Adventure in colour
For the birthday of one of my nieces, I wanted to knit a cute dress and I had fallen in love with a pattern that required a technique that I have been wanting to learn since before I could knit: fair isle knitting.
The Banasik Tunic by designer Anna Rauf, or Cicha on Ravelry, is a seamless dress that’s knit from the top down, with a circular yarn and fair isle. The pattern comes recommended as the perfect colourknit for beginners. Perfect for me!
I also quickly showed the pattern to my sister in law and she also loved it, so I was sure that this dress would be appreciated. My sister in law also chose some colours from my box with colour cards. The pattern only requires 2 colours, a main and contrast colour, but of course I had to make things harder on myself by opting to use three colours instead. Why settle for easy, right? 😉
Time to get started!
But I immediately stumbled on a problem, when I realised that the circumference would be too small to work on any of my circular needles :-(. I was on the brink of ordering new needles online, when I suddenly remembered the magic loop method. This worked as a charm, but provided an extra dimension of difficulty together with the stranded colouring.
But to my surprise and delight I did not have any huge difficulties with the stranded knitting.
I had to be careful not to tangle my yarns and had to pay extra attention to my knitting tension (not too tight, not too loose), but after some practice I found my rhythm especially when I realised that I could knit both according to the continental and English method. After that, I was set to go.
The hardest part for me was not carrying the colours along a row, but rather when I had to carry the yarn up for a couple of rounds. There I sometimes pulled too hard or got a hole because I didn’t properly wrap my yarns.
To be honest, I haven’t yet completely figured that part out, how to not get the holes. I’ll need to do more research on that. And practice of course.
And then I had suddenly finished the fair isle yoke and could start with the plain knitting. Of course this went very quickly as well, especially since I could do that on the train from and to work.
When I reached the colourwork at the hem, I could further perfect my technique of combining continental and English knitting. Row by row this went quicker. I was really surprised that it went so well, since I had read so much about the diificulties of stranded knitting. I had build it up in my head to be so difficult, that it had stopped me from trying it for so long. I’m so happy that my first experience was in fact so positive. I can see many stranded knit projects in my future! 😀
After I finished the hem, I only had to knit the sleeves, which no longer holds any secrets for me. Then weaving in the ends and finished! I must say that I am pretty proud of this dress!
I found it extremely difficult to wait for the birthday party to give the present. I had to wait for almost a month and had to keep restraining myself not to give it sooner! I was a little scared that the dress would turn out too small, but that fear was unnecesary, since it fits perfectly with plenty of room to grow!
| The details | |
|---|---|
| Pattern: | Banasik Tunic by Anna Rauf |
| Yarn: | Stylecraft Special DK in Mushroom (88g), Gold (60g) and Grape (21g) |
| Needle: | 4mm for regular knitting 3,75mm for the ribbing along the neck, hem and sleeves |
| My gauge: | 10cm² = 21 stitches over 31 rows on needle 4mm |
| Size: | 12-18 months |
| Adjusments of pattern: |
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| Ravelry project: | Adventure in colour |
