Chiton

Hi gang,

Your humble narrator has returned from a long hiatus due to the same excuse of "too much school work/research/random life nonsense" and not enough knitting time. Anyway, things have been same old around these parts. My birthday was a couple of weeks ago...I'd like to regale you with tales of debauchery and illicit birthday celebrations but I spent the day home working on some papers. Maybe that marks the end of youth: you no longer give a shit (or anyone else for that matter) about your birthday. But the upside is that I've been so busy that I haven't had time to care or take it personally. So it goes...

I do, however, have a knit item to share! I had planned on finishing it during the summer months in order to wear it before the cold weather hit, but I was too slow. I guess wearing it will have to wait for next spring. Alas.

Anyway, here are the deets:

Chiton Pullover by Melissa Wehrle
Needle: 5
Yarn: Knitpicks CotLin, surf
Skeins: 7
Size: XS

That's some serious posing right there...

I started knitting this in February and finished some time in...September? It took a while to block and take semi-decent pictures, hence the lateness. The pattern was well-written (no errata that I came across) and I think it makes for a cute garment. Take note that it does have positive ease; I knit the smallest size and there's a couple of extra inches in there. I like it, personally, but if you're all about being a "sweater gal" (i.e., you like garments to show off your curves), then perhaps a little modification is in your future.

Look at my cute belt!

With regards to the yarn: I like it, but I don't love it. I don't think this is through any fault of the yarn, per se (as if yarns have humanistic properties, but I digress), but I think that maybe this yarn was not the best choice for this project. It sheds a bit when knitting and there's some vegetable matter in the yarn itself. However, the biggest problem is that this pattern really needs a yarn with a lot of drape, like maybe something containing bamboo, silk or alpaca. CotLin is a mix of cotton and linen and I thought the linen was up to the challenge for draping purposes but so far, this is not the case. The pullover is really stiff and doesn't "hang" naturally, if you know what I mean. I'll wait and see if regular washing will take care of this. I'll keep you all posted. Also, and this is important, I ran out of yarn! I'm thinking that the posted yarn requirements are wrong so if you're planning on knitting this, do order an extra skein.

Ass shot.

The only modification I made to the pattern was in the shoulder seaming; rather than doing a three-needle bind off, I Kitchner stitched the shoulders. DON'T DO THAT. I thought I was being all smart by minimizing the bulk the seams would have created, which I guess is true. However, if you Kitchner stitch them, you will have some gaping where the end of the rows are or where you "turned the work." The pictures don't really show the gaping but it's more apparent in person. So go ahead and do the three-needle bind off. If you want. No pressure.

Overall, it was a relatively quick and fun knit. We'll see if I actually wear it, but again, this is due to my "incorrect" yarn choice and last-minute executive decision to change the seaming technique.

Live and learn. :-/