Beaubourg | Done.

Yep, it's done! finished. seamed. blocked. gifted. and (very poorly! so sorry, Katie!) photographed.

You can see the details on sizing, needles and yarn requirements on my Ravelry project page (here).

I followed the pattern exactly, except for the collar which I picked up and knitted directly onto the neck edge (instead of knitting it separately and then seaming). And it came together beautifully. I especially love the yarn over short rows to shape the shoulders and front neckline. I did think to take photos as I worked them and created a short pictorial to walk you through the technique.

A few other finishing notes:

• I buried all my ends on the knit side (which is the wrong side of the finished piece) before I started seaming. Note that I joined all the new balls a few stitches in from the sides so my side seams would be smooth. Heichi separates into three strands; I buried each of those strands separately with a sharp needle. 
• I used Silk & Ivory (from the needlepoint side of the shop) to sew the seams. That thread is sturdy and smooth and made seaming the Heichi almost easy.
• I worked all the seams in mattress stitch, treating the knit side like the right side. That put my seams on the outside once I turned the garment purl side out. (and yes, that means I had to do a very careful job with them because it's like wearing a garment inside out!)
• I first seamed both shoulders and then I knit the collar.
• For the collar, I picked up a multiple of 4 stitches (so I could work the K2/P2 ribbing in the round) beginning at one shoulder. I knit the collar with the knit side facing - just like a regular collar on a stockinette sweater. I bound off in pattern, loosely. I didn't work any special bind off, just loose - but even - tension on the stitches. The collar used a full skein of yarn to be exactly the 6" the pattern suggested.
• And then I seamed the sides, wove in the last few ends (this sounds quick but it took four hours!) and gave it good 30 minute soak (in the bathroom sink).
• I smoothed it into place and let it dry. Note that I took this photo early in the drying process. I subsequently unfolded the collar so it wouldn't dry with any kind of crease. (note that Katie isn't wearing the collar folded in the photo above).

And now - the pictorial on working the short rows. We've added a new section to the sidebar to store tutorials like this…hopefully over time we'll have a real catalog. If there are ones you'd like to see added soon, please let us know.

I think that's all I have to say about Beaubourg - except - I wish it were mine! The finished piece feels great and you know silk is one of my favorite fibers. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you'll consider knitting this one for yourself!

Beaubourg | Begun.

I shared with y'all last week that I was going to swatch and cast-on for Beaubourg. Yes, that happened!

going for 4 stitches and 6-1/2 rows to the inch

First, the swatch. I've used Heichi several times before at the pattern suggested gauge, most recently in May, 2012 when I knit Element. on size 8's. I'm glad I knit a new swatch; my gauge has loosened up a bit! With the 8's, my stitch gauge was about 1/4 stitch per inch too big (maybe workable?), but the row gauge was about one row per inch too big. Row gauge matters for Beaubourg because the sleeves and shoulders are shaped with short rows. If I followed the pattern with my too-big row gauge, the 32 rows of shoulder shaping would be 6" long instead of nearly 5". On a piece that's already oversized, I didn't want to go there. So I swatched again on size 7's. My stitch gauge is a smidge tight, but I got the row gauge closer. Now I'm only 1/2 row per inch too big (six rows to the inch). I can live with that. I cast on with size 7's.

This sweater is knit in pieces; the back and front are knit separately and then seamed together. That means the back and front need to be the exact same length. When I'm knitting pieces that need to match exactly, I like to count rows instead of measuring. I converted the measurements to rows by multiplying the number of inches by 6 (my row gauge). For example, I needed to knit 13" before I started the underarm shaping. 13" is 78 rows. Easy!

The underarm shaping started on row 79. The pattern says to cast on stitches at the beginning of the next 6 rows. I used the knitted cast-on and then worked the new stitches as part of the row. I'm now more than halfway (I've worked 33 of the required 54 rows) to the back shoulder shaping.

Love that i-cord along the sleeve edge!

and now that pile of yarn looks like this.

on skein #4 (of 12)