Skirts

As many of you know, I’m somewhat obsessed with knitted skirts. There are currently 11 of them hanging in my closet, knitted from fingering, sport, DK, and worsted yarns. So far, I’ve uploaded patterns for six designs (Lacy Pleats, Putting On The Pleats, Putting On The Worsted Pleats, Take-Two Skirt, Tavia, Traveling Pleats, and Velvety Pleats) on Ravelry. There seems to be no end to the stitch patterns and yarns I want to try, which brings me to the topic of this post.

When I was teaching at a retreat hosted by The Bazaar Girls yarn shop in Port Townsend, Washington, this past March, I purchased a gradient kit from Schmutzerella Yarns. Talented owner and dyer Nancy Torrence has managed to dye gradients that circumvent the entire color wheel. A bit of a self-proclaimed geek, Nancy also has colors and gradients based on characters in Harry Potter and the board game Clue.

I was so enamored with the Sweet (fingering weight; 75% superwash merino, 25% nylon) gradient kit named Professor Plum’s Demise (six 20-gram/92-yard mini skeins that shift from purple to black) that I decided to knit yet another skirt, based on my basic Putting On The Pleats pattern (but I made the waistband only 1 1/2″ wide instead of 2″ as stated in the pattern). I used size U.S. 2 needles for a gauge of about 7.5 stitches/inch.

To ensure that I’d have enough yarn, I purchased two packs of the gradients (184 yards total of each shade) plus a 100-gram skein of basic black (colorway Nox) for the waistband and upper portion of the skirt.

Somewhere before the beginning of the pleats, when I had at least 7 grams of Nox remaining, I switched to the mini skeins, beginning with the darkest shade and grading to the pure purple. To soften the color transitions, I alternated one round each of the darkest mini skein with Nox until I had used up about one-third (about 60 yards/12 grams) of the darkest mini-skein color. Then I worked the mini skein alone for another one-third of the yardage (12 grams), then alternated one round each of that color with the next darkest shade until I finished the first mini-skein color. I continued in this manner, alternating one-third (about 12 grams) with the previous color, one-third (about 12 grams) alone, then one-third (about 12 grams) with the next color, ending with pure purple.

The result is a beautiful skirt with a subtle gradation from darkest at the waist to lightest at the hem. To ensure that the “pleats” stretched out fully, I used blocking wires to stretch the width aggressively when I wet-blocked the finished skirt.

If you’d like to knit a skirt for yourself, use the code SKIRT! to get 20% off the Ravelry price of Lacy Pleats, Putting On The Pleats, Putting On The Worsted Pleats, Take-Two Skirt, Traveling Pleats, and Velvety Pleats between now and midnight Friday July 12.

Two of the vendors at my Knit For Fun Retreat in Vancouver, Washington, last September were Blue Moon Fiber Arts and Shibui Knits. I’ve turned into a sucker for knitting skirts and walked away with yarn from both vendors.

From Blue Moon I chose Socks That Rock (100% superwash merino) in the Antiquated System colorway that’s a subtle combination of greens, blues, and browns. Honestly, it will go with everything I own. How could I resist?

Because this yarn has so much color interest, I decided to knit another version of my Putting On The Pleats skirt. To account to a slightly different gauge (7 stitches/inch instead of 7.5 stitches/inch), I’m following the smallest size. I’m also adjusting for 1.5″ waistband elastic instead of the 2″ elastic called for, starting the “gore” increases after 3.5″ instead of 4.25″, and I plan to make it a little longer, aiming for a finished length of 21″ from the top of the waistband.

From Shubui Knits I chose to combine one strand each of laceweight Cima (70% alpaca, 30% merino) and Pebble (48% recycled silk, 36% merino, 16% cashmere), both in the most beautiful Fjord colorway, for a luscious velvety fabric.

Because the combination of the two yarns will read as a mostly solid color, I decided to add a simple chevron pattern formed by traveling stitches. For this version, I’m following the basic instructions for my Traveling Pleats skirt. Other than substituting a different stitch pattern, the only adjustment I’m making is to start the “gore” increases after 3.5″ instead of the 4.5″ called for.

It’s out of character for me, but I’ve been working on both skirts simultaneously. I’m in love with both the tweedy colors of the variegated Blue Moon yarn and the velvety feel of the Shibui combo, and I can’t seem to focus on just one. I’ve been trading off knitting on the two fairly regularly and now I’m approaching the home stretch on both. There’s just 2″ left to knit on each!

With my busy travel/teaching season approaching, I think I’ll finish both during upcoming flights! But I still can’t say which I’ll finish first…

A few weeks ago I asked which of two skirt projects I should knit first: Blue Moon Socks That Rock in the Antiquated System colorway (left) or Shibui Cima and Pebble in the Fjord colorway (right).

The responses were pretty evenly split and I couldn’t bring myself to make a choice. I decided that if I swatched both I might have an easier time deciding which to knit first.

To begin, I wound the yarn into balls. Because I was afraid that the hand-dyed Blue Moon yarn might form color pools or stripes, I plan to alternate skeins as I knit. I wound three skeins each into two balls and tied small knots in the ends to indicate Skein 1, Skein 2, and Skein 3. I’ll alternate one round each of Skein 1 and Skein 2, then Skein 2 and Skein 3, then Skein 3 and Skein 1, and so on. It’s a little more trouble, but is the best way I know to even out any color inconsistencies.

I also wound the two Shibui yarns. I don’t have to worry about color inconsistencies in this commercial yarn, but I will be holding one strand each of Cima and Pebble together when I knit.

Then I swatched. I hesitate to show the swatches because they are so much smaller than I recommend in my classes. However, I’ve knitted with both yarns before and have a good feel for my gauge.

I’m getting 6 stitches/inch on size US 4 (3.5 mm) needles with the Shibui combo. That’s close to the gauge I got for Traveling Pleats, so I plan to follow the numbers in that pattern but add a new stitch pattern in the pleats.

I’m getting 7 stitches/inch on size US 3 (3.25 mm) needles with the Blue Moon yarn. I’m going to make modifications to Putting On The Pleats  to allow for the difference between my gauge of 7 stitches/inch and the pattern’s gauge of 7.5 stitches/inch.

Because I love the way all the yarns feel in my hands, I’ve decided to cast on both skirts and work them simultaneously. That’s a bit of a stretch for this monogamous knitter. Want to place any bets on which I finish first?