Neither Hip Nor Funky

but look: A sweater!

Pattern: Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood
Yarn: Classic Elite Skye Tweed (from addknitter destash)
Needles: US7

I had a different gauge, so I adjusted the stitch count for a 42″ chest.

I love this color. Phil wanted this sweater in some sort of clay color since the neck reminded him of pottery.

I was initially a little disappointed that he did like this yarn b/c I wanted a sweater for myself out of it.

Good thing that I ended up with 7 balls leftover. Just one ball shy of being able to make this for myself. So I am going to start and track down an extra ball of 1285. Any of you have one?

I’m really going to have to make sure we don’t wear the sweaters at the same time.

So I didn’t mean to fool you with that last post.

I was all “Poor me, poor me with no photos of my sweater.” Then P-funk walked through the door right after I hit post and agreed to take some photos.

So pictures first. Scroll down for knitting details at the end.

Pattern: Tweedy Aran Cardigan by Norah Gaughan (queue it)
Yarn: Classic Elite Skye Tweed in Marmalade (The Skye Tweed really softens remarkably after a good soak. It is rather stiff when knitting. However, I can wear it next to the skin, over a tank top in these shots with no problem, and I am pretty sensitive to the itch factor in wool.)
Needles: US6 and US4

Mods:

• Made bottom section of fancy rib 1 inch longer
• Made collar width 1 inch shorter
• Made front a size in between the small and medium by adding a couple more twisted ribs
• Knit fronts at the same time. This ended up with me making my buttonholes unevenly spaced, but not too much so.

Extra Design Feature:

Underarm wedge insert in twisted rib. I decided stockinette would be too much “Hey! I messed up an inserted a panel!” and the fancy rib wasn’t going to look right with the increases already in the sleeve. (Thanks Melissa, for suggesting an insert; it saved me much stress.) I have a feeling I may need to do this again in the future, as I often need to add some room in my upper arm. Interesting note: the set in sleeves lined up perfectly to sew in after adding the insert. I’m not sure they would have in correctly without them.

Pattern Knitpicky Randomness:

• Check the stitch count for your size to make sure you can fit in the different sections of fancy rib, twisted rib, and different cables with a purl row in between the sections. In some sizes, the pattern doesn’t seem to leave room for a purl row before Cable A.
• Some of the measurements in the body schematic seem to either be off or rounded down. For example, for the smallest size, it shows the waist as 17″ and the hips as 16 3/4″. I would recommend calculating it out for your size based on the gauge to see what the sweater will actually be.

If you made it this far, I will leave you with a present:

A shot of my armpit. I was trying to show my insert panel, but it was in shadow.

Glee doesn’t really describe my emotional state at having finished this knit. Relief is more like it.

I like the sweater fine. It is my first drapey knit and the knitted fabric is quite nice. It is just that I started this sweater last April, and I think I stopped knitting in June.

I picked it up a couple weeks ago because it was time to make the decision to finish it or use the yarn for something else. I don’t know if it was the stockinette (uninteresting), the yarn (not wool…alpaca that I can’t wear often), or the color (slate gray: trying to break out of my norm).

I decided to join it where I was at and finish the rest in the round. It worked out well, and quickly it was completed. My decreases for the waist started a little lower than they should have. However, with the drapey fabric those small mistakes are well hidden as it still hangs well.

I decided against the hook and eyes for now, but if the sweater stretches and the side of the neck become floppy I may add them. I knit it with positive ease, so if I decided to put in the hooks it won’t be too gapey.

Unfortunately, the alpaca still bothers me. I can wear it, but I know I won’t wear it as much as I would if it was a wool/silk blend.

Pattern: Glee by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk in Slate
Needles: US5 and US3

You can probably sense from my post, my lack of FO excitement here. However, I am happy that there is room on my needles for a new knit. Plotting….plotting….planning

First, I want to thank you all for all the compliments on my tasty sweater. I haven’t replied to anyone, but I really appreciate all the love…it makes me smile.

Second:

Pattern: Holly Jacket from Interweave Knits Spring ‘08
Yarn: Skacel Urban Silk in Fig
Needles: US 5 and US 3

Mods: Since this is a store sample for Abundant Yarn I did not make many modifications. I used a provisional cast on for the hem instead of picking up stitches for it. I also turned the hem for the body after 1 inch instead of o1.5 inches because the yarn is so nice that I didn’t want to use up so much in the hem.

I had problems with the button band. The buttons on the outside are not functional, so there is an inside button band. The pattern has you pick up and knit a short button band that you then turn and tack down. The functional buttons are sewn onto the backside of the placket. However, I found it difficult to button because of the way that you ended up having to try to slip the buttons in between two layers of fabric (hard to explain) and silk makes a flimsy button band. Once I got the buttons in, they would just pop open. So I cut off the buttons and sewed the front shut, since I wouldn’t wear it open anyway. If you want a button band, it seems like it would need to be backed with a grosgrain ribbon.

When I first saw this pattern, I though of it as a modern update on a classic Jackie O. style.

But with the completed jacket in hand, I thought it looked a bit more mod

However, I really just want to be Emma Peel.

Come along, Steed.

Finally

Pattern: Own design
Yarn: MC:Sundara Worsted Merino in Chocolate over Cherry
CC: Yarn Nerd 900MHz merino in Mustard Wine
Oh, food names for yarn…yummy. Hence the sweater’s name: Tasty Sweater
Also, I’m so sad that the Worsted Merino is discontinued. I love it, and it one of two wools that I get no initial itch factor with. (With most wools, they cause me discomfort for the first minute or so and then my skin adjusts.)
Needles: US 6, 7, & 8

Designed to be snug in the bust and skim over the waist and hips. I ended up with almost 2 inches negative ease in the bust, no ease in the waist and 2 inches positive ease in the hips. And yes this does end up with a sweater that has an odd shape off the body. However, it serves its intended purpose when worn: see how it appears that I have an hourglass shape….well I don’t. I am a triangle/pear shape.

The darts were a major reason that this simple sweater took a awhile. I kept ripping back to get the right number of decreases at the right interval and to make the darts sit at the correct place on my hips. Each time I ripped back, the sweater went into time out for 3 or 4 weeks. The yarn frogs extremely well, but when you are alternating skeins every row and need to rip five inches it can be a pain to untangle.

The slipstitch row for shaping on the collar is a trick from from an Elizabeth Zimmerman video that I watched.

Design notes:

I orginally started thinking of this sweater after seeing the garter cuffs on Road to Golden. Which led to to think about my recent realization of how beautiful varigated yarns can be in garter stitch.

The buying of the beautiful Chocolate over Cherry yarn was next.

From there, I thought about about styles that I feel are flattering to me, and the alterations that I make to patterns I knit. One thing that I often do is reverse the stitch counts for hips and bust. Many patterns have an inch more in the bust or the same stitch count for bust and hips. My hips are larger than my bust, so this would be a bad look for me. I find that a bit of negative ease in the bust helps out a small chest, and that no ease or a bit of positive ease in the stomach and hips is flattering and comfortable.

Longer length for a long torso: I wanted it long enough for the “skimming over the hips” to work but not tunic length. I like many tunic length things, but I’m afraid they will go out of style soon.

So I had all this in mind, but I was searching for the perfect contrast yarn for awhile. I actually bought the Yarn Nerd for socks, but when it arrived, the gold tones with the wine highlights was the perfect compliment to the Sundara yarn.

So all that to say a simple design successfully realized due to the beautiful dye jobs of two color gurus.