OhSewCrafty Blog

A tank top in September?  Unseasonable, perhaps.  But this project was started last week in Florida,

 amidst 95 F temps and brutal sun.  Under those conditions, a skinny cotton yarn (Elann Callista) and simple lace pattern seemed just the thing.  

Before beginning, I knit a 4″x4″ stockinette swatch, the bottom half with US 3 needles, then a row of reverse stockinette and the top half with US 4 needles..  The swatch got a short soak in lukewarm water, I squeezed out the water and laid the swatch flat to dry, no pins, stretching, or manipulation of any sort.  I expected some growth perhaps… the results, when the swatch had dried, were curious.  The bottom half of the swatch (smaller needles/tighter gauge) had indeed grown, by both stitch and row gauge.  The top half (bigger needles/looser gauge) had shrunk!  How could 

both of these dynamic be happening in one small swatch?  It’s almost like the yarn has a mind of its own and wants to be at a particular stitch and row gauge.  Drove me crazy… yarn is an inanimate object, right?  It doesn’t have preferences, does it?  Anyway, I decided to go with the smaller needles, even though the top half of the swatch was closer to pattern gauge.  Now that I’m knitting my 90some stitches on US 3 needles, I find my gauge is again different, it’s bigger and close to pattern gauge!  I’m still puzzled by the whole thing, but I like the fabric I’m getting, and that’s the important part. 

I did all the lace first, omitting all the garter selvedges- I prefer stockinette.  The lace was almost too easy, it’s a simple 6 stitch, 4 row repeat, with only rows 2 and 4 being “lace” rows.  I mixed up rows 2 and 4 a few times, when I wasn’t paying attention.    So, the project could be finished quickly, but I’m going to need another ball of yarn, which I hope will get here soon.