I finally finished Pam Allen's Ribbed Shrug from the Summer 2005 Interweave Knits (and also here). It's an easy knit -- I think I did the bind-off about a month ago -- but I let myself get repeatedly distracted, and I admit that I put off sewing it up, too.
I used the yarn called for in the pattern, Patons Katrina, in black (which I had to special-order from Jo-Ann's). I would never have chosen this yarn for myself, but it seems quite well-suited to the pattern. It has a curious rubberiness to it, and it thwacked most satisfyingly when the knitted piece fell into my lap. I spent a happy minute dropping it over and over until I realized that the sound reminded me of an empty hot water bottle.
It does hide a multitude of sins, though, and apparently most vagaries of tension are simply swept away in its elasticity. The K1, P1 rib makes a dense, firm fabric here but the rayon gives it a lot of stretch, and it drapes very prettily. I hadn't realized from the photo in the magazine that the yarn has quite a bit of shimmer to it, as well. I never did get the gauge specified in the pattern, even down three needle sizes, but the stretchiness of the rib and the yarn itself seem to pull it in enough. It looks quite elegant on Laura's ballet teacher, who is much slimmer than I am!
I added an extra two rows in the ruffle, as I thought the six of the pattern seemed a bit stingy. The yarn is very splitty, and ravelled mercilessly at the joins -- I ended up tying the woven-in ends with a bit of sewing thread in hopes of keeping them relatively secure!
What a lovely and appropriate gift for a ballet teacher. She can keep her arms warm and still be able to show her students all the steps and movements.
Posted by: erin | March 23, 2006 at 08:48 PM
I'm usually not a shrug person, but that one is very cute - perfect for a ballet teacher.
Posted by: Beth | March 24, 2006 at 12:51 PM
it's so cute. one of my SnB friends is knitting it in pink Katrina.
Posted by: lynette | April 02, 2006 at 06:56 AM