Summer Vacation: Gauge Experiment

I’ve officially kicked off my Summer Vacation!

My first stop is New York City and I chose the Gauge Experiment prompt. I have this lovely new hand-dyed cotton from Th’red Head Designs: Cortina. It screamed at me to be a summer top, and I’ve narrowed it down to two patterns:

This is the Captiva Top, my first pick. It’s a fairly new design, and it’s been a minute since I crocheted a garment (which I like to do because crochet garments get a bad rap). Plus the little wave detail in this gorgeous blue. No brainer, right? Well…

My friend Lauren was in town a couple weeks back and cast on this gorgeous piece: the Knot Front Crop. This would be an amazing top to have as garb on those hot Faire days (and maybe I could sell some more yarn!!). So, I have a decision to make. Better make some swatches, am I right?

What was a little tricky about this yarn is it did try to call itself a “sock” yarn. Marci said it was a DK. It’s about 218 yards in 100 grams, which I consider more of a worsted. Both of the patterns call for a fingering, so I knew I’d have to size down a bit. I ended up doing a few swatches… The stockinette one required me to go down two needles sizes, and the crochet one went down three, which was steel hook territory…

Even so, both of them were nice to make. Even with tools that small, they still have decent drape. These are swatches I’d pass around at a knit night. They feel straight up luscious.

I’m thrilled with this first stop and very much looking forward to the other fourteen stops! Feel free to weigh in on which design you think I should make!