web analytics

Month: January 2016

Posted on

The Sweater, Continued…

Working on this Icelandic sweater has become a very humbling experience for me.

First it was the tension in the sleeves.  Then it was the oopsie with the reading of the chart.  Most recently, as I was trying on the sweater to make sure the neck wasn’t too tight, I realized that I put one of the sleeves on wrong – my increases were displaying on the outside of the sleeve rather than on the inside, along the inside of the arm.  At this point, I was a cast-off edge and underarm grafting away from being finished.

What to do?  What to do?

I figured I had two options:

  1. Rip back all of the yoke to where I joined the sleeves.  (No thanks!)
  2. Secure a couple of rows and cut out the sleeve.  (Best option.)

So yesterday, I executed option #2.  I was so nervous!

Icelandic 1

icelandic 2

Icelandic 3

Icelandic 4

Icelandic 5

Everything is secure now and ready for grafting.  Let’s see how well I do at this.  A toe on a sock is a piece of cake compared to this.  If I don’t do it properly, it’ll look ridiculous!

Fingers crossed for me please.

 

Posted on

The Sweater

So, my Icelandic sweater…  by the time I’m finished with it, I will have knit it a few times.

It started with the sleeves.  I was initially working them two at a time using magic loop.  When I was about 15 inches in, I noticed that the sleeve gauge was a noticeably looser on the sleeves than on the body.  I had to rip out both sleeves and started over.  I made them one at a time, attempting to be conscious of my gauge.  They turned out better.

THEN, I started working the yoke.  About half way through, I noticed some (really little) notes at the bottom of the chart that said “start here for ladies’ small”, etc.  Dang-it!  And ripped all the yoke out.

Finger crossed that I don’t notice anything else before I’m finished.

LESSON OF THE DAY:  Pay attention.  Read through the pattern.  Look for little notes.

img_7148.jpeg

Where I was yesterday.

img_7155.jpeg

Where I am now.

I started reading through some articles for my master knitter certification.  I will henceforth do gauge swatches AND I will forever block said swatches.  (I wish I had blocked the swatch for my sweater.)  The more I read on gauge, the more I realize how important it is and how things I thought were insignificant (like the sweater body or a circular and both sleeves at once using magic look) can actually make a big difference.  The authors of these articles keep stressing that the characteristics of the wool (or other fiber) almost always change once your piece becomes wet.  People wash wool garments – it’s a given.

CONCLUSION: block, block, block everything (except acrylic).

Angie and I leave for Portugal in two weeks!!!!!!!!  I can’t wait to be somewhere new.