After about 6 weeks of off-and-on knitting, my first adult knitted sweater is finished. Although it’s made to be oversized, I wish I had chosen the smaller size because it does feel really big, but I’ll deal with it. I’m super proud of it…mostly because I’ve always shied away from really large projects like this one.
Now that it’s done, I’m excited about knitting other sweaters and tops. I’ve already started on Anker’s Summer Shirt by Petiteknit. I’ve already separated for the sleeves on that project.
I finally finished the body of my seamless raglan sweater and now I’m working on the arms. I was getting low on the orange color yarn, so I had to improvise and add in a dark brown color of the same yarn to make sure I had enough for the whole sweater. I’ve reserved a ball of orange for each arm (92 yards/ball) and when I start getting low, I’ll start the stripes in the dark brown and transition to brown like I did on the edge of the body. So far, I’m pleased with the results of this sweater…but I am ready to be done with it and move on to other projects.
My niece is about to have her first baby, so I wanted to knit something for the soon-to-be newest addition to our family. I wanted something that would work up quick since my niece’s due date just got bumped up by several weeks (due to potential complications), so I chose the “Wee Fast” cardigan by Taiga Hilliard since I knitted the “Wee Speedy” in the past and liked how it turned out.
I used “Odin” by Conway+Bliss Yarns in Lilac colorway. It took less than one skein of this super bulky weight yarn.
I’ve been working on my first (adult) sweater for a week and half now (minus the 3 day break I took to knit my uncle’s beanie) and I’m almost halfway there, I think. Because I’m not used to knitting so much (hours everyday), my right shoulder has been giving me some problems and I’ve taken a day off here and there for fear of doing myself a mischief.
I mentioned in my first post about this sweater that I felt I was using the wrong yarn. I still feel that way, but there’s nothing for it. I’ll just have to finish and learn from my mistakes next time. I’m using Schachenmeyr Merino Extrafine 85…and the twist is so loose that I know this sweater will get snagged easily. Also, while the stitch definition is awesome, that can also be a problem, especially around join areas. Again, live and learn.
Here’s my current progress and I’m hoping to be finished by next week? We’ll see, I guess. If my shoulder gives out on me, it’ll be longer for sure.
I took a break for a few days from my sweater knitting to make a beanie for my Uncle Eugene’s 82nd birthday. He is my oldest uncle and sends me a birthday card (most years)…and his birthday falls one day after my own.
This year, I decided that I would knit him a beanie since it has been so cold lately. It’s rare that I knit anything for extended family members, since most of them have no clue the time and energy that goes into handmade objects. But, I felt that my Uncle Eugene would be thrilled to have something I made, so I settled on this easy beanie pattern “Be Loving” by Melissa Simpson (free on Ravelry).
I know it’s super simple, but I didn’t have a lot of time to get it knitted. Otherwise, I would’ve chosen a “fancier” pattern. Sometimes simple is best…and this pattern was super easy to follow and it worked up great with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran Tonals yarn (the same yarn I used in my Pine Lake Shawl by Jaala Spiro).
So, here is the finished beanie modeled by my husband, Brad.
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m not the kind of knitter who likes long, drawn out projects, but one of my friends was knitting a sweater recently and I finally broke down and started knitting one myself. I’ve knitted baby sweaters before, but never an adult sweater. I’ve crocheted tops for myself, but never knitted any kind of garment other than scarves, cowls, socks, shawls, etc.
So, that being said, I found a raglan sweater pattern that was labeled “easy” and cast on. I have no idea how long this project will take since I’ve never knitted an adult sweater, but others have said it took them about two weeks or so with this weight of yarn (worsted/aran), so we’ll see how accurate that time line works for me. This is my third day working on it (knitting about 1-3 hours per day), and I’m about halfway finished with the yoke portion of this top-down pattern.
I wish I had chosen a different yarn already, but I’m committed at this point. (Schachenmayr Yarns, Merino Extrafine 85, 100% superwash merino). (This yarn shows every little flaw in my stitch definition and looks like it might snag easily since the strands are so loosely twisted).
My husband bought me a row counter ring (knitter’s Pride) as part of my mystery bag of yarn from Hook A Frog Fiber & Fun (Madison, AL) for our wedding anniversary, so I’m using it while working on this project instead of writing my completed rows down like I usually do. I prefer the ring method since it’s one less thing to keep up with over pen and paper.
Here’s a picture of my progress so far, minus about four rows or so.
I started the Pine Lake Shawl, a free pattern on Ravelry by Jaala Spiro, last Sunday and finished last night. I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Tonals yarn (aran weight). After washing and blocking it overnight, here is the finished product:
I started working on the “Straight-Up Cowl” by Jillian Robbins during the Deep South Yarn Hop in early November…on the recommendation of a yarn shop store manager. It took me until yesterday to finish the cowl…not because I’m a slow knitter, but because the pattern about bored me to tears–and all the purl stitches threatened to blow my thumb off.
The shop I got the pattern from didn’t have the recommended yarn by Frabjous Fibers, so I opted for an equivalent weight from Madeline Tosh’s Vintage line. The yarn felt like a sport weight instead of the worsted that it was labeled as, so naturally, it took much longer to finished the 56 row cowl. I should stop here and say that being a weaver (who is used to very fast projects), I rarely knit with anything below a DK weight and 5.0mm+ needle. So, 52 rows of mostly purl stitches with “worsted” (sport weight) yarn is pure torture to me. Because I’m double jointed in my thumbs, purl stitches make my thumbs feel like they’ve been dislocated after a few rows, too…so I guess I’ll be switching to continental style or Portuguese knitting soon. I knit using a modified English-style at present.
So, here it is, the “Straight-Up” Cowl by Jillian Robbins (which I will never knit again).
Diary of a Yarnophile 