Hot Tomato Salsa!
It
is Friday the 13th, a traditional "bad luck day" in the U.S.--but I am
throwing caution to the winds and wearing my fresh-off-the-needles Hot
Tomato. I realize that in doing so, I am making myself a target for
coffee accidents, spaghetti spills, and other natural disasters which
might be attracted to my new bright-orange sweater. I scoff, nay: I
laugh in the face of stains and dribbles, because folks, even if I do
say so myself, this top is HOT. (I am no fool, however. I drank my
coffee before I got dressed, and I am on a strict
water-and-colorless-food diet until I get home from work tonight.) It's
not blocked yet, because I finished it literally fifteen minutes before
leaving the house. So the photo here is just a sneak preview. Next
week, I'll give you a rundown on the modifications I made to the original Tomato, and give you a Hot Tomato Bust Dart PDF status check.
Out of the archives!
Last week, Jeane Hutchins,
Coming Next Week: Icelandic Lace Shawl
the editor of PieceWork magazine, received word that the Yahoo Lacey Shawl knitalong was desperately seeking copies of the pattern for a gorgeous Icelandic Shawl published in the July/August 1996 issue of PieceWork.
This issue is out of print, and thus a lot of lace knitters are very
sad. Sad lace knitters...not good, people. We want happy lace knitters!
So Jeane and I came up with a Plan: Guess what pattern is coming to Knitting Daily
next week? Yep. The Icelandic Shawl, fresh from the Interweave
archives. At first, we worried that we wouldn't be able to dig it up,
as not everything from that time period was saved in a digital format.
But Jeane valiantly kept searching, until at last she found the
original text and transparencies for the pattern! Our star production
department is working on getting this into top digital form for next
week.
"I didn't know PieceWork had knitting patterns in it!" Yup. Each issue, PieceWork magazine features one or more knitting projects
PieceWork July/August 2007
with a rich cultural and/or historical perspective--as well as articles
and patterns for everything from tatting to embroidery, quilting to
crochet. Well-known knitting designer and author Nancy Bush is
PieceWork's knitting contributor. The July/August 2007 issue
has a wonderful story about a woman who traveled through Russia by
train, and found herself buying several Russian knitted lace heirlooms
along the way. Instructions for knitting a Russian lace scarf are also
included.
Charm Wrap Chatter
Several of you noted that the oh-so-luscious Classic Elite Charmed yarn recommended for the Charm Wrap
is more of a luxury yarn than an everyday sort of yarn...what to do if
you have a everyday budget but you still want to knit that darling
cardigan? Substituting yarns is a great way to "personalize" a pattern
and really make it yours! There are two factors that go into successful
yarn substitutions: gauge, and the character of the yarn itself. The
original yarn used for the Charm Wrap is a worsted weight yarn, with a
gauge of
Charm Wrap
4.5 sts per inch on size 8 needles--so start your search for a substitute with worsted (CYCA #4) yarns with a similar recommended gauge. Next:
The original cashmere/mohair blend has a lovely drape; the mohair and
cashmere each have a bit of "grab" to them so that the stitches hold
onto each other and the fabric keeps its shape. You'll want to find a
yarn with similar characteristics for a similar look and feel. There
are plenty of wools and wool blends out there that would fit that
description. But what if you wanted something slightly exotic that was
still not too pricey? There are some wonderful worsted weight bamboo
yarns out there this season. In fact, I'm working on a sweater using
Classic Elite Bam Boo right now, and I adore the drape, the sheen, and
the slight touch of "memory" this yarn has. Whichever yarn you choose,
don't be stingy with the swatching, as that will be the best "gauge" of
how the finished product will turn out.