Agnes and I are in a fight. She insists that she will be just lovely once her entire surface is covered with tiny little french knots. I maintain that if I have to separately tie that many french knots I will lose my mind. I’m not sure there’s a lot of room for compromise here.
I spent quite awhile last night working on tying a french knots, which, as it turns out, is way harder on knitted fabric than on linen. And am I supposed to weave in all those ends? Because that is not working for me. Here’s what the fabric looks like now:
I did have some hope that I could just call the purls “texture stitches,” but even after blocking they are causing distortion in the surrounding fabric (I don’t know how obvious it is in this photo, but trust me… it’s there.)
So… I’ve decided to set Agnes aside for a bit while I work out what to do, which may involve ripping back to the peplum and working in straight stockinette. I do love the shape of the jacket. Fortunately, I haven’t done more than an inch on any other section, so it isn’t too much I will have to redo. But then again… I’m not sure how I’m liking the color of this yarn, which is a bit too “grassy” for my taste (I like my greens more toward the yellow side.) So we will see. I am not upset… these things happen, and besides, Danica is going to wonderfully that I can’t be too upset! I would have had more to undo on Agnes, except that I kept getting distracted by entrelac, which is certainly more fun than I could have anticipated.
I swatched for three new sweaters.
L to R: Valley Yarns Amherst in charcoal for Silver Belle (the Debbie bliss cardi from either the cashmerino collection or the new vogue,) Felted tweed in Rage for Patti (I love this color so much!) and Patons Classic merino for the Nantucket Jacket.
The first two haven’t been blocked yet. Interestingly, the charcoal Amherst is considerably softer than the periwinkle that I have. Perhaps the dying process made the darker color softer? I now have yarn for 3 sweaters in felted tweed, so I should get on that soon… and the Patons merino is the only yarn I have yet found that works for Nantucket without being crazy pricey. And yes, it will pill, but hopefully not too badly (I tried abusing the swatch above, and it seems to have survived, and anyway I have so many sweaters that hardly anything is in danger of being worn often enough to pill…)
I’m also excited because (according to amazon) my copy of Romantic Handknits is due to ship on Tuesday! I love new knitting books, and this one looks nice from the preview.
Green apples - Stitchywitch Creates 
Oh wow, those Agnes woes sound totally familiar! I had a stormy relationship with my Agnes (from the Vintage Style book), which ended in a crash and burn.
Poor Agnes.
“…weave in all those ends”? For each knot? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I just don’t think so.
I’ve had good luck with the Patons. I used it for a blankie for my son (it was the product of a Kool-Aid dyeing experiment) and it’s held up extremely well, without pilling. And if is does, Knit Picks has a very effective sweater stone.
Two of the sweaters you are swatching for are two that I am also doing next. As soon as I finish my current sweater, probably in a week or two, I’m going to start the Silver Belle sweater, then when that’s done I plan to do the Nantucket jacket. I’ll keep an eye to your blog to see how you do with these. I think the Patons is a nice choice for the Nantucket jacket.
Agnes is beautiful, but the thought of weaving in all those ends… uuurrrrrgh! If the stitches were less far apart, you could strand your french knot yarn, but not over such big distances. I wish I had any other helpful ideas!
Hahaha! Priceless…It must be driving you mad!!! but It really does look nice!!! Aggie is a pretty thang!
I’m planning on making Agnes and will use beads instead of French knots.
I’m looking forward to see your Silver Belle!