The back view of Baby Poonam pullover:

Sometimes a pattern design just calls out to a knitter.  Lisa heard the call of Baby Poonam, a baby pullover designed by Norah Gaughan, because it combines two Aran knitting motifs: cables and gansey stitches.  She's knitting it out of Spud and Chloe Sweater, which is worsted weight.  (More on changing gauge in the next post.)

Once upon a time, there was an 8 year old named Bradley who needed a vest.  His grandmother had never knit before, but a friend convinced her that this project would be easy.  So they came to String Theory and bought some yarn, a pattern and some needles and started in.  Bradley’s grandmother stopped in regularly, asking questions, getting help, taking out stitches and re-knitting.  Both staff and customers fielded questions and offered suggestions.  As word got around that this was her first knitting project, Bradley’s grandmother became a bit of a legend.  Everyone else they knew had learned to knit with a scarf, or a washcloth or maybe fingerless mitts.  As Christmas approached, the pressure was on to finish.  But as you can see from the photo, everyone lived happily after.

Here is Lisa’s latest chapter in the Dahlia story.  Note there is still only one sleeve, since Lisa is waiting for her class to demonstrate the “after thought” sleeve.

Here’s Janet (great smile) modeling Dahlia (great drape) in the store.  And …

Here’s the back view. To quote visitors to Dahlia at the store:  ”Wow. That’s beautiful.”

I (Lisa) think that’s a great reason to knit Dahlia, besides the fact that it’s fun to make and wear:  how many times do you hear “Wow, that’s beautiful” about your back view? (Eat your heart out, J-Lo.)

Dahlia is blocking, in her own Dahlia way.  Since she’s made from the extremely-washable Pediboo, Lisa just soaked her in Eucalan and put her in the dryer on very delicate until she was all but dry.  Notice that the edges are a bit darker — that’s where Lisa sprayed water and smoothed out the transition between stockinette stitch body and seed stitch edging.

In the previous chapter, you saw the finished right back, right front, right sleeve.  Guess what’s next?  If by free association you came up with a phrase including the word “left,” yep, that’s it.  All those non-periwinkle colors of yarn in the photo = live stitches to pick up and away we go.

Oh, look — a sleeve grew from the dotted line.  It even has a sleeve cap (in the String Theory version, anyway!).

Cut on the dotted line.  Take several deep breaths.  Perhaps have a glass of wine. 

There are still some openings in the Dahlia class.  Call the store or stop in to sign up.

This is the right back and side.  Where does this fit in?  Why is part in stockinette, part in reverse stockinette, part in seed stitch?  How does this connect to that perfect square of perfect lace knitting?  To quote Monty Python, “wait for it…”

Lisa has been making Dahlia in preparation for her class which starts Wednesday evening January 11.  This beautiful cardigan has a very interesting construction so I thought we would track her progress for a while.

Dahlia is a knitting story, in chapters.  Here’s the back, a bit of lace knitting 13″ x 13″ or so (mine is more 14″ x 14″, but Dahlia is an easygoing kind of girl).  The back would also make the front of a perfect pillow cover.   Yarn:  Frog Tree Pediboo in — surprise! — Periwinkle.