Have you ever had one of those days?
As a fiber artist, I really should know better. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I check labels on any new sweaters, to make sure I launder them appropriately.
This was Hockeyman's favorite sweater, purchased at a local discount clothing store. Not even stopping to think about it (discount store sweaters are always polyester, right?) I tossed this beloved FS into the washing machine, then the dryer.
GAH!
Fortunately, Hockeyman laughed long and hilariously at my fiber gaffe and thought it great fun to squeeze into the micro-mini version of his FS. Then he cheerfully handed it to Peeps, the smallest member of the clan, whom it fits like a dream. She loves her new felted sweater and now I need to knit or buy a new sweater for HM.
In knitting news, I hit a bit of a snafu in my swatching. I've dutifully knit 4 inches of stockinette, 4 inches of 1x1 ribbing and 4 inches of modifed 3x1 ribbing. The 100% cotton is knitting up beautifully and the stockinette stitch swatch is dead on for gauge. However, the 1x1 rib gauge is supposed to be 20 st./in. and I get 24 st./in. And the modifided 3x1 ribbing is supposed to measure 24 st./in. and I have 26. So, here is my question - since this is cotton yarn, which has no rebound or stitch memory and will probably grow some with wear, am I safe in sticking with the same needle size throughout the project. Or should I change to larger needles that will get the gauge when I reach the ribbing sections and pray that the growth that is inevitable is vertical and not horizontal?
I've been burned before with knitting cotton to the ideal finished size, only to have it stretch and grow with time. However, I LOVE this sweater so much, I don't want to take any chances with it being too loose and floppy.
What would you do?
6 comments:
Hi-larious!
(cute boy belly too!)
I did that with a lambswool sweater I bought in Ireland over 20 years ago. I gave it to a relative who was still a kid at the time. :: le sigh :: Nice abs, HM!
I'd say that the cotton is going to grow and not to change needles. JMHO.
Can't help much with gauge. I never seem to get it right on purpose...
I love that your son was so good natured about the sweater "incident." I have had raving fits after that kind of thing. He is waaaay more mature than I!
I was thinking you would tell us about some awesome growth spurt!
Anyway, I've had cotton grow both in row and stitch gauge so I would stay with the smaller needles. The other option is to knit a sleeve and then wash it to see what happens. I didn't and this is why I will be ripping apart my sister's sweater this summer.
Tried to respond to your message by email a couple of days ago and just got a nondeliverable error response, so pasting it here:
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Nothing on Etsy right now that would go w/ pink, but there's a heart-shaped button on the blog now that might be perfect. It's not pink itself, but looks fantastic on a pink background. 30 mm x 30 mm. LMK if you like it.
Scott's also expecting a new shipment of glass soon and tells me he got some gorgeous colors, so maybe there's some pink and/or things that would look good on pink coming soon.
I just responded via email, so hopefully you'll get that message. If not, LMK what addy to write to (my email is in my blog profile).
This button will look beautiful on pink, especially in the spring sunshine!
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