No Sweat Pants
Before you fear for what you might see if you scroll down farther on this page, let me assure that even in the absence of sweat pants, no skin is revealed. Instead, I'm getting started on a project I just couldn't ignore, the "No Sweat Pants" from the Spring 2004 Interweave Knits (scroll past mid-page for the pic).
Now... before anyone tries to convince me of the craziness of going off and knitting pants for myself (or anyone else), let me tell you that I had all those conversations with myself and I just couldn't get this project out of my brain. There's just something wondeful and silly about it. And at just 4 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun for my size (the largest, which seems to be about a US size 6), I figured I couldn't lose too much if it turned out to be a kitschy disaster. And when Allison decided to host the Pant-A-Long... well, I just had to get a-long and make me some pant-y goodness.
So, two weekends ago, I got myself to the local Jo Ann's and grabbed 4 skeins of Homespun. It was actually a little bit of a challenge to find 4 skeins of a color I liked. But after about 5 minutes of deliberation and digging, I came up with these...
Lion Brand Homespun in "Regency"
Yes, I know that is only three skeins. The fourth is hiding out and will be revealed in a few seconds. Although I didn't have much to choose from, I did think that this nice combination of blues and greens would work up into some sort of mottled blendy good thing that would be perfect for Saturday mornings lounging in front of my computer. The astute reader will already have noticed something about this yarn that I missed... Imagine my surprise to find out that I had inadverently picked up the Kureyon of acrylic yarns:
A Stripy Pant Leg
I remember seeing some demonstration of this on a previous pass through the blogs, but it didn't come to mind while I was shopping. No matter, if I am going to go for wonderful kitschy goodness, I might as well go for wonderful horizontal stripey kitschy goodness. After all, it's not like I'm going to go clubbing in the things, I might as well have something that looks like a funky version of movie prison pajamas.
Now, I should take a few moments here to mention that I am a yarn snob. I freely admit it. I do turn my yarn nose up at most synthetics and I've never bought a skein of Red Heart. However, in addition to being a yarn snob, I am also a clothing slob... I hate handwashing things and almost never get to the drycleaner (unless I can convince my husband to do it for me). When it comes to yarn, snob usually wins out over slob, but in this case, I decided that I'd give the Homespun a shot. I have no intention of handwashing pants, nor do I want to pay excessive amount of $$$ for some thing that I might not really like/wear.
On Sunday, after finishing up the first Banff sleeve, I decided to take a break and swatch for the sweat pants. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the Homespun and my AddiTurbos got along pretty well. The stuff was easy to knit and soft through my fingers. The resulting fabric was a nice one for sweatpants... squishy and not too much stitch definition to distract from the overall fabric. I got gauge on my first shot and decided to go for it.
And then I noticed that it looked like there were distinct color runs in the yarn. And that my swatch changed shade as I knitted. Hmmm... stripes? Yes. Hmmm... quick glance at the pattern... pants are knit up in 4 pieces and then joined at the tops and knit in the round up over the hips. That didn't seem to be a good thing for stripes. And then there was my concern that the largest size might not be quite big enough for me at the hips... Hmmm... Hmmm... Hmmm...
I'm not quite sure why this project wasn't designed to be knit in the round. After all, leg tubes make a lot of sense. And if you knit the whole thing in the round, the only seaming you have to do is a 16 stitch crotch seam. For a girl who doesn't like to weave in ends and isn't all that excited by finishing, this seemed like a worthwhile change. Not only that, but I avoid the unpleasant need to purl and to pay attention, if all I am doing is knit stitches. Finally, by knitting in the round, I could keep the 4 stitches that would have been pulled into the seam in the leg of the pants, thus giving me a whole inch more girth. And, of course, the other benefit of tubes is that the stripes are consistant -- at least on each leg (I'm not sure how easy it is going to be to match the starting points).
So I got happy with my Addis, and by bedtime, I had made it through one skein of homespun and 22" of pantleg.
One Legged Model Shot
I have to admit that I don't mind working with this yarn. It does split a little, but it works up fast and soft and really will be perfect for lounge pants. (I've heard conflicting information about its durability, so only time will tell on that one.) In fact, tonight, as I cast on for the second sleeve of Banff, I was really almost wishing that I was finishing off the first leg of these pants. I'm not sure if that is the novelty or the yarn talking, but so far this project is a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the end product (silly pictures guaranteed!)
Yay! Another pair of sweat pants in the knitalong. I will be knitting vicariously through you all. Can't wait to see the end product, either :-)
Good design changes Theresa! I look forward to your progress.
Banff is looking rather good and so are the pants!
I've just started Rogue in Rowan's All Season's Cotton, using the Deep Marine shade that's on sale from Colourway. So far, it looks good & the gauge was easy to obtain, lovely yarn to knit with too. Also I wanted something that I could sling in the washing machine without fear! (I too, am a yarn slob & snob!)
Jo
xxx
i'm a big fan of homespun...for afghans and such. I made a poncho using homespun for my 15 year old niece who actually thinks it's cool enough to wear. right now i'm working on a wrap using homespun scraps in a gazillion colors. i'll send you a picture of it when i'm done, if you're curious... sometimes the cheap stuff can be fun ;-)
I've considered doing those pants -- but the thought of homespun rubbing together between my thighs...not a pretty picture. Your model looks great, though! If that pattern was written with knowledge and "advice" from Lion Brand's designers, then the flat knitting makes sense -- just about all of LB's patterns are written flat rather than in the round.
I was thinking the same about those pants - round tubes. Maybe the size was their commentary that noone with a size above 6 should even *think* of wearing knit yoga pants! Nice, eh.
I was thinking about why the legs weren't knit as tubes..and I realized that tubes stretch the long way, and out of shape. Having the 4 seamed pieces causes a lack stretching, and they'll stay the same size.
That's just my theory though ;)
I started as a yarn snob, then switched to Lion Brand in my starving-college-student days (because there's no way I was going to give up knitting just because I was broke). I still use the Wool-Ease for socks because it's so easy for the recipients to care for, and I often use Homespun for scarves because it's fast and easy, and, again, the recipients seem to love the stuff. It's splitty, though...beware, but enjoy! :)