Sassy Does It

Well, my friends - here she is.

Fifi by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes for French Girl Knits (download)
Size:  Small, with modifications
Yarn:  Rowan Calmer in Tree, 5.75 skeins (with lots of extra length - would have been less than 5 without it; see below)

More pics at my Ravelry post here.

Finished dimensions:

Bust = 29 inches around, unstretched, after blocking (pinned out to 32″)

Length = 27 inches (top of shoulder to bottom cast-off; longer than designed)

Widest part of neckline = 9 inches straight across at top (pinned out to 10″)

Modifications:

Sleeve length (from cap sleeves to short sleeves)

Torso length (from cropped to tuck-in-able)

Verdict:  Beautiful pattern, fun to follow, polished-looking result.  When knit with Calmer as suggested, the yarn works its magic to deliver the look that the pattern promises. 

There are a few corrections to check out, but nothing too extensive.  Not much else going on at the French Girl Knits website; best information is on Ravelry.

Only thing I would do differently is bump up a size.  I’m taking a less whiny approach to this topic than I did in my last post since I’ve decided it’s not as bad as I made it out to be.  The bust fits fairly well; the 29″ finished size as knit (32″ as pinned at blocking) stretches comfortably to hug my not-quite-B cups (~36″, over the sweater).

In choosing the size to knit, I decided to stay small because my boobs are, well, small.  Even though my frame, and therefore my abdomen, is not petite in circumference (mistake #1). 

I figured the clingy thing from boobs to waist was the whole point.  How could this be bad?  Sexy fit!  But I kind of forgot that clinging to unwanted curves is er, unwanted (mistake #2).

I had a little pout-fest halfway through the torso after trying it on and realizing that I didn’t look as svelte as I wanted to, and I had to put Fifi away where I couldn’t see her for a few days after that.

Then I decided that A) as knit, it’s an encouragement to get back to the gym, and B) probably, blocking will help.

Ultimately, upon trying on my FO again a few weeks after initial blocking (which didn’t help that much – alas, it’s cotton), I decided that wearing this with skirts will improve the look in the short term. 

I still have to suck in my gut, which was necessary for modeling here, but the waistline of the skirt is more forgiving since it can ride higher on the waist without looking dorky.   I have trouble with things that sit “just below the natural waist.”  See my rant on denim below.

On the yarn:  My advice to those weighing the cost of Calmer vs. a substitute is to wait for the Calmer - wait for those sales.  It’s worth it. 

Blocking: I stretched this a lot in the boob/abdomen area and did some shaping around the neckline and shoulders. You can see that the mid-to-lower torso pattern with 2×2 ribbing does stretch appreciably with the added touch of microfiber twisted into the cotton. Not enough stretch in my case, as we’ve already covered, but once I get rid of the extra flab it should – in theory – have a slimming effort.

Length:  I know, I know, it looks like a tunic on the blocking board.  Why so long?  Well, I’ll tell you.  My long torso combined with a sizeable booty require special needs when it comes to anything I might end up wearing with jeans.

Two things about jeans that don’t mix well with my body shape:

Denim – even stretch denim doesn’t stretch enough to hug this butt when I go to sit down.

Low-rise anything - High waisters aren’t exactly “in”, but with low-rise trousers, unfortunately I risk revealing more to the bleacher seats behind me than I bargained for, if you know what I mean.  I wear the low-rises anyway because I agree with Mother Fashion’s guidance on this (I’ve no desire to re-live junior high, thank you very much).  But.  You get the gist of my issue here.

As such, I decided that I wanted this sweater to be a tucker-inner so that I could wear it with jeans and sit down without constantly feeling around back there to see if I was giving the person seated behind me a little show.

As I said above - tuck-in or no tuck-in, after experimenting a bit, I’m happier wearing this with a skirt for now.

Sleeves: I added a couple of inches.  I don’t quite have the Michelle Obama arms I want yet, so cap sleeves don’t do me any favors. Not that short sleeves hide much more, but they do help the cause.

You can see below that the red yarn line was the point at which I began adding.  I threw in an increase on each side of the seam under the armpit every row for a few rows, then every other row for a few more, before knitting even for a bit until I was happy with the length.

Neckline:  I liked the way that some of the Ravelry FOs had a nice wide boat-necky ballet-like neckline, although I was puzzled by the way the neckline look varied widely (without declaration of modifications).  Maybe it’s just different body types (shoulder width and length from top of shoulder to bust).

Because I was too lazy to modify via increased cast-on stitches, I simply cast on very, very loosely and let the initial row stretch out a bit more than as written.  It might have added a bit of width between bra straps, but nothing dramatic.  The edge looks smooth, anyway, and I’m happy with it.

And, that’s all I’ve got on Feefers.  Highly recommended.

Even if it ends up a size or three too small for your body size.

[scurries off to gym, a trail of variegated burgundy sock yarn in her wake]

The photo shoot with Maizy is a wrap, so now I can share my review of this pattern (as modified from women’s size to child’s) and the final product.

Original pattern:  More Fun Than Cables Socks by Marguerite Byrne, available for free at Stitches of Violet (Ravelry link)

My modified pattern:  More Fun Than Cables Socks (children’s knee-highs); mini-me version to fit 3- to 4-year old feet (Ravelry link to project notes)

Yarn:  Valley Yarns Huntington (machine washable wool) in colorway 4150

Needle:  US 3 circular (I routinely use the 2-at-a-Time method for socks on one circular, but pattern is written for use on two circulars; could be used with traditional dpn method)

Finished dimensions:  calf circumference = 4.25 inches (unstretched), knee to heel top = 11 inches, back of heel to end of toe = nearly 7 inches

In reducing the overall number of stitches to fit the foot size of a 3- to 4-year old, I needed to make some adjustments to the pseudo-cable pattern that repeats, and to accommodate a knee-high fit, I also modified the length.  You can review my adjustments via this modified pattern link in PDF format (also above) or through my Patterns link on the sidebar to the right.

I’m really happy with how these turned out:  I mean, come on, is Maizy not adorable in the bright-red knee-highs?  And tell me the fingernails in the picture above aren’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.  I love my niece, I really do.  She is so stylin’.

They come up right to her knees - bingo, right on target - and appear to fit her very well; tight enough around the calf to stay up.  I made sure to shoot on the long side for foot length so that she can wear these puppies for close to a year (assuming they hold up!).

Sissy B tells me that she’s enjoyed wearing them several times already, tying them in with outfits of all colors, including some (like hot pink) that grown women might not normally pair with red.   That’s my girl:  fashion-forward.

Sizing-wise, if you would like to make any further tweaks to size slightly up or down in age, I used a couple of resources in determining foot length for children of various ages, among other dimensions (length from knee to ankle, calf circumference…this second link is a lot of data, but I’m a nerd, as you’ve already heard on this subject).  If your wee recipient isn’t within reach to do the measurements in person, this info might come in handy.

I like the Huntington yarn (by Valley Yarns, procured from WEBS).  Soft yet sturdy, smoothly sliding down my non-Addi Turbo cheapo needles.   Not splitty at all - very easy to work with.  I’ve already drooled all over the perfect shade of red.

My research prior to ordering the yarn indicated that the yarn could be both machine-washed and tumble-dried (although the latter isn’t on the label). 

I’ll ask Sissy B how the fabric stands up over time.  Although machine-washing will probably be her choice moving forward, she said she hand-washed after Maizy road-tested them for the first time (getting them nice and dirty, like a good girl should).  Maizy modeled the socks for the photos here after that wash.  I noticed a bit of white fuzz clinging at this point, but not pilling.

These nearly made it entirely out of one skein.  You can see here how close to the toe ends my last bit of first skein stopped (in the 2-at-a-Time method, I pull from both the middle yarn and the outside strand to knit each sock on a different portion of the circular needle at the same time).

I used only 10-15 yards of my second skein in order to finish up with the foot length I wanted.  In fact, so eager was I to manage to crank these out from just the one skein (even though the second one was sitting right there) that I finished these socks once with a shorter length (around 6.25 inches instead of closer to 7).  And these would have fit Maizy now, on the tighter side…but given that the foot length is the dimension that will change the most for her in the next year, I wanted room to grow.  Plus there might be some shrinkage in the laundry.  You know.

So I ripped back re-did them to add that extra 3/4 inch.  Worth it.  Happy I did.

Overall, two thumbs up for both pattern and yarn.  Comment away with any questions.

More soon on other progress, which I’m happy to report has actually occurred.  Sheer Poncho was off the needles, as in off off, but a stretchier bind-off is needed…so it’s back on the needles.  Heavens to Betsy, if I don’t have it ready for mailing to Kymber by the end of the weekend I’m gonna be in my own dog house.

The bold red in-your-face knee-highs for Maizy are off the needles, finally.

Official FO post will come once I’ve got proof that they actually fit on the 3-year-old recipient’s feet.  After I’ve sent them off and Sissy B can send me back some glamour shots, I’ll include those with the post, along with my adapted pattern and comments.

I did a Eucalan wash last night and then set these little guys to block.  I didn’t need to pin as it was easy enough to shape to the dimensions to which I’d knit.

After a wash, a few rinses and another wash, the pink water told me that the rinse water might need a smidgen of vinegar to help set the dye.

Did a little research and found nothing terribly convincing one way or the other as to whether this was the right way to go, so I went ahead and tossed about a teaspoon into my (small) bathroom sink full of lukewarm rinse water.

One more rinse and then no color bleed at all in the water.  This fiber (Huntington, from Valley Yarns) is meant to be machine washable and dryable, so I think as long as Sissy B sticks with cold water she’ll be fine.  There’s nothing like a bright red sock in the hot water of that load of whites to ruin your day.

Anyhoo, these puppies are looking and feeling soft and lovely.  I’ll have some closer-up views of the pattern with the FO post.  Right now I’m trying not to fondle them until they’re completely dry.

I’m deep in Cowl Country with my Sheer Poncho.  I really am very near completion.

See?

The cowl neck is a little constrained by the circular needle in this photo, but you get the picture.  I think I need another 2 inches or so on the cowl, at least that’s when I’ll weave through a length of yarn to hold it and do a final fit.

Another 3 inches or so of length in the body I think will do it as well. 

Maybe tonight will be the night I get this done.  OK, maybe not.

In other news…

The yarn fairy made a visit this week.  Hurrah!  Fortunately it was not a random splurge, but the other kind of splurge:  premeditated (it still sounds naughty, doesn’t it?).

It had occurred to me that another baby-induced deadline was creeping up on me and I hadn’t gotten it together to plan my project.  Upon realizing this, it was a minor miracle that it didn’t take me forever to narrow the shortlist of queued patterns in my head and pounce on the yarn.  I’m getting quicker at these sort of not-as-serious-and-lengthy-as-I-try-to-make-them decisions.

My love affair with Blue Sky Alpacas continues, but at least I’m spreading the torrid affection around in that family.

The pattern I’ve landed on - which I will attempt to keep a secret from the receiver of the gift for now - called for a finer gauge than the organically-grown dyed cotton (4-5 st/in) I’d used for my last baby item, so I was looking for something lighter-weight (5-6 st/in).

I didn’t start out considering Blue Sky, thinking I should try to find something entirely new to me.  I liked the organic approach though, for all things baby, and I wanted to stick with cotton for the summer months.

A Ravelry yarn search for “organic cotton” showed me plenty of choices, but I got distracted by someone’s glowing review of Skinny Organic and it put me right back into bed with Blue Sky Alpacas.

Oh, well - until I’ve tried the whole line, I don’t see the harm in checking out all the different variations of wonderful that they offer, right?  I mean each yarn is unique, right?

So I went for it, although I decided that I’d go for more color than going solely with the 100% naturally-occurring hues of Birch or Clay offered in the Skinny Organic line.  I did pick out a skein of Birch (colorway 30) to use as a trim and selected Pear (colorway 312, a new addition) from the Skinny Dyed collection (organically grown fibers with colors created by low-impact dyes) as my main color.

It arrived this week, and as we all are when the postie drops the care package at our door, I was over the moon.  I love these shades together, and this fiber will make a beautiful baby item.

Here’s a little swatch to tease you.

More deets on on this project as it gets closer to the date I’m ready to gift it.

Over and out.  Starting to get that Sunday-night ick feeling, so I better go eat something to make it all better.

In this moment, I’m about as happy as I can be.

I’ve just arrived back in the UK for a week’s holiday with friends in the north of England, and I can’t bloody wait for the good times to get rolling with some of my favorite people ever.

Before I fly further north, I’m hanging out at Heathrow.  Normally not something noteworthy, but I’m digging the new Terminal 5 like a kid in a candy store. Building this extension may have been controversial, but today it’s ringing my bell. I can’t get enough.  Now, by the time my connection takes off in 3 hours, I’m sure I’ll have had enough - but until the ADD kicks in I’m luuuurrrving it.

Although severely tempted by the Wagamama and Giraffe, my hungry belly veered me into the pub mecca in which I’m currently hoovering down my Stilton & Broccoli soup and Murphy’s stout.  I’d take a picture to show you, but I’m afraid it might not look as appetizing mauled and half-munched.  I’ll leave it to your mind’s eye.

Right - I could continue to ramble about my delight in the glory of T5 (did I mention that there is a much, much better selection of places to eat and shop and sit around? and that the design is just cool?), but that will get old fast in spite of its shiny newness.  Instead let me update you on my knitting.  What a concept!

My Thermis is off the needles and ready to warm my neck in the chill of the North.

FO:  Thermis

Fiber:  Cascade Rustic

Adaptations:  Fewer number of pattern repeats to account for taller row count in gauge with subsituted fiber

Verdict:  Like it.  Very quick knit.  Feels lovely.  The wool/linen combo of the fiber is surprisingly nice; warm but not heavy or scratchy.  The soft variegation of the gray shades works for me, and I can be picky about my variegated yarns.  The length is nice.  Little loosey-goosier than the pattern called for, but whatever - it’s a cowl, and fit-wise, it will be largely obsured under other warm garments.  And there’s always the dryer.

So much for gifting it:  immediately upon completion, the weather warmed up in all the target markets where my potential recipients were located.  I’m sure it will get cold again, but it seems silly to give a wool cowl to someone when it’s that balmy out.

Thus, I’m, er, keeping it for myself.

I do like the look of it, although even with adaptations for the bulkier row gauge for this fiber it ended up a bit bigger than I planned.  No biggie - and I didn’t sweat too long over my calculations at the start, so it isn’t surprising.  But it doesn’t matter, I do like it, and will flaunt it with pride.

I like the wee buttons I found for it at the LYS, so they make me happy.

I broke down and bought some cashmere mittens a few weeks ago (gloves/mittens for myself are too far back in my queue for my poor fingers to benefit this winter), and these new mittens are the perfect shade of grey to go with the cowl.  Good thing I’ll be in a chilly place this week to appreciate all the warmth.

My other project is moving along, although there is just a lot of ground to cover.  The Sheer Poncho is my gift for Kymber, who’s birthday-girl status is the reason for our reunion vacation this week.

It’s not done on time as I’d planned - of course - but I’m OK with this.  I’m not superwoman - there, I said it.

It’s looking lovely; the cashmere fabric is so dreamy, and the drape is perfect.

I think I’ll be able to finish it this week while we are loafing around.  This will make it less of an on-the-day surprise and more of a work-in-progress display of affection until it’s done.

I’ve churned a lot more out than is shown here, but you get the idea.

Oh look, a plate of mac and cheese with mature cheddar has materialized, as well as another pint of stout.

Yes, that’s two dishes with fatty cheese in it so far today (not to mention the second pint) - aren’t I good to myself?

I rationalize with the following:

1. I’m hungry. I’ve just flown many miles without proper nutrition.
2. I’m veggie. I need my protein from something other than the steak & ale pie alternative (as if this is well-known for its easy-on-the-waistline properties).
3. I’m on bloody holiday.

That’s it for now. Off to finish round #2 of my gloriously naughty not-at-all-good-for-you British lunch.

I’m glad Christmas is over, and I’m not sorry I said it.

I had a good Christmas, really, but I’m just so done with it this year.

One excellent byproduct of the holiday nuttiness, however, is a spanking new baby blanket.

Little K was born last week, so this hot potato is ready for assignment overseas.

Pattern: Curlicue

Yarn: Blue Sky Alapacas Dyed Cotton (organically grown) in colorway 617 (Lotus), four skeins (150 yds each)

Needle:  US 3 circulars, 29-inch

Finished dimensions:
28 inches wide, 35 inches long

Modifications: I added a three-stitch garter border to both ends of every row.  To my eye, this was needed to keep the symmetry of the scalloped borders as written.

Clarifications: If this one is in your queue, double-check on how to properly end the even-numbered rows here (the last repeat is finished off with a ssk WHICH REPLACES the final sk2p as written). If you’re clever enough to have worked this out on your own, I hope your prowess is contagious.

Ravelry links: my project, the designer’s pattern

Verdict: Happy.  Easy pattern that doesn’t look super-easy, and it flew on non-Turbo US 3s like you wouldn’t think it would do.  Honestly, I felt like I was knitting on much fatter needles, like 9s.

The finished size was just what I’d hoped it would be (always nice, especially when you go to the trouble of knitting a gauge swatch).

I’m happy with the drape as well - gentle yet consistent.

The fabric is very soft; warm and substantial-feeling while still having the lightness of cotton.  It’s the nice fat feeling of the Blue Sky Alpacas fiber that makes the magic happen.

The finished blanket blossomed nicely with a 20-minute Eucalan soak, and behaved well during the blocking that followed.

The only silly-Amy moment(s) came about in the dash to complete my final rows as my yarn was running out.

Seeing as it’s a baby blanket that lacks the requirement of an exact fit, I should have just stopped when I knew I wasn’t going to squeak out another 5 rows and quit the pattern a bit early to finish gracefully with the final 3 rows of garter stitch.

But I like to live dangerously.

And I figured that blocking would cure all evils if I happened to stretch the yarn (too) tightly to eke out the final rows for a photo finish at the end of my fourth and final skein.

I pulled *really* tightly and finished all rows of the final pattern repetition and the border with only a couple of inches to spare.

Woo-hoo!  I whipped out my Eucalan wash, soaked, patted, and blocked.

But.

There wasn’t enough ease left in the fabric at that far end of the blanket to be able to block any sense back into it:  the width pulled in on itself and started to suck the life out of the rest of the project.

I started having flashbacks to my first baby blanket, a.k.a. The Trapezoid.

No one was ever going to notice that the pattern ended a couple of rows early, not even me.  Duh.

So I blocked all but the crappy end and once the remainder of the blanket was off the board, I frogged back 5 rows and finished with the garter stitch border in a more civilized fashion.

That said, I left out the evidence of my pre-frogged tight end and saved up my photo shoot for the happier times.  Pictured above is the (still sloppy) unblocked but re-knit trouble area which I subsequently prettied up in a second round of targeted blocking.

Below are a few pics of my just-off-the-UPS-truck blocking tools in action.

The Fiber Fantasy blockers I described in my last post did not disappoint.

Along with the curly end of a flexible blocker from this set, the tip of one of the straight-edge blockers is pictured here, next to the happy yellow yardstick that comes with the package.

During the first go at blocking, I ran two super-longshanks rigid blockers down the straight sides and T-pinned them 28 inches apart to set an even width.

Then I threaded a flexible blocker down the not-too-tight shorter edge until I ran out of wire (accounting for the extra length consumed by the scalloped edges, this was about 3/4 of the way across).

I finished off weaving this edge with the second flexible blocker and then pinned down the curves to set the shape.  The second scalloped edge (too tightly knitted, wearing the dunce cap) had to wait until I fixed it before it could be similarly guided.

Here’s a close-up of a flexible blocker in action on the second end after the rip-out-and-redo (you can see that I only re-soaked the last few inches).

You weave the blockers through outermost stitch all along each edge, every half inch or so.

And then you hook yourself up with ship-shape corners by pinning squarely at the joining point.

After blocking, even the reverse of the fabric has a nice smooth look.

Beeteedubyuh, did ya notice my sexy new blocking board along the way here?

Ohhh, it’s delicious.  Boy, did I feel professional voodooing my work down into submission with those T-pins.

As you can see, she folds up real nice so that a gal like me can clean up after herself when the blocking’s done.  Or at least have the potential to…do that.

Some call it cluttered, I call it cozy: I’m currently happily surrounded by knitting items, both old and new, and I’m hunkering down to get some things done here.

In spite of my slight tendency toward bah-humbuginess this year, Santa was very kind.

It’s not about the gifts, I know, but my eyes did get all misty when I unwrapped a shiny new ball winder and a gorgeous swift to boot.  Eureka, my heavy hinting worked!

It’s all I really wanted, so I figured the hinting was justified.

If I don’t do it, birthdays get forgotten and it ends in tears.  It’d be easier if gifts weren’t even involved, you know?  But I digress.

I do like gifts.

Oh joy, I felt like a kid - as soon as it seemed socially acceptable to do so when everyone had finished opening gifts (I gave it about 30 seconds), I bee-lined for my knitting bag and whipped out an unballed hank of Mongolian Cashmere and got to work.  I just happened to have this on hand.  Just in case.

That swift spinning away with a steady whir and a gentle breeze was glorious.  After I got it going.

I wasn’t sure quite what to do since I hadn’t done it before, but I figured I’d better just stick the little end into the big end and go for it* (before Tommy came back and hit me over the head with a tack hammer).

I felt like Ralphie on Christmas morning with his new Red Ryder BB gun, with his dad standing over his shoulder asking him if he knows how to load it.  That kid had been dreaming about loading it for so long, he tuned out all extraneous noise, nodding and smiling (maybe drooling?) and just got down to the business of enjoying it.

And then he went outside and (almost) shot his eye out - but thank goodness I didn’t do that.

I did quickly get my fix, however, and then moved the new goodies to the corner (still where I could see them) while I watched Mamma Mia and squealed for nearly two hours like the girl I am.

Now on to the New Year.  I have absolutely no plans whatsoever to ring it in doing anything exciting, but that doesn’t mean that something couldn’t come up.

Right?

I could just knit it in while others are ringing it in.  That would do.  I’ve got a lot of projects coming down the pike (in theory), so that would suit me just fine.

Old. Boring. Lady.

Emphasis on the Lady, thank you very much.

Toodles, dears.  TTYL.