KnittedDayDreams

I don’t know about you, but for me, some projects take me ages to knit. Literal months to finish.

And some projects, absolutely whizz by.

I’m not talking about small items, like when I’ve crocheted toys for my niblings, but garments for myself.

I recently started knitting a summery top for myself in a cotton yarn, I have other projects I want to make but I’m hoping that I can finish this before summer ends (fingers crossed!)

I had a few false starts with casting on this top, as it has a lovely eyelet edge, but that meant casting on 299 stitches on a long tail cast on.

I don’t think I need to tell you that long tail cast ons are great but also, terrible! I can never seem to estimate the correct length of yarn to keep as the tail, and yes, I have tried all the tricks!

Even when it goes wrong, I undo all of the stitches and then add some more length to the tail, and it still isn’t enough!

I did my gauge swatch (pat on the back for me!!) and almost got gauge with the suggested 4mm needles, brilliant – I can get going or so I thought!

It took me four, yes FOUR goes before I managed to cast on the right number of stitches and still have some tail left!

I said I almost got gauge, the pattern needed 21 stitches per 10cm and I ended up with 22 stitches. I didn’t want to go up a needle size to 4.5mm needles as otherwise the fabric would have been too loose and holey, and I knew that then my gauge would be way off!

Not a problem, I can use my gauge to work with the pattern! Or so I thought!

I wanted to knit the 5th size which is a 48″-50″ bust, and worked out that because I had an extra stitch in my gauge swatch (2.2 sts per 1cm instead of 2.1 sts) which doesn’t seem like the biggest of differences, but when you add it up, it can make quite a difference. If I knitted the 6th size of 52″-54″ that would take me somewhere in-between the 5th and 6th sizes.

So that’s what I did, except for some reason, when I had knitted the eyelet edging and then went onto the lace pattern, my gauge somehow went completely out the window!

I was using the same needles and yarn, and knitting the same pattern I had swatched, so I have no idea what happened!

I held up my knitting, thought it looked way too big, but why…I swatched!! I got out my tape measure and quickly measured along…and along. It was way too big!

I decided to take 40 stitches and work those on a 3.5mm needle back and forth and then re-check my gauge from that.

And somehow, I got perfect gauge!

I have no idea what happened!!

So, begrudgingly, I frogged it all. And tried not to cry!

And yes, it did take me another four goes at casting on again!

I decided to stick with the 5th size, and fingers crossed, everything seems to working out this time around!

The pattern I’m using is Sirdar 10536 which is classed as an intermediate level project and the yarn is James C Brett It’s 100% Pure Cotton DK in the colour Sage, bought from Black Sheep Wools.

The photo below is the progress I made a week after casting on (the fourth time!)

I’ve finished all of the lace repeats and am onto the stockinette section, which is knitting up like a dream. I haven’t knitted too much with cotton yarn before, and the couple of times that I have, I always think to myself ‘why don’t I use this more often?!’

Shall we take bets on how many times it takes me to judge the right length of yarn to cast on with for the second piece?!

Jen x