FO Number 1 - Fair Enough Cardigan

I'll be blogging about a couple of new FO's during this week since knitting sweaters isn't that interesting until they are completed. Let's start with the Fair Enough Cardigan which was finished for weeks but languished around waiting for buttons. Fair Enough was knit in Karabella Aurora 8 in the pattern's suggested colors on a number 7 needle.  I needed two additional balls of the main color due to my gauge being smaller and my changes to the bottom width of the sweater.

This cardigan didn't get much blog time during construction.  That might be because it was a straight forward knit with very little deviation from the pattern. The only change was increasing the stitch count for the bottom of the sweater, since my hip measurement is not the same as my bust. I took my gauge and did some simple math to figure out how many stitches would make a 41 inch width.  Then calculated how many decreases would need to be made to get the pattern's waist stitch count in the suggested length. 

The rest of the sweater was knit according to the pattern which is clear and well written.  I'd recommend this design for anyone wanting to dip their toe into stranded knitting.  The yoke colorwork is very simple even when having to strand from the wrong side.

Things that I would change if knitting this design again.....

1. The Aurora 8 grew in length a lot more than expected.  I'd knit the sleeves and body at least an inch shorter than suggested in the pattern.

2. I'd knit the neck band double the length and use a three needle bind off on the inside to keep the band from stretching out of shape. 

3. The button band is not to my liking which was talked about in the last post.  I'm still not sure how I'd change that but there is plenty of yarn to knit a new one. 

All three of these are minor gripes and this sweater has been getting plenty of wear in the last couple of days. It's gotten the husband seal of approval because it is super soft and a flattering color.

Button Band Blues

Sewing buttons on two new sweaters has brought to my attention that my button band skills are sorely in need of improvement. Some of my problem is an inability to evenly space buttons or buttonholes along a sweater front. Maybe because the mental connection that there should be the same number of stitches between buttonholes was just made today. Duhhhhhh. But beyond the problems caused by flexible math, it seems like there should be some knitting tricks out there for better button bands. Maybe someone can point me in the right direction or recommend a resource. 

Here's the skinny on badly behaving button bands and some poorly lit photos.

On the Fair Enough cardigan I picked up along the edge, knit a one by one rib and used yarn over buttonholes. Then the band was finished off with an invisible one by one cast off for a nicer finish. The result is that the button band seems to floppy and the yarn over buttonholes stretch and gape in an unsatisfactory way when buttoned. 

On my little birds cardigan I tried something a bit different to try to counteract some of the problems in Fair Enough. The band was picked up along the edge and was knit in the beaded ribbing pattern used in the rest of the sweater. Once the band width was reached a purl turning row was knit and then 8 rows of stockinette finished with a 3 needle bind off on the inside. For the buttonholes 3 stitch one row holes (from interweave appendix) were made on both the right side and facing side. The problem is the extra buttonhole stitches make the the band edge bulge out, which only gets worse when actually buttoned. 

Does anyone have some advice they could pass along? Oh and I promise nice modeled FO shots of these sweaters later in the week if you promise not to stare at my buttonholes. :)

Perfect moments

Biting into a warm cookie and tasting the sharp edge of fresh ginger and the sweet ooze of chocolate.

Walking in the early hours of the morning through a gentle shower of snow and seeing the flakes glinting off your sleeves.

Sliding wool socks still warm from drying on the radiator over cold feet.

Picking up your sticks and string with Brenda Dane's voice in your ear.

Realizing your skeins of wool have ceased to be just raw materials and have been transformed into a garment.

Tomorrow we cut it open.

We missed you Web

My household is finally connected back up to the internet. Whoopee!!!

Though the upside of having no internet is way more knitting time with very few new projects to distract you.

I've been power knitting through a improvised tangled yoke cardigan where the cable is being replaced with some color work.  It seemed like the way to have a sweater with Ysolda's little birds sweater motif that would work for my body.  So far the progress seems to be going well. If all goes to plan the felted tweed with lengthen a bit after blocking and my first attempt at steeking won't be a disaster.

Sorry for low quality pics, it's been raining almost nonstop here.

Sharing my Sleeve Love

Loveeeeee you sleeves.




















More details later since I'm buring internet time at work. Cross your fingers that Version will show up at my house on the right day and give me internet access again.

Ghosts in the Pumpkin Patch

There's been colds, train delays and major computer issues over in my neck of the woods. All keeping me away from my little blog despite having plenty to blog about. But good news... Philadelphia is finally a winner Phillies are World Series Champs!!! Everyone freak out! At least that's what its been like, especially down town. I was lucky to even get home from work on a train since septa suspended service for awhile trying to get enough trains to bring people down town for the parade. And let me tell you teenage boys stink after a day celebrating.

But enough about that, on to knitting were plenty of progress has been going on behind the scenes. It seems appropriate in so many ways to wrap up the month and Socktober with this final FO. I give you my version of the much knitted Little Pumpkin socks. Knit in Yarn Pirate's Merino Tencel blend, color Butternut Squash which practically screams November to me. I got this color through the yarn pirate sock club. The only mod here was knitting fewer pumpkin pattern repeats due to my larger gauge. Since it is Halloween today my little Ghost pin decided to hang around the pumpkin patch where he is hoping to meet up with the great pumpkin. He's from a favorite Etsy store smeeta who has too many cute felt pins.

Progress......maybe

Gauge has been problematic lately. Almost like the knitting Goddess got a little tired of me knitting one inch gauge swatches and decided to teach me a lesson. Maybe she gave me a free pass as a newbie and that’s why the first several sweaters worked out fine. Now she wants me to play by the rules.
Long story short, after all the waist decreases on my Fair Enough cardigan were finished the width was more like 40” and not the 33” it was supposed to be. Doh! I was able to salvage all the ribbing and one set of decreases because extra ease in my hip area is a good thing. The rest was ripped back and re-knit with a 7, one size smaller than I was using. Changing the needle size worked great through the waist shaping but might cause a problem in the bust area since the stitch gauge is half an inch smaller. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping the width and stitch counts work out. No pics yet because it's still a boring rectangle.

No Rhinebeck again for me this year since we had a long car ride last week, I didn’t want to drive myself and didn’t think my husband could be talked into doing it. (Can’t blame him….besides he’s only interested in the airplanes up there) I consoled myself by going to the newest LYS, The Slip Knot, and buying some felted tweed for no particular project. Probably another yoke sweater since they are just so darn easy to knit and end up looking professional. The owners had gotten Berroco’s merino in since my last visit and that was also veryyyy tempting. I was able to resist only because the color that spoke to me was the perfect red and there are already 10 skeins of DK weight red yarn in the stash. Really, one must draw the line somewhere.