The Shrug is Finished!

When I started the shrug from the Modern Twin Set I immediately saw the shrug as something that would be perfect for my mother-in-law. She likes shrugs and boleros, and the green would be perfect for her coloring.

The pattern calls for gimp to be crocheted along the edges of the shrug. I didn't have gimp, and I didn't have easy access to a ball or skein of it, either. I ended up buying Vanna's Choice Glamour yarn and using that in place of the gimp. It's a nice sparkly, light-weight yarn (#2/sport/fine/baby weight). The color is "Platinum," a bright grey yarn with silver sparkle woven through it. It looks so pretty with the sheen of the cotton yarn.

Because it is a rib knit, I didn't block the finished garment. That's a great thing! No muss, no fuss when it comes to finishing the shrug. Blocking might have killed the elasticity of the ribbing.

This was the first garment I've ever seamed. I had managed to make hats, scarves and cowls that don't need to be seamed. I did everything in the round. I was a bit apprehensive about the seaming, but purlebee.com had a super tutorial on how to do the Mattress Stitch. It wasn't nearly as scary as I had imagined.

The 2x2 rib is amazingly stretchy. The shrug fits my mother-in-law and my 11 year old niece. While it looks slightly large on my niece, it still looks nice.

Here's what...

While I normally hate cotton yarn, I would definitely use the Vendome Raps 100% cotton yarn again if I can find it. It is soft and silky and has such a pretty sheen to it. I may just start scouring the internet for it. 

I really like the pattern, as well. In fact, I would like to make it again.  As a 2x2 rib, it is is mindless knit: making it easy to find mistakes, and even easier to fix them. This pattern seems like it would be really easy to enlarge.

The pattern for the Modern Twin Set can be found in our Etsy store.

Happy knitting!

Shrug from the Modern Twin Set Pattern

Alison found this really cool cotton yarn at a thrift store. It was vintage Vendome yarn: Vendome Raps 100% cotton yarn. While we haven't found much information about this yarn, we decided that I should make something with it. The color is amazing; it's a beautiful green, a little emerald, a little leaf. A lotta fabulous. Generally, I hate working with cotton yarn. Most days I would rather poke out my eye with a knitting needle than work with cotton. But this yarn is different. It was soft, didn't dry out my hands, and looks so pretty made up - it has a bit of a shine.

Vendome Raps 100% cotton yarn.

With the yarn in hand, we had to find a pattern that would work for the weight and the amount of yarn we had. We decided to go with the shrug from the Modern Twin Set pattern. The Shrug required 6 ounces of a worsted weight yarn. With the holidays coming, we decided that the Modern Twin Set shrug would be the perfect pattern for this color and this yarn. (The color is all over the place in these pics. My little camera was having such a rough day - it couldn't decide where to focus. The color in the pic above is the closest to the actual color.)

Shrug in progress. Lifelines in use.

I was excited about the shrug, so I started knitting. It went pretty fast. It is a 2 x 2 rib, so mistakes are easy to identify and easy to fix. I added lifelines because I sometimes forget to look back on what I have just knit to make sure everything is in pattern. I don't mind fixing stitches, but I don't want to drop back to the beginning of the project because I don't  use my crochet hook to stop the stitches from raveling back to the beginning.

Knitting completed. Now it's just waiting to be sewn up.

Now I have to seam the shrug sleeves together. I'm a little nervous about it. I am looking at videos and websites trying to figure out what type of seaming to use. I will post pics once I have finished it.

Bound off edge - done in 2 x 2 pattern.
I used a stretchy bind off so the back will stretch,
and hopefully not distort, when the shrug is worn.

Happy knitting!

Kristen