Lightly Stretched
Published November 20, 2006 by CabledSheep
This is the top I’m working on now, from the Zara & Zara Plus 2005 book. The gauge says 24 st = 4″ in 2×2 rib “lightly stretched”. Hmmmph. Now that seems a bit open to interpretation, doesn’t it? I’m using Filatura Di Crosa Zara, which is very elastic. I’m knitting the size “small” (34″ bust finished measurement), but I cast on 4 stitches less, as I wanted it to be a bit closer to 32/33″. I’m knitting it flat, so I was expecting to get somewhere close to or just over 16″ in width. I’ve got about half of the back done, and unstretched it’s barely 10″ wide. If I stretch it almost fully, it’s close to 20″. In order to get it to 16″, I have to pull it out about 3/4 of the way between compacted and fully stretched. That seems to be a bit more stretching than “lightly stretched”. What to do, what to do… continue on and hope for the best? That’s one of the reasons I decided not to attempt to convert the pattern to knitting in the round. It leaves open a lot more options if I need to adjust the size. Maybe for the front I’ll cast on the original number of stitches. I guess I’ll finish the back and see what I think, then decide. I must say, though, I’m really loving the Zara yarn. It’s so soft and squishy. I shall call him squishy. And he shall be mine. And he shall be my squishy!
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Cabled Sheep lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she enjoys knitting and munching veggies out of the garden.
That pattern is gorgeous! The stretch factor you are getting sounds about right to make it naturally fit nicely when it’s on.
Squishy! Yum!
Love it.