The Saga Begins...

I've started testing stitch patterns for the first movie-inspired knit project for this year, Padme's Naboo Nightgown Robe. Maggie has amazing research about the robe on her site, padawansguide.com. The original costume was done in velvet using a technique called lattice smocking. The plan is to knit it in wool with a shiny yarn held together to give it the right amount of sheen. There are several reasons I decided to knit it instead:

1. I'm actually going to use the garment for everyday so I didn't want to have to worry about crushing the velvet while wearing and storing.
2. Smocking shrinks the fabric. With knitting, if it ends up too small after a couple of rows, I could just frog it and start again.
3. The work would be portable so I can take it with me everywhere to work on.
4. Most importantly...any excuse to knit!

Below are some pics of the test swatch. I used some leftover Debbie Bliss Merino DK and followed a pattern for woven cables (8.6) from 220 Aran Stitches and Patterns. It was knitted up on size 7 needles and are 4.5X4.5 inches.