Modification Series. St. Brigid. Part I
I am very excited to start our Modification Series where we can share our ideas and process of modifications in different projects! Here is what my usual initial process looks like.1. Think of what you actually NEED to make.2. Think of what you WANT.3. Think of the silhouette style that fits you the best.4. Look for the pattern.5. Choose yarn.
So, here we go.
1. I need a long cardigan. Temperatures are "jumping" here right now - it can be 12°C (53°F) in the morning and 23 °C (73.4 °F) at midday. So you really need to dress in layers. Long cardigan looks like a perfect option to wrap myself up on the way to work. 2. I want to knit and wear cables. Textured knits are the best! And the process of knitting cables is so perfectly balanced. It keeps you interest on the right side and you can completely relax on the wrong side.3. I think classic double-taper garment with 2"-4" positive ease is what I want in this cardigan.4. I never limit myself when looking for a pattern. If I don't find the perfect match, I just generally look at different kinds of patterns putting the key words into the search. In this case, it was "cables". Basically I am looking for something that would strike me, something that I just have to knit. In case of St. Brigid, I fell in love with the central cable panel.5. Yarn. I don't knit with wool at the moment, because I currently live in a warm climate. I think this is the ONLY reason for my love/hate relationships with Baja California. Mostly it's love :) I always enjoyed knitting/crocheting with cotton though and it's perfect for this weather.So, here is everything that I need to start my mods experiment - type of the garment, pattern and yarn.
Swatch time!
Basically I "broke" the original pattern into "pieces".
I made four swatches. Two stockinette stitch swatches. One of them - with one strand of yarn on 4 mm needles (I didn't like the look, as I wanted something tighter). 2 strands of the same yarn worked perfectly with 5 mm needles.
I chose the cable charts that I am going to use in my version. The central cable - chart D, and the side panels - charts C and E.
Here is my gauge.Stockinette stitch - 10cm/4": 11.28 sts and 15.77 rowsMain cable Panel - 28.8 cm/11.34"Side Cable Panel - 12.4 cm/4.88"I always measure the swatch at least in four different places and then find the average. As you can see I don't round my numbers, because it can really mess up with your numbers when knitting the garment itself.At the moment I am working on all the numbers. My brain is boiling, but I love the challenge!
See you soon!