knitabit

Starting Roscalie

My first big fair isle project!! Actually, I did a fair isle sweater back in college, which I discussed about a year ago.

Here is some random rambling about getting started on this project.

I do not have the right kind of circular needles in my collection for the Roscalie cardigan. All of my 2 and 3 circulars are for socks (24" long or less) and I will be needing 32" pairs for this project. I went ahead and cast on the required number of stitches to a sock needle, but of course they're really jammed on there and impossible to actually knit. But I was so anxious to get started...

As luck would have it, I have a business meeting in Fort Collins today and will be able to swing by their big yarn store to get what I need.

Roscalie does not have a ribbing on the bottom or on the cuffs, but rather hems. The pattern calls for several rows of plain stockinette, a purled turning row, and then an equal number of plain stockinette rows to complete a facing which is later turned up and hemmed by hand. I wonder if I could pick up the cast-on stitches and knit them together with the first "real" row to save myself the hassle of hemming with a tapestry needle? One of my resource books cautions against doing this with a shallow hem because it might cause the work to curl. Further, I hesitate to go against Alice Starmore's directions because they tend to be very good and accurate.

I'm not going to do a gauge swatch for this project. This sweater is pretty boxy and I don't think a little bit of off-gauge will matter too much one way or the other. Plus, making a fair isle circular swatch just sounds like a real pain. I'll knit up a few rows and see where I'm at. If it's terribly off, then I'll have to re-think.

Finally, a big high five to Alison for her support of the Herculean Effort. She had faith where I had none! And she is awarding medals at the end of the week! Check out her periodic Olympiad reports and especially the comments on her August 30 entry to see what everyone knit during the Olympics.

Comments

For what it's worth.... I've done the hem you describe a couple of times on sweaters. And I've always hemmed the hem up with the tapestry needle and yarn afterwards. It may be a bit of a pain but it does work quite nicely and I liked the finished products.

Posted by: Uli at September 1, 2004 01:24 PM

I haven't done it myself, but I have a friend who swears by kniting in the cast-on row with a turned hem. She likes it because it minimizes finishing. Don't know how it looks. Personally, I'd try a small swatch to see how it looks.

Posted by: amy! at September 2, 2004 06:17 AM