Sassy Does It

Sheer Poncho is gunning her engines to hit the (insured, heavily tracked) mail to Holland today.

While I’m just a smidge over two months late for Kymber’s birthday, I console my tardy self with the knowledge that this cashmere wrap is still likely to take the chill out of my friend’s North Sea-swept days on the beach, however sunny and un-January they may now be (since it’s pretty much April).  If you want to get to know Kymber (also a knitter) and her Netherlands-filled adventures in mommyhood, check out her splendidly-written blog here.  I love it.

Allison suggested that the name for this knitted creation should be something other than “Sheer Poncho”, and although I’ve gotten used to calling it that, I quite agree.  Poncho does invoke the feeling of an itchy acrylic crocheted number that you wear on Easter when you’re eight, so as much as there’s a bit of nostalgia there that I appreciate, I think we could do better.

I think “Seamless Cowlneck Wrap” is more modern-sounding, although not as exotic as “Utterly Glorious Wrap”, like Allison suggested.  The thing is, it makes me uncomfortable (like climbing the rope in gym class) to change the name of the pattern as christened by the designer.  What if somebody is Googling for other people’s notes on this pattern, and then I’ve gone and changed it so they won’t find mine?  Isn’t that the whole point of the blog-sharing thing?

You know in your heart I’d give it a more glamourous name if I could bring myself to do it.  That’ll have to be enough.

Pattern:  Sheer Poncho by Amy Arifin, available for free here

Yarn:  Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere (2-ply) in colorway 50, Driftwood;  about 3 skeins

Needle:  US 5 / 3.75 mm, Addi Turbo all the way

Finished, unstretched dimensions for the fourth pattern size as written (1=smallest, 6=largest); designed to fit stretched bust width of 48 inches, including both arms:

• Neck width (at narrowest): 12.5 inches
• Cowl width (at bind-off):  21.5 inches
• Width across shoulders:  19.5 inches
• Width at bottom:  29 inches
• Length, top of shoulders to bottom:  18 inches
• Length, neck (at narrowest) to bottom:  25 inches
• Total length, including fully-extended cowl:  35 inches

Overall, what’s not to like here?  She’s a beaut.  There’s nothing about this finished project that isn’t satisfying and fabulous.  This is the kind of garment that I’d like to think could be worn everywhere:  casual enough in the swooshy drape of its cowl to look great with jeans, yet elegant enough to play dress up.  One Crafty Writer told me she’s making one as her wedding shawl (can’t wait to see it)!

As you know, I’m smitten with cowls, so the generous overspill at the neckline pleases my little eye.  This cowl is so wide and roomy that it can be draped over toward one shoulder and still have room to rest gracefully.

I like the smooth, steady look of the line of increases down each shoulder/arm, gliding right through the otherwise uninterrupted seamless sumptuousness of the round-the-body wrap. 

The pattern doesn’t suggest a certain type of increase, so I decided after a little trial-and-error that KFB (knit one front, knit one back in same stitch) would work best.  I like the even, symmetrical look of these increases on both sides of the stitch marker.

Another pattern tip, before I forget:  bind off fairly loosely at the bottom of the body.  Not as important for the cowl, but it is important for the body, especially if you’re using a fragile and/or non-stretchy fiber.

This could have easily been knit with just three skeins of Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere (at 400 yds each, about 1200 yards total).  I had extra on hand, so I went ahead and made the cowl extra-swooshy without fear of it not being long enough (I actually put the body on a stitch holder when about 3/4 complete so I could switch to attaching/finishing the cowl first).

The wham-bam 25% everyday bulk discount from WEBS for this yarn brought the cashmere splash into range for me.  The sad thing is I’ve never bought anything cashmere for myself - yarn or garment - but this gave a great excuse to start. 

The softness of the finished fabric is everything that it seemed it should be.  More, probably.  I was ready to be underwhelmed (perhaps as a way to justify my frugal resistance to buying cashmere for so long), but it’s. just. so. freaking. nice. to touch.  The yarn wasn’t at all splitty and was very easy to work with; low breakage once I got going.  The single strand, even though 2-ply, is fragile, it’s true (I did recover from my initial man-handling syndrome unwinding the first hank), but I think that goes with the cashmere territory, especially at this fine gauge. 

The fine gauge is what creates such a gentle, sexy drape, however - and puts that bit of sheer into Sheer Poncho.  But not too much sheer - as you can see, it’s not like I’m flashing my boobies here.

I thought I might be put out by the reverse stockinette all-purl look of the wide-end cowl, since the knit side is for the most part tucked underneath when the cowl is left to naturally drape from the neck.  But I like it.  The fine stitching makes the purl side look more fetching than I normally give it credit for, and my instinct to want to somehow modify the pattern to compensate (e.g., knit it twice as long to double-back over itself and seam) subsided once I saw the smooth, even finish of both sides of the fabric.

The color of the fiber was sometimes hard to capture with my camera, even in natural light.  Often it looks too light or too grey in photos:  the true hue is an almost-imperceptibly heathered mid-range sandy khaki.  In soft mood lighting it’s a deeper tan, like a light mocha.  Very pretty indeed. 

Beware of the color chart on the Jade Sapphire website; colorway 50, Driftwood, looks way darker there - although I’d done my Ravelry homework and the lighter shade I received was exactly what I’d sought/expected.  Perhaps there’s some variation in the colorway…but more likely it’s poor photography on the manfacturer’s site.

The only thing I’m not 100% sure about is the rolled hem.  It’s a non-issue on the cowl end because the fabric’s all rolling over itself in the drape anyway.  Even for the bottom hem, I’ve settled on it looking perfectly fine - especially since this is not in a my mind a super-dressy item, but one that looks great for everyday wear.  Ways I could have addressed this, had I decided to:

1. Block it with my flexible blocking wire and hope that it would stay flat once worn and, later, cleaned
2. Make a tiny seam all the way around the bottom for a more finished look

But, nah - it looks real purty just the way it is.  Kymber can seam it if she likes it better that way.

I wasn’t sure whether to get this fabric wet to block or not; but since I really like to do this (so often the difference in stitch uniformity is striking, even when you don’t think you need it), I went for it, after a little homework.  Seems like some people are too frightened to mess with cashmere (understandably) and go for dry cleaning, but enough people routinely hand-wash their cashmere that I wasn’t too worried.  It turned out just lovely after a quick dip in lukewarm water with a bit of Eucalan.

The pattern pics show this as potentially being worn three ways; as shown above, as well as either A) with the cowl pulled up over the head or B) with the body pulled further down to make it a dress. 

So of course I tried the over-the-head thing:  it certainly works, but it looks a little dorky, IMHO.  I guess if you got a chill you could whip up the cowl as a hood and continue on your way.  I gotta believe that most people would end up looking more chic than I do wearing it this way, though, because I’ve kinda got a long giraffe neck that stretches it too much.  Sissy B, who helped with the photos, had to agree on this point - that’s why there’s no evidence here showing that option.

I also didn’t include photos of the dress suggestion:  uh, there’s no way that would’ve worked for me, and I have to say it wouldn’t for pretty much anyone who doesn’t have freaky Barbie dimensions.  I’d need more than double D’s to keep that sucker up at the top.  If the dress option was important, you could reel in the cowl width - but I simply knit it as written.

The only area that I felt that pattern was a little off was in the length.  Obviously this is a super-straightforward pattern, so you can just stop knitting when it’s long enough; but as written, the increases toward the lower end of the poncho (body) went on too long for me.  I could have done without the last few increase rows (in my size, this was every 9 rows) and just skipped to knitting even for the last few inches.  As it was I eyeballed it and stopped when I was ready, as I’m sure anyone who knits this would do.

If it were me, now that it would seem I’ve been let in (let myself in - duh) to the Cashmere-Wearing Club, it would be silly to save the wonderfulness of a garment like this for only special occasions.  Kymber’s still nursing Little K, so it occurred to me that while wearing this she could shield the nip from public consumption (if she could find a situation in Europe where this is actually necessary!) while at the same time shielding Little K from blustery breezes. 

On the other hand, she could whip this out for a stylin’ trip to the local beach bars.  Go ahead!  Spill a little (white) wine on it (just not while nursing).  It’ll survive.  Break it in, wear it, love it.

However Kymber enjoys it - even as folded in her drawer - I hope she feels the love and tenderness imparted with every stitch.  Happy (Big) Birthday to my dear friend.

Oh.  Hmmmmm.  Boy, I hope she’s not allergic to cashmere.  That would suck.

Color me pink, Sheer Poncho is off the needles (again), this time for good.  It’s currently blocking and you’ll have full details shortly.

I’ve been making modest progress on the as-yet-undisclosed summer baby gift, which I’m liking.  I’m traveling this week, so I’ll have some plane time to crank on it.

In other baby-item news, I noticed that another Curlicue-maker finished her project this week.  Rowan liked mine (*blush*) and crafted hers in a lovely oatmeal color.  Very cuddly-looking.  Curlicue was so much fun to make that I’ve still got a soft spot for it.  Go, Curlicue, go.

In addition to hitting the summer baby gift this week, I’m also going to resurrect the terribly neglected Raindrop Lace Socks that have been hibernating under my bed, where I found them poking out this weekend.  I’m nearly ready to turn the heel on those suckers, so after a bit more effort it should be fairly smooth sailing to the end.

This leaves my mind to wander about what’s next in my queue; something that will require forethought before any yarn can pounce on a pair of vacant needles.  It’s all very exciting. 

Something summery comes to mind, but sadly, the devil on my shoulder is telling me I might as well just start working on wooly jumpers and Christmas gifts, since I never seem to leave enough time for this type of thing once the weather starts to turn chilly.

Hmmm.  We’ll see if the angel fights back and demands something light and lovely to be knit for me, myself, and I.

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.

Work has been sucking down my free time pretty hard.

I’m a little down for the count after a busy week on the road. We had a huge meeting, one for which I’d been planning strategy and logistics for months. Once it finally arrived, it was as expected - long hours, little sleep, lots of stress. Mixed with fun - can’t say I didn’t enjoy.

And, I’m happy to say that it went down smoothly - mission accomplished. But you know how it works - being able to sit back and enjoy the peace after this would be too easy.

As soon as I took my foot off the gas, my body reminded me that it had been working overtime to support my excessive demands. Within 90 minutes of wrapping my meeting, the tatters of my immune system raised the white flag.

The flu, or something resembling it, came home to roost.

But so it goes - I guess it’s my turn.

In between squirting that sinus-clearing stuff up my nose and enduring the general malaise of sore joints, I might get some knitting done.

Poor, lost-in-the-shuffle knitting. By the time I finish my projects, both of which are winterish, summer will be here.

I made good progress on Maizy’s socks on the plane back from England a couple of weeks ago. Then I realized I needed my 2-at-a-Time Socks book in front of me to remember the instructions for turning the heel. Winging it resulted in losing more time cleaning up the mess I made of it, so I just put it back in the bag and congratulated myself on finally finishing the length of the sock up until the heel (at long last).

Kymber’s birthday gift didn’t quite get done while I was still with her for her birthday in the UK. I made huge progress on it while I was there, but after a few days of turbo-knitting while half-looking people in the eye through my needles during conversation, I reconsidered.  Better than getting it done in time for her b-day, I decided, was to cozy up next to my friends with a cup of tea or a glass of wine and give our interaction my full attention while I still had the privilege of sitting righttherenexttothem.

In short: the Sheer Poncho is still not freaking done, but it has become more fabulous by the inch.

Since this photo, I decided to pull through a yarn stitch holder along the bottom of the poncho so that I could go ahead and knock off the cowl before continuing with more (possibly superfluous) length. It’ll be easier to tell how long it needs to be once the cowl is on, I think.

Or maybe I was just bored with the body and hungry for the more frequent increases of the cowl.

I think I’ll have plenty of yarn, but I’d rather finish the cowl with confidence that I can make it as bulky and swishy as I want and not worry about how much I’ll need for the rest of the body length.

So. Er, I guess that’s it on the knitting.

In the absence of any other knitting progress, I’ll post a few photies from my vacation.

First, I was in the north of England with Kymber and her blossoming fam (you’ll remember the recent addition of Little K, the recipient of Curlicue). In spite of the general chilly drizzly weather at this time of year along the northeast coast of England, we had some beautiful days of walking. The area near the Scottish border has lots of places to explore - castles and rocky coastlines and sea-hugging little villages.

One of these is a tiny island called Lindisfarne - complete with just such a village and a castle that were fun to take in on a sunny, crisp winter day. This is a tidal island, meaning that you can access it only by driving across the sandy strip around it from the mainland when the tide is out. No bridge. Just a tidal table that tells you what time you won’t get stuck.

It’s also called Holy Island - a place rooted in religious history beginning with the founding of a monastery there in 635 AD. The ruins of a comparatively new-fangled priory that was built in 1150 stand there today.

We meandered around and made our way out to the castle. I accidentally wandered a little too close to a few sheep who freaked me out with baa-ing and dirty looks, but I guess it could be interpreted as me freaking them out first. I’m not good with animals - there, I said it.

We embarked on what really should be coined a Sticky Toffee Tour while in the North. Pretty much every meal needed to end with sticky toffee pudding. If there was a chance that the restaurant or pub we were considering for lunch did not offer such goodness, well, move it along, folks. We’ll take our bulging waistlines to the next place until we’re satisfied.

On top of the sticky toffee, I consumed a whole lot of cheese and chocolate, not to mention the wine and Irish coffees.

Oh yeah…I brought home a little extra jiggle with me from this holiday.

Before I left England I swung through London to see my pals there, and it was so lovely to see them.  Frankly, though, what I’ll remember most from this visit will be the snow. Not that there isn’t a smattering of snow from time to time in London, but it’s very rare to have inches and inches fall down and stick.

I was walking back to the neighborhood where I was staying on the last night there when the snow that had flurried earlier in the day started to pick up. Even after I popped into a pub for an hour (oh joy, a pint, my laptop, my knitting, and happy pub-goers chatting around me - does it get better?), the snow kept coming.

After a gratuitous parmesan-filled dinner at a little Italian place, I emerged on the street again. Soft, heavy snowflakes that stayed on my nose and eyelashes, just like Julie Andrews likes them. What fun! Even the locals were snapping pictures; flashes were coming out of flats all the way down the street as people stuck their heads out windows to watch the happenings below.

I’d taken a few pics earlier when the snow started accummulating, but by the time dinner was done it was even more important to capture for posterity. Too bad my camera battery died and I didn’t snap as many more as I might have done, but the memory of the thick flakes piling up all over - so outside of their natural habitat! - will stay with me.

In the morning, I was still happy but the natives were restless. It was beautiful, to be sure - nearly six inches on top of everything - but the fun had stopped for much of London. Nothing runs quite the same way with this kind of “adverse weather” (as the Voice of God making announcements in the tube called it). It was nearly impossible to get to Heathrow, but I did manage to sleuth my way there to try to catch my flight out that day. Much of the airport was closed altogether, and most of my day was shot with travel delays…but it was worth it. The snow was just so cool. Cold, even. Ha.

OK. Enough blogging. Back to knitting. Wish me luck finishing something.

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.