Pattern: Katja by Tisra Fadely, appeared in the Spring 2006 issue of Knitty.com
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Stripes in Pinky Stripes, one 100g/3.5 oz skein (172 yds/152m)
Needle: US-size 4 circular
Notes/modifications: I made the 12-month size for the cups, but did not make the skirt part as large as the pattern calls for. Actually, I cast on the required number, but was afraid it was going to be huge, so I ripped out the first row of the skirt and cast on the 6-month stitch count for the skirt. (Even that’s gonna be way too big for my skinny li’l grandbaby!)
Also, my initial cast-on of the skirt (which put the join in the middle of the back) would have been fine if I’d been knitting the thing flat, but I was working in the round (’cause I didn’t want to have to seam it up). And in the round, it makes no sense to start in the middle of the back, as that makes the first row look completely different on the left than it does on the right. And by “completely different” I mean unacceptably wonky. So I started the skirt by casting on all of the increase stitches at once, rather than half on either side of the cups, and started working in the round immediately.
Another thing I changed was the spacing of the purl rows on the skirt. I put them wherever it looked/felt “right,” rather than where the pattern said. Not surprisingly, my placement of the purl rows was pretty close to the original pattern, as I had the picture in front of me and wanted my top to be pretty close to that. I just didn’t want to count rows in the skirt.
A final change: I stopped when the yarn was about to run out, rather than at any particular length. Looking at my leftover yarn, I probably could have squeezed out a couple more rows, but I’d rather have the few extra yards on hand just in case… to make crocheted drawstrings to make the top fit better, for instance.
Overall, this was a quick and pretty easy knit. The only really fiddly part is the overlap of the cups when you’re working the first round of the skirt. I cheated and used a small crochet hook to pull the yarn through the loops and onto the knitting needle, rather than trying to knit them on. That worked really well.
Oh, and the cups start with a provisional/crochet cast-on. I knew there was an easier way to do it than the method given on the Knitty site, so I googled and found this youtube video that made it all crystal clear. The only thing it doesn’t tell you is that the waste yarn cast-on doesn’t count as your first row. Knit a plain row (one stitch in each loop of the waste yarn) before you start working in pattern. Oh, and the tip about putting a knot in the end of the waste yarn that you will not be pulling on to “unzip” the crochet part later? Simple and genius.
(finished 4/6/11)
