My Vogue Knitting magazines arrived! I have been waiting and planning for this, so I immediately cast on for the first sand dollar-esque part of the capecho. And here it is, in all it's unblocked glory: 
The capechos I've seen have been huge, and I wanted something a bit more form-fitting, a bit more like the way the cover looks (even though I realize that really, that model has a capecho bunched and pinned behind her back). Also, I knew that this bit of experimentation might go horribly, horribly wrong, so just in case, I didn't want to be using my priciest merino for this. It's basic DK weight acrylic, done on 2.5 mm needles. Yes, that's right- 2.5 mm. Now, here's my confusion: The pattern calls for 5.5 mm needles. And the schematic in the magazine shows that each sand dollar is about 5" across (for the xs size). So explain this: 
The sheep says that my unblocked sand dollar is only a smidgen under 5". How on earth did I get gauge on 2.5 mm? I'm completely flabbergasted. My stealthy plan to knit this on tiny needles is going to need a re-think. I'm going to block it tonight. For acrylic, I just give it a good old fashioned steam-and-press with the iron. This makes acrylic limp and drapey, which is exactly what I want it to do, since I have no desire for the capecho to make me look like a linebacker for the NFL. Once blocked, I'll see how big it is, and then decide how many of these it would actually take to fit around me. This one will be an experiment right up to the bitter end, I think.
1 comments:
dang that is beautiful acrylic! it looks beautiful. I would make your capecho about 2/3 the size of the the xs size, on size 4ish needles. I severely downsized mine, and it still came out big!
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