Not Coming Up Rosie

So the latest attempt at the Rosie Top was not a success. Mind you, I did have the meaningful opportunity to alter the pattern yet again! (Yeah, you can infer sarcasm.) It's going into the magic cupboard, where it will stay till after I get back from hols. There's only so much masochism one girl can take.

What went wrong? Well, though the last muslin (made of voile with very little mechanical stretch) fit well (once I altered it), the much more mechanically stretchy silk crepe version was somehow too small. As for next-wave alterations: I've increased the full bust volume at the side bodice, yet again, given myself another inch in the waist (it was prudent if not strictly necessary) and increased the peplum hem by 2 inches. I don't know what's up with that hem but I cannot seem to get it right.

I'm really convinced that next version will be the one that works, but I've said that 6 times now and, frankly, I don't have enough weekends in a row to keep at this thing.

I can't tell you how much I want to go out and spend a fortune on a silk crepe top right now, just to subvert the misery of yet another failure. But I'm on a tight budget and, something tells me, there will be a bit of Euro-retail therapy when I get to Barcelona.

In the meanwhile, my only recourse is to knit.

Here's the Karner Wrap pattern which I'm making with the Americo Abrazos (45% cotton and 55% bamboo):

This pattern comes with the Americo Abrazos yarn purchase. There's no way to buy it separately.

Let me say that this yarn is quite a trip. It's not quite kitchen string but it sure is moving in that direction. Having said this, the fabric it creates is appealing. It's like a burnout, lace effect. And the colour is superb. That photo doesn't do it justice.

Here's another of the yarn:

Even that photo isn't true-to-shade, it makes the yarn look much more grey (and less blue) than it actually is in real life.

Anyway, the Abrazos is, without a doubt, the thinnest yarn I've ever seen. It's like knitting with double-weight sewing thread. Occasionally the nubby part of the yarn comes to the fore and then it goes from thread-weight to sport-weight (I estimate). I'm really glad that my first foray with this yarn is making a stockinette rectangle with some rib at the edges. It's quite easy, despite careful attention, to drop stitches - particularly at the edges. If you're a loose knitter, like me, well - be that much more careful. I've had an issue already that I've opted to fix on the fly. Otherwise I'll be knitting this till the end of all time. As it is, I'm going to be knitting the 1028 yards for quite a while. I put in 2 hours last night and got a mere 20 rows deep. It doesn't make a dent in the skein. That's how skinny this yarn is.

Gotta say, it's perfect train knitting. No pattern required, no fitting necessary and, although the loops are loose (and that's after I went down a needle size!?) purling and knitting seem to be of similar complexity. It's not like the purl rows are slippery. The tension, which is lacy and weird, does seem consistent - even as it's unlike any I've knit before.

After the Aisance, still blocking BTW - Lord that thing absorbed a lot of water! - I need something binary.

I'm intrigued to know if I will learn to love knitting with this fiber or if I'll find it a necessary evil. I would never have bought the pattern if I hadn't seen how gorgeous and unusual the finished garment looks in real life. I do realize that this foray is a hop, skip and jump from linen (the yarn du jour, it would appear), but it in no way motivates me to move further in the direction of wiry, stringy yarn.

Today's questions: What do you think of linen? Or cotton? Or cotton-bamboo blends? Have you used the Abrazos or any other Americo yarns? What's your perspective? Oh, and while we're at it, what's the highest number of muslins you've ever made for one garment? Did you prevail in the end? Is that sucker still hiding out in your closet behind the tennis racket? Let's talk!