Thea decided that she would like me to knit her some short sleeved shirts out of the Moda Vera bamboo/cotton yarn packs from Spotlight. This was one of the designs she chose. I might end up improvising the other design - not sure yet …

We needed to find one more colour. Luckily there was some Goshen that we think will work really well, in a recent box I bought from Webs… I might need to use a smaller needle for the Goshen … actually, it might turn out to be too heavy to use with the other yarn, but we can try it and see

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Swatching
Had to go up FOUR sizes in my needles, from the 3.25mm that is recommended in the pattern, to 4.5mm needles to get gauge with the Moda Vera yarn. This exercise highlighted for me how lovely this yarn can knit up in a wide variety of gauges

Can manage a comparable gauge with the Goshen on 4mm needles. Not sure Thea will like how different the fabric is b/w the two yarns, though. The Goshen is much denser and has far less drape at this gauge than the Moda Vera. Having said this, both fabrics are lovely and do actually look nice together… I am going to try holding two strands of Go Handmade Tencel Bamboo “fine” together in a swatch and see how it goes. I found a colour in stash that will probably go nicely …

After a discussion with Thea, including the swatch for her to examine and feel, she decided that the difference in the density b/w the Moda Vera and the Goshen was probably not the best thing … but she is not sure that she likes the colour of the Go Handmade. I will do some more stash diving and see what else I have …

I am going to try to make it in the round. We will see how we go! Cast on will be 230sts ( = cast on for front + cast on for back, minus the four selvedge stitches needed for seaming). The instructions for this size state that I will need to use chart 2 for the front and chart 3 for the back … it will be interesting to see if I can remember to switch charts half way along a round!

I’m actually going to use JMCO for the cast on and put the bottom stitches on hold. This way, we can decide what we want the bottom hem to be like after doing the rest of the garment. The bottom hem is a place where the women in my family often have issues b/c we tend to have a big flare in our dimensions below the waist …

…well, I THOUGHT that my cast on number was 230 but it turns out that it was 234 . Such a daft thing to do! I ended up fudging in some single backwards loop cast on stitches. In addition to this, I somehow managed to get my cast on twisted! A very rare occurrence for me. Luckily I picked up that it was twisted in the first one or two rounds so I am not going to need to undo everything. I have made sure that the twist is at a side seam. Seeing as I have started with a JMCO provisional cast on, when I come back to work the hem top down (whatever we end up deciding to do for it), I can see how everything is sitting after the stitches from the second cast on needle are put back on to a circular. There is a chance that I can just ignore the twist and continue working, especially if we decide to do a split hem. If not things are not looking great b/c of the twist, then it won’t be too difficult to pick up the “upside down” stitches from what was the cast on on the first needle, and simply undo the stitches that were on that second needle - problem solved!!! Of course, this would not be an adequate fix if the twist wasn’t discovered in the first couple of rounds …

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NOPE!!! Measured Thea when she came home from work and we decided that the next size down would likely be better …

So, cast on 216sts (plus one for joining in the round) via JMCO. Put the stitches from one of the needles onto waste yarn, and started again, following the instructions for size 3 this time!

Goodness! The bobble row came around faster than I expected and I have never done bobbles b/f! I watched the linked video a few times, but I’m not sure that I like the look of that bobble. I’m thinking that I will have a go with the “in the round” method that is explained in the video that I am going to attempt to link here:
link text

NB: I think the person in the video might knit “eastern style” where the leading leg of her stitches is actually to the back of the needle, or perhaps “mixed eastern and western” where the leading leg is behind the needle for one type of stitch (either knit or purl) and in front of the needle for the other. This means that it is a bit difficult to tell whether she is twisting stitches sometimes, but I think she explicitly says when it is important to twist.

I confess that I am a bit trepidatious (if that was a word), especially b/c this yarn has zero elasticity, and I’m thinking that elasticity in the yarn might be very helpful for bobbles …

Ok! I decided that the wisest way to proceed was to do a swatch for my bobbles, and I ‘m very pleased that I did! I decided that I wanted my bobbles to have a smooth, stockinette surface b/c they are framed in reverse stockinette. I was worried that they might end up a bit floppy and unstructured due to the yarn I am using, so I went down to a size 3mm needle for the bobble stitches only, in order to give them a tighter, more solid structure. I did the ones in my swatch between stitches, but now I have realised that they will have to be into an actual stitch if I want them centred in the reverse stockinette “squares”. This is fine - I just need to make sure that the stitch I work them into is twisted at the beginning. I decided five sts should be about right - we aren’t big bobble people. The first of my bobbles was five rows, but I think it was too elongated. The second was four rows and I think it will be the size I am after. I need to remember on the row after the bobbles that I need to attach the bobble stitch to an adjacent preceding stitch in order to close up gaps. I also found in my second bobble that any loose strands coming from the bobble to the next stitch can be incorporated when you knit the bobble with an adjacent one on the next round, and this seems to work well at tidying things up … so, here goes!!!

Specific instructions so that I don’t forget on the future bobble rows:

• work up to the fifth stitch of the reverse stockinette section
• Bring yarn to the back (to work bobble in stockinette)
• slide stitches on right needle on to cable
• use 3mm needle to create five sts in the back leg of the next stitch
• Remove that stitch from the left needle (NB: it is really important to keep the orientation of your work as is b/c it kind of looks and feels like it is twisted during the bobble formation) so that your five bobble stitches are now held on the 3mm needle
• Slide the stitches on the (larger) left hand needle back on to the cable
• Slip the five bobble stitches onto the other end of the 3mm needle (as per creating an icord)
• Working in stockinette, do three more rows of five stitch icord with the bobble stitches (3mm needle)
• Slip the first 4 bobble stitches over the 5th bobble stitch one at a time
• Making sure to keep the correct orientation, slip the single remaining bobble stitch back to the left, larger needle and then to the right larger needle
• Bring yarn back to the front and continue working, making sure to pull the bobble stitch tightly next to the one after it
• The bobble stitch needs to be secured to the work leading up to it on the next row, via doing a lifted increase and knitting the lifted stitch together with the bobble stitch that comes after it.NB: I later discovered that working this lifted stitch together with the bobble stitch tbl prevented some of the fabric distortion I was seeing to the right of the bobbles. Later still, I discovered that working the stitch to the left of the bobbles tbl was also a good idea …
• consider also knitting any loose strands into the knitted together stitch on this round.

Going well after two colours completed - it is looking soooooo pretty! I have noticed that I am getting some stretched out stitches/laddering when changing from stockinette to reverse stockinette. It doesn’t seem to always occur but isn’t so nice when it does. To fix this, I’ve started working the first purl stitch after a stockinette section tbl, from the second last green row. This seems to have made an immediate improvement!

A comment on reasons why my progress on this has been so slow so far:
Firstly, I started this during the time when I was participating in the Westknits Geogradient MKAL, so I was only working this top when I had finished each clue for the week. Then, Thea had to go shopping for and choose the fifth colour. We had to order it. … and then we discovered that the fifth colour (the white) is actually a different weight to the yarn from the packs (even though the only thing that indicates this on the ball band is the meterage, as far as I can tell), so I had to frog a few rows and restart using only twelve of the 18 strands that make up the white. I am now progressing by unplying the yarn as I go, which is not the fastest of processes. I’m not sure whether unplying it all first would be better or not …

I noticed that there is a slight distortion of the fabric to the right of the bobbles, so, On the round that follows the bobble round in the first white section, when I lifted the stitch to be worked with the bobble stitch, I started working them together tbl. This seems to have fixed the problem!!!

This yarn is so interesting in that the colour it appears in the balled form is not the same as the colour it appears when knitted up. So lovely, though!

I have decided that I will separate into front and back after having done five colours. I know that it probably isn’t needed for the armholes just yet, but that will leave plenty of space to get the armholes just the right size for Thea. I will have to remember to create the four selvedge stitches when I divide into front and back. Also, given how slinky and drapey (and gorgeous) this yarn is, I’m thinking that it might be wise to let it hang on a coat hanger for a day or so before deciding on the correct armhole length and what the treatment for the bottom hem should be. This will give the top enough time to assume a shape that should be closer to what it will be when worn. I’m predicting that there is a good chance that it will grow considerably in length with gravity …

We decided not to include the bobbles on the upper back. This was b/c I have seen comments about some people finding it quite distracting or annoying to have bobbles in that area when they are seated and leaning back (the curve of your spine means it isn’t so bad further down. Also, if you have a cardigan or jumper over the top, it would be forced to drape over the top of the bobbles at the top back and shoulders, which might not be a good thing.

Neck and shoulders
Ribbing altered so that it is k1 tbl, p1 on both sides (NB: this is NOT the same as traditional twisted (or is that half twisted??) rib where, from the front, all of the knit columns are twisted and all of the purl columns are plain. My iteration results in the knit columns having alternating twisted and plain stitches and the purl columns having a similar arrangement, only vertically shifted by one so that plain knits are next to twisted purl, and twisted knits are next to plain purls. Neither the knit columns nor the purl columns should have a propensity to want to stretch out flat this way.
STH short rows
Separation row is k1 tbl, slip1 wyib
Bind off - k1 tbl, slip 1 wyib, pass worked stitch over slipped stitch, k1 tbl, psso, slip 1, pass worked stitch over etc etc.
- looks really nice and completely non-stretchy … so much so that I will need to have some stitches on either side on the back neckline bound off in a more stretchy manner so that it will pass over Thea’s head more easily … actually, that would have been better off done at the front, so I will redo the bind off at the front to provide a little bit more stretch …
Ended up actually adding four extra rows to each shoulder, both front and back. This was to create more space for Thea to get her head through. An unintended, but happy, side effect was that Thea was actually happier with the neckline lower rather than going straight across the front of her neck. I slipped the edge stitch at the beginning of each of the extra rows.
To join, I used a modified three needle bind off and worked it from the right side. This resulted in a lovely, flat chain of stitches laying along the seam line on the right side.

I have a serious suspicion about this top being highly susceptible to the effects of gravity due to its inelasticity, slinkiness and high density, so wanted to hang it for at least a few hours b/f deciding on how deep the armholes need to be and also what to do with the hem. You can see in the photos what I came up with in order to create a hanger that more closely approximates the shape of a neck and shoulders . So lucky that Thea had recently purchased a few cheap tennis balls and was happy for me to have one - and there are always a few toilet paper roll centres around. Sticky tape is a modern wonder!

Time to swatch for the hem. Eventually, I settled on the last four rows of the sleeve cuff pattern from Sugarplum Crop, followed by two rows of purl and then bind off loosely in knit.
…except that I decided not to split the hem (I had initially thought that I would) so after I did the four rounds of the chart, I did one round of purl, one round of knit and then did the most basic knitwise bind off (k1, k1, pass first stitch over second, k1, pass first stitch over second etc etc) very loosely. I made sure, for the bind off, that there was no tension in the yarn by pulling a good amount from the ball to have ready, rather than pulling as I went. I also made sure that the stitches that I was working weren’t being pulled on by the weight of the garment by ensuring the garment was well supported from underneath and I held the work just above the surface rather than up closer to my body. I also made sure to turn the garment around as I worked so that it wasn’t being twisted and pulling on the stitches . In any case, all of this resulted in a lovely, tidy row of bind off stitches sitting on the right side of the garment, nestled right next to the row of purl bumps. Very pleasing! It doesn’t seem to be curling at all, which is also great!

Truthfully, the bottom edge has turned out more ruffled than I intended. When I was swatching for it, I actually had realised that the lace chart I used was going to mean that there would be four stitches increased for every pattern “square” on the body. The swatch that I knitted didn’t seem to ruffle quite as much as what the garment is though. In any case, I still really like the result - I just hope Thea does, too. If I didn’t want any ruffle at all, I would need to make sure that every yo in the chart was matched with a decrease. If I wanted a ruffle that was less full, I could add extra decreases on only one of the chart pattern rows rather than both.

Working the bottom edge top down from the provisional cast on, like I did here, results in the edge being offset to the side by half a stitch when compared with the body. I am actually ok with that in this particular case. I don’t think it is particularly noticeable unless you look closely and know what you are looking at. Having said that, I think I would probably try to have the lace chart worked in the same direction as the body, if I was to do this again. That could be done by doing a normal cast on and simply working from the (?modified) bottom up chart that is available in the same pattern as the top down chart that I used. If I wanted to keep the bottom edge exactly as it is in this project, doing a JMCO and then binding off the stitches on one of the needles as the next step, then, on the stitches on the other needle, start with a purl row followed by the lace chart … OR, to avoid purling, JMCO and orient the work so that the purl bumps created by the JMCO are on the right side of the fabric, then knit one round followed by binding off on the stitches on one needle, and, start directly into the lace chart with the stitches on the other needle. Note: a new cast on number would need to be worked out, based on the multiple of 9 that the pattern of the body is over, plus any increases that the lace chart requires to create the ruffle (or not) … plus one for joining in the round.

I think we made the right decision in keeping the bottom edge treatment the same colour as the first pattern repeat of the body, thereby avoiding a colour stripe across the widest part of the body, which can tend to make the area look even wider sometimes.

Armholes
After hanging for around 24hrs, the armhole marker had only dropped ~1cm (from 15cm to 16cm armhole depth). This bodes well for the garment not stretching too out of shape with wear!
When Thea tried the top on so we could determine the correct armhole depth for her, we found that around 21cm would probably be best. Going from the chart of measurements, this is the around the depth of the armhole for size 8 (I am knitting size 3)!!! I think there might be a combination of factors at play - I think the designer might have slender arms, but I also think she might have deliberately made the armholes “close” as part of the design. There might well be an element of differing climate involved as well - We are very humid and hot here on the east coast of Australia, and it is currently Spring. Close armholes are likely not what most people want. Anyway, I am hoping to be able to use the pick up number for size 8 for the arm hole finishing …

83sts picked up around each armhole using 3mm needle. Then swapped back to the same sized needle as the rest of the project. One round knit, one round purl, one round knit, then bind off as per the hem. This matches the last few rounds on the bottom hem. We decided on the green for the right armhole and the mauve for the left armhole. The pink just wouldn’t have looked right and the terracotta colour would have looked more “edgy”. The colours we chose are softer and add a bit of whimsy that is in keeping with the colour palette and also the embroidery.

Now for a wash and block prior to adding the embroidery …

Embroidery Swatch
Photo: Top line - all petals have three stitches catching the tips; bottom line - all petals have a single stitch catching the tips
Thread: Top line, left to right - two single, unplied threads of terracotta; pink yarn plus white yarn, both as per used in the knitting of the project; six unplied threads of white
Bottom line, left to right - 18 strands of white (straight from the ball, which is worsted weight, I think); Green straight from the ball (I think it is probably around twelve strands plied together); orange held together with white, orange straight off the ball, white as per used in the project (twelve strands).
Swatch was done on reverse stockinette b/c that is what the embroidery will be onto in the project. I left the bobbles off the swatch b/c they take up both time and yarn that I didn’t want to use up on just a swatch. I used stitch markers to divide the face of the swatch into sections that are the correct number of stitches and rows for the embroidery in the project.

I actually like all of the daisies I created in the swatch! I think it looks like a fantastic, chaotic cottage garden in spring, with all of the different colours and thicknesses of yarn. I need to remember that they will be far more spread out on the top and there will be different background colours. The top will have the flowers arranged in a far more orderly fashion, so it will depend on whether Thea would like a touch of randomness, a little bit of orderliness, or a lot of regulated sameness to create a pattern as to what would be the best path to take …

After discussion with Thea, she decided that she likes the more bold look of the thicker examples - ie, the ones held double and the worsted white sample. We had discussed the possibility, a few days ago, of having white embroidery on all of the other colours, and all of the colours on the white. She has decided that she doesn’t want the colours to have only white on them, though. She said she would like some variety, so doesn’t mind if I swap around b/w a single stitch and more than that at the tips of the petals. She also doesn’t mind if I use all the different colours on the different backgrounds rather than sticking to what the pattern says (which is to hold together the yarn of the colours immediately above and below the background colour you are applying embroidery to. So, in short, the embroidery on Thea’s top will be bold as in the pattern, but a bit more colourful and varied. … I hope I can make something she loves …

Blocking
Pre blocking measurements: 40cm across; 45cm from shoulder point or front neck to hem.
Thea wants the armhole depth 21cm. The finishing on the armhole brought it into ~18cm pre-blocking
Neckline 18cm

I blocked by soaking in water plus Soak wash for a couple of hours. It was interesting to see the grime that came out, and perhaps the very faintest hint of dye (not enough to be absolutely sure whether there was any or not). The washing machine was in use, so I couldn’t put it through a spin cycle. Used the roll in a towel and squish by walking on it method to get a lot of the excess water out. I got a surprise when I laid it out and looked at the measurements. In spite of me being extremely careful to support it whilst it was wet, it had stretched in all directions simply b/c of the water. The armholes had returned to the 21cm that we wanted. The hem was down to ~54cm from the shoulder tip. The most stretching, though, was in width. It was well on the way to 60cm (pre-blocking was 40cm) even though I had been careful not to apply any forces that might cause stretching!!! So, no tensioning needed for blocking this top - in fact, exactly the opposite was needed! I carefully squished it back to the dimensions that we wanted and pinned it in place on a mat. I pinned the edges of the bottom hem together in case it was tempted to curl as it dried, and did the same with the neckline and armholes. Everything else was gently squished together into place, with special attention paid to trying to keep the horizontal and vertical elements where they are supposed to be. I didn’t try to straighten out the scalloping from the checkerboard lace patterning b/c I think that the scallops are nice! I think I might have been able to tell that it was shrinking back as it dried even just in the time that I was pinning it out (it is a very hot, sunny day) - but that might also be my imagination. It will be interesting to see how it dries! If it is still wanting to be too wide, I can always hang it up for a while again to encourage gravity to pull it in.

Just thought I would add another note about the blocking. It is tempting to think “Well, that’s what happens if you don’t actually wash and block a swatch”. If I had a washed and blocked swatch I could, in theory, accurately predict what size a certain number of rounds/rows and stitches would end up with the same treatment used for the swatch. Unfortunately, this all negates the benefits of being able to have the eventual recipient actually try on the garment as you go, b/c you are counting on the project changing size/shape with blocking if you knit according to a blocked swatch, so trying on during the knitting becomes a fairly useless activity … I suppose I tend to aim towards having a bit of an informed awareness of what is likely to happen with a wash and block for any given yarn, without slavishly obtaining exact round/row and stitch gauges from definitively washed and blocked swatches. … besides, how many gauge swatches are enough??? Should you automatically do several different swatches using different needle sizes, hoping that one of them achieves the gauge for the pattern??? That sounds like it would take a considerable amount of yarn and time….and, if you are anything like me, your gauge swatches often lie to you… I suppose, I go with a kind of mash up of having an idea of what happens in general terms to a specific yarn with washing and blocking, plus an attempt to get an approximation of the correct gauge without washing/blocking. This way I know that it is possible for me to get close to gauge with the yarn and I have an idea about what issues I am likely to be able to ignore and what issues are going to be a real problem even after blocking.

Additional notes on the embroidery
The terracotta colour is, by far, the boldest of the colours used. This means that it your eye will be drawn to it. I decided to try to take advantage of that by using a double strand of it to embroider in strategic places so that the eye is drawn diagonally from one shoulder down to the opposite hip. In theory, this should have a slimming effect, but we will see how it goes! It could look horrible - or Thea might not like it …

I have three bobbles on the right front to embroider and that right hand side will be finished. I also think it needs at least one more on the bottom purple stripe. If it was for me, I would actually be tempted to call the front “done” at that point. I might not even do all of the ones still to do over on the right hand side. I like the “cascade of flowers” effect that it has. I need to see it on Thea (and Thea needs to see it on Thea) b/f we make more decisions. I think she will probably go for the full front having embroidery (probably leaving all of the colour decisions up to me ) and also probably wants the area on the back that has bobbles to be embroidered (but maybe not), and will probably also leave those colours up to me ( )… we will see

As an aside, the embroidery along the bottom has emphasised the small lace section I did for the hem. I like it!!!

… well, I misjudged Thea! She is actually happy to leave it as is for the moment! So it still has the three bobbles on the right side of the front without embroidery. I did do one more on the left of the bottom purple stripe but everything else is exactly as it was when I wrote the paragraph that is two above this one! So, there is a chance that this project is actually finished (14/11/23) - there is also a chance that Thea will ask if I can do some more embroidery down the track. I will leave this as a work in progress for the moment