How's it supposed to drape?

Having been a sewer for so many years, it's intuitive to me about how fabric drapes. (It's also quite obvious - the fabric itself is falling off the bolt.) I know what cotton will do versus linen. I also know (that in few cases) all cottons are not created equal. I know how silk differs from rayon or polyester (and how polyesters differ amongst themselves). I know how wool suiting is supposed to behave, and I know that most upholstery fabrics do not make a cute skirt, despite how appealing the fabric print is.

What continues to puzzle me is how yarn drapes. About a month ago, I was told that I do not want to knit a sweater from bamboo yarn, because the fabric will not hold up to the shaping of the sweater. Bamboo is therefore more appropriate for things like shawls. While I'm appreciative of the tip, it also frustrates me. I don't know enough about [plant and protein] fiber to understand what it's going to do before I even do anything with it. I feel that I'm at the point in my knitting career that I'm trying to become smarter about my yarn choices prior to casting on (oh, I should mention that I'm a big substituter - in almost all cases). I'll also swatch long enough to get gauge (which in my case generally means that I've cast on and am swatching as I go. If I'm not at gauge, I'll sooner make adjustments to the pattern than rip out - a terrible habit, I know.), but I won't swatch big enough to actually figure out how the thing will drape. It seems there are too many variables to handknit fabric - if I knit on a 4 versus a 6, gauge will obviously change, and along with it, drape. But certainly there must be basic principles - am I overlooking them as I jump from project to project? Will I ever learn this?

Hello, Kitty

Every few weeks, I get together with some like-minded crafty friends to hang out and make things. We're all different in our strengths and in what we make, or how we think about making things, so in addition to the camaraderie, we're learning from each other as well. Plus, one of the best parts of Craft Day is actually planning the project to work on.

We'll usually gather at Suj's, so I try to bring something portable. Although I have been known to lug both my sewing machine and my serger along. And my guitar. And dinner ingredients. And beer. (We'll make dinner [and sometimes desert] too - it keeps with the spirit of things.) Several months ago, I starting working on a cross-stitch Hello Kitty wedding pillow for Rima. Aptly, I also finished it at Craft Day.


Rima and I are both tea fanatics - sometimes more appropriately known as water snobs. Sure, some teas are better than others, and proper steeping times and water temperatures can't be wholly overlooked, but it all tastes like garbage if you don't use good water. Therefore, in addition to the pillow I also sent her a few tea tins, which Suj painted. I have no drawing skills whatsoever and Suj didn't have a project planned (very fortuitous for me) so I put her to work. :) She was happy to help and her painting turned out beautifully. Thanks Suj!

So it begins..

Fall knitting, that is. And just as the summer heat has finally arrived. But it'll start cooling off soon, and I'm excited for it - fall is easily my favorite season.

This summer has been fairly productive for me, I only have a couple summer projects left to finish. Surprisingly, I don't have much in the queue for the fall, so I'm also looking forward to the surprises it'll bring. At least I can say that first up is the Green Gable Hoodie using Cascade Eco Wool in Platinum.


For being such a bulky yarn, the sweater is actually turning out to be quite light. I tried to knit it before in Wool Ease Thick & Quick, which ended up being too bulky and stiff. I hope the Eco Wool will stay drapy but hold up on the hood. In any case, I'll be using it again for something else - it's such a great deal for the yardage.


The mitts are just over halfway done. The right one still obviously needs to be blocked, but I'll wait and do them at the same time. Otherwise, I'm smitten with these mittens - they've turned out a lot better than I'd thought - my sister joked that they were an early birthday present for her and Dad was surprised when I told him they were a handknit. And even the train conductor, who sees me knitting every morning, inquired about them!

These have really been a fun knit so far. There's not been any overwhelming urge to frog or put them on hold; there's a few mistakes, but I'm living with them; and they went up super fast. To that, I have to give credit to the 9" Hiya Hiya circ. Just the fact that I have to use dpns for the cuff, tip and thumb irritates me, because I seriously can't stop raving about that circ. I think it's one of the best things to happen to the knitting world. Ever. I'm even considering knitting socks with it. Seriously. I even bought sock yarn. (Ok, it was one of the Sock Summit Dye for Glory winners, but still.) I'll let know how it goes with the socks.

Knitterly Commuting

Most of my knitting gets done on the train as I commute between Chicago and suburbs, and I've been fairly adamant about reserving this time specifically for knitting. I honestly believe I wouldn't knit nearly as much otherwise. Last week I also started commuting to Racine, WI, which gives me about 3 hours (roundtrip) of uninterrupted knitting time. Awesome :)

Here are the train knits from the past couple of weeks.


This was a [sweet,-I-just-got-an-internship-so-I'll-celebrate-by-buying-yarn] kind of a project. I normally don't like the color pink and I normally don't like knitting with cotton (the yarn is Berroco Cotton Twist), but I think it was the subtle sheen that's been spun into the yarn that attracted me to it. And what better way to show it off than with a lace shawl? Little Arrowhead Shawl is the pattern, and it was actually quite delightful to knit. The yarn ended up being ok. I don't know if I'd knit with it again. It was a bit splitty, and there were knots in the middle of the skein (and with only 85 yards on the skein in the first place, that quickly becomes annoying). Further, I'd knit a stockinette swatch and was a bit disappointed at how it looked and draped in stockinette. The open lace is far better in showing off the yarn and it drapes well, so I'm happy with the overall result, but still.


I've secretly been wanting to make Saartje's Bootees for some time now. Last month, I'd asked a photographer friend to shoot some of my work, and I'd offer to compensate him in knitting. He'd told me he and his wife were expecting a baby boy, so I thought these would be perfect.


And currently on the needles are the Anemoi Mittens, in Knit Picks Palette, and on the new Hiya Hiya 9" circ. Mostly, I'm excited to be using the circ. I knit the cuff on dpns, which I generally dislike using for an extended period of time anyways, and though I'm only 6 rounds in on the body of the mitt, I'm already loving the circ. It definitely took a little bit getting used to, and especially since I'm knitting with yarn in both hands (which in and of itself takes a bit to get used to), but it's overall easier and much faster than the dpns. So far, no complaints. I'm eager to knit these - we'll see how they turn out.