Thursday, May 24, 2007

Ta Da!

It's done! I love this skirt! We'll see how it does when the real heat and humidity hit south Florida, but for the unseasonably cool(ish) and dry weather we're having now, it's perfect.

Without a flash, kinda blurry:



Better view of stitch detail with a flash:



Closeup of washed and blocked lace:



Specifications and modifications (the ones I can remember):

Materials: 8 balls of Rowan Denim in Ecru on size 5 needle for a slightly tighter gauge than usual with that yarn.

Longer stockinette section (about 13" after washing), shorter lace section (40 rounds instead of 60), twill tape drawstring instead of i-cord. I don't think I have enough yarn left for an i-cord, but I may do a double-strand crochet chain if I have enough for that. And I used sssk instead of sl1, k2tog, pssso opposite the k3tog on the mirrored decreases.

This skirt was really enjoyable to knit and I learned a lot from it. I'd been afraid of trying lacy patterns before, but once I figured out how the pattern worked (after, oh, 4 or 5 attempts) it was fun. I'd hardly ever used stitch markers before but now I understand why I should. And I'd never used a row counter before (is that what they call that thing?), but now I know why my mom gave me one so many years ago! I may even use it again...

Thanks for all the tips and photos the rest of you have posted here and on your blogs! I look forward to seeing more finished skirts!

8 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Beautiful! I love it. :D

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful! I love the ecru. A question--did you measure it before and after washing? How many inches did it shrink? I'm trying to figure how long to make mine before washing--does it really shrink by as much as 20%? Enjoy your beautiful skirt!

Karenposniak@mac.com said...

Its beautiful...

Janette said...

Ta Da indeed!

Your Ripples Skirts are gorgeous!

Kitschkween said...

wow. it looks great in white. i've put mine on hold for a while, but it's slowly coming along.

Michelle said...

Thanks for the nice words. That's what I love about sharing knitting online: all the positive reinforcememt!

Anonymous: My skirt shrank about 2 inches after washing. I didn't measure precisely, because I used up just about all the yarn I had and crossed my fingers that it wouldn't be too short. It turned out to be just the length I wanted. Lucky!

Sinéad said...

I was wondering if anyone can give me any tips on how to knit the skirt in a bigger size than provided in the magazine?
I was hoping to knit it for a 47" waist and 52" hips; or am I mad to think I can do it in that large a size??

Teri said...

Michelle, your skirt turned out awesome! It looks really cute on you too! Thanks for sharing it with us.