Modification Series. Soho Dress. Part II.

KnittingModification Series- S...Modifications SeriesWork in Progress

May 26

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The last couple of days I've been knitting away on Soho Dress. I've been so inspired by the original pattern that all numbers for mods came together in an hour or so!Two types of yarn that I chose to combine (see Part I) are of different weight - silk yarn is slightly lighter than the linen/cotton blend. And it poses several difficulties. The pattern recommends to knit the top in a round, but after thinking everything through I decided to knit it flat. And here's why. According to my swatches, silk yarn gives almost the same stitch count as the linen/cotton one, but row gauge is significantly different.If I was knitting it in a round, I would have to incorporate short rows in the silk yarn section to make up for the length difference between purl and knit sections. Surely seaming would be skipped, hence some time saved, but I would have to spend some extra time calculating the arrangement of short rows. Plus, I wouldn't mind having more structure in a dress and seams help to achieve it. I am going to knit it flat and make two sections separately - the small purl block that later will be sewed to the main body. I will have to make four seams, but I don't mind. This way it will be much easier to adjust the length of the purl section.A little bit off the topic but recently I started enjoying seaming so much! I feel like as time passes by, I fall in love with my craft more and more. Each step of it makes me happy - choosing yarn, knitting a swatch, calculating numbers, knitting/crochet, blocking, seaming, even weaving the ends! I really do it with love, savouring each step of a process.So, to continue with mods. I decided to make the purl section of 5 cm width. So if you are going to do the same, don't forget to knit two swatches with both yarns, so you can calculate each section separately (giving that two types of yarn is of different weight, of course). I subtracted the width of the purl silk section from the main body (10 cm overall) and calculated the rest using the linen/cotton swatch. Don't forget to include selvage stitches to simplify seaming. Purl silk section is planned to be approximately 4-5 cm shorter than the main section, so it will sit a little bit higher than the linen/cotton part. That is important to take into account before calculating the length of linen/cotton section. I would recommend to establish the length of the purl section first, so you don't end up with length that isn't comfortable for you. Of course, you can knit both section the same length, but I personally think this little length difference between knit and purl sections is such an amazing design detail!Instead of ribbing, I am using garter stitch at the hem.I am adding waist shaping to the pattern, this time I am going to try decreasing/increasing closer to the center rather than along the edges - 16 stitches from the edge to be precise. I think I've never tried it before, so I am curious what difference it will make in an overall look.