Look--I finished one of the items on my WIP list: The Blue Sweater. I just love this--I expect it will become my put-it-on-like-a-favorite-sweatshirt kind of sweater. Handspun merino (not spun by me), Knitting Pure & Simple top-down pattern; very light and easy to wear.
I also grafted the toes of the Manly socks, thus removing them from the list as well.
Unfortunately, the sharp-eyed Vanessa noticed that I'd forgotten to list the Acorn Sweater. (And don't ask me HOW she managed to notice this after surviving Hurricane Wilma--take a look at the photos on her blog!) Oops. Two off the list, one added. Wait, make that two: I've started a hat for Dulaan, following the charming double-thick SpinOff cover hat in odds and ends of Manos del Uruguay. That's the knitting life, an exercise in the ebb and flow of life...
Japanese Princess Jacket continued
There were some great comments on the last post about knitting from a sewing pattern--thanks for your input. To start with, I should clarify that I bought the sewing pattern to get the princess seam placement right--I didn't seem to be able to figure this out on my own. My plan is to do a mock up of the body on the kind of interfacing that has 1" marks on it. I can then easily calculate my decreases/increases from the mock up (I think this is called a sloper).
The resources I've used so far are:
- Jackets by Jean Frost. This is an excellent resource for planning fitted knitwear.
- "Knitting from Sewing Patterns" by Pat Morse, in the Threads compliation volume Hand Knitting Techniques
- "Design Knitwear from Sewing Patterns" by June Hemmons Hiatt, in the Threads compilation volume Great Knits
- My faulty memory of a good article in SpinOff by Rain Olympia Crow not so long ago.
If I were really trying to work from a sewing pattern, I would make a mock-up in a knit fabric that is about the same weight and drape as my intended knitting. But I'm not trying to actually create this pattern in knit fabric--I'm planning to knit in the round, placing increases/decreases along the side seams and along the princess lines front and back. I will be emphasizing the princess lines by changing patterns and using a single color up the "seam" line. The Autumn Rose jacket I made has shaping lines in several spots following the same principle.
And unlike most fitted jackets, I plan to use a raglan sleeve. Probably. Drop-shoulder didn't seem right for my concept, I sure didn't want to knit a sleeve cap back and forth in color pattern (yeah, yeah--I should probably learn but I don't feel like it right now!!!), and I like the way raglans fit me. I have given some thought to Elizabeth Zimmermann's set in sleeve in the round shaping. Unfortunately, there is no way around the last inch--it's got to be knit back and forth or as a saddle, again back and forth (see the details of the cover sweater designed by Betts Lampers in Sweaters from Camp to see how great this shaping is). Of course, you could steek that last inch--but then there'd be added bulk at the shoulder seam. I haven't abandoned this idea yet.
I've been getting more and more enthused about Japanese sashiko patterns. These patterns are created by quilting indigo-dyed cotton fabric; the tradition goes back several centuries. I've been inspired by Sashiko: Eay & Elegant Japanesse designs for Decorative Machine Embroidery by Mary S. Parker.
So, yesterday I bought the fabric to create the sloper. Today I've been charting some new possibilities for patterns. The jacket begins to take form....
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