I had a birthday a few weeks back and got a few knitting-related presents. First off, my husband and the kids got me a yarn winder and swift! The yarn winder is the blue and white one that most places carry and the swift is made of wood. I spent the next week sneaking upstairs to rewind the leftovers from my previous projects. I also received a book - Knit Scarves! - from my sister and there are several scarves that will make nice future projects!
But I have been doing a lot of knitting lately on a new endeavor - my first top-down sweater! I'm knitting my son the Knitting Pure and Simple Children's Tunic.
He requested it in the yarn used in the picture (Lorna's Laces Seaside) so I placed my first Jimmy Bean's Wool order. I HIGHLY recommend them! I ordered late Monday night, got a confirmation email 30 minutes later, a shipped notification the next day and the yarn was in my mailbox on Friday!
Anyhow, I am in serious love with the topdown construction. I love that there's no seaming. I love that the yoke increases form beautiful 'seam' lines at the front and back of each shoulder. I love that my son could try on the sweater the other day so I knew the sizing was good.
But just as I am in love with topdown I am giving another seamless construction design a shot - a tank top knit in the round starting at the bottom. It's the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell from IK Summer 2007.
I'm swatching Tahki Cotton Classic in a lavender shade right now but I'm unsure how to handle the shrink/stretch factor of cotton. Since it's mercerized cotton, does it behave the same? I'm definitely going to have to machine wash and dry the swatch to figure out the right size.
