Knitting in Stripes

Woe Again!!!!

2006-12-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

So I had to put the sweater down for pretty much the past month to get X-mas knitting done, but I picked it up again yesterday.

All I had left to do was finish the sleeves, See:

So now a little over a month later I pick it up to finish up the sleeves and hopefully have an FO by the end of this weekend.

But...

I tried the sweater on and now it's too big! It fit fine a month ago. The funny thing is the chest fit's fine, the length is still fine, but the sleeves are HUGE around on me and the Ralagan is HUGE. I know I lost some weight but this is insane.

So now I'm left with the decision to start over from scratch to fix the ralagan, rip the sleeves out and have a sweater that just doesn't fit quite right (unless I put 15 pounds on). Or accept that ralagans were never meant for DD's.

Suggestions?

Done!

2006-11-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

I finally finished it :-).

Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino
Knit on size 5's
Overlapping V neckline
Modifications - Stripes only on the sleeves and no decreases at the ends of the sleeves.

What I would have done differently - In retrospect I probably should have gone down a size and should have added shaping to the waistline. Also I think this would have looked better had I added stripes along the yoke.
But overall I'm pretty happy with the sweater - it's nice and warm and roomy. It was a lot of fun to knit. :-)

essential stripe progress!

2006-11-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

essential stripe progress!
Originally uploaded by brckaboo.

it's hard to work on this when christmas knitting is the pressing priority... but row by row i'm getting it done!

Almost There!

2006-11-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

I put this project on hiatus for a few weeks because I was busy preparing a fleece for a fiber swap. Last night I finally picked up the sweater again.

The torso and both sleeves are finally done. :-) I'm really happy with how it's looking so far....all I have to do is weave in a gajillion ends, finish up the collar. :-)

I took a bunch of pictures in front of a mirror last night but they didn't come out well. So I'll try drafting my husband this time so ya'll can see how it's turning out.

:-)

How's everyone else doing?

Just an update of a kind...

2006-10-16T23:37:00.000-06:00

I feel so very behind on this. I'm still working on the raglan increases. I feel once I'm working on the torso, it'll go quicker. I hope so, at least.

Things keep working against me, though: shoulder problems, busy job, other projects, etc etc.

So, yeah. I imagine I will be the very last one done.

One Sleeve done and torso redone!!!

2006-10-04T21:26:00.000-06:00

So... it's not a perfect fit, but maybe with the collar and a wash it'll tighten up a bit. I didn't truly follow the recommended length on the sleeve but I like it.

How's everyone else doing?

Torso Update

2006-09-26T19:07:00.000-06:00

So... I got all the way down to binding off and turned it inside out and realized that where the rounds meet... is square in front... so they're doing this little weird business where the colors aren't totally matching up... I'm going to have to look at the pattern... was I supposed to rm when it said pm on the connection part after the raglans are done? Was the pm on the side somewhere or somewhere less obvious?

Woe!

2006-09-26T08:53:00.000-06:00

So my family and I moved two weekends ago, but I managed to knit a swatch, and cast on and get started. Alas, no reliable DSL at home yet or I could show pictures of the following tale of woe.

The pattern only goes up to a 46 inch bust, and since I'm a 47 I was ready to add a few stiches here and there, make the ralagan seam a little longer, etc. to compensate. So my swatch measures out way too tight on 7's, go up to 8's and it's pretty good with the brown. Right on, I say. I cast on and start knitting away. I noticed that my ralagan shaping was looking pretty darn tight and wasn't measuring up the way it should have. I pull out my trusty measuring tape and whadda ya know, my gauge is way off, like 25 stitches over 4 inches instead of 19. Woah. So that sucker was frogged like nobodies business. Went up to 9 needles and the gauge was still off 21.5 stitches with the green. But I can't go up any higher unless I want a lacy sweater.... So I redid the math, cast on and started over. I finally started the torso last night and felt pretty vindicated. I'm thinking either my yarn is funky, the pattern's gauge is funky or there's a little yarn gnome magically making my yarn do funky things, either way there's some supreme funkiness going on here. I had originally wanted to make the long sleeve version, but with all the changes I had to do I think I'm going to run out of yarn. I guess I could order more and pray that it'll look right.

Thankfully I'm used to having to tweak patterns to fit my chest or I would have pulled my hair out.

Status Update --- I HAVE TORSO!!!!!!!

2006-09-22T08:50:00.000-06:00

I went home to New Mexico last weekend so I left work early and went to my LYS... I'm going the cotton route. I'll post yarn porn this weekend... (am at work)

Last night we had a Grey's Anatomy party and I took Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas and... knitting. I had some issues following directions... especially with the cast ons.... I'm such a man that way... but SUCCESS!!! I have 4 torso rows!!!

getting excited!!!

Finally! A Start!

2006-09-21T07:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, between classes, I ran into my mailman (almost literally) and he had a surprise for me!! Yay! I got my yarn!

My lovely colors are: Avocado, Spruce, Mulled Wine, Fern, Carrot, and Pumpkin.

And a full collection shot. Obviously, avocado is the main color. I've knit with it before and love this color to pieces.

And that would be my other cat (the wee one), Basil. He's playing with my pattern, needles, etc.

I gave the sweater a start last night, though I'm only 11 rows in. I don't have class until 4:00 today (hooray!), so I'll be able to spend some quality time with the WIP. This will be my first sweater, so beware, I may be posting tons of questions and things.

(Don't I look excited?)

Cheers!

I cracked! :-)

2006-09-20T12:07:00.000-06:00

Michael's has its Patons Classic Merino on sale this week. I gave in and bought up a bunch of it rather than waiting for an order to come via the mail(well, that being able to see colors ahead of time was a major factor).

So the new plan is to make the main body in black with purple and dark grey stripes on the sleeves. I may go back and pick up a skein of their green too.

I'm almost done with the yoke and so far am really enjoying how simple the raglan construction is. :-)

Finished!

2006-09-20T10:01:00.000-06:00

Wow, what a whirlwind of a project. This was the first time I ever made a top down top and it was fabulous fun and super easy. The hardest part really was doing the neckline and that was more tedious than difficult. It fits just as I wanted it even though I was way off on gauge and it'll probably be the knit that I will wear the most. Pictures will come whenever the weather improves and I can go outside for a shoot.

essential stripe yarn

2006-09-16T20:21:00.000-06:00

essential stripe yarn
Originally uploaded by brckaboo.

i got my yarn! now it's time to swatch. actually, i had 6 balls of this in my stash... so i got 6 more. should be plenty. 100% cotton... i hope it doesn't stretch toooo much!

It starts! For me, at least.

2006-09-16T15:49:00.000-06:00

I was awoken today by the mailman. He had a package for me! My yarn had arrived (3 days on standard shipping!? I like you, elann.com!).

So of course I had to open it and admire it for a moment. Look at those colours. Yum!

Then came the swatch... And a cat, who decided my lap is prime territory during that time. Unfortunately, on size 7's, my swatch came out almost an inch too short. Ouch. I'm going to try 8's next and see if those work any better. Either way, because all my Denise tubing (save the shortest) is in use for other things, I'll have to go out and purchase a circular.

A perilous start

2006-09-15T12:52:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, I'm being a bit of a rebel since I will be doing a stripeless Essential Stripe with cotton yarn. I'm using Rowan Calmer, deliciously soft in a chocolately brown. I really want to do the mid-length sleeves but I'm not sure if I'll have enough. Let me tell you when you start this knit it is lightning fast. I started last night and today I'm nearly done with the raglan increases. Probably about 4 hours of solid knitting. Even though my gauge is off the beauty of this knit is that it's easy to try on. Because this is cotton I'm going to try and get it as close fitting as it can handle, so I've made the raglan increases 7.5". Maybe even have some pictures tomorrow. This might very possibly be the fastest knit ever.

Swatch with Kit

2006-09-14T09:04:00.000-06:00

I purchased my yarn through KnitPicks (yay!), though it hasn't arrived...or processed yet (boo!). In the hopes that the yarn will arrive soon, I decided to go ahead and swatch for the sweater. I still have a couple balls of Wool of the Andes from a previous project (even a ball in Avocado!), so I swatched out with the Avocado because it's the main color in my sweater. (The only reason I'm not starting yet is that I needed to buy a pair of size 7 / 24inch circulars.)

The colors for the project are:

Wool of the Andes in:

-Avocado
-Carrot
-Pumpkin
-Fern
-Spruce
-Mulled wine

It's a lot of stripes, I know. But I love all of these colors. Hopefully they'll go together decently well! The best part of the Wool of the Andes? $1.99/ball!!! Cheap and soft. I love it!

On to the swatching:

Take one ball of lovely Avocado Wool of the Andes.

Take one Kit cat.

Knit vigorously (though not too vigorously...otherwise Kit grabs at the yarn)

And

Ta Da!!!

Swatch! Now I just need my KnitPicks package to arrive!

Cheers.

I finally decided.

2006-09-13T22:23:00.000-06:00

I didn't want to risk going to using DK weight like I'd have to for a wool/silk blend. This will be my first sweater and on smaller projects, I don't mind shifts in yarn weight and similar because, well. They're a bit easier to fix later on.

So I'm going to run the risk of wool. And not even superwash (the options I saw didn't have colors I liked).

I'm going with the Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann.com in the following colors:

2713 Aubergine
1440 Sherwood Forest
0744 Harvest Heather
0727 Spiced Wine
0741 Violet Heather

Just placed the order. Came out under $40, which makes me happy (I had these horrible fears of allowing myself to spend over $100, even though I can't afford it, on the yarn). I'm getting nervous!

Color Schemes?

2006-09-13T11:16:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! :-) I have a couple of questions:

1. What colors are ya'll using?

2. I'm having trouble deciding question#1 for myself! I've narrowed it down to Knitpicks Swish(http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/itemid_5420153/yarn_display.aspx) in either:

A. Main Body in Dublin with stripes in Sand Dune, Copper and Truffle

or

B. Main body in Black, with stripes in Deep Ocean, Fired Brick and possibly Dublin.

What do ya'll think about either one of these?

Thanks bunches -

Karen

KnitPicks

2006-09-12T21:08:00.000-06:00

I've never used KnitPicks' free shipping before, but right now I'm poor as woe (shouldn't even be participating in this for that particular reason!) so I chose the standard, free shipping.

The transaction was made yesterday (Sept. 11, 2006) and my order is still being processed. Anyone used the KnitPicks free shipping before? How long does it usually take? I'm ready to get down to some hardcore knitting!

Cheers.

STRIPES... DOH!

2006-09-12T08:15:00.000-06:00

Faeryl comment about whether she's going to go mostly solid or stripey brings up a good point.... it's HORIZONTAL stripes...

ack. what the flip was I thinking...

k, guess I have to think of this in terms of a gift... Added complexity: Tons

Wool vs. Cotton

2006-09-11T19:54:00.000-06:00

Do I have to use wool? Heather how are you managing to use wool with your skin irritations?

I can't keep wool and angora on... Do any of you think using a cotton worsted weight would have any issue with the pattern?

Yarn Choices

2006-09-11T17:24:00.000-06:00

The Great thing about this pattern is you can use pretty much any worsted or sport weight yarn. So go as cheap or luxurious as you want. The uber-thrifty/ budget conscious could even do this in Wool-Ease. Myself, I chose Wool of the Andes by knitpicks, because it's cheap and wool. Yay! (Although now I'm thinking I should have gone with Swish because I know I'll pull the 'if I wash it on delecate...')

Anyway, my yarn in all it's glory:

The colors are Chocolate as the main color, Fern, Snickerdoodle, and Winter Night. The yarn is a little rough, but will probably soften up and shipping seemed to take forever. But they're really pretty.

I have not done my gage swatch yet, and probably won't cast on until this weekend or early next week because my family and I are in the middle of packing and moving.

We've Begun!!!

2006-09-11T09:36:00.000-06:00

I'm going to go get yarn today... come hell or high water!!!!

What kind of yarn are you using?