Thursday, May 27, 2004

Official Start of the T-Top KnitAlong!

Join us as we work through the T-Top in the August 2004 edition of Knit 'N Style magazine. It is a simple boxy tee-shirt that uses ribbing to give it some shape. Worked in the round, the front is split in the center to create a fold-over collar. Cap sleeves are worked from the top down using short rows (they aren't hard - really :-)

See it here - Lapel T-Top, about half way down the page on the left.

You will need a copy of the magazine to knit along with us - it can be found at knitting shops and bookstores or you can order it directly from the publisher.

To ask a question, click on the Comments link at the bottom of this post. I will put answers to the most frequently asked questions on a FAQ page after we get rolling.

Here is a little button you can add to a web page or blog if you are knitting along:


A few thoughts before starting:

The gauge is 18 sts = 4 in OR 18/4 = 4.5 stitches to the inch on size US 7. The yarn used in the pattern is Aurora/Ornaghi Filati Giglio. You may use any yarn and needles you want as long as you get THE SAME GAUGE. If someone comes across a link to the actual yarn I would be happy to post it here but I know I will be using something I already have, probably a combination of little 5/2 cottons since this is a summer top.

4.5 stitches to the inch is worsted to heavy worsted weight like Cascade Sierra, Plymouth Fantasy Naturale, Noro Kureyon, 1824 Cotton, or Reynolds Saucy. I got these names from the Patternworks catalog but again, you can use any yarn you want as long as you get the correct gauge.

How do you find out what gauge you are getting? Here are a few articles on gauge:
EarthGuild I happen to like this one the best.
KnitaBit
Martha Stewart :-)

Enough for now - I'll be back!

23 Comments:

Anonymous said...

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

4:01 PM
Anonymous said...

You can put your name in your comment (erica speaking :-) if you don't want to sign in.

12:15 AM  
Anonymous said...

Count me in. :) I have my yarn ordered and can't wait for it to arrive. Working on the T-Top wiill be great when I need a break from my current project--a mosaic afghan for my parents.

=Harriet

1:17 PM  
Anonymous said...

big pout...i looked for this issue of knit n style and the stores here don't have it out yet. i have my yarn..actually i have 2 yarns...and undefined superwash wool in the palest of light pink with teeny tiny hints of color dabbed along..turquoise..yellow..orange..

- or -

a pink/beige cotton from paton's yarns that they no longer make.

i really dislike making desicions..but...i can always swatch for it in each til the mag come out. :)

tanya

4:43 PM  
Anonymous said...

I bought the magazine yesterday. I bought some Lionbrand Cottonease today to use (it's half cotton, half acrylic, so it's not so heavy/droopy as pure cotton). Anyway, the instructions say to measure the gauge swatch "slight stretched." That seems a bit vague. I though gauge swatches were supposed to be as accurate as you could get them. How do I know if I'm stretching it too much or not enough? Argh.

4:45 PM  
Anonymous said...

Oops, I think I forgot to sign my last post. It's Marcy (whistling_lass).

4:46 PM  
siren416 said...

I'm going to try it, but I can't decide on the yarn yet. Marcy, how did the cotton ease work out? I was looking at it today and wondering if it might work.
So much to choose from! My brain hurts.........

12:20 PM  
Filomena said...

Hi,
I probably won't be able to go get some yarn for a few days, but you can definitely count me in.

12:48 PM  
Filomena said...

I just googled the name the yarn the pattern calls for and got this:
http://www.yarns-and.com/Ornaghi/ORNgiglio.htm

hope this might of help to someone ; O )

12:58 PM  
mimi-c said...

Hi all, I have begun.... Finally found the magazine last week, bought some Cotton-Ease in a beautiful pale green yesterday and started on my T-Top. Last night I completed about 2".
Mimi-C

4:24 AM  
Anonymous said...

Hey, I think I understand this stretching the yarn to measure gauge thing. The amount of stretch determines fit. The more you have to stretch it to get it to measure the required number of inches, the tighter it will fit against your body. Am I right?

Marcy

7:47 PM  
Anonymous said...

Siren asked me how the Cotton Ease is working. Dunno. I haven't started swatching, yet. All my needles are in other projects. Hopefully, I'll start swatching tomorrow.

Marcy

7:49 PM  
Anonymous said...

I'm planning to knit along on the t-top. I got my yarn (forget its name right now, but it's a cotton blend), swatched and cast on, but then realized I cast on with the main color and not that nice little contrast one. So I've been deciding (for 3 days now) whether to skip the contrast or rip out and start over. Now I'm also not sure I have my size right, think I'll go home and do some measuring to be sure.

beverly

1:13 PM  
erica said...

Beverly - you can still do the contrast on the neck and sleeves - I don't like having a line of separate color at my waist/hips, so I left it off mine :-)

4:28 PM  
Anonymous said...

Is it too late to join the knitalong. I don't even have my yarn yet:
Kay

1:00 PM  
erica said...

It is definitely NOT too late to join us - I am only an inch ahead of you :-)

1:43 PM  
Dennise said...

My mom and I are doing the knitalong as a teaching thing for her. This will be her first sweater. She has been making ballet slippers for weeks so she has the k2p2 down pat. We are leaving for Boston tomorrow to visit my sister and this will be our traveling project too.

Dennise

5:06 PM  
Anonymous said...

Please add me to the knitalong. Thanks!! Jan

5:21 PM  
Anonymous said...

Hi!

Count me in on this knitalong! I just got the magazine yesterday, and am now going through my bins to see what yarn to choose. Ive got some lana grossa india ribbon yarn and some rowan cotton blend .. not sure which I'll go with, if either of these. Will have to do some swatching today.

Thanks, Erica and everyone .. this is SO exciting! My first garment!! I'm getting the blahs with scarves, scarves - and yet 'nother scarf ~L~

buhbye,
CocoMango

7:30 PM  
Marcy said...

I'm commenting on this post, b/c all the other ones come up as code. Anyway, there's a nice bit about short rows at knitty.com.
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer03/FEATbonnetric.html
I just printed out the tank top pattern that is referenced, which has short rows at the hem and at the bust.

4:17 PM  
Anonymous said...

I just switched to Mozilla FireFox and now many of the T-Top KnitAlong pages come up as HTML Code for me instead of the way it should be. I couldn't post a comment at the most recent entry--this was the only place I could post. Wondering if the other person with this problem uses Netscape or Mozilla?

I found out that my yarn is not in yet... been backordered, so I will have to wait another 2-3 weeks. :( :( I *really* hope I won't be disappointed! I chose Artful Yarns Fable in colorway 95 (hansel and gretel), supposed to be purples and grays... plus the material is 85% cotton/15% silk... which I thought was interesting and hoped would work for this sweater.
http://www.yarn.com/yarns-knitting/fable.html

Guess I will have to sit on my hands for a while yet. Hmm, does that mean I can't knit at all? ;)

=Harriet

6:29 AM  
Dennise said...

Hi everyone. Haven't visited the knitalong site for a while, have been out of town. I have almost 10" of my t-top done. This is just a bit on the boring side, yes? I am realy liking the look tho. Mom is coming along nicely and has about 8 inches done. I was thinking that the redheart yarn was perfect for us to start this as a beginning project for her. She picked a great varigated yarn with blues and purples and it really looks nice. I am making mine purple so I can wear it at a Red Hat Society meeting in the fall. Since I am tall, I was thinking I would add some length to it. I will wait until I get to the inches indicated in my size and see then. I am going to try to post pix on my blogger page if and when I can find the time to learn how to do it LOL!

9:28 AM  
Anonymous said...

Found this site while trying to see what the suggested yarn for this pattern looks like (it's a ribbon, in fact!).
But I'd like to join in, and have started the pattern using a 'stash' yarn; an old Bernat 'Panama' that's been waiting for the right project. It's cotton, acrylic and linen in a real pretty variegated colorway. Don't have quite enough of the variegated, but do have a few extra skeins of solid colors that pick up the variegation. The variegated is a mostly linen color, with mauvey pink and 'bachelor's button' blue streaks throughout; the solids are the same mauve and blue. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Gwen S.

12:52 PM  

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