Wednesday, October 22, 2014

October Surprise!

My Machrihanish vest is finished! And it seems that it's going to stay together, despite my steeking mishap.

I've thought some more about it, and I do think that I made the crochet chains correctly and in the right locations, but made a poor choice in the yarn for the chains. The instructions called for sock yarn and the nearest at hand was some slightly slick superwash leftover from some previous project. I think its slipperiness along with my loose chaining was the problem. I would recommend using one of the less-used colors from your own vest, like the green in mine, so that the natural grabiness of the Shetland wool works in your favor. If you're nervous, you might consider making the neck hole steek seven stitches wide like the armhole steeks are constructed, rather than the called for five. A bit bulkier, perhaps, but worth it for the peace of mind? Think about it. The thread I used to sew up my disaster is just barely visible in the decrease columns next to the ribbing if you look at a larger version of the photo above. But seeing it while I'm wearing it requires a certain intimacy preserved for few.

The instructions called for steam blocking, but I usually opt for an old fashioned full immersion altar call dunking. My gauge often ends up on the snug side and I need the stretching power of a complete soaking. But as soon as I popped this in the sink, the water starting turning blue and I worried that it would dull the other colors. So I took it right out. Still, it got wet enough for serious shaping. With hindsight, I realize I should have followed those particular instructions. As it turned out, I didn't have to do too much stretching to get this the right size.

Most of the dimensions were right on. I had to stretch out an extra inch or so of ease from side to side. The length came out a half inch longer, but I have a longish torso, so that worked in my favor. The armholes, however, sit a little high on the garment and are the slightest bit snug. It may just seem that way because the shirt I was wearing under it is a bit big on me, but I would like just a bit more room. Some careful additional blocking might work for that, but I don't want to put any more stress on the cut openings than absolutely necessary.

I finished this Sunday evening, but wasn't able to take pictures until tonight. As it was, I had to race home on my bike to catch the last bit of usable sunlight. Having really pushed it on the way home, I was a hot, panting, sweaty mess when I came through the door. Jeff was so patient to put up with my "art direction" (read: persnickityness) and did a pretty good job with the short amount of time we had in the rapidly dwindling autumn light. It couldn't have been fun putting up with me sweating in our mosquito-filled backyard wearing a sweater-vest in 80-degree weather. I hope I was patient enough. I look at this picture of myself and wonder...

All in all, this was a great project. I really love the balance of colors, and it has a wonderful symmetry to it in the size I knit. The solid arm and neck edging pull it all together nicely. I can't get over how different it looks close up versus far away. And as I've mentioned before, the crayon-like primary colors created wonderful patterns that meld together beautifully. Thanks, Katie Davies, for designing such a beautiful garment! More pictures are available over at my Flickr site.

I have yarn left over, more than I predicted. Maybe enough to make a hat? Not one to wear with this particular vest. That would be too matchy-matchy even for me. But Tony pointed out this nice hat pattern called Shwook, one of the examples of which appears to be made out of leftover Jamieson & Smith Shetland Heritage yarn. I'm really liking it.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

The Masculine Mis-Steek

(My apologies in advance to Betty Friedan)

Disaster! Doom! Gloom!

During the week I crocheted my steeks; the crochet chain can be seen in gray sock yarn in the photo to the left. Yesterday I cut them without much fanfare, but with perhaps a touch of hubris, as we will see. After all, I'd done this before.

I spent the morning picking up stitches for the neck band, and then settled down for some simple 1x1 ribbing. But as I worked, I noticed the crochet chain was hanging loosely, rather than being snug up against my work. Closer inspection revealed that many of my yarn ends had worked their way out of the crochet chain!

This means I put the chain into the wrong parts of the stitches, cut the wrong threads, created the chain too loosely, or some unholy combination of the three. What to do? All I could get out of Jeff was sympathy and the sound advice to talk to someone who could help. I talked to Staci, and she talked me off the ledge. After discussing the problem with her and thinking through some options, I decided to hand sew the decrease row of stitches to the picked up stitches to minimize movement. When all is in place, I'll do some things to try and felt the backsides to further stabilize the cut edge.

I think disaster has been averted, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, I'll keep working carefully and try to keep the nausea at bay. I'm off to a conference tomorrow and I think I'll take a sock and put Machrihanish in time-out until I get back. Sigh -- it would have even wonderful to be able to wear it in Denver.

Sunday, October 05, 2014

Machrihanish Bound

I had a bit of time to devote to knitting this weekend, and I've made some progress to share with you on the Machrihanish vest.

Major patterning is done! The reason this looks like a sack right now is that the arm hole and neck steeks have yet to be cut. Once the neck steek is cut, it will expand to be more vest-shaped. I'm actually looking forward to the cutting part. It used to be intimidating. It's till a sobering thought -- cutting knit stitches -- but no longer panic-inducing. As mentioned earlier, I will be reinforcing the cut edge with crocheted chains as the designer, Kate Davies shows on her web site.

I'm a little concerned about fit. It's measuring a bit smaller than my gauge led me to believe. But, it's also hard to judge while the garment is still bound up with the steeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that cutting and a good soaking will help with that.

I was hoping I could get this finished before a planned trip to Denver next,week, but I don't think I'll be quite finished by then. I might be able to get the steeks cut, but I don't think I'll have the neck and arm ribbing done. And before I can do any of that, I need to make sure the ends are woven in around the first steek. I had temporary knots tied in the ends to maintain tension while working, but now I need to undo all of those and work the ends back in. Tedious, but necessary. Can't wait for this to be finished!