Though the streams are swollen...
Keep them doggies movin'...
Keep them doggies movin'...
Rawhide!
Yes, as soon as the first one is finished, so the next one begins =) The home stretch on the Sugarloaf sweater (prematurely referred to as the "Child's Park Sweater") was agony, especially in the humidity. And the loaginess from the red meat and red wine on the 4th at the boyfriend's mother's house didn't help either. Such is life! But last night was the final push. Did a few inches, tried it on, still needed another inch or two, did another inch or two, tried it on, still needed another inch or two. Could probably still use a little more length. But I'm now gun shy (and finger weary) of longer sweaters, as I tried in sweaters past to make it "long enough, and then a few inches longer" just to break me of my laziness. The Cottage Street Pullover, for example. And it didn't look so good on me. Just didn't hit the hips right. So this, I feel, right now, is just right. Will probably look like a belly shirt on the long, lovely model we use for the catalogs, and then I can feel guilty all over again, but for now I'm happy. Oh, and the sleeves still have a skoonsh more bulk at the shoulders than I'd like, even though I added an inch to the length of each, but as I said previously, that's the way of things for ribbed and cabled sweaters. Still, a lovely, soft, cuddly, and as you can see, figure-molding and saucy little number. Not too casual, not too formal. Just right for just about everything. Took 10 skeins for the small! So it weighs a bit, but it would be so nice on a cold fall day, out to get a bit of coffee.
But now, on to the long awaited Stockbridge sweater, pictured above as just a wee little crescent. Idea is a raglan crew neck, almost all brown, with a rich, slip-stitch pattern in a few different colors on the forearms. Very autumn New England. Very nifty. I'll try to post a picture of the pattern stitch soon. Sadly, the bulk of it will be not-done-fast-enough stockinette at 5 sts to the inch. But at least I've made a few sweaters with this shape before, so not too many tough decisions to make.
What I've got is 30 sts for back neck, 10 sts for either sleeve, 4 for seam sts, 2 for the front = 56 sts. A very Barbara Walker ratio, there, and it leaves a lot of room for larger sizes. Good auspices. Soon, the neck front shall be cast on, the whole thing joined in a round, and the sleeves divided off when the chest is around 34". I think it'll actually come out to about 33 2/3", but a little close is a little cute, and those skinny girls need sweaters too, having no natural body fat to keep them warm in the winter =)
The tough thing will be deciding how much to decrease on the sleeves before the patterning starts. It's a good 8.5" long at least with no convenient places for decreases, and that's without ribbing. So that only leaves me around 10" before the patterning to do any decreases I gotta do. So do I steeply decrease to get me roughly the wrist circumference and pray the wearer doesn't have shapely forearms? Or do I decrease more leisurely, like a normal sleeve, and have a somewhat floppy and loose forearm? Time will tell, I suppose, though I don't have much of it!
Onwards and downwards on the next sweater!
Yes, as soon as the first one is finished, so the next one begins =) The home stretch on the Sugarloaf sweater (prematurely referred to as the "Child's Park Sweater") was agony, especially in the humidity. And the loaginess from the red meat and red wine on the 4th at the boyfriend's mother's house didn't help either. Such is life! But last night was the final push. Did a few inches, tried it on, still needed another inch or two, did another inch or two, tried it on, still needed another inch or two. Could probably still use a little more length. But I'm now gun shy (and finger weary) of longer sweaters, as I tried in sweaters past to make it "long enough, and then a few inches longer" just to break me of my laziness. The Cottage Street Pullover, for example. And it didn't look so good on me. Just didn't hit the hips right. So this, I feel, right now, is just right. Will probably look like a belly shirt on the long, lovely model we use for the catalogs, and then I can feel guilty all over again, but for now I'm happy. Oh, and the sleeves still have a skoonsh more bulk at the shoulders than I'd like, even though I added an inch to the length of each, but as I said previously, that's the way of things for ribbed and cabled sweaters. Still, a lovely, soft, cuddly, and as you can see, figure-molding and saucy little number. Not too casual, not too formal. Just right for just about everything. Took 10 skeins for the small! So it weighs a bit, but it would be so nice on a cold fall day, out to get a bit of coffee.
But now, on to the long awaited Stockbridge sweater, pictured above as just a wee little crescent. Idea is a raglan crew neck, almost all brown, with a rich, slip-stitch pattern in a few different colors on the forearms. Very autumn New England. Very nifty. I'll try to post a picture of the pattern stitch soon. Sadly, the bulk of it will be not-done-fast-enough stockinette at 5 sts to the inch. But at least I've made a few sweaters with this shape before, so not too many tough decisions to make.
What I've got is 30 sts for back neck, 10 sts for either sleeve, 4 for seam sts, 2 for the front = 56 sts. A very Barbara Walker ratio, there, and it leaves a lot of room for larger sizes. Good auspices. Soon, the neck front shall be cast on, the whole thing joined in a round, and the sleeves divided off when the chest is around 34". I think it'll actually come out to about 33 2/3", but a little close is a little cute, and those skinny girls need sweaters too, having no natural body fat to keep them warm in the winter =)
The tough thing will be deciding how much to decrease on the sleeves before the patterning starts. It's a good 8.5" long at least with no convenient places for decreases, and that's without ribbing. So that only leaves me around 10" before the patterning to do any decreases I gotta do. So do I steeply decrease to get me roughly the wrist circumference and pray the wearer doesn't have shapely forearms? Or do I decrease more leisurely, like a normal sleeve, and have a somewhat floppy and loose forearm? Time will tell, I suppose, though I don't have much of it!
Onwards and downwards on the next sweater!
5 comments:
Congrats on your promotion!!! :)
Thanks! ooh, guess I should change my profile, huh? Well, maybe when I'm doing in full time in September or so. =)
Yes, congrats indeed!
What about a long turn back cuff for the patterning? That'd mean more knitting but it would let you decrease normally, right?
I am SO glad to hear you say it was too hot to knit, I've started to refer to Bamboo Grove as The Beast! He's lovely but very, very warm. Maybe...maybe that is the ONE drawback to knitting in the round vs. in pieces.
Hah! Well, so long as zee beast is done next week. Otherwise Kathy may roast me on a spit.
I really like that cabled sweater, bravo!
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