Pink Skirt Math and New Books

Are you having a good week? I hope so!

Last Friday night, my friend C and I went to the Sting Symphonicity concert in Bethel, NY. It was the first time I saw Sting in concert, and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra behind him, it was the most amazing music I've ever witnessed. It was simply electric, in an open air pavilion high up in the hills with the sun setting in the background. C gave me one of the very best birthday presents ever when she presented me with the ticket back in February.

A photo of the pavilion before the concert started, the best I could do with my phone. I love the evening sunlight. The stage is to the left.

I've knitted up to the third ivory stripe in my skirt, so it's decision time: do I knit the ribbon panel and then the fourth stripe, risking it falling across the most unflattering part of a person's backside (mine), or do I skip the ribbon panel and stripe and begin the stockinette early? I think I'm going to opt for the second and see how it goes.

I've got 300 stitches on the needles, and the pattern has you decrease to 210 by the time you get up near the waist. (I added back extra stitches to be able to knit the block rows in the round). So I'm thinking 300 stitches - 210 = 90 stitches to be decreased. 90 stitches divided by 4 stitches per "side" (one left and one right side on both front and back) is 22 with 2 left over.

There is 18" over which to do these decreases. The gauge is 10 rows to the inch, so there are 180 rows to work with. My gauge is actually 9 rows to the inch, but this is a rough estimate. Sooo...180 rows divided by 22 decreases from above is roughly a decreasing row every 8 rows. (For the mathematical purists: 18" x 9 rows to the inch = 162 rows, divide by 22 decreases is 7, with 8 left over. I think.) Does this make sense? I've never done well with "Train A leaves the station at 11:00am..." -type word problems, so I always like to have other knitters check my math to make sure I'm figuring things out correctly. There will certainly be an element of "try it on; adjust accordingly" but I am open to suggestions! My email is scarlett22770 at yahoo dot com if you'd rather not deal with the comment box.

Also, is there some trick to doing decreases in the round, like make them one or two stitches in from the marker so that they line up vertically? I tried to google that but couldn't find anything.

This year, I've tried hard not to buy any new books. It's taking me forever to finish what I start, and my shelves are already overflowing. But every so often something comes along that I cannot refuse. One of my latest was a book of Sea Poems I saw in a bookstore on Block Island. I've also mooched a few others:

Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh, A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans, and I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What It Was. A strange mix to be sure! Have you read any of these?

How is your summer reading and knitting going?

Comments

[Sarah]

It sounds like you have your skirt math pretty figured out now! I haven't read any of those books, but long ago I read Waugh's A Handful of Dust and saw the movie, both of which I liked. Some of my new books I ordered have arrived, so I have plenty of reading to enjoy for awhile.

[Pam]

I am SO jealous of the Sting concert. So glad you enjoyed it.

I didn't check your math -- I'm allegedly good at math, but went to the fabric store 3 times this week to buy more of something I'd bought according to careful (incorrect) calculation. So I thought I'd do you a favor and leave you to your own devices.

I wonder if you want to pair the direction of your decreases? -- ie k2tog vs ssk so that they don't spiral - you might play around with a swatch to figure out where to do them in relation to the markers.

Oh, and I just finished a book you might like -- it's called Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas. It's the first of a series of Holmes-ish mysteries -- Victorian England, but no violins or drugs ;-) I enjoyed it very much.

[2paw]

Your skirt is looking nice and your maths looks right!! I agree, if you make SSKs and K2togs you get a nice double line of decreases.
Wow, Sting, I am very impressed!!
No, I haven't read any of those books, but 6 books appeared in my letter box this week so I am very happy!!

[okra]

You might be interested in checking out Rhode Island's poet laureate, Lisa Starr's work...

http://gbspa.homestead.com/LisaStarr.html

[Sara]

My actual summer reading - the books I picked out to read - have taken a back seat because I've been catching up on Ann Hood books.

And my knitting is coming along great! - Almost done with a pair of socks! And working hard on my lovely shawl...

[Erin]

Your skirt is looking great. As for summer reading, I just finished Her Fearful Symmetry and really enjoyed it.

[betty]

The skirt is coming along nicely. Your math sounds about right. Here's my two cents worth on fitting skirts -- I believe that sweaters, especially pullovers, always look best with about 1 to 2 inches of negative ease. With positive ease, they look frumpy. However, I believe skirts and the bottoms of dresses always look best with at least 1" - 2" of positive ease. Positive ease makes them drape nicely. Negative easy shows off every annoying lump and bump!

[Dorothy W.]

I'm glad you enjoyed the concert! It sounds like a lot of fun. As for the books, I haven't read any of them, but I do own a copy of Decline and Fall. I read Brideshead Revisited by Waugh and enjoyed it a lot, so I'm looking forward to reading more of his work (whenever I can get to it!).

[Sonya]

What a great concert. Looks like a great place for a concert too. Your skirt is going to be so cute. My summer reading has mostly been textbooks that I'm indexing, but I am reading a great book about Freedom Summer in Mississippi.

[Beth]

That sounds like it was a great concert!!!

[Leah]

The Sting concert sounds amazing! That's awesome that you went. Good luck on the skirt math. You are so brave to knit a skirt!