All the difference in the world

Now that I've had a chance to gloat in the last post, let me sum up the changes I've made at the start of this second stocking. First off, controlling yarn dominance in fair isle is probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. The difference between the stocking I had been working on (which now I think is so horrendously fugly and amateur that I doubt I'll ever post a picture of it) and the cuff motif/beginning of the leg motif on this second stocking just blows me away. Who knew that something as simple as changing which yarn goes over and which one goes under could make the object as a whole look so much better? My tension overall is vastly improved, my stitches look so much more even and--dare I say it--lovely.

The second change this time around--rather than go down a needle size, I simply cast on fewer stitches. On the first stocking, I cast on 112 and decreased to 108 by the leg motif, which by my gauge factored in about 1.5" of negative ease. I was really paranoid that since fair isle is known to be less stretchy, that the stocking would be too tight if I cast on less. Not so, my friends. This time, I decided to stick with the 2.75 mm dpns and cast on 100--then decreased to 98 for the cuff motif, and finally down to 96 by the leg motif. The result? FAR, FAR better fit. They are certainly tighter on the calf, but not so much as to stretch the motif or be uncomfortable. The slouchy look of the stocking is gone, and I think they look a lot better with less ease, as they now help to slenderize my beefy calves.

And can I say that though they were not originally what I had planned when envisioning these stockings, I am loving the colors?? I think they will be perfect for the springtime, when it's still just a bit cool and the skirts are coming back out of the closet. The motif colors remind me of flower petals, and I'm imagining prancing through the meadows in my stockings, kicking up my dainty heels--okay, enough of that.

So the lessons I've learned are that yarn dominance = FAIR ISLE MASTERY, and with sizing, sometimes less is more. I fear no knitting! And if I did, that would be a pretty sad thing to be afraid of...after all, it is but sticks and string! I am the maestro here.