knitting school dropout

it's finished!

this photo gives the best representation of the color:

if the first 2 pictures seem awkward, that's because i was freezing to death while trying to get a picture outside. i only made it through 5 photos, then gave up.

my search for a plain wooly pullover with just a hint of cute is over. i have lots of cute sweaters (mostly store bought), in fine gauges but really nothing that i can throw on to really keep me warm, that's cute enough to still wear out of the house. i usually dislike bulky sweaters, but this one is heavier without feeling bulky.

this is a pretty standard top-down raglan. i didn't use any specific pattern. a few people asked me how i made the collar, so i'll try my best to explain it. i cast on wayyy fewer stitches for the front, and worked back and forth. on the rows where i was increasing on either side of the raglan markers i also increased one at each side of the neck. i kept doing this until the fronts had the angle i was going for. i then counted how many stitches i now had for the back section and when i came back to the front, i knit the stitches on one side, cast on the stitch difference between the front and back, joined and knit the second half of the front stitches, and continued knitting in the round.
later, i picked up the stitches around the neck, except for the cast on stitches. i knit them in 2x2 rib until the length of the collar matched the width of the cast on area. the fronts were then sewn down.
i'm planning on knitting a similar sweater out of some gorgeous malabrigo soon, so i'll try to take some progress photos to make the collar more clear.

the buttons are vintage. i was gifted them last year and had so few that i just had to knit something that would show them off. they have carved flower designs that are completely lost in these photos.

here are the details:

pattern: standard top down raglan with collar adjustments and minimal waist shaping
yarn: less than 5 balls of rowan scottish tweed aran.
needles: addi turbo us9 and us7 in 32" length

this sweater was super easy, just tons of stockinette, some ribbing, and a few buttons. unfortunately that made it a little boring and i kept abandoning it for other projects, like colorwork hats and mittens. i took a tremendous amount of effort to just finish the last sleeve, but i'm glad i did. this sweater will see lots of use this winter and i'm pretty happy with it.

now, back to the colorwork. i've charted out a hat and mittens using some designs from 1000 knitting motifs and i'm ready to start. i'm trying to really increase my comfort level so i can eventually tackle a fair-isle yoked sweater from the opinionated knitter.

speaking of sweaters, please go check out kate's amazing herringbone sweater, it's gorgeous. she also just posted a great tutorial on custom fitting a sweater.

have great week!

Posted by melissa at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

sorry, the sweater is not quite done. i worked on the second sleeve for what seemed like eternity on sunday and in true melissa fashion, i put it down with only 3 inches to go. at 10pm sunday, i cast on for this:

(pardon the non-modeled shot, but the thing is too damp for my cold head)

around 9pm monday i was pulling the yarn through the last few stitches at the top. i can't believe i finished the entire hat in less than 24 hours. it was too cute to put down. i didn't add the lining until today. this project has made me realize that what i had thought was a provisional cast on, is probably not. either that or i am totally correct and it's just a total pain in the ass to undo.

pattern: we call them pirates from hello yarn
yarn: dale of norway hauk in oatmeal and pea green less than 1 ball of each
needles: us5 inox 16" and 40"circulars
mods: i had to go up 2 needles sizes to get closer to gauge. i made a few more decreases in the lining since i lined it in cotton and it tends to grow.

i love it and it fits just right, but this baby is not for me. i still need to work on getting my tension even and i'm sure knitting in the dark while watching movies didn't help any, but that doesn't discourage me. i think 2007 may be a year filled with stranded knitting.

the best thing about this project is that i had just the right yarn and needles without having to make an excuse to go out and buy anything. i'm on a major budget at the moment, trying to decide if i should get a new car and have the major stress of a car payment, or invest a bunch of money in my fixing crappy little car and instead buy myself the digital slr of my dreams. neither of these are very easy to do considering i work for a non-profit. tax refund time is just around the corner though, so with that and some serious cutting back, i should be able to make a decision by the end of march. i'm making it my birthday present to myself. so i'm all about the cheap thrills from here on out.

speaking of cheap thrills, i just discovered i can re-live my youth for only $17.00. going to see bands like bikini kill and bratmobile were some of the highlights of my late teens/early20's. that's why i'm so excited to get this dvd.

expect another finished object post in the next few days. i'm off to watch bad education, and finish that last bit of sleeve.

Posted by melissa at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

that i become a project finisher?

i've finished the body and am on to the first sleeve. i've also made a ton of progress on a bunch of smaller projects that i'll post about soon.

today i had the unpleasant experience of having my annual physical. it's not the man-handling of my thyroid or the procurement of blood samples that gets me. it's the pap smear, ladies. i think an old friend put it best when she said: "that shit is medieval!". it really is. take a look at the tools that have been used for hundreds of years and you'll find that they haven't changed all that much.

i think i had a point here...oh yeah. well while i was on the table, the nurse practitioner, who happens to be a knitter and is completely aware of the fact that i am freaking out, says to me: "why don't we talk about knitting?". man, i LOVE to talk about knitting. i almost never have the opportunity to talk about it with another knitter, but i'm not sure i want to talk about it while wearing only a johnny and with my legs in stirrups. know what i mean?
in the end, i did tell her about the norwegian mittens. turns out, she's a Zimmermann fan too.

Posted by melissa at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

i will be that much more ready.

pattern: norwegian mittens from EZ's knitter's almanac
needles: us5 40inch addi turbos for magic loop
yarn: dalegarn falk, 1 ball each of dark blue and red
mods: i reversed the colors on the second mitt, made the tips less pointy and used magic loop instead of dpns

these were my first mittens and my first stranded knitting. they are not perfect, by any means, but i love them. my tension was all over the place and using ml instead of dpns only seemed to make it worse.

i love how these mittens never once became boring. i'm already planning out another pair. i'm going to use the blank mitten charts from hello yarn and some of the designs from my most recent purchase: 1000 great knitting motifs.

here's exactly how much yarn was left over after i finished:

i've also been working on this new sweater while trying to get over a sore throat/cold. i'm only part way through the body, but i've already picked up the stitches and knit the collar. i also put the vintage buttons on, just to make sure they'd fit through the buttonholes and that i like them. now i have a better visual of how the sweater will actually look when it's finished and i'm more motivated to knit miles of stockinette. usually when i'm trying to knit something from my head, i end up being disappointed once it gets down to the final details. this sweater is so simple that i'm hoping that won't happen this time. i love the rowan scottish tweed aran. i picked a color that is totally out of my comfort zone, shade 013 and i'm loving it's tweedy beauty.

i hope everyone is having a great new year. i'm keeping the resolutions to a minimum, which will hopefully result in a higher success rate!

Posted by melissa at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)