May 10, 2004

Experimenting with Shaping

Sorry to be such an absentee party hostess. I'm glad to see that everyone's been helping themselves to the goodies in the pantry. I can't believe that we've got 61 guests enjoying this party. Welcome everyone!

(Becky, did you find the kir behind the bar? With all those ribbed sleeves you've been working on, I thought you might want a little apero...)

I don't have any Audrey progress to show yet (yes, someone just started her Audrey last Saturday..) but I will show you all a little experiment I tried with the shaping decreases. I don't think that I will be doing this myself (I will probably stick with the pattern as written, since I've seen several success stories here), but I thought I would present my experiement so that everyone can see the results.

20040510_AudreyDecreaseExperiment.JPG
A Different Approach to the Decreases

In this case, I decresed the decrease row interval by half and shrunk the width of the piece down by about 50%. Then, I did those decreases such that they travelled across the knit ribs, rather than having them line up on the vertical. The increases mirror the decreases. I think it creates an interesting dynamic in the fabric. It's not exactly right for Audrey, but it has given me cause to think about designing something of my own, using this element.

Not that I have time to design anything right now. Maybe someday. I do find Calmer to be a very inspirational yarn.

Posted by Theresa at May 10, 2004 08:05 PM
Comments

What color Calmer are you using Theresa? I'm trying to pick out a blue for another project, and your pic caught my eye.

Posted by: Sharlene at May 10, 2004 09:48 PM

The color I'm working with is the discontinued color "NightSky". It's a very true blue and I think its going to be perfect for me and with a pair of khakis.

Posted by: Theresa at May 10, 2004 09:56 PM

I'll patiently await your new design -- I think that it's an interesting element. I'm a slowpoke, too, and will be taking delivery of my Calmer tomorrow!

Posted by: Vicki at May 11, 2004 09:19 AM

Theresa, those decreases are so cool. I really love one-color sweaters with interesting patterns; maybe there could be a similar effect on the sleeves, with the diamond over the elbows (like patches on a blazer...) Anyway, thanks for sharing.

Posted by: JennyW. at May 11, 2004 02:51 PM

That's OK, Theresa -- we think we'll keep you! You have been very generous to give us space for a forum. Thank you!

Posted by: Norma at May 12, 2004 12:34 PM