Amanda Knits

142,646 Stitch Skirt

This skirt came into being because I went shopping for some summer skirts/dresses and found none. Everything was too short or too long. Too clingy or too skin-tight. And everything was too thin! The fabric was entirely see through! Add to that the fact that the quality was low and that this thin fabric, low-quality trend is reaching across price points and stores...

Well, it was time to take matters into my own hands.

So I dug out 9 1/2 balls of Austermann Pharao in Dark Iris. I bought this back in September 2005 from Elann for $2.59 a ball. I knit with 2 and 2.5 mm needles (size 0 and 1 or 1 1/2 depending on how you convert!). Gauge was 9 sts to the inch. I used 1/2" elastic in the waistband.

I wanted a knit skirt with some interest, and I wanted something other than "stocking st on top, lace on bottom." So I found an eyelet pattern in one of the Walker Treasuries. I knit this from the top down and I know this yarn has a tendency to bias, so I knit it flat with a seam up the back.

Four weeks start to finish. Total cost under $30.

I did have some problems with the yarn. Some balls had odd pink spots on the outside of the ball. I'm not sure if this is why they were at Elann or if this was due to being stored in plastic? You can also see a band where the color seems off. I double checked. It's the same yarn color and lot number, and I took everything off the spool the same way, so it shouldn't be a nap error. However, I'm not fixing it!

And the name of the skirt? I kept track of how many sts it took to complete it: 142,646.

I love this. Love it. Perfect length. It can be dressed up, it can be dressed down, and as photographed it's completely appropriate for work. So much better than buying something in the store--even if it did take me a month to get what I wanted!

It Skims!

Perfect Length

Looks Good Moving

Pattern Detail

Hem Detail

Waistband Detail

You know you're working with tiny yarn when 20 rows only gets you an inch and a half.

Knitting a pattern you come up entirely from scratch is a dream come true when it works the first time.

Thank you for working, skirt-which-I-am-so-close-to-finishing...