway socks, so they'll have to wait a bit. Always be prepared, I say.

Finally the urge to finish the sweater hit me. It hit me hard; I may have bruises.

OK, no bruises, but my shoulders are a little achy.

Labels: FO's, socks, WIP's

The whole set is finally done! I finished knitting the hat Friday night, but started working on something else and forgot about it until last night. A few ends to weave in, and it's ready for gifting.



Specs for the whole set below, but first, here's the hat:



And a close-up:




If you haven't already seen them, better shots of the other pieces are here and here.

Pattern: The cardigan is Devan, from Knitty. It's a very easy pattern, entirely stockinette with simple shaping and roll hems. It would be a good pattern for a beginning knitter who's ready to move beyond scarves. The size also makes it knit up very quickly. I used the smallest size; 0-6 months.
The socks are my favorite toe-up basic pattern, but smaller. I used the same rolled hem as the cardigan instead of ribbing at the top. And of course, contrast solid for the toe, heel, and cuff.
For the hat, I was obviously inspired by the Umbilical Cord Hat, but I didn't use a pattern. I just started with I-cord, then increased on the way down.

Yarn and Needles: The jacquard yarn is Regia Silk Colors, 55% merino, 25% nylon, 20% silk. Color 0184 (where's the fun in that?). I used almost exactly two skeins for the set. It is very soft and smooth. It almost glides off the needles, which can be a good or a bad thing, I suppose. It's also spun rightly, so it's not prone to snagging either.
The solid is Opal Sock, 75% wool, 25% nylon, color 1419. It's really just basic sock yarn, maybe a little softer than some. I had a 100 gm skein, and I didn't appear to make a dent. Any 50 gram skein should be plenty.
I used many, many needle sizes. The cardigan was knit on size 3 aluminum straight needles, with the hems on size 2. The looser gauge made the Regia feel extra soft, but it looks like it might pill. The Opal seems, frankly, like it's knit too loosely. The hat was knit on size 2 bamboo DPN's, hems on size 1. Very soft and drapey; great for baby clothes. Too loose for socks though, so those were done on size 0. It doesn't drape as well at this gauge, but somehow the pattern looks better, and the color pops a little more.

If I Could Do It Over: I would pay a bit more attention to my gauge swatches. I tested a lot of different needle sizes for this, but only in the Opal. I switched from a patterned Opal to the Regia after I made the gauge swatches, and i didn't think to check gauge on the new yarn. I should have; the silk makes the Regia a completely different animal. Had a seen how the Regia knit on a 2, I would have adjusted the cardigan pattern for that gauge. I also forgot that babies don't need durable socks (what with the not walking and growing out of things immediately). I should have done those on a 1.
I think I also would have made the hat a little smaller, and a little longer. It seems a little out of proportion to the rest of the set. I might also use 6 increases per round instead of 8; I don't think I like the pumpkin-head look.
Overall though, I'm sure the new mother will be thrilled.

Oh, I am going on vacation, so no post until next week. I have also pledged to keep the knitting under control, so there will not be much progress to report when I get back. I am still trying to decide whether to mention that Saturday is World Wide Knit in Public Day...

Labels: FO's