you could call me...

obsessive! maybe compulsive! or even impulsive! I do tend to get stuck on something and I’m going to repeat it to death! No biggie, I think of it as keeping busy and it’s nice to be productive! Yeah, I’m making another lace, button-front hoodie. So!

Just to change it up a bit, I swatched a different lace pattern, this one from Becca https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2018/11/earth-to-mao.html, https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2019/01/unfinished-business.html 

thinking I had 2 cones of white Brittany. Turns out one was 'arctic', the other was 'optic' and there was a third one that was just 'white' - they were Bramwell Montana (says something about how old they really are), basically the same thing as Yeoman’s Brittany, the 2-ply soft cotton. I only noticed the colour difference after getting the swatch out of the dryer. What to do? You can’t plate with the lace carriage. Continue and over-dye it, may be an option. Adding in a second colour without stripes? Like, using the second colour just for the bands/borders so it looks like you planned it instead of just running out of yarn… like that Rich Raglan that was part of Serial Stuff 2 https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2013/11/who-needs-sudoku.html

Looking further, I found 2 part-cones of Brittany in 'clover', a dark blush/gray-ish pink shade, about 250g left on each. Not really my colour but truly, I was thinking of making this one for sister Janet who is quite a bit shorter than me. The finished weight of Holey Moley is 468g, so it could be kind of pushing it. Back-up plan needed! After more searching, partial cones of 'parchment', an off-white, looked like it would ‘go’ with the clover and, yes, impulsively, I dove into this new project! Without thinking it through, (and shortening my schematic to suit my much shorter sister!) I went ahead, so excited to see how using the parchment for the hems and bands would change the overall look and solve the yarn shortage issue.

To be honest, by the time I was finished the Back, I was in love with this colour and thought, oh well, Janet will never know, and it’s be too long for her anyway!;))

smug...

that was me! Finished up Holey Moley last week and I thought, ‘oh, if I had somewhere special to wear this!’

We are in a stay-at-home lockdown, basically since Christmas, but the last month, really serious, where only essential stuff is open. I knew I wouldn’t get new buttons until this was over and I couldn’t wait. The best option I had was 8 ivory, plain 3/4 inch buttons that would work so I painted them to as close a match that I thought would do – I have some acrylic paints in my craft stash – a drop of mustard yellow and half a drop of golden brown gave me a shade slightly darker than my pale primula cotton.  Finished them off with a clear top coat of nail polish to protect the paint and I’m ready!

I’ll back up a bit. Everything done, ready for the wash – I had hand basted the other edges of the pockets in place, the centre front edge is incorporated in the button bands – thought it would be prudent to get everything pre-shrunk before the final sewing and  figured it might work better to have them stitched down, rather than free-floating in the wash. Worked nicely, pulled out the basting, pinned them again and machine-stitched in place, lining up the pattern properly. This is so nice! Love it!

washed (note ruler)
 with bad, unwashed sleeve

I had the appointment for my first vaccine and although it was a cloudy, sort of miserable day and I wanted to be comfortable, I figured I’d wear this with jeans and sneakers. Walked in, health card in hand and the lady said, ‘I just love your sweater! ! You look so springy!' I said, 'thank you'. Her, ‘Oh, it has a hood too! I need one of those, where did you get it?’ 

I had to admit I made it. She couldn’t see my smug smile…I was wearing my mask! Made my day!

holey moley...

Brittany is a very fine 3/14, 2 ply cotton – Yeoman’s website lists it as 400g
cone/3380m, but it was on 350g cones at one time with 66 colours! Oh, the good old days! I don’t think I’ve ever used it single stranded – it’s way too thin for the standard gauge machine – even to use a tuck stitch at T2 – what could you make other than a baby’s something? Oh wait, I DID a couple of double bed things single stranded – a set of his and hers cardigans in double bed jacquard (Knitwords #34)  and, what do you know?, a little boy’s golf shirt in a tuck stitch at T2! That was Tiger in Training in #41.

Mostly I used it double stranded, for a washed gauge similar to a 4-ply yarn, but it is much softer and drapier by comparison. For example, Yeomans’ Cannelé is a 4-ply mercerised cotton (won’t have the same shrinkage factor) and you can get the same gauge using the same stitch size but the swatch from Cannelé will be stiffer and not as fluid, so not always a good substitute for each other especially if softness and drape are factors in the design. I like mercerised cottons for a crisp, more tailored project.

To double the yarn, thread each strand into separate tension discs ad join in the yarn feeder. Otherwise, two strands together in the same side of the tension mast will cling together and ‘climb’ up, feeding unevenly, possibly causing loops and bumps in the knitting.

For my Holey Moley hoodie, I swatched at T5 (26 sts and 45 rows; washed 29 sts and 50 rows) and T6 (25 sts and 40 rows; washed, 28 sts and 45 rows).  Note, I’m using the Silver Reed which has a separate lace carriage that knits and transfers and the tension/stitch size is different than the main knit carriage – I would knit this double stranded yarn in stockinette at T7 and my lace carriage is about two numbers lower for a similar gauge – on a brother machine, I’d go with T7 and T8 for the same thing. I hadn’t used Brittany for lace, and I wanted a comparison. After the swatch was washed and dried, I liked the size of the holes (slightly larger) in the T6 part. In the charcoal wool hoodie, using the same stitch pattern, the holes closed up a lot for a more textured effect and I was hoping the cotton one would remain airy, without having to press it out every washing.

Unwashed

The main difference between knitting lace with wool and soft cotton: initially the cotton seemed to require more weight (on some transfers, only one of the strands transferred properly) which I added. The Back knit beautifully. The first half Front, not so much - there were a few random dropped stitches which I was able to spot and repair without having to rip back. I set up for the second Front, and briefly, it crossed my mind to think about the sponge bar but as usual, in a hurry, excited to get things done, I continued. It seemed fine. I took a day off and went back to knit a sleeve. Halfway up, after like 16 repairs, I admitted defeat and aborted it. Pulled out the needle retainer and sure enough, flat as a crepe!

https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2016/02/mental-note.html

Note to self, READ MA’s blogs on lace knitting before attempting a new lace project!