Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Fifi Fi Fo Fum!

It's pouring rain out, so sorry about the picture quality here...but this is what I've been working on the last few days:

Pattern: Fifi
Yarn: 5 balls Rowan Calmer in Tinkerbell (which I finally used after "aging" it in my stash for a year)
Needles: Knitpicks Options sz 7
(btw...have you seen their new wooden options? I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the mail!)

I realize it's a bit late in the season to start knitting such a thing, but I figure if I can finish it soon, I can wear it through October or so. (fingers crossed). Rowan Calmer is very stretchy, and it almost reminds me of Cascade Fixation, so it took me a while to get used to the feel of the yarn (translation: man, it was annoying at first!) This is my first top-down wearable, and it's pretty cool that I get to try it on as I go. It's meant to be cropped length, but I'm going to hope I can make it a bit longer before the yarn runs out. (so far, I'm on ball #2 of 5)

In other news, that BSJ made it to its recipient. She just turned 1 year old, so the 5sts=1" formula worked well! I've been requested by a friend to make another one for her daughter, but this one will have some mods...you'll see...
Answer for JUDE: With the button placement, the last 12 rows of the BSJ become the band where the buttons go, so what I did here was change to a contrasting color (red), and knit 6 rows. The end of Row #7 (RS) is where the girl's button holes go. In this example I left 4 sts between the neck edge and the top button hole, and spaced the other button holes 7 sts apart. (Since the girl's button holes start at the "bottom" of the jacket, I counted the number of sts along where the button band is, did a "yo" where I wanted my bottom button hole and continued: *K6, K2tog, yo* 4 more times, and ended with K4. Had this been a boy's jacket, the holes would be on the other side, so you'd start Row #7 with K4, *yo, K2tog, K6*, etc.) As you can see from the pics in the last post, I chose to leave a few extra stitches between the last button and the bottom of the BSJ (for room when the baby sits). Finally, I cast of in purl, so there was no visible "edge". If you need more info, you can email me at violiknit@yahoo.com

10 comments:

  1. Love the color you choose for Fifi. The little girl is cute. IT's nice to see handknits being worn and appreciated. Looking forward to your modifications for the next one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fifi looks great, as does the baby girl's sweater. Your modifications amaze me. I'm always way too afraid to stray from the pattern unless it's a really easy knit. Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ooh, fifi looks really good so far and the BSJ is so cute on the recipient. good luck with the new BSJ modifications! : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous4:19 AM

    Oh yummy, your top is going to look awesome - I adore that pattern! It's such a pleasure knitting something top down and having the chance to try it on while you go and making the necessary changes if you have to - this makes me wonder why I don't knit sweaters or tops from the top down more often as it's just so much more comfortable to knit!
    Anyways, I can't wait to see more of this top and mind you, I'm having all my fingers crossed that your fall will be warm enough for you to wear it a couple times!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:20 AM

    Oy. How could I ever forget to comment on the cuteness that's the little girl wearing the sweater you knit for her? My gosh - adorable, both the little one and the sweater!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous12:43 PM

    I never seem to hit knitting for the right season either. I'm always finishing sweaters in spring or summer. However, with something cooler, you can always put something over it to keep you warm.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your fifi. The cables are wonderful. I bet you could wear it all winter long with a jacket. Very nice.
    The baby looks so cute in her beautiful new jacket. Sure hope she can wear it for a long time. Babies grow too fast ;)

    happy knitting :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your Fifi is looking awesome and the 1 year old sweater is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Um that was suppose to be 1 year old's sweater. Not that the sweater is a year old but the child is one year old. Hope that made sense :).

    ReplyDelete
  10. your Fifi is coming along great! My SP11 pal gave me this pattern as a gift and I'm really looking forward to knit it!

    ReplyDelete