Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Side Order

My knitting year is being spent with Elizabeth Zimmermann but at the moment, I am working on a Bonnie Marie Burns pattern. Not an abandonment, just a little on the side.

My summer wardrobe was in need of a little sweater and I liked the Sitcom Cardi that both Wilma and Gail made. I chose Cabin Fever Cotton Tweed
and knit the swatch - the one Fred recognized when he did the laundry.

Originally I intended to 'EZ' this cardi by knitting it in the round and cutting the front. But in the slippery Cotton Tweed the steeking scared me. Steeking works well in wool because of the microscopic barbs that run along the wool fibre. The barbs catch onto each other and prevent ravelling. Cotton is a smooth fibre, one that does not have the safety net of barbs. In the end I decided against the steeking and am knitting Sticom Chic in a modified EZ fashion. In one piece but not in the round.

My main knitting meal for 2010 is an EZ meal -with this 'side' of Bonnie Marie Burns.

4 comments:

Sandra said...

I've always loved that sweater pattern. But I agree, you can't steek cotton. I t has to be a protein based fibre, I'm pretty sure. So wool it is, the stickier the better.

Laurie said...

Great pattern, and I love the yarn. Am starting to veer toward some cotton knitting, too. I found a cute shell pattern I'd cut out of a magazine several years back that just may make me reconsider my general dislike of "summer knitting".

LaurieM said...

Are you working it top down? The pattern seems a good candidate for some reverse engineering.

Needles said...

With my long background of doilies and fine white threads, knitting cotton feels like coming home. I do find it a little harder on my joints, but I love the way cotton feels when it runs through my fingers.