That’s how it feels, looking at my finished Paua Shell Tank.  I started the spinning shortly after purchasing the fiber in late summer 2006.

The fiber is 50% Tencel / 50% Merino, dyed in the Dragonfly colorway by Bonkers Handmade Originals. I bought one 4 oz. package from the Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS when I was in town for some meeting or event, then later decided I really needed another.  Fortunately, they had more of the same batch, and I had a friend willing to pick it up for me and send it via the ‘friend network’ so I didn’t have to pay shipping.

Divided into batches, ready to spin

I decided to split it in half, dividing between ‘mostly bright’ and ‘mostly dark’, and started spinning.  My spinning sessions were very sporadic, and I didn’t finish the last skein until the end of 2009.  That’s pretty pitiful.  I was delayed at one point by my own error in spinning from the wrong color group, and not even noticing until after it was plied!

That led to an interesting learning experience.  Yes, you CAN unply and re-ply yarn, but I don’t recommend it!  I planned out the fix for that error, then gave it a shot only a month later.  Looking back, I’m surprised that I didn’t put it off longer than that.  It must really have been bugging me.

The last bobbin, just before plying.

"Paua Shell" yarn

Time to start knitting!  I had decided way back at the beginning to make a tank or sleeveless top, so all I needed to do was make a gauge and stitch swatch and start in.  As it turned out, this pretty much coincided with DH’s recent back surgery, so I cast on while he was in the operating room.  That first ball lasted a long time, because I ripped it out 4 times (!) before I was satisfied with the bottom edge.  I changed from a curved hem to a straight hem, and went through at least 3 edge treatments, ending up with 8 rows of seed stitch on the bottom.

I knit this garment in the round, using a column of purl stitches to mark the side ‘seams’, then threw in some waist shaping and forged ahead.  The random striations of color were exactly what I’d envisioned, with  absolutely no pooling.   And the tencel gives the fabric a lovely, silky sheen.

In progress

I did some minimal short-row bust shaping, then bound off for the front and back necklines and armholes as I came to them.   The first bind-off (front neckline) meant I was now working a flat piece back and forth.  That didn’t change the effect of the color, but by the time I got to the armholes and was ready to knit the front straps, those narrow sections would mean a lot of pooling.

In order to maintain the striated look through the straps, I cast on a few stitches across each bound-off area and started steeking.  I worked the steeks in purl, continuing to use stockinette for the rest.

Steeked, ready to cut apart and finish the shoulders.

Although I did do a bit of splicing to join each new ball, I was not confident that the cut edges would felt enough to stay together, so I hand-stitched along both sides of the cutting line to reinforce them.  After taking the scissors to it and cutting the steeks apart, I used a three-needle bind-off for the shoulder seams, and was on the home stretch!

I picked up and knit around the neckline and armholes with seed stitch to match the bottom edge, and make sure they lay nice and flat.  To keep the edges from gapping or sagging, I started with the same size needles I used for the body, worked a few rows, then changed to the next size smaller, ending with a smaller size yet.  The bind-off in purl finished them nicely.

Detail of armhole and neckline edging

And finally, after three years of (not much) spinning and three sometimes distracted weeks of knitting, the final product!

Paua Shell Tank

I’ve worn it several times already, and found it to be light and comfortable, and pretty cool in spite of its wool content.  It’s going to see service year-round, since it will go nicely under jackets or cardigans, as well as on its own in summer.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Here is photographic full confession:

Too many projects??

However, I am making progress! I have finished the shawl collar on the green cardigan for K, and have finished the first chocolate lace sock. Unfortunately, it looks like that sock’s foot may still be too long… I am waiting for a fitting opportunity for the recipient before I start (there’s that WORD again!) on the second.

The orchid summer top is going into winter hibernation, so I won’t be looking at it for a while.

The red cuff on the birch dpns is the start beginning of a pair of Evangeline cabled fingerless mitts; thank-you #1, using the wool/alpaca blend Cascade Yarns Lana d’Oro. (See pictures on the Sweet Sheep blog; the pattern is a free download on Ravelry, but you have to have a free account to log in.) I hope to have enough yarn left over to make a companion Calorimetry.

The fall-colored swatch of Plymouth Happy Feet (color 17) is for thank-you #2, a pair of socks for a rabbit-breeder friend. You can’t tell from the picture, but the sock swatch is on needles from the same set as the swatch for the blue and white mittens-to-be. Yeah. I think buying more needles is the solution to that problem.

Of course, there’s my Ithilien Brocade Jacket. I have made good progress (considering the fractured nature of my knitting time) on the first sleeve. The large size of the chart and frequency of color changes makes this one a poor candidate for take-along knitting, so the smaller projects have taken over those bits of knitting opportunity.

Oh, yes, not to forget the paua-shell colored yarn that I need to finish spinning for a sleeveless top, which didn’t make it in this little photo shoot.

The tell-all picture does show some versatility… a little lace, some cables, color work… at least I’m not in a rut!

So that’s SEVEN works-in-progress, three of them major, without even counting the hibernating top. And I see that the yarn I want for my next design, the one in the sketch, is now available. And affordable. Resistance is futile.

The diagnosis is in. My case of knitter’s startitis is incurable, but since I can expect the symptoms to fluctuate, it won’t be this bad all the time. Fortunately, the recommended treatment is not painful, consisting of regular exposure to yarn fumes and frequent periods of fiber manipulation.

I obviously have unrealistic expectations… but I’m perfectly aware of that, and will decide each day which thing is most important to me. We’ll see at the end of it what got done and what had to be put off for another time!

Progress on Ithlilen:

Ithilien Brocade Jacket today

And one of my other current projects:

"I'll Decide When I Get There" Summer Top

This started out as the Perfect Periwinkle Turtleneck Tube Vest from Fitted Knits, but about 10 inches into it, I realized I’d made a mistake way back there. And I wasn’t happy with my modifications, either, so I ripped it all out. Taking the same basic idea, I started from the bottom, which will give me time to decide as I work my way up what I will do at the armholes and neckline. A procrastinator’s delight!

Although given my current infatuation with Ithilien, I may not get to those decision points until, say, Christmas. At which time I can reasonably let it hibernate over the winter, since I won’t be able to wear it until summer anyhow, right? Then again, I can still surprise myself, so maybe I will pick it up again soon for some mindless knitting as a respite from the colorwork!

]]> http://prairiespinner.com/2008/08/04/vacation/feed/ 1 prairiespinner Ithilien Brocade Jacket today "I'll Decide When I Get There" Summer Top