Some More of Kaleidoscope
I wish my knitting projects were a little more photogenic right now. By that, I don't mean they're ugly, I just mean that they haven't changed too much since the last photo, or showing off the progress on the second of two socks seems a bit repetitive. But today, while I was sitting on my deck knitting on Dad's Kaleidoscope Vest, I had some realizations -- and not just that it was incredibly amazing that I could sit outside in August with a lapful of wool and not be sweating profusely.
I have to start out by saying that the gauge on this sweater is a bit odd: 21.5 stitches and 44 rows to 10 cm (4"). I did knit a gauge swatch, and I did get something almost exactly the same, that was a fabric I liked so I decided to cast on and get going. Now that I have a 60 cm x 42 cm piece of fabric to measure gauge on it has become clear that my gauge is not quite perfect. I'm getting 21 stitches and about 42 rows to 10 cm (I'm using the metric measurements here because that is what Jo Sharp uses and that's what I'm remembering right now).
The reality of the situation is that even if I had gone down a needle size, it probably wouldn't have made that much difference -- it's hard to change a needle and expect a change of .125 stitches per inch, when I'm in the needle range that can only really be varied by .5 mm. This means that the fabric is about 2 cm wider than it should be (not a big deal because this vest is meant to have a lot of ease in it anyway -- I'm making the second smallest size for my dad of a pattern that is also supposed to be woman compatible -- clearly this design comes from boxier era). It also means that I can't use the row counts that the pattern calls for as a determination of when to do things. I have to actually work with measurements. Fortunately, this is not a problem with this pattern. even though there's stripes, there's nothing fancy about how they are used. Instead of 158 rows before the armhole shaping, I'm going to have 150-152.
No, the only real concern is whether the extra width is going to mean that I run out of yarn somewhere. I bought this yarn on Elann about three years ago, so there's not much liklihood that I will be able to find another ball in the same dyelot of one of these if I come up short.
I still love the texture, though. It looks complicated, but its very easy to knit. And in this colorway, I think it's very man-friendly. Even though my dad is willing to experiment with color, I wanted to go with something that would have a little subtlety to it.
And Now A Word From Our Sponsor
I'm having a hard time keeping up with my comments... I wish I could send everyone a personal response, but there just aren't enough hours in the day to do that, and the other things I want to do. Because of this and because some of the answers to questions in the comments might be helpful to more than just the asker, I'm going to answer comments either in the comments, or if the question is germaine enough to a larger discussion in another post, I'll answer it in that post. So if you ask me a question in my comments, be sure to check back during the day for the answer. I'll still also try to send personal emails in response to comments when I think it is the most appropriate thing to do, and you can always end me an email (see my Email Me link in the side bar) if you want to have a dialog with me outside the blog post context. I'm not trying to avoid email conversations -- just trying to maximize my time so that I have time to respond to more people more effectively.
I would have melted if I have been knitting under that vest. It's turning out really lovely though. Enjoy your weather while you can because I'll be laughing it up here in Honolulu in February. *g*
It's a quirky thing about the comments. We all want loads of them but then they can easily get overwhelming. I'm still at the point where I can answer everyone but it definitely takes time and I understand your decision to handle things this way from now on.
I do hope you do not run out of that yarn ... the vest is looking very nice. Your father will be lucky to have it when it is complete.
~firefly
The texture and colour on your dad's vest look amazing. Having a lot of comments seems to be a double-edged sword!
Opal -- I have a general philosophy of being outside whenever I can be in Chicago. You never know when you're going to get ugly weather, either too hot or too cold, so if you get weather that allows you to knit outside or drive with the A/C you should do it. Yesterday was a perfect day to knit outside in the shade.
On Comments...I love them. Honestly and truly I do, and I do try to answer any questions I get. But I've found that a lot of the answers could be of interest to more than just the asker, so I want to make sure that responses, if they are useful, get shared better.