Content
4 January 2009 |
Tags: Cardigans, FOs
Pattern: 88-4 Cardigan in Alpaca and Glitter from Drops Design
Yarn: Bendigo Woolen Mills 8ply Cotton (2.5 skeins in Noir)
Needles: 2.5mm and 3.0mm Knitpicks circulars
Modifications: Lots! Details below.
I’ve already described how this cardigan came to be, so now lets focus on the actual finished object.
And the result, well, I think the pictures speak for themselves. The cardigan wasn’t a real surprise since my mum picked out colour and pattern herself, and I even had her try on pieces and asked her about fit as I went. But when she opened the present on Christmas Eve, she hadn’t seen the finished object. As you can probably see, the cardigan fits and looks great, and I think it was everything she hoped when she first asked me to knit her a cardigan. And despite my worries about the cotton yarn and dark colour not working with the cabled pattern, I think it turned out great.
As far as the pattern went, I made quite a few changes. The biggest change was choosing to lower the place where the pattern changes from cables to stockinette by a couple of inches. I thought making it fall under the bust instead of right across it would be much more flattering and I think it looks great, even if it probably could have been another half an inch or so lower. I knit the cardigan at a tighter gauge to try to avoid the cotton sagging and stretching out of shape. I also lengthened both the body and the sleeves to make it fit my mum’s tall frame (although I probably lengthened the arms a bit too much!)
Apart from that, I found Elinor’s notes on this pattern very helpful. Like her, I found the sleeves much too big, and modified them for a slimmer fit. I think they still ended up a little bit too baggy, but my mum likes the fit, and that’s the most important thing. As far as the neckband goes, I decided to keep knitting it with the body all the way, creating a vertical garter stitch buttonband. I really like the way this looks, and I’m especially proud of the way I connected the buttonband at the shoulders, by grafting the garter stitch sections of the front and the back after doing a three-needle bind-off for the shoulders. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any photographs of this detail. I also decided not to bind off for the neckline, but just decrease, which meant I had to change the shaping slightly, creating a more subtle V-neck shape. I think this worked out great, and it ended up the perfect depth for my mum. The buttons are just basic black plastic, which I think works well for the simple lines of the cardigan.
All in all, I think this cardigan was a success. Would I knit another sweater for somebody else? Sure, but I might be more careful when it came to letting them choose their own pattern/yarn/colour combination.
Permalink
|
9 comments
28 December 2008 |
Tags: Ramblings
Yes, I know I’m early, but I’m off to listen to music and freeze in a tent for New Years–and my 23rd birthday. I was planning to report on my mum’s cardigan before I left, but my time was lost unpacking and getting settled back in at home. For now, all I’ll say is that it was a resounding success. More details to come in the new year.
Happy New Year!
Permalink
|
7 comments
23 December 2008 |
Tags: Cardigans, Christmas Crafting, wips
By now it should come as no surprise to anybody that I’m a bit of a selfish knitter. A lot of a selfish knitter in fact, I rarely knit for other people unless they ask me to. In reality, I’m not a selfish person, but I’ll only knit for others if (a) I know they’ll appreciate it, and (b) they are on the rather short list of people who are important enough to me to deserve handknit gifts. The first rule means that I think very carefully about what I knit and any gift knits are either small, carefully considered items, or specific requests. The second rule is further limited by the fact that I have a boyfriend who doesn’t wear sweaters, and my parents and sister live in a tropical climate.
Still, this year I decided to try to follow the Handmade Challenge, if not officially (I’m much too lazy to actually sign up) then at least in spirit. I wanted to do it last year, but ran out of time and ideas (do you know how difficult it is to go handmade when it comes to my dad?) This year, I’ve succeeded: all of my nine gifts (including two near-holiday birthdays) are handmade. While I’ve been offline, I’ve sewn, knitted and unpacked several Etsy purchases.
The biggest project has been the cardigan I’ve knit for my mum, one of the few people I’d actually agree to knit a whole sweater for. A few months back, she asked me to knit her a cardigan, and I agreed, on the condition that she choose colour and pattern herself so it would be exactly what she wanted. Of course, it took months to email her pattern suggestions, and then just as long for her to choose. At first I wasn’t sure about her choice, the 88-4 cardigan from Drops. I was afraid the cables wouldn’t show up in the black colour she wanted, and thought a DK/8 ply yarn would be much too heavy for the Singapore heat. But after looking at other patterns and colours, and some advice from some friends, I decided to go with what my mum requested and I’m very pleased with the way it’s turned out. The yarn is a plain cotton from Bendigo Woolen Mills, basic and economical, but wonderfully soft and probably the best cotton I’ve ever worked with.
The yarn arrived the day before I left for Singapore, and I had only 12 days before Christmas to knit the cardigan. I’ve been knitting exclusively on it for the past week and a bit, and now it’s the day before Christmas Eve, and it’s wrapped up under the tree. It’s not exactly a surprise, especially since I’ve had my mum try on bits and pieces to try to make sure it fits. Hopefully it all worked out, and I’ll get some good modeled FO shots after the presents are unwrapped.
Tomorrow I’m celebrating Christmas, the Swedish way. I hope you all have a happy holiday, however you celebrate it, if at all.
Permalink
|
5 comments
17 December 2008 |
Tags: Life in General, Ramblings
I had grand plans to start blogging again once the move was over. Then I found out that it would take twenty working days to get internet sorted at the new place (sorry about the extreme silence!) Instead of blogging about my Christmas crafting as I had planned, I was busy actually knitting and sewing. Then I packed up to go visit my family in Singapore for a couple of weeks over Christmas, and figured I’d have internet access soon enough.
Sundara Artist’s Choice sock yarn in Warms
Then, my hard drive crashed. And because my back-up habits consist mostly of me thinking “I really should get an external hard drive and start backing everything up”, I lost almost everything. I’ve had a couple of days to digest the news and kick myself mentally over my own stupidity, but it doesn’t mean I’m any less angry at myself. It also means that I have no way of showing the Hemlock Ring blanket I finished before leaving Melbourne, or the gift pouches I put together for James’s sisters (although of course, those pictures are the least of my worries).
But now I’m back, with a newly upgraded laptop. I took the opportunity to not only replace the hard drive, but also double the RAM, double the storage and get a new battery. All I can do is be thankful for Sim Lim Square and cheap computer repair shops, and that I wasn’t in the middle of semester–and essay writing.
Christmas knitting will have to wait till the packages have been opened and I can rephotograph the gifts, but for now, here’s some photos that were still sitting on my memory card when the computer crashed. The regularly scheduled knitting content will return soon, unless some other technological malfunction is heading my way.
Permalink
|
4 comments
27 November 2008 |
Tags: Life in General, NaKniSweMo
I’ll admit it: I’ve been bad about blogging recently. And honestly, I haven’t been knitting much either. The uni semester might be over, but I have other things keeping my busy.
Yes, I’m moving. And that’s the only corner of my apartment that’s remotely presentable (I had to keep a corner on the couch so I could knit and browse the internet). I hadn’t realized just how much stuff I’d collected, and how much time it takes to pack up and clean out a one bedroom apartment. Almost all my free time is spent packing, and I can’t wait to have a view that doesn’t include stacks of boxes.
My personal knitting has also taken a backseat to gift knitting. I’ve made some good progress on my striped cardigan, but I’m putting it on on hiatus, probably till after Christmas. There’s no way it’ll be finished by the NaKniSweMo deadline (Sunday!) The tiny needles make it slow going, and I have too many other things going on.
As for Christmas knitting, I’ll talk more about that as soon as I’m settled at the new place. For now, there’s a sneak peak on the couch up there. Any ideas?
Permalink
|
5 comments
14 November 2008 |
Tags: FOs, Socks, Socktoberfest, Southern Summer of Socks
Does anybody remember that I said I’d blog every day in November? Yeah, that didn’t happen. My only excuse is that it’s assignment crunch time at uni. But here’s another pair of socks.
Pattern: Cornucopia by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer (Ravel it!)
Yarn: Sunshine Yarns Soft Sock Yarn (1 skein in Buttermilk)
Needles 2.0mm Knitpicks DPNs
Modifications: I did a stockinette sole instead of continuing the stitch pattern all the way around the foot.
This is a pattern I’ve had my eye on for a while, and I could only picture it in this particular yarn. It’s a simple diagonal repeat, and I love the added texture of the purl stitches to the eyelet pattern.
As for the socks themselves, I’m pretty happy with them. The yarn is lovely to work with, but it’s on the skinny side. Personally, I prefer a more substantial sock yarn, but if you like thin yarns, I’d definately recommend it.
Permalink
|
3 comments
7 November 2008 |
Tags: Life in General, NaBloPoMo, Ramblings
Thanks for all the knit-love recently. This is a quick post to keep up my NaBloPoMo commitments. We’re out the door soon to see The Lucksmiths for second time in eight days. These (slightly crap) photos were taken at their instore at Polyester Records last week. I’m not very short, and as usual, I was stuck behind the tallest person in the room, so I resorted to listening and taking pictures with the camera stuck randomly over my head.
Actual knitting content resumes tomorrow.
Permalink
|
1 comment
6 November 2008 |
Tags: Accessories, FOs, NaBloPoMo
Pattern: Tapestry Cowl by Minty Fresh (Ravel it!)
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug (about 0.5 skein each in Vincent’s Apron and Salty Dog
Needles: 2.25 mm Knitpicks Circulars
Modifications: None, except for going down four needle sizes to get gauge.
Here’s another one I knit during October. I loved this cowl when I first saw it, and I thought it would be a great way to use up the Jitterbug I had left over after my Twisted Flower socks. I love this colour combination of the bright teal and mustard yellow, even though it feels a bit too patriotic.
This is a really clever little pattern. It was my first time double-knitting, and although it’s not my favourite technique, I really like the way it’s used here. And the cast-on? Genius. My stitches were a bit uneven at times, and the blocking didn’t even it out completely, but I still love how this turned out. If you’re after something a little bit different, this pattern comes highly recommended.
Permalink
|
9 comments
5 November 2008 |
Tags: Cardigans, Designing, NaBloPoMo, NaKniSweMo, Striped Cardigan, wips
My striped cardigan is coming along slowly, but surely. So far, I’m just about done with the first sleeve, and since I don’t have much to share in terms of the actual knitting, I wanted to talk a bit more about my thoughts behind creating this sweater.
I already went over the basics: plain cardigan, stripes. With such a simple recipe, the first thought might be to do it top-down raglan style to avoid seams and trying to match stripes. I did consider it, but when it came down to it, I knew that when it’s comes to straight-forward pieces, the details became more important. PI know a lot of people don’t find seams necessary, and that’s fine, but to me, they add a bit of structure to a garment, and make a garment look more polished and professional. Since I’m working with a light drapey fabric, this became even more important.
That meant I had to figure out how to make that work with the stripes. I’ve heard seaming stripes is surprisingly difficult, and I had no idea how to match the stripes across the sleeve cap, but I decided to tackle it anyway. I had a hard time finding resources online, so I worked it all out myself. I spent a couple of days graphing out the sleeve caps (more about that later, once I know whether it’s going to work out). I also practised sewing up the stripes on swatches, and came up with a neat little trick to make them match perfectly every time.
The other thing did was to spend a lot of time researching cast-ons and cast-offs. I was set on 2×2 ribbing, and I wanted the cast-on and cast-off edges to match perfectly, while still looking good with the ribbing. Although I love the look of the tubular cast-on for 1×1 ribbing, I’m not overly fond of the 2×2 version. Of course, after countless swatches, I decided to go with 1×1 ribbing anyway, which let me use the tubular cast-on. Doesn’t it look pretty? To me, it’s details like these that take a sweater from just boring to simple, and from homemade to handmade.
Now, let’s just hope the rest of my math works out.
Permalink
|
3 comments
4 November 2008 |
Tags: FOs, NaBloPoMo, NaKniSweMo, Socks, Socktoberfest, Southern Summer of Socks
So, the good thing about finishing eight pairs of socks just before NaBloPoMo and not having gotten around to blogging them yet is that you have eight entries pretty much ready to go. Of course, I thought it’d be later than the fourth before I’d almost forget to blog. Anyway, here’s the full report on my first Socktoberfest pair.
Pattern: Generic top-down 64-stitch stockinette sock, with a short-row heel and picot cuff
Yarn: Sunshine Yarns Twist Sock Yarn (1 skein in Reducto)
Needles: 2.0 mm Knitpicks DPNs
This yarn is part of the Harry Potter sock club, and when it first arrived, I really didn’t know what to do think. It’s about as far away from my usual style as you can get, a dark grey/purple base with crazy little specks of all kinds of different colours. Now, usually I prefer solids or semi-solids, and when I go for varigated yarns, they almost always have longer colour repeats. Still, after a while, the yarn grew on me, and I decided to go with it. Basic stockinette was the only thing I could imagine, and I’m happy with the way they turned out. I especially like the cute picot cuff, a feature I love for basic socks.
As for NaKniSweMo, I’m still plugging away on the basic stockinette of the first sleeve. I’d forgotten how slowly sweaters knit up when you knit at 8.25 stitches to the inch!
Permalink
|
2 comments
