This is the third entry in my occasional series, Wearability Wednesday, in which I look back at a knitted item and see whether and how it gets worn.  This time last year I knit a very cute skirt for Emma, using the Carnaby pattern, designed by Nikol Lohr, and published here by Knitty.  Carnaby is such a great pattern – easy, stylish, fresh and wearable.  Over 500 knitters on Ravelry have knit Carnaby, and unlike many other skirt patterns I have seen, it looks really good on most people.  People have knit it in brights and in neutrals, in tweeds, and in variegated yarns; they have knit it in many lengths from super short to knee length.

The pattern is easily adaptable; it is knit side-to-side, so you establish the length right away and then knit until the waist fits properly.  I made this one without any modifications, but I used a slightly tighter gauge so that the finished skirt would be 15″ long instead of 17″.  This slightly shorter length looks great.  Emma really rocks this skirt (as someone commented on my ravelry project page).  She wears it often and dresses it both up and down.  I particularly like the way she wears it at the office; teamed with a sweater and a classy tailored jacket, it looks young and fashionable, but still appropriate for work.

I took this shot at the university a few months ago, while Emma was hard at work preparing for an event.  Emma complains that the lighting was bad and the photos were not to her usual standard, but I wanted to show you the skirt on an actual working day.  It is functional and pretty, and can be individualized quite a bit.

This was the first project I knit using Cascade 220 wool.  This is an incredibly popular wool.  I would call it a “workhouse wool”; it is not a luxury product, but a good, basic wool yarn that comes in many colours and is super reliable.  It is washable, wears well, doesn’t pill, has a tight spin and consistent colour, shows off textured patterns like cables, and is priced very affordably.  For a skirt, which gets perhaps more wear and tear than a pullover, it is an exceptional choice.  I am, perhaps, a bit of a yarn snob, but found this wool to be exceptionally good quality.  I used it to make my Leavenwick cardigan and will certainly knit with it again in future.

Emma has been wearing this skirt for a year and shows no sign of stopping.  I am thinking of making one for myself, a bit longer of course, perhaps in black.  As an example of the versatility of this pattern, and the creativity of my daughter, last week Emma came bounding down the stairs dressed like this:

Of course, I had to grab my camera and take a few shots.

So, in a nod to Superman, is it a skirt?

Is it a cape?

No, it’s Super Carnaby!