You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘sweater’ tag.
Right. So. Back with the posting thing. Anyway, I made a sweater. Well, this sweater I made back in February, but I never showed it off here, so here we go:
Pattern: Hetty
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, seven balls
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: Um, I’m sure I made some but I don’t remember?
This is actually the perfect sweater for this time of year–warm, but sometimes a little chilly in the evenings or when the breeze kicks up. So it’s sort of relevant for the several month delay in posting? In any case, I really love how it came out. It’s a wee bit short, but it’s a cropped sweater and I was limited in yardage anyway. It works well over dresses and that particularly long top it’s modeled on.
I think I had a dye lot issue, so one of the sleeves is a slightly different color than the rest of the sweater, but I don’t know that you’d necessarily see it as a casual observer of my clothing. It didn’t bother me to do anything about it anyway.
In other news: I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool! It was an excellent time and I spent way too much money, but I got to pet sheep and snuggle an angora bunny and buy part of a raw Romney fleece to process. Whee!
Good news: I am all moved into my new place! (More about that on the bottom.) Bad news: It’s a gigantic mess still. Good news: IT’S MINE ALL MINE (well, also Joe’s since he lives there too). Bad news: My camera sd card and card reader appear to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Good news: I took these pictures of this sweater before I moved.
Pattern: Shalom Cardigan
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden (about 3/4 of a skein) and recycled wool
Needles: US 9/5.5mm I think
Mods: Long sleeves, different color yoke and bottom band, different CO and sleeve numbers… I used the pattern as a guideline, basically.
Once again, I’m playing along with IntSweMoDo, wherein I try to knit 12 sweaters in a year (because definitely I need 12 more sweaters, but shhh). For those following along at home, this is my first sweater of 2014. It was cast on in the tail end of 2013 (December 30, according to Ravelry), but mostly I knit it in January of 2014.
The pictures aren’t modeled because it’s BLOODY COLD OUTSIDE. It fits a little differently on me since I’ve yet to adjust Elizabeth to my current office-job-having bad-food-eating not-exercise-doing weight, but you get the idea. It’s actually still pretty baggy on me, which was sort of the idea anyway, so it works. Unless I shuffle the neckline around, the end of the yoke tends to hit at the nipple line, so that’s a problem, but I can deal with it.
All in all, I’m pretty chuffed with it, and I’ve been wearing it quite a lot since I bound it off.
Now, more about the apartment: My stuff is all moved in and it’s even mostly organized, but there are still a bunch of bags and boxes of stuff that need to be put away. And a bunch of stuff I have to get that I didn’t know I was going to have to get (mostly because the thought never occurred, not that I thought the apartment would have them) like clothes hangers and cleaning solutions. I had to run out early on Sunday morning to buy a shower curtain cause I forgot that I would need one.
I fully intend to snap some pictures of my crafting corner once I get it all set up. I need to get at least one more bookshelf for yarn storage, but my mother has an extra one she might bring up this weekend. It’s a work in progress and there’s a ton of stuff left to do, but things are moving along. And most importantly I HAVE MY OWN KITCHEN. Excite.
Welcome to NaBloPoMo day one! NaBloPoMo, wherein I attempt to post on this blog every day for the whole month of November. Last year I got about five days in before I accidentally skipped a day and the year before I think I made it two whole weeks. Maybe this year will be the year I accomplish it. Or maybe I’ll totally forget tomorrow. One of those.
Anyway, we’re starting the month off right with a finished object. And not just any finished object, but a sweater!
Pattern: Camille Cardigan from the Winter 2012 Knitscene
Yarn: Recycled super bulky 70/30 cotton/wool, the whole sweater (seriously, there are like ten yards left)
Needles: US 11/8 mm
Mods: Welllll, I followed the directions for the shoulders and sleeves (the Contiguous method) and then I just sort of made it up as I went. It’s a pretty simple cardigan, and I’ve made cardigans before. I did so some of the short rows in the collar, but I did leave a lot of them out.
You guys, this sweater is number twelve for the year. TWELVE. True, this one took me five days to knit BUT STILL. TWELVE. Everything from here on out is a bonus (and I’ll probably be making at least one more because who doesn’t need more work cardigans?) I’m completely thrilled with my number twelve, and I’m pretty sure I will wear it all the time. It’s simple, well-fitted (but roomy enough for clothes underneath), and classy enough for work.
Let me tell you about this yarn, y’all. It’s gigantic. My gauge is like 2.5 stitches per inch. It’s recycled (of course), and it used to look like this:
I have no idea what the yardage is (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 500), but I used almost every single yard. I was a little worried I was going to run out when I did the button band/collar, but it worked out alright in the end.
The buttons, incidentally, are also recycled. They came off of this sweater:
Except I apparently had another button that matched, because this sweater appears to only have five buttons and I definitely sewed on six to my sweater. Maybe there was an extra button sewn into the tag at the side seam. Some sweaters have those.
Anyway, I love my new sweater.
It’s warm and snuggly and soft. I even like the bright red color, even though I tend towards cooler colors usually. Love this thing. LOVE.
I made a sweater! It’s number 11 for the year. Only one more to get twelve and I have three months to do it (maybe I’ll finish the Star Trek dress I started). This one isn’t for me though. It’s for someone on the WWFY swap thread (no worries, I was fairly compensated with sock yarn and enough superwash wool to make Hetty).
Pattern: Rambling Rose from the Winter 06 IK
Yarn: Patons Silk Bamboo in Lotus, seven or eight skeins (I can’t remember the total number I was sent).
Needles: US 6/4 mm
Mods: Fewer yoke decreases for a boat neck and an extra row of Scallops for length, both requested mods. I also had to sew the buttonholes smaller since the button size called for in the pattern were WAY too small for the buttonholes in the pattern. This happens to me all the time and is really annoying. I need to learn a new buttonhole that will stay the size I want it to.
According to Ravelry, it took me just shy of a month to knit this thing. I figure that’s pretty good considering I was working on a bunch of other things at the time. This was a pretty fun knit though–it seemed to fly by. The lace patterning is pretty simple and I wasn’t glued to the chart at all. I tend not to make sweaters in pieces because I suck at seaming, but I think this one came out alright. The pieces did make it go faster though.
It’s a wee bit small on me, which is good since the person who will be wearing the sweater is smaller than me. It should fit her just fine. I probably won’t make this again for me because there are so many other sweater patterns out there I’d like to knit, but I did enjoy making this one.
In life news: I’m thinking about going to the Maryland Renaissance Faire in a couple weeks, on the 19th. A bunch of current and former fencers from UMW (where I went to school) are going up, so I’d go with them. I’m also kinda sorta considering going to Nekocon in Hampton at the beginning of November. It’s kind of a hike (though I could stay with my parents), but I’m not sure I have the spare cash. And I’ll be going to Florida with my folks for Christmas, provided I’m not otherwise employed and thus can’t go. This seems unlikely as, even though it’s two and a half months away, I haven’t really been looking. I like my job most of the time, I just wish I was paid better. I dunno. Meh, being an adult sucks. I say again: Why won’t anyone pay me to watch science fiction tv shows and make things (for me)?
I finished the long-term fingering weight sweater! It was a saga. Sometimes it was a slog. But it’s finished and I LOVE IT.
Pattern: Made up as I went using the contiguous sleeve method
Yarn: Recycled J Crew merino and about half a ball of Red Heart Sashay in Jive
Needles: US 2/2.75 mm
You guys. This sweater. The placement of the ruffles and where you’d think it would be pinned (along the top in the middle) make my hips look ENORMOUS. I am already distinctly pear-shaped thanks to years of sitting and slow boob-growth, but it this sweater? HIPS BABY. I don’t even care because the ruffles are so damn fun and I adore the low, wide neckline. LOVE. And it’s great that I love it because it certainly took me long enough to knit for a short-sleeved sweater.
Let me tell you about the construction. I used a top-down contiguous for the sleeves, both as a test of the method and because I wanted set-in sleeves. I knit down the shoulders, increased for the fronts, and knit merrily along til I got to the ruffles. After trying several joining methods, I ended up purling the yarn in and then I sat down to look at my creation. Only to see that the sweater did not even remotely fit around me. There was like a five-inch gap between the fronts that was not going to close. So I picked up some stitches, cast on 25 more for the front, and knit along, decreasing one of the picked up stitches at the end/beginning of every row until I had a panel that made the sweater actually fit. And then repeated along the other side, obviously.
I actually really like how the front panels came out. They drape really well and provide a large area for me to pin. I actually ended up sewing a twisted cord loop and button to the fronts just under the bust for a fastener after I took these photos, but on the off chance I wanted to pin the top of the neckline together for serious hippage, I could. I mostly wear my sweaters pinned just under the bust, so that’s where I put the clasp.
It’s a fun sweater. If I don’t wear the right clothes under it, I look hella pregnant, but it’s definitely a fun sweater.
In other news, I start my job full-time tomorrow. Tonight, I’m running to the thrift store to get some more office-appropriate skirts and pants (I particularly need some black pencil skirts), as well as probably some sweaters because I am nothing if not impulsive with yarn purchases. There will probably also be some mourning of the loss of my free afternoons. I guess I have to join the realm of real 9-5 (well, 8:15 to 5:15) workers. I will certainly get less Netflix-watching done. That’s probably good for my productivity anyway.
We interrupt this steam of FOs to bring you some WIPs! I’ve been working on a bunch of things, but I’m a little bit away from having something finished to show off. There’s a little bit of everything in here.
These are the Heart to Heart socks by Wendy Johnson from Toe Up Socks for Every Body in Cascade Heritage. They’re a bit further along than this, but they’re good knitting for when I want to pay a little attention, like when I’m watching stuff on Netflix.
Socks with long ribbed cuffs in Deborah Norville Everyday Soft Worsted acrylic. They’re for a swap, along with a couple other pairs of acrylic socks. Simple, easy knitting, and the Deborah Norville isn’t too bad to knit with. I knit on them at work, actually, as I’m fortunate enough to get some knitting time on the job.
This is the fingering weight sweater I keep referring to. There’s a whole saga with it, but I’ll talk about that when it’s done. I’m working on the sleeves now, which is the last part as I’ve already done the edging. It’s a recycled merino and Red Heart Sashay. FUN. It will make my hips look enormous and I don’t care.
Aaand some weaving. My first foray into clasped weft. The warp is some recycled wool/rayon/cashmere/nylon, and the weft is Knit Picks Palette. I adore it. It’s a lot slower than my usual tabby, but I like it. It’s a trial run for some clasped weft that I really want to do–blue rain drips on a black background.
In fandom news, Joe and I finished Choices of One and started I Jedi. Excite. I’m kind of reading Black Fleet Crisis, but I don’t know how much I like it. I started watching House of Cards, which I’m sure I’ll have finished by my next post. It’s really interesting and Kevin Spacey is great. I kind of gave up on Voyager, but I might go back at some point and just skip to season four or so. I dunno, things are okay. I’m making lots of stuff. Til next time.
The parade of FOs continues! I knit a sweater.
Pattern: Betty’s Tee from the Summer 2010 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Recycled cotton/wool/nylon, which I bought solely for the buttons and was pleasently surprised by the fiber content
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: Added two extra body blocks so the top would be long enough and replaced the knit armhole and bottom edging with crochet. Oh, and I added a drawstring around the neck made out of a twisted cord
I’m pretty pleased with this top. I wore it to work the other day over a black and white polka dot dress. Pretty snappy. The bottom edge is a little tight (not because of the crochet but because of my cast on) so it poofs out a little and makes my tummy look bigger than it actually is. If you make this, you should definitely use a super loose cast on. I was worried, judging from the CO number, that it would be too small, but it fits really well everywhere else.
It was a really fun knit. As it is with entrelac, before you have a chance to get bored with the section you’re on, you have to do something different. I knit this in two weeks (exactly according to Ravelry). I wouldn’t necessarily make it again, but I’d definitely like to make another entrelac top.\
For those playing along at home, this is sweater number nine, making me two months ahead of the sweater-a-month challenge. The fingering weight cardigan plods along. I would say that’ll be ten, but let’s be realistic: I’m gonna make at least one more whole sweater before that sucker’s finished.
I made another sweater! It worked up so fast I don’t think I even showed it as a work in progress.
Pattern: Liesl by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Interlacements New Mexico in Summer Fruit
Needles: US 10/6 mm
Mods: None, really. I did garter cuffs instead of the picot hem
It looks a wee bit odd over this dress here, but that’s what I had on and I wasn’t going to change just to photograph a sweater. Good enough. It’s a lovely little sweater, light and airy and perfect for over-air conditioned offices. I didn’t put in any buttons; I have a shawl pin stuck in it here. I’ll probably wear it open mostly, but I might get a big safety pin or a belt for the future. I need to get some shawl pins.
I cast on stitches to make one of the medium sizes because I used a lighter yarn and smaller needles. The neckline still came out super small despite using the wide neck numbers. I had this problem the last time I made this sweater too–either the numbers are weird or I cast on freakishly tightly. Everything seems to lay alright, so I don’t <i>think</i> it’s me, but who knows.
I also made the body of the sweater pretty short. I didn’t want a fully cropped sweater like a shrug, but I think the shorter length works better with dresses. Especially with my freakishly long torso. Maybe the cropped length will shorten my torso and lengthen my legs. That’s the hope, anyway. I’m not too fussed about it though since I’m generally not too concerned with my appearance (I have been known to wear my jammies out and about because that’s how I roll).
This makes my eighth sweater of the year, for those keeping track at home. I’m like two months ahead at this point. But my next sweater (unless I cast on another one, which I very well might) is that fingering weight one and it’s only about an inch past the sleeve separation. I am working on other things though. I’m sure I’ll proceed to cast on nine other things (at the very least) before I finish that sweater. Plus I recently warped up another scarf on the little loom. As you do. Too many crafts, not enough time.
I have made seven sweaters so far this year. That’s kind of ridiculous seeing as I already have too many clothes, but I do like making sweaters. Here’s number seven:
I am completely ridiculous. Just go with it.
Pattern: Paradise Beach Cover-Up from Custom Knits
Yarn: Recycled cotton/tencel blend
Needles: US 10/6 mm
Modifications: Didn’t go down a size for the ribbing and I probably changed the length, but I mostly knit as written. Oh, and I used a crochet chain instead of twisted cord for the tie.
I had wanted to finish this in time to wear it while I was at the beach a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t finish it in time. Instead I wore it to a pool party last weekend. It was perfect for that too–just the right amount of warmth for a cool summer night.
I don’t do a lot of beach or pool going these days because of where I live, but I think this works pretty well as a top, as I’m wearing it in these pictures. I have to wear a tank under it because of the lace and large gauge, but it’s super comfortable as a shirt.
I’m also quite pleased with the tie I made:
The beads add just the right amount of weight to the tie. And I think the colors are pretty summery next to the gold, especially the turquoise.
In other knitting news, I am still working on that fingering weight sweater I mentioned before. It’s pretty slow going. I’m using the contiguous sleeve method and I need about an inch and a half more sleeve width before I separate them out. I also cast on a Liesl so I could have a quicker sweater in the works. I’ve already separated the sleeves for that. I’ve also been spinning a lot, mostly that fleece I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It’s going pretty quickly, actually.
Fannish news is pretty much the same as the last time I mentioned it. I’m currently watching season seven of Psych. I stopped watching after season five and I really love the show, so I’m getting back into it. Oh, and I got the receptionist job! It’s apparently only part time til August (bleh, I need the money), but it’s better than nothing I guess. I start on Monday. Fingers crossed everything goes well.
NEVER ENDING FOS okay, maybe they’ll end soon if I stop weaving and other quick crafts. Okay, so maybe never ending FOs. Though I do have a sweater on the needles out of fingering weight yarn so if I focus on that, it’ll be a while before I finish another thing.
Anyway, I made a vest:
Pattern: Mina’s Tuxedo Vest from Custom Knits
Yarn: recycled merino with a glorious twist
Needles: US 4 and 5 as called for in pattern
Mods: none, I knit as written. I even knit the ribbing on smaller needles as instructed, which I hardly ever do.
For those keeping track at home, this is my sixth finished sweater-type object, making me officially ahead of the knitalong. Which is good because I’m at the beach next week doing very little knitting and my current sweater in progress is in fingering yarn. Okay, there’s a bulky swim cover-up too. But still.
This vest came out way too big and I had to take in the sides (no, you cannot see my seams). It fits much better now, but it still looks a lot better on Elizabeth than it does on me. I made it to wear over sun dresses, but it looks a little odd without sleeves, so maybe I’ll just wear it over blouses as the pattern intends.
I need to stop making vests. Not that I make a lot, but I don’t tend to wear them. I wear the hell out of all my knit tanks though. Need to knit more tanks. And cardigans. Not that I don’t have enough cardigans, but I do wear them a lot.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 