ta-da…

Omigosh! this thing is adorable! It’s comfy, cuddly, cozy, cute!

No, Tom, the neckline backstitching can’t be done on the machine, sorry! This method gives a nice, close-fitting finish that is snug but still everything is stretchy enough to go over your head without damaging your ears! So worth the extra effort! And the detail is priceless!

I love the texture added in by the 1RT.  The colour play, even though there is really only  3 to 4 shades of the denim colours, is quite interesting - note the little zigzagging across the top just under the neckline, almost like a yoke effect. 

The hem treatment is beautiful and maybe there’s more work than the multicoloured yarn shows, but I know it’s there!

And it came out to the exact size I planned!

pushing boundaries…

The ribbed cuff is so nice!  Glad I went with the 2X2 (2X1) arrangement - it really fills out nicely and adds that extra  bit of firmness for this relatively thin yarn. Kind of excited to translate this to the neckline! 

I pulled booklets and swatches and settled on a ribbed band with that little stockinette border that’s hand stitched...yeah, it’s in ‘The Neck’s Best Thing’, #24, called 1x1 rib with casing…but I’m sticking with the 2X2. 

Notice, in the photo, the top green waste yarn was for the cast-on edge of the rib, then you see the rib in the denimy yarn. Transfer all sts up to main bed. Hang neckline sts. Knit 3 rows on the main yarn and then a bunch of rows waste yarn, which you see curving below the rib. Now the tricky part - hand stitching that little 3-row trim onto the garment with a backstitch…

flashback…

I’ve really enjoyed this knit! When I got over the trauma of having to remake that chain cast-on and admitting it, I got energized! Quickly made both body pieces and thought, I haven’t made a ribbed neckband since forever! Except for that last NP sweater and that doesn’t really count - it was hand-latched, not really ribbed!

For the sleeves, although I wanted long, it seems I always end up either rolling them up or just pushing up, you know, when you’re in the kitchen…so I opted for a ribbed cuff - this way I could test out the rib without really making another swatch! 

Just to recap, this yarn is relatively fine, even though I’m using T9 for the one-row-tuck, in plain stockinette it would be more like T5 stockinette,  so 1X1 rib would be kind of flimsy, not much body to it. I’m going with 2x2 rib in the 2X1 needle arrangement with the manual wrap cast-on - it has more stretch and firmness  (more stitches actualy) than 1X1. 

After that ‘wake up call’ with the yarn breaking on the first row, I wouldn’t dream of doing anything other than casting on with waste yarn for the rib. https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2010/08/dream-coat-notes-day-1.html

good thing…

I trust my swatch. This thing is huge! But it will shrink a lot! At least according to my swatch! 

Refreshed my memory by reading up on that curved hemline. 

https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-little-reminder.html

My sponge bar is okay, but after that faux pas on the cast-on, I feel like I need all the help I can get!

While knitting the Back and Front, I was considering the possibilities for the neck…more research required!

good memory…

but it’s short!

Love the look of the swatch - going with the T9 option. Examining the chain and picot knots in the hem, I decided it needed a bit of beefing up so used three strands for the chain, without really thinking it through but you know how I am when I get going! Threaded up and knit the first row…halfway across, I knew I was in trouble! Rats, crap and goop!! The yarn broke several times - couldn’t handle going over the picot knots! Gosh, darn! Why didn’t I know that? 

Ha! My younger self did!

https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/08/dissect-that.html

If I could only remember to read my own stories!

Handknit the first row after the picot knots…

The shaded tones here make it a little hard to see and I found it helped to put a yarn mark on row 4,  on the centre needles for the bottom of the tuck rib to prevent unladdering too far. The tuck rib doesn’t show up that much but it does help to widen out the hem so it’s worth doing…

the situation…

Checking my first swatch, if you remember, it was 21-0-21 sts. The reason for that was I could measure it with the green gauge to see what sort of stitch count would result from the stockinette. Hopefully you can see, even on the T9 part, it was 32 sts to 10 cm. The design I want to use is that ‘swing-style tunic’ that is quite wide at the hemline, like finished circumference of 150 cm/59 in. and the 32 st count would at best get about 128 cm/50 in. To get a wider fabric that still has the look (flat front, nothing too exotic) and simplicity of stockinette (single bed knitting), I like to use that one-row-tuck (1RT) https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2023/05/egg-on-my-face.html

that I’ve used many times before. If you need more reading, put 1RT in the search box at the top left of this blog page and it will bring up a ton of stuff that I’ve posted in the past and by the way, using the standard gauge electronic machine here but can be done on a punchcard machine - see above link!;)

Made real swatch - going with that HodgePodge trim, https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2020/07/half-cocked.html

With my favourite 1RT, at T8 and T9. Measured the swatches, hot off the machine, then wash and dry, measure final - this way you can get a feel for the amount of shrinkage, maybe for future reference, but also note, the majority of shrinkage is in the length. T8,  27 sts and 46 rows, became 28 sts and 52 rows. T9, 25 sts and 42 rows, ended at 26 sts and 46 rows.

mystery yarn…

I mean yarn that I am unfamiliar with! ‘Found’ this large cone (750g) of denimy shades of cotton on my shelf - the label says ‘Astro Dye Works, 6/2 K/P cotton’ (also has a ‘BTYarns’ label), so yeah, it’s pretty old. I think I inherited it a couple of years ago when a m/k friend sent me a big box of her stash that she knew she would never use. I’m sure I paid it no attention at the time because there was several cones of wool crepe deluxe that I was swooning over. 

I’m looking for some inspiration for a new project and thought this might fit the bill - I love that Tennessee Tunic  https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2023/03/tennessee-re-visited.html

from last year and think I’d like a more ‘everyday’ version of it - I have no idea what the 6/2 means- I know it’s something relating to the yards per pound but that 6/2 doesn’t tell me what stitch size to use or what gauge to expect. It’s a bit thicker than Yeomans Brittany (3/14) or Bramwell Montana but not quite what those would be double stranded which I would use at T7 or so.

 https://knitwords.blogspot.com/2021/05/brittany-is-very-fine-314-2-ply-cotton.html

Didn’t want to double strand it, that would make it thicker than I would like for that tunic and it would change the little ‘camo’ shading that is happening. 

Here’s what I do: cast on 21-0-21 ns, and knit about 10 rows at T5 to get the feel of it; seems kind of tight, so go up/bigger stitch size. Then using 2 rows of T10 to separate,  knit 20 rows at T6, T7, T8 and T9 - it’s looking rather airy by now so end it. Because this is cotton, some shrinkage is expected and since it is such a large cone, I’ll wash and dry this piece before I decide on what stitch size to use for the real swatch using one of those 1RTs that I like.

P.S. Showing the purl side of the swatch because the higher stitch size dividing rows show up better in the photo.