FO: Eastlake Pullover

I trust that everyone had a wonderful Winter Solstice (the days...they are stretching out into lazy sunshiny afternoons already) and a great Xmas if you celebrate. I love giving gifts and I always make sure that everyone I know knows that as well. Lucky for me, once the giftwrap finally settled into piles on the floor, a huge blizzard hit the city and dampered the hustle for a couple days. It was glorious. After so much hectic running around in the past month, the idea of being snowed in was downright comforting. I made a huge batch of chicken stock with all those bones in the freezer and made a vat of soup that warmed up the house and everyone in it. As long as I didn't run out of booze, all was right in the world.

This was also the perfect opportunity to sit down with the manual for my new camera. I'm pretty excited about this. There's a pretty big learning curve on a complicated electronic camera but I think I've got the basics down. I'm also glad my old SLR got some use as a model.



RIP, my sweet Dinosaur.

Which brings us to my newly finished sweater: the Eastlake Pullover by Norah Gaughan.



It's from her Berroco collection Vol 3. I modified this quiet a bit from the original pattern.



For starters, I knit the body in the round instead of flat. The less seams to clean up at the end means a happier me. Secondly, I didn't like how the fern leaf pattern ended and a decorative band bisected the sweater mid-boob. I would be constantly tugging on that to get it going above or below boob level. No one needs a line going across their boobs. So I ended the pattern early and did about an inch and a half of short rows across the front to give it more shape. Short rows are always a good idea if you have curves- it makes everything fit much better. The other modification I did was only one band of pattern over the arms instead of two, just because I didn't like the way it looked. That was more of a preference thing than a fit issue.



I love the way this came out and I've worn it quiet a bit already.



The yarn is Berrocco Inca Gold. It's a lovely blend of 80% Merino, 20% silk. It's a tightly twisted cabled yarn- 4 separate 2-ply yarns are plied together to make a 4-ply that has a nice amount of spring and shine, and it's very soft. So far, I've had no problems with pilling and it seems like it will wear well, as most well-made cabled yarns do. It also has great stitch definition. I really loved working with it and I'll be hoarding more in the future.





The specs: I used about 9.5 skeins, or 1159 yards of this dk weight yarn for the 38" size. The maid body was knit on size US 5 needles, and the ribbing was on size US 3. I had to go down a couple of needle sizes to get gauge, and a sweater on 5's does take quite a bit of time, but it's well worth it in the end. I have an extra ball and a half of yarn left, and I immediately cast on for a hat to use up the remaining bit.

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.