Intolerable Cruelty Skirt KAL

Finally posting pictures!

2007-07-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

So here are some relatively unflattering pictures of me in my IC when I finally got to wear it for a summer wedding. (Have you ever bought a dress top in summer? There was nothing that wasn't sheer at the dept. stores.) Anyways, I think it looks really good on me when I'm not being blasted by a flash. I got quite a few compliments, and when people found out I made it, they thought it was even cooler. I think if i ever went out with it at night, I'd switch to black ribbon though.

Its done!

2007-04-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

After 6 months of working on my IC on and off, I finally finished last Sunday! I don't have any pictures yet because it is waiting to go to work with my mom (she works for a dry cleaners and is going to clean off the cat dander and steam block it). I'm really happy with how it turned out, except for the fact that I am really bad at crochet and the loops in the back don't really line up exactly. I think everyone will be too distracted to notice that though, lol!
Pictures soon!

2007-01-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

Well, after the strangest blogger antics I've seen in awhile, I'm finally a member of this KAL! My name is Meg and I've been knitting for 13 years. I'm looking forward to starting Cruelty but I have to finish a pair of socks and a pair of gloves first. Both of those are soo close to being done but still need the niggling little bits of finishing.
I look forward to seeing how this comes along!

New Cruel Chick!

2006-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Hiya, all! I just joined the knitalong and I have a couple moments to spare, so I'm pseudo-introducing myself. ;D I'm doing the Intolerable Cruelty skirt for part of my "costume" for my Significant Other's annual Christmas party ... a.k.a. Pimps and Ho Ho Hos. ;) The party is next Friday, so we'll see if I manage to get it done by then -- ha! It'll be a superfast knitalong for me. I'm bending a bunch of guidelines and living on the wild side with this skirt, actually: using a yarn with silk content (only 20%, and the other 80% is half wool and half acrylic, but still), knitting with a slightly lighter weight yarn ... but hey. At least I did do a gauge swatch or seven.

Right now I'm eleven rows in ... woo. I know. I'm so far. ;) Still, I did just cast on last night, and I'm in the middle of spinning something for a swap, too. I'm hoping I'll have more time to sit and knit this weekend, since I'll be away from home on the crew for a cannon demonstration at a pirate fair, and we only have two demonstrations per day, plus the show itself opens at, like, eleven a.m. and closes at five, or something like that. Short show + only a couple of demos = lots of down time ... hopefully. I'm crossing my fingers.

Wish me luck? ;)

Black cruelty!

2006-11-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

My IC is finished and I am very happy with it. The pattern is wonderful and it was very easy to follow. Thank you so much Ashley ! I'm already looking forward to knitting another one, perhaps in a warmer merino yarn.

Nearing its end!

2006-11-01T04:50:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody!

I'm so excited, I finished the knitting and crocheting on monday night! Unfortunately, I haven't bought the velvet ribbon yet, nor the elastic band.
I wish I had been able to go to the notions store today but it's an official holiday here in France. So all the shops are closed and have to wait...

All I can say is the size seems perfect, provided the yarn doesn't sag when washed. As soon as I have placed the ribbon and sewn in the elastic band, I 'll appeal to my dear husband to take a snap of me!

A Mention, Sorta

2006-10-31T17:26:00.000-08:00

HI, your lackadaisical hostess Velma here (I still haven't ordered my yarn for this project yet; WTF?!?). I ran across this article on Venus Zine about Knitty and Amy Singer, via Knitgrrl (if you spin or knit with handspun, you really need her new book, Spin to Knit, IMHO). While not mentioning "our" skirt in the article, the author did include a photograph of it and a reference to designer Ashley. Just thought I'd let everyone know we are obliquely in the news!

Happy Halloween, all!

2006-10-21T08:43:00.000-07:00

hi there i'm new here....love that skirt!!!!!visit my blog:
http://knittingtilldrop.blogspot.com/
thank you....

Hello!

2006-10-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, my name's Claudia. I kinda fell in love with this skirt the moment I saw it, and I knew that it must someday adorn my curves. I don't have yarn yet; I'm considering Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks because it's approximately the same as the Peruvian wool from elann.com that the designer recommended as a substitiution, only even cheaper (as in, the skirt will only cost about $30 in yarn). And it has more colors available at the moment. I just have to pick one. There are several shades of brown I'm considering.

I have a tendency to start projects and never finish them, so I'm hoping this KAL will motivate to keep working on one thing until it's done. As soon as I finish my friend's baby sweater that I started in April. Ha. Haha. I'd like to get this done quickly, because my boyfriend's leaving in a week or so for Korea for a year, and I want to make him really, really regret going. Because I will be hot in this skirt. (Me, vengeful? Noooooooo!) But I'm in grad school, so I won't always have knitting time. Anyway, enough of my rambling. Nice to "meet" you all!

Royal Blue Ornaghi Filati Bamboo

2006-10-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

It's here! I do not usually get particularly worked up over the arrival of yarn (until you've swatched you just don't know if it will work) but I thought I would post about this because Bettina was expressing some dissatisfaction with the color selection in the SWTC bamboo. This Italian yarn is very silky in feel and sheen and is plied with a little bit of texture (I know that is an inadequate description for those of you who spin and ply your own) that should make it more forgiving of any uneven stitching. I got mine from: One Fine Yarn There is another Czech made bamboo yarn called Cloud, that comes in a more conservative palette. It can also be viewed at One Fine Yarn. Anyway, I should think that Bettina should be able to find either of these fairly readily in Europe.

I'm scrambling to meet a birthday sock deadline (and getting really bored in the process), but will make an effort to get a swatch made, photographed and posted, so you can see this yarn for yourselves.

Hello, I am happy--I think-- to join you ladies!

2006-10-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hi,

My name is Page, op, opcola, whichever you prefer. I have a lovely daughter, Laura, you can meet on: http://www.caffeineandcrochet.blogspot.com
who fell in love with skirt and emailed me (she is in San Antonio getting ready to move back home to Virginia where I am) to inform me that I was joining this KAL and making this skirt for her. All my yarn is in Virginia where I am heading tomorrow from Pensacola, FL where we have lived since retiring from the Navy in '99. My parents in law are feeling elderly and need assistance so we are going home to look after them --altho we are not giving up our home in Fl. Just leasing it to our son and his friend. We just got it rebuilt from Hurricane Ivan and could not face getting it just like we wanted it and then selling it, so we will hold on to it for our next retirement. I have some horses and a covered wagon, that I love to drive around, we --my best friend and I-- do parties and events, festivals etc. My next wagon will be a chuck wagon and then my wonderful husband is building me a hearse that I can do transports from funeral home to cemetary with, I cannot wait! Business should be good for that one!

In the meantime, I knit a LOT, socks is my new passion, and I have a circular sock machine, from 1902 that cranks out socks! I have three or is it four spinning wheels, an electric carder that was hand crank and I broke my shoulder falling out of the boat, so my husband converted it to electric the first time I had him card for me! Love that man! We have been together 30 years, only because he was gone to sea about half of that!! HA HA!! He came back from Desert Storm broken and we are still working to repair him.
I am ordered around by an African Grey Parrot named Zorro, who is 20 going on 2! His vocabulary is awesome and his ability to duplicate sounds is phenomenal! His partner in crime is a little chihuahua named doll baby that we call Dolly! They travel with us everywhere, we just got back from Texas and now we head to Georgia tomorrow and then on to Virginia where I will finally be back to my horses!

I have several projects going right now, some dish cloths with the KAL, Selfish Sunday Knitters, and the Sheep Shawl KAL, now the skirt. I will probably use handspun wool for the skirt, it will be chilly in Va. for Laura who has been in Fl or Texas for the past 18 years. Lord help us when she gets on the road in the first snow storm!! Well, my best friend in high school was named Velma, in Socorro NM!
Happy to meet you all~~ op

size question

2006-10-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have a question about how you all are deciding which size to make. How much stretch does one want in the hip? I am making this skirt stealthily for my SIL (so I can't ask her to try it on as I go), but according to her waist measurement she should be wearing an XS, and her hip is slightly wider than the M measurement. Should I make a small (since it sits lower than the waist I think this would still fit) and add a few more shaping rows? How tight is too tight do y'all think?

Actually, when I get around to making a second one for me, I'm going to have the same problem--my waist measurement would be two sizes smaller than my hip as well (of course, I'm not starting from the XS). Tips? Thoughts? Anyone?

I must have lost my mind

2006-09-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! This is all Laetitia's fault. I have lurked at her blog sporadically since sometime last year because the gal has great taste in knitted fashions and she wears them well. Anyway, I followed her link to IC and, next thing I knew, my man was drooling over my shoulder enquiring as to whether there should not be some internet blocks on displaying so much bare instep when attired in such a skirt and "when are you going to make one like that?". It did no good to point out that, at 50, I might be a little mature to be flouncing about with a bow on my butt. Whatever. It may well be my last chance to wear such a skirt without looking totally ridiculous. While I was wiping the drool off the keyboard, he put in a further request that it be made of silk in a vibrant blue. The first thing that came to mind was Fiesta La Luz in Bluebonnet. I have no experience with this yarn and would welcome some feedback. Not yet content, the man then ventured that I should work a discreet eyelet pattern to bracket the diamonds formed by the ribbon, creating the illusion that one might get a peek at something more (the eyelets would actually sit under the ribbon until movement let them flash briefly). By this time, my jaw had gone totally slack. Who knew that the man could have so many consecutive thoughts about fashion? When I ventured that bamboo might be better than silk for preventing sag, he responded firmly: "they make parachutes out of silk for a reason!". So, there you have it. I wish I had a local source for La Luz so I could do some swatching before committing to a skirt's worth. Thanks for letting me join and I look forward to seeing everyone's progress.

hey, nice to meet you

2006-09-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

My first response to the fall knitty was "Must. Make. That. Skirt." I am, however, a little afraid of what that much curve would do to my hips of doom so I've decided to stitch it up for my tall and skinny sister-in-law for Christmas. Joining a KAL always makes these sorts of projects more fun, especially since invariably I come to a moment in every pattern where I want to tear the project off my needles and rip it apart because something won't do what I think it should. Y'all will talk me me off the ledge, right? Okay, so maybe that won't be necessary--the pattern looks pretty straightforward. But here I can share my opinions and pictures of my progress in a stealth-like fashion, far away from the peeking eyes of my intended gift-ee.

Next step? Buy yarn. Hi, I'm Amy. I like to make stuff with my hands.

So far...

2006-09-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

ic 002
Originally uploaded by fallbrowneyes.

Since nobody has blogged for a while, I figured i'd post and show you all my progess. Because I'm knitting the 2x size, it takes 254 stitches to knit one row, so far.. :-P Basically all I've finished is the elastic casing/waist band.

Hope to see everyone's yarn/progress soon!

Yarn Sale

2006-09-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

While looking for SWTC Bamboo yarn, I found the Discount Yarn Sale site, which is selling 10 skein bags for $101.25 (American). That is approx. $3/skein less than retail (for example, Kpixie sells it for $13/skein). The image at left is the color card of available shades. I do not know if this is the older version of the yarn that Ashley mentioned in the previous post, or the newer, washed version. And a bag is more than is required for the project, but if you are interested in having some for your stash, this might be a cost-effective way to use the yarn called for in the pattern. Has anyone purchased yarn from them before?

I am also confused about the gauge for this pattern. Ashley, you mentioned that this yarn is a worsted weight, knit at DK gauge, but all info I could find on this yarn says it is DK. Did you mean that knitting it on smaller needles (the size4 you used vs. the size6 recommended by SWTC)? Thanks.

Hope everyone finds this helpful.

Notes from the Designer

2006-09-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

I received a lovely email this morning from Ashley Moncrief, the pattern designer of "our" skirt, saying she was both appreciative of our interest in her pattern AND available for consultation via email with any questions we might have. She also left these messages as notes to previous posts, which I though I'd share here as well:

To Bettina's question about yarn substitutions, Ashley wrote:

"Hello, this is Ashley Moncrief, the skirt designer. To Velma: I really would be extremely cautious about using a yarn with a moderate silk content because it does have a tendency to grow and 'stretch'. Elann.com has two Peruvian Collection yarns, one in alpaca and one in wool in worsted weight that come in several different colors. Remember that I knitted with a worsted weight yarn at a smaller gauge to help prevent sagging. I have never used a Peruvian Collection yarn, so I don't know exactly how it will perform. Another yarn you could use is called Zara by Filatura di Crosa. It is absolutely one of my favorite yarns. It is an extrafine Merino Wool that feels wonderful. I think it would be a good option. If you don't use it for this, at least try it out on something else in the future. I think it's the best Merino out there (that I've come across). Good luck."

To Laetitia, who is using the recommended SWTC Bamboo, Ashley wrote:

"About your concern about sagging: The pattern calls for a smaller gauge than what is recommended for the yarn, specifically to help eliminate the sagging effect of some knitted skirts. If you stick to the gauge called for, I really don't think you'll have a problem."

Finally, I received a second email from Ashley, as follows:

"...the skirt I made is wearing fine with no sagging or stretching. However, I am a little concerned because SWTC has changed their bamboo, and the one currently available is not the one I used. They have said that it is the same thing, and the only difference is that they washed it. However, the bamboo yarn I used was sort of rough and the 'new' version is very shiny and smooth... possibly troublesome for a skirt. I washed my swatch, and it didn't turn into the shiny smooth version that is now available, so I really don't know if that is the only difference like they say. Actually it does feel much better now, I just hope it will behave the same way.

Like I posted this morning, I think Zara by Filatura di Crosa would be a great substitution. I can't say enough good things about it. The only drawback is that it has a somewhat loose ply and you can easily split the yarn with your needles if you're not careful."

So, there you have it folks, directly from the horse's mouth, as they say, we have yarn substitution suggestions! I am also sending Ashley a Blogger invitation so she can post directly to this blog. Welcome, Ashley, and our thanks!

Miscellany

2006-09-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Dears, I have created a Frappr! map and linked it in the sidebar. We are a truly international group, representing Australia, France, Spain, and the U.S. to date. Please add yourself to the map, so we can see where one another calls home.

I have also contacted the pattern author, inviting her to participate as a guest in our little knitalong. I am hoping that she is interested in offering yarn substitution suggestions. We shall see.

I also emailed Green Mountain Spinnery, who offers a Sylvan Sprite, a Tencel/wool blend dk yarn for sale. My thought was that because Tencell, a wood-pulp derived fiber, is supposed to retain garment shape well, as does wool, this might be a nice yarn substitution. Knitter's Review did a Yarn Profile of it HERE. A major drawback to this yarn, as I see it, is that it is only offered in 2 shades: a creamy white that may or may not take dye well, and a "brown-gray" color that looks more blue-gray to me. It is also costly, at $11 per 180 yard skein. On the upside, it is a relatively "green" yarn, as GMS uses environmentally-friendly processing and suppliers. I am still waiting to hear from them, too.

Hope all are enjoying the knitalong. Happy knitting!

Black cruelty

2006-09-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I'm Laetitia from France (Paris!). I fell in love with Intolerable Cruelty as soon as I saw it. I'm also a bit worried about the sagging effect of a knitted skirt, especially in bamboo. Nevermind, I have the exact amount of bamboo in my stash. So I have to knit that skirt!

I couldn't wait to start it: here is the begginning. Mine is gonna be black with a mauve velvet ribbon to suit a Rowan bolero I'm currently knitting.

Yarn Substitutions

2006-09-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I can't wait to start this skirt, but first I will have to find a yarn I like. I was all set to order some Bamboo as in the pattern, but I really don't like the colors. Ok, don't get me wrong, the colors are great but for me none of them cries out "skirt". I was looking for a pewter or charcoal or maybe even a sand or oatmeal kind of color. The brown would be great, but I have 4 brown skirts (all different materials and shades, but I really don't need a fifth brown skirt, LOL).

So, does anyone have ideas as to substitutions? I was thinking Euroflax, but any suggestion would be welcome.

Until I have found the right thing, I'll keep plugging away at my UFO's and continue searching cyber space (no LYS anywhere here, unfortunately!)

I got my yarn today!

2006-09-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

icyarn 002
Originally uploaded by fallbrowneyes.

Hi everyone, I'm Hanna from Iowa. This is my first knitalong and flickr/blogger post, so I hope this comes out ok.
I'm going to be making my IC in this lovely shade of scarlet red bamboo in the 2x size. The picture makes it look a bit more bright and metallic than it really is. It's closer to like a blood red. I used my center pull ball winder on all six balls so I wouldn't end up with a tangled mess. All but one had manufacturer's knots in them, so watch out for that if you use the yarn called for in the pattern.
I hope to start a swatch as soon as I'm done with this post.

Welcome to the Intolerable Cruelty Skirt KAL!

2006-09-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

The new Fall 2006 issue of Knitty is out (yeah!!) and I was so taken with the Intolerable Cruelty Skirt pattern I decided to start a knitalong. Hope you will join me!

To Sign up:
Please send me an email WITH YOUR NAME, EMAIL ADDY, AND YOUR BLOG URL (if you have one) to velma underscore occam (at) yahoo (dot) com and I will:

Add you to the group
Put your name and a link to your blog (if you have one) in the sidebar
Send you an invite to join, allowing you to post here

Next Steps:

Get your pattern
Get your yarn
Start knitting!

Finally:

You can post your progress/problems/photos here (please, no photos bigger than 350pixels, the Flickr! small size)
You can also join and post your photos to the Flickr! group
Take a button for your blog (please save to your server; don't be a bandwidth thief!)
Tell your knitting friends!

This knitalong is the first I've administered, so please be patient and cut me a little slack if (er, when) I foobar it up. (Please post any questions about the KAL in the comments for this post).

Happy Knitting!