Out of Hibernation

Bears go into hibernation for the winter, and wool sweaters come out of hibernation in the fall. Not that there is much call for wool here in the sunny southland. But, I have travel plans, and am soon headed for the Pacific Northwest, where at least the night time temperatures might call for wool sweaters. Just enough push for me to dig out a long dormant project, the Lattice Be Warm sweater. According to my notes, the last time I worked on this was 2013.

The last picture I took then;

Picture from yesterday;

The Promised Pictures

Gosh, still only okay pictures of this sweater, but better than the last one.

pardon my loose ends..

Things I love about this knit; button bands and edgings are knit right in, and the stitch pattern next to the button bands keeps everything looking tidy. The only finishing is grafting the underarms, weaving in any ends and adding the buttons. I used a cable cast on for the sleeves and bottom edge and think that worked out very nicely. With fancier buttons, this little cardi could go Hollywood.

(btw, this little sweater grew considerably in length when I wet blocked it. That surprised me)

Crafting Cuteness

Last September, my cousin's daughter Saige (does that make her my first cousin once removed?) celebrated her first birthday. As I gift, I offered to knit a sweater. According to my cousin, Saige wanted a black or dark grey cardigan with cables. The specifics were left up to me. Cool.

I picked the yarn first, a dark grey DK weight superwash from Plymouth Yarns. Grey because I think cables get lost in black, plus it will be more flattering to Saige, and DK because, well, it means fewer stitches than working in fingering. Superwash because, well, its a sweater for a little girl.

Once I had the yarn, it was time to select the pattern.

Oh Bother! Or oh Blogger! I had a post all finished and waiting, and for some reason it wouldn't save or publish and now I have to refinish this post. Pooh.

Pattern picking. Ravelry. Search by size and yarn weight and wanting a cardigan with cables for a little girl. Ran this search a few different times, on different days to see what stuck with me. There were a few that came close. I almost settled. Then I must have changed one attribute and a previously unseen pattern appeared. Silverfox. I had an AH-HA moment. This is the pattern I'm looking for. Those really cute little baby models, nope, they didn't sway me one bit.

I'm almost done with the sweater. Below is a rather poor cell phone photo. The yarn and the sweater look much better in person.

 Love the pattern, I think its very well written. The sleeves are knit first and set aside, and then the body worked from the bottom up and then joined to the sleeves and on up to the yoke. Looks like very little finishing for this one. Weave in some ends, block and add the buttons. Soooo close.

Hopefully, blogger doesn't eat this post.

Getting Caught Up - part 1

When last I blogged about knitting, it was all about the Circlet Cardigan and how it was a bit big, and the sleeves much too long. I went out and collected opinions. First, I went to see my good friend Nancy at Common Threads. Not only is she a wonderful knitter and knitwear designer, she knows about fixing knitted things. She thinks the fit is fine, and assured me that I can  shorten the sleeves from the cuff end and everything will be fine. Later, I showed my friend Dusty, who doesn't know much of anything about knitting, and she declared the project beautiful and worthy of reworking. Michelle, I thought about showing you, but it was too blasted hot on Sunday to put the sweater on. So, I will tackle sleeve shortening, and document my progress here, so if I ever need to remember what (or what not) to do, I can find my notes. I expect to start around mid-month.

With the cardigan on hold, and the mountain meadow mayhem socks complete, I picked out another sock project, this time for my DH. He is very conservative in style, so I picked out a nice brown yarn, Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk Solid. Its a blend of bamboo, merino and a tiny bit of silk. This was my traveling project. Two at a time, magic loop, toe up.

Bill's Brown Socks

Time Away Can be a Good Thing

 I admit it. After seeing my Circlet in Blue cardigan blocked out, I was discouraged. So I rolled it up and stuffed it back into the knitting bag and considered my options. And secretly hoped that the knitting fairies would come by and make everything all better. And that the sweater would reflect on what had happened and voluntarily change it's ways.

After a period of time I pulled the sweater out and considered my options. Well, whether I was keeping it or gifting it, the buttons needed to go on. By the way, nothing has changed and it is still too big. But, as I smoothed out the fronts, and lined up the button bands, I noticed that really, I could've done a better job at knitting the buttonhole band. It looked sloppy. I thought I'd just firm up the bind-off, and then decided the entire band would be better re-knit, at a tighter gauge. And you know what, it did look better. Not only did it look tidier, but the front edge along the yoke looked better too, so I re-knit the other side to match. Much better. I never really thought much about how gauge on the button band can affect the overall look of a sweater.

It still doesn't make the sweater fit better, the sleeves are still ridiculously long, but I haven't given up hope. Tomorrow, I'll block the sweater again and see what else I can learn.

Blocking

Ack! Seems big enough for a line-backer! One with rather long arms. I shouldn't say things like that, if it turns out too big, and I gift it to someone, they might take offense. Well, on to adding the buttons.

All Yoked Up?

Before I started stitching the yoke to the sweater body, I pinned them together to see how closely (or not) the length along the to-be-seamed edges looked. The yoke was a small bit shorter, and now I think it could've been interesting to see by how much. However much it was, I didn't think it would be a problem to ease along the extra length of the body section. And it wasn't. I do wish I'd done a better job at keeping the tension on the mattress stitching even.  I'm half-way to going back and trying, one more time.

As it sits in this picture, the yoke is a bit ripply. And the cabled section of the yoke is longer than the purl section, closer to the neck, and the neck edge seems a tad small. I've steamed the yoke section just a bit, to see if maybe things will be just fine, once I get the bands knit on. Right now the project is taking a time out, whilst I decide how I feel about everything. Oh, and the sleeves are rather long. If I stretch them wider while blocking, I wonder if that will take some of the length out? And I've purchased buttons, but don't have a picture yet.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The ordered seconds quietly slip by.
Slyly glancing over at the blog page.
Is there anything new?
Did something happen?
Is there any news?

Well, yes there is news. After my last post I decided to run away and join the circus. Wait, I already am part of the circus, but our cotton candy machine is broken. Instead I took a spur of the moment trip up north to visit my friend Dusty and enjoy some life on the ranch. Shae and Rowyn went too, and had a mini-family reunion.  You can enjoy pictures here.

I enjoyed visiting with Roar the bull;

and morning after glorious morning.

I found Bigfoot. (sort of)

And enjoyed a breakfast here.

The day I made it home was my birthday, and I found this waiting for me!

The days were so full, very little knitting happened. It seams (!) like it took forever to finish mattress stitching the yoke to the body of the Circlet in Blue. I finally finished the night before last. I had a hard time deciding whether to allow more ease in the stitching or to pull it snug, and now the stitching isn't as even as I'd like. But I can live with it. Now it's on to grafting the underarm seams, then neck edging and finally button bands. I still need to find some buttons! Sounds like the perfect time (is there ever a bad time) to stop by my LYS and check out their new digs. They just moved!

Chirp Chirp Chirp

That's the sound of crickets, filling up the space where blog posts would be. It's been a busy few weeks, and a few more busy weeks coming up. Youngest Son Evan was here for a visit, he worked on learning to drive a stick-shift (a work in progress) and we did a little camping. I'm working away at the Circlet in Blue, the yoke is finished and about 3/4 of the way seamed onto the body. I need to get busy and find buttons!

Crazy Cabled Yoke

The cabled yoke calls for 16 (or 17, I don't recall exactly) pattern repeats for my size.  Three pattern repeats looks like this;

Today I have almost 7 pattern repeats finished. Color coding the chart really helps me keep track of things, I think its a big time saver. I'm hoping to average  1 1/2 repeats per day. Once the yoke is done, it gets mattress stitched to the body and sleeves, and then a neckband and button bands are added.

Color Codes

I'm working on the yoke of the Circlet Cardigan now. The chart is crazy. More than what I'm used to following.  Rows and stitches that are skipped for some sizes, place holder spaces and 15 different symbols to keep track of. Most of them are symbols that weren't used in the staghorn cable pattern. I got a few mixed up and had to start over. To help me keep things straight, I took colored pencils and color coded the symbols.

The Row(d) Goes on

Or, The Real Reason I Seldom Knit A Sweater in DK Yarn. Or just seldom knit a sweater. I'm a knitting light-weight. I'm not exactly bored with this knit, I think. Or maybe I am. But, now that I have the pattern repeat well in hand, I can work on this knit whilst watching World Cup games. Or a TV show. Or anything, at least until the knitting gets more interesting.

The picture shows about 61 rows of pattern, just over 10 inches. Unlike some cable patterns, this one looks fairly decent on the wrong side, check out the bit that's folded over. (on the right side of pic)  Well, enough complaining, I have rows to knit. (Circlet in blue)

Armwarmers?

The sleeves for the Circlet Cardigan are done. See? Now the body is on the needles.

Project Update - Circlet in Blue

Working on round 47 of the sleeves. Not even elbow length yet. But, I am knitting 2 at a time. So if I were knitting only one sleeve, it would be just over 2/3 done. That makes it sound better. I finally have the chart symbols memorized, and am close to having the chart memorized. By the time I start the sweater body I should be able to fairly blast along, except for remembering to reverse the wrong side row stitches. By the way, the yarn color in this photo is closer to the actual teal. But I didn't name it Circlet in Teal, 'cause I think Circlet in Blue sounds better.

So, about that finished sweater...

First off, all along I've been calling it the wrong thing. It's a tank top, or a sleeveless shell, or something. Not a sweater. Sweaters have sleeves.

Next off, I said it was all done, and then didn't put up any pictures. Now I'll put up pictures and give an explanation.

Can you see it there, just up at the neckline? Here, I'll make it easier.

See how that one stitch in the stripe kind of hitches up toward the neckline? Not really sure what was happening there, but there was nothing to do except take out the garter stitches and redo the neckline. Which was okay with me, because the neckline seemed overly loose and floppy. I started over, changed where I picked up stitches and did many more decreases than called for in the pattern instructions. It came out way better. Of course, then I tried it on again, and wouldn't you know it, I decided the armholes needed the same treatment.

I really like this yarn, DK Shine by Knit-Picks, if feels cool and wonderful against my skin and has terrific drape. In fact, this must be the most 'relaxed' yarn I've ever worked with. Even though I got gauge with my swatch, this tank finished with far more positive ease than expected, especially in the back. I think I could've gone down a needle size, and even then, I should have knit the back a size smaller than the front.

Sorry for the poor selfie, I still lack proficiency. Yes, the stripes are different widths. On purpose. There are stripes because I wasn't sure I had enough of the blue to make a complete tank. The stripes are different widths because I could. I made modifications to the pattern; knitting in the round, and I made the shoulders wider that the pattern, and as I noted above, I made more decreases in the neck and arm trim than called for in the pattern. Note: the short rows at the bottom don't look as nice when knit in the round.

Here are the pieces together.

Overall, I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

I went with buttons.

Yeah! A finished project!

99% Finished

The only thing I've left to figure out is the closure(s). After wearing the first incarnation around for a few years, I started feeling like the double breasted closure was a bit fiddly. I love the double breasted look,  but buttons and snaps? Fastening just one or the other didn't look right. (I sound soooo lazy right now. I wonder if small magnets would work?) So this time around I didn't make the garter stitch button bands as wide, and I'll figure out another type of closure. Also, the last time I knit this with this yarn, the gauge really grew after washing, so I knit this shorter than I thought it needed to be, and counted on it stretching during washing. Luckily for me, it did.

Details:
US #10 needles, also used US #11 to knit the garter stitch. I knit the 42.5" size, which on me would have only slightly positive ease. But, based on my previous knit up, I felt I'd like the closer fit. The wool is my own handspun, from a Shetland fleece, and is very springy, so maybe that stretchiness is the difference.

Yarn quantity: 482gr, I didn't measure wpi or yardage.
Measurements: (taken with front bands overlapped, consider these measurements approximate)
Bust (measured at underarm) 39"
Waist 37"
Hips (at hem) 44"
Cast on edge (back collar) to hem 21"
Underarm to hem 13 1/2"
Sleeve Length (underarm to hem) 18 1/2"

Modifications:
Used US #10 needles.
Used a cable cast on to start, the neck needed a firmer cast on.
I added on more short row round (2 wrap and turns) to the collar
I made 2 additional decrease rounds on the sleeves, and made the sleeves longer.
I made the button bands narrower.

We're expecting cooler weather later in the week, so maybe I'll get to wear this!

If it's in the Sink

That must mean it's done! Except for buttons anyway. Details, and additional pics, to follow.

Road Trip, and almost no knitting

Say it isn't so! Over 2200 miles and not a stitch knit whilst on the road. Because, I was the driver. There was a point, a long straight and uneventful stretch, where I considered knitting, just to make the driving more interesting. But it was just a thought. And I'd put my knitting all the way in the back hatch area, where I couldn't reach it without stopping the car. That wasn't on purpose, but turned out to be a good thing. Otherwise, I might have tried, just a little bit. "Honest Officer, it was just a bit of stockinet, and everything was going great until the purl stitches."

I went to see my brother, who lives in Idaho. I knew there would be lots of conversation, and I thought I'd get loads of stitches knit, but it didn't work that way. I'm not sure what happened, normally if I sit down to talk, knitting just appears in my hands. Well, the conversations were dynamic and funny, and there were dogs to watch play, and meals to cook together, walks and fishing, and the only knitting I did was enough to finish the sleeve on my Iced Over sweater. So now the body is done (maybe, I'm not sure its long enough, but last time it stretched so I made it shorter) and the right sleeve and I've started on the left sleeve. Other than keeping a row count and making decreases every so often, the knitting isn't demanding, but also not very interesting to sit and work on while nothing else is going on. Maybe a movie marathon is in order. I know that once the weather cools a bit, I'll really wish this sweater was ready for wearing.

While we were in Idaho, we went river rafting, the pictures are here. But be warned, there are no knitting pictures. And way too many pictures of Rowyn.

Blame it on the mid-day Sun.

This is my Iced cardigan.  (or here) Frogged. Because... well, yes I liked it very much. But it really seemed to grow sideways quite a bit. So I've decided to re-knit it, on smaller needles and to a smaller size. 

Does anyone else like 'do-overs' in knitting? It's not that this project turned out wrong, but I can't seem to resist the idea of making it better.