Turquoise Swatches

I remember now how fussy the Canyonville pattern is. Many 1x1 cables to make those nice wavy ribs. I enjoy the result and am improving on the process as my hands learn the pattern again. After a week of work I am most of the way up the first sleeve.

While creeping up the arm, I thought a bit too much about the stash yarn I am working through. Some skeins irritate me. Too bright, too much, but not enough. I have quite a lot of turquoise in two dye lots that got under my skin. One lot started as 16 ounces and can be about a half of a sweater. The other is 8 ounces and is close, but not close enough.

So I swatched. I know this turquoise. It defeated me a few years ago when I was playing with brioche type stitches. Over the weekend, I tried again.

My first thought was to use the larger lot in a sweater like the Great Missowski. It is a fun false flame stitch zigzag. An extra bonus is that the three minor colors require a single 4 ounce skein. Great opportunity for my single skein stash items.

After some fiddling I came to this combination. The purple, magenta, and teal are single skeins and the orange was last seen in the recently completed Sunset Kiyomi.

I was happy with how the colors played with each other but I didn't see a sweater that I liked. This felt like "using up", which is not my goal.

Out came the Barbara Walker books and after some trials, I ended up with some combinations that make me happy.

The plan is to use either the honeycomb or the flame stitch for the body up to the armhole. The Swiss check will be on the sleeves and upper body. I'm still thinking about the edges, but will probably opt for a simple 2x2 rib.

The normal end game for this color exercise is that the irritating color becomes my very favorite. I want to put it everywhere. The orange here is an example of that evolution. It was an irritating color a few years ago and there was so much of it. Who wears orange?  I used it in the Hedera Jacket a few years ago, and I am happy with how it plays here and in the Kiyomi. This project will be the end of of it and I will miss my orange.

Sunset Colors Kiyomi Done

I started fiddling with Canyonville for a few days and put off finishing the Kiyomi inspired pullover.

I got to finishing Wednesday, and Thursday she was done and ready for a wash.

Final usage numbers are:
Dark Rose - 336 grams
Orange - 134 grams
Pink - 132 grams

A total of 602 grams, and about 1170 yards using the Bernat Sesame 4 measurements for all yarns.

I love the Ann Budd Grand Plan charts. As you can see, this one fits perfectly.

Canyonville Crash and Burn.

I am baffled.

I put this project aside because I knew there was a problem with the width of the sleeve. About a 6" problem as it turns out. Looking at the cuff, I find that it is 6" wide. Usually cuffs for adults are about 9.5 to 10 inches.

What was I thinking, then, when I continued on and knit on the second sleeve for about 9"?

This knitting cannot be salvaged, and all must be torn out.



I still want to work the project, so I will begin again with a new sleeve. Casting on 10" will go a long way towards having enough width at the end. The plan is still to modify the construction to make a knit-in-one-piece raglan.

Time to recalculate and cast on again.

Kiyomi Body Done

I've been a bit obsessed. I cast on this project last weekend and a week later I have this.

Perhaps I was a bit concerned about having enough of the pink. There was less of it than the other colors ~180 grams. I weighed the remaining skein and find I used just about half for the body. I have 94 grams left. Thus, I have plenty for the sleeves and collar.

Silk Shell

Pictures of the newly finished silk shell.

I started with the pattern for the Purl Soho Pebble tank using a two color brioche stockinette stitch. I went rogue around the arm decreases. After some trial and error I decided to go with the slanted two stitch brioche decreases.

I used a braided edging that looks more complicated than it really is. I like how it worked out.

The original measurements for the body looked odd before I blocked the piece. I probably should have taken a picture, as it looked like a crop top. We know that silk and cotton will stretch lengthwise, so I counted on that to make the proportions work.

After a wash, I hung it on a skirt hanger by the shoulder seams and let gravity do the blocking job for me.