FO: Riddari, with an acceptable amount of buldge

I have spent way too much time on this beast.  

The actual knitting took me no time- maybe two weeks start to finish?- and it looked just dandy until I took the scissors to it.

The idea of it was an Icelandic-style jumper done in 100% British Wools:  it was fascinating to combine these wools, to get a feel for each one.  The Black Welsh was the roughest to work with- it's rustic and full of lanolin, but it will look like new forever.  The grey Suffolk was a bit softer, but I obsessively picked wires of guard hairs out of it.  The moorit Shetland, lovely and lofty, the BFL silky and soft.  Each is their natural color, making a nice sample of the natural variety of colorful sheep.  I dubbed this "the Cod Wars" sweater- the UK had a series of bullying encounters with Iceland over fishing rights in the rich waters around Iceland, and from the 1950's to the late 70's, the UK would send trawlers there under the protection of warships to fish around Iceland.

 Like I said, the problems started when I took the scissors to the front.  See, the pattern was written for a much lighter weight yarn, but I loved the yoke pattern so much that I did the math and followed the instructions for a child's extra small size knit in a rather tight gauge.  The fabric is dense and impenetrable to wind and water, but perhaps a bit to warm for anyplace but Iceland.  A bit of air conditioning was in order and I decided to run a crochet steek up the front, snipped it into a cardigan and installed a vintage brass zipper.  That's when I started having big problems.

The zipper would not lay flat, creating big lumps and bumps up the front.  Huge ones.  After twice hand-picking and trying to ease the lumps out, frantic calls to tailors and friends were made.  I debated trying to sew it back up and save it as a cardigan, but the colorwork would have looked all wrong.  I decided to outsource, and took it to Susan at Sharpworks down in Herne Hill.  Susan wouldn't do it for me, but advised me to take out the crochet steeks, which was adding a tight line of stitches and extra fabric that was distorting things.  She also advised me to stretch the fabric taught along the zipper to minimize the zipper tape bunching.

I went home, took out the crochet steeks, and eased the zipper in one more time, trying to stretch out the lumps without turning it into a dress.

Ta dum!  An acceptable amount of bulges!  Since I had to stretch the fabric, it's a bit longer then I intended- I could have stretched it more and ended up with a dress.  It's not perfectly flat, but it doesn't look like a tumor is growing under there either.  Oh!  and it's warm enough to be outerwear.  And you know, now that I've been struggling with this for more than a month now, I've noticed that a fair amount of commercially made zip-up sweaters have zippers that don't like perfectly flat as well, so instead of drowning in a river of tears of frustration, I said this is good enough and walked away.

The kicker?  No way no how are Icelandic Lopapeysa traditional to Iceland.  They were developed in the 1950's to make use of the abundance of Icelandic wool, and they are based on styles of traditional knitwear from far-off places suck as Turkey, Sweden, South America, and Greenland.  They quickly became a favorite of tourist and locals alike.

 I do need to clean up my edges a little bit more- I don't have a perfectly clean line running up the front.  What's a few more hours with needle and thread?  I promise you I won't un-pick the zipper again.  Part of the raggedness around the edges are due to the fact that I've tinkered with this way too much and edges began to fray at the same rate as my temper.      

 It's not going to get cold enough here in the South of England to ever need something this fantastically wooly.  A trip to Iceland is in order, or perhaps, one day, a Maine winter will be endured.

The pattern is Riddari.  The yarn is Rowan British Sheep Breeds Chunky, a yarn much bulkier than what was called for in the pattern, but I've been determined to knit down my stash instead of reaching for my bank card every time the urge to knit a sweater hits.

FO: Cadence Pullover

Well that was fast.



I decided rather cleverly that everyone who would normally get knitted gifts around the holidays from me would get them very unseasonably this year. The logistics of having to pack up a sweater, keep it around for months in a yet-to-be-determined location and then ship it from overseas seems a bit silly to me. And expensive. And dicey. As our pseudo-winter breaks into buds and crocuses and birdsongs, heavy woolens will be gifted.

This sweater is a Xmas present for someone a tad bit smaller than me. As in, someone I have several cup sizes over, several inches in height and about ah, I don't even want to discuss weight. Let's just say I got the curves in the family. I could bench press the giftee without it being a big deal. Despite the fact that I could squeeze into the sweater like Lana Turner, this was intended to have some ease and be less form-fitting. So use your imagination.



It's the Cadance Pullover from Jordana Paige from the Fall 2010 issue of Knitty.com. It's a simple, top down design with the only embellishment being a set of lace diamonds around the collar. This is the 35" size.
It's a simple pattern and the heavier gauge yarn meant it was done before I knew it. I usually labor away on sleeves for ages, but I had both of them done in 3 days.



Once again, UPS Brown is my go-to yarn color. I used 1.5 skeins of Cascade Eco. I did a bit more waist shaping then called for, but otherwise, it's the same front and back. I would usually add some short-row shaping or darts to accommodate womanliness, but in this case I didn't have exact measurements so I let it be.



I'm sending this out today, cheerily wrapped with ribbons and tinsel, wishing everyone a great holiday and Happy New Year 2013.

FO: Shawl-Collared Lattice Sweater, Pour mon Mari

I am always on the prowl for the perfect guy sweater. Men are very particular- they usually have a well-defined comfort zone when it comes to fashion, and anything teetering on the edge of normal will not get worn. It has to have unique details, but not too complicated or fussy or delicate. Color is important as well- the more drab and boring the color, the more loved it will be. Think of dirt, of UPS Brown, or the color you get when you mix all your watercolors together. That's what we're aiming for.



Cables are okay, but he says, "nothing too Irish". So no crazy cabled fisherman sweater, which aside from the basic plain sweater, seems to be the most popular men's pattern.

I found a pattern in Knitscene the fit the bill. It's called "The Lattice Sweater". I dug around in my stash and found some appropriately drab Cascade 220 Heathers in the color "Sparrow". I got to work on it- I knocked out the sleeves first and then did the body up to the 'pits when I was in Orlando on a business trip.



Everything gets joined at the yolk with raglan decreases, and the neck is split and the lattice cable gave me something interesting to do, finally. Except that I mis-read the instructions and ended up doing half the amount of decreases necessary and realized pretty late in the game that this would fit off-the-shoulder. Sigh.

I tinked back to the armpits, joined everything again, and did the correct amount of decreases. Much better now. Funny fact- when I realized my error in decreases, I denied it at first and continued to knit another few rows before I ripped it back. What the hell is wrong with me? In the end, knitting the yoke a second time didn't kill me as much as I thought it would.

I am going to re-knit the shawl collar though. As it is now, it's not big enough, and it's always teetering on wanting to stand up on its own. I want it to be bigger and drapier. He agrees. A little drama is okay once in a while.




Despite the fact that half the sweaters I've made haven't gotten any use at all this year due to the fact that it rarely hits a temperature cold enough, I keep slogging on with woolie knitwear with the plan of moving to someplace very cold one day. Maybe I should start taking classes in Scandinavian languages and brush up on my reindeer-herding skills.





At the suggestion of a friend, I think there should be some short-rows in the back to give it more shape. The front wouldn't ride up if there was more space for the shoulders. When I fix the collar, I might as well just keep going and rip back a few inches into the sweater as well.



Aside from the minor fit issue, he loves it. It was finished in time for his birthday, but since I fitted it to him multiple times it wasn't a surprise. Surprises when it comes to fit = not a good surprise at all.

I used a full six skeins of Cascade 220 and size 6 needles (size 5 for the ribbing and the collar) to get 19 stitches per 4 inches. I made the 44 3/4" size- his chest with a t-shirt on is 42". It's fitted, but it still gives him a good amount of ease. He loves it (and if he didn't, he wouldn't have the heart to tell me, but since he's already worn it a bunch I'm just going to stick with "he loves it") and I'm happy with it as well. Viva winter!

FO: Leyfi Pullover

Fa-la-la... I finished something....



Actually, I finished it a couple weeks ago, but their isn't enough daylight in my week to get a decent shot of it. I think if you are going to spend hours and hours handknitting something you really need to do your work justice with a nice well-lit outdoors or studio photographs. This usually isn't a problem from May to September, but wintertime can be a challenge.





The pattern is called Leyfi by Romi Hill. It's from Interweave Knits Fall 2010.



I used 2 skeins of Cascade Eco Wool. The way the sweater is constructed makes it fun- you start with the crazy open lace turtleneck, work your way down to the shoulders, and then split for the lace sleeves. It flows together seamlessly.

I might have made a mistake in interpreting the pattern- I think the sleeves are meant to be more of an open lace pattern. I knit all the yarn overs through the back loop like the pattern said, and now that I look at other people's finished project, I see that they didn't. It doesn't effect the fit per say, but it just makes it less lacy.



The only thing I did to modify was a few short rows in the front for boob-shaping. Otherwise, this sweater would be the same front and back. Also, I added some garter stitch to the bottom hem to keep it from curling up. This is my first completed sweater for 2012. I can only hope that I can order up some cold, snowy weather in time for this to get more wear before spring.

It knit up fairly quickly- once the sleeves were done, it only took me a few days to complete the body. It was hard to haul it around to work on the acres of stockinette stitch that made up the body, so I watched a few movies to get through it at home. Specifically:

In a Lonely Place:

The great Hitchcock film, "Shadow of a Doubt":

And, what might be my new favorite movie ever, "Le Trou".

I guess I've always been a sucker for great iconic acting and the suspense that these old movies had to rely on instead of CGI and pyrotechnics. I knew how this sweater would end anyway. Happily, and with a warm heroine.

FO: Coraline Sweater

Well then. It's been a crazy past few weeks for me with a lot of changes going on at work and maybe (eventually) at home and all the other good fun things that take up all my time, force me to stumble home at 2am and do it all over again the next day.

I did manage to finish a sweater that I had been plugging away at for a while.

It started as a whole bag of discontinued Cashcotton DK from Rowan.



I don't remember where I got it, which is kind of tragic. I just remember it was cheap- maybe $30 for the entire bag?- and it's really lovely stuff. I think Rowan will discontinue yarns periodically, only to re-label them or futz with the blend amounts. Which is really good if you want a cheap bag of yarn every now and then. Not so good if you run out of yarn before you finish and need more.

This one is a blend of Cotton, Cashmere, Angora, Nylon and Rayon. It's super soft and very lightweight and it has nice drape. The angora gives it a nice, fuzzy bloom. As far as a cotton-based yarn goes, it's one of my favorites.



I didn't get gauge so I crunched the numbers and figured out that the gauge I got on US 4 needles would get me a size that fit if I made the smallest size. I plugged away on it in the latter part of summer, and finished the miles of plain boring knitting fairly quickly. The yoke was a little time-consuming, but I loved the smocking.



I also loved the tiny gorgeous details: the slipped stitch edges, the bottom hem, the applied i-cord edging on the neck and sleeves. This is a very well-designed pattern from Ysolda.



I have not figured out what I'm going to do about the closures yet, but I sewed the buttons on just for fun and stuck a dpn in it just to see what it will look like.



So, it fits me in the sense that I can put this on, but it's a bit too tight for me in the arms and shoulders.



I wouldn't be able to put anything heavier than a light cotton cami underneath, so it's not even a very good layering piece for me.



Which means it's an easy giftmas present to someone who would be a good match if I ever need a kidney donated. It's a special sweater, and I love the design and it's probably purely my fault that it doesn't fit, but I'm sure someone somewhere could slip this on over their shoulders without having to tug down at the balled-up t-shirt sleeves underneath. I blocked this to death trying to give it a bit more ease, and I'm entirely too lazy to pick out what I've done and re-knit the yoke. I'm not totally disappointed- look at all the yarn I've used up!- and I do like giving stuff away, especially when it doesn't fit me perfectly. No tears here.

The specs: I used 8 skeins of Cashcotton DK yarn- 1136 yards. US size 4 needles for the body, US 3 for the bottom hem. I will either sew button loops on or put tiny hook and eye closures on the inside of the hem since that's super-fiddly and I usually feel like I have enormously huge hands when I'm trying to do details like that.

FO: Phyllo Yoked Pullover

I had to get my eyes dilated at the ophthalmologist on Friday, which left me looking freakishly stoned.



Part of me wanted to just sit in a dark room and wait for it to wear off, but I had much too much to do. So everything I saw that afternoon was blurred and accompanied by a bright glare, which made me start to think I was stoned.



Anyway. The gin and tonics probably didn't help.

I finished the Phyllo Yoked Pullover from Norah Gaughan's Knitting Nature.



I love sweaters like this- you go on for almost forever in plain stockinette stitch, and then BAM there's a pretty and unique design element that pulls it all together. It's based on the Phyllotaxis Spiral found in plants- sunflowers, pinecones, daisy, asters and mums- they all have a spiral pattern that runs both clockwise and counterclockwise to form a lattice.



It's a fairly simple lace pattern with the decreases built in so the spiral is uninterrupted. When I get cooking on something like that, I can't put it down. It's addictive.





I didn't do any major modifications except for the sleeves. The way they were written, they were going to be hourglass shaped. Big belled cuffs that taper to the elbow. I'm a big fan of rolling up my sleeves (or at least having the option to) so I nixed the sleeve design and just did a plain sleeve with decreases every 10 rows until I hit the number I needed to get them to fit in with the yoke.



It's really just a lovely sweater. And the yarn...Rowan Calmer almost makes me feel silly for all the smack I've talked about hating cotton and how it hurts my hands. It's made up of 75% cotton, 25% acrylic microfiber. The Microfiber makes it silky soft and gives it a bit of drape. It is elastic enough hide stitch inconsistencies better than 100% cotton. Love. Love. Love. It's lightweight and comfortable to wear as well.

The specs: I used 8 skeins of Rowan Calmer in "Refresh"- about 1400 yards- for the 40" size. I used US size 6 needles. It is knit and pieces and seemed up before you attach everything on one long circular needle for the yoke. It could have been modified to knit in the round, but the front is shorter than the back to make the neck dip lower in the front, so you would have to plan on that.

FO- Biggie Smalls Sweater

I finished my Baby Cables and Big Ones Too sweater a few weeks ago.

After making and gifting a Cobblestone a couple of winters ago, I really wanted to make myself one...



Finding a pattern that was a bit prettier and feminine seemed like a better idea though:



After my run-in with the sharpie, I lost heart for a bit but finished it with duplicate stitch in mind. That's a whole 'nother story, as duplicate over garter stitch is not easy. I will be needing help.

I love the top-down raglan construction and the cables gave me a lot to do before an endless bit of plain old stockinette stitch. Round and round we go, and not a seem to sew except for a few stitches under each armpit.



The back isn't really that lumpy- I threw it over a shirt that had a tie in the back. I love the color I got from the Eucalyptus dye. I got a lot of variation and subtlety darker stripes throughout the fabric.



I had trouble getting gauge but with my trusty calculator I was able to figure out that I would be okay if I just made the smallest size.



I also changed the pattern to make the cuffs a bit asymmetrical by starting one cable a couple inches lower than the other.



oooh i need a haircut badly. Next week.



Despite my lingering anxiety over the little muddy spot and subsequent felting on the neckline, I'm really happy with this sweater.

The specs:

Baby Cables and Big Ones Too by Suvi Simola. I made the smallest size (32 1/2") but ended up with the 40" size with my gauge, which is pretty much exactly where I wanted it. (PS, a friend of mine who is much smaller than me couldn't get gauge either and she made the Large size but ended up with a perfectly-fitting small.) I used a size 5 needle.

The yarn is scrumptious- Valley Yarns Northfield. I bought two of the 250 gram hanks for a total of 1300 yards, dyed it in Eucalyptus with and alum mordant...and I still have quite a bit leftover despite the yardage the pattern calls for. I even split the yarn up when I got to the sleeves with the thought that I could make them 3/4 length or even elbow-length if I had to. The yarn is a DK weight 70% Merino, 20% Alpaca, 10% Silk. Its tightly cabled structure means you won't have the pilling a Merino/Alpaca blend usually will have. It also means it's great for cables- they really pop and have great definition. Plus, there is no itch at all to the sweater. Ooooh I love it. I'll be using this yarn again in future projects. It's pretty damn luxurious without the vertigo-inducing price tag.

I might go around the neck with a crochet stitch of some type- where the cables gather the fabric it leaves an obvious pucker. Not a huge deal, but it bothers me a little bit.

Lucky me: it's been dreary and cold lately and I've been able to wear this despite the advancing of the season. It's bright and kind of cheery without being nauseatingly happy.

WIP- Phyllo Yoked Pullover

I just can't seem to help myself- as soon as I have one sweater off the needles, another one gets cast on right away.

I impulsively cast on for the Phyllo Yoked Pullover.



It's from Norah Gaughan's book "Knitting Nature". I bought the book when it first came out a few years ago, but let it sit on the shelf until I felt confident enough to tackle a project. Her patterns tend to have unusual construction elements or some sort of crazy cable or lace pattern that looks harder than it actually is.



This pattern is fairly simple- you knit the body and sleeves in plain stockinette, attach everything on one circular needle, and then start the yoke pattern. There are decreases worked into the pattern so the spiraling diamonds get progressively smaller as you work your way up to the neck.



It is also very addicting...I haven't put this thing down since I started it a couple weeks ago.

Since it's the season that requires me to try non-wool yarns, I decided to give Rowan Calmer a shot. It's a cotton/microfiber blend. I'm really quite pleased with it...cotton usually hurts my hands because I find it tough and inflexible, but the microfiber really does wonders to make this soft and almost silky.



Meanwhile the Escargot mitts are languishing away at the bottom of my knitting bag. I need a sunny afternoon to sit in the park and finish those already.

FO- Owls

I love owls. There is something so mysterious about a bird that can hide itself so well in plain sight and move with such stealth. Their forward-facing eyes make them eerily human looking.



While owls are solitary creatures, they gathered pretty cutely on my sweater. A rare gathering of owls is known as a parliament. I'm pretty sure George Clinton is somehow involved with this.



I will now drunkenly stagger around and threaten to show everyone my hooters.



The specs:

The Owls pattern is by Kate Davies. The sweater is simple in design and it works up fast...something you could finish in under a week if you put your mind to it. I made long sleeves but it would look cute as a short sleeve top as well.

I used up all 6 skeins of Rowan British Sheep Breeds Blue Face Leicester- about 720 yards- for a size 4 (38"). This is the yarn that I dyed using Brazilwood chips a couple of month ago. It's a worsted-spun round 3-ply chunky-weight yarn with excellent stitch definition- perfect for cables. Of all the yarns in the British Breeds collection (this is a lovely idea as I love breed-specific yarns, especially those that promote rare breeds) the Blue Face is by far the softest- I can wear this next to my skin with absolutely no discomfort. If I were to use a different sheep breed in the line, I would go up a size so I could easily put a layer on underneath and have less skin contact with the fabric. The BFL makes a silky, drapey fabric with gorgeous sheen. I also loved the fact that this yarn was lightly processed- it smells vaguely sheepy, which means I could sit there and huff it in public for hours with no regard to what others might think.

Is it wrong of me to want a few more crisp, cool days so I can wear this before it gets put away for the summer?