香櫞 Citron

I saw Citron when it was published but the idea of knitting it didn't cross my mind until recently I saw Linda's Citron. And then a knitter friend also mentioned it. Since I was looking for simple, stylish projects, Citron could be a great one.

Problem is, again, the choosing of the yarn. It doesn't have to be a citrusy color really but I couldn't shake the idea. Frankly, I don't have colors in that category in my stash except for a hank of Cigno Nero 2/25 Lana Pura Vergine Irristrigibile recently procured from Margaret. She brought quite some stash with her while visiting Taiwan in April. This hank caught my eye for its celery-like color and the cool freshness of the color. Besides, I didn't have any yarn of this color. So, although it's pure wool, which means harder to the touch and less drapey, I used the yarn. Cigno Nero 2/25 is about 2/3 the thickness of Malabrigo Lace and due to the characteristic of a plied pure wool lace, the knitting would be loose and airy, but I thought it would be nice for warm weather A/C indoors use.


The true color is between these two

I cast-on with 4mm needles and knitted one section. I wasn't sure about the result and asked for suggestions from my knitter friends. Then it was decided that I change to smaller needles. For the whole knitting was very loose, the garter stitch borders were almost sloppy and the contrast between the ruching and stockinette stitch section was almost none.


First section knitted with 4mm needles

I ripped and recast-on with 3.75mm and knitted the setup section. Still I wasn't quite satisfied. The garter stitch border still looked sloppy although a little better now. So I cast-on again with 3.5mm and finally got a acceptable result.


First section with 3.5mm needles

And knitting went on for two sections. Then it came to me that I could knit the ruchings Continental style which I've been learning/practicing recently and the stockinette stitch part English style. My gauge is tighter if knitted Continental style and thus I thought the ruchings would look more gathered and less airy, more contrast to the plain knitting strips. I have to say that I like the result.


Citron up to 7th row of fifth section. Note the difference between the first two and the last two ruchings. The last two are definitely tighter.