Tuesday, February 24, 2009

While I’m waiting for the Chicago area’s first above- freezing temperature in 5 days, I’m knitting something warm and comfortable and colorful! By the time the crocus are pushing their way through the chill spring air, maybe I’ll be wearing a bright welcome…

The Body of my current Stockinette St project is FINI!

(Except for the pockets, hee.)

I don’t know why, but when a major portion of a garment gets to this stage, it just seems like a natural thing to stop and do some happy dance.

The front lace panels were extended all the way to the hem this time. I love the way the lace waves the colorplays in this yarn.

Paula writes: “Your reference to the shoulder being more stable with set-in sleeves – is this why you didn’t begin the lace pattern on the basic chic hoodie till further down on the sleeve? I’ve seen some raglans where the lace pattern starts up at the neck and was wondering if you tried this and found that it spread too much under the stretch over the shoulder?“

That’s a great idea! I like it. But in the case of the Basic Chic Hoodie lace detailing, it was actually a design decision instead of a structural one. You can see that the pattern wants to go UP in the middle, so I took advantage of that characteristic by starting the lace further down from the neckline. It makes a medallion, of sorts when done this way, and the position at the top of the arm looks like a crest (actually slightly above where I have a tatoo!)

For this version, I might omit the sleeve lace and leave all the focus on the front band. What do you think?