Writing is therapy for me. I miss writing about knitting. Somehow, in between the months of being a care-taker, looking for employment during coronavirus (all previous employment vanished), finding a new teaching position with iTutor and learning how to teach online (no easy feat), I did succeed in completing 7 projects. I look back and don’t know how. Not only was time a premium, I can only knit when I’m relaxed. I do not necessarily find job hunting, learning new skills, and care taking relaxing. I am always so envious when I hear people say knitting relaxes them suggesting not only a method for coping but also a productive method for such! Here is a snapshot of the seven I somehow completed in 2020, as seen on Ravelry. I love this feature of tagging so as to be able to sort.

I am not caught up in writing about these last three projects and writing is something that does relax me (and is also productive!) So . . . That skirt! Let me tell you about it!

I must say, with things changing so much with Vogue Knitting (sadly, not to my liking), my eyes and attention have wandered. It began with my Gyro (which I call Two-tone on Ravelry) designed by Linda Marveng and I must say, Linda keeps calling me back with her talent. Her designs have the exact criteria I look for: challenging, unique, and fashionable.

My Gyro had just come off the needles when she posted a skirt and sweater set I had to have. The skirt is high waisted, cinched at the waist, and knee length.

In studying the stitch you see that it is basically a rib stitch with a small cable or twist to the rib about every 1.5 – 2 inches. The advantage (how smart is Linda) is that if you ever had anything in rib, sooner or later there is unsightly stretching. By creating this twist or cable in the middle of the rib, it makes the fabric more stable, preventing this stretch. I used this opportunity to learn how to cable without cable needles which is really quite easy. To me, it’s like pinching the stitches, then knitting them out of order. Here is a video on the process. Not using cable needles moves the project along much quicker.

Always going to my existing stash first, here you see me examining the stitch in different yarns.

I settled with Rowan’s Felted Tweed in color Duck Egg.

I used markers to indicate positions, in this case, where shaping began.

I wanted the belt that I would be wearing to act as only an accessory so I reinforced the waist by hand sewing on bias tape to act as a casing. Then, I threaded a thinner piece of bias tape to act as a tie at the side seam. Of course, the tie adjusts for better fit. Using a very small safety pin, I guided the narrow bias tape through the wider bias tape casing. The skirt stays very much in place with or without the belt.

I did lengthen the skirt 1 inch for me. Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly and here are inside self-taken shots.

I call this .5 as I have every intention of knitting its counterpart in the months, ahead. Also, these shots were taken before I added belt loops. Stay tuned for completion of both! And, then when the world opens up . . . I will look forward to an opportunity to wear my beautiful outfit.