knitting school dropout

my age, in rows.

today is my 33rd birthday, and by sheer luck, my new sweater is finally dry.

last month, i decided to knit myself a simple sweater. it seems that those plain pullovers get the most use in my wardrobe, so why not make one in a beautiful yarn.

although it was an easy knit, the miles of stockinette got old pretty quick.

anyway, it's done now, and i love it.

the facts:
pattern: nope. this is a plain top-down raglan. i tried it on constantly to figure out where to put the waist shaping, figure out the decreasing on the arms, etc.
yarn: the fibre company's savannah dk in persimmon. i originally purchased 6 skeins, but started running out 3/4 of the way into both sleeves, so i had to buy a 7th. i only used a bit of it though. this yarn is beautiful. the combination of wool, linen, cotton and soysilk give it a very organic feel. the subtle variations in color are really pretty.
needles:us5 knitpicks options circulars. they kept unscrewing the whole time. it was a little annoying.

i'm so happy with this one. it's simple and light, and i just love the color. as always, it was great to knit it top-down. i love trying it on as i go and getting the perfect fit. yessss. the color also fits in perfectly with project spectrum's fire theme!

thanks for all the lovely comments about my baby sweater. it definitely stood out in the sea of pastels at the baby shower, but it was well received. i kind of want to make one for me.

Posted by melissa at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (57) | TrackBacks (1)

so, i mentioned before that our first ever niece is due in april. this is the first baby to be born in either of our immediate families in roughly 30 years. a few months ago, i picked out a bunch of patterns, bought all the yarn, then, figuring that those tiny little things would practically knit themselves, i waited until the baby shower was only a few weeks away. bad idea.

every single thing i've started in the last week or two has caused me major knitting distress.i don't really know any babies in real life, so i have no point of reference. i knit a hat, it looks too big. i knit another, it seems sooo small. is it just me, or does every baby cardigan seem to have a ridiculously small neck opening? i want to warm this baby with a sweater, not cut off her circulation. needless to say, there has been much ripping out of baby sweaters. the next one i make should be ok, because i do tend to learn from my mistakes.

there is one sweater that i'm totally thrilled with. i do worry though, that my taste, is not necessarily the same as everyone else's. i fear the horrified looks of on-lookers at the upcoming baby shower.

pattern: february baby sweater from the knitter's almanac, which, in my opinion, is the best 8 bucks you could ever spend on something knitting-related.
yarn: roughly 230 yards of handspun superwash wool from this etsy shop
needles:4.5mm/us7 32" circular
knitting time: just over 1 day
mods: i omitted the lace, because it wouldn't have worked with this yarn. i knit the sleeves in the round, using magic loop, because i wanted to. i didn't do any decreases at the bottom.

because of my previously mentioned paranoia about small neck openings, i stretched the neck a bit and pinned it during blocking to widen it slightly. when i knit this one again, i'll just use the backwards loop cast on, which creates a looser cast on edge, and thus a wider neck. this time i used my standard long tail cast on.

well there you go. a stinkin' cute little baby sweater. i am still freaking out that they'll hate it.

Posted by melissa at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (49) | TrackBacks (1)