Sunday, April 04, 2010

Help for Cold Boobs


Do you ever experience a bit of a let-down at the end of a project? At the conclusion of a good book, or after you finish a knitting project you really enjoyed working on, do you feel down? Post-project ennui often strikes me, making it difficult to choose my next knit-deavor (and you thought I'm just a good-time girl!).

That's what happened to me Friday when I wrapped up my Color is a Lifestyle socks. I think it was a combination of staying invested in a good knit, & the pressure I put on myself to choose the next 'right' project, the 'best' pattern for a particular yarn, or an 'appropriate'-ly challenging new technique.

Which is, of course, ESTUPIDO. I mean really, I must know by now that there is no 'right', 'best', or 'appropriate'. Which is to say, I spent several hours surfing Ravelry Friday night to find the right project that would show off some yarn in my stash to best effect & give me the opportunity to test myself with an appropriately challenging new technique. 'Cuz I'm just as susceptible to internal pressures as the next guy.


All this is my long-winded way of introducing you to my new project, Spunky Rack Cover, aka More Stripes Vest by my friend Amy King of Spunky Eclectic. It's a steeked vest (the 'appropriate technique' part), designed to show off Noro striping yarns (the 'best yarn' part), & it just feels right.


I've had ten skeins of Noro Akogare in my stash f o r e v e r. Similar to Silk Garden, Akogare is a Bulky weight 45/40/10/5 blend of wool/silk/angora/nylon, & I thought it would be a natch fit for Amy's pattern, which is written for Silk Garden. I had to adjust the gauge for a bulkier yarn, & since I want some negative ease (this is, after all, a rack-a-licious vest), I'm knitting the 36" size to cover my 42" bodacious boobies.


When I took it off the needles about 2" in, to see if I'm on the right track gauge- and size-wise, & it was obvious that it's way too big; I was thinking "Hell. Gonna have to rip it out. Grr." But no! As it turns out, I'm just portlier than I realized! I checked it against the circumference of my favorite old man-styled vest & it is spot-on.

The pattern is written for knitting a front and a back, but yeah... NO. No offense, Amy, but I'm with EZ: I loathe purls & seaming, so it's in-the-round, all the way, baby! I'm also tweaking the way that I work up the striping: the pattern calls for 2 shades of yarn, but I'm only using one, & to get nice, 4 row stripes, I'm switching between 2 balls; but I'm not carrying them up the side, I'm spit-splicing them. The silk in the mix means they don't felt together quite as well, but it seems to be working. Just don't use your beer-swilling spit: it makes the ends sticky. ;0

A note on angora yarn: iz sheddy! Good thing I seem to have lost my childhood sensitivity to it; once upon a time, my eyes would swell shut at the mere hint of any bunny fur (no, really, it happened: in a Bon Marche in Portland, while shopping with my Nana, I played with a stuffed rabbit covered in real rabbit & by the time we got to the car you couldn't pry my eyelids open with a chopstick. Although, I don't know why you'd want to.) Fast forward to now, this stuff may only be 10% of the fiber content, but it seems that every last puff of it wants to escape & live on my fleece pants.

The design itself is a simple 4x1 ribbing; knitting it takes very little effort, leaving lots of brain cells available to contemplate the upcoming steeks. Been meaning to learn how to do 'em; this is as good a time as any to make that happen. The deep-V neck is written as a steek, so that the two sides match up; I'm thinking of doing the armholes as steeks too, so I can just knit a giant tube & then, SNIP-SNIP-voila! Amy promises to hold my hand through the process if I lose my courage.


Took it with me to Sit 'n' Knit at YARN-fun in Eureka (where I picked up my earned-on-credit yarn - more tomorrow!). Look how far I got! Already at 5" after casting on yesterday morning!!

10 comments:

  1. my friend felted with wine and an electric toothbrush.. so a beer spit splice sounds kind of tame to me.

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  2. 3000 mile away hand holding. yup. Snip that bitch. You can do it.

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  3. Vellllmaaaa... will you please document your steeking adventure when you cut it? I have never tried steeking and I really want to see how this turns out, in detail!

    Also, omg perfect yarn for vest yum.

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  4. Yes, yes and yes on the post project ennui! Perfect COLORBOMB approved colorway in your new project. :)

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  5. Its really very fine. thanks for the information.

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  6. When it is the right project, it just zooooms along!

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  7. That vest will match your gorgeous socks perfectly. Happy knitting!(but how could you not be happy with colors like those?)

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  8. Ooh! That will be one knockout of a vest! Steeking is a breeze. You'll love it.

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  9. I look forward to hearing about the steeking adventures too!

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  10. Looks awesome so far. I'm dying to get my current sweater project underway but no matter what I do, it's just not working! Maybe it's back to Ravelry for me. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

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