Pencil Sketch; Knitting Tip No.1

There has not been much knitting going on recently, except that Pencil Sketch is now finished. To my satisfaction, this lovely cami washes well and dries quickly.

Very random picots (BOn, picot; n = 1, 2, 3,...) decorate the neckline, and the sleeve openings are trimmed with plain stockinette stitches. To reduce curling, I bound them off in K1,P1 ribbing.
The yarn used for trimming is Adrienne Vittadini Celia, a woven silk tape purchased from one of my LYSs, and this very pale blue compliments the tones and the mood of the cami. And it fits...



I can see myself in it for the whole summer!

No.1 How do you count your rows? Except for using a row counter?

When the yarn is smooth and the stitch definition is clear, no problem.

When knitting with novelty yarns, I turn the piece over and count the purl bumps.

Now my favorite method: count the shaping stitches.

It goes something like this: say I am knitting a sweater(bottom up). After the ribbing, I work a rows of plain stockinette stitches. Then I start shaping as follows: decrease 1 st on each side of the piece every b rows c times. The K2tog and SSK stitches are easy to find, and I always rely on them to see which row I am at. If I see 3 K2togs below plus 2 rows above the latest K2tog, I know that now I have worked (a+3b)+2 rows.

When increasing for chest, I often use the "knit from the horizontal thread" method to create a tiny hole intentionally, because this kind of shaping stitch is easy to see and count. Since they are always symmetrical, they look decorative, too.
Do you have similar tips to share?

Pencil Sketch the Lacy Cami; the design process

Sometimes I'd come across a yarn with some unique personality. Jaeger Trinity, the yarn I used for my Pencil Sketch Camisole, surely is one of them. The yarn looked and felt so rugged that at first I simply wanted to toss it. Fortunately I didn't. Working on my cami, I realized that Trinity is not merino and it'll never be, it's fiercely inelastic and nubby, but if you listen to it then you get something worth to be seen. The finished fabric has a good drape, authentic tweedy surface, and feels like old cotton jersey.

Now comes the design process, I hope you'd find it interesting or useful (it can't be both, I know) ;-)


(another sketch showing the possibilities)

After reading all the comments (here and at KR, thank you all!), I decided on designing a hybrid neckline. Before that, I needed to finish the back. The advantages are:
1. There is always less shaping for the back neckline, so I can focus on shaping the sleeve openings.
2. In the end I can get the number of rows to reach 7" (in this case), and plan the front neckline decreases accordingly.
Now the back is all knitted up:


The bind off stitches at the neck opening were worked in two directions, so that the edge will not get stretched towards one side. The joining at the center can be seen if you click on the photo.

Here's the plan for the front, I just scanned my actual scribbles. You can click for a larger picture; the finished neckline will look like a hybrid between V and scoop, with a tiny "wrap" at the center, over the lace stitches.


The center lace stitches (17 in total) are picked up twice to form the mini wrap. I worked the right front first, knitting through the 17 sts and the rest 26 sts on the right. After the right shoulder has been finished, I turned back to the center 17 sts, pick them up through the back "purl bumps" and purled through the remaining 26 sts on the left.
Although a proper edging awaits to be done, the body of the cami is ready for pictures!


The back looks neat too:

By the way, it fits me perfectly and I love it, I promise to give you modeled pictures next time ;-).

Now that I have made friends with Trinity, I have my eyes on another yarn with personality, which is Zodiac from Berroco:


Not Wren, no plan yet. Maybe I should get myself familiar with them first...

Buridan's Lacy Cami

Last night I picked up my Pencil Sketch project-in-progress, and decided that it would become a camisole for hot summer days.

Then I had to design a neck opening. Which one looks the best, the scoop, the wrap, or the halter style?

Hard choice isn't it? Wait, we are not finished yet:

Which finishing (around the neck) is better, a simple eyelet lace stitch, or a picot edging?

Hmm... I feel like Buridan's donkey facing more than two stacks of hay! Please tell me what you think ;-) and Thank you!

Silkroad Sweater

As promised, here comes my finished new sweater!


Yarn
Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran, Empire (137), 7 balls. Ribs are done in Zephyr wool-silk DK, which is actually a worsted weight.

Design
My own, a plain vanilla v-neck with hourglass shaping.

Comments
I LOVE this yarn. Jo Sharp yarn collection is always fabulous in both texture and color. Next time I will try her dk tweeds for a cabled cardigan, or a vest.
The sweater is a completely seamless one, which means that the body is knit on circulars; the shoulders are finished with short rows and the three needle bind-off; and I used the top-down method for the sleeves for the first time. It must have taken a big genius to invent this (sleeve knitting) method! Did BW say anything in her top-down sweater book?

Wearing
Ever since I washed (no bleeding) and blocked my new v-neck, I have been lounging in it merrily. This baby is next-to-the-skin soft and so cozy, and it pairs well with both jeans and pants. Zephyr is not as sturdy as Silkroad, which can be explained by its fiber content. I happen to like the worn effect of the cuffs, so that's not a problem but a bonus :-).

History (yes it has a history...)
The yarn was originally purchased for a scarf and hat set, at least four years ago. Then I changed my mind and worked it into a heavily cabled vest. It has never been worn, for I did not like the fit. Then last winter I found it in my stash. After some frogging, I started to modify it into a cabled sweater. Still didn't like it. Finally I frogged the whole sweater and started from scratch two weeks ago.

You see, sometimes a knitter can be very stubborn, and very patient!


During the weekend I have made some progress on the lacy shrug. A shrug is a perfect project right after scarf-knitting: no huge commitment, easy shaping, and simple sewing.

There is another work-in-progress. It's a tank top, or a T-shirt, haven't decided yet. I was trying to use up my two skeins of Jaeger Trinity. Regretted the moment I opened my mail. Everyone who have seen the swatch could not help but telling me how much it looked like a rag. "Are you really gonna wear something like this?" Obviously a wrong choice of color...


To rescue it, I threw in some soft merino in a darker grey. At least there are tonal effects now. Perhaps this piece can be named A Pencil Sketch?