two knits of ivory

This is my very first FO for the blog. That is, it's the very first piece begun and finished upon my starting this blog last month. So let's get to my first in-depth wrap up. Yarn: Summer Set by Classic Elite Yarns in Dune Grass 64% Cotton, 19% Alpaca, 12% Polyester, 5% Lyocel Just a pinch more than seven (7) 50 gram balls at 95 yards per ball, or approximately 680 yards. Gauge: Suggested gauge 5 stitches per inch on size 7 needles. My gauge was 4.2 stitches per inch on size 8 needles. Needles: As noted above I used size 8 needles on the body. For the trim I used varying sizes. I used size 5 needles on the the sleeve trim, and size 6 needles on the body trim, button band, and neck trim. In my first draft of the button band what I knit and sewed up looked like this: Part of the problem was the loose buttons, but part also was button location. I resewed the buttons so that they were right of center and my end result was much more satisfactory: The finished object (FO!) I use...

Woo hoo! The folks behind Ravelry must have pulled an overnighter. I swear there were over 1,100 ahead of me just a day or so ago. My time is coming! You signed up on June 7, 2007 You are #7,559 on the list. 895 People are ahead of you in line. 12,930 people are behind you in line. 32% of the list has been invited so far The first draft of the Summer Set Cardigan: As I've mentioned earlier , I pretty much made up the pattern on the fly. I have never knit a cardigan, nor did I know how to create a button band. I started with the knowledge of only the basic top down knitting template. I was really obsessing over the button band while I knit up the body. I thought in fact that I would knit the bottom trim, button band, and neck band all in one go, on one needle. In hindsight that sounds foolish, but seriously that was my initial thought. Then I spent a moment looking at store bought cardigans and it was obvious what I needed to do. And as for the picking up of stitches for the button...

I finished the Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows last night and today, even after a good night's sleep, I'm exhausted. My brain is befuddled. I thought some knitting might help. I bought some buttons for the Summer Set cardigan Friday. This morning I tried the cardigan on and decided it's long enough to begin the 2 x 2 ribbing trim. The problem? I don't have size 6 circulars. Big d'oh. I do have have a pair of 12" straights that I attempted to use this morning. Yeah? not really. :-P I quickly realized it wasn't gonna work. Yet I'm in no shape to do anything about my lack of instruments. I've also cast on the second Sweet Tarts sock after turning the heal of the first. It dawned on me late last week I may be suffering from finishitis.

A chronic problem I have with top down knitting construction is that to generate the roomy bosom I prefer I wind up with ginormous armholes. To adjust for this I am attempting what will amount to a form of shaping. On my first run, it seemed to fit and drape well. However, as mentioned in an earlier post, I knit up the remainder of the sleeve by purling in the round which led to a puckering from the much tighter gauge. I decided to frog the sleeve and begin again from scratch. Here is scratch: I put the entire armhole on a circular needle. I placed four stitches from the back side of the armhole on one dpn and four stitches from the front side of the armhole on a second dpn. I used a three needle bind off to knit them up and out of the armhole, in a manner of speaking. As you can see this leaves a lovely little hole. Using a fly-by-your-pants darning technique, I closed up the hole and was ready to knit the remaining stitches into a nice sleeve.

Friday, early evening, I put our little basil plant in the bathroom sink for watering. I opened the faucet, letting the water run at a slow pace, just a smidge greater than a trickle. I proceeded to vacuum the house and go on with my life. Approximately six hours later my husband goes to the bathroom before heading up to bed and finds something like this: Oh yes I let the water run for OVER.SIX.HOURS. And just in case I thought that was a simple oversight, I added a coup de grace the following evening by putting the ice cream back into the fridge, rather than it's customary haunt, the freezer. Where is my brain? Oddly enough, when I awoke this morning it was wholly preoccupied in composing poetry of unparalled genius, whereas last night it was trying to learn how to take photos of me wearing my Summer Set Cardigan. These shots make me look 30 lbs. lighter. It's miraculous. The above are pictures of the Summer Set Cardigan at this stage: Last night I finished up what must now be...

Working on the Summer Set cardigan this weekend has definitely helped me get out of my funk. As of a week from yesterday I was at this point: But then, I somehow lost a stitch at the end of the row and had to frog a third of the way back. That's not something that's happened to me a great deal. Here I was earlier last night at the end of the third skein: I'm about ready to move the sleeves off the needles and connect the body. While I toiled away, some lounged. The nerve, eh? *Finally could edit post to include title. Removed reference of same from beginning post.

I've decided to do a cardigan in this spectacular Summer Set yarn. I will be knitting from the top down for the body and then adding 2 x 2 ribbing, on a much smaller needle, to the neck, front, and bottom. Since my swatch doesn't match the the 4" guidelines, I'm winging it once again. I could have tried smaller needles, but I want this to be a loose knit sweater for spring and summer. My thinking on this is that a tightly knit sweater will not only be too warm, but too heavy weightwise, for the spring and summer. I've made a third cast on last night and have knitted about 10 rows. At the last minute I decided to incorporate some holes in the design. My brilliant, middle aged mind can't remember what the pattern is called when knitting has holes interspersed. And the Google isn't cooperating, either. Maybe I should keep the Harmony stitch guide at work, as well as start me some Senior Moment. Tonight I'll take it off the needles and see if it'...

Here is the Classic Elite Summer Set yarn all swatched up. I used a cable cast on, which I learned a week or so ago, courtesy of Knitty Gritty (and Tivo!) My crappy camera definitely gets the color wrong in these swatches. A much better reflection of this yarn's color: