I didn't realize it would take so long to seam sleeves. Because there's all these curves, diagonal lines, and matching rows to columns, I have to make sure I line up the pieces perfectly. Otherwise, it will look really crappy. My sweater should be done by now but I put off blocking & seaming the pieces in anticipation of the suckiness. The pieces got washed and blocked. I looked up instructions on what to do and then started to realize how annoying this could get.
The pattern for the Multiplicity sweater calls for a slip-stitch selvedge. I can't actually seam into the selvedge stitches because they're too big, so I have to make my seam one stitch into the fabric. At least those big slipped stitches make lining things up easier. Some people suggested using a three-needle bind-off for selvedge stitches like that, but I wasn't sure if that would turn out pretty, and that would mean picking up stitches. In the end, I used this blog post's guide to seaming sleeves. I used tiny little safety pins to pin the pieces together.
In the entire 2.5 hours of Tuesday's knitting night, I was able to seam the shoulders, match up one sleeve to the front/back pieces, and seam up half the armhole. I finished the rest of the armhole last night. I did rip back two times because I wanted to get it right. The sleeve edge does seem to be a little shorter than the sweater armhole allows for, but I was able to match it up evenly. Now it's time for the second sleeve...ugh. Once I finish it though, the rest of it will be smooth sailing because it will be matching up stitches one-to-one.
Showing posts with label sweater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sweater. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
WIP Progress
I'm slowly but surely getting through all these piled up WIPs now that my pieces to my sweater are done.
Clementine Shawlette
- I decided not to graft in pattern and just do the kitchener grafting described in the instructions.
- The yarn relaxed a lot after washing, and the shawlette is longer than I expected. To wear it, I'm going to have to pull the ends up, causing the back to droop low, which isn't a bad thing.
- The ends still need to be woven in.
Monterey Socks
- I bound off the first pair of socks.
- The ends need to be woven in.
- I need to make the 2nd sock.
Marilinda Socks
- I started the 2nd sock.
- I need to finish the rest of the sock, from the cuff on down.
Rona Lace Shawl
- I have not worked on this much.
- Same, I still need to finish around 40 rows.
Multiplicity Sweater
- I finished the front, the back, and the 2 sleeves.
- It's been washed & blocked.
- I need to seam the pieces together, first the front piece to the back piece, up the sides and across the shoulders. Then, each of the sleeves need to be set in at the armholes.
- I need to buy buttons.
- After seaming, I need to knit up the cowl neck.
Clementine Shawlette
- I decided not to graft in pattern and just do the kitchener grafting described in the instructions.
- The yarn relaxed a lot after washing, and the shawlette is longer than I expected. To wear it, I'm going to have to pull the ends up, causing the back to droop low, which isn't a bad thing.
- The ends still need to be woven in.
Monterey Socks
- I bound off the first pair of socks.
- The ends need to be woven in.
- I need to make the 2nd sock.
Marilinda Socks
- I started the 2nd sock.
- I need to finish the rest of the sock, from the cuff on down.
Rona Lace Shawl
- I have not worked on this much.
- Same, I still need to finish around 40 rows.
Multiplicity Sweater
- I finished the front, the back, and the 2 sleeves.
- It's been washed & blocked.
- I need to seam the pieces together, first the front piece to the back piece, up the sides and across the shoulders. Then, each of the sleeves need to be set in at the armholes.
- I need to buy buttons.
- After seaming, I need to knit up the cowl neck.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
WIPs
Works in Progress
Clementine Shawl
- Both sides are done but the gauge for each side does not match. One side takes more pattern repeats to reach the same length as the other side.
- I may have to wash/block them both before deciding what to do.
- I have to figure out how to graft them together.
Monterey Socks
- First sock needs to be bound off.
- Second sock needs to be knit.
- I need to do some research first and figure out a better way to cast on/cast off in the middle of a row.
Marilinda Socks
- First sock is done and the ends need to be woven in.
- Second sock needs to be knit.
Rona Lace Shawl
- I need to finish the 45 or so rounds left.
Multiplicity Sweater
- I need to finish the 2 sleeves.
- The cowl portion needs to be knit.
- I need to find suitable buttons.
- I should also figure out if I have enough yarn left, and then order more if necessary.
- The pieces then need to be blocked and seamed (3-needle bind-off?).
_____________________________________________
Christmas Presents
After the debacle that was last year's Christmas gifts, I don't know if I can bring myself to knit presents for everyone again for this year. Maybe I could do it if it were something quick but with all the stuff I've been working on, I can't figure out what that could be. If I don't knit or crochet something, then what should I give my cousins? I wish I could give chocolate, since I found a bunch of cool chocolate companies, but they're all boys who probably don't eat chocolate. I was thinking about cooking. Maybe not my chocolate truffles, but something like homemade toffee? Packaged up nicely?
Clementine Shawl
- Both sides are done but the gauge for each side does not match. One side takes more pattern repeats to reach the same length as the other side.
- I may have to wash/block them both before deciding what to do.
- I have to figure out how to graft them together.
Monterey Socks
- First sock needs to be bound off.
- Second sock needs to be knit.
- I need to do some research first and figure out a better way to cast on/cast off in the middle of a row.
Marilinda Socks
- First sock is done and the ends need to be woven in.
- Second sock needs to be knit.
Rona Lace Shawl
- I need to finish the 45 or so rounds left.
Multiplicity Sweater
- I need to finish the 2 sleeves.
- The cowl portion needs to be knit.
- I need to find suitable buttons.
- I should also figure out if I have enough yarn left, and then order more if necessary.
- The pieces then need to be blocked and seamed (3-needle bind-off?).
_____________________________________________
Christmas Presents
After the debacle that was last year's Christmas gifts, I don't know if I can bring myself to knit presents for everyone again for this year. Maybe I could do it if it were something quick but with all the stuff I've been working on, I can't figure out what that could be. If I don't knit or crochet something, then what should I give my cousins? I wish I could give chocolate, since I found a bunch of cool chocolate companies, but they're all boys who probably don't eat chocolate. I was thinking about cooking. Maybe not my chocolate truffles, but something like homemade toffee? Packaged up nicely?
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Lawrence wants a sweater?
Doh. I get so lazy and preoccupied with other things that I haven't updated this blog with pictures of my work in SUCH a long time...with Ravelry there, the prospect of having to upload pictures and update twice is not-so-appealing.
One thing this blog is good for is getting thoughts out of my head.
Yesterday night, Lawrence asked me to make a sweater for him! :D I was so surprised because he hates wearing sweaters, he doesn't like the look of knitted stitches, and prefers smooth, finely woven fabrics that are cut and tailored to a nice finished look. He specified that he still doesn't like cables, which unfortunately so many men's sweaters make use of. What he would like is argyle. I think that's because argyle is one of those traditional elements that has been utilized by the young, hip crowd - much like tartan plaids. So, wearing an argyle sweater, he can pass as suitably stuffy at his sales job AND pass as a yuppy punky hipster when we go out.
Perhaps I could try to add in some cool design elements to exaggerate the transformation. Or...maybe I've been watching too much Project Runway.
One thing this blog is good for is getting thoughts out of my head.
Yesterday night, Lawrence asked me to make a sweater for him! :D I was so surprised because he hates wearing sweaters, he doesn't like the look of knitted stitches, and prefers smooth, finely woven fabrics that are cut and tailored to a nice finished look. He specified that he still doesn't like cables, which unfortunately so many men's sweaters make use of. What he would like is argyle. I think that's because argyle is one of those traditional elements that has been utilized by the young, hip crowd - much like tartan plaids. So, wearing an argyle sweater, he can pass as suitably stuffy at his sales job AND pass as a yuppy punky hipster when we go out.
Perhaps I could try to add in some cool design elements to exaggerate the transformation. Or...maybe I've been watching too much Project Runway.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
GAHHHH
I'm on the last 2 rows of my Sahara sweater, and I ran out of yarn. I thought I had more skeins, but I couldn't find any in the box!!! In a fit of exasperation, I bought a skein from Lavendar & Peonies. The O-Wool Balance was on sale for $4.74 but shipping was $6.00. I was just thinking I may have enough in scraps that I can spit slice together for the last 2 rows...but I really don't know if I'll have enough!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Progress Update
Sahara - I'm about 3/4 of the way through the 2nd sleeve. I've finished the 2 stitch increases, and one of the 4 stitch increases. Three more sets of 4 stitch increases at 7 rows a set, plus 2 repeats of the diamond rib for the cuff, and I can finish it off! :D Last night, despite a dull headache and lack of sleep, I pushed my way through a quarter of the sleeve. If I concentrate on it tonight, I can probably get it done today. I don't know if that will be possible though, as Lawrence and I have to go to his parents' place for dinner...meaning no knitting for however long we're there.
Rona Lace Shawl - This is coming along slowly...mostly when I don't feel like working on the sweater. It's difficult doing the KB, so it goes very slowly even when I do work on it. I can't wait to see how it turns out but it may very well take until Christmas to finish the thing.
Leyburn Socks - I started these socks over the weekend. Given all the sock yarn I bought through other peoples' destashes on Ravelry, I wanted to actually start working on socks again. I decided to try out the Hill Country Alpaca (in Purple Mountain) because all the socks I've made so far have been with Cherry Tree Hill yarns. I really wanted to try the Leyburn socks to see how the lattice quilt stitch works up. I think it would work very well for a more brightly contrasting variegated yarn. It still looks nice in the Purple Mountain colorway (purple, blue, brown), and actually looks more formal than any pair of hand knitted socks I've ever seen. They're like business socks....for when it's business time. Hah, Flight of the Conchords reference there. They're songs are hilarious. :D
Entrelac Wristwarmers - The entrelac wristwarmers in the Japanese book I bought, "Nordic Knitting. Ten fabulous techniques," caught my eye the first time I saw them. It's a perfect project for a skein of Noro. I can try out both knitting entrelac and knitting with Noro while producing a useful and cool looking product, all at the same time. It works up really quickly, but I think I perhaps should have used size 7 needles or made the wristwarmers only 4 repeats wide instead of 5. They seem like they may be a little loose on my wrists when I expected them to be more snug. However, I do still have to wash/block them and seam them up. The entrelac is surprisingly fun and interesting to knit up. I think it's because the knitting is being modularized into small blocks at a time. You feel like you're flying through the knitting every time you finish a connecting row, and then every time you finish a block. The changing colors help too because you're not staring at the same uniform color the entire way.
Technique Note:
I ran into a problem with the diamond rib lace in Sahara. I've seen the same problem mentioned by other knitters. Lace patterns often have sections that call for knitting or purling several stitches together, creating a little bump of gathered stitches. This technique is used in creating "nupps" like those found on the Swallowtail Shawl. This troublesome stitch is compounded when the stitch calls for knitting or purling the stitches together through the back loop. So, after using a crochet hook and wondering at how anyone would have the patience to put up with the trouble, I tried to work out a better solution.
The idea basically follow the same strategy as a skp stitch, or s1, k1, psso. You slip 1 stitch, you knit the next, then you pass the slipped stitch over the stitch you just knit. It was like an epiphany when I realized that passing slipped stitches over accomplishes the same decrease as if you just knit the 2 stitches together, except you only ever need to stick your needle into 1 stitch at a time. The only thing you have to work out is the orientation of your stitches.
For the p3togtbl stitch, I basically looked at the orientation of my needles in relation to the yarn, and how the orientation of the yarn changes after the stitch. If you try to make a p3togtbl, you start off by trying to put your right needle into the back of the 3rd stitch on your left needle while both needles are pointing in the same direction. Assuming you were able to successfully make the stitch, what you would be doing is pulling up a loop of working yarn through 3 stitches, from the stitch closest to the tip of your left needle, left through 3 stitches. You would get the same result if you ptbl of the first stitch, then pulled the resulting stitch straight on through the next 2 stitches on your left needle. So, you ptbl - 2 stitches remain on the left needle while you have 1 worked stitch on the right needle. Slip the worked stitch back to the left needle without changing its orientation. Use your right needle to slip the 2 following stitches over the worked stitch. Slip that stitch back to your right needle without changing orientation.
This would also work if you slip the first 2 stitches to the right needle, then ptbl on the 3rd stitch of the left needle. This leaves all 3 of your stitches on the right needle. You then only need to pass each of those first 2 slipped stitches over your 3rd worked stitch. Instant, easy p3togtbl! :)
Rona Lace Shawl - This is coming along slowly...mostly when I don't feel like working on the sweater. It's difficult doing the KB, so it goes very slowly even when I do work on it. I can't wait to see how it turns out but it may very well take until Christmas to finish the thing.
Leyburn Socks - I started these socks over the weekend. Given all the sock yarn I bought through other peoples' destashes on Ravelry, I wanted to actually start working on socks again. I decided to try out the Hill Country Alpaca (in Purple Mountain) because all the socks I've made so far have been with Cherry Tree Hill yarns. I really wanted to try the Leyburn socks to see how the lattice quilt stitch works up. I think it would work very well for a more brightly contrasting variegated yarn. It still looks nice in the Purple Mountain colorway (purple, blue, brown), and actually looks more formal than any pair of hand knitted socks I've ever seen. They're like business socks....for when it's business time. Hah, Flight of the Conchords reference there. They're songs are hilarious. :D
Entrelac Wristwarmers - The entrelac wristwarmers in the Japanese book I bought, "Nordic Knitting. Ten fabulous techniques," caught my eye the first time I saw them. It's a perfect project for a skein of Noro. I can try out both knitting entrelac and knitting with Noro while producing a useful and cool looking product, all at the same time. It works up really quickly, but I think I perhaps should have used size 7 needles or made the wristwarmers only 4 repeats wide instead of 5. They seem like they may be a little loose on my wrists when I expected them to be more snug. However, I do still have to wash/block them and seam them up. The entrelac is surprisingly fun and interesting to knit up. I think it's because the knitting is being modularized into small blocks at a time. You feel like you're flying through the knitting every time you finish a connecting row, and then every time you finish a block. The changing colors help too because you're not staring at the same uniform color the entire way.
Technique Note:
I ran into a problem with the diamond rib lace in Sahara. I've seen the same problem mentioned by other knitters. Lace patterns often have sections that call for knitting or purling several stitches together, creating a little bump of gathered stitches. This technique is used in creating "nupps" like those found on the Swallowtail Shawl. This troublesome stitch is compounded when the stitch calls for knitting or purling the stitches together through the back loop. So, after using a crochet hook and wondering at how anyone would have the patience to put up with the trouble, I tried to work out a better solution.
The idea basically follow the same strategy as a skp stitch, or s1, k1, psso. You slip 1 stitch, you knit the next, then you pass the slipped stitch over the stitch you just knit. It was like an epiphany when I realized that passing slipped stitches over accomplishes the same decrease as if you just knit the 2 stitches together, except you only ever need to stick your needle into 1 stitch at a time. The only thing you have to work out is the orientation of your stitches.
For the p3togtbl stitch, I basically looked at the orientation of my needles in relation to the yarn, and how the orientation of the yarn changes after the stitch. If you try to make a p3togtbl, you start off by trying to put your right needle into the back of the 3rd stitch on your left needle while both needles are pointing in the same direction. Assuming you were able to successfully make the stitch, what you would be doing is pulling up a loop of working yarn through 3 stitches, from the stitch closest to the tip of your left needle, left through 3 stitches. You would get the same result if you ptbl of the first stitch, then pulled the resulting stitch straight on through the next 2 stitches on your left needle. So, you ptbl - 2 stitches remain on the left needle while you have 1 worked stitch on the right needle. Slip the worked stitch back to the left needle without changing its orientation. Use your right needle to slip the 2 following stitches over the worked stitch. Slip that stitch back to your right needle without changing orientation.
This would also work if you slip the first 2 stitches to the right needle, then ptbl on the 3rd stitch of the left needle. This leaves all 3 of your stitches on the right needle. You then only need to pass each of those first 2 slipped stitches over your 3rd worked stitch. Instant, easy p3togtbl! :)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Sahara Sleeves Update
I've finished my left sleeve using increases to make it a bell sleeve. Starting at around the elbow, or roughly 18.5" from the under arm, I increased by (2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4) stitches, every 7 rows. It looks rather nice, and not too big like I was afraid of. I was originally planning to do 6 stitches for the last 2 increases, but was already getting scared at how big it would be.
Sleeves take fricking forever! I'll be glad to finally get this sweater done, and in fact it actually will be my first real sweater! I was saying to people before that it was just a short-sleeved top. My boss said that because it's knitted, it was still a sweater, just a short-sleeved sweater. But, now that it's long-sleeved I can be comfortable either way. Even so, after this I am going to be so happy to do a top without sleeves. Maybe I'd actually be able to wear it NOW too! It is soooo hot in my office right now because the air conditioner is broken and I have no hair tie for my long hair. Uck.
So, as for the next project, I'm planning to make the Lelah Top, halter top version; Coachella once I get my Berocco Suede; and the Pink Sundae Camisole found in Sensual Knits. I may end up frogging the start of my Demeter, if I need those needles.
I also plan to start up a pair of socks (Leyburn socks) using some of the variegated sock yarn I bought. Ahh, there's also the socks from Cat Bordhi's book, which I am waiting for to arrive. I have a lace shawl on the needles (Rona Lace Shawl) that I'm still working on right now too. That one, I may leave as a long term project to be finished by Christmas for presents. As soon as I get some suitable yarn though, I do want to start up either Lyra or another Herbert Niebling lace pattern (maybe a smaller one that Lawrence would agree to use as a table runner).
Wow, there's a ton of patterns I want to start working on immediately! :) I'll post a list later.
Edit: I found the page where I saw the instructions for the halter top variation of the Lelah Top [here]. That was actually the exact project I saw on Ravelry that made me want to knit the Lelah Top! :)
Sleeves take fricking forever! I'll be glad to finally get this sweater done, and in fact it actually will be my first real sweater! I was saying to people before that it was just a short-sleeved top. My boss said that because it's knitted, it was still a sweater, just a short-sleeved sweater. But, now that it's long-sleeved I can be comfortable either way. Even so, after this I am going to be so happy to do a top without sleeves. Maybe I'd actually be able to wear it NOW too! It is soooo hot in my office right now because the air conditioner is broken and I have no hair tie for my long hair. Uck.
So, as for the next project, I'm planning to make the Lelah Top, halter top version; Coachella once I get my Berocco Suede; and the Pink Sundae Camisole found in Sensual Knits. I may end up frogging the start of my Demeter, if I need those needles.
I also plan to start up a pair of socks (Leyburn socks) using some of the variegated sock yarn I bought. Ahh, there's also the socks from Cat Bordhi's book, which I am waiting for to arrive. I have a lace shawl on the needles (Rona Lace Shawl) that I'm still working on right now too. That one, I may leave as a long term project to be finished by Christmas for presents. As soon as I get some suitable yarn though, I do want to start up either Lyra or another Herbert Niebling lace pattern (maybe a smaller one that Lawrence would agree to use as a table runner).
Wow, there's a ton of patterns I want to start working on immediately! :) I'll post a list later.
Edit: I found the page where I saw the instructions for the halter top variation of the Lelah Top [here]. That was actually the exact project I saw on Ravelry that made me want to knit the Lelah Top! :)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Sahara Sleeves
I originally planned to make Sahara with short sleeves. Since I'm using a wool/cotton blend and it's summer now, I figured I could make a nice top to wear. However, when I mentioned that to Lawrence, he complained that a short sleeved sweater in a bulky yarn would look weird! Although the yarn is worsted, not bulky, I admit it is bulky comparatively to a fingering weight yarn. I started to doubt myself and thought maybe it wouldn't work so well as a short sleeved sweater...maybe I'm just blinded as a knitter and because I look at knitted garments so much I don't realize that a short sleeved knitted sweater would look weird...? But dang, I want to be done with this thing! With short sleeves, I would have been done by now! I also wasn't sure if I even had enough yarn left!
Well, I checked and I had besides the 1 ball attached, I still have 3 skeins left. Considering I bought 9 balls total, I used 5 and a bit for the body of the sweater. Three skeins should definitely be enough for just the sleeves. Even though the yarn has cotton in it, it's also still half wool. Perhaps it wouldn't be as cool to wear in the summer as I imagined. It is also kind of bulky. I mean, it's not a tight fit. I didn't make it with much negative ease, if any at all. There may be some in the bust once I sew up the neckline, but that's fine. I feel like I should do that first, before I finish the sleeves just so it will look nice when I show it off.
Bleh...sleeves take too long cause the circumference is too small. I've had to pull out 2 loops of my circulars (as if I were using 3 dpns). It gets twisted too, so I have to alternate directions when I rotate. Oh, and also for some reason I thought the long-sleeved version was designed with bell sleeves! The pattern calls for knitting even all the way down after the upper arm decreases. Maybe it's the lace at the wrists make it flare out a bit? I'm thinking of increasing a little bit. Perhaps when I get to that point, I'll put it on waste yarn and start the other sleeve instead. That way I can look at it as a whole and get a better idea of how it will look. Or maybe I just shouldn't bother trying to modify the pattern... :P
Well, I checked and I had besides the 1 ball attached, I still have 3 skeins left. Considering I bought 9 balls total, I used 5 and a bit for the body of the sweater. Three skeins should definitely be enough for just the sleeves. Even though the yarn has cotton in it, it's also still half wool. Perhaps it wouldn't be as cool to wear in the summer as I imagined. It is also kind of bulky. I mean, it's not a tight fit. I didn't make it with much negative ease, if any at all. There may be some in the bust once I sew up the neckline, but that's fine. I feel like I should do that first, before I finish the sleeves just so it will look nice when I show it off.
Bleh...sleeves take too long cause the circumference is too small. I've had to pull out 2 loops of my circulars (as if I were using 3 dpns). It gets twisted too, so I have to alternate directions when I rotate. Oh, and also for some reason I thought the long-sleeved version was designed with bell sleeves! The pattern calls for knitting even all the way down after the upper arm decreases. Maybe it's the lace at the wrists make it flare out a bit? I'm thinking of increasing a little bit. Perhaps when I get to that point, I'll put it on waste yarn and start the other sleeve instead. That way I can look at it as a whole and get a better idea of how it will look. Or maybe I just shouldn't bother trying to modify the pattern... :P
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