Tuesday, October 30, 2007

One Long Row at a Time

I finally made it to the cabled yoke, after what felt like miles of stockinette. I'm about halfway through the cable chart, although I would be a few rows further along if I didn't have to rip out and re-do every other cable row due to my own stupidity when it comes to reading the chart. I don't usually have trouble reading charts, but these rows are really long and perhaps I don't check the chart as often as I should to see what happens next. Regardless, I really enjoy watching the cable grow as I make my way through row after row. Here's how it looks so far (although the colour isn't very accurate):



I'm starting to get excited about getting this finished and wearing it, so after a brief loss of momentum this project is zooming along again. Given the change in the weather, I can't get it done soon enough!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Finished!


I'm very happy with it. Yarn was Mr. Joe Blanket from Elann.com and was less than $30.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Sleeve Ribbing?




I was wondering if anyone had experimented with the length of the ribbing on the sleeve. I was using the magic loop method that was outlined so well on this KAL for the sleeves and have been happy so far but I was looking at the pictures of the sweater in the mag and I was considering modifying the amount of inches of ribbing on the sleeves to be a few inches less so it was around 5 inches like the body is. Has anyone already done this so that they have pictures or does anyone have any advice?

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

sleeve ho



Wow - this is a fast knit! I have reached the underarms. So the next step is to cast on a sleeve. I agree that a 9.5" cuff is too baggy for a 6" wrist. So I will be casting on with 3.25mm dpns which should give me a 7.5-8" cuff. Part way up the garter ribbing, I'll switch to 3.5mm needles.

Friday, October 19, 2007

waisting away



I'm at the waist now. I just finished the first ball of yarn and I need to go wind the second one. I like the look of the yarn (Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool) but I don't like all the vm in it. I'm picking out the big burrs as I come across them. Ick! Overall, I like the drape and I think the yarn was a good substitute. I am knitting the smallest size but since my bf is soooo skinny, I went down a needle size (3.5mm - stitch gauge is off but row gauge is spot on) so that there will be some negative ease.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tangling, Untangling, Moving forward


I'm finally in the groove with this project...it took me a while! I started knitting a year ago and this is my most difficult project thus far. I tried the cable pattern first on some scrap yarn to make sure I could get through it...I'm using Rowan Felted Tweed in cranberry; it's actually more of a plum/brown. I am knitting the second size with a somewhat tighter gauge. Here's a look at her.

Grateful for the information and learning! Stunning knitting out there.

Advice Needed!

I posted this on my blog but what better place to ask then here!

Ok, here’s the deal. I’ve been working on the sleeves for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan for a few weeks and here’s what’s happening:

Here’s a closer look:

Waaaay to big for my liking. So here’s where I need my fellow knitters advice…

Should I frog the sleeves and start all over, and cast on fewer stitches? Or should I keep the sleeves I’ve knitted so far, but make them three-quarter sleeves instead? Here’s what they would look like on moi three-quarter length:

I know its a preference thing, but I’m a bit undecided…so persuade me!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Cable help!

I'm finding the cables to be VERY slow going. This is my first cable project and I'm trying very hard to make no mistakes. Last night, I got near the end of row 7, and realized that I somehow lost 2 of the stitches off of one of the 1-into-5 increases from the previous row. Does that make sense? One of my sets of 5 has only 3 stitches.

Is there a way to recover the 2 stitches without ripping back almost 2 whole rows? I was way too tired to think this through late last night, so maybe this is an easy fix. I plan to play with a swatch tonight to see if I can do it. I'm using felted tweed in a dark color -- it is so hard to see stitches clearly sometimes.

Thank you!!

Monday, October 15, 2007

just starting

Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I am using Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool in Woad (a really nice denim blue). I will be making the smallest size. It will be a Christmas present for my best friend (the lucky girl!).

I am already planning some mods - narrower sleeve cuffs and extra decreases/increases because she's got a tiny waist.

My circ needles arrived today so I should be swatching soon. I can't wait to start knitting!

The Adminstratrix Speaks

Wow! I've been looking at all of the progress and FO pictures, and all I can say is, you guys are rock stars! It's amazing how even though we're all working on the same pattern, the results are all so varied and so beautiful. To those of you who are finished, I say congratulations, and to those of you who are still truckin', I say keep on keepin' on!

I apologize wholeheartedly to those of you who have had to wait for invitations lately. This isn't Ravelry, and I should take far less time to get those invites out. It turns out that even at the undergraduate level, a senior thesis takes, like, time. In that spirit, if any of you feel like signing on and making us administratrices (plural) rather than administratrix (singular), tell Gmail to let me know. The responsibilities are pretty minimal, but my computer has lately proven that it has an unfaithful heart and the day of reckoning (thesis deadline) approaches, so if anyone feels like joining forces, that would be awesome.

Tangle onward! Yoke like you mean it! Cable without mercy!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Finished!

It's done! I wouldn't say it was quick, but it was definitely pretty easy aside from the cable. The individual stitches on the cable weren't any more difficult than most vertical cables, but it was still difficult because of the really long rows. It was easy to lose track or get a little off (and a huge pain to go back and undo it). Also, you don't have the visual cues of being able to see how it should fit together as you do on a vertical cable. But I think that I could design horizontal cables to use in other places now, so it was definitely good to learn. This was also my first project that used short rows and button bands. Yay! More new skills.

Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Garnet Heather
Needles: US 3 circs for body/yoke, US 4 dpn's for sleeves
(however, my gauge was off and it ended up smaller than it was supposed to)

For more, stop by my blog

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Wide sleeves?

Anyone else finding the sleeve instructions make for a much wider sleeve, especially at the cuff, than the pattern photo shows? I've had to redo mine 3 times to get a good fit. I just have one sleeve and the button band to go!

Monday, October 8, 2007

Quick Update

Just a quick little update. I'm currently finished with the main body and am knitting up the sleeves. I'm using the magic loop method that Kendyl described here to knit them up, and so far so good! It took me a little while to figure out, but now I'm rolling! Anyway, here are a few updated pics:

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Getting Ready for the Yoke

Get it? Yoke? The color is sort of egg yoke? Ok, maybe I'm just a little punchy. I joined the previously knitted sleeves and I'm nearly at the very exciting but slightly intimidating yoke, oh boy!



Isn't this yarn yummy? I am in total lust with this yarn. Silky Wool from Elsebeth Lavold. The color, the texture, the smooth way it knits up. Pure. Love.

However, the pattern is a bit problematic for the novice. I feel somewhat sacrilegious in criticizing Eunny - but there is an error in the increase section for the body and the directions for joining the sleeves are less than clear. And then there are the 2 completely useless markers one stitch from each edge. Huh? Isn't there enough to worry about without messing with a stitch marker flopping about and threatening to fall off each row turn? Those little ##$@^$^ fell off one to many times and I got rid of them. So there.

Erm... I must be close to that time of the month. Except - I don't do that anymore! Guess I'm just a bitch.

But... isn't she lovely? I am 20 rows away from the yoke. I can't wait, but I am a tad fearful. Will Eunny flummox me again? we shall see....

Friday, October 5, 2007

Tangled Yoke Finished

My Tangled Yoke Pullover is finished! I have a feeling it's not what some of you expected it to look like. First, I'll show the photos and then explain why and how I did what I did. (It's a hazy odd day out; I had a lot of trouble getting decent photos. This yarn changes color depending upon the light, which is very noticeable here. The sideways photo is the truest to color.)









The grafted under arm:




As you can see, I chose to do a Henley style neckline -- preserving the split at the front of the cardigan. For larger pictures, an explanation of why I went that route, and details on all of the other changes I made, you can read my more complete post at my blog, which is found here.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

To Seam (Stitch) or Not to Seam Stitch

As I merrily plow ahead with my Tangled Yoke, I thought I'd share one of the changes I made. The instructions, which are for a cardigan (I'm knitting this as a pullover), call for you to knit the entire piece (back and fronts) back and forth with a purl stitch running from the hem to the under arm to give the look of a seam. I did that, but wasn't sure I liked how it looked. So, in order to see if I would like it better without the faux seam, I undid it on one side. Here's what I mean.

First, here is a shot of the side "seam."




To remove it, I first dropped the purl stitch all the way down to the garter rib. (I wasn't going to undo the seam stitch there because it provides a focal point for the decreases.)




Then, using a crochet hook, I laddered the stitch back up -- turning it from a purl stitch to a knit stitch.




Without the seam stitch, the side looks like this:



I liked how that looked better, so before I joined the sleeves and body for the yoke, I undid the seam stitch on the other side as well. Important note: I conducted this experiment before I finished the garter rib on my first sleeve, so I could decide whether or not to add the seam stitch to the sleeve under arm. I wanted the sleeves and body to match, obviously.

I'm almost finished with the whole thing. If not tonight, then tomorrow.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Top down progress

Here's what I've got so far. It rolls under in front so it looks like it doesn't meet, but it just barely does if you unroll the edges. Should be good once I add the button band. I added 3 short rows for the bust area. So far, so good I think.