“Intolerable Cruelty”

No, not the movie featuring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. I fell in love with this skirt when it was published in Knitty in Fall 2006, a few months after I had resumed knitting. But I couldn’t justify making it for myself, for several reasons. One: my derriere stopped being cute a couple of decades ago, and this skirt draws attention to the wearer’s callipygous qualities. Or lack thereof.

Two: I dress modestly, and while this skirt more than adequately covers the essentials, it also emphasizes them (see “One”, above). I considered making the skirt longer and working the ribbon loops at or just above the back of the knee, thereby satisfying my love of decoration while remaining true to my standards. But in the end I just sighed and left it off my queue.

Three: knitted skirts gang aft agley. They can warp and twist from an improperly balanced yarn, sag from the weight of the yarn, become rump-sprung.

Behold the solution:



I knitted size L in approximately 1/3 scale. Yesterday I went to The French Knot and special-ordered some handpainted silk ribbon for the lacing, but this will work for now. I used all but a golf-ball-sized remnant of a full skein of Elsebeth Lavold’s Hempathy. The ribbing was knitted using size 000 needles, the body on 00’s. I tried working the ruffle, but the yarn was too stiff at this scale, so I opted for a ribbed hem instead. When I finish (i.e., design and make) the silk dupioni blouse that will go with this, I’ll take a picture of Celeste in her new finery. I have another ball of this yarn. It might wind up as a jacket. Lovely yarn, only the tiniest bit splitty.