Down the Rabbit Hole

I went down the rabbit hole this weekend, but at least I didn't come home with any Angora rabbits!  I visited the Great Lakes Fiber Festival in Wooster, Ohio.  It was kind of an expensive weekend, as the Ohio State Highway Patrol kindly reminded me on the Lincoln Highway that Ohio is a little more serious about going slow and paying attention to speed limits than the Michigan State Police are.    This happened after I visited the Fiber Festival.  I tried to play on the trooper's sympathy by telling him I had been at the Fiber Festival, after all, I am a grandmotherly type, wearing my hair in a bun - a little old lady in tennis shoes.  He didn't care.  He gave me a driving award.

As I drove up, I heard the sound of an auctioneer.  I believe the sheep were being auctioned off.  This fiber fest is a livestock event as well as a spinner's and knitter's paradise.

I saw a few people I knew. A fellow machine knitter from Youngstown, Ohio; and my "Fiber Arts and Social Media" instructor from the Michigan Fiber Festival last year.  I visited all the vendors, but knew Carol Larsen (dyer)  and Candy Haenzel (Angora Rabbits).  I walked around. taking it all in,  until I could hardly walk any more.

A view down the aisle of one of the vendor buildings.

I bought a few things:  A colorful basket from Ghana, a Celtic shawl pin, and some wool yarn for my students at Fiber Fest in Allegan.  I wanted to buy a lot more things but I managed to restrain myself.

Copyright 2018 Brightmeadow Knits

I've been thinking about the sweater I am designing.  Earlier this weekend I visited JoAnn Fabrics and took a look at the Marcy Tilton Vogue pattern I am basing my design on.  JoAnn has Vogue patterns on sale on June 1 for about $5.00, so I will purchase it then.  I am really curious about the approach the designer took with the lower back panel.

In the meantime, I've been working on another design that is quite a bit simpler. At right is my rough sketch of how I envision it will look. Please note: I have no formal training in fashion illustration!

Instead of the 10 pattern pieces needed for the other sweater, this new design will have only 3 panels.  It is a kimono.  I am making a short-length sleeve version, which will hit at about the elbow.  The sleeves are combined with the fronts and back, and I will be knitting it sideways.

Garment Designer Pattern Pieces

  While I was at JoAnn's I purchased some lightweight striped knit fabric, to make a "muslin". (Color choices were somewhat limited!)  A muslin is another word for a test garment.  I created the pattern in Cochenille's Garment Designer.  I displayed the pattern full size, and printed it out, and taped the individual pages together to make the full-size garment pattern.  Then I cut out the pieces for the test garment, and sewed them together at shoulders and sides using the serger.  I was a little concerned about the test garment edges fraying, so I stabilized them by turning the hem up over a 1/2 bias tape, and used a cover stitch machine to fasten it down.  The dart didn't seem like it would take up much fabric, so I eliminated it for now.  I may decide later it is a good design line and stitch it in with a standard sewing machine.

Then I tried it on.

 I think it fits pretty well, although I did not achieve the diagonal line in front that I had hoped. The diagonal wants to hang at the neck instead of the hem.   I may adjust the pattern to bring the center front up another inch or two.  I didn't use any fasteners on this test garment, so before I make changes to the pattern I will play with using a shawl pin on the outside and a hook and eye on the inside to bring the neckline edge a little further up. Perhaps I need another inch or so of ease in the hip to make that work.  Also I think the lower sleeve is a little loose, but then, that is the style of a kimono.  I may adjust slightly.  I stayed up until 2:00 am pinning and stitching the edges down.  Test garments are supposed to be quick and easy!


Here's my swatch for the machine-knitted  garment:  It is from a cone of Tamm Varsity variegated  I won as door prize in Spring Fling, carried along with a cone of a variegated industrial rayon I won a few years ago as a door prize in Monroe.  I love the way the shades of the two colors play against each other. The swatch fabric is quite a bit heavier than the test garment fabric, so that may make a difference in the hang of the garment.   In order to knit this garment in this yarn combination, as swatched, on a standard gauge machine, I need 197 needles at the widest part.  To knit in another yarn, I have to achieve less than 6.6 stitches per inch gauge on the standard bed of 200 needles. Using either of these yarns alone does not yield the necessary stitch width, but together they are perfect.

Corrected 5/29/2018, the garment is the short-sleeve version.

Completed baby socks, and fitting a plus-size woman's sweater.

Sewn and blocked, and gave to a mutual friend who works near me and lives near the baby's mom.  Can't wait to hear if she likes them!

Meanwhile, I have only two rows and a bind-off to complete on my hand-knitted  "Left-wheel" sweater Pattern.  See the link for a photo of the original design by Berroco Design Team.  I've been working on it as much as possible since the day after Christmas. 

I couldn't wait to try it on, so here us a sneak peek.  Notice the circular needle still in the right front band!  Photo credit: my wonderful husband.

My intention is to make this same sweater (with a few minor fitting changes) in the same yarn, with a different colorway.  Notice how slim the model in the photo is, she is not built like me at all!  The design sizes up, but doesn't really accommodate my roundness.

 This sweater took 8 balls of Plymouth Encore Chunky Colorspun, which does not seem to be widely available any more.  I've purchased a few more balls on eBay to make sure I have enough to complete the project.  The back took exactly two balls,  each side front took exactly one ball, the sleeves each took just barely over a ball.  Really, less than a yard of the new ball was needed to complete the sleeves, and less than a yard was left on each of the front sides. The bands took another two complete balls. I am holding what is left of the skein, and I still have two rows to knit and to complete the bind-off.

For this version, I added a few rows of short-row shaping to the center of the  upper back to accommodate my round back. I knitted two-thirds of the way across the row, wrapped the next stitch, then knitted back, wrapping and reversing again when I reached the first third, then knitting across the rest of the row.  I did this maneuver twice, then a shorter one closer to the neck edge. This will also keep my neck from getting cold.  On the right front I added a short-row "godet" from the bottom to the point of the bust, to give me a little more room in the hip.  Otherwise I knit as directed for the largest size in the pattern.  Using the specified needle size, this yarn knitted up to the exact stitch and row gauge called for in the pattern.

For my revised machine-knit version, I want to make the entire garment just a few stitches larger around, especially the sleeves.  Instead of color-blocking the entire piece, I will mix up the various colors within the pieces.  I will add an inch to the length.  I also plan to keep the short-row revisions already included, and I will add some short rows on the upper left front to avoid the visual distraction of the stripes running uphill over my chest, and allow for a better fit.  Instead of knitting the bands separately, I am currently deciding on beginning with a hem.  Maybe by the time I finish, I won't really be knitting "Left Wheel" any more!  I haven't knitted the gauge swatch yet on the machine, so it will be interesting to see if I can hit the gauge exactly on the machine.