oooops....

the cover garment

What are the odds? That I would pick a pattern with a mistake in it! Well, actually, maybe I don’t want to know…the fact there was a mistake or that it was never found…does it mean no one actually tried this pattern, maybe…or did they get frustrated and simply give up? I can only laugh about it now and apologize.

back in the day before digital photos!

I had been thinking about lace –  been a while since I’ve used my lace carriage and its always been one of my favourite techniques, especially on the Silver Reed as the single action lace carriage allows one to knit a simple lace pattern as easily as stockinette because this lace carriage transfers and knits with the yarn in the feeder. So, my choice is ‘Ruffles and Lace’ from KW#10 – back in Autumn ’99. I made the original one for myself and did wear it many times. I remember, in particular, at a show in Dallas, while standing in line at the fashion show, Danis McWest commented on it and asked where I got the lace carriage for the bulky machine? I explained that it was done on the standard gauge but every third needle was out of work which made for the larger holes. He thought I was brilliant (or at least that’s what he said! ;-)) The original was made using Bonita cotton (4ply mercerized, 1850 yds/500g, T8-9 stockinette) and though I still  have several colours of Bonita, I wanted something lighter weight – thinking of that summertime thing and checked to see what I had. Going through the index files, I saw I used Yeomans Brittany ( 2ply cotton, double stranded, 3000m/350g, T6-7 stockinette) quite a bit, but had never done an entire garment of lace so that was my starting point. Last week I had briefly entertained the thought of making another GirlFriend Hoodie in lace and was going to try the Brittany. D

Brittany washed

id a quick swatch (no hem) just to test out the lace pattern and make sure  of the correct needle selection. It knit up fine – the holey-ness was excellent but I wanted a better drape than this soft cotton produced.

mushroom swatch fresh off the machine

Then, Mina Dina (2200 yds/lb, T5-6 stockinette) popped into my head – it’s a rayon/cotton blend, very nice drape, a nice little sheen, quite a bit lighter than Bonita and I had this great mushroom colour, not brown, not beige, not gray but close. Began to make the Mini Dina swatch and as I knew that this would be the one, I started with the full needle ribbed hem and was shocked to find this glaring omission – not enough information for the average knitter to make this band! I am devastated! I felt simply awful and even after this length of time I feel obligated to share my shame with you! Here is the corrected info (because I, ever hopeful, know you’re going to try this out):
Ruffly Rib
Full needle rib, all needles working. Cast on waste yarn, knit about an inch. Circular, ravel cord, K2R.
CAL, MC, T4/4, knit zigzag row. Set to circular, T6/8, K2R. RC000. Cancel circular, everything knits, T8/8, K1R. Starting at centre, at each side of 0, *using 3 prong tool, transfer #2, 3, 4 , one needle space to n#1, 2, 3. n#4 is empty, #1 has 2 sts. Transfer #6, 7, 8, one space to n#7, 8, 9, #6 is empty, #9 has 2 sts. Repeat like this across row on knit bed only. Leave empty ns in work. Bring needles out, stitches behind latches, both beds. Knit 2 rows.* Repeat required number of times.
Got my swatch knit (see photo above) and even though it looks pretty loose and random, after washing, it looks fabulous! (see photo at right)

mushroom MD washed

Early this morning, I awoke with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach – I have a cold but this was different - that edging would be in one of my trims books…was the error there? You know that ole cut’n’paste trick? The good news - it is in ‘Knitting on the EDGE’ and it is correct, so I did obviously make a new swatch and have the correct information there (big sigh of relief).
Machine knit like you wrote the pattern!