Siena Completed

I had a pretty good weekend -- both knit-wise and otherwise. On the otherwise category we marked the end of the holiday season by taking down all of our decorations and returning them to their various hidey-holes in the house and garage. It's always a little sad whe I see the tree head off for the alleyway. Knit-wise, I completed Siena -- well, almost... the buttons still remain to be chosen and attached, but, lucky for me, this cardigan works fairly well without them as well.

Siena From the Front

I was also lucky in that while it wasn't warm outside, it was sunny enough to be worth stepping outside and getting some natural light shots (it was still pretty chilly, tho, which is why my expression is a little stoic). In temporary lieu of buttons, I've used some of the leftover Giotto to tie the cardigan closed at the neck.

Siena From the Side

After much deliberation, I actually did follow the instructions for setting in the sleeve. Last Thursday night, Bonne Marie spent time explaining garment structure and stresses. Apparently, sleeves set in after the seams are sewn create more structural integrity and flexibility for the garment.
While I have to admit that it is not all completely clear to me (the explanation was clear, I just needed to create a concrete example for myself), one aspect of it appealed to me a lot: less seam bulk under the arm.

And the process wasn't quite as painful as I might have anticipated once I decided to do it. I centered the top of the sleeve cap on the shoulder seam and pinned down the top of the sleeve to the top of the armhole. Then I did the same with the side and sleeve seams. Then I pinned down the sides and started mattress stitching from the sleeve/side seam join area.

And I'm more or less pleased with the result. There is definitely very little bulk under the arm. The "less" part comes from just the Giotto and gauge fo the fabric itself. The loose gauge of the fabric made it easy to distort and I was constantly poking my darning needle through the ribbon instead of under or around it. I sewed up all the seams with the Giotto because anything else would have been noticeable through the fabric. And on the sides of the pieces where I carried up the strands as I worked with two balls, the seam is a little thicker. I like the outside of this cardigan, but the inside is not as neat as I would like.

Siena From the Back

There's not really any shaping in the pieces of this cardigan -- except for the sleeves. All the body hugging qualities come from the drape of the fabric. I like the ruffle a lot. It hangs just below the hips instead of at the hips and, thus, doesn't give the wearer the illusion of elephantine proportions in the hip region.

While these shots show off Siena, my favorite shot was one John took while playing with light and shadow in our dining room. Since it's not really a great shot of the cardigan, if you want to see it you'll have to click here.

I liked this project. It knits up quickly and it shows off a simple ruffle making technique which I know I will use again. I still love Giotto. I like the way it feels, I like the texture it creates, and I like that it has just enough shine that it can be dressed up, but is also matte finish enough to go to work. The pattern was well written -- I didn't find any mistakes that I had to correct. Perhaps the only thing that concerned me was the amount of Giotto I had left over. Supposedly, 4 skeins is supposed to be enough for the size I did and the size one size larger. I defintely did not have enough left over to convince me that this cardigan could be made one size larger in the stated gauge with the same amount of skeins. I made the second smallest size... if you make the third smallest, I would consider having a reserve skein, just in case.

My only gripes are small ones. It would have been nice for the pattern to include a suggested button size for the buttons. And it would have been better if the picture of the cardigan included 5 buttons as stated in the pattern rather than just the 4 shown in the picture.

What did I learn?

• Setting in the sleeves after seaming the sleeves and the sides wasn't so bad. It did take a little more patience to place them correctly, but it did reduce the bulk I often get under the arm.
• Creating ruffles is kind of neat. I wouldn't want ruffles on all my clothes, but if they're the singular design element, they work out well.
• Wind Giotto by hand. I think the swift/ball winder combination would have put a lot of twist into the ribbon and made it hard to use. I never felt like I got too much twist as I was knitting.
• I need to learn a different technique for carrying the yarn up the side. It worked out better this time than the last time I tried it, but I still feel like one side of the fabric was pulled a little tighter at the edge than the other. Also, there was more bulk at the carry edge than I would have liked.

Well, now Siena is ready... I just have to wait for the end of February to wear it out to the opera. Plenty of time to go shopping to find the perfect skirt to go with it.